The location Nova pointed out to us is about thirty minutes out of town, an abandoned factory that we had no idea the Keres had taken over. We’re about five minutes out. The bikes and the SUV have been parked, and we’re now making our way on foot. We’re trying to avoid them knowing we are coming, even though they may feel the energy spike when we get closer.

Nova’s walking next to me, almost running, as her legs are much shorter than ours. Caelius and Draco are ahead, scouting out the area. The rest of the guys are taking up the rear. Before we left, Celmund showed us satellite images of the factory. We know exactly where we’re going and how we’re able to enter. The only concern is trying to keep Nova safe; I swear, if she doesn’t listen to me, I will spank her ass until she knows who wears the pants in this relationship.

Relationship! I had hoped but never really believed that I would find my mate. Her presence next to me warms my blood to a slow simmer; every time she takes a deep breath, her chest expands, tightening her black T-shirt over her luscious breasts.

Fuck, I need to keep my head in the game or its going to get blown off, and I’m not talking about my cock, because that one’s been trying to get in the game since the minute I saw my hellcat. “Make sure you do everything I tell you, and stay by me at all times,” I insist once again.

“You already told me. You don’t have to keep repeating yourself. Jeez, have a little faith. What do you think I am, a kid?” she argues. Damn woman never stops, but her tense shoulders and flashing blue eyes just manage to harden my manhood even more. I swear, I’m going to bust a nut if I don’t get relief soon.

“Stop arguing and just listen to me, okay?” I insist.

“Okay,” she says.

Draco lifts his hand before us, and everyone stops. “This is where we split up. Move,” he instructs into our earpieces. Nova, Burkhart, and I will go in through a side window, while Bjarni, Caelius, and Wulf take the back. Draco, Bion, and Brandr will breach the front.

We are nearly at our destination when shots are fired. Shit. “Run,” I command. Nova doesn’t have to be told twice. She takes off, surprising me with her speed. I place myself before her, moderating my speed to match hers in case anyone has us in their sights. Reaching the windows that we are supposed to enter, I motion to Burkhart to check that the windows aren’t rigged before we open them.

“Clear,” he calls, already making his way inside.

“You next,” I say, looking around to make sure no one sneaks up behind us. When I look back at the window, Nova’s ass is up in the air as she makes her way through the window. Fuck me; my jeans are so tight, they are starting to cut the blood circulation to my cock. If I’m not careful, the damn thing will fall off from starvation.

Climbing through the window, I groan in pain as my jeans tighten around my balls. “Seriously, asshole, we are in the middle of a fight. Can’t you control your dick?” Burkhart growls quietly next to me as I straighten.

Adjusting myself, I glare at him as I walk stiffly towards where I notice Nova is peeping out of a door. “Are you ready?” Looking back at me, she nods. “Okay, then, get behind me.” I open the door quietly and start to move down a long corridor with doors on both sides. When we are nearly at the end of the corridor, I see a door open right before me, and I am staring at the end of a .35, though fortunately not down the barrel.

Grabbing the barrel of the gun, I pull the asshole all the way out, punching him as his face comes into view. Now dazed, the asshole staggers. Pulling back my fist, I punch him again. He tries to kick, but I grab his leg and pull, unbalancing him. As he falls, Burkhart throws a blade straight to his heart before he hits the ground. He gurgles for a second before he closes his eyes and his body starts to disintegrate.

“Well, look at that, he was an air bender,” Burkhart jokes as the guy’s body completely disintegrates before us. Looking over at Nova, I see a shocked look on her face as she looks at the area where the Keres was. Now only his gun remains. “Nova?” I call, trying to get her attention, but her eyes won’t leave the spot where the Keres was.

“Nova!” I call forcefully, trying to get her attention. Reluctantly, as if in a trance, she looks over at me, a confused look in her eyes.

“Where is he?” she whispers, as if the Keres might hear.

“He’s dead,” Burkhart replies with a raised eyebrow, as if he doesn’t understand how she can’t see that.

