The Redemption Saga Box Set

by Kristen Banet

  “Shh, Cara, shh,” Elijah walked closer to her. “Can I make you a promise? We are going to take you away from here. We’re going to take you to people who can take care of you without hurting you.”

  “He’ll come after us,” Cara told him, whispering as she wrapped an arm around Bucky. “Then Mom… Will Samantha and Bucky stay with me? We won’t be separated? Mom told us to stay together, no matter what. You said… you said you’re the police, right? You’ll keep him from catching us?”

  “We are the Magi police, yes,” Vincent called out. “No one will separate you, and we won’t let your father come get you. We just want to make sure you are safe. Where is your mother?”

  “Gone,” Cara mumbled, looking at him. Vincent saw the haunted look in her eyes. “She left us.”

  “Sawyer, do you think they will come willingly? Do you think they will trust us to leave with us?” Vincent directed it telepathically to her. He watched her face change, so slightly to something sad. A small nod from her.

  “Come outside and speak with me?” Another small nod from her. He figured she needed some air, and he needed to ask her more questions.

  “Elijah, will you help Cara and her siblings pack something? Jasper, Zander, assist them. Zander, call Quinn back in when you’re done,” Vincent told them. Nods all around. He was glad, for just a moment, that his team followed orders. They got started immediately, gently convincing the children quietly to follow them.

  He turned and left, Sawyer hot on his heels. They walked a clear distance from the broken front door before Vincent turned back to Sawyer.

  “What’s your advice?” he asked her. She had dealt with children like this before. He watched her face change from the cold mask, felt her magic lash out from her with nothing to direct it. It was like riding out one of Quinn’s outbursts with less power. She was strong, but she wasn’t Quinn. She was colder, though, and sharp. The feeling of her magic was a like a blade, and Vincent was thankful that it wouldn’t truly cut him.

  “Get them something to eat,” Sawyer whispered, crossing her arms. “Don’t treat them as invalids. I normally had Charlie doing what Elijah did in there. Charlie did the talking while I just listened, trying to control myself in front of the younger children. Remember that… sometimes they know it’s wrong, and sometimes they don’t. In this case, I’m nearly certain that Cara knows this is wrong. I’m assuming, based on what she said, that Stevenson’s abuse is recent.”

  “His wife disappeared, left the scene, five years ago. No one really knows what happened to her,” Vincent reminded her.

  “How long has he been Sheriff?” Sawyer asked, looking back towards the house.

  “Fifteen years,” Vincent let her know. He knew where she was taking this, and the thought was chilling. “The wife didn’t disappear. You think she’s dead. It would be the easiest assumption. Or that she left, something drove her away, maybe the sheriff himself.”

  “And Stevenson lost his mind or blamed it on the kids... or killed her himself. He could just be an alcoholic in private, but with what Cara said…” Sawyer shook her head. “There’s a few ways this could have happened, but honestly, Vincent… I don’t care what lead him to this. It just needs to stop.”

  “Who do you want to stay with you?” Vincent asked her. He watched a moment of shock pass over her face as she looked back to him. “I recommend anyone except Jasper.”

  “You know, that’s what I like about Jasper,” Sawyer said quickly. “He’s always good, always has been and always will be. There’s no bad in him. It’s nearly inspiring. I want Elijah to stay with me, though. You and the others are taking the kids to…”

  “Dallas,” Vincent said, filling in the gap. “To hand them over to the headquarters there. They’ll probably be sent out to Atlanta after that.”

  “To the orphanage,” Sawyer groaned. “Not the worst place, and they will get to stay together…”

  “If any relatives are found, they’ll be sent over once their mental health has been evaluated. The WMC won’t keep them at the orphanage unless there are no other options.” Vincent sighed. “Why Elijah?”

  “Reasons,” she mumbled, as they watched Zander walk out with the youngest, the boy. Bucky. Vincent committed the names to memory. Cara, the oldest, Samantha, the younger girl, and Bucky, the boy. He needed to use their names, show them he was paying attention, make them feel more comfortable.

