The Redemption Saga Box Set

by Kristen Banet

  “I’m pretty terrible at it,” he agreed. “I’m trying.”

  That was all Sawyer needed to hear. She was going to keep trying too.

  The time home to prepare for the trip passed too quickly. Sawyer had gotten just the bare minimum of sleep, alone in her own bed.

  They were back in New York too fast. James told them he collected their items from the hotel and was going to store them until they came back.

  No one said the obvious: if they came back.

  He gave them dog tags, a pair for each of them. Sawyer didn’t understand why, so she asked.

  “I know we have them for identification, but why two?”

  “One goes in your boot,” Zander answered, seeming uncomfortable. He took it from her and knelt to slide it inside her boot, then did his own. “In case…”

  She got it at that. In case her legs were detached or all that was left. She put the other on the chain provided. She dropped it into her shirt so it didn’t get in her way.

  The mood was somber as they arrived at the airport, where a C-130 waited for them. Sawyer was anxious. This was it. She looked down and reviewed the sheet Vincent handed her at the last minute. Ranks and patches for IMAS so she could identify who was in charge and who was a grunt.

  “So, these are the IMPO agents we’re stuck babysitting?” A lance corporal laughed as he said it and Sawyer, standing on the tarmac, turned to glare at him.

  Jasper grabbed her arm and shook his head slowly.

  “I outranked you when I was in IMAS, kid, so shut the fuck up,” Zander yelled over to him.

  “Don’t talk to my soldiers that way,” a female voice barked out in anger. “They are not for you to order.”

  Sawyer glanced over to the woman speaking. Sergeant Petrov. The patches gave her the Sergeant, with Petrov the last name over the woman’s chest. She narrowed her eyes on the ice-blonde, dark blue-eyed bitch. “Tell your soldiers to respect their superiors and there wouldn’t be any trouble,” she retorted.

  “I will,” Sergeant Petrov replied, stepping closer. Sawyer didn’t like that they were the exact same height in their combat boots. It wasn’t easy to stare into the eyes of this woman. She wasn’t used to it. “They won’t make any more comments when I’m done with them, but none of you can go and curse at them either. I won’t have discord in my ranks.”

  “I’m not in your ranks,” Sawyer scoffed. “You can’t be the ranking IMAS enlisted soldier. You definitely don’t outrank me.”

  “I’m in charge of this group of soldiers and if you cause problems with them, I’m going to put an end to it,” Petrov threatened, pointing to the ten or so men and women all dressed in camos nearby. The lance corporal was in the group.

  “Fine,” Sawyer grunted, shrugging.

  Petrov barked an order for her soldiers to follow her, and Sawyer stayed where she was.

  “Don’t mess with Petrov,” Jasper whispered in her ear. “She’s the only female who passed the trials to join Spec Ops. They just haven’t let her join one of those teams yet because she’s got a vagina and not a dick. She’s just as much a badass with a reputation as you, though, so please don’t start shit with her.”

  “Bullshit,” Sawyer chuckled. “No chick has a reputation as good as mine.” Sawyer felt her arrogant streak rear its ugly head. She wasn’t going to be scared of some blonde.

  “He’s not kidding,” Zander warned. “Petrov is known to be super by-the-book. She doesn’t tolerate people stepping out of line. You follow the rules and don’t draw her attention. She’s been known to bust people pretty hard for fucking up.”

  “Sounds like she just needs to loosen up,” she decided.

  “I don’t know what you three are talking about, but get on the plane so we can get this started,” Vincent whispered harshly as he walked past them. “Jasper, keep them out of trouble.”

  Sawyer laughed at Jasper’s groan. When he glared at her, she only shrugged. “We’re about to meet our impending deaths. Might as well laugh at something,” she told him.

  He pulled her onto the plane, his shoulders shaking at her humor about it all.

  “She has a point,” Zander said, chuckling as well.

  Sawyer found a seat next to Elijah, who threw a friendly arm over her shoulder. They were all quiet as the soldiers finished loading onto the plane as well.

