Suddenly, there’s a flash from my right-hand side from Burkhart, and then I see the gasoline light up. There is screaming when the men see what’s about to happen. I see them start to run. Fuck, but they’re quick, and then there’s an explosion as the SUV lifts from the floor with the power of the explosion. Before I can move, I have two guys before me. One punches me in the gut, and damn, but that hurts.
“What the . . . fuck?” I groan, kicking with my right leg at his knee and then jumping at the other guy who was about to kick me. They come back at me as if I didn’t touch them; their strength is superior to any human.
“Son of a bitch,” I hear Cassius groan as he gets punched in the face and stumbles back. “What the hell are you?” He throws a punch. I continue to fight, hearing my brothers struggling to fight their opponents too. I throw an upper hook under one of the guy’s chins and see him fall back unconscious.
“Take that, you asshole,” I mutter as I kick the other one hard in his left side. By rights, that should have thrown him a few meters away, but this asshole continues coming. He punches me again across the cheek, and I swear I nearly pass out. That has never happened with a human before; I stumble, nearly falling under the truck.
“Let’s see you beat this, asshole.” I lift my hand and place it on the truck, moulding the metal to do what I want. As he comes towards me, crouching to punch me in the stomach, I move the metal in his way. I see him wince in pain as his hand hits the metal. I pull out the blade I have in my boot and stick it into his stomach. Before he can recuperate, I pull it out and stick it into his heart, seeing his eyes widen, and then he takes his last breath and falls to the side.
Looking around, I see that Burkhart has moved closer and is still fighting one of the guys. The other is on the ground with a broken neck a few meters behind him, and I swear the fucker has lost his mind, as he’s actually smiling. There is no one between us Elementals who can fight like Burkhart. When it comes to hand-to-hand combat, he’s a demon. This guy shouldn’t be lasting this long with him, but looking at both of them fighting, I have a feeling he’s playing with him.
Burkhart turns in a circle. Lowering his upper body, he lifts his leg and kicks the guy across his head. The guy stumbles back and falls. As Burkhart straightens and starts towards him, the guy pulls out his gun. Before he can shoot, Burkhart lifts his hands. “Try beating this, motherfucker,” he growls, and then the guy’s clothes catch fire, and he’s screaming as he burns to a crisp.
I hear a gunshot and look to my right, seeing Celmund kill his last opponent. Cassius stands over his two, breathing heavily; he looks over at us with a puzzled look. “What the hell are they?” he asks with a scowl. That is something I think all of us would like to know, as we have never seen any human like them before. They were too strong and fast to be human, but they weren’t Keres or Elemental, either, as I didn’t feel any of their energy.
“Let’s worry about that later. There’s still some Keres to kill,” Celmund states as he starts to make his way towards the doors of the warehouse.
“Fuck yeah,” I growl as I follow, the other two close behind. When we reach the doors, Celmund asks the others for stats, telling them that we are going in. We can still hear shooting from inside, and it’s coming from close to the door.
“Be careful, they have the women in a circle, and they are all around. If there is a stray bullet, it will hit one of them,” Wulf says.
“We are coming in.” We are standing to the side of the doors just in case they shoot as the doors open. Celmund lifts his hand and flicks it. Instantly, the doors crash back with a gust of wind.
“Show off,” I mutter playfully. As he makes a dash through the doors, we follow right behind him. When inside, we see a big open area with rows of crates. Each of us makes a dash for a different row and starts to walk carefully down the row. Suddenly, someone shoots at me, just missing me because I ducked when I heard the shot. “Motherfucker,” I growl as I look up and see a Keres on top of a pile of crates. He smiles at me and then points the gun again to shoot, but before he can, I place my hand on the floor, lifting the ground. The crates heave, making the shot go wide. He loses his balance and comes crashing down to the ground. I don’t have many bullets left, so I rush him with my blade in my hand, but before I can stab him, he’s on his feet with his fists raised.
I’m about to throw a punch when a bullet comes whizzing past my head into his heart, and he disintegrates. Looking back, I see Burkhart smiling on top of some crates behind me. “No time to tango. You can thank me later,” he says before he disappears over the side.
