Hadaen [The Marujan Brothers Series] Book One (8 page)

Adjusting the rear-view mirror, Hadaen
checked the vehicles behind them just to be sure. Everything seemed
fine. He then glanced at Amelia who was seated behind Gideon, her
face turned and was looking absently through the window. What he'd
give for just an ounce of her thoughts. Her protector, Esyth, was
trying to make contact with the others in Lensai.

"Anything?" he asked her.

"Not yet," she replied without
breaking focus. "The differences in our dimensions seem to be
interfering with my signals. I'm sure I'll reach someone
soon."

Gideon grunted and removed his
glasses, his eyes returning to a pale shade of gray. "The coast is
clear. At least for now."

"Something's still biting at me
though," Hadaen pointed out, pulling around a curb. "If Deorci is
the devil we know him to be, then he might just tag a few mortals
along in his scheme. They are no real threat as it stands but their
energies would be harder to detect if we're not looking
closely."

Gideon scoffed. "Do you know how many
mortals live in Washington? The whole fucking population. Our
brains would be fried shit before we managed to scan through all of
them."

"All I'm saying is that we need to be
cautious. If Deorci is here, it must mean the reason is important.
Clearly he has learnt of our presence. He's here to destroy and
conquer; it's what he does best. Him using mortals would be solely
aimed at slowing us down."

Silence drifted throughout the vehicle
for a few minutes. Hadaen had no doubt in his mind that either of
them were questioning his words. He glanced through the rear-view
mirror again at Amelia. Her cold glare clashed with his, sending a
chilled energy coursing through his veins.

"You might want to keep your eyes on
the road," she advised icily. "As much as I'd love the sight of you
smashing head first through that windshield, an accident would only
cause us further delay."

Hadaen clenched his jaws and decided
to ignore her. "How are you feeling?"

"Great, actually." Her electric blue
eyes had always managed to leave him feeling hard and eager.
"Mortal life had taught me a great deal about handling narcissistic
assholes."

This damn woman was drawing him out!
"Did it teach you how to shut up and be submissive too? Because it
would come in just handy when I part those glorious legs of
yours."

She was sitting up straight in her
seat now, the blue glow flashing across her eyes. "I do dare you to
keep talking!"

"
Ooooh
," he mocked her with a grin,
the amusement never reaching his eyes. "What are you going to do?
Sneak a hand down my pants?"

"Fuck you!"

"Oh yes, you will."

"I'm picking up energy!" Esyth
shrieked before either of them managed another word. "Gideon, do
you feel it?"

"Oh yes, I do," he responded,
unhooking his seatbelt. "I'm ready as hell to see who this fucker
is."

"I feel it too," Hadaen said, glancing
through his mirror. "Four cars down. Black Hummer. I'm sensing five
men. All mortals."

Gideon grinned and let out a whoop;
hardly the expected reaction in a situation like this. "And boy, do
I smell fire power." He cracked his knuckles and chuckled. "Let's
do this baby!"

Hadaen took the nearest exit and
headed down through a short tunnel which led out to an empty lot.
His instincts were directly on point so he wasn't surprised when
the Hummer pulled in behind him a couple minutes later. Whoever
these men were, they weren't very smart; possibly broke fellows
working for an easy pay-off.

Either way, he could not allow anyone
to get in the way of his plans.

"How far away is your friend with the
weapons?" Amelia asked Gideon.

"About seven minutes."

"Too far. We're going to have to fight
this set off right here, right now."

"She's right," Esyth groaned, the
golden glow already surrounding her body, her eyes like a fierce
fire. "We don't want them on our tails."

Hadaen nodded. "Hold on!" And he
brought the vehicle to a sharp turn, skidding sharply against
gravel and its side facing the attackers. The Hummer drew to an
abrupt halt a couple hundred meters away. "Go!"

