Hex Boys In Disguise

by A and E Kirk

  “What?” Ayden paused mid-bite of his sandwich. “I said I was sorry. And besides, they didn’t even know I was gone.”

  “But they knew something was up,” Tristan said. “Plus, you almost got me shot today by those guards.”

  Ayden fired back, “If you had been willing to use your powers, you could have calmed them down and stopped the whole thing.”

  “Yeah,” Logan said to Tristan, “But even if you were worried about making the guards mad, you could have shut Heather up. She was the one making things worse.”

  “Her head is already messed up enough.” Tristan took a bag of chips.

  Logan glared. “Oh, so you’ll choose some girl we don’t even know over your teammate?”

  “Me?” Tristan ripped open the bag. “You wouldn’t use your powers on her either because you were so out of control.”

  Ayden frowned at Tristan. “I didn’t almost get you shot.”

  “Sure looked that way to me,” Tristan said.

  “Because you weren’t paying attention,” Ayden said. “I figured the guards would be too scared to shoot you because the one guard was there when you blew up the demons’ heads. That’s what he was telling the other guards and that’s why they were all so scared of you. Which meant you just had to pretend you were going to use your powers which is what I told you to do. And it worked.”

  Tristan gave him a sour look. “But you didn’t know for sure they wouldn’t shoot me.”

  “They could have shot at you, but you wouldn’t have been hit,” Ayden shrugged.

  “How could you have stopped them?”

  “I think I could have melted the bullets before they hit you.”

  “You think?”

  “And Logan could have used his power to, I don’t know, wind the bullets out of the way with his tornado whirlwind thing.”

  Logan paused chewing. “I was supposed to do what?”

  “Blow the bullets off course so they didn’t hit Tristan.”

  “We never talked about that,” Logan said.

  “Didn’t we?” Ayden popped a potato chip in his mouth.

  “No. You just told me to deplete the oxygen from Blake to knock him out and keep him from tearing the place apart or getting shot.”

  “Oh, so him you didn’t want to get shot at,” Tristan muttered.

  Logan dabbed his mouth with a napkin, thinking. “I’m not even sure I could ‘wind’ the bullets out of the way, even if I wanted to. Is that even a thing?”

  Tristan’s eyes widened. “Why wouldn’t you want to?”

  “Sure, it’s a thing,” Ayden said. “Jayden’s mentioned something like that before.”

  “I have not. In fact, I have no recollection of the phrase,” Jayden said, then paused. “Although, theoretically, it is possible. Logan, perhaps you could patent the process. You know, my many patents have proven to be extremely successful endeavors. In the financial sense.”

  “See? You could make a fortune like Jayden.” Ayden grabbed another sandwich. “Plus, you said you wanted to try new stuff. Shake things up a bit. Look what you did with Fido. Wrapping him in that tornado thing. Although if Tristan would have just used his powers to calm down the guards, we wouldn’t have had a problem.”

  Tristan rolled his eyes. “We’re back to this again?”

  “Everyone, knock it off,” Matthias ordered.

  Tristan threw down his napkin. “I’m going to my room. Alone.”

  One by one the rest of the Boys wandered off to different areas of the suite.

  Alone at the table, Matthias shook his head. “Bloody brilliant day.”

  OPERATION:

  This Flight was Da Bomb

  LOCATION:

  Novo Airfield

  Armed guards escorted the Hex Boys across the tarmac. Following Matthias’ orders, the team did not speak unless spoken to, and even then tried to answer with only a nod or grunt.

  No one commented about the opulence of the jet. The cushy seats reclined to a near horizontal level, but no one tried it out. None of them asked for snacks even though Blake’s and Tristan’s stomachs wailed loud enough for the guards to give them odd stares. Jayden gave his brother a dirty look and chose a seat beside Tristan, who turned away and stared out the window. Blake ignored the empty chair Logan offered and sat in a row by himself.

  Matthias watched them all, then stifled a sigh and flumped down, uncertain what to do or how to fix the rift in their team.

  They heard the Director of Novo long before they saw her.

