But Ronan knew he was safe with Aiden. It was the one way he could disarm himself to his old friend. He had to prove to the man he was not a threat, and the fastest way was to reveal one of his most tightly held secrets.
“Please tell me you don’t do that often,” Aiden groaned.
“No, I don’t. The few vampires from my fledgling years who knew of my gift are all dust now. The humans I use it on don’t remember me.”
Aiden glared at him. “And the vampires?”
“Don’t survive the encounter to tell tales later,” Ronan darkly admitted.
To his surprise, Aiden nodded and said, “Good.”
“Really?”
“Ronan, I don’t need to worry about whether you’ve lost all your common sense when I have four impulsive sons and five equally impulsive sons-in-law to keep me busy. I don’t think vampires can get gray hair, but they are trying very hard to prove me wrong.”
Wrapping his arm around Aiden’s shoulders, Ronan ushered his friend out of the alley while chuckling. “It was an act of trust just for you, my friend.”
Aiden grumbled something low and unintelligible under his breath, but Ronan was pretty sure it included the word “idiot.”
“And while you’re busy being angry with me, I hope you also noticed that we attracted some new trouble,” Ronan whispered in Aiden’s ear.
“At least a dozen. They’ve circled us,” Aiden murmured in the same low tones.
Ronan had first noticed them while they were walking, but the circle didn’t start to close until Aiden had stopped to feed. It wasn’t a coincidence. A group of vampires were hunting them. Or more specifically, Aiden.
“Do you know who?”
“Likely remnants of the MacPherson clan. We had troubles with them last fall. The clan head was destroyed, and the remaining members aligned with Damon in hopes of getting their revenge. We’ve been steadily clearing them out, but the clan was extremely large.”
“And now they hope to take out a king.” Not that Ronan was going to let one of these bastards lay a hand on Aiden.
“The numbers are in their favor, and I didn’t bring a proper weapon.” Ronan glanced over to see Aiden wince, looking embarrassed. He had a guess the vampire had just wanted to escape his home and hadn’t been thinking too clearly. At least not about protecting himself.
“Twelve on two really isn’t fun. Just messy,” Ronan conceded. “However, if we were to lead them on a merry chase around the city…”
“We could separate them from the pack. Even the odds to two-on-two. Would you care to join?”
Ronan squeezed Aiden’s shoulder tightly and laughed. “And you hinted that you had no entertainment for me. I’d be honored.”
With a wink, Aiden darted off down the street, his laughter barely drifting over his quick footsteps, and Ronan followed on his heels. This was going to be so much fun.
Chapter Nine
Aiden panted heavily as he leaned against a tree. His legs shook with exhaustion, and his lungs burned for air. He looked up as Ronan braced his hand on the trunk next to Aiden’s head, gulping deep breaths. When Ronan met Aiden’s gaze, they both grinned like idiots. They were splattered with the blood of their enemies, sweaty, and tired, but it had also been one of the best nights Aiden had experienced in a long time. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so free, and to have spent it with the man who’d been his best friend was so amazing. Within minutes, they’d fallen into an old, familiar rhythm. It was almost as if time had not passed for them.
For the past several hours, he and Ronan had led the former members of the MacPherson clan on a deadly game of hide ’n seek around the city of Hartford, leaving behind a trail of dead bodies stuffed in dumpsters, dark alleys, and abandoned buildings. They worked together to isolate one or two of the vampires chasing them before picking them off; then they were on the run again.
“I can’t believe…after all this time…we still work so well together,” Aiden said, trying to suck air into his lungs.
Ronan huffed out a laugh. “We’ve still got it.”
“If only we’d had our swords. We could have ended this sooner.”
Ronan straightened his shoulders. “Maybe, but it was fun. I didn’t have any other plans tonight.”
Aiden wasn’t in any kind of rush for their evening to end. Fighting alongside Ronan had been like reliving an old dream, but better because there was no fear of Ronan suddenly disappearing before his eyes.
Yet, as he glanced at the sky, he realized that they’d traded one problem for a more dire one. “No, but it would have been best if we’d finished things up at least an hour earlier.”
“We in trouble?” Ronan pulled his phone out of his pocket and swore softly. “That’s a bit later than I was expecting. Are we far from the car?”