“Used to be?” Sawyer chuckled, shaking her head. “It used to be a girl who kicked Zander’s ass around the yard and made sure he knew his place. I’m just eager to get back to that. Back to the way things used to be, as it happens.”
Vincent laughed, nearly dropping his cigarette in the process, and started to cough as he was mid-drag when the laugh came. Sawyer thumped his back several times as he faded into a chuckle.
“That brings images to my mind I’m going to remember for the rest of my life,” Vincent said with a grin. “Fondly.” Thank God they finally had someone who could knock Zander around. That prick needed it.
“You’re happier now than I have ever seen you, even with this case we’re dealing with,” Sawyer told him softly. Vincent stopped laughing and looked back over to her. Her dark eyes were curious, and she tilted her head at him.
“I’ll be happier when this case is over.” Vincent shrugged. The case was a problem, a worry, and a puzzle he couldn’t quite solve. He was missing pieces and he wasn’t sure if the sheriff’s home held those pieces. “But, I feel lighter, definitely.”
“I like you feeling lighter. It looks better on you.”
He watched her nod. He did feel lighter. He felt focused on the case, focused on the possibilities beyond it. She’d given him something that he would hold dear. Some measure of forgiveness, some measure of respite from the past.
“Sawyer-”
“You two are so noisy,” Elijah’s groan interrupted them. “Morning brooding, I see. You two are a match made in brooding heaven.”
“You…” Vincent shook his head and looked at Elijah leaving their room. Trust Elijah to remind them of everything swirling between them now.
“Call it like I see it?” Elijah chuckled, stealing Sawyer’s cigarette. Vincent held back a smile at her glare as Elijah finished smoking it and put it out. Vincent pulled out his pack and offered them both a new one. He was going to need to buy another pack at this rate.
“Really,” Elijah mumbled, the cigarette in his mouth. It was lit, along with Sawyer’s, without needing Vincent’s lighter. “Sawyer, put a leash on him, call it a day.”
“Why are you out here, Elijah?” Vincent asked with a small growl. He didn’t need Elijah pushing her. He wanted Sawyer to leash him when she was ready. He wanted it, but he wasn’t going to rush her. “Weren’t you on the phone with James?”
“I was,” Elijah mumbled, flicking ash off the cigarette. “And I have news for you that complicates all of this.”
“Do tell,” Sawyer huffed, still leaning on her pillar.
“That ring? I remembered where I had seen it before.” Elijah sighed. “My father used to wear one when I was yea high.” Elijah motioned at a height about half the size he was now. Vincent frowned at the implication. A ring Elijah had seen as a child. “But my father was an uneducated man and still is. He didn’t go to college, he had barely finished high school. Alpha and Omega… the religious reference is important. Not a fraternity for college men, but a brotherhood for religious ones.”
“Elijah?” Vincent narrowed his eyes.
“The ring is given to… leaders of the Anti-Magi organization, God’s Will.” Elijah whispered as he tried to explain to them, looking ill for a moment. “We have… an unregistered Magi leading this area’s Anti-Magi sentiment. I never thought I would see the day. I wasn’t sure things could get more complicated.”
Vincent recoiled and leaned against a pillar near him. This had implications that concerned Vincent. Stevenson was working with people who would hang him for it.
“Well, damn,” Sawyer groaned. “Of all the things. And we aren’t even sure if this has anything to do with the killer. What the hell have we walked into out here?”
“I have no idea,” Elijah grumbled. “But if Vincent over there is shocked, it’s nothing good.”
“Has anyone ever heard of a Magi in an Anti-Magi organization?” Sawyer asked, frowning at them. Vincent shook his head.
“No, it’s… a betrayal of our kind to the umpteenth degree.” Vincent sighed. “You’re right, Elijah, this can’t be anything good, and we now need to deal with the sheriff. He was an annoyance but now he’s going to need to take real priority.”
“Thank the gods we’re breaking into his place, today,” Sawyer mumbled towards the sun. “And the killer?”
