CASSIUS

by Alexi Ferreira

  The Keres are being smart they are bringing as many humans as they can into their plan, knowing that we will only hurt humans if we are attacked by them first. Now this thing with our women, whatever it is, it’s not good as Draco is still tense from the conversation. As soon as Tor and his men leave with the weapons we all approach Draco and wait for an update on the situation.

  “I guess this is as good a place as any.” Draco states as he looks at us, I can see the tension straining his muscles as he holds back his anger. Whatever he’s going to say I know I’m not going to like it. “As you might all have guessed the women combined their gifts to confirm if Sven is the rat or not.”

  “They don’t know when to stay out of something.” Bion grumbles.

  “In this case it’s a good thing they didn’t stay out of it.” Draco says, “When we get back we can’t let Sven know that we’re onto him.” There is surprise on all our faces but we all keep quiet awaiting for the rest. “Apparently from what the women say, Sven was giving the Keres specific items of ours for them to find our mates. I believe it was items with blood on it for them to be able to read our DNA.”

  “It makes sense; the Son of a bitch was tasked with burning our clothes when we get injured.” Bion says with a frown. “I still don’t see how they find our mates from our DNA.”

  When Draco relates to us why Sven hates the Elemental’s, I’m perplexed. We have had a killer among us for over two years and not once did we suspect that he was this twisted. It’s true that I never really liked him but I always thought that it was a personality clash, or because of the anger coursing through me.

  “Do you think that Sven knows how they are finding our mates?” Burkhart asks

  “That is one of the reasons why we can’t let him know that he’s been busted, because I suspect that he knows more even than we think.” Draco explains

  “If that’s one of the reasons, what are the others?” I ask, because I suspect that there is much more to come.

  “What I’m about to say is going to fuck with some of your minds, but I’m asking you to keep your shit together because we have to work together to get this resolved and the only way to do this is to let Sven walk freely so we can find out more.” Just his words have already tensed my muscles in anger; I know that whatever is coming is not going to be good. “Sven, apparently was called in when your mates were captured, he was given the honour of injecting them.”

  “Motherfucker.” Ceric roars

  “You can’t expect me not to kill him.” Brandr yells, “Did you see how Aria was when we found her, and that asshole was involved.”

  “Draco, we can’t stand down.” Bion argues

  “I’m killing the fucker.” I grunt, the fury coursing through my body wants something to crush. He helped with the bad memories that my woman has, the horror that I know she went through.

  “What the fuck Draco, there is no good reason after knowing all this that we should stand down. We need to interrogate the asshole until he spills his guts.” Wulf growls

  “Enough” Draco roars, the anger coursing through my body doesn’t allow for calmness right now. All I can see in my mind is Sven, my hands around his neck as he takes his last breath.

  “There is more isn’t there?” Celmund asks suspiciously from next to me. I glance at him and then at Draco in time to see him nod.

  “Yes, unfortunately there is more and this is the part that I wish I didn’t know.” Draco states, with such fury in his voice that leaves no one in doubt that he is just as angry as all of us. “The women that were captured by the Keres are in danger. They somehow know that Sven injected them with some kind of device that all the Keres need to do is activate it and they are dead.”

  At his words I feel like the breath has been punched out of me. After years of fighting every day against my bloodlust and the fury that always wanted to engulf me I finally snap. They will know my wrath, the Keres created a monster and now I will come for them and destroy every single one of them. As if in a haze I see my brothers devastated faces, the horror of what we just heard engulfing us.

  Our women have ticking bombs in them and we can’t do anything about it, well let’s see how many fuckers I kill, there won’t be any of them left to activate the device. Turning I stalk towards my bike sliding the haversack on my back as I go.

