A smile chased the sadness from Marisa’s face. “Oh, they are so nice. They don’t look much like you, except the blond hair.”
“Kathy takes after her mother. Believe it or not, when I was young, I had those same freckles that are torturing my son’s face.”
She laughed. “Then he’ll be as handsome as you when he is a man.” She lowered her eyelashes, peering at me from under them. She was flirting, but I didn’t mind. It had been a long time since I’d noticed any woman flirting with me, though Lorrie had claimed many of the clients I’d ferried around had flirted like mad.
“And your wife? Do you have a picture of her?”
I did, but I had stopped carrying the photograph because it hurt too much. “She’s dead,” I said. “Two months ago. Killed by those men back there.” I jerked my head in the direction of the Emporium captives. It wasn’t those same men, of course, but others from the same group.
Her eyes opened fully now, and I could see they glistened with moisture. “That’s why you killed them. I understand.”
“Not me. I wish it had been.”
She nodded. “That, too, I can under—”
A gasp from my other side cut off her words. I leapt to my feet and hurried to Irwin. He had a knife in his hand and sliced at me, his eyes rolling back and forth wildly
Marisa shrieked and jumped up, pulling her pistol with one hand and crossing herself with the other. Her mouth spilled long strings of Spanish. Cursing or prayers, I couldn’t tell which.
“Stop!” I said, raising my hands in front of Irwin to show I was unarmed. “I’m a Renegade. Part of Ava’s group. I’m here to help you.”
He calmed immediately, despite Marisa’s pistol and her continued flow of words. “All right,” he said in a thick Australian accent. He shifted his body slightly, grimacing with the pain. “Fill me in.”
“Marisa,” I barked, “put that down!” I glared at her until some sanity returned to her eyes and her weapon lowered.
I turned back to Irwin and explained what had happened in a few short sentences. “I think they have Tenika,” I finished.
“That’s my bet. We’ll have to go after them.” He attempted to sit but gave up as his body convulsed in pain.
“You aren’t going anywhere. Here. Let me help.” I dragged him to a tree and propped his back against it. He panted through gritted teeth, his forehead furrowed with agony.
“You don’t understand,” Irwin said as the pain eased. “Those bandits will wake up our prisoners with their drugs—they’re quite proficient at knocking people out and waking them for interrogation. Once they discover the Emporium will pay to get those guys back, they’ll make a deal.”
“The Emporium won’t pay bandits. They’ll just kill them.” If it weren’t for Tenika and losing the captives, I’d just leave them to it.
“Probably. Unless they think they can use them in the future.” Irwin grimaced down at his leg. Already the shards were less noticeable as the new bone regrew and knitted itself back together.
“I have some pain killer,” I offered. His body would get rid of it quickly as it did anything else, but given enough, he ought to experience some temporary relief. “I gave you a small amount already in the curequick, but I have some separate. Injectable.”
Irwin waved the suggestion away. “Look, we have to go after them. We’re shorthanded at the prison. It’ll take hours before I can get someone here, and by then we might lose their trail.”
“Trail? There is no trail. They got on a road, and from there we have no idea where they went.” I glanced back at Marisa for confirmation. She’d fallen silent, but her face was frozen, her pistol in a death grip—thankfully pointed at the ground. I wasn’t sure she even heard me. “They have several hours on us already.”
“I can track them.” He said it with such confidence that I had to smile.
All Unbounded were arrogant to a point, even my own siblings. I believed it was mostly because the gene demanded it. Changing was just that: a complete Change. From mortal to semi-immortal, aging only two years for every hundred that passed. No more submissive tendencies, no more willingness to remain on the sidelines. Those who Changed had only the best genes. They were stronger, faster, and even more intelligent than the average human, and their individual abilities increased their confidence and usefulness.
But sometimes it also meant they didn’t recognize their limits.
“You can’t do that while sitting here in these weeds,” I told Irwin. “And you aren’t going anywhere until morning without transportation. So unless you’ve got more tricks up your sleeve, it looks like I’m going to have to start down that road without you and just pray I find Tenika before it’s too late.”
