“And the European Ministry prefers to control what happens and changes in Europe,” Sofia added. “Or rather make sure nothing changes. Vampires are horrible about change in general, but the European vampires are like goddamn glaciers when it comes to movement.”
“Aiden has greatly complicated their lives,” Ronan said, his hand tightened just a bit on Aiden’s shoulder. “With eleven American ministers, it meant there were eleven potential levers for them to pull to influence events and decisions in the Americas. Now there is only one, and he’s already shut them down. They need to get Aiden to bend or remove him completely. I’d say their overall goal is to set up a new ministry like the one that previously ruled the Americas.”
“Or better yet, put a puppet on the throne,” Rafe murmured.
Aiden leaned forward, scratching the stubble on his chin. “I hadn’t considered that angle. It would give the European Ministry an expanded reach and more power to be able to bend vampires in the Americas to their whims.”
“There’s certainly no love for the vamps across the ocean,” Ronan added. All eyes in the room turned to him, and he frowned. “In general, you’re seen as runaways and outcasts. The reckless, lawless bloodsuckers who couldn’t cut it in civilized society.”
“We’re lawless? Isn’t the death rate of humans much higher in Europe than in the Americas?” Bel demanded, his voice trembling.
Ronan gently smiled at him. “It’s part of the old way. Civilized society. The old ones don’t value human life.”
Marcus got to his feet and paced, his frown deepening. “We haven’t been gone from Europe for that long. Barely more than a hundred years. I don’t remember it being that bad.”
“That’s my fault,” Aiden admitted. His shoulder slumped and Ronan immediately wanted to draw him into his arms. “Your focus was entirely on your mother while we were living in Britain. I tried to keep you from associating with other vampires as long as possible because I was afraid of their influence. I didn’t want you losing what made you all so special. The only one who got away from me—”
“Was me,” Winter finished.
Aiden sighed. “You were never one to sit still.”
Winter smirked at him. “I don’t think I suffered any kind of irreparable damage.”
“No, you just scarred the rest of us,” Rafe mocked.
“The point is that the European Ministry now wants Aiden dead because Mara has likely already reported that he won’t bow to orders,” Ronan said, bringing them back to the matter that was most weighing on his mind. “Furthermore, whoever they task with killing Aiden will also be assigned the entire Varik clan. They can’t risk leaving any of you alive to stir up trouble. They have to show that their wishes are to be obeyed, even from across the ocean.”
Aiden twisted around on the sofa so that he could look up at Ronan. “Any chance they might toss their favorite contract worker the assignment?”
“Oh, no. I’m on an entirely different shit list for them now,” he replied with a wide grin. “They want me dead, but they’re probably offering a bonus for my head if the vamp can bring me back alive for torture before my final execution.”
His lover’s brow was crisscrossed with lines of worry, and his nose wrinkled. Ronan wanted to run his finger down it, smoothing away the lines, but he didn’t want Aiden to smack his hand away. “Why do you sound so amused by this?”
“It’s not the first time I’ve run afoul of the Ministry.” He paused and scratched his cheek with one finger. “Though…I’m not sure how I’d get out of this one even if I wanted to. For the most part, they learned to leave me alone and I would leave them alone.”
“So, we can expect an attack,” Lola said in a hard voice. “From the emissaries already here?”
Ronan shook his head. “Unlikely. As Aiden proved in the meeting, Mara is barely more than a baby. I can’t believe they sent her.”
“Speaking of, how did you know all that information about her?” Winter asked. “It was incredible…and frightening.”
Aiden’s smile turned to Ethan, who waggled his fingers at the group. The fledgling wiggled to the edge of his seat, seeming to have trouble holding in his enthusiasm. “Well, I might be learning more than just coding in my classes. I’ve got some friends who’ve been teaching me some hacking techniques. The European Ministry has been building a database for all its vampires, but they have some really shitty security.”
“You hacked the European Ministry?” River gasped.
“Yep.” He did another wiggle before continuing. “Looks like the database is relatively new. Not nearly as many entries as I would have expected, but they have lots on the vampires who work for them.”
“Did you find out about him?” Rafe demanded, pointing directly at Ronan.
Ronan’s heart skipped a beat at the thought. Did the Ministry have a file on him? What in God’s name would be in it? Nothing good, he was sure. This was not how he wanted Aiden and his children learning all his secrets. He wanted to talk to them, explain things. At least cushion the blow. If that were even possible.
Panic tried to seize him, but Ethan was already saying, “I didn’t look at his file to find out how old he is and by relation, Aiden. And even if I did find it, I’d bow out of the bet.”
“But there is a file,” Ronan said softly, the words nearly getting caught in his throat.
Ethan lifted large eyes up at him and winced. “Sort of. Not much on your background or anything to give a hint of your age. Mostly it’s just jobs. A lot of jobs. Vampires you’ve hunted down. They also had the complaints and charges against your targets. It reads like a freaking list of demons and monsters.”
“Okay. Thanks,” Ronan murmured. He dropped his gaze to Aiden’s shoulder rather than looking at everyone in the room. Discomfort churned in his stomach, and he could feel their eyes on him.
“No, thank you. I know you were doing a job, but you likely saved lives by getting rid of those monsters.”
He grunted but couldn’t bring himself to say more than that. He was no hero. He’d just been doing a job, passing the time. It hadn’t been about saving innocent lives.
“What about the other one with Mara?” Sofia inquired.
Ronan shook his head, relieved they were moving on from his past. “Michael barely has more than a century on her, but he’s nothing more than muscle. He’d attack if the Ministry told him to, but they would know he had no chance of making a dent. After everything the Variks have survived, they have to know that they can’t fuck up their first attempt on Aiden’s life. It will just force you to strengthen your defenses. Each attack will become progressively more difficult.”
“Why not send an entire army of vampires from Europe against us?” Wyatt inquired.
Ronan grinned. That was such a shifter thought process. They were all about brute force and power through numbers.
“One reason is that the Ministry has no army to send. It relies on the agreement of the various clans, and there are very few clans who would be willing to send most of its members overseas to deal with a Ministry problem, thus leaving their own clan and territory vulnerable to attack by another rival clan.”