  “Cassius” Draco calls, but I’m past listening to anyone, the only thing on my mind is to kill and save my woman. “Cassius” Draco roars, as I sit on my bike and lean forward to start it, suddenly I’m being lifted off the bike and thrown on the ground. Draco is above me his face contorted in anger, his eyes flashing an ungodly blue. “I know you hurting, but I’m not going to let you kill yourself. Now calm your ass down before I knock you out.”

  My mind registers his words but the rage coursing through me is stronger than anything else. I start to struggle but suddenly I’m being lifted in the air, and I can’t move. Draco has his hand out palm flat facing me. His bending air around me, stopping me from moving. “We can do this the whole fucking day, now calm yourself.” From the corner of my eye I can see Ceric on his haunches his head bent in helplessness, Bion is turned away his back tense as he faces his bike. Brandr is sitting against the wall of the warehouse his head leaning against the wall his eyes closed, Burkhart sitting next to him talking.

  “I. Will. not. . . Let. Scarlett. Die.” I roar as I start to struggle again against the winds force.

  “No one is going to fucking die, that’s why we need to keep our heads and plan this, so we can find out how to deactivate these devices.” Draco roars, Bion snaps around his face looking anguished.

  “Every minute they have that in them they’re in danger. We need to get back, so I can try locate the devices on their bodies and see how we can extract them.” He states

  “Do you hear that, are you going to cooperate, so we can get something done soon, or must I knock your ass out?” Draco asks as he approaches my suspended body.

  “I can’t lose her.” I whisper chocked up as I take in deep breaths to try and calm myself.

  “I know brother, I know.” Draco says as he starts to lower me to the ground. I see him incline his head and then Celmund is standing next to me as Draco stops bending the air around me. “Now listen up all of you, I know this is going to be fucking hard. I want to kill that fucker just as much as any of you, but if we want to save your women we’re going to have to be clever. Therefore, when we get to the compound I want all the men with mates to go to them, I’m sure they’re scared right now. The rest of us are going to act normally, I don’t want anything said or done that he can get suspicious of.” Draco orders, “When we get back we meet and decide how we’re going to get around this. Now let’s get the fuck home.”

  My mind is so tortured that I don’t even notice the distance as we speed towards home. I must continuously take in deep breaths to maintain calm. That dream of normality that I had since bonding with Scarlett is gone, the calmness that I was finding in my mate has been corrupted. My mind is centred on one thing and one thing alone. Kill, destroy, get rid of the threat and Scarlett will make it.

  I don’t know if I’m going to be able to hold back when I see that traitor, my very soul is enraged. Every time I think of Scarlett’s face when she talked about also being broken, the pain in her voice, her eyes, twists at my heart. And one of the culprits responsible for her pain will be close at hand.

  As we turn into the compound my breathing speeds, I can feel the energy around us crackle with anger as we ride. Everyone is explosive, one thing said wrong and someone will blow. We pull into the garage and dismount, looking around I see Caelius and Gunner walking towards us.

  “Why your coms off?” Gunner asks as he approaches. No one answers him as everyone starts making their way inside.

  “Meeting in thirty.” Draco calls out as everyone disperses.

  “What’s going on?” I hear Caelius ask as I enter the corridor into the compound. Celmund is punching in the co
des needed to deactivate the lockdown, therefore I don’t hear if anyone answered him as the mechanism kicks in and the iron shutters start to open.

  SCARLETT 14

  Since telling Draco about what we found out that none of us have heard anything from our men. The others say that Draco must have told them because they can feel anger and pain through their connection. They say that I won’t feel that much yet as we only bonded recently, but what I don’t tell them is that there is such fury and anguish filling my being that I don’t know if it’s from me or from Cassius.

  All I know is that I have a ticking bomb inside of me and I don’t know how to take it out. Nova has been pacing ever since we talked to Draco without uttering another word. The other women have been trying to come up with a plan to find out how we can deactivate the devices. For now we have all agreed that once we rest we will try again to get the information from Sven on how to deactivate the device.

