CASSIUS 13

 

We collected the weapons before expected therefor we should be getting home early evening if everything goes well. We’ve stopped at a rundown warehouse where Tor and his men will be meeting us, they will be the ones to transport the weapons to the border where we have another chapter meeting them there to take it the rest of the way.

“Hey Cassius, have you got any of those health bars left?” Celmund asks as he comes to sit next to me. I’m sitting on the ground against the warehouse wall, our bikes parked before me. The guys are all hanging around, some sitting on their bikes others walking around and others like me sitting while we wait. They always bust my balls about the health bars but when it comes down to it they all eat them.

Opening my haversack that is laying on the ground next to me I pull out a bar and hand it to him. “Do you know how far out they are?” I want to get back home, now that I know Sven is the rat we need to find out what information he’s been passing on.

“They should be here in the next fifteen minutes or so.” He answers as he takes a bite of the health bar. Draco’s phone rings, looking over at him I see him frown before he answers.

“Nova?” Draco answers questioningly, Ceric that is laying on a cement slab across from us lifts his head and looks over at Draco with a frown. I feel myself tensing, this can’t be good, why would Nova be phoning Draco?

“I’m kind of busy right now.” He grunts

“Gabriela?” he mutters, “Great, I can see trouble coming. Fine, make it quick.” Bjarni was leaning against his bike next to Draco, as soon as he hears his woman’s name he stands. Now that we know there is something happening we are all on high alert. At least we know that our women are fine, otherwise they wouldn’t be phoning. Draco pulls the phone away from his ear and puts it on speaker phone.

“You can’t do anything when you arrive, you can’t let Sven know that we’re onto him.” We hear Brielle say, well it looks like whatever is happening all the women are involved.

“And why is that?” Draco asks.

“Are we on speak phone?” Jasmine asks, I see Wulf shake his head in irritation.

“Yes” he answers

“Just as a precaution, I suggest you listen to this yourself before you decide when to share.” Nova suggests.

“What the fuck?” Ceric mutters as he jumps off the wall and walks towards Draco. The rest of us are also muttering in anger especially when Draco disconnects the speaker phone and walks away towards the warehouse.

“This isn’t fucking funny, I swear that woman really needs a spanking.” Ceric grumbles as he glares at Draco’s back.

“Gabriela isn’t fucking answering her phone.” Bjarni grunts in anger.

“Neither is Jasmine.” Wulf says.

“Everything you told me, tells me to grab him and make him talk. I don’t see why we shouldn’t let him know that we have figured out that he’s the mole.” Draco’s voice is deceptively quiet but with our hearing we can make out what he’s saying.

And then he roars “Motherfuckers.” As he kicks a drum that was standing against the wall before him. The drum lifts up in the air and crashes about a meter away from my bike. I don’t give a shit about the bike, but I do give a shit about what’s happening. Draco is not one to lose his shit easily, whatever they are telling him is not good. What the hell did they get themselves into now?

“Yes, and don’t tell your men any of this if they phone you. I will let them know what is happening when its time.” No fucking way, how can he think that we’re just going to stand around without knowing what is happening. I can see by the look on the others faces that that isn’t going to happen. I jump up from my sitting position, if this has something to do with Scarlett I want to know what it is.

“Calm the fuck down,” he roars as he walks back towards us. “As soon as Tor picks up the weapons I’ll tell you what the women found out.” Draco says in a no-nonsense tone.

“How did they find out whatever it is they found out?” Bion asks with a scowl.

“How do you think?” Draco says sarcastically with a raised brow. Just then we hear bikes approach and know that Tor and his men are here. I pull out my phone and dial Scarlett’s number, he might not want to tell us, but I need to know that she’s fine. After her phone call last night, and the terror I heard in her voice when I answered I was ready to get on the road and go hold her, but after talking and getting her mind off her memories I could hear the drowsiness in her voice and the calmness had returned.

Pulling my phone away from my ear I scowl at it, darn, they must all be in on it. When I get back I’m going to make her understand that I’m her man and no matter what I’m to get access to her whenever I need to.