“Asshole,” I call, but I’m smiling. I continue a few more meters until the crates stop, and I see a few Keres behind a couple of crates and the women lying on the floor, some with their arms over their heads, others rolled into a ball. One of the Keres sees me and shoots, but I dive to the side and shoot back, hitting the crate. “Are these the only ones left?” I ask, and Brandr confirms.
There are only three of them left, and I notice that one of them is Merdor. Looking around, I see Cassius staring at Merdor, a murderous look in his eyes. Fuck, I hope he keeps his cool; he has been waiting for this for centuries.
“Put down your guns. There is no way out,” Draco calls from the other side of where I’m standing. I see the two Keres look at Merdor, but he shakes his head in denial. He leans down towards one of the women lying on the ground with her arms over her head and places her in front of him as a shield.
“Draco,” he calls, “you should know by now that there’s always a way.” He places his hand around her neck and pulls her head back against him, making her wince, but I notice she doesn’t cry out. The woman has honey-coloured hair that must have been in a ponytail but now is half falling down her back and across his shoulder. Her hazel eyes are wide with fright as she looks around anxiously; I see her stop as she looks at Cassius. Looking over at him, I see him advancing towards the Keres.
“Fuck,” I grunt, and start shooting at the other two Keres before they can shoot at him.
“Stand down, Cassius,” I hear Draco roar in our earpiece, but Cassius is deaf to everything except Merdor. His body is tense and deadly as he advances.
“Cassius,” the woman calls as she stares at him, a look of recognition in her eyes. I see Cassius tense and slow, a frown marring his forehead.
“Well, well. Look who it is,” Merdor mumbles. “Hello, Cassius, have you missed me?”
Cassius growls low in his throat, but he doesn’t stop. All the guys are now shooting at the two Keres, keeping their concentration away from Cassius. “I wouldn’t come any closer if I were you. I’m sure you wouldn’t want this beauty getting blown, now would you?” I see a tear slip down the woman’s cheek, but she still doesn’t make a sound. How the hell does she know who he is?
Cassius is nearly upon them when Merdor raises his gun to shoot him, but then the woman jabs her elbow into his stomach just as his gun goes off. Merdor roars and painfully pulls her hair. “I guess you’re not too interested in your mate living, now are you?” Cassius stops a few steps away, his body tense, his tanned complexion suddenly pale as he looks at the woman.
And then one of the Keres turns and shoots at him. I see him go down as if in slow motion. Blood pooling across the top of his T-shirt, his eyes closed. I hear the men roar in anger at what they see, and then the Keres who shot Cassius is lifted in the air from where he was hiding. A gust of wind carries him up, and then his clothes start to burn. Looking over at Draco, I see one of his hands in the air, his eyes a bright blue as he stares murderously at the Keres.
The Keres starts to scream in agony, but Draco doesn’t let him down. The others rush the one who’s still shooting, overpowering him. I hurry towards Cassius, keeping an eye on Merdor the whole time, but Cassius is now sitting up, blood running down his arm, and a huge red stain is on the front of his T-shirt.
“Cassius,” the woman calls again.
I see Cassius wince, but he doesn’t l
ook away. Merdor has an evil smile on his face. “How touching,” he says sarcastically, lifting his gun to shoot Cassius once again. With his wounds, he won’t be able to move quickly enough. I am seeing everything as if in slow motion as I try to reach Cassius in time, but then as Merdor is about to shoot, the woman brings her foot down on Merdor’s shoe and shoots forward towards Cassius. Merdor shoots, hitting her. I see her eyes widen as she stops and then falls.
Cassius roars, wounds forgotten as he shoots up and towards Merdor, reaching him before he can shoot again. He hits the gun out of his hand before he can react, and has his hands around his neck, squeezing in his bloodlust. Merdor struggles in his hold, trying to break free, but there is no way he’s going to get away from Cassius’s fury. I reach them and see that Merdor is turning a purple colour, his eyes starting to bulge. I stand back, not interfering in this moment of retribution.
Crouching, I check the woman’s pulse and see that she’s still alive, but there is blood everywhere. If she doesn’t get help soon, she will surely die. Looking her over, I take note that Merdor shot her just below the back of her head. I really hope Merdor was lying and this isn’t Cassius’s mate, because it doesn’t seem as if she’s going to make it.
