Page 16

CHAPTER 16 - TOR

M ads’ USB was a treasure trove of information. Names, dates, times, locations of all our missing prisoners… well, those that hadn’t skipped town and crossed into the gantii realms. A costly and slow exercise that only shipped two per week. Any more risked attention from Guild security, who monitored all off-world portal travel. Powerful intel in the right hands.

The only problem was that we didn’t know who to trust with it when we suspected the warden might confiscate it, destroy it, or have us taken to a dark corridor in the prison and murdered. It wasn’t half obvious that he wanted our team weakened and dead from his actions this far. Paranoid? Fuck, yeah! We had to be in this climate when things didn’t add up.

As a team, we decided to do things the long and hard way, like cops picking through breadcrumbs from previous investigations. Sure, it potentially dragged out our sentence, but we stayed alive and off the warden’s radar, and that was key. None of us liked it, especially Pascal, who we had to explain all the reasons why until he finally accepted our position.

Knoxe, Loco, Serena, and I went out yesterday to check the location we were supposed to attend before we strayed to rescue Supergal. As predicted, the place was empty, and the warden was not very happy that the lead went dry. Shit happened. The assholes he wanted caught were probably low-hanging fruit, and not those involved in staging the breakout anyway. Loose ends to tie up. Witnesses to silence. Our target was Devon and his associates.

Belts clicked into place as the team geared up in the training room for our latest mission under the observant eye of sentries. Our goal—capitalizing on the confession from James, a fugitive we captured, who claimed his wife was in possession of a cell phone that other fugitives used to contact him. Thank you to my coercion powers for that little nugget, and for the warden approving the brief to go after the evidence.

When we got out to James’ wife’s caravan, we’d sprinkle some “Guardian fairy dust” and magically produce new evidence, letting us exploit Mads’ intel. Then we’d catch more of these fuckers quicker—instead of the snail’s pace we worked at to avoid suspicion—and get back to our old lives where we belonged. Hopefully, we’d still be free to complete missions, back with the old crew, minus Raze because of obvious reasons. I hated losing him as a team member, but he’d be my buddy for life.

Speaking of our resident Lycan, I had to thank him for passing on my text messages to Supergal to give her updates and ease her concerns about us. She’d be worrying about whether Pascal pulled through, if I was behaving, and Knoxe taking on an unbearable burden. I didn’t want that taking away from her time with Raze. Vacations were meant to be enjoyed, not full of unease.

Zipper teeth snapped into place as Serena secured her boots, calling me back to the directive. Knives slid into holsters as Loco secured his weapons. Pascal secured gin and tonic bombs to his belt.

Knoxe wheeled me into the room five minutes before the rest of the team arrived to fit my exoskeleton over my shoulders and back, locking it into place, where it sat snug with my weapons.

My mind wound back to our interaction.

“That good?” He tested the fit of the device.

“Yep. Thanks.” I clapped him on the shoulder, climbed from the bench I sat on, and swayed for effect to maintain the guise.

Instability happened on previous occasions of wearing this thing when my brain fired electrical impulses to my nerve endings, communicating to them to move.

“Whoa!” Knoxe caught me by the shoulders and steadied me.

I caught his face between my palms. “You’re sexy when you’re soft and caring, babe.” I leaned in for a swipe of my tongue over his bottom lip.

“Don’t get used to it, smartass.” Knoxe’s harsh mouth relaxed into a rare, amused smile as he released my shoulders.

“You say such charming things.” I dropped my hands.

I felt like a schmuck for carrying on this fake scheme, but I’d do anything to protect my girlfriend. Every superhero had to battle his morals every once in a while to take down a villain. I was not giving the warden any more fuel to lengthen my sentence, lock me in higher security wards, deny me basic privileges, and steal any more of my damn future. Nor do the same to Supergal. If I had to lie to achieve this, so be it.

My family needed me. Mom needed a unit fitted out to her needs while MS ravaged her body. Janet needed a house suitable for raising two children and to cover expenses better than she did on a part-time wage.

Back in the moment, Knoxe and I directed our focus to Pascal, who thumbed his tone bars, suited up, and loaded before anyone else as usual.

“How you doing, buddy?” I asked him, placing my palms lightly on his shoulders. “No pain or nausea from the medication?”