Gideon was out first moving in
superhuman speed towards the vehicle, bullets raining around him.
Amelia dodged out, her blue glow crackling like fireworks. Hadaen
jumped out and grabbed her, throwing her far behind him. He could
hear her scream of protest but he didn't care. It didn't take long
for him to summon his mana from the depth of his core. Red light
clapped around them, sizzling like electricity, as he spun rapidly
creating a massive spiraling current. The bullets hit his field,
falling limply to the ground afterwards. After a few minutes, all
sound ceased and Hadaen moved towards the Hummer slowly, his eyes
like blazing crimson. Esyth ran past him, pivoted with one knee
raised high and threw a wave of golden light towards the vehicle,
leaving it stripped of all its outer metal ware. Inside, the five
men huddled together, looking half-dead. Gideon grinned and jumped
unto the top of the vehicle.

"
Whooeee
!!" he howled. "Someone's
surely pissed himself over here."

Hadaen chuckled and grabbed the
nearest culprit. "Tie the rest up."

Esyth and Gideon were already at that,
bounding them tightly and tossing their heavy frames down to the
dusty pavement, their mouth gagged. Amelia then came up to them,
looking stricken and dusting off her clothes where she had landed
flat on her ass when he'd tossed her.

"You're an asshole, you know that?"
she spat.

"Tell me later when you want to show
some gratitude."

"I don't owe you a damn thing. I know
how to deflect a bullet."

Hadaen caught the look that Esyth gave
her. It was somehow consoling...a bit weary. Whatever she was
saying to Amelia, it had caused her to relax, leaning against the
stripped truck.

Relieved, Hadaen finally looked the
mortal who was in his hands over. The man wasn't large, just about
five feet eight. Hadaen probably had about fifty pounds over him.
The man's eyes looked large enough to fall right out of his damn
head.

Hadaen sniffed
lightly
. So this one was the one who'd
pissed himself
. Tossing the man back, he
took a step back and widened his stance. "Who do you work
for?"

The man struggled to his feet, his
eyes wet with tears. Frankly, Hadaen felt sorry for him. But that
was what one got for doing the devil's dirty deeds. "I-I don't
know. He-he approached us in a dark alley. The shadows were on his
face. He paid us in cash."

"What were your
instructions?"

"Follow the black SUV
parked outside the fourth Palisades apartment. Shoot it up." His
eyes widened even further. Hadaen knew he was terrified and from
the display of supernatural abilities they had just performed, he
had a right to be. "W-what
are
you?" He looked around shakily. "All of
you?"

"
I
ask the questions." Hadaen stated
it firmly. He then worked at his aching temples. If Deorci had
given such instructions then he must have been outside his
apartment last night. Hadaen had no doubt he must have trashed
through it already. They had to keep moving, switch vehicles...and
get those guns too.

"What are we going to do with them?"
Esyth asked, arms folded and facing Hadaen. "We can't just leave
them here."

"We have to," Gideon stated, jumping
back to ground. "Either way, they’re screwed. Deorci will find them
anyway… Or the police. "

“Gideon's correct." Hadaen sighed and
turned away. "We can't do anything for them at this point. Let's
go."

Esyth nodded and followed
behind.

"Wait!" the man wailed. "He'll kill
us. If he's like y-you we don't stand a chance.... Turn around and
face me like a man, you motherfucker!"

The sound of a bullet going off
slapped through the air. Hadaen turned around to meet his brother's
grin and his infamous, "Damn!"

His gaze then moved to Amelia who was
standing, one hip jolted out sexily. The muscles around his cock
tugged. In her right hand was a silver shotgun.

"That should shut him up."

And she strode pass all of them, their
faces masks of surprise.

Hadaen was pretty sure his mouth had
dropped.

Chapter Six

"
I
've alerted the others of our
coming," Esyth said. "They should expect us by sunset."

