We have spread out and are now circling the warehouse; if anyone is inside, they won’t be able to see us. We’ve been sitting outside for the last five hours, and nothing’s been happening. Cassius and I are hiding in an abandoned factory that has a view of the front of the warehouse where the Keres are supposed to be hiding the women.

“I’m starving.” Cassius looks over at me from his position behind a cement pillar and grunts. “Don’t you have any of those energy bars you eat?” I ask, hopeful. We can usually depend on him to have a stash of bars in his backpack. I’m bored of just sitting here doing nothing. I could be with Nova right now. Instead, I’m in the middle of nowhere, waiting for something that might not even happen.

When Bion told us what he had heard and seen, we had no doubt that we had to be here today. He had been about to leave, when an SUV pulled up. He couldn’t see who was inside, as the windows were tinted, but whomever it was, they weren’t Keres. A few minutes later, five Keres rode up. One of them was Merdor. Dismounting, they surrounded the SUV, and Merdor entered the car.

Bion said that when Merdor left the SUV, he was carrying an envelope. At this stage, Bion took a chance and moved closer to where the Keres were. That was when he heard Merdor telling the others that he had a lead on another of our mates. At this stage, they moved into the warehouse, and Bion followed, trying to listen to what they had to say.

Merdor had made a phone call, telling whoever was on the other side that the women were to be transported as soon as possible; he mentioned that they would be picked up here at the warehouse. Bion suspects that whoever was in that SUV must be government, and we are now more suspicious than ever of the FBI.

“So, now that you’re hungry, they’re good enough? Usually you say they are only good for weaklings.” Cassius brings me back from my thoughts as he quips with a raised eyebrow. “Are you suddenly feeling week?”

“I’m just fucking bored.” Just as I’m about to turn my back against the waist-high wall I’ve been hiding behind, I hear Wulf in my earpiece telling us there is movement on his side and we must keep our eyes open.

“It’s about time,” Cassius says. “I hope that motherfuckers with them.” His voice is low, filled with fury. He doesn’t have to say who he wants to be there; we all know that Cassius has wanted Merdor dead ever since he was held prisoner by him. Cassius fights his bloodlust daily because of what Merdor did to him while being held. From all the brothers, Cassius is the one I worry about turning Keres the most because of his bloodlust, but he has made Draco promise to take him down if he turns.

“Just keep your cool, man. You know we’ll get him sooner or later,” I say. Cassius is leaning up against the concrete slab, his head leaning back against the wall, his eyes closed. Just then, I see movement to my right. Pulling up my sniper, I look through the scope to have a clearer view.

“Fuck,” I grunt. “We have movement. There are five bikes and a truck. There might be more behind the truck.” From the corner of my eye, I see Cassius crouch and ready his sniper. The plan is to take out as many as we can before we breach the warehouse.

“We have a visual,” Burkhart confirms. He and Brandr are closer to the warehouse than we are, as they have been checking for explosives around the perimeter. “There are another five behind the truck.”

“Get ready,” Draco orders. A few minutes later, the bikes draw up in front of the warehouse, the truck right behind them.

“There are another five on this side,” Wulf reveals from our left side. That makes fifteen Keres we can see to eight of us. The guys who were riding in front have dismounted and are now walking towards the warehouse; they move towards different sections and then stop, looking around for any abnormal movement.

A minute later, Merdor steps out of the passenger side of the truck, also looking around before he moves towards the back and opens the door to reveal five women inside. The bikers who were guarding the back are still on their bikes with their guns drawn, as if expecting trouble.

“Do you think they suspect we’re here?” Cassius asks from his position.

“I don’t know how, but anything’s possible,” I answer quietly. Merdor starts to usher the women out of the truck and towards the Keres standing by the door to the warehouse. The women seem scared; there are bruises on their bodies, and their clothes are torn.