“Hey fuckers, why you all looking so tense? I thought you would all be happy to see my ugly face.” Tor calls out as he parks, but I can see the weariness in his stance as he looks around at all of us.

“Tor” Draco greets as he approaches, “How did the ride go?”

“Looks like it went better than yours.” He states

“All good here.” Draco says as he turns and points to the truck, “there’s your load, everything is in the panels.” Tor looks back at his men and inclines his head letting them know to start preparing to move.

“We’ve been having issues with the cops down by us, we might need some assistance soon.” Tor confides. “In regard to the fishing trawlers you mentioned, we haven’t found any movement up to now, but will carry on steaking out the place.” Alexey had confided to Draco that women were being smuggled out of the country in the fishing trawlers. The only problem is that the fishing trawlers are a different ball game, it looks like the Keres and Salazar have made a pact with a street gang that work those trawlers, and because those trawlers are all in Cape Town Draco has tasked Tor to keep an eye on it.

The Keres are being smart they are bringing as many humans as they can into their plan, knowing that we will only hurt humans if we are attacked by them first.  Now this thing with our women, whatever it is, it’s not good as Draco is still tense from the conversation. As soon as Tor and his men leave with the weapons we all approach Draco and wait for an update on the situation.

“I guess this is as good a place as any.” Draco states as he looks at us, I can see the tension straining his muscles as he holds back his anger. Whatever he’s going to say I know I’m not going to like it. “As you might all have guessed the women combined their gifts to confirm if Sven is the rat or not.”

“They don’t know when to stay out of something.” Bion grumbles.

“In this case it’s a good thing they didn’t stay out of it.” Draco says, “When we get back we can’t let Sven know that we’re onto him.” There is surprise on all our faces but we all keep quiet awaiting for the rest. “Apparently from what the women say, Sven was giving the Keres specific items of ours for them to find our mates. I believe it was items with blood on it for them to be able to read our DNA.”

“It makes sense; the Son of a bitch was tasked with burning our clothes when we get injured.” Bion says with a frown. “I still don’t see how they find our mates from our DNA.”

When Draco relates to us why Sven hates the Elemental’s, I’m perplexed. We have had a killer among us for over two years and not once did we suspect that he was this twisted. It’s true that I never really liked him but I always thought that it was a personality clash, or because of the anger coursing through me.

“Do you think that Sven knows how they are finding our mates?” Burkhart asks

“That is one of the reasons why we can’t let him know that he’s been busted, because I suspect that he knows more even than we think.” Draco explains

“If that’s one of the reasons, what are the others?” I ask, because I suspect that there is much more to come.

“What I’m about to say is going to fuck with some of your minds, but I’m asking you to keep your shit together because we have to work together to get this resolved and the only way to do this is to let Sven walk freely so we can find out more.” Just his words have already tensed my muscles in anger; I know that whatever is coming is not going to be good. “Sven, apparently was called in when your mates were captured, he was given the honour of injecting them.”

“Motherfucker.” Ceric roars

“You can’t expect me not to kill him.” Brandr yells, “Did you see how Aria was when we found her, and that asshole was involved.”

“Draco, we can’t stand down.” Bion argues

“I’m killing the fucker.” I grunt, the fury coursing through my body wants something to crush. He helped with the bad memories that my woman has, the horror that I know she went through.

“What the fuck Draco, there is no good reason after knowing all this that we should stand down. We need to interrogate the asshole until he spills his guts.” Wulf growls

“Enough” Draco roars, the anger coursing through my body doesn’t allow for calmness right now. All I can see in my mind is Sven, my hands around his neck as he takes his last breath.

“There is more isn’t there?” Celmund asks suspiciously from next to me. I glance at him and then at Draco in time to see him nod.

“Yes, unfortunately there is more and this is the part that I wish I didn’t know.” Draco states, with such fury in his voice that leaves no one in doubt that he is just as angry as all of us. “The women that were captured by the Keres are in danger. They somehow know that Sven injected them with some kind of device that all the Keres need to do is activate it and they are dead.”

