“Were you unhappy?”
Ronan found himself shrugging again. “I wasn’t happy, but I wasn’t necessarily unhappy. I just existed. I felt…I felt like I was waiting for something. I didn’t know what. My only guess was that it was another human war that would finally send me out of Europe and into the Americas. I heard plenty of stories about how the vampires ran wild with the shifters in the Americans. I wasn’t particularly tempted, considering I’d grown accustomed to my comfortable life.”
Aiden’s shoulders started shaking and Ronan twisted, wondering what was wrong when Aiden burst forth with loud laughter. His lover fell back on his pillows, laughing so hard, he was holding his stomach. Ronan couldn’t stop his grin at the magical sound that washed over him.
“What?”
“You,” Aiden gasped. “You were willing to give up your comfortable life t-to venture into the rugged frontier lands just because I might be there. Oh, my God! I hope you’re not roughing it too much here.”
Ronan tackled him to the bed, chuckling. He rubbed his whiskered chin on Aiden’s bare shoulder, earning a yelp. “No, I’m quite comfortable. You American vampires are surprisingly civilized.”
They wrestled back and forth in the blankets before Aiden finally wound up straddling his waist while pinning Ronan’s wrists to the bed. “Mmm…and now you’re an American vampire as well. How will you ever deal with being considered uncivilized now?”
Ronan tipped his head up for a kiss and Aiden happily obliged. “With a smile on my face so long as I have you.”
Aiden hummed as he kissed him again. “You will always have me.”
Chapter Fifteen
Ronan wandered down the hall, rubbing the heel of his palm to his temple. Aiden and Marcus were still on a video chat with Sofia, brainstorming a list of vampires who might be willing to side with the European Ministry and attack the Variks. Plotting and strategy were not his strong suit. He preferred to have Aiden just point him at the villain and slice the fucker’s head off. But it wasn’t time for head-slicing yet.
He had thought he’d find the kitchen and grab a bag of blood for a snack, but the sound of music and…well, a strange commotion caught his attention before he reached the stairs. Turning, he followed the noise to what looked like an explosion of Christmas all over the large room. A tall, full evergreen stood against one wall, its peak nearly brushing the ten-foot ceiling. Strings of white and colored lights were haphazardly stretched across the floor and blinking. And there were stacks and stacks of boxes. Most of them were open, revealing more Christmas decorations.
And in the center of this hurricane of holiday madness sat Ethan. The young vampire was dressed in jeans and an oversized green sweater. There was a wide grin on his face and what looked to be bits of gold glitter in his hair as he’d somehow transferred it from the decorations to his person.
“Are you okay in here?” Ronan asked hesitantly.
Ethan’s head popped up and his grin dimmed a little. Ronan tried not to take it personally. Aiden’s family was still trying to get used to him being around. He wasn’t sure if their hesitance was related to a lack of trust or a fear that he was trying to replace Julianna.
“Oh, hey. Yeah, I’m good.”
Part of him knew he should try to stay, get to know Ethan, but he didn’t want the fledgling to feel uncomfortable. The first step to winning over the in-laws was not making the mate of the eldest son feel trapped or threatened.
“I was going to head to the kitchen and grab a bite. Do you need anything?”
Ethan groaned and patted his flat belly like there should be an extended bulge there. “I’m still stuffed. Marcus took me out shortly after sunset to feed.”
“Okay. I’ll leave you alone then,” Ronan said, backing out of the room with his hands in his pockets.
“No!” Ethan called out, one hand extended to Ronan as if he were going to grab his arm. Ethan bit his lip and dropped his hand to his side. “Ummm…would you wanna help decorate? I might have ordered way too much. I want to get it set up before Marcus sees this mess.”
“Sure.” Delight and surprise ran through Ronan as he entered the room, rolling up the sleeves of yet another borrowed shirt from Aiden. He needed to order some new clothes. There was no doubt in his mind that Mara had confiscated anything he’d left in his hotel room, and any of his possessions in Europe were now property of the Ministry as well. No matter. They were just things. His true wealth was invested or locked away in secure bank vaults.
Glancing around the room, he found this one to be decorated differently than the rest of the house. The furniture was larger and seemed as if had been chosen for comfort. There was an enormous TV hanging on the wall and what looked to be a gaming system. There was also a tall shelf filled with movies. This was a private sanctuary just for the family.
“I will admit that I’ve never put up Christmas decorations,” Ronan admitted as he stood over the chaos.
“Well, I was going to string the tree with lights, but I need a step ladder to reach the top. So, I thought I’d work on the Christmas village, setting the pieces along the fireplace mantel over there,” he explained, pointing at the now empty mantel.
“I can help with that. Or would you rather me fetch a ladder?”
Ethan shook his head. “Ladder can wait. Let’s design the Christmas town.” He held up a small ceramic structure that was colorfully painted. Ronan accepted it and smiled to see that it was tiny toy store.
“Where should I—”
Ethan was already waving a hand at him and smiling. “Anywhere on the mantel. That’s the fun part. Making the town look however you want.” He dug back into the discarded paper and boxes. “I also have a town hall, a Christmas tree lot, a candy shop, and a cute house.”
Ronan walked over to the mantel and carefully placed the little building to one side. Yes, and then the candy store would go beside it. Town hall in the middle of the village. That all made sense. Right?
Of course, because what else would the European Ministry’s top executioner be doing but settling up a tiny ceramic Christmas village?
“I’m guessing I’m the weird one,” Ethan said suddenly as he handed Ronan the tree lot complete with several prickly green trees.
“What do you mean?” Ronan paused, holding up the little display, trying to figure out the best place for it.
“Last year we didn’t really decorate for Christmas because Marcus was still dealing with me being a brand-new vampire and mourning the loss of their mother. Things also got crazy with the American Ministry. This year, I swore we’d decorate and celebrate the holiday. Everyone looked at me like I was strange. They’ve never really decorated for Christmas. Said it was a vampire thing, but that doesn’t make sense to me.”
Placing the tree lot, Ronan turned to find Ethan holding the Town Hall with a troubled expression on his face, but Ronan didn’t think it had to do with how he was arranging the village.
He took the building but continued to face Ethan. “You’re not weird. You’re just young.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means vampires feel time differently, particularly when you get older. You stop paying attention to holidays and other things that mark time. It will just sort of…flow around you, like you’re a large rock in the middle of a stream.”