“As soon as the women are inside, take down the guys on the bikes,” Draco states. “Wulf, you and Caelius take out the ones at the back. Burkhart, you and Brandr move in when I give the go ahead. Celmund and I will be attacking from our side.” We wait patiently while all the women are moved inside. When the last one enters, Draco gives the go ahead.

I aim and then shoot, hearing Cassius shoot at the same time as me. Two guys from the five who were on the bikes are dead. The other three have ducked behind their bikes and are shooting at where they think the shots might be coming from. The guys inside the warehouse are also shooting. I shoot again, aiming for the tank of the bike. As the bullet finds its target, the Keres jumps out of the way before the bike explodes, and runs towards the door of the warehouse, but Cassius is quicker and shoots him, hitting him in the leg.  

“Where do you think you’re going?” I hear Cassius say as we see the guy who has just been shot pulling himself towards the door. Cassius aims and shoots again, killing the guy just as he reaches the door.

“We’re in,” Brandr informs us. Celmund showed us the blueprints of the warehouse, but we don’t know if anything has changed in the interior, because we weren’t able to break in, as there are always guards around the perimeter.

“We’re in,” Celmund states. I know Draco was reluctant to attack today because of the speed of everything that occurred, but we didn’t have a choice.

The one guy runs for the door of the warehouse and manages to get inside before we can shoot him, but as the last one tries his luck, I shoot, the shot hitting him in the head. Instantly, he disintegrates into a puddle.

“We’re moving in,” Cassius informs us as we start making our way cautiously to the warehouse. We can hear the women screaming over the sound of the gunshots. I hate it when I hear women in distress, especially now that I’m mated. All I can think about is that could be Nova in there.

We’re about halfway in when we hear cars approaching. Looking towards where the Keres came from, I see two SUVs approaching at high speed. “Two SUVs incoming,” I state, letting the brothers inside the warehouse know that we have company. Cassius and I are in the open with nowhere to hide. I lift my sniper to my shoulder and aim. After I shoot, I notice that the SUVs must be bulletproof, as the bullet didn’t penetrate.

“Shoot for the tyres,” I advise as Cassius is about to shoot. I notice him adjusting hurriedly and then he shoots. I fire again right after. The front SUV swerves as we blow one of its tyres, but then straightens and continues coming. We shoot again, and this time when it swerves, it smashes into a tree opposite the road.

The other one continues rapidly approaching while shooting out the window of the SUV at us. “Fuck,” Cassius roars as a bullet grazes his arm.

“Move! Let’s get out of here,” I thunder as I start running towards the truck the women were in. Crouching behind the truck, I look over at Cassius. “You okay?” He asks but nods in agreement.

“Who the fuck are these guys? They’re not Keres,” I state. “We need to keep them alive long enough to know if they are Salazar’s men or not.” Cassius grunts as he looks around the truck and shoots as the SUV comes to a stop a few meters away from us. Four guys have gotten out of the SUV that crashed against the tree, and are now making their way towards us.

“We need help,” I call as I see another four get out of the SUV closer to us. Cassius and I are shooting, but soon, we’ll run out of bullets if we don’t get rid of these guys.

“What’s going on?” Draco asks.

“We have eight unfriendlies shooting at us outside the warehouse,” I say.

“Burkhart, go from that side. Celmund will go from this one,” he orders. I hear their confirmation and know that soon we’ll have help.

I crouch down, placing my hands on the ground, and send a shockwave their way. I hear the ground heave and then the groaning of the SUV. Cassius shoots, and I hear one of the unfriendlies scream in pain. “Got you, fucker,” Cassius grunts, and then shoots again. “I’m going to drain the liquid from the SUV. Have you got your lighter with you?” At my confirmation, he places his handgun in the waist of his jeans.

“No need for your lighter, asshole. The cavalry has arrived,” Burkhart says into our earpieces. “Let’s roast these fuckers.”

Cassius lifts his hands, rotating them towards the SUV. I see the liquid dripping from the bottom while I continue to shoot. “Now,” he states.

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 look 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.