“Yeah.” Vincent pulled out a pack. “I’m also a smoker.”
“You are both gross,” Elijah cut in. “But I dipped as a teen, so I really can’t say anything. I’ll take one of those if you’re willing to bum me one.”
“Yeah, I can bum you one, hypocrite.” Vincent stepped out the moment Elijah got the SUV parked near a stylish little jet. Sawyer had to be released by Elijah. Someone had decided child locks were necessary.
“So, when do I get my magic back?” She held up her left wrist, and Elijah shrugged.
“When we can be sure you won’t run for it.” Elijah smiled as he said it, even throwing in a little wink. “You can start trying to convince me any time, now.”
“Pervert.” She rolled her eyes, but he had made a solid point of excluding the implication she needed to have sex with him. The faster she had her abilities back, the faster she could jump ship on this. Without her magic, she wasn’t stupid enough to even consider running for it. She needed them to get comfortable with her and think she was cool with them, then they would relax the leash, and she could run. Not back to New York, though. That burned. She would probably never be coming back to this city. If she ran, this would be the first place they looked.
“Always,” Elijah chuckled. “Let’s get a smoke in before we’re stuck on the plane.”
She followed him to where Vincent had already lit one up. He held out the pack, so they could each grab one of their own. She was happy to see they were menthols, at least, though they were Camel and not her own Marlboros.
As she lit it up, she looked around. She saw Zander and Jasper headed their way. She took a long drag and flicked the ashes as she exhaled. She looked over to Elijah, the unlit cigarette in his mouth. Then, it had a small flame on the end, and he started smoking slowly.
“You can create fire,” she pointed out, and he grinned at her.
“Fire manipulation is a Common ability,” he reminded her. “Just like any single element manipulation.”
“Yeah.” she nodded toward his cigarette, “but you’ve got to be fairly strong to create fire from nothing. You didn’t even steal it from one of our cherries.”
Elijah only shrugged his massive shoulders in response, taking another drag. She went back to her own smoke as Zander got close enough for them to hear.
“Everything is ready to go,” he said, stopping near her. Jasper was right next to him, waiting patiently on them to get moving.
“Great.” Vincent took one last drag and then dropped his smoke and stomped on it. Elijah groaned, which caused Vincent to reach down and pick up the butt. Sawyer finished her own cigarette quickly, anxious to get started so she could get this over with. “Let’s get out of here.”
She put her own smoke out, and kept the butt without Elijah needing to say anything. She didn’t just toss litter around, she wasn’t that much of an asshole. She followed Vincent onto the plane. Elijah tailed behind her, as close to her ass as if he had been glued there.
“Can I get some space, dickhead?” She looked over her shoulder at him, and he shook his head.
“Until we get back to our place, you won’t be allowed much personal space. That’s something you’re going to have to deal with.”
“Damn it,” she growled. “I’m starting to think I’m more of a prisoner than a protectee.”
“And she figures it out,” Elijah chuckled, pushing her slowly onto the plane so the rest of them could get on.
“So where are we headed?” She looked at Vincent as she sat where he pointed.
“You’ll find out when we get there,” he told her, opening a bag he had with him. “As we travel, I want to go over some of the rules.”
“What type of rules?” She inquired as the plane started moving.
“You can’t leave our property without someone with you.” He pulled a file from his bag and flipped it open. Yeah, she figured that would come. No going out alone. “You are required to go through training to know how best to protect yourself in case someone tries to take you.” She snorted at that one, but he ignored it and continued. “You will be required to travel with us. We still have jobs and work to do. Once we’re satisfied you won’t get killed on one of our assignments, we’ll start taking them up again. We think it’ll only take a month to get you up to speed.”
“What about getting my magic back?” She kicked her feet up on the table between the sections of seats they had. Private jets were always fancy. This one was all black leather and dark woods with small sections of seats and tables that made groups. She looked around to find Elijah stretched out, his feet kicked up on a seat in front of him. Jasper and Zander took an entire section at the back of the plane, both hunkered down for a nap.
