We park and wait for Draco as he approaches Alexei. After a minute he’s back. “Caelius, you are flying back to the compound with Bion and Wulf.” At his words, I see the three men tense. “Wulf my brother,” Draco says placing a hand on Wulf’s shoulder. “Jas has gone into labour, but she is okay. We just need to get you to her.”
I can see the colour drain from Wulf’s naturally tanned complexion; a haunted look fills his eyes. “You will be there just under an hour.” Caelius is already hurrying towards the helicopter, Bion right behind him. Wulf is still standing in shock looking at Draco. “Go Brother, your woman needs you.” At his words Wulf seems to come out of his shock, rushing towards the helicopter.
“Fuck! I hope that everything is fine with her!” Bjarni growls, also pale at the news. After Wulf, Bjarni is the closest to Jas. He treats her like a little sister. He already has his phone to his ear, more than likely phoning Gabriela to find out how Jas is doing. I also dial my girl’s number, walking towards my bike, leaving Draco and Celmund talking to Alexei.
“Hi,” she answers in a stressed voice. “Are they on their way?”
“Yes, they have just left.” It is so good to hear her voice, the agitation I was feeling starts to fall away. “How is she doing?” I ask as I hear loud noises coming from her side.
“She’s doing surprisingly well. I think we are all more frightened than she is, especially Ceric. The poor guy is so agitated he can’t string a sentence together,” She jokes. I hear Ceric replying to her comment and then she laughs, filling me with jealousy. I know she loves me and that my brother would never try anything with her but the knowledge that she is having fun with someone else besides me overwhelms me with anger. I know it’s stupid to feel like this but it’s bigger than me.
“How are you doing Sunshine? I can hear you joking but I can also hear the anxiety in your voice.”
“I’m okay. I’ve never been around a woman in labour and it’s a bit frightening but also exciting. Just imagine in a few hours we will have a baby in the compound.” At her words, I see my girl with my child in her belly, smiling up at me with a loving look on her face. A smile breaks out on my face at the thought. She could already be carrying my child and not even be aware of it.
“Would you like that?” I ask “A baby of our own, I mean,” she is quiet for a few seconds.
“I would … but I don’t want them anywhere near your parents.” Everything in me freezes at her words. Why would she say that? I have never spoken to her about my parents; the idea of their evil touching her angers me.
“What makes you say that Sunshine?” I wonder if Ceric or Cassius have told her something about my parents, but I’m sure that they know better than that.
“I’m sorry to tell you this, but I don’t like them. I’m surprised you came out as caring and down to earth as you did.” At her words my whole-body tenses. What is going on?
“Let me speak to Ceric just for a moment Sunshine, I need to ask him something.” I know that she will be surprised at my abruptness, but anything to do with my parents’ drives me a bit crazy.
“Hey Brother, what’s up? Besides a woman giving birth and her man not being here,” Ceric grumbles well naturedly.
“Why is Aria talking about my parents? I have never spoken to her about them.”
“Maybe you should have, wouldn’t have caught her by surprise,” Ceric grumbles. “They came here.”
“What!” How dare they show their faces at the compound after all the things they said to me the last time?”
“Yip, they said that they wanted to see what kind of woman was going to have their grandchildren. Said that they had heard she wasn’t all there.” I hear anger in Ceric’s voice, nothing like the anger that is surrounding me. How dare they throw their poison at my girl? “Asked her if she knew that you were a killer,” Ceric continues in a serious voice.
“Motherfuckers! … How did she take it?” I should have told her, I tried to keep her away from all that ugliness, but they brought it to her.
“Oh man, you should have seen her. Your woman stood up to them, told them that after meeting them she was surprised that you hadn’t killed them,” he said with a chuckle. “She said that she would make sure to instil any beliefs that you and she have on any children that you might have, and that they would not be seeing them.”
An image of my girl standing in front of my parents with her little chin in the air telling them off, fills me with pride. She is such a courageous woman, I can imagine her eyes flashing in anger like they usually do. “Let me talk to her.” I hear him walking and then her voice.