  He didn’t like Sawyer’s answer for wanting Elijah to stay behind. He knew there were reasons, but he wanted to know what those were. He wasn’t sure he wanted to ask, though. He would talk to Elijah before they left with the children. He checked his watch. It was still mid-morning. They had plenty of time. The earliest the sheriff would be back was lunch, if he decided to come home for that.

  “Why are you letting me stay?” Sawyer asked, looking back at him. “You know what I’m going to do.” The violence he saw in her eyes scared him a little. Less now than when he’d first met her, but it still brought a touch of fear to his heart. She was a scary person, Sawyer Matthews. Thief, vigilante, assassin. He now knew exactly why she seemed to put people around her on edge. The knowledge of why didn’t stop something in him from being slightly scared of her, though.

  “I know that justice sometimes requires blood. I never had a problem with what you did in New York,” Vincent told her, crossing his arms, giving her the most honest answer he could. “Sawyer, I grew up in a family who broke legs. Not quite as bad as the Russians, mind you, but we did it, nonetheless.” Well, not him. Vincent had never taken a bat to someone’s leg, but he knew his father called enforcers to do it. He knew after his mother died, his father had her lover doused in acid. Vincent didn’t agree with it, but now seeing her and seeing those kids, he understood it. And he understood her more seeing it in person.

  And he wasn’t so perfect, like Jasper, that he would try and stop Sawyer. Maybe she would also get some information out of the sheriff.

  “Well, damn,” Sawyer huffed. “I forgot about that for a second.”

  “I’m not going to stand in your way. We need to leave people behind to get handcuffs on him without causing a scene in town. He’ll come home and get arrested in private. Simpler. I don’t like only leaving two of us, but we also can’t risk the sheriff bolting when he realizes his kids have been taken.” Vincent continued explaining his reasoning. This was the on the job training she needed. The understanding to protocol. “Four adults need to accompany the kids. We like a one-to-one with a spare to make sure every child has a guardian of some sort.”

  “We’re stretched thin.” Sawyer frowned at him again. “I can stay alone. Elijah would be good for the kids to have.”

  “You can’t make arrests,” Vincent reminded her. “You could keep Zander or myself here. Like you, Quinn can’t make arrests. He’ll need to come with us and the children.”

  They stood in silence after that. Vincent was glad to have her on the team now. There was very little that the IMPO didn’t deal with, but for teams like his, this domestic sort of situation was just in training. This was something he’d never actually run into, and having her there, with some experience in the matter, was the best luck he’d ever had. He was confident his team could handle it on their own, but it was nice having someone he considered an expert there. She could tell them if they messed up.

  “Here they all come,” Sawyer said, pointing towards Elijah leading out the two girls. Cara and Samantha held hands, as Elijah talked to them about something. Probably explaining to them where they are going and who they were going to meet.

  “I’ll see you on the other side, Sawyer.” Vincent told her, watching her face soften at the sight of the children. In that rare moment, she looked stunning. Her face was always feminine, but it was normally hard. He knew when he saw her again, it would be a cold mask, like it was when she killed or went after abusers in New York. He hoped Elijah would keep her smiling, at least a little.

  “I’m going to stay over here for a moment,�
�� Sawyer replied as he began to walk towards the rest of his team. He knew why, so he didn’t ask. She wanted to mentally prepare herself.

  “I’ll give your bag to Elijah.” He sighed, nodding.

  When he made it to the team, Zander and Bucky were arguing about something.

  “Look here, little man,” Zander moaned in frustration. “I need you to jump in and sit down so we can get moving.”

  “But my toys!” Bucky whined, pouting and stomping his small foot. Vincent winced. Children. Zander and Bucky kept at it as Vincent just watched.

  “Cara,” Vincent called out, hoping the oldest would talk some sense into the tiny child. She met his eyes and jogged over after helping Elijah put Samantha in the other Explorer.

  “Bucky Stevenson.” Cara said his name like a command, and Vincent raised an eyebrow. “This is it. This is what Mommy wanted. You need to get in, and we need to leave before Daddy comes home. Okay?”

  What their mother wanted. Vincent would remember that when they stopped for something to eat. Now wasn’t the time to interrogate the girl over what that might have meant.