  “Do you think the men will be able to stand down?” Aria asks

  “I think it will be really hard for them, they’re not the pretending type or forgiving.” Jasmine says, just then we hear the grating of the lock down mechanism. “They’re here.” Jasmine states as I see Nova slip out the door. I follow her, if Cassius is here I need to talk to him, if this fury and anguish is coming from him I need to find a way to calm him. I reach the courtyard seconds after Nova; I hear the others behind me I come to a stop as I see the men walking towards us.

  Oh yeah they know, the anger radiating off them is tangible. My eyes clash with Cassius green ones, a ripple travels down my body as I see the fury and turmoil on his face. I walk towards him as he approaches, when we a step away from each other he lifts his hands to my hips and pulls me roughly towards him, his lips crash down on mine and he kisses me with a desperation that leaves me breathless.

  When he finally lifts his head I notice that most of the couples are gone. Taking his hand I guide him to our room. When we there I turn and look at him, “Did Draco tell you?” I ask and see him nod, his eyes again turning that glacier colour. “The women and I decided to attempt to see again if somehow we can get any info from him without actually having to confront him.” Cassius turns suddenly and punches the door which we just entered. His fisted hand still against the door he lifts the other and places it also against the door as he lowers his head between his arms breathing in deeply.

  I approach him carefully, I’m about to slip my arms around his waist from behind when I remember him not allowing anyone to touch him like that. Moving to his side I encircle his waist and lay my head against him. “It’s okay, we’ll find a solution.” I whisper

  “Those Motherfuckers, I’ll kill every single one of them.” His voice is a deep growl that scares me with its intensity.

  “You can’t kill anyone until we know how it works.” I say softly against him as I feel his body vibrating under me. I bring my hand to his back and start to stroke gently trying to calm him, my eyes fill with tears but I quickly push them back. The last thing he needs is to see me breakdown, I have the feeling that will only make him lose his temper and from what I can see he is close to that as it is.

  “I’ve been waiting for ever since I started dreaming about you, there is no way I’m letting you go now.” I say playfully. He lifts his head as he lowers his arms and turns to face me, his muscles bunched under his t-shirt.

  “I won’t let anything happen to you.” He promises as he frames my face with his palms and stares down at me. I lift my hand and stroke the frown away from his forehead as I turn my head and kiss one of his palms.

  “I know.” I say, just then there is a rapping on the door which makes me jump in surprise.

  “It’s okay, just Celmund. I have a meeting with the guys, we need to try and find a way forward, I will be back later.” He kisses me gently before he leaves. I don’t think Cassius will be able to hold his anger if he sees Sven, the fury I could see in his eyes, the anger radiating from him was overwhelming. We can’t wait much longer, we have to do something now, because I don’t think Sven will be breathing for very long if he crosses paths with some of the guys.

  I hurry out of the room, making my way towards Jasmine’s room. I encounter Wulf and Bion making their way towards the computer room. They are so preoccupied that they only grunt a greeting as they continue on their way. Just as I’m about to knock on Jasmine’s bedroom door Brielle walks out of the infirmary.

  “Scarlett?”

  “Brielle, we need to do something now. I don’t think Sven will be alive for very much longer. Cassius is just barely holding onto his rage.” I confess before knocking on Jasmine’s door.

  “I know what you mean.” Brielle confesses with a dejected look, “I’ve never seen Bion so agitated.”

  “Hey” Jasmine greets, “come in, just please keep it down. Orion has just fallen asleep.” We both enter her room; Brielle doesn’t waste any time updating her on our visit.

  “I think the best way to start is for Nova and Scarlett to try to get to him. I will open the connection and then Nova can persuade him to tell us what he knows and Scarlett can figure out what the truth is.” Jasmine suggests, “I don’t think we should include Aria unless we really need her, she shouldn’t be agitated unnecessarily.”

  “I will send Nova a message and ask her to meet us here.” Brielle says as she starts to text. Five minutes later there is a light knock on the door. Opening we find Nova on the other side leaning against the door frame.