“I’m sorry about my parents. I was hoping that you would never have to meet them,” I say apologetically.
“Don’t be sorry. I’m glad I met them. It allows me to understand you better.” I’m about to answer when Celmund calls me over. I see that the others are getting ready to leave.
“Sunshine, I have to go, will chat to you soon. Send me a message when the baby is born,” I say, already mounting my bike.
“I will, love you.” Those words from my girls’ lips will never grow old. After a few minutes of following the others I know where I’m going. Vlad has taken me to their club Ace of Spades before; the guys will love the club. It isn’t a strip club, but there are girls dancing in cages off the floor that are hanging from the ceiling. There are others dressed sparsely while serving drinks, I used to love going to the Ace of Spades before I was mated, now it just irritates me. I would rather be back at the compound with Aria especially after she had to confront my parents. I can’t wait for this pickup to be over when we’ll be making our way back home.
Parking, we make our way inside behind Vlad. The two bouncers that are at the door just nod at him and let us in. Alexei is already inside talking to some big guy. We are guided to a private area that is blocked off by two bouncers. Vlad points to the tables. “Take a seat. I will have Tatiana come take your orders. Some girls will be here soon, enjoy; it’s on the house,” he says with a wink.
“I’ve always loved their hospitality,” Burkhart sniggers from next to me. I laugh. I still remember a few months ago when we came through on a run; I had to go look for Burkhart the next day. I had found him in bed with two Russian girls and a big smile on his face.
“Behave,” I tease.
“Aww, don’t be such a sore loser. Just because you can’t have any of them doesn’t mean I can’t indulge. They did always like me better than you anyway,” he jokes, winking.
“Yea, sure if that’s what you tell yourself,” I answer just as our waitress appears to take our order. A group of five girls approach us, all dressed skimpily. I can see Celmund and Gunner smile in greeting. Draco’s scoping out the place and not paying them any attention, even though I know that he has already taken in everything about them.
Burkhart starts rubbing his hands together. “Yip it’s going to be a good evening.” Bjarni who is sitting on my other side just grunts in annoyance. ‘I feel you Brother, the last thing I feel like is looking at a bunch of girls making eyes at us,’ I think.
We have been here for about half an hour when Alexei makes his way towards us. “Are you ready to do this tonight?” At his words we all look around at each other. We had agreed on the pickup tomorrow, but if we do it tonight it’s even better.
“Why the sudden change?” Draco asks, a suspicious frown marring his forehead.
“In case someone knew about the other arrangement. We haven’t told anyone, but they always seem to be aware of what we’re doing,” Alexei answers, his jaw tense in irritation. I know that this situation with the Catalonian mafia must be frustrating him. Especially when I heard that they had tried to kidnap his woman, from what Vlad had let slip from the last time I was here, Alexei will do anything for her.
At the time I thought that it was stupid, that the Bratva boss would have such a weakness but now that I have Aria I understand.
“We’re ready. When do you want to go?” Draco answers.<
br />
“Now!” he replies with a raised eyebrow, challenging Draco to back out.
“Let’s go guys.” One thing about us is that we are always ready. We have had centuries to work together. Most of the time, we know what the other brother is going to do before he even does it.
A few minutes later we are following Vlad who is driving the black mustang. When we reach an Industrial area, Vlad slows down turning into a huge warehouse. At the main gate he flicks his lights, a minute later the gate opens letting us in.
We drive right into the warehouse, the only thing I can see is a panel van with two guys standing next to it. Behind the van is a Bentley with tinted windows. Expanding my senses, I sense the body heat of four people in the Bentley. To the side of the warehouse behind a pillar is another body heat, probably a sniper.
“We have seven!” I call out softly, but I know that all my brothers heard. “We have four in the car, one behind the left pillar.” The two by the van I don’t have to mention as they can see them. Vlad gets out of his car, motioning for Draco to join him, he walks towards the Bentley, and three of the four guys get out allowing Vlad and Draco to get into the car.
