“Have you been held against your will at any time?” Brielle asks suddenly.
“No, it’s difficult for someone to try to hold me in when I can move objects with my mind. Unless they knock me out.”
“You know what this means, don’t you?” Nova says with a grin. “We have more options to get out.”
“One of these days, Draco is going to lock your ass in your room. Only Ceric will be able to visit you,” Scarlett teases. I laugh with the others because I can’t imagine Nova letting anyone locking her up.
“I’m sure he’s contemplated it. I heard him tell Wulf that the women are more trouble than the Keres,” Jasmine says. Aria leans towards me and explains that Nova has arranged for all of them to go out without an escort, which apparently isn’t allowed at the moment because of the danger with the Keres, which I completely understand after everything they have told me about the Keres.
“I see that Gunner has started to disappear every time Nova comes near him. Do you think it’s because of her persuading him to let us out last time?” Gabriela teases.
“I heard him tell Caelius that he was going to start walking around with ear plugs,” Aria quips.
Earlier, the girls introduced me to all the men and explained that most of the brothers here in Cape Town did not belong to their chapter. Apparently, they are from Nurture Valley. That also means that I will not be seeing them once they leave. The thought of not seeing Celmund makes my heart race and tears gather behind my eyes.
“I think I’m going to go before the men come out of their meeting. I don’t want them to see me or be able to stop me,” I say to Aria, and start to stand, but Nova takes hold of my hand and squeezes gently.
“Are you sure, Talia? Maybe stay a few days to see what happens and give Celmund a chance.” At her words, I feel a ripple run down my back. I would love nothing more than to be able to stay and feel safe and secure, not always looking over my shoulder, worried that Jason will be there. The only problem is that I cannot let a man think he can run my life.
What Celmund and Burkhart did is not acceptable. I will not allow any man to do something that I have not consented to first. I know that they are trying to protect me and that they are truly worried that my brother is a danger to me. I’m not scared of Jason, but he has never before sent one of his friends after me. If anything, he has always been the one to threaten me. Still, I cannot stay and allow them to think that what they did is acceptable.
Are the women right? If I leave, will they come looking for me, or will they accept that I don’t want or need their help and leave me alone? Do I want them to leave me alone? I think that is the question that has been plaguing me since I was brought here. Looking up, I encounter Aria’s eyes on me. I can see the understanding on her face, as she’s obviously listening to my thoughts.
“If Talia leaves, do you ladies think that Celmund will go after her?” I can feel my cheeks blush at Aria’s question and know that she’s trying to give me answers without telling me directly.
“She will never again be able to get away from him even if she tried,” Gabriela says with a smile. “Get used to the idea, girl, because no matter how upset he makes you, you will want that man just as much as he will want you.”
“And when she says want, she means want. There is nothing like having sex with your man,” Nova quips as she rolls her eyes suggestively.
“How do you know Celmund wants me like you suggest? After all, he hasn’t said anything or even made any moves to propose that he thinks I’m appealing.” I know I’m fishing for reassurance, but I don’t know Celmund, and I really want him to want me.
“Wulf told me that you’re Celmund’s mate. They only bond once in their life. If you’re his mate, that’s it for you two,” Jasmine reveals.
“Are you telling me that your men have only been with you? Because I must tell you, I don’t believe that.” At my question, they throw back their heads in laughter.
“Of course not. What we’re saying is that once they find the one, that’s it for them,” Brielle says. “Let’s just say that it’s physically impossible for them to be with anyone else.”
I raise my brow at her suggestion in suspicion. “Sorry, but am I the only one who finds that a bit suspicious?” I ask curiously, and see the smiles on their faces.
“Trust me, Talia, all of us were suspicious at the beginning, but once you get to know your man, you will understand,” Aria says. I would like to get to know Celmund, but I will not let him think that he can manoeuvre me any way he likes. Standing, I look at the other women and smile. I hope they’re right and Celmund comes after me, because even knowing them only a little while, I can tell that I would love to be their friend.
