“Isaias, unless you want me to use the crystal, stop your grumbling,” warned Zen as she blinked tears away from her eyes. The lights were too bright and her side was hurting terribly again. It had likely caught another infection being in such an unclean place.

“If there was a shadow around I could get us free of here,” grumbled Isaias wiggling in his seat again.

Zen rolled her eyes at her brother’s antics. “Grow up! We are trapped by light why don’t you try to pick the cuffs instead of being a Superman?”

“With what?” he yelled raising his hands. “Thin air?”

Zen scoffed and whispered. “They never patted me down, idiot. I still have my knives.”

Isaias laughed and hugged Zen taking out her smallest knife from her shoulders before drawing back. “Idiot, Luis,” he muttered before turning his attention to the cuffs. He’d have them picked in no time. Soon he had his cuffs off and was working on Zen’s cuffs. They had to think about what to do when they were free. I can’t let Marco have all the fun.

As he was thinking that Marco was thinking about what else to do, as he and Tortuga drove to where Isaias and Zen were being kept. Who the hell names themselves after an animal? Oh well, he was easy to manipulate at least.

Tortuga was in a dream but not his favorite kind. First, he was in his car driving. He hated his car. Second, his usual partner was missing and upstaged by some young thang. Not his type. Third...where in the hell were they going? He got murky thoughts of Zen and Isaias and their whereabouts. Something he’d never tell willingly. Everything was wrong! That’s how he knew this was mind control at its finest. He fought through the fog enough to make a comm call to Nathan and he had enough sense to whisper it low enough that the boy couldn’t hear.

“Code 96 red,” he murmured and quickly got off.

Marco’s eyes narrowed. He had heard the SOS call being put through and cursed. Using his Traveler abilities wore him out but they were necessary right now. His eyes glowed eerily for a minute before he tamed that aspect and made Tortuga glance into his eyes. They fogged up again.

“Tell me the coordinates to this Nowhere place,” he said waiting for Tortuga to respond but Tortuga was silent. Shit, I just had to grab a natural blocker! If I use any more of my power, I won’t be able to teleport.

Marco took the easiest way out by ripping the information from Tortuga’s mind leaving a bleeding male by the road and teleporting to Isaias and Zen who needed him more. He hated using what he learned in BEI but he had no choice. It was either Tortuga or Isaias and he wasn’t going to let his partner or his twin sister down. He blushed. He was through running from Isaias.

When he teleported in, he had to teleport again.

###

Zen and Isaias sat on their chairs wondering what to do when the door to the shack opened and in stepped Luis. He had a bandage over his head and an eye patch to hide his black eye from hitting his Lamborghini. Isaias smirked and elbowed Zen who grunted. Her wound was aching. Being so close to the damn light had made her sweat a bucket, right into her wound. It was definitely infected. She could smell it from here.

“Well, Isaias, never thought daddy’s prized slaves would be entertained by me,” said Luis chuckling.

Isaias scoffed but it was Zen who said, “Says the guy who got rammed by a crystal into his Lamborghini. I warned you didn’t I?”

Luis growled and stepped closer. Immediately the crystal began to warm and vibrate against Zen’s chest, sending a warning beam when Luis stepped too close. Isaias laughed but the strange glint in Luis’s eyes shut him up.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

“You’re injured and by the smell it’s infected,” he said.

Zen didn’t say a word but Isaias’s eyes narrowed. Zen’s wound was infected again? They needed to get out and fast then. There were no shadows to hide his movements but to Luis, he was a blur anyway, as Isaias rose from his chair and pressed the knife he had used for picking locks, into his cousin’s throat from behind.

“Alright listen up Luis. You are our hostage and I will kill you if you even move anywhere but forward. Oh, and don’t say a word about my sister,” threatened Isaias as he yanked a petrified Luis forward. Zen rose and started walking gingerly. One step in front of the other. It hurt to breathe with the infection on her side. Luis gulped and opened the door to the shack, scuttling out with Isaias one step behind. The Hormigueros stopped to stare at their idiot boss being led by their captives and Nathan put his head in his hands.

“Just why was I saddled with morons!” he cried. “Did no one check the girl for weapons?”

The silence was his answer.

“Ugh, just fire,” he muttered and the Hormigueros got their guns ready.

Isaias growled. “Back off I have your boss.”

“Bernado was very clear in his instructions. Luis is expendable. So are you Isaias. He wants the crystal back that’s it. As long as it’s back with him we can and will do anything. Fire!”

