“Much better, thank you,” I answer, and it’s true; my leg is nearly back to normal, and my face is a bit bruised, but there is no more swelling. I believe that by tomorrow, I should be fine.
“Good. Now that you’re feeling better, maybe give your mom a call sometime. Celmund tells me she went to the cops yesterday and opened a missing person’s case for you.” He reaches out and takes another slice of pizza onto his plate just before Bjarni takes one. At his words, I groan. I guess my respite has come to an end. My roommate must have phoned her, as it’s the end of the month and my portion of the rent is due. I should have remembered to call her, but with everything going on, it slipped my mind.
“I’ll phone her today. Thanks.” I notice a few curious looks. They must have noticed my reluctance to speak to her, but I’m not going to go into my mother’s relationship with me. Bion places a slice of pizza on my plate and then reaches for another, and before he can add that one too, I stop his hand. “One’s enough, thanks.” I see his scowl, but he doesn’t say anything. Just nods and places it on his plate. I love pizza, but I can’t indulge, and even though he says he loves my body the way it is, I still need to be careful with my weight.
“I hear Vercin is looking for revenge for Merdor,” Burkhart calls from his chair. “I believe he’s finally out of hiding and has shown his face in town.” I know Vercin is the Keres MC president and that the Elementals have been after him for centuries, but he’s very good at disappearing. Jasmine told me about the Keres and the Elementals’ war just after they brought Cassius and the woman home from the fight where they killed Merdor, the Keres VP.
“Vercin has been after us since the beginning. There’s nothing new there. We must just keep an eye open for any trickery. You all know how versatile he can be; therefore, we can’t slack off just because Merdor is gone. I’m sure they’ve already elected a new VP. We just need to find out who he is.” There are a few more comments about the Keres, but I ignore them as I look around at everyone who has been so kind to me.
As everyone talks around the table, Bjarni continues eating, which makes me smile, but every so often, he will look at Gabriela leaning back in her chair stroking her stomach. I look at Gabriela and am surprised to see how tired she looks. I need to remind myself to pull her aside and try to give her some comfort. Maybe if I relax her to a stage where she falls asleep deeply, she will feel better. Burkhart, who is sitting next to her, looks down at his phone. Aria leans towards him and bumps his hand, and if he wasn’t so quick, he would have dropped it. His eyes shoot with a scowl on his face. When he sees it’s Aria, he just shakes his head and then smiles tolerantly. Brandr next to her has his hand around her shoulder and is smiling at her playfulness.
Celmund further down the table is holding a piece of ice in his hand, and then I see him throw it and look away. Looking towards where he threw the ice, I burst out laughing, noticing that Ceric and Nova were kissing, and the ice hit Ceric on the back of the head, making him draw back with a scowl. At my laughter, Bion follows my eyes and smirks as Ceric looks around suspiciously at everyone.
I see that Gunner isn’t at the table; must be his turn to make the rounds. Then my eyes move towards where Wulf and Jasmine are sitting. Orion is behind them, lying in the playpen Draco got for him. I smile as I see his legs kick as he gurgles to himself. Suddenly, I feel Bion’s hand on my leg as he leans forward to talk to Caelius on my other side. His fingers stroke gently, making me catch my breath.
I still don’t know everything about this mating thing, but what I do know is that as soon as this man touches me, every other thought leaves me, and all I can think about is how I want Bion to make love to me.
“The wolves are agitated,” I hear Wulf suddenly say from where he’s sitting. Everyone quietens and looks over at Celmund as he takes hold of his phone that is on the table and starts to scroll through it.
“Everything seems fine . . .” he starts, but then a frown mars his forehead. “Wait, what the fuck? Some of the cameras are out.”
The camaraderie that just a few minutes ago was in evidence now saw the men all standing tensely. “Gunner and Sven aren’t answering.”
“Move,” Draco roars. I can feel my heart start to race at the possibility of danger. One minute they were here, and the next, only the women and Orion are left behind. I hear a loud roar and jump in surprise, but Jasmine calms me by letting me know that it’s just them locking down the compound.
“What should we do?” I ask, looking around at the women’s concerned faces.
