“Instead of when I was human and I moved with time?”
“Exactly.”
“That’s sad. I love Christmas.” He turned and picked up a house with delicate gingerbread details and a roof covered in glistening fake snow. “I lost my family when I was young. Vampire attack. Spent a lot of time getting shuffled around between foster care and orphanages. I didn’t get a consistent Christmas experience, but when I found a home with Marcus and the rest of the Variks, I wanted to have the real Christmas experience I’d always dreamed about.”
Ronan’s heart lurched in his chest as he listened to Ethan. How in the world was he a vampire now, in love with a vampire, surrounded every damn night by vampires, after losing his entire family to them? And it was clear he truly did love the Variks. He loved being a vampire, but he was discovering some drawbacks that had nothing to do with blood and sunlight.
Setting the little building on a nearby sofa cushion, Ronan carefully placed both of his hands on Ethan’s thin shoulders. When the young man looked up at him, he smiled gently. “There is one critical rule about being a vampire: fuck what everybody else thinks you should do.” Ethan snickered and Ronan continued. “That’s the secret to living as long as I have. You have to be you. You can’t make yourself into something you’re not. If you want to be a vampire who celebrates Christmas every damn day, that’s what you do. You have to find a way to be happy and cherish that happiness.”
Ethan’s grin made him seem to glow with joy. “Thanks.”
Ronan gave his shoulders a final squeeze before releasing him and picking up the town hall. “Now, we must get this town together. What we need are some little people.”
A cackle left Ethan and Ronan looked to see Ethan scoop up two handfuls of little figures all decked out in a variety of colorful winter gear. Ronan laughed with him as they dug back into the decorating. There was a village to pull together, garland to hang, more little decorative knickknacks and candles to place about the room. Stacks of boxes sat off to the side, filled with ornaments for the massive tree. Ethan explained he wanted all the Variks together to decorate the tree as a family event. Ronan was even more pleased when Ethan pointed out that he was glad Ronan was going to be there to nudge Aiden into helping instead of just watching them. Ethan was already including him.
“Do you think Aiden’s sons dislike me because they’re afraid I mean to replace their mother?” Ronan asked suddenly as they were picking up the paper and empty boxes from the floor.
“No, of course not! I—” he started and then stopped, looking uncomfortable.
“I’m sorry I asked you. I shouldn’t have. That wasn’t fair of me.”
“No! It’s not that.” Ethan sighed heavily, his eyes straying to the little village they’d set up on the mantel. Warm, yellow lights glowed in the interior, creating a cozy feeling. “It’s just that anything related to Julianna Varik is complicated. I met her only one time, and she was lovely. They all loved her greatly, but I saw for myself that she also hurt them greatly too.” He shook his head and looked at his hands. “It’s not my place to say more. You’ll need to talk to Aiden about it. The point is that they’re not worried about you replacing their mother. They loved her and have let her go. They want Aiden happy. He’s suffered enough in his lifetime, and they don’t want him to hurt anymore.”
An ache deep in Ronan’s chest seemed to hollow him out when he thought of his sweet Aiden hurting. He wanted to run to him and just hold him, but that wouldn’t fix anything. So he kept his feet planted.
“I don’t ever want to hurt him. He’s my everything.”
Ethan’s smile returned and he seemed to relax again, his shoulders slumping. “Then keep doing what you’re doing. Make him happy. In the short time you’ve been here, I’ve heard him laugh more than I have in the past year. That means more to his sons than anything else.”
Ronan nodded. “Thank you.”
They finished clearing away the boxes, putting the room to rights, before they would head off in search of a step ladder. Ethan had turned the lights down so that they could enjoy the glow from the village and some of the other lights hung around the room.
“It looks beautiful,” Ronan declared. “That…that was more relaxing than I thought it would be. I guess I should have been decorating for the holidays every year.”
Ethan snorted. “The bitch part is going to be packing all this stuff up again.” He walked over toward a small side table and frowned. “Do you think I have too many candles? I really love how they cast a warm glow and make everything look cozy.” Ethan waved both of his hands over the candles as if simulating the glow of the candles, when two little flames burst onto the ends of the wicks.
“Holy shit! Fire! I made fire!” Ethan shouted, which answered Ronan’s question of whether Ethan had done that before. He certainly hadn’t heard that the fledgling had such a power. “Look! I made fire!” he continued, which really wasn’t necessary because there was no missing it. But when he pointed, a new flame spouted into existence on one of the nearby throw pillows. Ethan yelped and tucked both of his hands against his chest.
Ronan quickly snatched up the pillow and threw it on the ground, stomping it out under the sole of his designer shoe. It was only a tiny flame. Nothing to worry about, but it took only one look at Ethan’s pale face and tear-filled eyes to see the vampire was on the verge of panic.
Grabbing Ethan’s shoulders again, Ronan gave him a little shake to make him finally tear his eyes from the pillow to look at him.
“I-I set that on fire. I couldn’t stop it. What if I set the house on fire? What if I hurt Marcus or Rafe or-or—?”
“Ethan, stop. You can’t be afraid of this,” Ronan said firmly.
Ethan blinked and tears rolled down his cheeks. “But what if I accidentally hurt someone I love? I’m dangerous.”
“All gifts can be dangerous. That’s why you have to learn to control it. And you can’t control it if you’re afraid of it.” Ronan crouched a little so that he was at eye level with Ethan and smiled. “This is a big day. An important day. We need to celebrate.”
“Really?”
“Yes, you got your vampiric gift.”
“Are you sure? I can also sense what a creature is like a witch can. Fox thinks I might have witch genes running through my family tree.”
Ronan lifted an eyebrow at the young man. That was interesting, but he shook his head. “I’ve known a few witches in my lifetime. Witches don’t cast accidental spells, but vampires can accidentally tap into their powers, particularly at the beginning. Controlling fire is your vampiric gift. This is an important moment for a vampire. One you will always remember. We need to call the family together, if not the whole clan. Have a celebration.”
Ethan giggled and wiped his face with both hands. “You make it sound like a birthday party.”
“It sort of is. This needs to be celebrated, Ethan. You can’t run from it.”
The young vampire shocked him further by wrapping his arms around him in a quick hug. “Thanks.” He released Ronan on a gasp and another laugh. “I need to tell Marcus!”