Something in that house had shifted something in her. Something tangible. It changed the entire mood of the team. They all felt focused and ready. Zander’s joking complaints only proved that.
“We’ll be fine,” Elijah told both of them. “Forty-five minutes out, we drop a call to the Rome office, then keep moving. They’ll end up there at the same time as us. We just need to keep moving.”
“Elijah’s right,” Vincent confirmed. “We can handle this. We dealt with a worse walk before.”
“Yeah, the Amazon was way worse than this. Let’s never do that again.” Elijah grinned back at the team. He and Vincent were in the front. Jasper and Sawyer were in the middle, and Quinn was in the back with Zander. They had wanted to stay close, even if it meant they were a group that could be hit at once. They would at least have each other.
“Agreed.” Quinn never wanted to go back to the Amazon either, unless he was visiting a very specific waterfall with a very specific person. At the thought, he reached out and grabbed Sawyer’s hand, moving up to walk beside her. Jasper looked across her at him, curious but not possessive. “Would you like to go back?” he asked her softly. “To the Amazon?”
“To see a specific waterfall, sure.” She smiled in the night. He grinned, kissing her cheek. “I guess you were thinking the same thing?”
“I was,” he answered. “Maybe one day. We’ll talk about it tomorrow?”
“Yeah, absolutely,” she promised, squeezing his hand. He didn’t let go when the conversation dropped. He kept holding her hand as they continued closer to their final goal.
He liked the promise of tomorrow. They just had to finish tonight. That was it. It seemed so simple. Tomorrow, he could live a life that suited him. He could work to be a normal Magi without the added pressure of the IMPO, who expected him to use his strength to hurt people. He hadn’t liked what he’d done, and he was glad Elijah called him on it. It reminded him of the good he had. He wasn’t a monster. He didn’t have to be a monster, not for anyone. His pack only wanted him to be himself. They didn’t want his power without him. They wanted him. He could just be Quinn, and that made him deeply happy.
They just needed to all make it through the night.
Growing up, he’d only had his wolves to truly rely on. That was it. Two brothers that followed him everywhere and trusted him implicitly. But now, he had a real pack, one that only wanted his happiness.
“Do you think he knows we’re going to hit tonight?” Jasper asked softly.
“No. I think he knows we’re coming eventually. Tonight might seem too fast.” Vincent sounded unsure of that.
“He could have accounted for Balian giving him up and does know,” Sawyer offered, shrugging next to him.
Quinn nodded. That sounded right.
“He wouldn’t expect us to jump into a raid the night after other raids,” Elijah tried to reason. “But even if he does expect it, he probably doesn’t expect we’re bringing in the Rome IMPO office for this. Thompson is even getting people on standby who will portal into that office and flood it right before we call. We’re coming in with triple the numbers that he could ever expect.”
“We’re going to outnumber him by a long shot. He’s probably got his ten best men and a few guards there. He doesn’t like big groups. It would have given him away too easily. Plus, there were only a few men on satellite.” Sawyer shrugged again. “There’s no reason to think he’s got an army hiding in the Villa with the vineyard and olives.”
“To think he ran home,” Zander scoffed. “Baby.”
“He loves home, and if there’s going to be a place he meets us, it’ll be ground he knows better than us. It’ll be home. We’re knowingly walking into this trap. We should be prepared for anything.” Vincent was no-nonsense and straight to the point. “He’s a smart man, but I think Elijah is right. He might not have prepared for the sheer numbers we’re going to bring down on his head.”
“He might think we don’t trust the rest of the IMPO to handle this with us. Or he’s got a contingency plan.” Sawyer was also straight to the point. “We need to stay focused.”
“We have at least another thirty minutes before really getting worried,” Zander reminded her. “We’re in for a long walk before we even call in the reinforcements.”
“Then let’s drop it and keep walking,” she fired back.
So the team did. They had gone over this plan a dozen times while preparing to leave. Quinn made a promise to Elijah he would do what he needed to do for survival’s sake and nothing more. He would capture and detain, but not mindlessly slaughter their enemies.