The Hormigueros fired. Isaias closed his eyes grabbing Zen’s hand. A bright light engulfed them and they were gone in a teleport. Marco didn’t have the energy to go far so they appeared a few meters off from where they were. Zen, he noticed, had white strain lines on her face. He knew teleporting never went well with her but instead of grumbling good-naturedly about it, she held her side and closed her eyes for a minute. Her breaths were labored. Isaias looked worried.

“The wound is infected again Marco,” he said whispering so the Hormigueros wouldn’t find them so fast.

Marco nodded before gasping as rivulets of red ran down Isaias’s chest. “You’re hit,” he cried.

Isaias grunted feeling the bullet lodged into his arm. “Yeah, I was holding Luis. Where did that fucker go?” he muttered. Marco hugged him then and Isaias’s eyes widened. He sat still, afraid to touch the other male, and just let him hug him. Marco pulled back and gazed into deep brown eyes.

“I’m through running, Isaias,” he whispered and Isaias slowly hugged him back. They didn’t pay attention to the Hormigueros who had brought along a machine gun and were about to fire it.

###

Carmelo drove like a maniac. Once they had gotten Bernado’s plan out of his foul, drunken mouth, he and Rosa had wasted no time in driving to the place and stopping the Hormigueros before they incurred his Doña’s wrath. He didn’t wish that on anyone. He drove up the gravel road and into the land proper. He hoped his car was enough to stall the Hormigueros. They had hotwired Bernado’s jaguar and taken it for a ride. They entered with a flourish stopping the Hormiguerros from shooting the kids down. Zen was unconscious and the other two were embracing as the Hormigueros were getting ready to fire again it seemed.

Carmelo pulled up the recording of Bernado’s voice and sent a Comm to every Hormiguero through his.“Stand down Hormigueros. Let them go. It was a mistake.” Bernado’s voice was slurred but clear. The Hormigueros stood down and turned to him and Rosa who were strolling up to them as if nothing were wrong. The kids had vanished again and that was for the best.

He spoke. “In lieu of Bernado’s absence, you shall defer to me and my Doña, Rosa Amargarita. The quest for the necklace will end. You shall not come after Zen or Isaias again.”

Nathan spoke. Yes, sir. On behalf of us Hormigueros who remember...our honor begins with Isaias.”

Carmelo nodded and within the shrubbery, Isaias smiled slightly. They had been safe all along.

Nathan spoke again. “We planned to knock the twins out with blanks, but make it seem like a true death to our legal boss; then hide the twins from Bernado in one of his villas.” He threw one of his bullets to Carmelo who studied the strange blank bullet.

“I’ve never seen anything like these bullets,” he said, showing it to Rosa who laughed when she saw it.

“I assume Isaias was their mastermind? He wouldn’t stop chasing his sister with these. If I remember correctly, they squirt small doses of blood. He made Zen think her period had come a bit soon,” said Rosa shaking her head.

Nathan chuckled. “Is that how he tested them? Yeah, he made these a while back but Bernado the idiot, saw no use for them. We decided to invent one today.”

“I assume he’s alive then?” Carmelo said pointing to an unconscious Luis. He had been left in the teleport and had taken the barrage of bullets.

Nathan nodded. “We wasted good blood on his idiot ass. Alright, guys! Reel it in. Pack up. Let’s go homeward!”

The Hormigueros cheered and started unsnapping the machine gun. Most were in cohorts with Nathan those that weren’t were being paid to be. Carmelo watched the gang drag their knocked-out boss to a sedan, and pile him on top of the machinery, before leaving the small wooded area. As soon as they did, Isaias appeared carrying Zen, and then Marco appeared right beside him a few seconds after, looking strained. Using his abilities had darkened his hair back to blue but it was still short. His ability had liquified the contacts and he had cried them out already. Isaias was only noticing now that they were out of danger.

“Did you cut your hair, Marco?” he asked.

“I had to disguise myself to get information,” he said blushing.

“I--I like it,” said Isaias grinning.

Carmelo and Rosa walked up to Isaias and looked at Zen who was shifting in pain. This close, everyone could smell the infection. “Let’s get her back to my home,” Carmelo said, turning and leading the others to the car. They followed. Isaias laid Zen in the back on one seat and got in on the other and Marco simply teleported back to the compound. He needed a nap after all that teleporting.