“You…you can’t wipe their memory?” Ronan asked cautiously.
His friend stopped sharply and looked over at him. He waited for a heartbeat and shook his head once. “You?”
“No,” Ronan replied quickly. “But I can do something else that will be of use. Where’s your prey?”
Aiden was clearly more than a little wary. Ronan’s heart was racing at the thought of what he was about to do. But he still nodded when Aiden motioned with his head across the street toward a darkened alleyway.
“He’s alone and definitely armed. I can’t smell drugs or alcohol on him, but his thoughts are noisy and consumed with violence. I’d like to put him out of commission for at least one night.”
With a grunt, Ronan stepped into the lead, boldly crossing the street and striding down the sidewalk toward the alley. There was a scrape of a shoe on pavement from the shadows as if the man was preparing to jump them as soon as they passed. But they wouldn’t be passing by.
Before they even reached the alley, Ronan was hit with the awful waves of sweat and body odor wafting off him. He didn’t want Aiden touching this foul creature. He preferred to think of Aiden sipping his blood from a fine crystal glass in the comfort of his home, but no vampire could survive forever on bagged blood. They were all driven to hunt eventually. Something about getting blood straight from the source sustained them the best.
Ronan swept into the alley and grinned to see the man had a wicked blade already clenched in his hand. The human never had a chance to speak. Ronan held up his left hand and calmly said, “Sleep.”
“What…” the man breathed. He wobbled a little on his feet, taking an unsteady step backward.
“Sleep,” Ronan repeated.
The man blinked slowly once, and then his eyes didn’t open again. He started to collapse to the filthy ground, but Ronan caught his arms, holding him upright. Aiden swept around him, taking the man from Ronan and pinning him to the wall. The look Aiden threw in his direction made it clear that his friend was not happy with him.
“Feed. I’ll keep watch,” Ronan brusquely instructed before turning to face the alleyway so Aiden could have some privacy.
Ronan folded his arms across his chest and stared out at the empty street. He tried not to hear the small whimper the man made, likely the moment Aiden’s fangs sank deep. He also tried not to hear each hungry swallow as the blood rushed down Aiden’s throat. Fuck, he was an idiot. Didn’t matter. He wanted to feel Aiden’s lips on his skin, wanted to know what it was like to have Aiden’s fangs in his flesh, the feel of his tongue sliding along his throat.
But to what end?
From the dance, he thought there was a good chance Aiden was still attracted to him. But Aiden wouldn’t risk his family for him, and Ronan had no desire to put the Variks in harm’s way. If anything, Ronan would be happy to protect the Variks if it made Aiden happy. Not that his sons wanted anything to do with him. And they had yet to learn anything about his true past.
There was a tiny satisfied sigh that rose from Aiden, announcing that he was done with his dinner. Ronan turned slightly to look over his shoulder. Aiden quickly set the man on the ground and wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his jacket. His color looked better, and there was a new twinkle to his eyes. A good feeding always put a vampire in a pleasant mood.
But when their eyes met, Aiden’s frown returned, and he marched straight toward Ronan.
“What the hell were you thinking?” he hissed.
“I was thinking my friend would appreciate a little assistance with his prey. He won’t remember me,” Ronan replied stiffly, not exactly sure why Aiden was so upset about what had happened.
Aiden threw up his hands. “And what? You just go around using your gift all willy-nilly for any vampire to see?”
Ahhh…that was the problem. Aiden was worried about his safety because he’d so easily displayed his power in front of another vampire.
“No, not any vampire. Just you. I trust you,” Ronan said, his voice full of warmth.
Aiden’s gold eyes blazed at him for a second, his mouth hanging open as if Ronan had rendered him speechless. He seemed to deflate a little, but Aiden rallied himself and Ronan could barely hold back his smile. “Thank you, but that was reckless. You can’t go around using your powers in front of other vampires. You can’t trust others with such a valuable secret. You have no idea how it can be used against you.”
Warmth spread through Ronan’s chest at Aiden’s flustered concern. He knew what an incredible risk it was for other vampires to know about one’s secret gift. They all had one, but it was rare for a vampire to flaunt it. It was typically seen as a secret weapon to give a vampire an advantage over an opponent. And if an opponent knew what the gift was, he could prepare a defense. Or, as Aiden had growled, it could be used against a vampire.