Because they were better men than their enemies.
Quinn had never thought of himself as a good man, only a strong male. He’d always been out of place, out of time. But Elijah wanted him to be a good man and he would be that. It seemed like an amazing thing to be. It seemed like it was the thing they had really been trying to teach him. How to go from male to man and yet stay good.
The slow walk continued. They were in no rush. He checked in with Shade, entering his wolf’s eyes. His hand holding Sawyer’s kept him grounded and moving forward as he ran with his wolf, showing him the world through new eyes. They were already at the halfway point, waiting and patrolling. There was nothing yet for them to be concerned about. Quinn gave each of his wolves a mental pat on their heads, promising a bone when they got home. When he pulled out of Shade’s mind, he turned to Sawyer.
“Check with Sombra,” he ordered, knowing she hadn’t yet. The jaguar had bounded off, and there was a trust and independence between Magi and feline. She wouldn’t have felt the need to check on her cat. “Vincent, check with Kaar.”
“Okay,” they answered at the same time.
Both of them had to stop for the process. He watched Sawyer’s eyes go unfocused for a long time. Vincent was back in his own mind before her.
“Kaar is flying over the wolves. He seems to think they haven’t noticed him.” Vincent’s tone was filled with humor.
“They haven’t.” Quinn shook his head, pushing that to his boys. The raven, above them. “They will soon. Do you want to send him closer to Axel?”
“No. Axel will take him out of the sky. He never liked Kaar. He’s one of the reasons Kaar didn’t have a name until you named him.” Vincent shrugged. “Not that my bird ever really cared, but I had to keep him away from Axel or he could have gotten hurt. It was a sore spot. Axel thinks animal bonds are useless and weaknesses.”
Sawyer bared her teeth, but Quinn knew she was still with her jaguar. It took another two minutes for her to come back as well.
“Of course he finds them useless and weaknesses. That man doesn’t know a good thing even if it cut him open and left him to bleed out.” She was snappy now. “Sombra is fine. She’s ahead of the wolves. I’ve told her to pull back. I don’t want to risk her being seen too soon.”
“Good. I figured since I checked on the wolves, getting a read on those two would be useful.”
“No, thank you. She’s been sending me…weirdness through the bond. Well, after this, she and I will have tons of time to work it all out.” Sawyer tried for a smile, but ended up only looking annoyed. “She’s such a diva, guys.”
“Oh, we know,” Elijah muttered. Quinn began to chuckle.
“Kaar’s in love with her,” Vincent mentioned mildly.
“She wants to eat him.” She snorted, rolling her eyes.
“Sounds like their Magi,” Zander commented, coughing when he was finished, in a fake attempt to hide it.
“All right,” Vincent snapped, now annoyed. “Let’s keep moving.”
They were all snickering as they walked further on. Vincent kept mumbling about the importance of the mission. Sawyer leaned over to him and whispered something about how they needed to take their last chances to smile for the night and Vincent understood. He was just blustering.
Quinn knew. He hadn’t needed the explanation.
Finally, Vincent raised a hand as a
nimals poured out of the night and to the group. Kaar landed on Vincent’s shoulder, nuzzling his Magi’s head. Quinn’s own wolves trotted to him and lay at his feet, waiting for their next order. Sombra didn’t come closer, prowling around the team, reminding him so much of Sawyer and how she tended to stalk around.
“We’re here. Let’s make this call. Elijah?” Vincent looked pointedly at his second.
“Got it.” Elijah pulled out a cell phone set up with a secure line just for this mission. First, a call to Thompson, just to verify that men were on their way to Rome through a portal. Then a call to the Rome office with a single address and a name. Instructions. “Thompson, we’re good?”
Quinn couldn’t hear the response, but the cowboy’s smile gave them all the answer they needed. The phone was hung up quickly.
“We’re clear on that front. Vincent, you might want to make this second call.”