Irwin’s mouth, still tight with pain, quirked up. “You’ll go after her then.”
“Do I have another choice?”
He shook his head. “No. But just so we’re clear, I can track them. Even sitting in these weeds.”
“How? You want me to carry you?” Judging by his pallor, he wouldn’t even make it several yards on Marisa’s motorcycle.
“Him.” Irwin’s eyes went past both me and Marisa, who also turned.
Amber eyes stared out at us from the midst of a large jungle bush, verdant with huge, deep green leaves. I had barely a glimpse of tawny fur and black spots before Marisa raised her gun and fired.
THE EYES VANISHED AS MARISA jumped backward into my arms. Her slender body trembled.
“Take that gun from her!” Irwin ordered. “She scared him!”
Marisa whirled on Irwin. “Scared him! You’re dead—or were. And that’s a-a jaguar!”
“So?” Irwin frowned. “Woman, you might have just ruined our one chance.”
Then I understood. Irwin’s ability was to communicate with animals, or at least some of them, and I was willing to bet that creature knew more about this jungle than any of us.
I took Marisa’s gun, removed the magazine, and handed it back to her. “No more shooting. Got it?”
She glared at me as she had when I’d left her with the bike, but she eventually nodded.
Irwin had shut his eyes, whether to try to communicate with the animal or in pain, I couldn’t tell. After a long minute, his eyes snapped open. “Go wait on the road. I’ll call you when it’s safe. Hurry, both of you!”
I grabbed Marisa’s hand. “Come on!”
“You crazy?” she asked, her accent intensifying with her emotion. “He’s hurt. That creature came because of the blood. He’ll kill him again!” She stopped speaking, mouth slightly agape as the incongruity of her statement hit her.
“Irwin knows what he’s doing. Half the world grew up on this guy wrestling alligators.”
“What?” She crinkled her nose in a way that was becoming familiar and, if I wanted to admit it, rather attractive.
“Never mind.”
She looked behind us, letting me drag her through the jungle foliage. We hadn’t yet made it to the road when she tugged against me. “Look.”
I stopped and saw that the jaguar was approaching Irwin, who held out a cupped hand. We waited, holding our breath as the creature reached him and pushed his face into the hand, nuzzling it. Soon Irwin was scratching the animal’s neck.
Marisa was mumbling in Spanish and crossing herself again. I had to admit to a decided urge to begin mumbling to myself in some kind of foreign language because I didn’t have words to describe this. It seemed only a few seconds passed until the jaguar pushed once more against Irwin’s hand and bounded away into the forest.
“You can come back now,” Irwin called, motioning to us.
We took no time in returning. “All right, mates,” he said with a cheerful grin that almost hid his pain, “this is what’s going to happen. My furry, four-legged friend—try saying that fast three times—knows where the bandits are, and he’ll take you there. But he says to lose the motorbike. Won’t be any use where you’re going.” Irwin frowned at Marisa. “And he doesn’t want he
r to come along.”
I had no intention of taking Marisa. “You’re sure he knows the right group of bandits?”
“Yes. There’s another group nearby, but their scent isn’t here. You can trust him.” Irwin gave a self-conscious smirk. “Well, as far as you can trust any wild animal.”
So not at all. “Okay,” I said.
“You can’t be serious.” Marisa stared at me aghast. “That thing will kill you.”
“No, he won’t,” Irwin said. “I told him not to.” To me, he added, thumbing in the direction where I had found the dead Emporium agents, “There’s a smaller road over there. Just start on that, and he’ll let you know when you need to veer off. He’ll only show himself to get you to change direction or if you aren’t going the right way. However, it’s already near four, and it’ll be dark by six. Could be sooner the deeper you go. I think you might make it before dark if you push hard, but you might not. It’s hard to tell time and distance with animals.”
