Mortal Brother

by Teyla Branton

  “Try me.” She pushed past me, leaping over the brush with a grace that reminded me of the jaguar.

  She was right, of course. I couldn’t leave her in this remote place any more than I could leave Tenika to face the bandits alone. I sprinted to catch up, pulling ahead of Marisa and leading her back to where I’d dropped my pack. The crushed leaves of the plants made the trail easy to follow. No wonder she’d been able to track me. Her eyes followed my movements as I picked up my pack, the tip of a red tongue wetting her lips. She was breathing even harder now, and I had trouble looking away from her heaving chest.

  I offered her the water tube, and she took it gratefully, opening the end with a practice that told me she was familiar with hydration packs. She took two steady pulls and gave it back.

  “Better wear this,” I told her, pulling out a camouflage T-shirt. As much as I hated to cover her up, she was like a neon sign in that blue tank—and it was better to keep my mind on the op instead of on her curves.

  She pulled it on with a little roll of her eyes, telling me she’d noticed my interest. Not meeting her eyes, I tossed a ration bar at her before taking off again. I couldn’t see or hear the jaguar, and I hoped he hadn’t abandoned us all together. If he had, it was going to be a long night.

  We’d gone another twenty minutes in the same direction before I glimpsed the jaguar again to the left. “That’s right, buddy,” I murmured, turning in that direction. “Good boy.”

  “Can we walk for a moment?” Marisa asked.

  So far she’d kept up, and if I was really truthful—which I didn’t plan on being—I’d gone faster with her watching my progress. I could do with a rest myself.

  “Okay,” I said, passing her my water tube. “Do you have any idea how far away they might be?” The bandits had taken the van and had a few hours on us, but since they had to use the little road instead of cutting through the jungle, maybe we wouldn’t get there too far behind them.

  Marisa thought for a moment. “Not too far. They have come and gone to my father’s place in maybe thirty minutes, and the road isn’t good. It winds back and forth like a snake.”

  “Okay, we’d better start being more careful then.” Irwin had estimated that we’d make it before dark, and the light was beginning to fail. We’d also run a good way, which maybe Irwin hadn’t counted on. The last thing we needed was to accidentally run into the middle of their camp or alert their lookouts.

  Now that I was thinking about lookouts, I wondered how I could make sure we didn’t get picked off before we realized we were near the hideout. Unfortunately, I didn’t speak jaguar like Irwin. I held back a large leaf so it wouldn’t smack Marisa in the face. She smiled her thanks, which made me remember how she looked in that blue tank. I shook the thoughts away. I was missing Lorrie, that’s all. Couldn’t blame a man for looking.

  We hadn’t hiked another fifteen minutes before the jaguar screamed ahead, much further away than I’d heard him before. There was a shout and the bark of an automatic rifle.

  It looked like we’d found the bandits.

  Something came at us fast, the foliage rippling like a wave. I grabbed Marisa and pulled her into the shelter of a bush. The jaguar sprang into view, landing in front of us with a deadly snarl. For several seconds he stared at us, then snarled viciously again before bounding away, disappearing the way we’d come.

  I waited, the woman in my arms trembling, but no one came after the jaguar. “What happened?” she whispered.

  “I think we’ve found the camp, and it looks like the bandits aren’t crazy about chasing Irwin’s friend.”

  “Crazy like you, you mean.”

  “Hey, don’t knock what works.”

  “Don’t knock?” She arched a brow.

  “Never mind.” She couldn’t know that I’d seen stranger things than an obedient jaguar since I’d joined the Renegades. My sister could sense emotions and thoughts, my brother could run almost faster than I could follow with my eyes and fight ten mortals without breaking a sweat. Stella could control three high-powered computers at once, processing more information than an army of nerds, and at the same time carry on an intelligent conversation with me.

  “Who is she?” Marisa asked softly. “The woman who puts that expression on your face.”

