by L. A. Boruff
A knock interrupted us, so I jumped into the bed and covered my face while Anthony got my breakfast from room service. Michael walked over to the bathroom to rinse out the mugs and erase evidence of their morning drink.
While they talked and packed our things, I dug into my breakfast.
“Michael.” Elias put my clothes in the suitcase. “How did you manage to take trips to Peru without tipping Riley off?”
“I actually told her where I was going. I worked in pharmaceutical sales, and I was pretty good at it. It’s easy to get humans to buy things when you can charm them.” He chuckled. “She thought I was going to a convention, and she couldn’t go because of work.”
Satisfied with his explanation, we grabbed our bags in case we didn’t make it back to the hotel that night. I put the hoodie on to walk out of the hotel, still under the guise of an American celebrity.
I tried not to laugh at the three large men squeezing themselves into the small car. Elias and Anthony pushed the seats all the way back and were moderately comfortable. With Michael in the rear seat with me, it was cramped.
Anthony drove so Michael could give direction. “Since we're in Cusco already, we'll start with the Coricancha. It’s the sun temple of the Inca.” Our hotel was only about fifteen minutes from a parking garage near Coricancha. We walked from the car in awe of the structure. The stonework was impressive, and we could clearly see which walls were original to the Inca people. It was the oldest structure I’d ever seen, and it was beautiful.
Elias pulled out a wad of Peruvian sols that he’d stopped and exchanged during his run. He paid the attendant at the door, and we walked in. The inside of the temple was hushed, and I didn’t want to break the silence. The age of the stones weighed heavy in the room. Their history was palpable.
I skimmed a brochure Elias handed me, learning that a Spanish temple was built from the ruins of the original Inca temple. The site was known as Coricancha and was a museum. Michael studied his own brochure, looking for our most likely destination.
“We need to find the section that pre-dates the Inca empire. It should be the center of the structure, which was shaped like a sun. It was built before the Inca became a true powerhouse.” Elias motioned us down a hallway lit golden with the sun.
“This was the holy place of the sun god. It’s the least likely of my list to be a possible site to the underworld, but it was closest,” said Michael.
They led the way down the hall. We were supposed to seem like tourists, but I was the only one that made us look convincing. My head whipped left and right, trying to see everything at once.
My guys had visited this island many times during their adolescence and were less impressed. The architecture was magnificent, and several walls were covered in a gold light, mimicking the gold leaf that once covered the walls. They left me to my wonderment as they quietly discussed possible sites.
We arrived in a room with a large stone inside it. Elias pulled out a pocket knife, and they bloodied their fingers. Michael indicated I should watch for anyone that might interrupt them. I offered to prick my own finger, but they staunchly refused.
“A small amount of blood should be enough to make the magic of the portal begin to work.” Michael cut his finger without a wince or flinch. “I’m honestly not sure how much it'll take to actually open it, but even a few drops should make it do something.” He tapped several blocks with the blood from his finger before it healed, and had to prick it again.
I stopped them a couple of times as people came in. The tourists didn’t stay long, as the room was actually quite boring once you got past the marvel of the stone work. One older lady stopped to chat with us.
“Is this your first time in Peru?” She had a British accent.
“Yes, ma’am, though my husband—” I paused, unsure what to call Elias and Anthony. “—and his friends have been here before. They’re studying architecture and came for inspiration for their graduate work.” I was proud of myself for rattling that lie off the top of my head. She gave us a sweet smile and moved on.
Once they’d exhausted every stone in the room, including the large stone settled in the center, we walked casually through the entire building and gardens. They occasionally touched bloody fingers to stones that looked to be older than others. We were flying blind.
I enjoyed the beauty, but after four hours combing the temple, we went to the car rather dejected. “I suppose it was too much to hope to find it the first day we looked.” I opened the back car door and sank into the seat.