At Burkhart’s reply, she pales. “How did he disappear?” Her eyes are haunted as she looks at me. All I want to do is take her in my arms and assure her that it’s okay.

“I thought you knew we were different?” How the hell could we have brought her here not knowing what we are capable of?

“Yes, different, like me. Not disappearing different,” she stutters. “How do you do that?”

“Hellcat, we each bend a specific element. When we die, we transform into that element. The only difference is that our body doesn’t continue here as the humans do,” I try to explain.

“What element are you?” she asks, her hands clasped tightly before her.

“I’m earth.”

“So do you, like, become a tree or something?” At her question, Burkhart smothers a laugh with a cough.

“No, I disintegrate into sand particles,” I reveal, seeing her eyes widen.

“Fuck, Burkhart, did you have to kill that asshole in front of Aria?” I hear Brandr’s tirade on my earpiece. “She’s fucking losing her shit, worried that I’m going to disintegrate like that. Fuck.”

I see Burkhart tense at Brandr’s angry tirade; Burkhart has taken the job of being Aria’s protector. When Brandr’s not around, we usually find Burkhart hovering around her, keeping her safe. Knowing that something he did has somehow touched her will mess with his head. Burkhart doesn’t take failure well, especially when women are involved.

“Let’s get this fucking over with. Enough talking,” Draco growls in our earpiece.

“Let’s move,” I command, looking over at Nova’s tense body. “You okay to continue?” I’m going to have to sit down with her after this and explain everything to her. After a few seconds of staring at me, she nods.

We continue down the corridor until we reach the stairs that lead below ground. As I start to descend, I hear a noise below. Stopping, I crouch, waiting for whomever it is to come into view. As two Keres start running up the stairs with guns drawn, I get ready to take aim, when Nova tells them to stop and lower their guns in that melodic voice of hers.

To my and Burkhart’s surprise, they do what she says. “You are going to do exactly what these two tell you to do. Do you understand?” At their confirmation, she looks over at me. “All yours.” She smirks. I’m happy to see that the shock of seeing that guy disintegrate has lifted, and she seems to be back to her exasperating ways again.

“Which one, sweetheart?” I hear Burkhart say tenderly. Looking back, I see him turn towards the guy standing before us on the left. Aria must have asked to read one of them. While she does, I make sure they don’t have any more weapons.

Moving closer, I command, “Drop all your weapons.” I see them grimace, but they drop their weapons. “What is down here?” I ask.

“Cells,” one of them says.

“How many men are down here?” Burkhart asks aggressively.

“Three.”

“Turn around,” I command. As soon as they turn, the last thing they feel is the butt of my gun on their heads as they lose consciousness.

“Why did you do that?” Nova asks. “They were doing everything you told them.”

“I don’t have anything to tie them up with at the moment, and I don’t know how long your persuasion will last once we’re gone.”

“Aria says they have cameras filming down here. They are trying to see how Nova’s persuasion works,” Burkhart says. “I suggest you don’t use it while we’re here, sweetheart.”

“Can’t we just disable the cameras?” she asks.

“Just listen, okay? And be good. No persuasions.” She stiffens her shoulders as she usually does when she’s about to argue, but then I hear her huff in annoyance.

“Fine,” she grumbles.

We continue until we’re looking down another corridor, this one with five doors. One of the doors at the end is open, and I can see a desk with a laptop on it. Raised voices come from behind another closed door to our left. Lifting my finger to my lips, I look at Nova, letting her know she needs to be quiet.

Burkhart moves towards the closest door to us, and the door swings open noiselessly. Looking in, he shakes his head, letting us know it’s empty. Moving towards the door to my left, I listen to see if there is any sound from inside. At the silence that greets me, I turn the handle, opening it. I see a woman tied to a bed. Her lip is swollen and bleeding, and I also notice bruises on her upper arms, but otherwise, she seems fine. At our entrance, her head turns towards us, her grey eyes widening in surprise. I again place my finger to my lips, showing her that she needs to keep quiet. She nods in understanding.