“We play the long game,” Vincent told her. “We’ve done it before. We don’t have any leads. We need to wait for a mistake or another piece of the puzzle. Until then, since this is currently his hunting ground… We protect you as best we can, and we deal with the sheriff.”
“And hope,” Elijah muttered, glaring into the distance. “We had to do it with Logan. We lost all traces of him and finally, at the exact right moment, caught him on camera going after his next target. We were able to get the license plate number of his car and… Yeah. After weeks, nearly a few months of hunting, always being a step behind, a couple near misses… we had him right in time.”
“Wake those two up,” Vincent ordered him, gesturing towards Zander and Jasper’s room. He knew Quinn was awake and in Sawyer’s room, she could get him. “Let’s get this show on the road.”
“Sawyer, go do that, I need to talk to Vincent.” Elijah didn’t move. Vincent frowned at his friend. Sawyer just nodded and walked into the other room, off to drag Jasper and Zander to work.
“What’s up?”
“How have we missed it?” Elijah asked, crossing his arms. “It’s obvious.”
“What is?” Vincent brought his eyebrows together in frustration. What had he missed?
“Stevenson… I think he really is covering for the serial killer. I think he has our answers,” Elijah said quietly. “It makes sense, too much sense.”
“Fuck,” Vincent snapped. How had he missed that? It was something Zander had mentioned when they were arriving. Stevenson rushing the bodies in this area back to their families, not doing proper follow-up to suspicious deaths. They only had a lead on how these people were dying thanks to the two bodies in Abilene.
“We’re not so in the dark as we think,” Elijah hissed. “This is going to sound fucked up, but I think the sheriff is covering for this other Magi because he hates Magi. Stevenson is letting this killer do his thing because it looks good for him to the Anti-Magi group if Magi in his area are dying off.”
“Stevenson is a Magi though!” Vincent snarled. “What you are talking about is that he hates his own kind so much that he is willing to actively work against us and let his own kind die. Elijah, that’s madness.”
“It’s his faith,” Elijah whispered, stepping close to Vincent. “Stevenson is a God-fearing man in an uber-conservative area in Texas with little oversight. He was probably raised Christian. Think about it. You have so much faith in something, but your community would call you evil. Unregistered works for him. No one knows he exists, probably because he’s just so weak. He can hide from other Magi, pretend he’s not one, and gain the love of other believers, other fanatics.”
“He hates himself,” Vincent realized. “He abhors that he’s a Magi.”
“Yeah,” Elijah said with a nod, “I think he does. I think he wants to remove what amounts to sin from himself but can’t, so he works to the opposite end of the spectrum and helps fanatics.”
“Fuck,” Vincent exclaimed, softer this time.
“I think we’re on the right track, for all of this,” Elijah groaned. “I think he has our answers. Even if he doesn’t know the killer’s identity, him being here is just getting in our way. We need to take him out of the equation before he further impedes on our case.”
“The killer started showing up in Sawyer’s dreams after you told Stevenson that we knew he was a Magi,” Vincent reminded him. “He probably knows who the killer is.”
“Vincent,” Elijah tried to cut in slowly. “Do you think…?”
“He’s working with him,” Vincent decided. He felt it. He should have seen it sooner, but his attention was divid
ed at the worst time. He was thinking about Sawyer too much—thinking about working with the guys to win her to them. “We’ll raid his house, then we’ll confront him with anything we find.”
“Roger that, Boss.” Elijah nodded. “Let’s do this.”
Vincent mentally kicked himself again. He shouldn’t have been so slow. He shouldn’t be distracted. Distracted got people killed.
Vincent saw the tiny home in the middle of nowhere and frowned. It was tucked away from the road, far enough back that there was no way of knowing if anyone was home.
“I think we’re ready to go in,” Elijah told him quietly. “Sawyer, stay close to one of us, please.”
“Yes,” Vincent whispered. Then he did something he rarely did. He zoned out for a moment and let the world disappear.
He and Kaar were not Quinn and the wolves. They were both independent, preferring a degree separation that Quinn and the pack didn’t desire at all, but he could always rely on the wild piece of his soul that Kaar represented. He entered Kaar’s mind instantly and felt the raven’s indignant rousing at the intrusion. Kaar never liked it, but they made do when it was needed. Kaar also had a peculiar way of never letting Vincent know how he felt.