“Let’s go to the computer room. At least there we can see what’s happening on the cameras that are still working,” Gabriela suggests, already struggling to stand. Jasmine moves towards Orion. Picking him up, she makes her way out as Aria, Gabriela, Nova, and I follow.
When we enter the computer room, Celmund is leaning over his desk, a dark scowl on his face. He doesn’t even turn to acknowledge us, just continues talking into the mic. Gabriela and Aria move towards a long couch and sit. Nova pulls up a chair from around their table and sits facing Celmund. Jasmine sits on the armrest of the couch, cooing to Orion. I can’t sit in a situation like this, so I stand to the side but where I can see the cameras.
“Fuck,” Celmund roars, and then hits his fist on the desk, making the mic topple over. “I can’t see jack. The cameras on the west side are all out. I suggest you move that way,” he guides after picking it up from the floor. Orion is whimpering against his mother’s shoulder after hearing Celmund’s outburst. Nova opens her arms for him, and Jasmine gladly hands him over. Nova starts to sing, quietly calming him down. Celmund is still talking into the mic when I see movement on one of the screens.
“There, what is that?” I call, making Celmund look at me and then at the screen I’m pointing to. He starts to click away on his keyboard, and then the image enlarges, showing all of us two men hunched over something that from this angle, we can’t see.
“We have two fucking assholes near the stream to the east,” Celmund relates, letting the men know what he’s seeing. He looks over at me and nods in thanks, and then he’s back at watching the screens, zooming in and out of certain images.
“Gunner is down,” we hear Wulf growl. “Fuck, I’m taking him in. It doesn’t look good.” I see Celmund look over at me with a raised brow, and I nod, knowing that he’s silently asking if I can help.
“Brielle will be at the infirmary to help him.” With that, I turn and start out of the room to stop when I hear footsteps behind me. Looking back, I see Nova rushing towards me, a worried look on her face.
“I thought you might need help, and Orion has fallen asleep,” she says. I smile at her. I take her hand, and we continue on our way to start preparing for Gunner. I’m still placing everything I might need on a tray when Wulf and Cassius burst into the infirmary, carrying Gunner. At a glance, I would say he doesn’t look good at all. His neck is torn as if an animal attacked him. There seems to be a shot wound on one leg, and his chest seems to be suffering from burn wounds.
“Can you help him?” They set him down. I feel my insides tremble in uncertainty, but I will have to try. “We need Bion out there,” Cassius states, letting me know that I might have to do this on my own.
“I’ll try,” I say, and see Wulf and him nod before they make their way out. I notice Cassius look at the woman as he walks out, but he doesn’t stop. “Okay, let’s do this.” Looking at Nova, I see a worried look on her face as she looks at him and then at me. “Will you cut his shirt away for me while I cut his pants?” I ask, already stretching out my hand with scissors for her to take. I see a slight smile on her face as she moves to do my bidding.
“Just my luck. When I finally get a chance to cut a hot guy’s clothes off, he doesn’t even know it,” she grumbles, making me smile. By the time we’ve finished, I’m more worried than before, as he’s losing too much blood.
“He needs blood. Do you know if they keep any blood here?” I hope they do, or one of us will ha
ve to donate.
“Yes, they do. Would you like me to get you one?” she asks, already moving towards a cabinet. At my confirmation, she opens it, showing me a small fridge inside. She comes back with a sashay. Taking it from her hand, I see Draco’s name on it. I don’t waste more time as I arrange for a transfusion and then go about stitching his neck where the worst of his injury is.
“Please put pressure on his leg. I will get to his leg soon, but for now, we should try to minimize the blood loss. I thought these Elementals healed fast,” I grumble. I remember Cassius was as good as new a few hours after his mishap, but this one is taking his sweet time.
“Oh, Gunner isn’t Elemental,” Nova says, looking at me in surprise. “I thought you knew.”
“What!” I squeak as I look at him with new eyes. “I thought all the guys here were Elemental.” I finish his neck and hurriedly move to his leg. Lifting him slightly, I notice that luckily, the bullet went right through. I will just need to stop the bleeding and close the wound up.