“Remember, we're together and safe, nobody knows where we are, and our boys are safe,” Michael said. He clasped my cold hand in his warm one. I’d expected Peru to be warmer, but I was chilled.
Elias noticed a restaurant within walking distance of the parking garage, and we headed off that way. The Casa Qorikancha didn’t even look like a restaurant. From where we stood, it just looked like a stone building, maybe an office, but it was sure to be warm inside. I gave my approval.
We sat at a small table, and Elias conversed with the waiter in Spanish. I told Michael to order for me as I couldn’t read the menu.
Elias and Anthony told us stories about our children from the past five years to pass the time as we waited for our lunch. Tears prickled my eyes—again—hearing about the way Daniel used to say different words. He didn’t ever have a lisp, according to Elias, but he mispronounced several words like ketchup—che-hups, and he always said sound-noise instead of just sound or noise. On one hand, I was thrilled he was safe. On the other, I missed it all.
I was laughing at Anthony’s description of David trying to flirt with a visiting Supay teen when I noticed an older woman walk in.
“Guys,” I whispered. I couldn’t even hear my own voice in the crowded restaurant, but I knew they would. “The older woman that walked in—don’t look—was one of the tourists that was interested in what we were doing in the museum.” The idiots turned their heads at the same time I was whispering. “Be cool, guys. Geez, you act like you’ve never been sneaky before.”
The woman pulled up a chair at the bar and spoke to the bartender. I saw Michael’s lips moving and cocked my head. “I can’t hear you, Michael.” Anthony, sitting closest to me, leaned in as if to place a kiss on my neck.
“She may be able to hear us if she’s an Unseen. Don't speak our names again. Eat at a natural pace, and we'll leave.”
Easier said than done. Luckily, she sat facing away from us, so I didn’t have to worry about her watching us. I watched the guys’ gazes travel around the room, scanning for potential threats.
I tried to people-watch too, but all I saw were people—normal people, living their lives. I could see no threats, but to be fair, my eyes kept straying to Michael's profile. I still couldn't believe I was looking at my husband. I reached out and clasped his hand.
Our food arrived, and I almost drooled in anticipation. Potential danger or not, I was hungry and my causa looked delicious. The combination of avocado, beef and potato was Peruvian magic in my mouth. I picked off of their plates, too, sampling lomo saltado, antichuchos, and pollo a la brasa.
If we don’t start a workout regime, I’m going to gain weight.
The guys were tense throughout the meal, and our conversation was nonexistent. “She probably lives nearby,” I said into my wine glass.
“We must be diligent. We don't want the Junta interrupting us now,” Michael whispered as he leaned over and kissed my forehead.
Elias pulled money out of his wallet and left it on the table. I was ushered out of the restaurant, then flanked for the short walk to the car. “Don’t you think you three are overreacting a little? I wanted to finish my rice.”
“I’d hoped to stay one more night here before beginning our drive to the next potential location.” Anthony held my door open and climbed in with me. “After seeing that woman again in the restaurant, we should head on to Bolivia.”
“Great. How many hours will that take?” I threw my
hands up in the air in exasperation. “This is overkill.”
Anthony pulled me into a side hug. “Continue trusting us, Coya. We’re cautious because we care for you.”
I settled in for yet another long, boring drive, alternately brooding and snoozing when the first car hit our bumper. I let out a little shriek and sat up, looking around us. Night had fallen, and my view out of the back window was blinding headlights. I couldn't see past the bright lights to tell what type of car was hitting us
“Floor it, Elias!” Michael yelled from the passenger seat. Anthony pulled me into his lap so he could press the latch to lower the seat and reach into the trunk. He pulled out a bag of weapons and handed me the first gun he put his hand on. It was my nine millimeter. I knew it was mine because it had a bright pink grip, which I could see clearly when we pulled ahead a few feet and the headlights illuminated the interior of the car. I put my hand down in the side pocket and pulled out four clips. They went in my bra—the best pocket.