The docs discharged him from the hospital and signed off on his ability to perform missions. No rest for the wicked in the Guardians. Disposable assets and all that crap.

Pascal’s thumbnail paused on the edge of his bar. “I’m feeling better. Don’t worry about me.”

Tough guy, hey? In the hospital bed, I could tell by his lowered voice and the way he picked at his bedsheets that he felt shame for his fear of needles. I didn’t give a shit about that. I meant what I said… he didn’t have anything to worry about.

“That’s great, buddy.” I thumped my hand on his shoulders and left him alone. “Let’s kick some ass today, then, huh?”

Knoxe didn’t take the hint and cast his assessing gaze over Pascal. “Let us know if you need to take a breather.” He might have relinquished control, but he’d never shed his natural instinct to protect his team.

“It’s a routine mission to claim a phone,” Pascal shrugged him off. “We’re not facing gantii. I’ll be fine. Thanks for your concern, though.”

“We don’t know what we’re facing or who might be watching.” Knoxe left it at that and finalized fitting the rest of his weapons.

“Yes, sir.” Pascal nodded and went back to making tunes on his bars.

When Knoxe finished, Serena broke from her conversation with Loco, and scanned the line of us, examining our weapon belts and supplies. “Everyone geared up?”

We all nodded. Knoxe taught us well, and we never forgot an item for a mission. I pressed my lips flat when she adjusted my skewed belt, which sat a little higher, thanks to the exoskeleton.

“Excellent.” Our leader took formation and crossed to the exit. “Move out to the Terra Room for transport to our destination.”

Loco moved out first, primed to take the second-in-command spot, swirling his knives despite the warning from a sentry. Knoxe and I kept tight to Pascal’s side, protecting him.

Missions felt easier with Knoxe’s ego in check and not vying for the top spot. His demotion pried the stick from his ass, chilled his drill-sergeant demeanor, and for the first time in a long time, he behaved like our old friend, joking and serious when necessary.

On the other side of the portal, we encountered the boundary of the trailer park in which James indicated his wife and children resided. Serena waved fingers, giving us directions, and she, Loco and Pascal took the left flank, leaving Knoxe and me to take the right. Maintaining our ruse, she didn’t want two “seemingly” weakened team members positioned together. Like a fan, we closed in on our target.

“James’ wife and children are in the playground,” our fearless leader reported through our comms bracelets.

“Roger that,” Knoxe replied, pushing us forward, checking over our shoulders for witnesses as we crept closer to the door.

The plan was to send us into the caravan in case anyone hid inside, then I could apply my coercive magick and extract confessions if required. Serena, Loco, and Pascal would guard the perimeter and warn us if the family moved from their position or attempted to run.

Knoxe climbed the steps like a force of nature, and I stumbled after him. Inside, we hunted through the meagre belongings for our prize. Tinned food stocked in the pantry. Minimal clothing packed in storage drawers in a cupboard. Toys for kids below the age of five scattered on the seat and floor. Baby wipes, breastfeeding pump, and toiletries in the bathroom.

I felt dirty searching among their private things… until we uncovered valuables hidden in discreet places. Mermaid pearls stashed in biscuit tins. Hydra fangs in the baby formula. Fuck… I hoped James’ wife didn’t feed her infant from that powder when it could be infected with off-world germs.

Temptation urged me to take them and recoup lost earnings that James cost me and make up for the Assassin’s Creed statue the asshole stole from Supergal over a year back. The old morals kicked back in, and I left them where they were. The family needed them more. They were living in a caravan, for fuck’s sake. No place for a mother and three kids under five. If I had my wallet on me, I would have left them some money. Alas, no wallets allowed on missions.

“Found it,” Knoxe announced, removing the phone from between two cushions on the kitchen bench seat.

I patted him on his sexy, tight ass. “Nice work, babe.”

Knoxe lifted his bracelet to his mouth. “Found it.”

“Good timing,” Serena reported back. “Get out of there. The family is on their way back.”

Knoxe and I quickly set everything back the way it was and exited in time before the mother carried an infant in her arms and a toddler and five-year-old strolled around the corner.

“Good work.” Our leader gave us a stiff nod as we convened with the team.

