“That’s harsh.” Elijah winced at Vincent’s point.
“You get laid in Atlanta? Or, better yet, when’s the last time you and Quinn got it out of your systems?” Vincent frowned at him.
“No and too long,” Elijah sighed. “We’ve both been…”
“Distracted by her. Fine, I won’t wait until after the case to say this. If you want to try and woo her, then you need to accept that every other guy on this team is doing the same. I agreed with Zander and Jasper not to push them out if they didn’t push me. You need to agree to it as well, or we’re going to have more problems than we already have.”
Elijah watched as Vincent walked over and take his sketchbook. He flipped it open and revealed page after page of sketches. Sawyer and Quinn over a book. Sawyer practicing with her daggers or cleaning them. Sawyer’s haunted eyes. Those stuck with him more often than not.
“Go as fast or as slow as you want, but while I’m a coward who wants to wait, you are downright lying to yourself, if you think you’re only attracted to her good looks.”
“I get your point,” Elijah growled, grabbing the sketchbook. “You think I care if you, Zander, and Jasper are after her? Damn Vincent, my job on this team is to keep y’all fools happy because you, as our leader, have always been too emotionally withdrawn to put the time into it. If she’s happy, and y’all are happy, have at it. But I need to take Quinn into account. God, if we’re all sleeping with her except him, casually or not…” Elijah trailed off, shaking his head.
It wasn’t just Quinn or the team. He didn’t want to give away a piece of himself to someone who felt like she didn’t deserve it. He wasn’t an idiot. Someone like her, it was obvious she felt like she didn’t deserve love, or anything close to it. She offered it freely, gave away pieces of herself to Vincent in an effort to help him overcome his sorrow, to Quinn to overcome his own shame at his lack of education. Even to Elijah, for being ballsy enough to remind him that he could hold his friends back by caring too much, but she wasn’t willing to accept something back.
Elijah had a feeling that her flashback where she nearly killed Vincent wasn’t going to help that belief, either.
“You’re right.” Vincent sighed. “I’m sorry.”
“Yes,” Elijah mumbled. “Yes, I’m in but I need… I need to make sure it works with me, her, and Quinn. You’re a great friend, Vincent. You always have been, but Quinn? He’s like a brother to me. I don’t know if I can have a relationship with her unless he has one.”
He also needed to make sure she wasn’t going to bolt when the team dumped their romantic feelings on her head.
“I know,” Vincent said quietly. “You and Quinn may as well be Jasper and Zander.”
“In a lot of ways, it’s the same, except for the benefits part,” Elijah chuckled softly, nodding. He stood up and moved towards his bed, stripping down. “I’m going to bed.”
“Elijah?” Vincent called out as Elijah turned off the lights.
“What?” Elijah asked, frowning to Vin.
“Don’t forget your own happiness,” Vincent told him gently.
“I’m happiest when the people around me are.” Elijah sighed. “And I’ll worry more about it when we’re out of this blasted state.”
“Are you going to see your parents when the case is done? Before we head out?
“I don’t know,” Elijah sighed, falling into bed.
First, they had to make it through the case. Then Elijah would worry about his parents, only two hours away—and the past he’d left in that damn town.
After all of that, he would go back to worrying about Quinn and Sawyer.
And his own big bleeding heart.
16
Sawyer
She had gone to sleep freaked out and upset.
But her nightmares didn’t care that she needed to be well rested for the case.
It started like most did. A blow while she was in the dark. A brutal hit that left her screaming. She was too weak to fight back, as tears poured down her cheeks. She wouldn’t have, anyway. Others needed her to stay down, to be the punching bag. She cried out for mercy.
But something shifted while Sawyer was lying in the dark after it was over, alone and shaking from the pain.
She grew lucid and coughed. This had never happened before.
She staggered to stand up, confused. Normally, deep lucid dreaming like this came from dream walkers stepping in.
But Sawyer didn’t see Jasper anywhere or feel him. She would know if it was him. She would know if it was any Magi she’d already encountered.
