“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 blood. 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.”
Chapter Twelve
My body was sore and I was still sleepy, yet we were headed for the Isla Del Sol, an island in the middle of Lake Titicaca. We were driving a cheap car that Anthony traded for the damaged SUV in a questionable used car lot. We’d slept in rotations. The sun was beginning to pink up the horizon.
The Inca believed that the Isla Del Sol was where the sun god, Inti, was born. “Why do we keep visiting sites tied to Inti?” I asked, irritated. “Surely there are sites to be found that are more closely tied to Supay.”
“We haven’t found any indication of where Supay was born. We have lots of lore about Inti, so I figured we would check those sites first. Maybe both Inti and Supay were born to this world at the same time, in the same place,” said Michael.
“Legend tells us that deep in the earth, the Uku Pacha, or as we call it, underworld, was tied to the realm of Supay via a spring,” said Anthony from the driver’s seat. “That’s the spring known as the Spring of Life. Most likely, based on what legends we do ha
ve, we'll find the entrance to the underworld in a cave in the Andes.”
“So we're only going to the island to eliminate it from the list?” I asked.
“Yes,” said Elias. He turned in the tiny car and gave me a tight smile. “We knew this could take some time, Ri. We’ll find it eventually and get back home.”
I stared out the window, pouting. I didn’t understand why we weren’t starting with the most likely places, rather than the least likely. I pulled out an empty blood bag and stuck a needle in my arm to add to their stash. It made me a little queasy at first to tap a vein, but I'd gotten good at it. With my little donations and their rationing, we were staying ahead of their blood intake. Elias's eyes dilated as he watched the blood drip into the bag.
“So, the bad guys, last night. They said I’m definitely Unseen. They said they didn’t want to hurt me. So I have to assume they want to breed me.” I contemplated the passing landscape and ignored the look I could feel Elias giving me.
He changed the subject, clearing his throat and turning his body away from the sight of my blood. “The Inca believed that the sun and moon were born from this lake. That’s why I added it to our list of places to check.” He reached back and squeezed my knee. “Obviously, we know the sun and moon were not born in a lake on Earth, but it could’ve been that in the retelling of the legend, Inti and Supay were replaced by sun and moon.”
Michael’s slid his arm around my shoulders and kissed my forehead. “Besides, there’s a library in one of the villages here that's rumored to have ancient texts. I’m hopeful we'll find a lead in one of the books there.”
I settled in for the rest of the eight-hour car ride. We needed to stay out of sight for a while, so staying on the Isla Del Sol* was a good option. If we were lucky, the Junta would think we’d given up or were still hiding in Cusco.
At least they let me stop for some bedding. I fluffed my pillow and tucked in against Michael. My eyes closed easily—I wanted to sleep away the nightmare of the past few days.
My sleep was fitful and full of confusing dreams. I couldn’t remember what I experienced in my sleep, but I woke several times. Anthony’s voice crept into one of my dreams. “Sleep, Coya,” he said. “You are safe. We would die to protect you, my beautiful queen.” Calm washed over me and I remembered nothing else.
I slept straight through the rest of the drive, including two pit stops to let the cramped men stretch their legs. I woke lying against a sleeping Elias, the early morning sun bathing his hair in warm gold.
“Wake up, Coya. we're here,” Anthony whispered in my ear.
“Where is here?” I blinked at my surroundings, brain still fuzzy.
Michael opened the back door and offered his hand to help me out of the car. I was stiff from my fight the day before and the long sleep lying in one position. “We’re on the coast of Copacabana, in Bolivia. You even slept through the border. The border guard was unconcerned with three men transporting an unconscious woman covered in bruises.” Michael rubbed my shoulders as he explained. “Anthony didn’t even have to calm his mind. He took our papers and gave us the appropriate ones and waved us on.”
I yawned and stretched. “Did you calm me in my sleep?” I asked Anthony as he stepped out of the car.
“I did, Coya.”
“How? Without pain, I mean.”
“I don’t know. You were crying. Your mind allowed me to come in and soothe you, and it relieved us to know you were resting.” He walked around the car and pulled me into a hug.
We were in a parking lot with a ferry boat docked within walking distance. The boat ride to the island was two hours long. We’d decided to try staying in places that might fly under the radar. From what we could tell online, the hostels on the island didn’t book online. We’d called in the reservation and they assured us on the phone that we would be able to pay in cash.
I tried to grab my bag, but between the three of them, they carried them all. “Freaking vampire gentlemen,” I grumbled under my breath. Anthony burst out laughing. Whoops. I forgot about their sensitive ears. Elias and Michael turned around and grinned at me.
“Get used to it, Coya. You’re capable of carrying your own bags, we know that. But we care for you and want to show you in small ways. Carrying your bags is such a minuscule thing to us. If you’d prefer, we could carry you?” Anthony lunged at me as if to pick me up. I squealed, shoes slapping the pavement as I ran and jumped onto Elias's back, sore muscles forgotten in the light-hearted moment.
