Chapter 16
Sixteen
When Aiden got Ronan back, he was going to strangle him.
Assuming he got him back.
No. He couldn’t think like that. Ronan was smart and he was strong. He would stay alive. He wouldn’t risk anything that would rip them apart after it had taken them so long to find each other.
Unless it meant keeping Aiden safe.
“Fuck!” Aiden shouted randomly, his hands clenched so tight into fists, they were shaking.
Bel reached over and covered one of Aiden’s hands in his own and squeezed. “We’ll get there in time. He’s fine. He’s a damn idiot, but he’s fine.”
Aiden turned his hand and grabbed Bel’s, clutching it tightly. It had been years since he’d held the hand of any of his children, but right now, it was surprisingly calming. Well, maybe not calming. It was helping to keep the worst of the panic at bay.
Turning his head, he stared out the window at the darkness as it raced past. Wyatt was driving the SUV with River in the passenger seat next to him.
Aiden had jumped into the back with Bel and Rafe.
He couldn’t trust himself to drive right now, even if they were simply following Winter and the others in the rescue van.
Ethan was working hard in the van to track the signal from Ronan’s phone.
He just prayed they didn’t think to ditch Ronan’s phone before they reached their ultimate destination.
Not that he could even guess where they were headed.
He thought Mara and Heller might be drawing them to some warehouse or even to the airport, where she could get Ronan shipped back to Europe, but they’d been heading northwest for several minutes now.
They were far from the city, with trees and mountains passing by his window.
“Where the devil are we?” Rafe grumbled as he shifted in his seat.
“The last sign said we’re approaching Simsbury,” River said from the front.
“Shit.” Rafe swore softly and dug for his phone. He started typing rapidly, and Aiden leaned forward to look at him.
“What?” Bel demanded.
“David says that he’s got people at the various airports. I thought I saw one listed for Simsbury. I’m checking with him and Sofia.”
Aiden closed his eyes, trying to clear his thoughts.
When Ethan had run into the room, he’d just sensed the other vampires approaching the house.
There had been no moving fast enough. They ran outside and into the woods, but they were already too late.
In the distance, car doors slammed and engines roared as they sped away.
Three vampires were found on the ground with their throats torn out, but there was no Ronan.
They’d taken him, likely as he’d predicted they would.
Mara would want revenge, and the tastiest would be handing him over to the Ministry.
He could begin to imagine how she planned to keep him subdued for the entire flight.
His Ronan would rather crash the plane into the ocean than return to the Ministry.
“Yes,” Rafe said suddenly, breaking the silence. “There’s a small airfield in Simsbury, about three miles from where we are now. I bet they’re taking him there.”
Bel leaned closer, looking over his brother’s shoulder at his phone. “That doesn’t make sense. It’s tiny. It couldn’t accommodate anything needed for a transatlantic flight. That’s just for small planes.”
“Maybe they don’t mean to fly him back to Europe from here. Just move him to another location where we can’t interfere and then fly him over the ocean,” Wyatt suggested.
“That’s it! Up there. Winter is signaling to turn at the airfield,” River said excitedly.
Simsbury Airport was little more than a runway against the foothills covered in white snow.
There was a single-story main building at the head of the road and a line of white rounded hangars for storing small single-prop engine planes.
It was a neat and tidy little place that was clearly still active.
Just not past midnight in the middle of December.
As they turned, Bel’s phone began ringing, and the van pulled over to the side of the road. Winter or Marcus was likely calling to make a plan. There was no need. Aiden had a plan in mind.
“Go around them and continue,” Aiden ordered when Wyatt started to slow the SUV as if he meant to park behind Winter.
“Are you—”
“Do it,” Aiden barked. He wasn’t waiting another second.
He’d not been there when Julianna was killed, and the thought still haunted him.
He would not suffer the same mistake with Ronan.
A queasy feeling of dread coiled in his stomach against what he planned to do, but it was nothing compared to the feeling of rage boiling in his veins.
Wyatt quickly cut the wheel, jerking them around the van and hurrying down the narrow road. In the distance they could see a series of cars and SUVs parked under the lights, waiting for them. There were at least two dozen vampires in the area, far more than he’d sensed in the woods by their house.
