“You two can hash it out later,” Vincent whispered to them. “People are listening.”
“We’re just messing around,” Elijah said, chuckling. “But all right. We’ll be quiet. You hear that, Sawyer? Close your eyes, go to sleep. Stop being sexy and distracting me.”
“Shut up,” she laughed out, louder than anything on the plane. People looked over, confused. She covered her face, shaking her head as Elijah covered up his own laughter. It even got a small chuckle out of Vincent on her other side.
An hour later, she was asleep. He pulled out his sketchbook and stole glances at her, doodling her serene face. Sleeping Sawyer was peaceful for the most part. He loved it. It would change if she got hit with a nightmare, but when she wasn’t dreaming, it was obvious. She just relaxed in a way that she didn’t while she was awake. Her face softened.
An hour after that, Elijah pulled out her carry-on pack. He remembered her sharpening her blades before Texas. He could do that for her. Aside from her, he had the most experience in the care of a blade. He grabbed her kit and began to work. A war dog about five feet away in his own seat watched him, but Elijah ignored the soldier. He focused intently on making sure her blades were perfect, ready for anything. Something nice he could do for her. When she woke up, he would tell her that he was handling it and she could continue to relax.
“Why black blades?” the war dog asked. Elijah looked up and frowned. Did they not know who was on the plane with them? The soldier was Corporal Curtis.
“They belong to her.” Elijah tilted his head in Sawyer’s direction.
“But why black?” Curtis had a mix of fascination and confusion on his face.
“Sawyer Matthews, probationary agent of the IMPO, once known as Shadow, has always used black blades,” Elijah answered. “I don’t know who made them for her.”
“No way,” Curtis laughed. “You’re kidding.”
“He’s not,” a female voice cut in. “I should have realized earlier. That’s her, huh?”
Elijah found himself looking at Sergeant Petrov, the blonde that Sawyer was mumbling about when they loaded on the plane. She sat a row behind the corporal, on the end, her legs stretched out as much as they could be. She had long legs like Sawyer, but he liked Sawyer’s more. She wore a thoughtful expression, one that had a small amount of respect in it.
“She’s not what people think, but yeah, that’s her,” Elijah mumbled, going back to sharpening the dagger.
“And those are her weapons?” Petrov looked down at the blade.
He sighed, nodding. He didn’t miss the very slight Russian accent from the sergeant. Interesting.
“Yes,” Sawyer answered. Elijah tensed but she just leaned forward, looked down at what he was doing, and smiled.
“You can get back to sleep, I got this,” Elijah told her. He was nervous about her seeing him handle her weapons without permission, but she didn’t seem annoyed. He was trying to do something nice for her. He hoped she recognized it.
“Planning on it,” she chuckled softly, leaning back again.
“Interesting,” Petrov whispered.
They all left him alone at that. He knew the information would now spread like wildfire through the soldiers. An assassin and a Druid’s son were on this ‘weak’ IMPO team they had to ‘babysit.’
Elijah finished with her weapons over an hour later and carefully put them away. He leaned back, between his two favorite people, each touching one of his shoulders, and passed out.
16
Sawyer
Sawyer thought getting from Brasilia to Manaus would be a relaxing point in the trip.
It wasn’t.
The logistics were a nightmare: over forty people in their party, nearly half with animal bonds coming on the trip, and then there was the gear. It was all evidence to the fact that Sawyer was right for working alone for so long.
“Who has a fucking bear for an animal bond?” she asked, crossing her arms she waited with Quinn and Vincent for their animals.
“I don’t know, but don’t fuck with whoever that belongs to,” Vincent replied.
“Must be a powerful Magi,” Quinn mumbled. “Must be hot down here for her as well.”
“Her?” Sawyer frowned.
“Bear is female,” he explained. Sawyer didn’t want to know how he knew.
“Her name is Anya.”
Sawyer twitched at the voice. Fucking Sergeant Petrov. She turned to see the blonde and didn’t like how patient and put together she was.