My fingers released the safety, and I rolled down the window. Going up on my knees, I discovered how difficult it was to aim at a car as it tried to ram us while the car I was riding in weaved back and forth.
My shots went wild. Once the large vehicle behind us realized I was shooting at them—and that Michael and Anthony had joined the fight—they rammed the bumper of our little compact car even harder. I was slammed into the back of the driver’s seat while I tried to aim at an impossible target.
“Fuck it!” Anthony shot out the back window, nearly blowing my eardrums, but giving us an easier target. Even when my hands and arms shook or swung wide with the car’s movement, I was able to at least hit the car behind us, though I had no control over exactly where.
Two clips later, our trunk was pushed nearly into the seat with us, our car was smoking, and the vehicle behind us finally started to sputter. Anthony managed to get off a good shot to the driver’s side, and they veered off the road, then slammed into a tree.
“Get us the hell out of here, Elias!” My voice was thin in my ringing ears. Adrenaline coursed through my body, and I wanted to jump out and run—like I could run faster than the car.
A second car lay in wait ahead of us. The damaged car wasn’t even out of sight yet when we were t-boned in the passenger side.
It was one of those weird, out of time moments where everything happens in slow motion. I looked at Anthony in time to see the shadow of movement beside him that was another large vehicle ramming us. My body jerked and moved backward, bouncing off of my door, but after riding that adrenaline high, I felt no pain.
“Anthony! Duck, get down!” I’d managed to hang on to my gun, so I slid in a fresh clip and fired off several rounds into the front window of the black SUV that was pushing us sideways into a ditch. I didn’t think I hit anyone at first, but they stopped pushing our car. We scrambled out of the driver’s side and used our ruined car to take shelter as we fired more rounds at the unknown inhabitants of the SUV.
“Freeze!” a deep voice shouted from behind us. “We outnumber you, we're stronger than you. We have no desire to injure you any further. We want Riley.”
“Come get me, assholes. I’d like to see you try.” I whirled around to face three men who must've walked from the crash site of the first car. Yeah, great. Piss off the superpowered villains that want to breed you to death.
“You’ll have to kill us.” Michael stood in front of me while Elias and Anthony flanked me again, keeping an eye out for more danger out of the second car.
I dropped to a crouch and took careful aim between Elias and Michael. The moon provided plenty of light. With a crack, I nailed thug number one between the eyes, and he dropped. I was a great shot when not in a speeding car. I had a fleeting thought before pulling the trigger about taking a life, but really, it was kill or be bred. That helped ease my conscience.
Before I could aim again, they moved with a preternatural speed that rivaled Anthony on the day we met. I wasn’t able to follow his movements that day, but these creatures were just a bit slower, so I could see them coming, but I couldn’t move fast enough to do anything about it.
My men, on the other hand, could. Michael jumped higher than any human could and landed behind the shortest of the goons. He kicked him in the side with enough force to break a human’s spine, but didn’t even phase the guy.
Elias and Anthony fought back to back, kicking and hitting the last two thugs from the first car. I became distracted by their fight and let my guard down. Strong arms grabbed me from behind.
I used the old tried and true. I relaxed in his arms. He was squeezing me hard enough to make it difficult to breathe. I slipped my hand behind me and found his penis. Squeezing as hard as I could, I also gave a sharp pull. He dropped like I’d knocked him out. Twirling around to make sure there weren’t any more people coming from the other side of our car, I turned in time to drop under another set of large arms attempting to grab me. Given how easily I dodged him, I figured he had to be human. Finally! Someone’s ass I can kick.
While crouched, I gave a quick punch to his groin. When he doubled over in pain, I brought my elbow down as hard as I could on his neck, then brought my arm up around his windpipe to squeeze with as much strength as I could muster. I heard a nasty crunch, and the man collapsed, wheezing.