“I will, thank you.” Vincent took the phone and dialed. “Did you all know that when I joined the IMPO, I first went to the Rome office and they turned me away? It’s still run by the same guy. He’s never liked me. This feels good.”
“Good.” Sawyer was smiling as well. “This is it.”
“This is it,” Vincent agreed softly. Then his face changed, concentrating. “Assistant Director Romano, this is Special Agent Vincent Castello. My team and I are in a quiet area outside of Rome. Now listen very carefully. Do exactly as I say, and tonight we’re going to capture Axel Castello and his closest inner circle. Before the end of the night, Axel Castello will be executed. Do you want to be a part of that? If your answer is no, hand this to your second in command and I promise you, he’ll say okay.”
Zander began to clap slowly. Elijah joined him. Soon the entire team was clapping, as softly as they could as Vincent nailed the man to a wall and got them the agents they needed to finish this.
“Now, my team will meet you there. See you on the other side, Assistant Director.” Vincent hung up. “He’s in. Full office. Thompson began flooding him during the phone call and even showed up, taking command. We’re going in with a dozen more men than planned. Thompson was able to put two other teams on the task.”
“Let’s keep moving then!” Elijah clapped Vincent on the back and started walking. Quinn sent his wolves back out, ordering them to maintain a tight circle around the team, looking for enemies. Now was the time to focus. Sombra disappeared into the night as Kaar launched into the air.
Quinn was smiling as they moved forward. They could do this. They had the entire strength of the IMPO behind them. They were a team with resources and trust, and they were better people than Axel and his men.
They had each other.
And tomorrow, they would have new lives.
Thirty minutes later, they were within viewing distance of the Villa. A fifteen minute walk between them and their target. A shorter run, if they wanted to go in fast. They could hear the vehicles on the road now. An entire caravan of IMPO agents about to flood the property.
“Move out,” Vincent ordered.
31
Zander
“Remember the game plan!” Elijah called out as they began to jog towards the compound. “We’re going to work through who we need to, focused only on our objective! Let the small fry deal with the small fry!”
“Roger that!” Zander called back, hauling ahead of most of them. The first thing he did was reach out with his magic and begin bursting pipes inside the Villa, probably scaring everyone inside. He pulled the water to him, hard, making holes in the walls. He rarely did magic on that level, knowing he needed reserves to heal, but tonight seemed like a good time to go to his fullest. Quinn ran next to him, the earth beginning to rumble. A wall Zander had already wrecked crumbled away, opening the side of the building completely for the team and revealing several shocked members of the Ghosts.
There was no secrecy now in this mission. That was the idea. They wouldn’t know they were being hit hard until it was too late for them to prepare for the force of the strike.
“Sawyer, let’s go!” Vincent commanded. Zander glanced back at them to see both sublimate and fly through the vegetation of the vineyard towards the house. He knew they would find and corner Axel before the rest of the team.
“Vincent, don’t do anything stupid,” he sent telepathically to their leader.
“It’ll be okay,” Vincent replied.
Zander let it drop, turning his attention back to the criminals running out to meet the team. He and Quinn would hit them first, which was fine. Zander reached out and tried to shove water at one to knock her down, but she grinned as fire erupted next to her. He would have felt bad, but he knew Elijah would take care of it.
And it didn’t take long. Zander saw the exact moment when the woman lost control over the fire and Elijah gained it. With a booming, superior laugh, the cowboy behind him took the flames up higher and forced the Ghosts closer to the team and further from their backup.
“IMPO is here!” Jasper yelled out. Zander glanced over, and sure enough, there was a massive line-up of SUVs, all shielded, rolling up to the front door. The gates on the front drive were blasted apart and suddenly, the enemy realized they were going to be overrun.
Quinn raised the earth and captured the Magi in front of the team. Zander patted his shoulder as they slowed down. “Good job!” he praised.
The feral Magi only nodded.