“I’m sorry to cut this short, but I want to go before they come out of their meeting. It was really nice meeting all of you.” I can see the different emotions cross the women’s faces, but none of them try to stop me.
“You need help?” Nova asks with a raised brow.
“No, I’ll be fine, but thanks.” I turn and start to walk out. I can hear the women talking behind me, but I don’t turn. My goal is to get out the main door and away before anyone notices. As I slip out the door, I hear someone to my left. Looking around, I see a guy approaching me. He has cropped brown hair and a cigarette between his fingers.
“Hey, doll, can I get you something?” he asks in a smooth voice. I can see that he’s a prospect by the badge on his kutte.
“Hi, just gonna make my way home, thanks,” I say nonchalantly as I start to walk towards the main gates of the property. I feel a hand on my upper arm, and I stop suddenly at the unexpected touch. “I can’t let you out by yourself at this time, doll. Tor would have my balls. Tell me where you want to go, and I will take you.” I try not to look surprised at his offer.
“I’ll give you directions once we’re on our way. Is that fine?” I see him nod as he lets go of my arm and indicates a blue bike a few metres away. A few minutes later, we are revving out of the compound, and instead of feeling elated that I got away so easily, I’m feeling bereft.
Now that I’m being dropped off at home, I’m not sure if this is a good idea. What if Jason decides to come after me once again tonight? Will I be able to hurt him? I know that if need be, I can defend myself, but from experience, I know that when it comes to Jason, I am never able to harm him.
“Thank you,” I call back as I walk up the path to my house. I hear the bike rev before he’s off again. It’s a good thing I have a key under a loose brick near the front door, or I wouldn’t be able to get inside after being taken by surprise.
I walk in and don’t notice anything out of place. Someone must have made sure to put everything in order after the fight, but then I freeze. Things haven’t been tidied; they have been stolen. I hurry towards my room where I hide a shoebox with some savings under the bed. As I walk in, I see the shoebox turned upside down next to the bed. Damn, I had all my savings in there. I drop down onto the bed. Flopping back, I look up at the ceiling.
One day, and so many things have happened. Jason found me, and now I either run again or confront him and his friends. I also met the most amazing man. He can make my heart flutter with a simple thought. Why can’t things be simple for once?
CELMUND 7
I know something is wrong as soon as I walk out of our meeting. A feeling of urgency overwhelms me. “Where is she?” I ask of the women as I approach. Before they answer, I know she’s left. A feeling of helplessness overpowers me, and then anger overwhelms me. How dare she put herself in danger again?
If her brother or anyone connected with him goes anywhere near her again, I swear, brother or no brother, he will be obliterated. I’m already rushing towards the doors of the club, when I hear Brielle mention that one of the prospects took her. I stop in my tracks and turn to look at her. “Who took her?” I can hear the roughness in my voice, but the anxiety of not knowing if she’s okay is riding me.
“He came in a few minutes a
go,” she reveals as she looks around, and then her eyes stop and my head snaps around to follow the path of her vision. I see one of the prospects bending over the bar fridge. Before I know what I’m doing, I’m moving towards him. Reaching over his back, I grab his shoulder and push him upright.
“What the hell?” he grunts as I push him up. When he sees my face, his eyes widen in surprise.
“Where did you take her?” He must have heard the wildness in my voice, because he instantly tells me that he dropped her off at home and came right back. I don’t wait to hear anything else. Now that I know where she is, I’m going to get her back. I make my way out of the club and towards the bike that I’m riding at the moment. As I mount, I see that Burkhart, Draco, and Caelius are also mounting bikes and preparing to follow me.