“That’s okay. I have everything I need.” I hefted my bag. “I should take you back to the plane first.”
He gave me another of his grins. “I’ll be okay hanging out here for a few hours. If you’re not back by morning, I’m coming after you.”
He’d probably feel almost normal by then. “I already reported finding you,” I said. “We’re in contact with your people at the prison. That’s how I found you.”
“Good. I don’t want them wasting time coming after me. Better they focus on getting a team together to back you up.”
Or to do the job if I failed, he meant. “Take this.” I gave him an extra pistol. “Just in case.”
“The animals won’t bother me,” he said in that annoyingly confident tone. I decided I was beginning to hate his Aussie accent.
“It’s for the two-legged kind.” I turned and started through the forest. Marisa stumbled after me. From the corner of my eye, I got the merest glimpse of the jaguar up ahead, moving in the direction of the small road.
I waited until we reached it to talk to Marisa. “You heard what he said. You can’t come. Besides, it’ll be another few hours before he’ll be well enough to travel. Then you can use the bike to take him back to your place. Take care of him until he can defend himself or until someone comes for him.”
Marisa stared, backing away from me. “He is a ghost. I cannot. I—”
“Please,” I said.
Without waiting for her reply, I turned and started jogging down the road. She didn’t follow, which I took as a good sign.
I knew I had to make a choice about reporting to Ava what I was doing. If I didn’t, it’d be grounds for expulsion from the Renegades, and I didn’t want that. But I also couldn’t have her ordering me back to the plane. Because if I had to wait for backup to search for Tenika, that might mean losing the captives altogether or at the very least a delay in bringing the cure to Bronson once our people tracked it down.
In the end, my conscience won out. I waited for a break in the trees overhead before slowing to a walk and dialing.
“Where are you?” Ava asked.
“I’m following a jaguar.”
“What?” The amusement in her voice told me I’d caught her off guard. Good to know my young granny wasn’t beyond surprise.
I gave her a quick rundown. “Irwin says his friends won’t be able to get backup till morning and that the bandits have the ability of waking our Emporium friends.”
“Chris, you know how dangerous this is.”
I couldn’t stifle my flare of anger. “What I know is that Stella didn’t stop to consider her welfare when she protected my kids yesterday. I want all of this cleared up before Erin and the others get back with Bronson’s medication.”
She was silent for the space of a few heartbeats. “Okay, but reconnaissance only. Use good judgment. Follow our protocols. Report when you can.”
The mark of a good leader was knowing when to back down, to let those under you take responsibility for their actions. I knew she didn’t want me going, but she also knew I was going anyway.
“Will do,” I said.
“Oh, and Chris.”
“Yes?”
“Remember you have two very important reasons to come home.”
Her words were quiet, but they might as well have been shouted from a loudspeaker. Or delivered with a drop kick to the gut. As if she had to remind me about Kathy and Spencer.
“I always remember that,” I said quietly.
“Good.” A faint click in my ear told me she’d hung up. I tucked away the phone and started jogging again.
I’d only gone five more minutes along the road when a low growl called my attention to the right. “I must be crazy,” I mumbled, catching a glimpse of the jaguar’s tawny coat with its black spots. My kids would be amazed when they heard this story—if I survived.
I had every intention of doing so.
I angled through the jungle, jumping over shorter bushes and circumventing the larger ones and the trees. I tried to maintain a good pace, keeping in mind that I really needed to find the bandits’ encampment before dark. Hopefully, that also meant I’d arrive before they got around to waking up any of the Emporium captives.
When a stitch appeared in my side, I slowed down a notch, realizing that we were angling slightly upwards now. I heard what had to be a howler monkey, numerous bird calls, and the scream of another large cat. There were many creatures I never saw but only heard scurrying away—and not for my sake, but because of my guide. I was glad now for our rigorous training schedule because I would never have been able to keep up this pace two months ago.
The thought was like a knife turning in my stomach. Two months ago, Lorrie had been alive. Such a short time and yet it felt like years with all that I’d been through.