Nova moves towards her and starts to untie her. I place the tip of the barrel of my gun on her hand, stopping her. “Is this Sam?” I ask only loud enough for her to hear. I see her frown before she shakes her head.

“Who are you?” I ask. Burkhart closes the door so our conversation isn’t heard.

“I’m Brielle. Are you here to help me?” she asks just as quietly as we are being.

“Why are you here?” I ask without answering her question.

“I don’t know. One minute I’m at work, and the next I’m tied up here. Where is here, anyway?”

“Where is work?”

“Why aren’t you answering my questions?” At my set jaw, she huffs, “The hospital in Cape Town.”

“What’s your last name, Brielle?”

“Soares,” she says with a slight accent.

“Did you get that, Brother?” I hear Celmund confirm in the earpiece. I will not help this woman until Celmund has given me the go ahead. “How long have you been here, Brielle?”

“I don’t know, but I would say over a week, maybe.”

“There is a Brielle Soares reported missing in the Cape Town area. She’s telling the truth. She’s a nurse at the hospital there, and she’s been missing going on two weeks,” Celmund states. “Aria also confirms what she’s saying.”

“Okay, Brielle, we’re going to untie you and take you out of here, but you are going to have to be quiet. Can you walk?” I ask. Nova is already untying her and helping her sit up in the bed. I can see her grimace slightly, but other than that, she seems fine.

“I think so,” she says tentatively as she moves to stand with Nova’s help.

“Slowly. I will hold you until you can stand by yourself” Nova says quietly. At her concern with this woman she doesn’t even know, I see a new side of her. She also tried to save those Keres’s lives when she persuaded them not to shoot at us earlier. My woman seems to have a soft heart to her, after all. I think that this whole big mouth thing she has going is all a protection mechanism. Maybe we are more alike than we think.

“I’m fine,” Brielle says after taking a few steps.

“Okay, let’s go.” Before we make our way out of the room, I hear Wulf say that they are descending the stairs and will be with us shortly.

Burkhart is already in the corridor and listening at the next door when I make my way out. He motions to me, letting me know that someone’s inside. I see Wulf at the base of the stairs as I join Burkhart. “Stay behind me,” I say to the women.

Burkhart enters and then stops, blocking my view of what’s inside. Hearing a groan, I look around him to see a man tied with chains attached to a hook hanging from the ceiling. The poor bastard is basically standing on his tiptoes, and all he’s wearing is his boxers.

I don’t know who he is, but the Keres have beaten him up pretty badly. I’m sure he fought back, as he’s not a small guy. Burkhart cautiously approaches him; I start to follow, when I hear Nova gasp behind me. Looking around, I just have time to see her horrified face before she’s rushing forward towards the guy.

“Sam,” she whispers when she’s before him, her hand stretching out to touch him.

“Don’t touch him,” I growl. What the fuck is the meaning of this? I see the tenderness in her eyes as she looks at him. Fuck this. He better be her brother, because if I came all this way to save a lover of hers, I’m going to flip my shit.

I see her tense at my words, a startled look on her face, her hand halfway towards him. “Why not?” she asks, a concerned look on her face.

Burkhart must have realised what is happening. “They might have triggered the chains. We need to check before touching him. Move back towards Brielle until we have him down.” She gasps at his words, looking at him with a horrified look on her face.

Just then, a shot rings out in the corridor. “Fuck, we’ve been made. Nova, move behind me,” I roar. Burkhart has already placed Brielle behind him. “Wulf, what’s going on?”

“There are three motherfuckers shooting from the room next to yours. We can’t do anything from here or the roof will cave in.” Fuck, I need to keep Nova safe. Looking around, I see that the walls are made of brick. I can work with that. As an earth bender, I can bend anything that comes from the earth, be it bricks, iron, or steel.