It happened so fast, the first man to grab me was barely getting up off of the ground. Elias, Anthony, and Michael still fought their higher powered enemies. I ran around to put them between me and my pursuers, trying to give myself time to breathe and calm down before the remaining human came after me.
He stalked around the bigger fight, ignoring them. His attention was on me. I was a little more cautious this time; I kept my wits and frequently glanced around me. I didn’t want to be caught unaware by yet another attacker. The closer he got, the more obvious it became that he was an enormous hulk of a man.
“Geez, man, how fucking tall are you?”
“I've no desire to hurt you, girl. Come quietly. They’ve promised you won’t be injured.” He spread his arms out, as if trying to placate me, or show me he wasn’t dangerous.
“What do they want from me?” I allowed a note of fear to enter my voice. I’d gotten lucky before, with him leaving me an opening to squeeze his crown jewels. He wouldn’t make that mistake again. I needed to make him think I was considering giving in.
“They want to take you to safety. You are one of the Unseen but an unknown creature.” He started toward me again. “Once they figure out what you are, you can be introduced to your own kind, and your children returned to you.”
My head cocked to the side, and I furrowed my brow. “If all they want is to keep me safe, why are you fighting my friends?”
“They aren't your friends, girl.” He inched closer. “They want to keep you to themselves. You’ll never see your children again. I’m sure they’ve got a big plan to take you to a third world country then kill you where no questions will be asked.”
“Do you promise you won’t hurt me if I don’t fight you?”
“I promise.” He closed the last few feet to me.
My hands went up. See? I’m a little girl. I’m no threat. I widened my eyes more, and looked up at him with the most innocent look I could manage with rage boiling inside me.
He smiled down at me. “Turn around and walk toward my SUV. I’ll put you in the back—” His words stopped short as I rammed my palm upward into his nose. Blood squirted everywhere. If my self-defense training was to be believed, his eyes would be watering, obstructing his vision.
I took advantage of his temporary blindness and kicked him on the side of his knee. When I heard his kneecap slide out of place, I turned away and tried not to vomit at the sound of ligaments tearing.
Two down. I returned to the fight in time to see Elias twist the head off of the remaining thug. We were alive, albeit bruised and exhausted. Michael was pulling a sword out of another man, and Anthony came from around the side of our car, covered in bl
ood. I wondered why it bothered me to hear a kneecap get jacked up, but watching Elias rip a dude’s head off didn’t even make me flinch? Whatever, add it to my going-to-hell list.
My mouth opened to ask if there were any more when the three of them practically flew over to me to assess my injuries.
“Coya! Are you all right?” Anthony grabbed my head and peered into my eyes.
“Riley, where are you hurt?” Michael circled me, looking me up and down.
“Did they get you?” Elias grabbed my hand and looked over my arm.
“Guys. I’m okay. I’m bruised but mostly from the wreck, not the fight.” I jerked my hand away from Elias and pulled my head away from Anthony. “I thought these were supposed to be trained fighters from the Junta? The two humans were easy to take out. I expected more.”
“I doubt they knew we had Michael with us.” Elias said. “Without him, we might’ve lost this fight. And I’m positive they had no idea that you could fight like you did. They tend to underestimate humans anyway, especially human women. However much they suspect you have Unseen lineage, you still don’t show any supernatural skills or abilities. I assume they sent human men to capture you in an attempt to make you feel connected to them.”
Made sense. “Now what? Our car isn't driveable.” I walked over to the poor, crushed little car.
“We’ll have to take theirs. Elias, can you look for the tracking device?” Anthony took control, as he seemed to want to do most often. I climbed into the SUV and let the guys deal with grabbing our stuff out of the ruined car.
“Are we going to leave dead bodies that are definitely not human lying around?” I asked with my head out the window.
Michael chuckled. “I guarantee they’ve got a cleanup team on standby. They expected one of us would kill another. They’ll be here soon, but they’re not equipped to fight. They’ll wait until we leave. Another fight team is most likely also on their way, so we need to go, and now.”