Free elemental 01 - whirlwind by Larissa Ladd

between the two of them combining their power, they’d be able to get a message out telepathically.
    Aiden helped himself to another cup of coffee, trying to settle his uneasy nerves. He realized some of his disquiet sprung from the fact there hadn’t been any attempt on Aira since he and his brother had arrived in her life. Of course, he told himself, they had only been away from her grandmother’s house for a little over twenty-four hours. That was hardly enough time for someone to spring any real trap. His mind countered, if someone had been working on a plan before her grandmother had asked him and his brother to protect Aira, they should have already come after her. He flipped through the channels and told himself he was uneasy because he was in a stranger’s home, and because he was out of control of the situation. He had faith in his brother. He reminded himself that Dylan had protected plenty of people before; they had acted as bodyguards on more than one occasion. While they may not look like the stereotypical bodyguard type, both of them athletically built rather than muscle-bound, they were sufficiently powerful to make up for it—and they were stronger than they looked.
    Aiden was finally beginning to convince himself to relax. He looked at his watch, the meeting should’ve almost been over and then she would be home and under two sets of watchful eyes. He started to let his mind wander, trying to think of what he and Dylan could do to break up the monotony of their watch, when his phone pinged once. Then again. Seconds later it was ringing.
    Picking it up quickly, Aiden saw the text message from his brother just before it disappeared: SOS. The phone call was from Aira. Aiden hit the intercept button to get her location before hitting the accept button to see if she was able to talk. If he could find anything out about their situation, at least he could locate her.
    Over the phone he heard scuffling, and Aira’s voice raised in strident protest. It cut out abruptly, the tone announcing the call had been terminated. “Fuck,” Aiden muttered. He calling up the application that would track her phone’s location. He hoped whoever had made the grab for her didn’t know she had the phone on her. The application was automatically tracking his brother based on data from the contact patch they each kept on them at all times. He watched the icon indicating his brother’s location as it moved, while the one for Aira remained in one place.
    Aiden had to make a decision—the right one. Either they had dropped Aira’s phone, leaving it behind before taking her or they had Aira in one place while they took his brother elsewhere. He wasn’t concerned with tracking his brother; Dylan would handle himself. Their priority had to be Aira’s safety. Whoever was involved in the situation may have separated them, and without a tracker on Aira it would be much more difficult for Aiden to find them, especially without his brother. He could do it; he had the tracking ability, but it would be easier if she had the phone.
    Aiden grabbed his phone and the keys and rushed out of the apartment. He decided on the location where the phone was. If Aira wasn’t there, he would track her with his other abilities and hopefully find his brother at the same time.
    Aiden cursed lowly under his breath as he got into the car and plugged in the phone, hooking it into the car’s GPS and instructing it to lead him to the phone’s location. He wouldn’t have much time, particularly if the intent of Aira’s assailants was to kill her. Aiden pushed the thought away that they may have already, if that was their goal. He pulled out of the parking spot quickly and got on the road, listening dispassionately to the GPS directions echoing through the car’s sound system.
     
     

Chapter 7
    Aira felt like hell. She lay bound in the back of a van, seething with rage and utterly powerless. She should have noticed something was amiss, she thought