After thirty minutes of pushing through the foliage, I stumbled to a halt, my hand going to a tree for support. I had no idea how close an eye the jaguar kept on me, but he’d realize soon enough that I’d stopped moving. Mostly I needed to relocate my water to a more accessible position, allowing me to take more frequent sips without stopping. Having no way of knowing how much further I had to go, I’d better prepare for the worst. While checking my GPS, I downed a ration bar to keep up my strength. We’d gone mostly in a straight line since leaving the small road, though we’d recently taken a sharp turn around a raised bit of land.
My eyes wandered over the terrain. There was no evidence of human habitation. I might be standing on a spot that no human had ever stood on before. It was beautiful—no, gorgeous. Trees filled my vision, their green so bright and lush that it made something inside me ache. Why hadn’t I brought Lorrie here before she died? Why had I been so preoccupied with making a living that I hadn’t realized the best years of my life were already ticking away?
Stifling the urge to scream out my loss, I slapped at the back of my neck, squashing a mosquito that I hoped didn’t carry some deadly virus. Maybe it was okay that I hadn’t brought Lorrie here after all. She hated roughing it. A hotel in Paris would have been better. I should have sprung for that. Pastries, long walks along the Seine. A visit to the Eiffel Tower and to the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa.
I pulled back on my pack. Hope you’re watching for me, I told the jaguar.
I’d taken only two steps when a faint voice called out my name. I stopped, listening. Nothing.
My imagination.
No, there it was again. Definite crying. Screaming. Female.
I hurried back the way I had come.
PULLING MY NINE MIL, I dropped my pack as I ran, mentally cursing at the delay. I had a sinking feeling I knew who the woman was, but I didn’t know who—or what—was making her scream. I didn’t even know how she knew my name, though thinking about it now, I had introduced myself to her family back at their place.
Every day I worked with women who were tougher and stronger than I was, most of whom had centuries of experience. I was mortal, the older brother who was more fragile than his yo
unger siblings. They always wanted to protect me. So it was an odd sensation to be hurtling through the trees with the hope of rescuing a woman. Of knowing I was the only one who could rescue her.
I didn’t even want to think about being too late.
Seemingly long minutes later, I spotted Marisa through the trees, waving a big stick in her hand. Twenty feet in front of her, partially hidden by the trees, a jaguar looked ready to pounce. Without thinking, I sprinted through the remaining foliage, bursting out between her and the creature.
“Hey!” I shouted.
The animal yowled, sounding worse than a dozen tomcats fighting in an alley.
Marisa gasped. “He’s going to kill me!”
I took aim with the gun. I had no way of knowing if this was the animal I had been following or a new one on the scene. Either way, I’d be sorry if I had to shoot it. The creature screeched again, its amber eyes digging twin holes through me. Should I fire the pistol into the air? If this was my guide, I might scare him off completely. Or he might decide I would behave better inside his stomach. A pistol shot might also alert the bandits of my approach, if they were near.
With a flick of his tail, the jaguar pounced—but into the forest instead of at me. For several long seconds, I contemplated my survival. Then I started after him. With a cry of dismay, Marisa scrambled after me.
I whirled on her. “I told you to stay behind. What, do I have to tie you up? Are you determined to get yourself killed?”
Or maybe she was working for the bandits. But no, she’d helped me kill them.
“Look,” I said more calmly. “I have to keep going. Good people will die if I don’t.”
She glared at me. “You going to leave me here?”
“Go back to Irwin.”
“What about that diablo?” She glanced in the direction the jaguar had disappeared, her chest heaving in real terror. Devil. That was one Spanish word I knew.
Guilt waved through me. I shouldn’t have accepted a ride on the motorcycle in the first place. If I hadn’t, she wouldn’t be anywhere near here. Even if that jaguar was the one I was following, it might return for a soft meal. I’d have to give up another gun, unless she still had hers and I could return her magazine. “You can’t keep up.”
Mortal Brother Page 3