We wait for a few minutes before the door to the car opens and Draco steps out followed by Vlad, he motions to Celmund to bring the SUV closer to the panel van. Bjarni and I stand behind guarding our brother’s backs while the others help carry the crates from the van to the SUV. We have a hidden compartment under the back seats that allows for the guns to be hidden. There is a sensor that Celmund created that if a dog starts to sniff a sharp noise is released that only an animal and we will hear. The sound confuses the animal and distracts it from its quest.
We have transferred all the weapons into the SUV when I sense another presence above us. Looking up, I see another two on the beams of the ceiling to the warehouse. “Keres,” I roar, letting my brothers know that we have company.
“Vlad go, Celmund and two of my guys will follow. We will hold them back,” Draco commands already pointing his gun up at the rafters. He shoots as Bjarni and I are doing. The Bentley and panel van have already left, Vlad takes off speeding away with Celmund, Burkhart and Gunner following.
I feel the wind pick up. “Fuck, we have an air bender!” Bjarni calls moving back behind a pillar.
“Well two can play at this,” I say, placing my hands together. Facing out at chest height I produce a flame making it grow until it is at least a meter high and then I throw it at the air catching the flow of wind carrying the flame up into the rafters.
“Hot air rises, fuckers!” I call, as I hear one of them cry out as the flames scorch his skin.
“That was genius!” I hear Draco call out. “I will bend the air pulling it up, and you produce the fire.” We both start bending while Bjarni continues firing at the Keres distracting them from what we’re doing. Since mating with Aria my fire is hotter, the flame stronger. We attack. I can hear their roars as they try to get away from the flames.
Suddenly we feel the ground start to rumble, looking back I see that Bjarni is still shooting but stops when he feels the ground heave. “Let’s move!” Draco calls, rushing towards his bike as the Keres who are above us are busy, trying to get away from the flames.
Bjarni and I rush towards our bikes, speeding out of the warehouse behind Draco. At the main gate to the warehouse, we encounter a car blocking our exit. An earth bender is bent with his hands on the ground, rolling the ground making it difficult to navigate our bikes, but we have practiced riding in all different situations and this was one of them. We continue accelerating straight for a gap between the car and a bike that is parked behind it. That is when I see Merdor standing next to his bike, shooting at us.
“Motherfucker!” I roar. Pulling out my gun I start shooting at him as we approach, all three of us are flush against our bikes as we make our escape. And then he goes down, I can see that he has been hit by one of our bullets. I don’t know if it’s mine or one of my brothers. I want to stop, and kill him but the Keres that were on the beams are now shooting at us from behind. Fuck! I hope his injury is serious.
We make our getaway, riding towards the meeting point we had agreed on in case something happened. Arriving at the meeting point I see the SUV and Vlad’s mustang parked next to Burkhart’s and Gunner’s bikes. The men are all standing next to the Mustang talking; they approach us as we park.
“How the fuck did they know we were there?” Vlad asks of Draco, an angry set to his shoulders, his jaw so like his brothers, is tensed.
“Either you have a rat, or the supplier does!” Draco answers calmly.
“Only Alexei and I knew that we changed the pickup. Fuck, Alexei is going to lose it.” Vlad responds, pacing. “If it’s from the supplier’s side it will be difficult to pick up,” he continues as if we were not even there.
“Who arranged the change?” Celmund asks; with a pensive look.
“I did, I spoke directly to the supplier,” Vlad answers. “There was no middleman.”
“Can I see your phone? Was it this phone that you used?” Celmund points at the phone in Vlad’s hand.
“Yes, it is. Do you think it’s tapped?” he asks, handing Celmund the phone while he stands close observing as Celmund works his magic. Celmund taps a few times on the screen, frowns and then taps again. He switches the phone off, turns it around and opens the back. Pulling out the battery he hands it to Vlad and then he fiddles a little before he pulls out a little chip.
“Here you go, everything that you have been talking about on this phone whoever this belongs to has heard it,” Celmund replies, pointing at the chip now in Vlad’s hand. “I suggest you check Alexei’s phone and anyone else who you think could be relevant.”