  She took a quick headcount. Their team, six people. Three officers from IMAS, a colonel, a captain, and a lieutenant. Nine. Then thirty-six enlisted soldiers, in groups of twelve. Each group included a couple of higher-ranked enlisted members that would report to the officers.

  Sawyer didn’t like the strict and rigid structure of IMAS, she decided. It seemed annoying to deal with.

  “I hope we’re all ready,” Vincent told them from his place. “This is going to be a bumpy ride.”

  “I have to get up and do a presentation for everyone during the trip,” Quinn added. “It’ll be everyone’s chance to learn exactly who we’re going in to mess with. Pay attention.”

  They all gave him an affirmative. This was going to be a long trip.

  15

  Elijah

  Elijah kept his arm around Sawyer as the plane took off. He found it comforting. He had Sawyer on one side, Quinn on the other. He was going to enjoy it while it lasted. One or both might not survive the trip. He might not survive the trip.

  None of them said anything as the soldiers joked and laughed. Elijah wanted to strangle all of them. They had no idea what they were getting into. This wasn’t a game or a joke. He didn’t like how relaxed they were, and he hated hearing a few of them joke about the team. They didn’t say anything too rude, just wondering why they were going to babysit the imps.

  Damn war dogs. He’d never liked them. He knew that he and Vincent had gotten lucky finding Zander and Jasper in the organization. They hadn’t been fitting in, and they had suited Vincent’s vision for the team. Best thing Elijah had ever gotten out of IMAS. He thought most of them were just brutes.

  An hour later, Quinn stood up. He watched his feral friend walk over to the colonel and whisper something. Colonel Fischer seemed to give a suffering sigh and nodded.

  “Attention on deck!” someone screamed as the colonel stood up. Absolutely no one stood up, like they normally did for the call, but everyone did fall silent, their heads snapping into Colonel Fischer’s direction. Elijah was impressed. A little.

  “As you all know, we’re going down into the damn jungle to deal with a Druid issue. Now, I’m certain we can handle this well enough on our own, but I’ve been granted an IMPO Special Agent who is an expert on Druids…and his team.” The colonel added the second part begrudgingly. “He’s going to give us a briefing on what we need to expect in the woods, so eyes up and get focused. You’ll only get this information once.”

  “What makes this fuck an expert, sir?” a young man yelled out. “Why are we listening to imps? We’re fucking war dogs!”

  “I grew up with them,” Quinn called back. “None of you can say the same. As far as I know, no one on Earth can say the same. But if you want to be fertilizer for their land and meat for their animals, you’re welcome to it and I’ll sit back down. My team and I don’t want to be here. We have the intelligence to realize this is stupid.”

  Elijah sputtered. Quinn had never called someone out like that before. He and several of the team exchanged glances. They all knew Quinn was pissed. They had put his wolves in cargo with the other animal bonds for the trip, and that was on top of this trip already happening.

  “This isn’t good,” Sawyer mumbled.

  “Quinn is trying to make them realize how serious this is,” Elijah whispered back. “It won’t work, but he’s going to try.”

  “Get started, Special Agent Judge,” the colonel ordered. Elijah wanted to knock that smug look off his face.

  “Fifty percent of the men and women on this plane will die if we enter into a conflict with a Druid,” Quinn began.

  Elijah felt a cold
shiver go down his spine. He wasn’t sure if it was Sawyer sitting next to him or his own worry. Quinn never gave out odds unless he fully believed in them.

  Silence.

  Elijah was hoping the war dogs were figuring it out now. The imps on their plane weren’t fucking around, Quinn especially.

  “It won’t be the Druid who kills you, though I promise she’ll have a hand in it,” Quinn continued. “Druids are beefed-up versions of Magi with an animal bond. A single Druid can kill everyone in this plane if she sneaks up on us. She can communicate directly with the animals around her. She has a type of naturalism that doesn’t just allow for the small growth of plants, but rapid growth and movement you can’t account for. We’ll be fighting in a world that will only be on her side. The Amazon rainforest will be our enemy. It will naturally hinder our progress, and it’s dangerous enough without her. Imagine the entire thing coming alive with the express purpose of killing you, and you’ll begin to understand why this mission is ridiculously stupid.”