Damn bird. Vincent was convinced Kaar liked Quinn more than his own Magi.
They were perfectly suited for each other, Vincent and Kaar. Vincent liked the wolves more than he liked his damn bird. Perfectly suited, them.
“Show me the sheriff, Kaar,” Vincent told the raven. Kaar swooped through the town, trying to blend in with other birds. Stevenson came into view near the town’s Baptist church. He was talking to the preacher. “Thank you. Stay on him like a hawk, Kaar.”
The bristle of indignation from Kaar made Vincent smile in the Explorer. Never, ever compare Kaar to any other kind of bird.
Vincent blinked and was back in the Explorer. He looked to Elijah and nodded.
“We’re ready,” was all Vincent had to say. Something about this felt heavy, and they hadn’t even made it inside the door.
“Let’s get this done,” Sawyer groaned and slid out of the Explorer. Vincent watched her meet Quinn, Jasper, and Zander around the front of their vehicles.
“How’s Kaar?” Elijah asked him. Vincent snorted.
“Very Kaar. He’s been… avoiding me more than normal. Avoiding everyone and everything more than normal. Since Sawyer came to live with us.” Vincent mumbled, tapping a finger on the steering wheel.
“Bonded animals take a page from their Magi,” Elijah reminded him. “The more you relax, the more he will.”
“You know, he spies on her. Kaar spies on her without letting me know.” Vincent chuckled for a moment. “Damn bird.”
“Reminds me of a certain human,” Elijah muttered, so low that Vincent almost didn’t hear him. “Always watching her, desperate to be her boy toy, just like a couple of my other friends.”
Vincent reached out and slammed a hand against Elijah’s chest, making the cowboy lean away from him and laugh.
“I call it like I see it, Vin.” Elijah kept laughing, and Vincent jumped out of the Explorer and stomped over to the group.
He knew he watched Sawyer, but he didn’t need Elijah’s constant reminders. He just… couldn’t stop watching her.
He needed to stay focused on the task at hand. The morning of talking to her was one thing, but now was the time for the mess they had been thrust into. He’d been distracted enough just by thinking about her and what had happened right before they were thrown into Texas. He needed to put it aside for a moment. He couldn’t be thinking of her while they were trying to find their answers.
“Let’s make this quick. Jasper and Sawyer, you will both get into the home and unlock the doors. We’ll leave things as undisturbed as possible. We don’t want him or any other occupants returning home to think someone had been here.”
“Of course,” Jasper affirmed, nodding.
“Quinn, you and your boys can patrol the property. Keep an eye out for anyone showing up.”
Vincent was glad to see Quinn nod and immediately shift into his wolf form. The pack of wolves got to business quickly.
They didn’t say much else, just aimless chatter as they got closer to the house. Vincent was on edge about it. This wasn’t the first time they had done something like this, and he trusted Sawyer to behave appropriately.
He just wasn’t at ease with how little they knew about the sheriff. They chose this time of day to avoid any children, who should be at school, but Jasper found nothing about the sheriff having children. He was once married, but his wife seemed to have disappeared five years ago.
The sheriff held secrets. They were distracting the team from the case at hand because they were pressing enough to need to be dealt with, not ignored or swept aside. Vincent only hoped those secrets tied back into the case at hand, because he was tired of having cases with so many secrets. So many twists and angles that made him stretch so hard to figure it out.
He watched Sawyer and Jasper go through the front door. They would clear the house before unlocking the doors, just in case.
A clatter and a few screams changed all of their plans.
“Elijah, get the door open,” Vincent ordered. Elijah didn’t bother using magic. Vincent heard wood splinter as Elijah kicked the door completely off its hinges, sending it flying into the building.
Vincent took point, his sidearm out, ready for action. With Zander and Elijah silent behind him, they walked slowly into the house, prepared for anything.
The cold was first thing Vincent noticed. A cold he knew well.