Knoxe scrolled through the phone’s contents. “They’re meeting tomorrow. There are coordinates listed here.”

Fuckin’ A. This was the jump we needed.

“We need to get this back to the Guardians technicians to track the location the messages are being sent from,” Serena suggested. “Who do we know that we can slip a fifty to fake some texts with the intel from your source to justify investigating them?”

Thank you, Knoxe for revealing that secret. He justified it because Serena and Loco came clean on the reason they were locked in the Guardians, and that secrets between the team had to stop when it eroded team morale and trust. A fair call, and I agreed.

“I know a guy,” I offered.

Serena nodded. “All right, let’s move out, team.”

Pascal lingered behind, tugging at his magick suppression cuffs, trying to remove them. The warden refused to let him out of the things when Pascal’s bloods showed his powers at levels the Guardians weren’t comfortable with. Hence, my buddy was stuck in them for the foreseeable future.

Knoxe stopped and waited for him. “Pascal, are you cool with this direction?” We always double-checked to ensure he was onboard.

“I want out of these Knoxe,” he replied. “Out of the Guardians. I’ll do whatever you tell me to.”

“That’s my man!” I grabbed Pascal by neck, ruffled his hair and kissed his head. “Sometimes superheroes have to break the rules, buddy.”

“Yeah, they do,” he muttered, uncomfortable with it when it rubbed against his inability to lie.

Fuck, that was a relief.

We jogged to catch up with Serena and Loco, crossing a portal back to the Guardians, where I smooth-talked my technician contact and slipped him a bribe to extract everything on the phone. He did what we asked in a matter of an hour, getting us what we needed to present to the warden.

Serena submitted a report to the warden of our findings and sought permission to investigate the locations identified. Surprisingly, he approved it, sending us back out that afternoon, rousing the team’s suspicions when he didn’t normally move that fast. Still, we went in, cautious of a trap, and laid back-up plans in the event of trouble.

The first location was a bust, empty except for takeaway pizza boxes, beer bottles, cigarette butts, and dirty mattresses indicating someone squatted here, but relocated relatively recently by the cold pizza.

Undeterred, we cracked open a portal and moved onto the next location, splitting up, coming at it from two angles, Knoxe and me from the rear and the others from the front. We found someone on guard duty taking a leak by the back door of the abandoned former tile showcase retailer. A blast from my stun gun knocked him out, and Knoxe caught him, lowered him to the dusty ground, and propped him against the wall.

I reported back to Serena in a low voice, “We just took out a guard at the rear. Heading inside now.”

“Roger that,” she whispered.

We slipped in the door and crept through the rear of the building, the voices of the occupants getting louder. In passing the kitchen, Max, one of the prisoners, popped the top of a beer bottle he removed from the fridge. He went to sound an alarm when Knoxe summoned his newfound powers, discharging a bolt of electricity that paralyzed him, and he went down.

“Nice, babe,” I said. “What do you call that move? I want a full superhero breakdown.” I wanted to break out into MGMT’s Electric Feel song, but it wasn’t the time or place. Later, however, was another matter.

Knoxe stared at his hands, still in the process of figuring out his powers since he didn’t get the opportunity to practice within the prison’s walls and guarded his well-kept secret.

“I think I numbed his nervous system and prevented his brain from telling his muscles to move,” he replied, his voice higher-pitched than normal.

“Guess I’ll do the hard work, then,” I ribbed him, and approached the fugitive, pressing the stun gun to his forehead and releasing that trigger, knocking him out. We couldn’t be too careful. This dick might wake up in a minute or so. Who knew, with Knoxe’s untested powers.

I only had one pair of cuffs on me and that wasn’t enough to secure every prisoner here, let alone a small fry like Max. I was holding onto these babies for any big guns we might encounter and want to question.

Laughter echoed from deeper in the showroom, and we picked up our pace to investigate it. About ten prisoners inside, with two taken care of. Rod, the shot caller who took over after Loco murdered Slash with a chemical spatula, was high on our list since he was a known associate of Eduardo’s gang. No sign of that asshole or his brother.

A flash of silver gave away Loco’s entrance as he swirled his knives. “Hello, boys. You’ve been very naughty running away, haven’t you?”