“Eventually, you will be able to use your abilities at home, but we’re still in debates over whether you can have them off the property. Elijah said it earlier, it’s really up to you to prove to us we can trust you with them.”
“Anything else?” she sighed and pointed to the file.
“No.” Vincent gave a small shrug. “Sawyer, this can be easy. Think of it as a job or mission. Just do the simple training so we can trust you, and you’ll be fine. You might even like the work.”
“Of course.” She rolled her eyes. “Let’s just forget that you four decided that I needed to go with you, regardless of my personal rights as an American citizen.”
“You’re a Magi, first and foremost,” Vincent reminded her. “The WMC doesn’t recognize individual county rights and laws concerning Magi citizens. You go by the WMC’s rules.”
She curled her top lip in disgust, remembering that. Magi didn’t have Miranda rights, or the First Amendment, or anything like that. Well, they did have their own version of the First Amendment, but the point was that they were treated differently, regardless of where they were born. She was an American citizen, but she was also a Magi.
The Magi part was the one that mattered. If they had known she was Shadow, she would have been captured, collared, and thrown into a cell where the sun doesn’t shine. No one would have spoken out for her, and there would have been no trial, no mandatory state provided attorney, no chance to plead her case. Magi weren’t given such luxuries. The WMC claimed it was because Magi were held to higher standards. She thought it was because they liked absolute control.
“Criminals,” he muttered, watching her expression. “Deal with it. We could have thrown you in jail and said it was to protect you. Instead, we are keeping you alive and free.”
“You are putting me in a bigger cage,” she told him with a glare. “That’s not free.” She stood up once the seat belt light turned off. “Now, if that’s everything, I’m going to go sit somewhere else.”
“Fine.” He watched her carefully, and she walked away without another word. She found an empty section and hunkered down for the trip. She didn’t know how long it was going to be, so she did her best to stay awake. This was going to be a long few months. Well, she thought, it had better be only a few months.
She kept track of how long the flight lasted. Between two and three hours could put her in a thousand places. She felt the wheels touch down and the jet slow. She could have looked out the window, she knew that, but she wanted her feet on the ground and to breathe the air.
“Let’s go,” Vincent called to them once the jet crawled to a stop. The door popped open, and a staircase was brought over as she walked to rest of the group.
“Welcome back to Atlanta, Sawyer.” Zander grinned at her before pushing her out into the hot, humid air. Damn it all to hell.
She felt the July heat seep into her bones, but all she noticed was a chill run down her spine. Whatever tiny shred of good mood she had was leaving quickly. She stomped down the steps and was immediately stopped by another agent, one she didn’t recognize.
“Sawyer Matthews?” he asked her, chewing on something as he took in her face. His tone was rude and condescending.
“Yeah, what of it?” she snapped back.
&
nbsp; “I’m Special Agent Jon Aguirre.” He held out a hand, but she only looked down at it. Was he stupid? She wasn’t shaking hands with a Magi until she knew all their abilities. Even then, she probably still wouldn’t have shaken it.
“Nice to meet you.” She looked back up and met his eyes. She took a moment to take in the scene. This Jon and the agents around him were older, probably in their forties or fifties. IMPO teams tended to stick together for decades, that much she knew, so this group must have been around the block a few times.
“I’m here to tell you that if you screw up with Vinny’s team, you will be coming to us. We wanted to get eyes on you, and for you to get eyes on us.” He smiled but there wasn’t much kindness in it. She raised an eyebrow as Vincent stepped up to her side. “Right, Vinny? Are you excited to finally have a chance at-”
“Jon is an experienced IMPO agent,” Vincent cut in. Sawyer frowned and looked at him. He was glaring at the older man, who looked pleased with himself. There was some bad blood here. “If we can’t handle keeping you safe or out of trouble, you will need to go into his care.”