I don’t always ride with my brothers, as I’m needed at the compound to keep track of everyone’s movements and to guide my brothers in battle. Most times, I miss being in the middle of things, but I know that I help keep my brothers alive more with what I’m doing than if I were in the thick of things. I know that they have my back and that I can always depend on them. When I lost Leif, I didn’t feel bereft, because all the men at our compound became my family. I know that no matter what I decide to do with Talia, they will support my decision.
Revving, I take off towards where I know my woman is. I will have to sit her down and make her understand that she can’t do what she feels like anymore. I know I can’t blame her, because she doesn’t understand our world or the danger she’s in. I will also need to explain to her that she’s mine. I can feel the connection between us, and I know she feels it too. The way her eyes follow me, or the catch in her breath when I draw closer to her puts me on edge.
If I don’t find a way of figuring out who the fucker is who has the trigger that activates all the women’s devices, I will lose my mind. There is no way I can keep away from Talia for very long. When Tor’s men arrived at the club and I saw some of them looking at Talia, I nearly lost my shit. I nearly punched one’s lights out if it weren’t for Caelius holding me back.
I know that I’m more volatile now that I have found my mate and not bonded. It will get worse if I don’t hurry up and find the fucking culprit. If this is all because of me, and Leif is the perpetrator, then I’m responsible for all the women’s anxiety and all my brothers’ worry. We make it to Talia’s apartment block in mere minutes, as I don’t pay attention to any traffic rules and simply maximise the speed on my bike to get to her. Pulling up outside her apartment, I barely stop the bike before I’m off it and rushing towards her home. Before I reach her house, the door swings open, and she stands in the entrance, looking at me with a raised brow. “What are you doing here?” she murmurs, but I can see the fear in her eyes.
“What’s wrong?” Is she scared of me? Is there something else that has frightened her? I want to barge into her place and look around for myself, but I don’t think she would appreciate that.
“Besides you kidnapping me, I getting away, and now you’re here again? Nothing. What could be wrong?” she says sarcastically, but I can sense an underlying note of fear in her voice. Is it possible that she suspects that we will hurt her? My heart constricts when I think that she could be afraid of me.
“I will never hurt you,” I mutter as I look into her eyes and see acknowledgment of what I’m saying in her stance. “All I want is to make sure that you are safe, and you being here at your apartment isn’t being safe.”
“I might not know you, but somehow I know that I’m safe when with you. What I won’t allow, though, is you making decisions for me without consulting me,” she says, a hand moving to her waist in her annoyance.
“If I ask you to come with us to the club, will you?” I ask.
“If you give me a good reason why I should leave my home and go to the club.”
I can feel my shoulders tensing. Damn woman. I had to go and get myself a stubborn female. I’ve never been one to explain myself. I find the facts and act on them without having to worry how others will react. I have always been right in my deductions and my outcomes. Having to explain myself is new to me, but I can see that Talia won’t budge from her decision. “I’m trying to keep you safe.”
She opens her mouth to say something, but I hold up my hand. “It’s not just from your brother, though that is a real threat, too, even though you don’t want to see it. We have a rival club called the Keres that we are at war with. We know they are trafficking women, and you might be one of those women they are targeting.” I see the surprise on her face at my revelation.
“How do you know this?” she murmurs.
“Can I come in? This will take some time to explain.” I feel someone behind me. Looking back, I see Draco approaching. Talia’s eyes look over my shoulder at his presence, but she doesn’t comment as her eyes return to mine. I see her chest rise as she takes a deep breath, but then she steps back and opens the door wider for us to enter.
Draco steps around me and enters without a word. I follow, holding back from touching her by the skin of my teeth. I enter the sitting room to find Draco tense, his eyes intense with anger. “Keres have been here recently,” he states with a frown. My already tense muscles bunch in rage as I think of the reason why the Keres would be in her house.
“How do you know that? Is there something they left?” Talia asks as she cautiously looks around the sitting room. That’s when I realize that she knows someone has been here, and even like that, she was holding me back to prove a point. I will have to have a very serious talk with her about her stubbornness.
