get distracted, and it put your life in danger. I swear it won’t happen again.”
“It’s not your job to protect me.”
“A wise man once told me that it’s the job of every man to protect his leader so that he can focus his full mind and heart on leading.”
Aiden’s heart skipped a beat, and he was rendered speechless to hear his own words used against him, words he’d repeated more than once to Ronan when he was complaining about Aiden’s need to shadow him everywhere.
His old friend smirked. “And you thought I never listened to you. I just liked to pretend to be deaf to drive you crazy.”
“It worked,” Aiden grumbled.
“Well, we need to get going,” Wyatt announced. His voice sounded as if he were struggling not to laugh. “The good news is that we have ample cloud cover. We have some thick fire blankets we can cover you in, and the van has been brought up to the front door. Your risk of exposure will only be a couple of seconds at most.”
“The bad news is that it’s snowing,” River added, looking at Fox.
“Hey! Snow is tricky. It’s hard to gauge between a little flurry and a blizzard.”
Aiden’s eyes widened. “You created a blizzard?”
“No!” Fox threw up both hands, stopping him. “Not a blizzard, but it is accumulating fast.”
“Doesn’t help that morning rush hour is kicking in. We need to move before Bel and Winter get any crankier,” River said.
Aiden nodded and followed the trio with Ronan behind him. It was best if they got out of there quickly. He didn’t want to worry about them driving in these worsening conditions. They trudged down the stairs, Fox and River running ahead to fetch the blankets they would throw over themselves as a final precaution against the sun. From the front window, Aiden could make out a dark, gray sky and a steady fall of large white flakes. The blankets were unnecessary, but he appreciated the precaution.
Once they were covered, he and Ronan ran from the building the ten feet to the back of the open van. The second they were inside, the doors were slammed shut. Aiden pulled off the blanket and looked around, stunned. When he’d heard Winter had acquired a van for moving during the day, this was not what he had pictured. It was…lavish.
A pair of padded bench seats ran along either wall. There was a small counter near the front and what looked to be a mini fridge. There were a pair of small black cabinets and ample warm lights tucked in various places to make it easy to see.
“What do you think?” Fox asked.
Aiden turned around to find that Fox and River had climbed in with them. There was the sound of a door opening and small shifting of the van as Wyatt likely climbed behind the wheel. Aiden sat on one of the benches, and Ronan dropped down across from him.
“It’s amazing,” Aiden said, sounding more than a little stunned.
The engine rumbled softly to life and Wyatt’s voice suddenly filled the room. “Ready to go back there?”
River crossed to a panel by one of the cabinets and pushed a button before speaking, “All ready. Be careful.”
Fox sat next to Ronan and smiled. “We call this the rescue van. It’s outfitted with a small fridge and stocked with blood. The cabinets have medical supplies and weapons. Oh, and the flat-screen monitor there has Wi-Fi access so we can look stuff up or get a feed from a video camera in the cab with Wyatt. We can see what he sees.”
“This is amazing, but I thought my sons had enough sense to know they shouldn’t be running around during the daylight hours.”
“So says the man who just got rescued by the rescue van,” Ronan teased.
Aiden tried to throw the vampire a dark look, but it failed miserably since he and Aiden were taking advantage of it. He relaxed against the seat and scrubbed a hand over his face. “I guess we’ll have to discuss it when I see them this evening.”
“Yeah, about that…” River said slowly. He chewed on his lip and made his way over to the bench seat to sit next to Fox. The witch was also blushing and refusing to make eye contact with Aiden.
“What’s going on?”
Ronan’s sudden laughter filled the van, rocking forward and then back. “This isn’t a rescue. It’s a kidnapping!”
“What?” Aiden gasped.
“Yeah, Aiden, we love you and we know that you’re king, but we’ve got to live with