“Good for her,” Sawyer responded. “Yours?”
“Yes,” Petrov answered curtly.
Sawyer went back to looking at the crates being unloaded. The largest crate was opened, and Sawyer swallowed her fear at the massive brown bear that walked out and roared immediately.
“Anya,” Petrov murmured, walking over. “Sh, love.”
The bear just rose on its hind legs and Sawyer tensed. The damn thing must have been nearly ten feet tall. Even Quinn took in a hard breath as his wolves jogged over to him. A caw could be heard, and Sawyer flicked a glance up to see a dark bird fly up, then dive down. Kaar landed on Vincent’s shoulder with a level of force that had her wondering if the bird broke Vincent’s shoulder. Vincent just grunted and glared at the raven.
Sawyer swallowed her jealousy.
There was no little house cat running out to her. There never would be.
Sawyer turned away and began to walk to Jasper and Zander, who were preparing their SUVs for the drive.
“This is a fucking circus,” Zander mumbled when she got near. “Not even the animals. Just IMAS. Unless it’s Spec Ops, IMAS is a hot mess all the time.”
“Good to know,” she said, helping load their bags in. “How long is this drive?”
“Forty-seven hours,” Jasper answered.
She cursed several times.
“Yeah,” Zander agreed. “All of that. But we’ll finish one of our mission objectives on the trip, so at least it’s not a total waste. It’ll add time to the trip, though.”
“IMAS is really always like this?” She couldn’t believe it.
“Yeah,” Jasper confirmed.
Sawyer pulled out a cigarette and walked about ten feet away to smoke so she didn’t bother Zander and Jasper. Vincent walked over only a minute later, smoking his own. Elijah found them before they were finished and had one as well.
“This all sucks,” Elijah mumbled.
“Amen,” Vincent whispered.
Once the drive was started, they all knew there was no going back. Sawyer sat in the front of one of the team’s two SUVs, five hours in, trying to just get back to sleep. It was a non-stop drive, so she would take over for Vincent at the eight-hour mark. Zander and Jasper were switching in the other one, while Elijah and Quinn didn’t have to drive at all. Quinn because he couldn’t drive, Elijah because he was making sure their inventory was ready for the twelfth time.
At the eight-hour mark, everyone got twenty minutes out to stretch their legs. Sawyer had gotten no sleep. She and Vincent smoked and switched.
Another eight hours. Another smoke and switch.
Sawyer was able to get four hours of sleep this time. She would have gotten more, but she was able to jerk herself awake, out of another nightmare. Those were starting to get on her nerves.
The mood was somber. She and the guys didn’t talk. Elijah slept in the back for a good portion of the drive as well, or doodled in the sketchbook she wasn’t allowed to look at.
“Are you sure I can’t look? You never share it with me,” Sawyer asked for the fifth time.
“Positive. My sketchbooks are private.” Elijah didn’t sound amused, but no one on the trip was. It was too damn long and too damn hot.
“He’s quite good,” Vincent told her, yawning. “Very good. He’s crafted art pieces before. Designs them in that sketchbook then makes them in his free time at the house.”
“I haven’t seen any of those either,” she replied. “Come on, Elijah. Share s
omething with me that isn’t weapons.” She didn’t have an artistic bone in her body. She could appreciate art but wasn’t an artist.
“No,” Elijah groaned. “But if I lose it, grab it. It’s important to me.”
“Why bring it on the trip?” She frowned at his comment.
“Something to do,” he explained. “Plus, if I see something but can’t get a picture, I can sketch it out later. It could be helpful.”
“Like Stevenson’s ring,” she remembered.
“Exactly.” He ended the conversation by saying nothing more, and she stopped asking.
She thought about him for a minute, pouring over his sketchbook behind her. He looked so concentrated, so intense as he sketched whatever he was working on. The flirty goof of a cowboy was so intent on what he was doing.