“I suggest that you get burner phones for these types of things, and find out who got close enough to your phones to do this,” Draco responds. “Caelius has landed, he will be with us shortly. As soon as he gets here we will be on our way. Let Alexei know I will be in contact as soon as the goods are delivered.” Vlad nods in agreement, still looking at his phone and the small chip in his hand.
“Sons of bitches!” he says angrily. “They need to be obliterated,” he says, lifting the hand with the chip. “Thanks for this, we will find out how this chip got into my phone ... I will be off now, have a safe trip.” Turning towards me he says, “I will see you soon, congratulations on your relationship brat.”
After Vlad leaves we wait another ten minutes before Caelius arrives. We are all already mounted; therefore, we can ride off as soon as we see him. Now that we have the shipment we all want to get back to the compound as soon as possible to see how Jas is doing. We ride without stopping until we reach our chapter in the Drakensberg.
We had planned on staying over but that was before Jas went into labour. Dropping off the ammunition we are again on our way in half an hour, burning rubber until we ride up the road to our compound.
It has been twenty-four hours without sleep, but all of us are too hyped-up to be tired. Walking into the courtyard, we find Cassius and Ceric pacing. Both are looking agitated. “How’s it going?” I ask.
“How the fuck do you think it’s going? If I mate, my woman is never having children, fuck that!” Ceric growls as he strokes his fingers through his hair.
“She’s been in labour for over sixteen hours. Wulf has lost it long ago. He has already punched Bion out once,” Cassius comments, looking just as harassed as Ceric does.
“Are Aria and Gabriela with them?” I ask, looking forward to seeing my girl.
“Nope, Gabriela wasn’t feeling good, so Aria went with her to Bjarni’s room.” Bjarni is already half way across the courtyard before I catch up to him, but as we are about to enter the corridor to where his room is located Aria is already walking towards us. A smile lights up her face when she sees me.
“You’re back,” she whispers as she walks towards me, placing her arms around my waist she lays her head on my chest.
“How’s Gabriela?”
Bjarni asks in concern.
“Hi Bjarni, sorry, I got distracted when I saw Brandr. Don’t worry she’s fine, just needed to sleep. She was exhausted.” He nods, continuing his way to his room.
“You also look tired Sunshine.” She’s got dark circles under her eyes and her shoulders are stooped in exhaustion.
“Our first little Elemental is here!” Bion interrupts from across the courtyard, a wide smile on his face. I see that one of his eyes is swollen shut and turning a deep purple.
“How’s Jas?” Draco asks.
“She’s doing better than the father. I swear this is the last child that I’m delivering. It’s more dangerous than being in the middle of a fight,” Bion grumbles, but a smile is still lighting up his face.
“I’ve already said I’m sorry asshole,” Wulf grunts from behind him. I place my arm around my girl’s waist and guide her towards Wulf who is holding his son in his arms. Looking around, I see all the brothers surrounding Wulf with splitting grins on their faces.
“Congratulations Brother!” Draco calls, slapping Wulf on the back while he peers down at the baby who has his eyes closed.
“Fuck! He made his momma suffer before he decided to make an appearance,” Wulf grumbles, but a tender look is in his eyes as he looks down at his son.
“What you going to call him?” Aria asks, smiling tiredly at Wulf.
“The name will only be revealed at the birthing ceremony,” I explain to Aria. “We Elemental’s only name our children for the first time when the stones are forged for them.” We don’t only have three women in our compound, but now a baby too. More than ever we need to make sure that we neutralise any threat to them.
ARIA 18
It was over a week ago that Jasmine had her little boy. One look at him and anyone can tell that he’s going to be a heartthrob like his daddy. The baby even has beautiful amethyst eyes like Wulf. The men are constantly fighting each other verbally to hold the baby. Anyone who didn’t know them would never say that such deadly looking men would be mush at a look from a baby, like they are.
BRANDR_Elemental's MC Page 15