She stood in the dark, and instead saw another dark shape of a person. She felt violated. This was a stranger dream walking into her space, into her nightmares. She must have been leaking hard enough for whoever this was to pick it up, but this person still had to be close. If she woke up, she had a feeling this person could very well be on the motel’s property.
And this stranger? His magic felt off, wrong in the worst ways. She got a clear reading of it even at a distance. Twisted. Violated. Perverted, but not in the sexual sense. Wrong.
“Like what you see?” Sawyer called out. She knew what she looked like. She could feel the blood pouring out of her nose, the swelling, aching pain of a bruise on her cheek. “Think wandering in here makes you powerful? To see me like this?”
She watched it shrug.
That terrified her and made her even more furious. And sick. Her stomach rolled at its indifference.
“I recommend you go,” Sawyer snarled. “And if I catch you on the outside, you better hope it’s in the daylight. Because the dark is mine.”
And the Magi left, leaving Sawyer back to her darkness.
She just glared at the empty space. Shame and disgust curled around her heart at the thought of a stranger seeing her get beaten in her nightmares. What if they saw Henry die? What if they saw her finger get cut off? What if they saw her kill?
That ass would pay for stepping into her nightmares next time. Strangers weren’t allowed to know what tortured her at night.
It made her feel weak and Sawyer didn’t fucking do weak.
People damn sure weren’t allowed to violate her mind and step in without a face just for fucking kicks.
She snapped awake, pushing a hand on her chest to slow her heartbeat down. She focused on the area around her, wondering if she could feel another Source, one that wasn’t the guys.
She scrambled out of bed and ran out, phasing through the door, wearing nothing and not giving a damn. She was going to find and catch this son of a bitch, this evil motherfucker who violated her privacy.
She made it to the parking lot when an arm wrapped around her waist. She snarled and kicked back. She hit metal and plastic.
“It’s me, Sawyer! It’s Jasper” he cried out, letting go of her. “Whoever it was is gone, I promise. I’ve already done a full lap around the building looking for him. He’s not here anymore.”
She stopped fighting and turned towards Jasper, taking in his face. She was breathing heavily; furious, upset, and feeling dirty. Her nudity didn’t bother her. That someone walked into her mind and nightmares without her permission did. That he felt so wrong bothered her even more.
“How much did he see?” Sawyer asked, as she began to shake a little. Jasper just cursed softly, took her shoulders gently, and began pulling her back to her room. She followed but asked the question again. “How much did he see, Jasper?”
“All of it,” Jasper whispered. “I think he saw all of it, but I was locked in for the ride until he revealed himself completely and pulled you out of it.”
“Oh, shit,” Sawyer seethed. “I’m going to kill him if I find him. Did you feel his fucking magic?”
“I didn’t. Did you?” Jasper asked, frowning. He got her through her door again, reminding her that they could both phase. She forgot sometimes. He couldn’t go through as much as her.
“I did,” Sawyer disclosed. “God, Jasper… it was wrong. Twisted… Oh,
shit…”
The idea stumbled into her head before she could stop it.
“Sawyer?” he asked, trying to lead her to sit down. “We can worry about it in a minute.”
“I think our killer can dream walk,” she whispered. “Oh, God, Jasper… I think our killer was here.”
A sinking feeling filled her.
Their killer knew they were around now.
“Alright,” Jasper responded, looking a bit terrified. “And as for how he kills people…”
“Fuck, let’s hope he can’t phase,” Sawyer groaned, rubbing her face.
“I’m going to check on Vincent and Elijah. Will you check Quinn? I know Zander is fine.” Jasper pointed between the walls as he mentioned their teammates. She nodded.
“I’ll get Quinn,” she sighed. She knew Quinn was safe, though, since Shade and Scout were both still healthy and happy. There was no way anyone was getting into that room without one of those three catching said person.
She grabbed sweats and a tank top, not bothering with anything else. She phased straight into Quinn’s room and was immediately met with a snarl. She locked her gaze onto gold eyes glowing in the dark.