  “For the last time, we do not require an escort! You will remain here. That is an order.” She stomped up the steps and into the jet.

  The Hex Boys sat up straighter in their seats and shared apprehensive looks. With her attention consumed by her phone, she took no notice as she flopped down into the plush seat next to the door leading to the cockpit.

  “We didn’t know you’d be joining us, Director,” Matthias said warily.

  “I have to report on this disaster.” Renard tore her eyes away from her phone in order to reach back and bang on the pilot’s door. “Let’s go!” Her eyes returned to her phone. “An absurd request. If I must leave my facility in a time of crisis for this ridiculous ceremony – no offense, Boys – they cannot honestly expect me to divert the few trusted men I have to guard me against the very children who exposed the infiltration in the first place.”

  Matthias nodded, his smile tight. Suspicion fluttered in his chest. It struck him as odd that she would leave her facility at all while it was in the middle of such an extreme crisis.

  “What a nightmare.” She yanked her seatbelt in place as the jet began to move.

  “Couldn’t agree more,” Ayden muttered.

  Matthias shot him a look, but he needn’t have worried. Director Renard hadn’t heard, too busy typing on her phone again. The woman was wound tight, irritable, struggling for cordiality, barely more personable than when she had interrogated them. Matthias could understand that. Under her watch, the facility had fallen to demons. Then some assault team had hit the place and blew up a building. She had a frenzy of damage control to deal with.

  Especially if she had turned traitor and contributed to the downfall of Novo. Sure, the Hex Boys had no evidence, but it had nagged at them. There had to be at least one inside man, or woman, in this case. And for this level of corruption, the traitor had to be high up.

  The plane took off without incident. Hours later, Renard finally rose from her seat to use the bathroom. She had barely spoken to them, spending the duration of the flight working on her phone or tablet. Given her constant presence, the Boys had not had a moment to speak freely. All but Matthias had reclined in their seats, eyes shut.

  The moment the bathroom door closed, every Hex Boy lurched up.

  “We’re all thinking the same thing, right?” Blake whispered.

  Ayden leaned toward the other Boys. “That it’s weird she turned down a security escort to come on the plane with us? Someone like Renard always has a security detail.”

  “And Renard hitching a ride out of the country now that they’re looking for the traitor at Novo?” Logan added.

  “Yes,” Jayden said. “Because Holocom is a more than sufficient apparatus to report back to her superiors. It would also allow her to remain at Novo to directly oversee the business of rectifying this catastrophic chain of events.”

  “And what’s with this bogus award ceremony they’re having for us?” Ayden said. “Mandatum never does that.”

  Logan nodded. “And why would Madame Cacciatori personally insist that we come to Paris for it?”

  “Our interrogation at Novo was less than friendly,” Ayden said. “But suddenly we’re heroes?”

  “It was a debriefing,” Matthias said.

  Ayden gave him a look. “Oh, come on.”

  Tristan shrugged. “Maybe Cacciatori wants us in Paris so it’s easier for her to kill us?”

  “
Or she sent Renard to do the dirty work on this flight,” Matthias said.

  After a tense moment of silence, Blake said, “Good.”

  Tristan gave him an incredulous look. “We could be facing certain death at thirty thousand feet or in Paris, and that’s good?”

  Blake nodded. “It’s good that I wasn’t the only one thinking it.”

  Logan gave a small smile. “I believe that’s the first time you’ve actually been thinking what we were all thinking.”

  “Nah, you guys just aren’t man enough to admit you’re thinking the same thing as me most of the time.”

  “Focus!” Matthias told them.

  “Tristan should just get in her brain,” Blake said. “See what she’s up to.”

  “Noooooooo.” Tristan firmly shook his head. “You think she got to be director of a supernatural nuthouse without training on how to resist a Hallucinator? No way.”

  “What if she’s a Hallucinator too?” Blake glanced around. “Are we even on a plane?”

  “We have Hallucinator resistance training, you idiot,” Matthias told him.

  “But what if—”

  “Blake,” Logan said curtly. “We. Are. On. A. Plane.”