Looking over, I see Merdor trying and failing to take his last breath, and then he starts to turn to ash. Cassius is breathing heavily, his hands falling to his side in defeat. He turns slowly and looks at the woman lying deathly still on the ground, blood pooling around her, and then his eyes climb up to mine in anguish before he falls to his knees and roars in anguish.
NOVA 22
Bion received a call about fifteen minutes ago, asking that he be ready. Apparently, Cassius was shot and one of the women was in a really bad state. Bion, Bjarni, Brielle, and I are standing in the garage awaiting them. Aria is with Gabriela, as she’s still not feeling better, and Bjarni wanted someone with her just in case she feels worse. Jasmine took Orion to their room, taking him away from whatever is coming.
A few minutes later, we hear the bikes roaring up towards the garage, and then a truck behind them. They all come to a screeching halt, the guys jumping off their bikes and hurrying to the back of the truck to open the door and jumping in. Bjarni and Bion hurry towards the back too. “Fuck,” I hear Bjarni grunt as he jumps in. A minute later, he’s jumping back down and Brandr and Ceric are handing Cassius down towards him and Bion, who are waiting to take him.
My heart constricts when I see Cassius’s pale complexion, his eyes closed and his chest heaving with difficulty to take his next breath. I can feel tears prick my eyes, but I refuse to cry. Ceric needs me strong now, not crying. The men hand a blonde woman down into Draco’s arms, and he hurriedly makes his way after Bjarni and Bion with the woman held close against his chest.
I notice that Brielle has left my side and is running ahead of the men. I stand still waiting for Ceric to jump down from the truck and make his way towards me when he’s ready. A minute later, Brandr and he jump down, their T-shirts covered in blood. I must have made a distressed sound, because Ceric looks around hurriedly, seeing me.
“Hellcat,” he calls, and slowly makes his way towards me, his shoulders stooped as if he’s carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. My hand is over my heart, and I can feel it racing.
“Are you hurt?” I ask worriedly when he reaches me. He stops, looking down at his shirt, and he looks surprised, as if only noticing the blood now. He shakes his head in denial, and then he’s pulling the T-shirt off, using it to clean his chest of the blood sticking to him.
“It’s not my blood,” he murmurs when he throws the ruined T-shirt on the floor. He hangs his head, his hands low on his hips. He seems lost. I approach him. Placing my hands on his chest, I wait for him to acknowledge me.
When he finally looks up, his eyes are filled with pain. “What’s wrong, babe?” I ask quietly. He grunts. His arms come up and around me, crushing me against him. His head lowers, and he buries his face against my hair, breathing in deeply. I don’t say anything else, waiting for him to open up to me.
We stand like that for a few minutes before he lifts his head and kisses my forehead. “Let’s go see how they are doing.” His eyes are still troubled, and his voice is gruff, but I don’t push him. I simply nod as he guides me into the compound.
When we draw closer to the infirmary, I see the guys standing outside. Caelius is pacing, a scowl on his face; Draco has one hand on the window, his head bent as he stares at the floor in frustration. Brandr and Burkhart are talking quietly, with Celmund looking into the infirmary every few minutes. Wulf is leaning against the wall next to the window, staring at what Bion and Brielle are doing inside, a dark scowl on his face. Bjarni is sitting with his head bent as he leans against the wall, his knees drawn up and his arms resting on them.
“How’re they doing?” Ceric asks as we draw closer. Some of the guys look over at us, and all we get is grunts. Looking in through the window, I gasp, only now understanding why Ceric is in such a state. Cassius’s shirt has been cut away, and his chest is covered in blood, his complexion pale. Bion is mumbling to himself as he prods his chest.
The woman who was brought in is lying on the bed next to Cassius, and I see they have placed her on her stomach. She is facing the window, but I can’t see her face because of her hair. I don’t know where she’s injured, but there is so much blood matting her hair. Brielle is behind her with a worried look on her face, her shoulders tense as she dabs at the back of the woman’s head.