“It’s only Gunner and Sven who aren’t. All the others are, even though you would never know by the way Gunner looks. He’s just as handsome and built as the others, don’t you think?” Nova says with a wink. Instead of answering her, I continue administering to his wound, making sure that I don’t miss anything. If he’s human, the healing will take longer and the treatment I’m sure will have to be different from what Bion would usually give the others.
We hear an explosion, and then the ground shakes, making both of us look up in fright at each other. “That sounded way too close,” Nova states. “I’m going to go check what’s happening, unless you still need me?”
“No, but please come back and tell me,” I plead. I have never worked so under pressure as I am at the moment, and the worry over Bion getting hurt is driving my nerves. I finish with Gunner’s leg and move over to his chest, and just before I start to treat him, he starts to convulse. “Nāo, nāo faças isso.” I grumble in Portuguese for him not to do this.
I can’t lose him now when I’ve nearly finished helping him, but as soon as it started, it ends, and he lies as still as death. I hurriedly take his pulse, but his pulse is steady, and so is his breathing. “Hang in there, Gunner. You will be fine in no time,” I murmur. I lay my hands around his neck and close my eyes to start healing him, when I hear a shot. I jump in fright, tripping over the trolley next to me.
“Minha Nossa Senhora, what was that?” Asking the Hail Mary what was that isn’t going to give me answers, but it’s my natural reaction of many years of my father taking me to church. My heart is racing in fright, and my breathing is choppy. I move towards the door of the infirmary, cautiously trying to see something, when I hear shouts from the women and a wail from Orion. At the baby’s cry, I race down the corridor into the courtyard. That’s when I see Celmund fighting with another man I don’t recognize.
Another man is holding Orion while pointing a gun at the women. Jasmine is being held back by Aria as she screams at the man to give her Orion back. Nova is standing in front of Gabriela, telling the guy to give back the baby, but her persuasion isn’t working, and then I see the guy has some type of earplugs on. He can’t see me, as I’m behind him. I look around for something I can use to hit him over the head, but I don’t find anything, so I decide to jump on him and pull out his earplugs and hope that Nova’s persuasion works.
I’m lucky he’s wearing earplugs, because he doesn’t hear me coming; I jump on his back and instantly move my hand to his ear to pull out one of the plugs. At the surprise, he turns around and then bucks, trying to get me off him. One of his arms is holding the baby while the other has the gun, so he can’t pull me off him. “Now, Nova!” I scream as I manage to pull the other one out.
“Give us the baby back, and then I want you—” Before Nova can finish, the guy shoots, hitting her on the shoulder. I see the colour drain from her face as she trips back with the force of the shot, Gabriela holding her up. But Nova doesn’t let that stop her; she finishes her persuasion. “To sit down and let Brielle tie you while you wait for the guys.”
I hear the quiet and realize Celmund is now standing behind the women. The other man has disappeared. Celmund must have killed him. The man holding Orion stretches out his arm with the baby, and I instantly take him as I rush towards Jasmine to hand back her baby. As soon as the baby is out of his hands, Celmund jumps him and wrestles the gun out of his hands.
Looking over, I see that Nova is now sitting on the floor, her head between her legs, as Aria and Gabriela stand over her. That’s when I hear a roar that sounded as if it came from a wild animal. Looking around, I see Ceric emerge. His face is contorted in fury as his wild eyes look around until he spots Nova on the ground.
“Hellcat!” he roars, rushing towards her, and then he’s on his knees, pulling her into his arms.
“Ow,” she whispers, making him pull away and look at her closely.
“Motherfucker, son of a bitch,” he roars again when he sees her wound, but he strokes her face so gently that no one would ever say that this man whose fury is radiating out of him like a volcano can’t be gentle at the same time.
“Just hold me,” she whispers.
There’s more running feet, and then Wulf bursts into the courtyard, his eyes an ungodly violet shining with fury. He looks around at everyone until his eyes land on Jasmine, and then he’s beside her, pulling her and Orion into his arms.
“What’s wrong, angel?” he murmurs as he kisses her face gently as the tears still drip down her cheeks, Orion still hiccupping from his crying.