Hadaen nodded and glanced out the
window of the jeep they had acquired after dumping the SUV. Gideon
had been driving ever since. His "friend" had actually turned out
to be very resourceful. His name was Jacques; the only mortal he
had ever met who didn't cower in his presence. He supposed the man
had a lot of experiences to speak for; ones that had hardened the
bones and left the soul tainted. He had said he'd served a decade,
as colonel, in the military. He had the bearings to prove
it.

He hadn't even questioned it when
Gideon had mentioned the urgent need for weaponry. Jacques had
simply grinned and said, "I've got just what you need. Top-grade
artillery. Military style."

They were now well armed, so to speak,
with firearms ranging from the sleekest of shotguns to the most
deadly of explosives. The trunk of the jeep had been loaded with
two huge caissons.

"Ammunition to debut in World War 3,"
Jacques had grinned, his large muscular arms folded over his chest.
A huge scar had slashed across one cheek bone to his
chin.

Hadaen looked up at the starry sky. It
was just minutes after midnight. The moon sat at its center
position, shining brightly and staking its claim over the night.
Traffic was little. The journey had been fairly silent. He could
hear Amelia's sleepy sighs as if it was the loudest sound in the
world. Her head rest against the hard door of the jeep.

He wished she'd let him hold her. He
admitted that his arrogance somehow got the better of him at times
but he wanted her still; wanted badly to sink his cock deep within
her warm wet pussy. To bring her over the edge of passion and have
her screaming his name to his satisfaction. To trail his tongue
along the slender curve of her neck and taste her sweet saltiness;
to move even further down to the sweet juices of her
womanhood---

Dammit!
He was hard again. How he fought against the urge to wrap his
hand around himself and ease the pain away; to bring himself to a
release; a dissatisfying release, even that.

Hadaen stifled a groan. "We should
stop for the night. Get some food and freshen up."

"There's a bed-and-breakfast half a
mile down the stretch," Gideon muttered. "We'll stop
there."

It wasn't long before the large
neon-lit sign came up into view. Kat's Bed & Breakfast. The
building seemed fairly new or perhaps just freshly painted. It was
two stories high, a wooden structure that Hadaen no doubted was far
stronger that it looked. Gideon pulled up to the entrance of the
building, shutting the jeep off. Esyth nudged Amelia gently, waking
her.

"Bring in the bags," Hadaen said,
already out of the vehicle and scanning the area. "Let's
go."

By the time they had all huddled
inside the building, six duffle bags were sitting in front the
front desk, a receptionist nowhere in sight. A ceiling fan whirled
noisily overhead. A TV was on somewhere. Otherwise, the building
was quiet. Gideon stepped forward and pressed the bell on the desk
repeatedly. He was at his 8th ring when...

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" The answer
came in a hefty shout. A plump red-head made her way into the room,
rocking from side to side on short legs and thin spectacles falling
at the tip of her beak of a nose.

Gideon cast Hadaen a knowing look. His
brother's eyes were grinning even if his lips weren't. The woman
reminded them of their childhood nurse. Cranky as hell with the
same scary owl of a face.

Hadaen stepped up. "We need two rooms.
Just for the night."

Esyth frowned and Amelia raised an
eyebrow. Hadaen thought their modesty as women was rather
ridiculous.

"That'll be eight-five dollars each,"
the older woman muttered. She then peered over the desk at their
bags. Hadaen never understood the concept of wearing spectacles
that way if they were only going to be gazed over. "You got some
mighty heavy luggage there."

"Cross country," Amelia threw in and
the woman looked at her. "We're taking in the sights."

The woman harrumphed and stretched her
hand out for the cash Hadaen held out to her. "I don't get much
couples coming in at midnight." She eyed them. "Most folks want to
come in a little earlier and anticipate what the night as to
offer." She gazed at Amelia and Esyth with a twinkle in her eyes
that made them blush. Hadaen's chuckle earned him an elbow in his
side. Amelia stared furiously up at him. Gideon covered up a grin
and tucked Esyth under his arm to keep up with the
pretense.