They moved around the captured Magi, Zander checked them for any serious injuries. He didn’t want any of them dying while they were handling the rest. Quinn had done amazing work. He’d engulfed them with dirt, packed tightly up to their shoulders. He’d then used dirt, slowly, to cover their eyes, to stop them from focusing on where to aim their magic. They were perfectly detained.
But then Quinn staggered.
He dropped, his eyes wide, his hands shaking as if the most intense pain he’d ever experienced took him over.
“Buddy?” Elijah stopped concerned, grabbing Quinn by his shoulders, going down to his level. “Quinn, what’s wrong?”
“Scout,” he gasped out. “He’s under attack. I have to- I have-“
“Go!” Elijah ordered. “Go save your wolf!”
Quinn nodded but seemed incapable of moving. Zander swallowed, reaching out to touch Quinn. The bond forced pain from animal to Magi. He might be able to understand what happened to Scout if he could read Quinn. He’d never done it before, but now was the time to try.
“Damn it, Zander, throw a shield over us!” Jasper roared, ducking a fireball.
Zander cursed and did as he was asked, then grabbed Quinn hard, yanking him up. He felt for the pain, mental, but there had to be a source to it, there had to be. Mental pain where?
Legs. Which leg? A snap. Intense, bleeding.
“Quinn,” he snarled. “His leg is broken. Something might have hit him. Go protect your boy and get him out of combat.” He shoved Quinn, hoping it would jolt him out of feeling his wolf’s problems. Zander didn’t have an animal bond, but he’d heard how debilitating that pain could be. It was like it was happening directly to the Magi.
His shove was exactly what the Magi needed, and he shifted into a wolf and took off, howling. A black streak of a cat met him and followed, running hard.
Zander hadn’t realized that Sawyer had left Sombra outside for support. Then again, Sombra did pretty much whatever she wanted on a normal day.
Then he felt his shield beginning to crack under the onslaught of three Ghosts. He turned back to them, seeing earth and fire getting tossed against the shield. He pulled from the busted pipes in the house and drenched the fire user, letting Elijah snap his fingers and send fire towards the two using earth.
“Let’s meet the IMPO team,” Elijah ordered. “With them, we can easily put everyone down and meet back up with Sawyer and Vincent. They’ll hold Axel down until it’s safe to deal with him.”
“Roger that!” Zander pushed forward, reaching into his pockets for a set of brass knuckles. He wasn�
�t a blade user like Elijah or Jasper. These would work for him, since it seemed like they were about to fight it out with the three Ghosts in front of them.
He approached a fire user, grinning. The Magi pulled his sword as Zander raised his fists to protect his face.
He let the other Magi attack first and dodged right of the blade, throwing a strong punch at the man’s jaw, hearing a definitive crack. Then a shield appeared around the other Magi so Zander made his own. The next time the short sword swung, it tried to bury itself into his abdomen, only to bounce off his shield. Zander delivered two more quick punches then a solid kick with his steel-toed boot.
It didn’t break the Magi’s shield, but it did send him to the ground. While he was there, Zander kicked his sword away and jumped on top of him, slamming a fist into the shield wrapped around the Magi until it cracked and shattered. He had to be sure. Then he pulled a set of handcuffs, one of three he carried for the night, and snapped them on the Magi’s wrist. Before he could stop Zander, the Magi was rolled over and both of his hands were held in place by the enchanted cuffs.
Zander didn’t need to worry about this one anymore, so he got up and dove for more action, tackling the female Magi Jasper was fighting against.
Between him, Jasper, and Elijah, they secured all three, cuffed and inhibited, with no magic at their disposal and no way to fight back.
Without saying anything, they kept moving to the IMPO unit, where it seemed there was utter mayhem. No one was stopping them as they rolled up and saw one thing they weren’t expecting.
One of the SUVs exploded.
Right after that? Zander witnessed an IMPO agent turn and stab another and leave him bleeding on the dirt drive.
They had dirty agents on the mission.
A Night of Redemption (The Redemption Saga Book 5) Page 31