  She was right, however much I didn’t want to admit it. If anyone ever told me I’d be interested in another woman when my wife was only two months dead, I would have thought they were insane. Lorrie had been everything to me from the moment we met. Every day we’d been together, I’d known she was a ten on a scale where I hit maybe only a four or a five. Sometimes at night I’d watch her sleep until I couldn’t stand not touching her, and then she’d awaken and we’d make love, and I knew that I would never stop loving her. I’d always prayed she wouldn’t get up one morning and realize what a mistake she’d made in marrying me.

  I wished Lorrie had been the one to survive that horrible day, my first encounter with the Emporium, but she hadn’t, and Marisa was right that there was someone else: Stella, who was fighting for the life of her aging, mortal husband, Bronson. I’d be lying if I let myself believe that I was only here because of what she’d done for my children. I certainly wasn’t risking my life for Bronson, though I liked the man well enough. No, I was here in this jungle because Stella’s happiness meant more to me than almost anything, and she loved Bronson as much as I’d loved Lorrie.

  “What’s she like?” Marisa took my silence for agreement.

  I closed my eyes, pushing back the images that threatened my control. Stella Davis was half Italian, half Japanese, with the drop-dead gorgeous looks men dreamed about—I know I had. She was also a talented technopath who could manipulate electronic information at a rate that wasn’t conceivable to even most Unbounded, much less mortals. Yet it was her kindness, not her intellect or beauty, that had helped me keep things together during the dark days after Lorrie’s murder, when at times I hadn’t believed it possible to go on.

  I couldn’t pinpoint the moment my feelings for her had changed from gratitude to . . . something more, but not for a second did I fool myself that I had a chance with her. Not only because Bronson still lived but because I would die too soon, just like Bronson. Even with the cure for his disease. He was already in his seventies, and old age would eventually win out. No way would Stella be stupid enough to replace a mortal lover for another one who would leave her again.

  “There is no woman,” I said.

  Marisa tilted her head, staring at me for a long moment. Then she asked, “What now?”

  “We go slowly. I doubt the jaguar went into their camp, so that shot must have come from a lookout. Keep close.” I eased forward, this time taking care not to leave a trail. I indicated for Marisa to do the same.

  We heard the men before we saw them, and I eased behind a tree and glided along its leafy branches to the cover of another tree where two men came into view. They looked as brutal as the ones who’d tried to steal my plane. One was gesturing and the other laughing.

  “Can you hear what they’re saying?” I asked Marisa.

  She shook her head. “I think maybe they talk about the jaguar.”

  “They may have more lookouts.” We watched as the men finished their discussion, then one headed away, while the other shimmied up a tree.

  “Only one lookout, I think,” Marisa said. “He can see everything from up there.”

  We’d have to be sure he didn’t see us before we took him out. I moved slowly around my tree until it was between me and the lookout bandit. “Looks like we’ve got a pretty good view of the camp,” I whispered.

  Marisa edged over to sit beside me. From where we sat, the ground angled downward slightly into a gentle valley, just large enough to accommodate one small, low-slung cabin, one large tent, several smaller tents, and an outdoor cooking area. There were also a couple motorcycles, a beat-up truck, a car, and the missing van, which looked decidedly worse than the last time I’d seen it.

>   The man who had been with the lookout disappeared into the big tent. I eased out my binoculars and had a closer look, but there was no one else in sight except two women who were cooking over a fire. They both appeared haggard and were wearing dirty clothing. The younger one was openly crying. Every now and then the older woman would stop working to offer comfort, her eyes glancing nervously toward the tent.

  “She must have lost her man today,” Marisa said, her voice dull and expressionless. “Or the one protecting her.”

  “What will happen to her?”

  “Another will take his place. Women are in short supply.” Again that dead tone that ripped at my heart. I remembered now when I’d heard it last: in my own voice after Lorrie had died and I’d been trying to figure out how to tell the kids.

