Unlocking the door, he halted just over the threshold as the scent of lavender hit his nose. Someone was waiting for him. But at least he knew exactly who this someone was. He’d been expecting this meeting, but not like this.
Swallowing an irritated growl, Ronan stepped inside and allowed the door to slam shut behind him. He shoved the card into his pocket as he walked down the short hall to find Mara seated in the chair positioned at the foot of the bed. Michael was standing with his back to the window, arms crossed over his chest like some angry golem protecting his charge.
He’d never worked with either vampire before, and he couldn’t be more grateful that this was a one-time deal. Mara possessed the warmth and personality of an icicle. Michael was just around to be her silent bodyguard. Sadly, Ronan was supposed to be on this little trip for the same reason, but he’d joined the envoy for an entirely different purpose.
And judging by the scowl on Mara’s plain face, she’d figured that out as well.
“I had no idea the hotel had such shitty locks on its doors,” Ronan muttered as he crossed the room. He toed out of his shoes and dropped onto the middle of the bed, his hands folded behind his head as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
Technically, he didn’t. He was older than Mara by several centuries, and unless she had some utterly devastating secret power, she was no threat to him. Michael was significantly older than Mara and stronger than his vacant stare would have anyone think, but Ronan still felt confident he could take the vampire.
It wasn’t a question of whether he could kill his two companions, but the kind of shit storm that would rain down from the European Ministry if two of its emissaries were killed while in Aiden’s territory. He was not going to start a war that would put Aiden and his family in danger.
“It would seem that you withheld some vital information from us,” Mara said. Her usually dull, lifeless voice was sharper and almost vibrated with her ire. Ronan fought a smirk. She looked like the type to ball up her fists and stomp her foot when she didn’t get her way. Of course, she also looked like the type to tell Michael to bash his face in if Ronan laughed at her, so he pushed those thoughts aside.
“What information would that be?”
Mara jumped to her feet so she could loom her entire five-foot-three figure over him on the bed. “You know Aiden!”
He was right. Her hands were balled up, and he was sure he was one sarcastic comment away from a foot-stomp.
“I do,” he admitted. There was nothing to be gained by denying it. He didn’t want to risk being spotted with Aiden later and Mara losing her shit.
Mara’s mouth fell open, but no sound came out, as if he’d struck her mute with his careless confirmation. Sucking in a sharp breath, she tried again. “And you didn’t think that information would be of use to us?”
Ronan managed a small shrug of his right shoulder. “I wasn’t sure it was him until I saw him at the party last night.”
“But you must have suspected, if you were going to waltz into the ministry and demand to be sent on this mission to meet the wannabe king.”
Clenching his teeth, Ronan had to take a couple of seconds to fight his natural instinct to snap at the woman over several of her word choices. Aiden was no pretender king, he didn’t waltz—well, not without Aiden in his arms—and he didn’t make demands of the Ministry. He’d pretty much begged to be sent on this mission just to keep the peace between Aiden and the Ministry. But none of that was important and he certainly wasn’t going to waste his time correcting Little Miss Temper Tantrum.
Instead, Ronan shrugged again because the motion seemed to drive Mara slightly insane. “I suspected there might be a chance it was the man I knew.”
“And…?”
“What?”
Mara threw her hands up in the air and paced a short distance away from the chair before spinning back to glare at him. “You couldn’t have told us? You couldn’t have shared what information you had about the man prior to boarding the damn plane to come to this godforsaken country?”
“No. I knew him when I was still human. That was a very, very long time ago.”
Mara turned to him, her gaze more speculative. “So, he’s as old as the rumors claim.”
Ronan kept his fucking mouth shut. Ronan had never confirmed his age with any vampire. The few that knew his age firsthand were dust now. There were rumors about how many years he’d walked the earth, and they didn’t come close to the truth. A vampire’s age was a private thing. It tended to give away critical things like their strength and experience. An old vampire didn’t need to advertise. Another vampire could feel the weight of their years when they walked into the room. Ronan refused to destroy any potential advantage Aiden might have that would keep him alive.