At his words I feel like the breath has been punched out of me. After years of fighting every day against my bloodlust and the fury that always wanted to engulf me I finally snap. They will know my wrath, the Keres created a monster and now I will come for them and destroy every single one of them.  As if in a haze I see my brothers devastated faces, the horror of what we just heard engulfing us.

Our women have ticking bombs in them and we can’t do anything about it, well let’s see how many fuckers I kill, there won’t be any of them left to activate the device. Turning I stalk towards my bike sliding the haversack on my back as I go.

“Cassius” Draco calls, but I’m past listening to anyone, the only thing on my mind is to kill and save my woman. “Cassius” Draco roars, as I sit on my bike and lean forward to start it, suddenly I’m being lifted off the bike and thrown on the ground. Draco is above me his face contorted in anger, his eyes flashing an ungodly blue. “I know you hurting, but I’m not going to let you kill yourself. Now calm your ass down before I knock you out.”

My mind registers his words but the rage coursing through me is stronger than anything else. I start to struggle but suddenly I’m being lifted in the air, and I can’t move. Draco has his hand out palm flat facing me. His bending air around me, stopping me from moving. “We can do this the whole fucking day, now calm yourself.” From the corner of my eye I can see Ceric on his haunches his head bent in helplessness, Bion is turned away his back tense as he faces his bike. Brandr is sitting against the wall of the warehouse his head leaning against the wall his eyes closed, Burkhart sitting next to him talking.

“I. Will. not. . . Let. Scarlett. Die.” I roar as I start to struggle again against the winds force.

“No one is going to fucking die, that’s why we need to keep our heads and plan this, so we can find out how to deactivate these devices.” Draco roars, Bion snaps around his face looking anguished.

“Every minute they have that in them they’re in danger. We need to get back, so I can try locate the devices on their bodies and see how we can extract them.” He states

“Do you hear that, are you going to cooperate, so we can get something done soon, or must I knock your ass out?” Draco asks as he approaches my suspended body.

“I can’t lose her.” I whisper chocked up as I take in deep breaths to try and calm myself.

“I know brother, I know.” Draco says as he starts to lower me to the ground. I see him incline his head and then Celmund is standing next to me as Draco stops bending the air around me. “Now listen up all of you, I know this is going to be fucking hard. I want to kill that fucker just as much as any of you, but if we want to save your women we’re going to have to be clever. Therefore, when we get to the compound I want all the men with mates to go to them, I’m sure they’re scared right now. The rest of us are going to act normally, I don’t want anything said or done that he can get suspicious of.” Draco orders, “When we get back we meet and decide how we’re going to get around this. Now let’s get the fuck home.”

My mind is so tortured that I don’t even notice the distance as we speed towards home. I must continuously take in deep breaths to maintain calm. That dream of normality that I had since bonding with Scarlett is gone, the calmness that I was finding in my mate has been corrupted. My mind is centred on one thing and one thing alone. Kill, destroy, get rid of the threat and Scarlett will make it.

I don’t know if I’m going to be able to hold back when I see that traitor, my very soul is enraged. Every time I think of Scarlett’s face when she talked about also being broken, the pain in her voice, her eyes, twists at my heart.  And one of the culprits responsible for her pain will be close at hand.

As we turn into the compound my breathing speeds, I can feel the energy around us crackle with anger as we ride. Everyone is explosive, one thing said wrong and someone will blow. We pull into the garage and dismount, looking around I see Caelius and Gunner walking towards us.

“Why your coms off?” Gunner asks as he approaches. No one answers him as everyone starts making their way inside.

“Meeting in thirty.” Draco calls out as everyone disperses.

“What’s going on?” I hear Caelius ask as I enter the corridor into the compound. Celmund is punching in the codes needed to deactivate the lockdown, therefore I don’t hear if anyone answered him as the mechanism kicks in and the iron shutters start to open.