  Marisa had pushed so close that I could smell her sweat, but it didn’t turn me off. In fact, I wanted to pull her closer and protect her. I wondered again how old she was, and if she would ever love another man or if she would mourn her husband until it was too late to matter.

  Or was I thinking of Stella again?

  A movement directed my attention away from Marisa to the tent below where a man was emerging. With him were two other bandits and one of the Emporium agents, hands still shackled, but awake. The agent was a large black man who had been shot in the hip, if I remembered correctly, then knocked unconscious by Ritter during the fighting yesterday. He had to be held upright by the men, his legs dragging behind him uselessly, also still shackled.

  The Emporium agent was talking urgently as they pushed him to the ground several feet away from the women, and the first bandit pointed a gun at his face, barking something I couldn’t hear. The agent fell silent. The other bandits grinned at his arrogant, angry face. If the captive was gifted in combat, it wouldn’t be long before all the bandits were dead, shackles or no shackles. Their women would likely end up murdered as well.

  The women began serving something in bowls to the bandits, who sat down to eat on a felled log that seemed intended for that purpose. The man with the gun waved away the proffered bowl and kept his weapon aimed at the Unbounded.

  I lowered the binoculars. “I see only three men and two women, but there’s no telling how many might be in the tents or cabin. And we’re already losing the light. I’m thinking we should take out the guy in the tree and move in to see if we can learn more.”

  She shook her head. “They’ll be sending someone to give him food. Let me see.” I handed her the binoculars, and in the next second, she gave a swift intake of breath. The darkness was falling fast now, and I wasn’t sure if I was imagining the paleness that seemed to creep into her dark skin.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.” She pushed the binoculars back at me. “There will be at least one more in the tent with the woman and the others you seek, if they are here.”

  “We need to hit them before they realize what’s coming. That guy down there is either their leader or he’s taken over now that their leader is gone. He doesn’t look stupid.”

  “No, he’s far from that.” Marisa’s voice was strained, as though she could barely form the words.

  Now I understood. “So he’s the one.”

  She nodded, her jaw clenched so tightly it must hurt her face.

  I put a hand on her shoulder. “You stay here. I’ll get closer to the lookout. Don’t worry. I’ll wait to see if they feed him first. After I take care of him, I’m going down to look around. I have to see if Tenika and the others are here or if they’ve dumped them somewhere else.”

  If they had dumped them, what was I going to do? I couldn’t risk my mission to take revenge for Marisa, however much I wanted to wipe that hurt from her face. I’d have to find the road they’d driven here on and backtrack along it, hoping the wild animals hadn’t beaten me to the bodies.

  Still, some feeling told me they were in that tent. I had to know what was going on inside it sooner rather than later. Ritter had always taught us to follow our gut instincts, and that’s what I planned on doing.

  Before leaving, I typed out a message on my sat phone that would send automatically if I ever got into a clear spot where it could connect with the satellite. I knew Ava would have been tracking my implant, and I’d tried to walk in the open when possible, but the jungle was dense and I really didn’t know if she’d be able to direct Irwin’s friends to my location in the morning. Irwin might have to find another jaguar, and by then Tenika and the others could be anywhere.

  No, I’m going to free them tonight.

  I had to. Before it was too late.

  MARISA WAS RIGHT ABOUT WAITING on the lookout. One of the men soon came in search of him, not with food, but to relieve him. I debated taking them both out right there, but I needed more time to find Tenika—time I might lose if the lookout didn’t return to camp on schedule. I let him go, hoping I wouldn’t regret it later.

  This lookout hadn’t gone up the tree like the previous one, but was pacing in front of the tree. His movements were taut and angry, and I couldn’t help wonder who he’d lost today. But I didn’t feel sorry for him for long because he’d chosen a life that exploited others and fed on their misery.

  I took out a tranque gun because I was still feeling sick over the other men I had killed. I’d loaded it with double the dose. Not enough to kill a man his size, but enough to make even an Unbounded sleep for a few hours. The bandits might be out as long as twenty.