  “B-b-b-but my toys!” Bucky cried out. “I don’t want to leave all of them!”

  “I’m sure someone will come back and get your toys,” Cara whispered to her younger brother, sliding a look to Vincent. Vincent nodded, keeping quiet. “See? Someone will come get them.”

  “But-”

  “No more buts, Bucky. Get in and put your seat belt on,” Cara ordered. Zander helped her put the child in and began to heal the boy gently, the bruise fading slowly as Zander worked carefully. Vincent redirected himself after that toward Elijah. He was holding a doll and smiling at Samantha.

  “Elijah, can I talk to you?” Vincent asked, distracting Elijah from the game he was playing. Elijah nodded and handed the doll to Samantha, who gave a shy smile. They walked a few feet away before Vincent said anything.

  “You are staying with Sawyer,” Vincent said quickly. He watched Elijah’s eyes go wide. “She asked for you.”

  “I understand,” Elijah replied softly, nodding slowly. “I’ll get her bag and mine.”

  “Thank you. We need to get moving,” Vincent sighed. “Quickly.”

  “I know. Also, Cara told me something,” Elijah added, pausing as he turned to leave. “Their oldest brother? Nineteen, came into his abilities four years ago. He hangs out a lot with Sheriff Stevenson and his friends. That’s why he’s not here. Anyway, Cara made it clear that Cory wouldn’t want to come anyway. She promised her mother that if someone offered her and the two younger ones a way out, they would take it. And we’re the police, so she knows we should keep her safe. I showed her my badge and everything.”

  Vincent didn’t like the sound of that.

  “Quinn, what the hell?” Zander yelled from his spot next to Bucky. “I’m trying to heal him!”

  “Who did this?” Quinn snarled. Vincent looked over and so did Elijah. Quinn was pointing at the nearly gone, yellowish bruise still left on Bucky’s cheek.

  “Fuck,” Elijah mumbled. “Quinn! Come here!”

  Vincent waited as Quinn swung around to look at them, glaring. Vincent could see from his posture that their oddest member was riding his temper. That didn’t bode well, they needed the children to feel safe, and Quinn had a tendency to make everyone around him feel the opposite. Quinn stomped over to him and growled.

  “Sawyer and I are staying to handle the sheriff,” Elijah growled low at him, pulling Quinn closer. “Leash the anger. You need to be gentle with these kids. They’ve probably been through hell.”

  “Sawyer is going to stay?” Quinn asked, trying to confirm what Elijah had said. He turned those haunting blue eyes on Vincent. Vincent just nodded. “I’ll be right back.”

  “Okay,” Elijah sighed, letting Quinn go. Quinn jogged off in Sawyer’s direction.

  Vincent watched Shade and Scout jump into different Explorers. Shade nosed Bucky, who giggled and called Shade a ‘big doggie’. Only children could get away with that, Vincent knew. Scout put his head in Samantha’s lap. Vincent was pleased to see Quinn had put those two to work. A couple of fluffy, soft animals always worked with children.

  “That’s not good,” Elijah muttered, glaring towards where Sawyer was. Vincent frowned and followed his gaze. What wasn’t?

  Sawyer and Quinn were shaking hands.

  No, that wasn’t good.

  The last thing anyone needed were those two making some sort of pact about anything. Vincent had the distinct feeling it had something to do with the injured children and what Sawyer would do to their father.

  20

  Sawyer

  She watched the Explorers drive off with the precious cargo, standing on the front porch of Stevenson’s small ranch house.

  Rage curled around her heart. The promise for violence beat like a drum in her blood.

  She was furious. And patient. She would wait. Then she would turn his home into the most dangerous place he would ever walk into. Like he had done to his own children.

  “Sawyer, come inside,” Elijah called to her from the living room. She turned and walked through the front door. They left the door on the floor, broken off its hinges. A sign. Something he would want to investigate. He wouldn’t be able to resist coming inside to find out what had happened.

  “Anything to drink in here?” she asked, watching Elijah go through his bag. He pulled out a couple sets of handcuffs, backups to the set he carried on his belt.