“Shade, something happened,” she said calmly. She knew better than to ignore the wolf and go for Quinn. They were loyal to their Magi and would attack her in a heartbeat if she posed a threat. “The team has to wake up.”
The growls stopped, and Sawyer looked towards the bed finally. Quinn and Scout were both still out, and Shade walked next to her as she drew close. She’d never woken Quinn up. She didn’t want to get the other guys though.
She barely grazed her fingers to his shoulder. That was all it took.
He snatched her wrist and practically flung her over him. She sublimated before she hit the bed and flew across the room. Quinn snarled as she reformed near the wall to her room.
“Holy shit, Quinn,” she gasped. “Now is not the time for that.” She met his ice blue gaze and watched his snarl change into something else. He launched up from the bed and stalked over to her. She didn’t fight. She knew to let Quinn do weird Quinn things without interfering. Getting thrown, however, had not been something she was okay with.
He backed her up into the wall, and she kept her gaze up. At his eyes. Good place to look. After everything tonight, Quinn’s early morning wood was not something she needed to lay her eyes on.
“Why are you in here?” He growled softly, his hands on either side of her against the wall. She sighed.
“We think the killer was nearby earlier, and he dream walked into my nightmare,” she answered him softly. Calm was the best approach with Quinn. If she freaked out, he would freak out. If she was calm, he would think everything was okay.
Everything wasn’t okay, though. Her gut still twisted in the sense of violation. Her heart still clenched in the shame and bitterness of a stranger, a sick stranger, watching her get beaten down in her own nightmares.
“How much did he see?” Quinn asked softly. His face was still hard, but his voice was soft, a whisper on the wind. Midnight and wild, a growl, but softer than she thought his hoarse voice could get. “And what?” His tone made her pulse race in a different way than it had been only minutes before, something she didn’t think was possible. She saw his nostrils flare and some fire enter his eyes. That made her shift uncomfortably, and he just stepped slightly closer, his face hovering too close to her own.
“Standard nightmare,” Sawyer said with a nonchalant shrug. “Me, Axel, beatings. It’s not-”
“This stranger scared you,” Quinn cut her off, and she noted the anger his sudden declaration. “You.”
“Yes, Quinn, I’m a little freaked out,” she whispered. “Meeting in Vincent’s room.” She didn’t know if there was a meeting, but it was better if she gave Quinn something to do. She didn’t want him running off into the night, like she had tried to do.
She phased through the wall backwards and back into her own room, unwilling to talk about how this stranger had shaken her any more than she already had. She felt her hands quiver and rubbed her face.
Gods have mercy on her. She needed to start praying to any of those. This was beyond fucked up. She didn’t have time to stop and breathe, though. She moved towards the wall to Vincent’s room and walked through.
“Sawyer,” Elijah greeted her carefully. She met his hazel gaze, his face dark from the low, yellow lighting of the motel room. He looked so concerned. “How are you feeling?”
“Pretty awful,” she sighed, shaking her head. She took a moment to look around the room, which gave her a prime opportunity to not look at Elijah, his lack of pants or a shirt. Instead, she got an eyeful of an olive-skinned, scarred chest she knew very well and a pair of black boxer-briefs. She looked back to Elijah, who just gave her a small smile and a lift of his eyebrows, some lightness returning to his posture and face.
“We’ll start putting people on watch,” Vincent sighed from out of sight. She kept her eyes on Elijah and his smile and those suggestive eyebrows.
“Stop that,” Sawyer hissed, swatting at Elijah, who chuckled and grabbed her hand.
“I’m trying to distract you,” he told her, pulling her into a hug. “What this guy did was fucked up and wrong, but we’re awake now. It gave him away, so he couldn’t get any closer. Hopefully, he’s long gone, and we can continue the chase tomorrow.” She let him hold her for a moment and noticed he was rocking slightly. It was comforting, the easy friendship she had with Elijah and the physical way he behaved. He always wanted to touch and hug. She saw him do it with the guys, on occasion, too. A pat on Zander’s back, an elbow to Vincent’s ribs. She wondered for a moment if he knew how to do anything without touching someone.