Man, he had to steal the limelight, didn’t he? I bet he wanted revenge on half the assholes here, especially dear old Rod. Escaped prisoners scattered like roaches exposed to sunlight. Guns snapped out of the back of their jeans, aimed in our directions, and bullets pinged the walls, chipping at plaster either side of our heads.

Knoxe immobilized them with his nifty trick, and guns slipped from fingers, legs stumbled and crashed into the hard, tiled floor.

This time I belted out the Electric Feel song to congratulate his newfound gift. Knoxe chuckled, Pascal bopped his head, Loco glared at me like I was mad, and Serena looked confused. Eh. I had to find fun somewhere.

“Keep him awake.” Loco aimed his knife at Rod, then swung it at his number-two, Saxton.

Serena slapped cuffs on Rod.

Pascal and I went around stunning the rest to prevent a migration while we had a friendly little chat with our pal, Rod.

“Tor, you’re up,” Serena ordered, not even bothering with questioning the shot caller when he couldn’t talk, thanks to Loco’s divine vengeance with a spatula. Poor Rod was lucky… or maybe unlucky to survive, unlike like his pal Slash, who Loco ended for assaulting his daughter some months back.

“With pleasure, ma’am.” I holstered my stun gun and swaggered up to our dear old captive. “Rod, my man. Looking good. How’s the throat?” I laughed and kicked him in the chest, and he bowled backward. “Just kidding. Loco sliced your vocal cords good. Guess you won’t be calling any shots now?”

“Tor,” Serena warned me.

Boring. Guys like this dick made our life hell. Ordered a hit on my team and me. Framed Pascal for murder. Paid off guards to let them into Supergal’s lab to assault her. I was going to make retribution painful.

“Don’t ever hurt my girl again, or I’ll fucking kill you.” I battered the asshole with searing pain, and he gurgle-screamed and scratched at his body.

Loco held a knife up to Rod’s throat. “I did some good work there, didn’t I, son? We won’t get much out of you except a written confession, hey?” He grinned maniacally at me, then dug his blade in harder, drawing blood.

Aww, a father and son-in-law bonding moment.

“Son? Does that mean I’m part of the family?” I grinned, not able to help myself from riling him up. Psycho Loco was more entertaining, and I loved living on the edge to break up the monotony of prison life.

For once he didn’t glare at me like I was next to lose my vocal cords. “I’ll cut your balls off when you sleep before you’re a son-in-law.”

I clapped Loco on the shoulder. “That’s the warm welcome I expected. Thanks, Dad.”

Dad ignored my comment and stole the show once more with, “You hurt my daughter, and I’m going to have to take more from you, mate.” He pushed him back onto the concrete and proceeded to carve off his balls and toss them aside.

“Nice work, Dad,” I cheered as Loco licked the blood from the knife.

“Christ, Loco.” Serena scrubbed her eyes. “Get on with it. You too, Tor.”

I applied compliance to Saxton, and his body sagged and his eyes dulled.

“You’re going to tell me where the others are hiding before I scramble your fucking brains and leave you a vegetable, asshole.” A threat I hadn’t attempted before, but was down to try, since I got an upgrade in the powers department.

Saxton handed it over on a silver fucking platter. “The vampire world.”

Glances shifted between Knoxe, Pascal, and me. We barely made it out alive when we went there to rescue the kidnapped Mothman’s family.

“Why would you go there?” I asked. “That’s dangerous.”

“The team who organized our escape are working with the rogue vampire faction,” Rod sung like a fucking canary.

“Who’s on the team?” I rooted deeper into his mind when I detected some resistance.

“Devon and Eduardo.” That’d be right.

I glanced up at Serena, then Knoxe. “Anything else you want to know?”

“What do you know about Vancor?” Serena probed.

Good question. One safer to ask outside the prison.

“He’s related to the Sanchezes by marriage,” Saxton gave up. “The father of Devon and Eduardo.”

Fuck me dead, I wasn’t expecting that. Talk about a massive conflict of interest. Gears clicked into place. We were dead if we spoke a word of this to anyone. Dead if we made the wrong move in trying to expose Vancor. We had to get hold of Ben back at the prison to pass on information to Vartros and trust he got it to Cole and the right authorities to arrest these traitors.