  “Check the kitchen?” Elijah answered, frowning at her. “And here. You aren’t legally allowed to do this, but I trust you not to put them on me and run.” He tossed something at her, and she caught it without a thought. The cool metal was noticeable. She looked down to her hand to see her own set of handcuffs to carry.

  “Thanks,” she mumbled, hanging them from her belt. She stepped into the kitchen and found a glass, filled it with water, and took a couple swallows.

  They stood in silence for a moment until Elijah frowned at her again.

  “Why me? I would have been better with the children than someone like Vincent or Zander.”

  “Because you also have a bone to pick with Stevenson,” Sawyer answered him, giving him a cruel smile. She wasn’t feeling very nice. She chose him, hoping he wouldn’t try to hold her back. Zander, for all his rage and temper, needed to stay with the children to heal them. She wouldn’t need a healer for this. Not unless she busted open a knuckle on Stevenson’s face.

  “Ah.” Elijah sighed.

  “Yup,” Sawyer huffed, still smiling as she took another drink. She gave him a small toast in silence. “I needed someone to stay, so I chose you. Let’s hope you hate this guy as much as I now do. Because he’ll be leaving to go to a hospital when I’m done. If he’s not in a body bag.”

  “I understand,” Elijah said calmly.

  “Can you?” she said and purred dangerously. Elijah had no idea what she was feeling, none.

  “I have a bone to pick with the sheriff because he knows who I am,” Elijah told her mildly. “He knows why I can’t and won’t go home.”

  “And why’s that, Cowboy?”

  “Because I put four guys in critical condition by setting their houses on fire after they killed my boyfriend when I was seventeen. They had beaten him to death, so I nearly killed them.”

  Sawyer coughed out the water she was in the middle of swallowing. She kept coughing as she nearly dropped the glass onto the counter. A couple thumps to her back meant Elijah must have realized he shocked the shit out of her.

  “They weren’t Magi. No charges were pressed against me out here in the middle of nowhere. Local law enforcement wasn’t going to fuck with me,” Elijah continued, sounding serene. “So, yes, Sawyer. I do understand. Better than you think.”

  “Who?” she choked out, hitting her own chest with a fist as she tried to clear the water.

  “I told you my dad kicked me out for sleeping with a guy? Him. His name was Taylor. He was non-Magi, too,
like his killers. The local law enforcement didn’t want to press charges, so I took it into my own hands.”

  She looked up at him. She was beginning to realize she knew very little about the cowboy, the jolly giant with a constant hard-on.

  “Do what you need to do, Sawyer.” Elijah sighed, looking down at her. “I’m not going to stop you. I do need to put handcuffs on him though, so don’t break his arms into angles I can’t manage.”

  “Jesus, Elijah,” she mumbled a bit airily as her lungs stopped hurting. “Why haven’t you ever told me this?”

  “I don’t like to talk about it,” Elijah said, shrugging. “There are deep prejudices out here. This kind of stuff… it happens. I grew up in it.”

  “Yeah…” Sawyer said slowly, leaning against the kitchen counter. She figured they could be waiting for hours, so she watched Elijah pick up her glass and refill it. Then she decided to start questioning him. “How do you keep going on so happily? I mean, I can put one foot in front of the other but… I’m not always happy like you.”

  “I wasn’t, when it happened,” Elijah informed her, not looking her way. “Then I met Vincent in training and realized that everyone has something wrong with them, something they would rather hide, bury, or forget holding them down. He was a Castello trying to get on the right side of the law. I was a big burly kid who was cast aside by my community, ridiculed, and had lost something important to me. We both went to the IMPO looking to change the world for the better from vastly different backgrounds. Maybe in this job, we could change the way things worked, so no one else had it happen to them.”

  “And that made you happier?”

  “No, but in time, I realized I couldn’t bring him back. I couldn’t come out here and raise the dead. And I found happiness elsewhere. The team. My friendships with them. My pride in the work I do, in the field or in my workshop.”

  “Do you regret it?” She continued asking him questions, hoping to get deeper inside his head.