“Sawyer,” Jasper walked to her other side. “You are better off with us. Let’s go so Vincent and Elijah can deal with them.”
“What is his problem?” she asked him as they walked away. Jon was watching her leave, and she flipped him off, making him go beet-red with anger. He started ranting to Vincent, who just stood there and took it.
“He’s a prick, and we’re a young team with a bit of a reputation. We’re the only two teams in the Southeast with Special Agent classification. The closest other team to us is by New York. Normally, it takes nearly a decade for an IMPO team to rise high enough to start taking the hard jobs, but we got it about 3 years ago.”
“What’s so important about that?” She frowned. “And how did you get it so young, if it’s so hard?”
“Special Agents work globally. We’re tasked with taking on the most dangerous Magi on the planet, whereas regular agents and detectives handle smaller crimes in their designated areas. We also get paid a pretty penny due to the danger of job,” Jasper was talking with his hands, and Sawyer put some distance between them to avoid getting smacked on accident. Wouldn’t be the first time Jasper had whacked her while he rambled. “I’m talking Legends, and serial killers that work through multiple countries. Crime lords like Axel.”
“And-” She tried to cut in, but failed. Jasper was explaining something, and nothing would stop him now. Sawyer remembered the important rule of never asking him for an explanation.
“We got the promotion when another team on the East Coast was completely wiped out. The team tried to make a deal with Shadow to take down Axel. We were brought up because the IMPO and the WMC realized that the only person who has any chance of taking down Axel is Vincent. He put this entire team together for that purpose.” Jasper took a breath. “You haven’t met him yet, but Quinn is our final member. With him, we have someone with control over each element. Most teams don’t take the time to round out their members like Vincent did. It helps that we all get along but-”
“Okay, Jasper.” She held up her right hand. She didn’t need to hear anymore. “I get it.”
Jesus. No wonder Vincent wanted her around so bad. He clearly was obsessed with Axel, which was the last thing she wanted. He was going to be on her ass constantly until she could truly convince him that she didn’t know anything. If Axel found her giving secrets over to an IMPO team again, they would all die. Again.
With Jasper and Zander involved… she couldn’t let that happen. She hadn’t run to them years earlier so they wouldn’t get caught in her mess. And now here she was, wondering how to keep them out of it, even though they had to go and join a team dedicated to taking Axel down.
It didn’t help that they got the job because of her last fuck up. She had contacted the team to strike the deal that would get her out of Axel’s control. She had so desperately needed to get out. Axel had found out, and, not only did he kill the team, but he had also nearly killed her. He thought he actually had.
Trying a second time would only lead to even more of a nightmare.
She shook her head slowly, closing her eyes as she tried to push back the memories. No, she couldn’t let them get killed. Fuck her freedom. No one else was dying for her like that again, especially not Jasper and Zander. She needed to fall in line and keep her mouth shut if she wanted to keep them alive.
“You okay?” Jasper asked quietly. She reopened her eyes and nodded.
“Yeah, just not used to this heat anymore.” She smiled at him, hoping he bought the lie.
In the twelve or so hours she had been in their ‘custody’, she had lied more than she had told the truth. She didn’t need them in her shadows, and she was going to do her damn best to keep them out.
“Sure,” he mumbled, opening the door of the truck they had arrived at. “You’re riding back with Elijah. The rest of us are taking a Range Rover.”
“Why?” She frowned.
“Because none of us like being in the same vehicle with Elijah for nearly four hours. That’s why he gets to bring his truck. But we don’t let anyone travel alone, so you are riding with him.”
“Why doesn’t anyone like riding with Elijah?” she asked cautiously.
“You’ll see.” Jasper smiled and turned away from her. “There he is now. See you back at the house.”
He left her as Elijah climbed into the driver’s seat. She didn’t like the grin he wore.
“My baby, I missed you,” he purred to the steering wheel. “Ready to head to your new home?”