Something had made Sawyer furious or upset. He laid eyes on Jasper in the living, still as a statue. His eyes took in the scene carefully after confirming there were no injuries on Jasper. Just shock.
A boy on the couch, pale and thin, A large bruise on the child’s cheek. He couldn’t have been more than eight. Vincent continued into the house as Zander passed him to see the boy. Nothing could stop Vincent’s wince as the boy screamed and ran from Zander to hide somewhere else. Zander didn’t move after him, taking the hint to not try and play doctor yet.
Vincent found Sawyer near the small kitchen. A young teenage girl, with another younger girl behind her. Somewhere around fourteen for the older one, Vincent guessed. Ten, at most, for the younger. The older girl had a large kitchen knife, ready to attack anyone who came closer. Both kids in the kitchen were pale in fear. And the younger girl had a black eye.
Secrets. So many secrets hiding in this tiny town run by a Magi whose loyalties were now clear.
These children, his children, were also Magi. And he beat them.
This was officially now an IMPO governed situation in all ways. Vincent could also no longer guarantee the sheriff’s safety until he was seen by the agents in the Dallas office. And Vincent didn’t care much about the sheriff’s safety.
“Sawyer,” Vincent called out as Elijah moved around him as well. He needed to know that Sawyer wasn’t about to fly off the handle. The room was cold, but nothing else gave away her feelings. She didn’t turn to him, and he had no idea what her expression could possibly be, but he knew that a situation like this…
“Why are you here?” The oldest girl called out in anger. “Why are you in our home?”
“Put the knife down,” Sawyer commanded with such an authority that that left no room for disobedience. Vincent was shocked that the girl did put the knife on the counter, but the two young ones took several steps back, all the way into the corner of the kitchen. The oldest girl must have known the knife wouldn’t have helped her, anyway. “We aren’t here to hurt you.”
“We’re agents from the International Magi Police Organization,” Elijah said calmly, walking over to Sawyer. Vincent watched a large hand slide up Sawyer’s back as Elijah tried to get around her. “Why aren’t you in school? Will you tell us your names?”
“We’re homeschooled,” the teenager hissed, pushing her younger sister further behind her. But Vincent
saw the girl’s face soften. “What business is it to you?”
“By who? And you haven’t given me your names, yet.” Elijah asked, patiently. Vincent looked over to Jasper, who locked eyes with the boy, now hiding toward a hallway.
“Me? My name is Cara. This is my little sister, Samantha, and that is Bucky.” Cara finished with a point to the boy. “Bucky, come here.”
They were all still as the youngest child, the bruised-cheeked boy ran to his older sister. They all looked like siblings, so Vincent was going to assume that they were.
“Cara, have you finished your education? How old are you?” Elijah asked gently, continuing the soft interrogation. Vincent watched his hand on Sawyer’s back curl and grab a handful of her shirt.
“I’m fifteen and no, I haven’t finished my school yet,” Cara whispered. “But I had to take over when…”
“When what?” Sawyer growled softly.
“When our older brother started leaving during the day. He used to be in charge of us, but he’s been busy.” Cara was suddenly nervous and uncomfortable, Vincent noted.
He made a mental checklist, something he knew Jasper was doing as well. These children were Magi, they were obviously being hurt, mostly likely by Stevenson. They had to be removed from the home and transported into the care of the closest IMPO headquarters, Dallas.
Three children would require four caretakers, one for each and an extra. Vincent ran that through. He knew better than to try and convince Sawyer. She would want to stay, and he would let her. Stevenson was a God-fearing man, and Vincent was already planning on letting Sawyer show him that God was not the only thing to fear.
He wondered who else would stay. Himself, maybe. He nearly wanted to.
“Who hurts you?” Elijah asked gently, pulling Sawyer back as he stepped around her and closer to the children. Vincent watched Sawyer step back and turn. He could finally see her face. He’d seen it before, in Atlanta, in the hanger bay.
“Dad says that naughty children who consort with evil must be disciplined,” Cara told him, and Vincent’s jaw tensed as he saw the oldest girl begin to shake.
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