“Did you see anything in your dream?” Vincent asked as others began walking into the room. Quinn walked in wearing only a pair of pants, followed by Shade and Scout. Vincent popped open the room’s window and Kaar swooped in, landing on a desk. Jasper and Zander were last, both already dressed. Sawyer pulled away from Elijah and sat down with a deep breath.
“No,” Sawyer told him. “He or she was just a black human shape.”
“Your mind doesn’t have a face to fill in the identity of the intruder,” Jasper informed her. “You never felt the magical signature of this person and associated it with a face, so you can’t form that face in your mind.”
“Thanks,” Sawyer mumbled. “Luckily, when he or she stepped in all the way, I noticed. I was pulled into the lucid state and told them to fucking get out. When they left, I woke up.”
“And I was already out there looking,” Jasper added. “I found nothing, no one. Who this was… they’re good.”
“Zander,” Sawyer looked to her redhead. “The magic… it felt wrong.”
“It would have to if they are using healing to kill people,” Zander chimed in. “Fuck. God damn it.”
“I’m going to rip his limbs from his fucking body,” Quinn snarled, and Sawyer shook from the wolves snarling with him. She sank in her chair a bit as Quinn’s magic lashed out and shook objects around the room. She watched as no one else seemed to mind, which astounded her. Were they comfortable just because they’ve known him so long?
“Damn right,” Zander growled.
“Calm down,” Vincent told them. Kaar squawked and ruffled his feathers. “Everyone, calm down.”
“Yeah, let’s do that,” Sawyer agreed with Vincent, nodding. “Shit, it freaked me out, but it gave him away. This could have been worse, but it wasn’t.”
“Why you?” Elijah asked softly. “Why do you think he went into your dreams?”
“No one has nightmares like Sawyer,” Jasper said. Sawyer nodded with him. She was nearly thankful for him jumping in. “They are soul deep, not just dreams, but memories clashing together, and they are true feelings. If his magic feels anything like what Sawyer says it does-”
“His mental state is disastrous,” Vincent finished, cutting in. “He’s mad. He or she. God, I hope this isn’t a
female serial killer. They are always worse.”
“So, he gets close to us and then feels Sawyer’s dreams, because we all know they leak to dream walkers?” Elijah sounded like he was trying to put the pieces together and Sawyer frowned. They all knew she leaked? That was going to be a conversation later. Why hadn’t they told her way sooner? She only found out that Jasper was picking her up at night two fucking days ago.
“He was probably curious.” Vincent sighed, looking ill. “And maybe he enjoyed the show.”
Sawyer gagged and stood up, running to the bathroom as the feeling of revulsion swept through her again. Revulsion at the idea that someone could watch that happen to her and just watch. Not attempt to help, not attempt to stop it. The fucker had shrugged at her. He’d seen her broken, bleeding, and crying out for mercy. Add the memory of his magic, and something inside her was sick.
This freak had been in her head.
She hit the toilet and lost everything in her stomach.
When one of the guys walked over, she raised a hand to stop him. She needed to just let this happen. A pat on the back wasn’t going to help her.
She stood back up slowly, grabbed a towel, and cleaned off her face. She pushed all of her wild hair off her face and looked at herself in the mirror. She was healthy and fine. The scar on her lip wasn’t busted open like it had been in the nightmare. She wasn’t covered in bruises and cuts. She was okay, and whoever had stepped in on her nightmare was going to see that when she ran into them again.
She was not the girl from the nightmare. This freak was going to realize that the hard way.
She looked at whomever was in the door and sighed. Jasper was there, holding out a hand to her. She patted his shoulder once she was done cleaning up.
“I’m fine,” she whispered. And if she wasn’t, she would be. “What’s next?”
“We were waiting on you,” he answered softly. She didn’t like how dark his stormy blue eyes were. “If you need to get out of this case, we can make that happen. There are rules about removing agents from the field if they find themselves the target like this.”
The Redemption Saga Box Set Page 52