“Do you know that someone has been here?” I demand. Was she already at home when they were here?
“Yeah, I noticed there are things missing, and I doubt it was you guys who took my stuff,” she explains, “but you haven’t answered me. How do you know it was the Keres?” She looks over to Draco and then back to me.
“That’s one of the things I need to explain to you. Maybe take a seat.” At my words, I see her tense, but she moves towards her couch before she sits down. Now that the time has come, I don’t know how to tell her what I have to. For centuries, I have imagined this conversation, and now that it’s here, I’m fumbling like an adolescent. Looking over at Draco, I see him raise his brow at me in amusement. The ass knows I’m struggling with this, and he thinks it’s funny.
“As I said before, the Elementals and the Keres are at war. We have been trying to stop them for a very long time, but they always manage to get away. You need to know that the Keres are very dangerous, and now that you are linked to us, you are in danger.” At my words, her eyes widen. “They will stop at nothing to get to you.”
“If you’re talking about the devices in the other women’s bodies, I must tell you that I don’t have anything like that.” She must have seen the surprise on my face, because she continues to explain. “Scarlett told me about them. They also asked me if I had ever been held against my will, and the answer is no.” At her words, I feel a certain calmness. I didn’t even know that I was worried about her also having been injected with a device.
“Well, then, if they have told you about that, then you know what you are facing,” I state.
“Why would they think I’m linked to the Elementals? After all, I’ve only met you today.”
“That’s where it becomes complicated,” I state, and see Draco shake his head in amusement from the corner of my eye. “You see, they somehow know that you are mine, and because of that, you are in danger.”
“Oh,” she grumbles, “enlighten me on how I’m yours, because as far as I know, I only saw you today for the first time. Or am I wrong?”
I take a deep breath before I continue. “We Elementals are a bit different. We know who our woman is as soon as we meet her. Somehow the Keres have figured out a way of finding our women, and I think they know that you belong to me.”
“Interesting,” she says sarcastically. “Tell me, how do you explain me belonging to you? Becaus
e as far as I know, I don’t belong to anyone.” I see her chin lift in the air. From the little time that I have spent with her, that tells me that she’s being stubborn.
“Look, I know this is a bit farfetched—”
“You think?” she mutters.
“But we’re not human like you.”
At my words, she bursts out laughing. “Do you do drugs, Celmund?” she asks. “Because I must tell you that I will not be involved with people mixed up with drugs.”
“Drugs? No, we don’t mess around with drugs. You know the way you are with your power? Well, we’re also like that but on a larger scale. We are called Elementals because we bend the elements; we are one with the elements. We have better hearing than humans. We’re much faster, and we only have one mate. Our mate is our other half. She brings us peace and tranquillity. Our energy entwines and makes us both greater.”
“So, you are telling me that I’m that one mate for you?” Her tone states that she doesn’t believe me, but I have to make her understand. I cannot think of the monotonous existence life will be without my mate. I nod at her question. “What does this mate thing entail? You don’t even know me. I don’t even know why I’m entertaining this. You are telling me that you’re not even human.” She shakes her head as she grumbles the last.
“I will show you. I don’t expect you to believe me without proof.” I look over at Draco and see a bored look on his face as he looks at the two of us. Lifting my hands, I rotate them semi clockwise, and instantly, the mat that was lying on the floor between Talia and me lifts slightly off the floor and hangs there before I let it down again.
I look at Talia and see her looking at me with raised brows. “Is that it?” I’m surprised at her question. “Cool trick, but I can do that and I’m human.” At that, she looks at the mat and lifts it off the floor higher than I did and then lets it drop, a smirk on her face. I hear a grunt from Draco and know that he’s chuckling, asshole. Well, if they want a show, I will give them a show. Lifting my hands again, I rotate my hands, and instantly, the wind starts to blow. I guide it to where Talia is and entwine her in it.
CELMUND: Elemental's MC (book 7) Page 5