  “But are we sure this plane is actually going to France?” Ayden said.

  “Oh, great.” Tristan flung his hands in the air. “What if instead of dead, we end up in Singapore as part of some sex slave operation?”

  Matthias rolled his eyes. “You need to spend less time with Aurora.”

  A flush roared from the bathroom.

  “Shh!” Matthias cut a hand through the air to silence further conversation. “We need sleep, so take turns. Two awake at all times. Wake everyone up if she does anything suspicious.”

  “This whole thing is suspicious.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  “Shh!”

  The bathroom door opened. The Hex Boys launched back into their seats, struggling to appear casual. They took turns sleeping, with at least two awake at all times, as Matthias ordered. It proved easier than they thought. They were exhausted.

  For the most part, Director Renard stayed in her seat with occasional trips to the bathroom. But hours in, she stretched to her feet with a yawn and stepped into the galley at the front of the plane. Jayden kicked the back of Ayden’s chair.

  “Yeah, I know,” Ayden grumbled. “I’m tired, not blind.”

  “We’re getting close.” Renard nodded at the windows. “You can see the glow of the French coastline on the horizon.”

  “Great,” Ayden said. “Won’t be long now.”

  Renard opened a cabinet and took far too long to pull out two mugs. “I’ll make us some tea.”

  “She might have a weapon hidden in the galley,” Jayden whispered.

  Ayden jumped up. “I can make it.”

  “No need.” Renard opened another cabinet.

  “No, no, please. Allow me.” Ayden put on a charming smile and guided her out of the galley. “Gives me something to do. I’m bored out of my mind. And can’t have the Director of Novo waiting on us.”

  “Oh, well, thank you.” Renard sat down and started tapping on her tablet.

  “Yes, ma’am.” Ayden pulled out the only tin of tea, then rummaged around looking for anything dangerous Renard might have hidden.

  Jayden nudged the other Hex Boys awake.

  “I still can’t believe it.” Director Renard shook her head and gave Ayden a long searching look. “How did mere children uncover what my security could not?”

  “Well, ma’am, we already told you.” Ayden shook some loose leaf tea into mesh strainers. “Tristan noticed demons putting on the wristbands while visiting his father.”

  “Ayden,” Director Renard said, “I’m sure your team would appreciate a cup as well. It’s a special blend I have custom made. You should all try it.”

  “Oh,” Ayden said. “They don’t want anything.”

  “I am exceedingly parched.”

  “Two sugars for me, dude.”

  Focused on the other Boys, Director Renard missed Ayden give the Boys an irritated squint as he pulled out more mugs and started pouring.

  “The demons masked themselves from every test we have,” she said. “How were you able to discern the humans wearing the wristbands from the demons?”

  Ayden’s hand jerked and hot water splashed the counter. It took every ounce of the Hex Boys’ strength to not flinch, to not share panicked looks.

  Matthias shrugged. “We’ve all seen that Tristan has access to a formidable power. Saved us on more than one occasion. He followed instincts, the evidence. But the demons grabbed him before he got too close.”

  “And the rest of you came because?”

  “One of our own went missing,” Matthias said.

  “We had no choice,” Ayden shrugged.

  “No man left behind.” Jayden nudged Tristan’s shoulder. “Even I am aware of that popular motto.”

  “Of course,” Director Renard smiled. “Very impressive. You have my sincere gratitude. No wonder Madame Cacciatori wants to honor you with a ceremony.”

  Ayden passed Renard and Blake their teas, then headed back to grab the rest.

  Blake frowned after a sip of his. “Ew, I said two sugars, dude.”

  Ayden rolled his eyes and came out with more mugs and handed them to the Boys. “I did.”

  Blake sighed and passed him on the way to the galley. Reaching for a sugar packet, he did a double-take at the steaming leaves in the mugs. He dropped his cup with a clang and grabbed the tin of tea. His eyes went wide.

  “Poison,” Blake whispered.

  “What?” Ayden said.

  “Poison!” Blake waved the tin, dried leaves flinging into the air.

  Tristan spit out a mouthful, the spray hitting Ayden.

