this point for not showing. The money isn’t exactly flowing in, but I will pay you back.”
“You’ve been kidnapped…twice,” Winter muttered. He waved one hand as he tried to think of something that made sense. “Think of it as short-term hazard pay.”
There was a snort through the car speakers, and Winter wasn’t sure if it was from his brother or River.
“If that’s your rationale, I also need to pick up some booze for the poor guy,” River teased. “Speaking of…if you’re anything like Bel, there is no food in your house.”
“That would be correct,” Winter admitted with a sigh. “Do you mind…”
“We’ve got it, Winter,” Wyatt quickly said. “We’ll head out in the next hour.”
“Where are you?” his brother demanded.
“We’re still at least four, maybe five hours out. We won’t reach my place until morning. The locks are coded to Bel’s bio, so let him go in first. Leave it all in the kitchen. We can sort through it when we arrive.”
“Winter, I…”
“We’re fine, Bel. I promise. I got through Damon’s easily. Fox wants to help us. We’ll be safe and sound in Hartford in no time.” Bel’s worry was warm and reassuring. It helped to ease old feelings of loneliness and isolation.
“I’m not happy,” Bel grumbled.
Winter chuckled. That was likely an understatement. Bel might be the brother most likely to be distracted and lost in an experiment, but he also happened to be the most overprotective of all the brothers. Probably the scariest, though few people outside the family knew it.
Rafe and Marcus could threaten and rampage with the best of them. Winter could do some sneaky, scary things. But Bel, he was a total mad scientist with a sadistic streak when his family was threatened. Bel would torture and break a person if he had to.
“You’re really not going to like my last request, then,” Winter continued.
There was a long, drawn-out sigh before his brother spoke again. “You don’t want me to tell Marcus.”
“Or Rafe.”
“Winter—”
“Bel, I’m exhausted, and it’s going to be late when we get home. I don’t want to deal with all of them descending on my place when I really need to double-check my security.”
There was a long silence, and Winter looked to make sure the call hadn’t been dropped.
“Twenty-four hours,” Bel ground out.
“That’ll be enough,” Winter said, releasing a relieved breath. “Now hand the phone over to your wolves, so we can get Fox outfitted.”
“Oh, wow! He’s got wolves?” Fox said.
“Two of them,” River proudly answered. “Are you a real witch?”
“Trust me, it sounds cooler than it actually is,” Fox mumbled.
“Can you turn into a fox? You know, because of your name.”
“Wow, I’m just going to be a big disappointment for you,” Fox said with a kind of forced cheer that he doubted River picked up on.
Winter clenched his teeth. His every instinct was demanding he pull Fox into his arms and just cuddle the wounded little witch, but that was a bad idea. He didn’t need to cuddle Fox. He didn’t need to take care of Fox. The man was plenty capable on his own. Winter needed to do enough to make sure he was comfortable. That was just basic compassion.
But he still couldn’t completely hold his tongue. Fox was already insecure about his powers, and now he was being accused of threatening people he’d never met.
“Fox is a young witch and still learning his powers,” Winter added.
“Oh, that’s cool.”
“Don’t worry, River. We’ll schedule a playdate for you and Fox,” he teased.
“Har. Har. Asshole,” River snapped, but it at least got a snicker out of Fox. The wolf and the witch spent the next thirty minutes talking about clothes, sizes, and most importantly, what food needed to be picked up.
When the call finally ended, Fox was looking more relaxed. Contacting Bel had been the smart choice, if for no other reason than talking to River. The young man—though even that was a misnomer since he was supposedly over fifty years old—had an engaging way about him that put other people at ease.
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Fox turn in his seat so that he faced Winter as he drove. There was a wide grin on his face—like he was barely holding in all the questions bubbling inside of him.
Winter lifted a hand and waved his fingers at Fox. “Come on. Let me have it.”
“Bel, your brother, has two lovers? Boyfriends?”
“Yes.”
“Are they both wolves?”
“Yes.”
“Whoa…that’s cool. I didn’t think vampires and werewolves liked each other. I thought you were more