  I aimed carefully, using the scope. A dot of red appeared on his back, showing me where it would hit. I pulled it a bit higher. He stiffened as the needle entered the base of his neck, but he didn’t have time to turn before he crumpled into the vegetation without a sound.

  Slipping through the foliage, I pulled him over my shoulder and carried him some distance away, tucking him under a bush. They wouldn’t find him until morning—if there were any bandits left to search. I didn’t think animals would be a problem this close to the camp, but you never knew.

  The thought made me stop for a minute, staring back at the bush. You can’t worry about him, I told myself. Find Tenika. Of course, it really wasn’t for her. It was for Stella. I had to finish up here and be ready to take that cure home to Bronson.

  I moved through the trees, gradually and without sudden movements that might catch the eye. The darkness had closed in and I was relatively sure those around the cooking area couldn’t see me because of the light from the fire.

  The leader was seated across from the Emporium agent now, and they were talking earnestly. They offered him food, which took him several seconds to accept. I could imagine his disgust at the campfire cuisine—Emporium agents were notorious for their fine dining. People who didn’t need to eat could afford to be very picky. But this captive couldn’t afford to alienate the bandit before he got free or succeeded in awakening more of his people. So far he was still securely tied, and that showed a cunning on the part of the bandit, which didn’t bode well for my overall mission but that was working in my favor at the moment. No way did I want that Unbounded freed.

  The young woman again attempted to hand a bowl of food to the leader, and this time he took it. From my new position, I saw that the woman was pregnant, her belly jutting tellingly from her thin figure. This didn’t stop the former lookout, who’d arrived at the camp, from slapping her on the bottom and making a comment that had her scurrying back to the older woman.

  I should have killed him.

  I needed to be careful about such feelings, though, because emotion tripped up the mind and caused mistakes. Besides, I didn’t know the woman’s loyalty. Maybe she was here by choice.

  I sidled around to the back of the big rectangular tent the men had come from earlier. It wasn’t the usual nylon kind you could buy at Costco or Walmart or any local camping store but was made of thick leather sewn together with leather strips. The tent reminded me of a sturdy Indian tepee in the shape of a large army tent. While the bottom edges of the leather were held to the ground w
ith wooden stakes, the poles themselves were rebar cemented into the earth—so not a transitory structure. Obviously the tent was built to endure both time and tropical storms, and the tiny valley and trees gave it added protection.

  It was still a tent, and it didn’t take me long to find a gap in the leather. Inside, the space was dark except for the light coming from a stone fireplace set along one of the walls, complete with a makeshift chimney. In the corner closest to me, I could see lumps on the ground that were obviously the Emporium captives, laid out unceremoniously on the packed earth. A guard stood over them, though none appeared to be moving, except for the slight up and down motion of their chests.

  Closer to the fireplace, a figure sat on a solitary chair, but the person’s identity was blocked by a second guard standing in front of the chair. It had to be Tenika sitting there, and she appeared to be conscious. Beyond her was an uneven row of cots, complete with mosquito netting.

  Three bandits out front, two in here, plus the two women. Not a lot, but the conscious Emporium Unbounded changed everything. I could use Tenika’s help taking the camp, if she wasn’t too badly wounded. That meant I had to start here. Quickly, before their leader made his deal and Tenika was put out of the picture.

  The guard in front of Tenika leaned over and said something into her face. I caught a glimpse of her narrow braids as she tried to respond through the gag tied over her mouth. Her hands were also tied and one shoulder sported a white bandage stained with a copious amount of blood. The guard said something to his companion and grunted, making an obscene movement with his hips. They both laughed.

  I leveled the tranque gun and sent a dart into the guard next to Tenika. He crumpled. Before I could shoot again, the other guard ran over to her, talking fast and low. She lunged forward, bringing the chair she was tied to with her, and rammed her forehead into the guard. He brought his gun up, but she twirled and savagely smashed the legs of her chair into him. They both collapsed.