“Cassius,” I hear Bion rumble, “don’t you fucking dare. You hear me, asshole? Draco, get in here.” I see Draco tense, and then he’s next to Bion. He moved so fast that I didn’t even see him go.
The brothers are now all standing by the window, concerned looks on their faces. “He needs your blood, and put some sense into him. He’s giving up,” Bion says angrily as he continues to work on Cassius’s chest. Draco growls deep in his throat. I can see that Cassius being injured is affecting him deeply. He brings his wrist to his mouth and tears at it with his teeth, placing it over Cassius’s mouth, and with the other hand, he pries his jaw open.
“Don’t you even think about it, asshole. I will come after you and bring you back.” His words come out so guttural that they’re hard to understand.
“She’s losing too much blood. She needs a transfusion,” Brielle suddenly says from next to the other bed. Looking over her shoulder, she sees Bion concentrating on Cassius’s chest, and then her eyes fall on Draco, and they widen when she sees Draco’s blood dribbling into Cassius’s mouth. “What . . . what are you doing?”
“He needs blood,” Bion answers without looking up. “Wulf can give you blood for the woman.”
“But you can’t do that,” she gasps, horrified. “It’s unheard of.”
“Well, look at that . . .” Bion states, “looks as if that drew a reaction out of him.” Looking closer, I don’t see anything out of the ordinary except that maybe I see his chest moving with his breaths, when before I didn’t.
“Will you listen to me?” Brielle bellows, her blood-covered hands now on her hips as she glares at Bion. “This is unethical. You can’t give someone blood like that.” She points at Draco with his wrist still over Cassius’s mouth.
Bion stands up straight as he stretches back to get a scalpel from a tray behind him. “I don’t have time for this now; this is how we do it,” he grunts in annoyance.
“But you can’t just give them blood; they might have a different blood type,” she states angrily, as if talking to a child.
“Trust me, you can give her anyone’s blood here, and she will do better than having her own blood type,” he says. I see her throw her hands up in the air in annoyance and then look out at all of us. Wulf is already walking into the infirmary before she can call out. “There’s a transfusion kit in the drawer over there,” he calls out as he nods to his side.
Brielle huffs and then hurriedly moves towards the kit. Getting it out, she starts
to prepare everything for the transfusion from Wulf to Brielle. “And you couldn’t tell me that sooner why?” she asks.
“Who’s that woman?” I ask, confused as I look up at Ceric. He’s standing behind me with his arms loosely circling my waist.
“Merdor said she’s Cassius’s mate, and she seemed to recognize him, but we don’t know,” Ceric replies quietly.
“Oh no.” I now understand everyone’s anxiety. If anything happens to the woman and she’s actually Cassius’s mate, that will be the end of any hope for him not turning Keres. That is, if he pulls through. Things aren’t looking too good for either of them.
The transfusion is set out, and Wulf is sitting next to the bed. Brielle has her eyes closed and her hands over the woman’s head when suddenly, her eyes pop open. “Her heart stopped,” she whispers as she hurriedly starts giving the woman CPR.
“Fuck,” Ceric groans from behind me, his head buried in my hair as he breathes in deeply.
“Hold this here.” Bion is holding a dressing over Cassius’s wound. “Put pressure on it,” he says as he moves towards the woman. Bion and Brielle work together, trying to bring the woman back. It feels like hours, but it can’t be more than a minute or two when Bion stops CPR. He looks over at Brielle. “Can you help her?” he asks, a worried look on his face.
Brielle looks down at her hands lying lightly on the woman’s chest. “I will try,” she murmurs, and then closes her eyes, one hand on the woman’s chest, the other behind her head. A serene look comes over her face. I see Bion lift his hand, moving it to stroke her face, but before he can touch her, Wulf grips his arm. Bion looks over at him, a startled look on his face. Wulf’s eyebrow is up in question. I see Bion’s shoulders slump in dejection, and then he nods and makes his way towards Cassius.
I notice that Cassius’s face is now turned towards the woman, and his eyes are open. I see Draco lower his head towards him and whisper something in his ear; Cassius nods slightly and then closes his eyes again. We stay outside the infirmary for hours until we are sure that Cassius is going to pull through. The woman isn’t out of danger yet, but at least she’s stable.
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