“I’m going to flush them out of the room. Get ready to take them out.” Looking over at Burkhart, I nod towards Sam. Understanding, he rushes towards me as I take hold of the chains locked around his hands. The metal starts to mould away from his arms as I manipulate the steel. As it comes completely away, Sam falls forward into Burkhart’s arms.

Carefully, Burkhart lowers him onto the floor. “I’m going to disintegrate a part of the brick in the corner. You heat up this chain, and we will send it in behind them. It will have to be fast so they don’t see us,” I state, already on my haunches with a hand on the brick as I turn it to dust. With all the shooting going on, the guys in the other room don’t hear. Looking back, I see that Burkhart has the chains red hot, with heat radiating from them. Instantly, the room starts to warm.

“Bring it here; I will guide it towards them.” Burkhart places the chain by where the hole is to the other room. Moving towards the end of the chain, I pull off my T-shirt and wrap it around the chain so I can hold it while guiding it behind the Keres. My T-shirt instantly starts to disintegrate from the heat. I bend the metal to start moving as if it’s a snake through the hole and towards where I think the Keres are.

After a few minutes, I hear shouting. “Okay, can you make it hotter?” I ask Burkhart. He raises an eyebrow at me and then smiles.

“Move over, dude. I wouldn’t want to hurt you,” he teases. Taking hold of the chain with his bare hand, he lifts it slightly off the floor and then bashes it roughly. Instantly, the metal ignites into a furnace. “And that’s how it’s done.”

With all the confusion going on, Wulf, Bjarni, and Caelius take the opportunity to advance and take out the fuckers. “We need to move out. It’s getting fucking hot in here.” Turning, I see Nova and Brielle have moved towards Sam. Nova has his head on her lap. Her fingers are running through his fucking hair, and the motherfucker has awoken and is smiling at her.

“Motherfucker,” I grumble, making my way towards them. “We need to go. Nova, get behind me.” I turn to him. “Can you walk?” He frowns but then nods reluctantly.

“Good. Burkhart, help me here.” I hold him under one arm, and Burkhart holds him under the other, lifting him to his feet. He groans, making Nova gasp in worry.

“Sam, are you okay? Can you walk?” she asks him tenderly. He won’t be for long if she carries on talking to him like that.

“I’m fine, Nunu . . . just a little banged up,” he says breathlessly.

“What the fuck?” Where the hell does he come off calling my woman Nunu, and what kind of name is that? Nova glares at me for my outburst, but continues looking at the fucker as he starts to stumble forward. I let go of his arm, letting Burkhart continue to help him, and move forward to guide the way.

“Let’s move,” Wulf orders when he sees us. We make our way back up the stairs, as the rest of the brothers are waiting at the top for us.

“Follow me. Bion has the SUV out front,” Draco commands as he makes his way out of the building. Arriving outside, we find Bion shooting at two guys up on the roof. Until we take them out, we won’t be able to leave the building, or one of us may be taken out.

“Move over,” Caelius calls from behind me. Lifting his sniper rifle to his shoulder, he aims. I hear the two women gasp at the shot.

“One down,” Bjarni calls, and then Caelius aims and shoots again.

“Clear,” Bion calls. Draco and Bjarni hurry towards the SUV, securing the area before they motion to us. Burkhart and Wulf help Sam towards the SUV, one on each side, supporting his weight.

“Come on, beautiful, are you ready?” Caelius asks Brielle. At her nod, he picks her up against his chest, making her gasp in surprise as he rushes towards the car. As soon as they have Brielle in the car, Brandr drives off.

“Where are they taking Sam?” Nova asks in her raspy voice as she stands next to me. The worry in her voice angers me. What the fuck is this guy to her? He better not be her boyfriend, because otherwise, the asshole is dead. Just the thought of him touching her blinds me with rage.

“Where do you think?” I grumble. “Now let’s move out. We don’t have all day.” She stiffens at my words but doesn’t say anything, just marches right past me towards where the others are waiting.