  “Whatever you’re up to, I’m in.” she says before we can even say anything. Jasmine quickly explains to her what our idea is and that we’re going to need to find out as much as we can. “Well, what we waiting for.” She states as we wait for her confirmation.

  Jasmine quickly sits on her bed; I move to her right and sit next to her, taking her hand in mine I squeeze gently. Nova takes a seat on her left placing her hand on her arm. Closing my eyes, I wait, as per earlier I see flashes of people, I breath in deeply and then try to slow the images until I’m looking at Sven.

  “Sven,” I call, “you helped install the devices on all of us, is that right?” a sadistic smile crosses his face as he looks at me.

  “Yes,” his answer makes the hairs on my body rise at the cruelness that I detect in his voice.

  “Where on our bodies is the device located?” I see a suspicious look come over his face, and then he shakes his head.

  “I don’t know.” He says; lie, as soon as he lies I can tell the truth. They have injected the device between our ribs.

  “How do you activate it?” I ask, I can tell he’s suspicious about the thoughts he’s having but because it’s in his subconscious he won’t be able to do anything about it.

  “I don’t” he answers, damn that’s the truth.

  “Who does?” he looks pensive, “Sven, who activates the devices?”

  “One of the Keres Tech guys.” He says

  “What’s his name?” I ask anxiously, if we can get this guy’s name maybe our guys can find him and deactivate the devices.

  “Locke, Lough or Luthier, not sure.” He grumbles as he pulls up a hand and starts to massage his temple.

  “Where can we find this guy?” I can tell the connection is going to break soon as he’s getting agitated. “Sven?”

  “Cape Town.” He answers before his image starts to fade. Darn, not much but at least it’s something to go by. Opening my eyes I see Brielle sitting before us with a concerned look on her face, I keep holding onto Jasmines hand until I sense that she’s conscious of her surroundings again. Nova has her eyes open and is frowning.

  “What did you guys find out?” Brielle asks worriedly.

  “That we’re screwed.” Nova grumbles, “If anyone tries to tamper with it, to extract it from our bodies it will disintegrate and the chemical will eat away at our organs in seconds.” She reveals, “But guess what, the guy that invented this device works for the FBI.”

  We all three gasp at her revelation, “I think we
should interrupt the guys meeting and tell them what we found out, they can plan around it.” I say before we talk about anything else.

  “Brielle, will you stay here with Orion?” Jasmine asks, I can hear the agitation in her voice and wonder what she must have seen.

  “Oh fine, but you three aren’t getting away from telling me everything you found out.” She says with a frown.

  “We’ll tell you as soon as we get back.” I promise as I make my way towards the door.

  As the three of us start to make our way towards where the men are meeting Nova stops, “You know that we’re screwed don’t you?” she says as she looks at us.

  “They will find a solution, there is no way they will just let the Keres kill off their women.” Jasmine says. “Do you really think Ceric is just going to sit back and let them kill you off.” She asks

  “The way he was earlier, his not thinking about much except killing.” She grumbles

  “That’s our jobs then, to try keeping them calm enough to find a solution before they go out and destroy everything in their path.” Jasmine suggests, “Listen to me,” she places her palms on Nova’s cheeks as she speaks, “I have known these men for a while now, and I have all the confidence that they will find a solution. This is too important for them not to.”

  “Let’s hope so, because I sure as hell am not ready to die just yet.” Nova quips with a wobbly smile, but I can see the worry below her smile.

  We walk the rest of the way in silence, as we get outside the door we look at each other before I lift up my hand and knock.

  CASSIUS 15

  Arriving at the computer room I see Draco has already arrived and is looking through something Celmund is showing him on the laptop. Burkhart is leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest as he looks at Brandr and Ceric that are sitting at the table. A hand clamps down on my shoulder, looking up I see a concerned Caelius looking at me.