“He took . . . took Orion,” she stutters. I can see her shaking in his arms.
His head snaps around until his eyes land on the man Celmund has disarmed and is now lying unconscious. A chill rushes through my spine at the death in his eyes as he looks at the man. “It’s okay now, my angel. It’s all over.” He looks back at Jasmine and kisses her gently on the lips and then Orion on the forehead. I see the baby lay his head against his father’s chest and close his eyes as if feeling safe.
Snapping out of my contemplation, I look back at Ceric and Nova. Approaching them, I go down on my haunches. “Let me take a look,” I whisper. I see the wild look still in his eyes as he looks at me as if not understanding what I said, but then he nods his head and pulls away just slightly from Nova, giving me a gap to look at the wound. “You need to bring her to the infirmary. The bullet is still inside. I need to get it out.” I also need to check up on Gunner. I should never have left his side, but I’m glad I did, or Orion might have been taken.
Ceric nods. Standing with Nova in his arms, he strides behind me as I rush ahead of them.
BION 11
When I finally make it back to the compound, I find Brie cleaning a wound on Nova’s shoulder, Ceric standing over her. When I enter the infirmary, she looks up, and I see relief cross her features at my presence. I move towards the sink and scrub my hands and then make my way towards my woman. “What have we got here?” I ask, and she steps away with a sigh.
“The bullet is still lodged in her shoulder; she passed out a few minutes ago after I gave her that stuff you showed me.” I look over my shoulder and see she used the anaesthetic I usually use.
“Okay, let’s get this bullet out.” A few minutes later, I have the bullet on a tray that Brie holds out to me. I hear Ceric growl from where he’s standing holding Nova’s hand. I know it’s useless telling him to move away because none of us will leave our mate when wounded or in danger. I would have a fight on my hands even trying.
After I close and bandage Nova’s wound, I nod towards Gunner. “How’s he doing?” I ask as I clean my hands before heading over to him.
“He has some really bad wounds; his neck is torn as if a wild animal took hold of him. There is a bullet wound on his leg, but the bullet went right through, and his chest has some minor cuts and bruising. I had to give him blood, as he had lost too much.” She gives me the rundown while wringing her hands i
n anxiety. I’m so proud of her. She handled all this and is still here. “He did have a convulsion, but before I could do anything, he stopped, but he hasn’t awoken yet.”
I stand over him and feel his pulse that seems normal. I open his eyelid and then freeze. “Fuck,” I growl.
“What? Is he okay?” Brie asks anxiously from the other side of the bed.
“Brie, what blood did you give him?” I know which blood she gave him, but I need to confirm.
“Well, he needed a transfusion, and I thought he was Elemental. Nova went and got blood that was in the fridge over there. It had Draco’s name on it. Was it wrong?” I can see the worry on her face. “When we had to give blood to Cassius’s woman, you did say that I couldn’t go wrong by giving her an Elemental’s blood.”
“That’s because she’s one of our mates. We don’t give our blood to normal humans, and especially Draco’s blood. It’s too strong.” I see the colour on her face drain and her eyes widen.
“Is he going to die?” she asks in a trembling voice.
“We’ll monitor him, beauty. Don’t worry, it’s not your fault.” I walk around the bed where Gunner is lying and take Brielle in my arms; I feel her arms come around my waist as she lays her head on my chest. “I have a meeting now. If he starts to convulse, send me a text, and I will come. Nova should rest for a while longer. The trick is to try to get Ceric away from her.” I hear him grunt behind me when he hears my words. Cassius has also come in while I was busy with Nova and is now sitting next to his woman.
“Are you going to be okay?” I pull her away slightly and look down at her tired eyes. “How’s your leg feeling?” She shouldn’t be on her feet so soon after what happened, but we can’t let the fuckers we caught be in the cells for too long. There are five of them and four we killed. The cell isn’t as protected as the one at the warehouse to stop them from using their powers. If they all start bending at the same time, they may be able to break out. Draco and Wulf as the oldest are with them at the moment. I’m supposed to bring tranquilizers to put them to sleep when I’m finished here so they can sleep while we’re meeting.
BION: Elemental's MC (book 5) Page 8