  Elijah winced. Quinn wasn’t playing around. He could feel the feral, wild magic radiating off of him, biting at anyone who tried to ignore it. He didn’t like how angry Quinn was. It was dangerous, but there was nothing Elijah could do to stop it. Absolutely nothing.

  “So what will we be fighting?” a soldier called out.

  “The trees,” Quinn answered in an emotionless tone. Elijah knew there was no humor in it, but the war dogs didn’t. Laughter rang out from the grunts. Even the colonel was chuckling. “Insects to large predators. Druids bond to nearly everything in their domain. Even if they aren’t bonded to it, it’ll follow the Druid’s call to protect their home. We will be seen as an outside threat. Most of you will die to the plant and animal life. The Druid may not kill any of us with her bare hands.”

  “Which brings me to my second point.” Quinn began to pace in front of them. Elijah didn’t like how caged he looked, like a captive animal waiting for a handler to come in and try to feed him, so he could bite the hand. “Killing her quickly will stop most of the conflict. The foliage will stop immediately, no longer fed by her magic. The animals will be harder. Most will go back to what they were doing, but some may need to be put down. They won’t just pass on with the Druid. The bond is different in most cases. Only about five or ten animals will be fully bonded to the Druid and pass on with her. The rest will be connected to her, but not fully dependent. This is a quirk of Druid magic.” He took a deep breath. Elijah met his blue gaze. This was the hard part for him. Quinn loved animals, no matter what. It didn’t matter if they were loyal to a Druid, animals in Quinn’s mind were innocent. Elijah agreed. “I know you’ve stored tranquilizers for this mission. I recommend keeping them on hand. With a rest, many animals will be fine to get up and run off, continue their lives. No need to kill unnecessarily.”

  “You make it sound like we’re going to war with the jungle,” Colonel Fischer noted. Elijah still didn’t like the humorous expression on his face. “Do you have no faith in us as some of the best soldiers in the world?”

  “None at all,” Quinn answered. “During this mission, I need you to make an agreement with me. I will rarely give orders, but when I do, I need them listened to. They could very well save your lives.”

  “I can allow that as long as you don’t abuse the power,” the colonel told him.

  “Thank fuck,” Zander mumbled.

  “Problem, Private Wade?” the colonel glared over to the team. Elijah sighed. Of course the war dogs knew Zander and Jasper had been in their ranks.

  “Special Agent Wade,” Zander corrected. “And no. Just glad you’re going to listen to the most powerful Magi on the plane, so we don’t all die to the idiocy of IMAS arrogance.”

  “How I wish I could court-martial you,” Colonel Fischer grumbled.

  “I bet you do,” Zander taunted.

  “Stop,” Vincent snapped. “We can’t argue with them constantly. Colonel, you deal with yours, I’ll deal with mine. Make sure they’ll listen to Quinn if it’s needed.”

  “Certainly. Keep your IMAS rejects. We don’t need ‘em,” a captain cut in. Elijah nearly stood up. War dogs were all making that taunting ‘oh’ noise. Quinn snarled, and his magic lashed out. The plane shook like it hit turbulence.

  “Captain.” The colonel turned to glare at his second in command. “We’ll talk later.”

  “Yes sir,” the captain said, snapping a salute.

  “Is there anything else, Special Agent Judge?” The colonel looked back to Quinn, who shook his head.

  “Give me your plans and we’ll adjust as needed,” Quinn told him. “I need to know what you’re prepared for.”

  “All right.” The colonel took Quinn’s place in the front of the plane, looking down at the rows of soldiers. Quinn sat back down next to Elijah on their side seats, less cramped than the area the soldiers were sitting.

  “We’ll be fine,” Elijah whispered to him. “We’ll follow orders and get your back if any of the war dogs fuck with you. You’re in charge of this, and we won’t let anyone question that.”

  “They will get us all killed,” Quinn whispered back. He didn’t like how pale Quinn seemed.

  “At least it’ll be all of us,” Vincent mumbled.