“Run, Eli, he’s coming for us!” I yelled. Elias dropped the bags he carried and grabbed my legs, running us to the ferry. Laughter poured from my mouth the entire way—free and light. My hair streamed behind us and I bounced on him like I was riding a horse. I gripped him, my laughter turning to a sigh as I realized the bouncing was turning me on. I can't take me anywhere.
Michael picked up the bags Elias dropped, and he and Anthony jogged behind us. Elias dropped me a little too quickly and I rocked into Anthony’s arms, laughing like a maniac. “Oh my god, I’m going to pee!” I ran over to a public bathroom beside the ticket stand.
I did my business and was washing my hands when something in the mirror caused me to jerk my head toward the door. For a split second, I saw the old woman from the little restaurant in Cusco. She walked past the open doorway.
My hands flapped water and soap all over the place as I ran out of the bathroom. I frantically searched for her gray and black hair, but she was gone. “Anthony!” I shouted.
He was beside me in an instant, Michael and Elias not far behind.
“The woman from the restaurant walked by the bathroom door. But, you guys shouldn’t move that fast in public!” I scolded. “Someone will see, and you’re supposed to keep this super secret, right?” Elias and Michael ignored my scolding and took off to search the immediate area.
“After the week we’ve had, I’m not leaving your side again. If you need to pee again, I’m going with you,” said Anthony. I was quickly learning he was the most protective of the three, which was odd since he’d spent the least amount of time getting to know me.
It must be in his nature to be a little possessive. As long as he yielded when I asked him to, I could deal.
Elias came back and grabbed my hand. “I didn’t see anyone come out of the bathroom before you, but I wasn’t staring at the door the entire time you were in there.” Anthony stayed with me while Elias and Michael jogged around a larger area than their first search.
He picked me up and twirled me around in a hug. “I’m touched that you yelled my name, Coya. I know any of us would die for you, but knowing you thought of me first makes me want to take you into that bathroom and do things that might make you uncomfortable in public.” He planted a big, wet kiss on my lips.
I giggled into his lips. “Oh, Anthony, I’m growing used to your protectiveness. You instinctively came to mind first. And I wouldn’t necessarily say no to the bathroom.” I returned his kiss, then pulled out of his arms toward the other two guys as they walked toward us. They shook their heads—they didn't find her. Did I imagine her? I really had been on edge.
Grabbing their hands, I started walking toward the ticket booth where a young couple stood in line, staring at us. I turned my head to Michael, “Are they talking about us? About me kissing Anthony then grabbing your hands?”
Michael gave me a blank look. “Hmmm? I’m sorry, Baby, I wasn’t paying attention. I was thinking about what I’m going to do to you when we get to the hotel tonight.” My lady bits, already a little active, jolted me. They weren’t adverse to whatever was going through Michael’s mind.
Elias squeezed my right hand. “Yes, Ri. They commented something I won't repeat to you, because what they think doesn’t matter.” My bubble of temporary euphoria popped. No matter how comfortable we might become with each other, the world would remind us daily we were nothing but freaks. If only they knew.
Anthony pressed himself against me. “Don’t worry. When we're do
ne with this adventure we can lose ourselves among the Unseen. In the circles we'll run in, polygamous relationships are completely normal.” He squeezed my shoulders. “Most factions of the Unseen have poly relationships. Given the various abilities and physical traits among us, they’re a bit more open and accepting of what humans call alternative lifestyles.”
It was our turn at the ticket booth and Elias paid for our crossing. We boarded the boat and found seats at the front, on a hard wooden bench. The wind on the lake whipped my hair around my face violently. I shivered and three jackets were offered to me.
Laughing, I pulled my own hoodie out. “I’ve got this, guys, calm down.”
Michael pulled me close. I turned to find him staring at me with lust filled eyes. I squirmed in my seat a little and leaned close to his ear. “Will you walk me to the bathroom, husband?” I bit his earlobe to be sure he got my point.
He put his hand at the small of my back and stood, helping me to my feet. His palm warmed me and my honey pot started cheering.
I jerked open the—thankfully—private bathroom door and we rushed inside before we were noticed going in together.
“I want fast and hard, Michael.” I pressed my body against his and ran my hands between our bodies, down his front. He was rock hard.
“You got it, Baby.” He unbuttoned my pants and yanked them down to my ankles. After taking off his own, he twirled me around and bent me over at the waist. I pressed my hands against the wall and turned my head toward him.
He stroked me and discovered I was soaked, completely ready for him. He rubbed his head in my folds, wetting himself to enter me. My breath hitched in my throat in anticipation. I could feel more moisture gathering between my legs.
He rammed into me, calling out my name in a hoarse voice. Grabbing my hips, he moved me forward as he pulled out, making his entry and exit of my body faster. When he pulled me back, I grunted with the force of his body colliding into mine.
My arms shook with the strain of holding myself up against the wall. He set a punishing pace and I was soon moaning louder than I should. He pulled out and turned me around before picking me up. I kicked my jeans off as he lifted me.
Hers From The Start: A Collection of First In Series Reverse Harem Page 55