“Sure.” She watched him warily. He started it up, and she immediately realized why no one drove with him. His foot hit the gas and he released the clutch, forcing the manual truck into second without it stalling. Holy shit, he drove like a mad man.
“Hold on,” he grinned at her. “Awesome thing about being in the IMPO? No one is going to pull me over.”
“Oh, fuck.” She grabbed the ‘oh, shit’ bar and began praying. She didn’t know who she was praying to, but surely there had to be one god keeping an eye on her, right?
He had them on good old Interstate 285 in a minute, where she watched cars get lost in the dust behind them.
“How fucking fast are you going?” She screamed, seeing her life pass before her eyes. It wasn’t that she hated speed. She loved going fast in her car or on her bike, but she had no control here. She didn’t trust other drivers, and now Elijah was going to give her a damn heart attack as he wove through traffic.
“About a hundred and forty,” he laughed. “This baby has nitrous too, if you want-”
“No!” she yelled. “Are you fucking mad? Look at this traffic!” He grinned at her as she yelled. “Keep your fucking eyes on the road!”
Four hours? Hell, they would be where ever they are going in three tops with how fast he was going. She felt her hand cramp on the bar after ten minutes, and looked up at it. Her knuckles were white, and her palm was sweaty.
“Can you not kill me today? I’ve worked really hard to stay among the living for several years.” She was getting clammy.
“You ride a motorcycle.” Elijah continued to laugh. “I don’t see why this such a problem for you.”
“I’m in control of my motorcycle,” she growled. “I also keep it under a hundred and twenty. I feel like your truck it about to take to the fucking air.”
“It has never left the road, and I’ve gotten it to about two hundred.” Elijah chuckled, but she noticed he slowed down. “Turn on the radio and take a nap.”
She wasn’t going to be able to sleep while he was behind the wheel.
“You didn’t drive like this in New York,” she mumbled.
“Well, I don’t know the roads there well enough. And it wasn’t my truck.”
“Do you race this thing?” She clicked through the stations. She caught a glimpse of his speedometer and sighed happily. He was back down to one hundred miles an hour. That shouldn�
��t have pleased her, but it really did.
“Yeah.” Elijah grinned at her. “Once a month, if I can pull it off. All legal, of course.”
“Of course,” she muttered under her breath.
They spent the rest of the ride in silence, and she wondered what she would find at their home. She also wanted to know who this mysterious Quinn was. She heard them reference him more than a few times, but only Jasper really told her anything. Earth manipulation, the final of the four elements that Vincent had stacked onto the team.
“We’re here,” Elijah whispered to her. She blinked and wondered when she had fallen asleep. “Take a look.”
She blinked several more times, clearing her eyes. When she could focus, she took in the large, white, old home. It was an old plantation house, or something based on that style. Large pillars held up a balcony coming from the second floor, which provided shade for the wrap around porch on the first. Large windows in the front gave her a view of the dining room, kitchen, and living room. She didn’t need to step inside to realize that while the outside looked old, the inside had been modernized. A new addition had obviously been built, as well: a garage that was connected on the side with the dining room and kitchen. It had, not one or two doors, but four.
“Do you use the garage?” She asked since he had parked right in front of the… house.
“Yeah, but I wanted you to see the house before I pulled it in.” He grinned at her, and she nodded.
“Thanks, it is impressive.” It was, and it probably cost a fortune. “How did you guys end up here?”
“Special Agents get a pick of stuff before auctions happen. This was owned by a real dick-head who was smuggling drugs into the country. When he was arrested, we asked for the house and renovated it to suit our needs. We’ve been in it for two years now.” Elijah passed the garage doors, and Sawyer frowned as he went around to the back. On the other side of the garage, four more doors.
“An eight-car garage? Are you fucking serious?” She chuckled at it as Elijah hit the garage door opener and pulled in.
The Redemption Saga Box Set Page 13