“Father!” Bel cried out. “What are you doing? Marcus wants to know what the plan is.”
“The plan is that I will take care of this. You will not act until I tell you to.”
“But—”
Bel swallowed his argument after just a look from Aiden. Dragging in a deep breath, he grabbed Bel’s hand again and squeezed. “Do you trust me?”
“Of course.”
“Then I just need you to do as I say. All will be well,” Aiden said smoothly. He just wasn’t sure his sons would be able to forgive him after this. He certainly never felt comfortable looking himself in the mirror afterward.
But to keep Ronan safe, to put his mate back into his arms, he would risk it.
He only half listened to Bel relaying Aiden’s words over the phone to Marcus. There was no need to see if the van was now following them. His children would follow him straight into hell out of love and devotion.
It was just another reason why it was time for him to take matters into his own hands. Ronan’s safety wasn’t the only thing at risk. He had to keep his family safe. They’d been through too much, faced too many threats over the past year. They deserved a chance at happiness and peace at long last.
As they drew closer to the other vehicles, Aiden could see the vampires climbing out to stand on the frozen asphalt, bundled up against the frigid night air.
There were easily two dozen gathered, maybe more.
And in the front of the assembled group stood the slight form of Mara with her faithful bodyguard right behind her left shoulder.
The only one Aiden couldn’t see was Ronan.
Had they put him somewhere else? Used his phone as a decoy to lure them away?
Aiden’s heart sped up as he searched the gathering again and again for his lover. He had to be there. He couldn’t lose him. He would fly to fucking Europe and tear down the entire Ministry to get Ronan back.
“There. Pull over near the building,” Aiden directed sharply. He needed to get out of the car, to face them.
Wyatt followed his instructions, parking off to the side of the road.
Aiden had his door open and his foot on the ground before the wolf even had the SUV thrown into park.
Behind him he could hear doors being thrown open and shoes hitting the asphalt.
Grabbing on to his last shreds of self-control, Aiden forced himself to slow his pace, giving the rest of his family the chance to catch up with him.
While Aiden planned to act alone, he knew they had to stand together as a family.
Fifty yards away, Mara stood bundled in a long wool coat that was cinched at her narrow waist. A smug smile was on her pale face.
Another vampire stepped up to stand beside her.
This had to be the infamous Christopher Heller.
Aiden had never actually seen the vampire prior to this moment.
Despite being a former member of the American Ministry, he’d been content to hide in Damon James’s shadow.
“I’ve spoken with the European Ministry, Aiden,” Mara called out. “It seems they are feeling generous and are willing to give you a second chance. As you know, we have the traitor and we are taking him back to Europe, but they won’t kill him if you agree to their terms.”
“Where is he?” Aiden demanded.
“Are you going to submit to the demands—”
“Where is he?” Aiden bellowed. His voice broke across the valley like a crack of violent thunder, and every one of the vampires he faced jumped.
His temper was at the breaking point. He wasn’t sure if he could offer mercy now even if they begged him.
His heart was screaming and his head was throbbing.
Ronan, the man he was never supposed to see again, the man he was never supposed to kiss, to hold, to love, was alive, and he couldn’t lose him now.
Mara frowned, her shoulders stiffening at his tone.
She made a quick motion with her hand and two vampires hurried over to the rear of an SUV.
They opened it and Aiden could see them roughly pulling a rumpled and battered Ronan from it.
As they got him to his feet and marched him toward Mara, Aiden could see the trickle of dried blood running from his temple to his jaw.
His shirt was torn and splashed with blood, but Aiden had a feeling it was the blood of the vampires he’d killed.
Some small bit of the panic subsided and for the first time since Ronan’s disappearance, Aiden could breathe again.
While Ronan was a little battered, he didn’t look to be in bad shape.
His hands were bound in front of him, but he still had all his digits and was walking with relative ease.
No, Mara was making sure to deliver Ronan in good condition so the Ministry could enjoy itself breaking him.
But that was never going to happen. Even if Aiden didn’t ride to Ronan’s rescue, he knew his old friend was not going to be beaten by the Ministry.
“Hello, darling,” Ronan said with a grin.