  “Gross!” Ayden jerked back, dropping the last two mugs.

  Jayden reached forward around Matthias’ seat and slammed a flat palm into their leader’s back. Matthias retched and vomited on the floor.

  “What the hell, Jayden?” Matthias choked.

  Jayden jumped to his feet and pointed at his brother. “Come here, you’re next.”

  “Like hell I am.”

  Renard dropped her mug as she rose to her feet and glared at Blake. Logan leapt from his chair and swept an arm sideways. A burst of air launched Director Renard off her feet and away from Blake. She slammed into the side door of the plane and bounced down to the floor like a rag doll.

  “We’re being poisoned?” Tristan shrilled.

  “Ayden, come here,” Jayden snapped. “You must purge your stomach.”

  “Whoa, no, I haven’t had any yet.”

  “Neither had I,” Matthias ground out.

  “Oh.” Jayden winced. “Sorry.”

  “I have!” Tristan jumped up and frantically spit on the floor. “I’m poisoned! I’m dying!”

  Jayden moved to place a palm on Tristan’s stomach. Matthias caught the long-haired twin’s wrist.

  “The bathroom. Now.” Matthias pointed. While they rushed to the back of the plane, Matthias turned to Blake. “You sure?”

  Blake held out a handful of the loose tea. “Very.”

  “You Boys are in so much trouble,” Renard groaned.

  “I don’t think so.” Ayden wiped tea spit from his jacket. “You just tried to kill us.”

  “I have done no such thing.” Renard pushed to her knees.

  “Really?” Matthias picked up his untouched tea as he walked over to kneel in front of her. “Then take a sip.”

  Renard eyed the cup then took it. “Of course.”

  The Hex Boys watched with bated breath. Sounds of Tristan’s retching screeched from the bathroom. Anxiety fluttered in Blake’s chest as he wondered if he’d been wrong.

  Renard lifted the cup to her lips. And flung the boiling liquid at the boys. Matthias fell back, arms up to shield himself. A sharp burst o
f wind split the spray in two and the scalding water passed on either side of the Aussie. Renard pulled a gun out from a thigh holster under her skirt.

  And pulled the trigger.

  Matthias kicked out. His foot jammed her arm against the exit door. Sparks flew as the bullet ricocheted off the walls. The Hex Boys yelped and ducked. Mugs clattered to the ground as the tea surged out and formed into ice knives, which flew across the cabin and sliced through Renard’s jacket, pinning her against the door.

  “Got her.” Jayden stood half-in-half-out of the bathroom.

  Matthias released his foot, and Blake helped haul him to his feet. In one fluid motion, Renard slammed a kick into the Aussie’s gut and shrugged out of her jacket. Matthias knocked back into Blake and the two went down. Renard jumped to her feet and opened the overhead compartment.

  When the Hex Boys tried to help him up, Matthias shouted, “Forget me, get her!”

  Logan vaulted over the seat, swung his legs and booted Renard square in the chest. She thudded down again. The backpack and suitcase she’d reached for bounced into a seat then tumbled across the floor. Renard scrambled for the suitcase and yanked on the zipper.

  Jayden kicked it out of her reach.

  “No!” she shrieked.

  She swung wildly at Jayden who deflected the hit, caught her wrist, and twisted her into an arm lock. One kick to her leg dropped the director to her knees.

  “What the hell is in there?” Matthias rushed to the front and squatted beside Renard’s suitcase. He lifted the lid then immediately dropped it in shock.

  “Tell me that’s not what I think it is,” Tristan shrilled.

  “Bomb.” Ayden backed away.

  It had been a brief look, but the wires stabbed into clay and clichéd red timer mounted atop were hard to misinterpret as anything else. Logan and Tristan reeled back. Blake plastered himself against the wall beside the cockpit door.

  “Release me and I’ll disarm it,” Renard said. “I just need the backpack.”

  Ayden picked up the backpack and frowned. “And just how is a parachute going to help you disarm a bomb?”

  Renard growled and twisted in Jayden’s grip. He wrenched her still.