  “First, war dogs, this is a diplomatic mission,” the colonel called out to the soldiers before him. “We’re to stand down until hostilities have begun and act in protection to the agents who will lead the diplomacy. The IMPO team, led by Special Agent Judge and Special Agent Castello, will be investigating the causes for recent Druid aggression and hopefully finding a peaceful solution. This is the priority. It’s been what several experts advised when confronted with the situation.”

  Colonel Fischer waited for the groans from the soldiers to end.

  “We’ll be taking a convoy to Manaus, checking on the first village on the drive. From there, we have boats for the river on standby. We’ll be going deep into the jungle to check on the second village that has stopped trade. Non-Magi governments originally brought this to our attention. There’s a couple of Druids that live in this area. One or both could be the source of the problem, but we don’t know more than that. Most in the area have never even seen the Druids that live there. No one in the area has contacted a Druid in a decade.”

  “They probably replaced an older Druid for the area,” Quinn whispered. Elijah nodded slowly. “They were probably more isolated before that and just don’t have the inclination to meet the locals.”

  “Once we learn the status on the villages, we will move deeper, and hopefully find the Druids and talk to them. That’s where all of this can go to hell.” The colonel ended. “There’s not really much else. We’ve been briefed. Everything in this area will be a threat if we end up in a fight. If we end up in a fight, aim for the Druid to end it.”

  “If we run into more than one, we’re all dead if there’s a fight,” Quinn called out. “Don’t forget that. If we can convince one to stand down before a second Druid gets involved, it’ll be much easier. Fight the first, and any others are less likely to listen to us, though.”

  “Good point,” Colonel Fischer agreed. “Everyone, get some rest. We’ll be on this flight for a long time. Seventeen hours and counting.”

  Elijah heard Sawyer groan and heard the thump of her letting her head fall back to the plane.

  “This is going to suck,” she mumbled.

  “Yeah,” Jasper sighed. “This is what we’ve signed up for.”

  Elijah looked at Quinn. Their eyes met, and Quinn sighed as well. Those blue eyes were worried.

  “I’m happy you’re all here but I also hate it,” he said under his breath.

  “I know.” Elijah knew so well, but he didn’t see another option. Sawyer’s idea kept them all together, and if they lived through it, they were going to get a long vacation where no one could fuck with them. It wasn’t perfect, but in Elijah’s mind, it was good enough. He wasn’t giving either of them up.

  “Did you bri
ng your sketchbook?” Quinn asked, changing the topic. “We’ll be traveling a lot.”

  “Yup.” Elijah reached into a thigh pocket of his cargos and pulled out the small sketchbook. It was in a small cover that also had a few pencils and pens for him to use.

  “Good. I’m going to get some sleep. You do that then get some as well. It’ll help you relax.”

  Elijah was chuckling at the parental orders from Quinn. “Yes sir,” he teased, leaning over to whisper it in Quinn’s ear. He didn’t care if soldiers were watching. Quinn just loosened up a little and smiled, leaning back as much as possible and closing his eyes. Elijah leaned over to Sawyer and whispered in her ear next. “Find any hotties out there to add to your growing number of playmates?”

  She hit him in the gut and he grunted, chuckling. She grinned at him as he rubbed the spot. “Four is enough for me.”

  “Four?” Elijah purred it.

  “You count,” she said, still grinning. “For obvious reasons.”

  “The obvious reason that you want to save a horse and-”

  Elijah grunted, laughing as she thumped his gut again. Messing with her was so much fun. He wished she knew that he meant every word. She didn’t know, though. She had no idea how hard he was crushing on her. To her, this was friendly and fun. To him, it was becoming more serious. He wanted her like he’d never wanted before. Not even Quinn, whom he did love in a way, like best friends, had gotten Elijah so hard.

  “Maybe if I could take you seriously, we would actually talk about it,” Sawyer murmured to him. They were all trying to keep their voices down. Whispered conversations were happening all over the plane, to preserve any sort of privacy.

  “Maybe if you just took me up on my offer, the conversation wouldn’t even need to happen,” he retorted, grinning.

  “Maybe I have enough other options and you need to work for it harder?” she taunted, crossing her arms. He loved the confidence. She knew she was in absolute control and fuck, that made him hard.