Like he had been sharpening her daggers for her.
“Thank you,” she whispered out to him. That had meant a lot to her, and she hadn’t told him yet. It was like a weight she didn’t have to carry, knowing her blades were good for a fight. He’d covered her for it, did the work for her.
“For?” He looked up, confused.
“Getting my blades ready for the mission,” she answered. “I haven’t said thank you yet so…thank you.”
“Of course, little lady.” Elijah gave her a smile that she could only describe as a little shy, which struck her as odd. He wasn’t shy, not at all.
At twenty-four hours, they went off the beaten path towards the unnamed village in the rainforest. At the twenty-eight hour mark, Sawyer was driving again. Vincent and Elijah were both asleep when the message came through.
“Village is only twenty minutes ahead.”
Fucking Petrov had goddamned telepathy.
Sawyer reached over and hit Vincent on his thigh. He jumped and frowned. She repeated the message. He was blinking to wake up as he reached back and whacked Elijah hard enough to make her wince.
“Village,” Vincent mumbled. “Coming up.”
“God, I hope this isn’t bad news.”
It was.
Sawyer didn’t notice when they drove in, not immediately. As the convoy rolled into the village, everything was quiet. It was mid-afternoon. People should have been around, coming out to see them, to find out why they were being bothered.
“It’s a ghost town,” Elijah whispered.
Sawyer’s anxiety sky-rocketed. She stopped the SUV and they got out slowly. She pulled a dagger, as soldiers raised their weapons as well. Everyone was on edge. This wasn’t right.
She and Vincent walked together to a shed that some would call a house together.
The smell hit her five feet away.
Vincent gagged.
“Oh god,” she mumbled, covering her mouth.
“They’re all dead,” he whispered. “Everyone who lived here.”
Sawyer didn’t answer, only kept moving forward to the home. She peeked in slowly and closed her eyes to the sight. “Four bodies,” she whispered to him. “In here.”
“We have bodies in this house,” a soldier called out.
“Bodies here too!”
“These look fucking eaten on!” Another soldier.
“Quinn?” Vincent called out.
Sawyer moved away from the hut and back to the SUV. Her stomach rolled. The drive had taken a toll on her. She hadn’t been ready for this. A hand touched her shoulder softly and she looked to see Quinn giving her a sad expression.
“Are you okay?”
“Fine. Just the smell hit me hard.”
“It does that,” he agreed.
She straightened up as she watched him move away. Surrounded by the death, he was different. Something about his walk was confident. Not in his normal defensive and tense way, but looser. He leaned down and grabbed a handful of soil, holding it close to his nose. She watched in confusion as he sniffed it, focusing on it. “She was here,” he whispered.
Everyone went silent.
“Repeat that, Special Agent Quinn?” The colonel looked terrified and angry.
“She did this. Her magic is soaked into the soil. These people stood no chance. They’ve been rotting here since they dropped communication. I would suspect that some of the villagers won’t be accounted for. There’s no need…” Quinn dropped the soil. Sawyer watched him continue to walk and looked down. He wasn’t leaving footprints behind him. He was using his earth manipulation to make them disappear.
She continued to look around, noticing that none of them were leaving footprints. She pushed her foot into the soil and pulled it back up. The soil reclaimed the spot immediately, wiping evidence of her away. She put that out of her mind and put her foot back down. She could ask Quinn about it later.
“Fertilizer for their land. Meat for their animals,” Vincent whispered.
Sawyer’s stomach rolled again. “Why?” she asked quietly.
“I think everyone is wondering that,” Elijah mumbled, walking over. ”Give me a cigarette.”
Sawyer thought that sounded like a splendid idea. They all lit up and followed Quinn to the center of the village.
The colonel approached them quickly.
“What the fuck is this? Why would a Druid do this?” he demanded, and Sawyer only shrugged.
“We can only hope Quinn has some sort of answer,” Vincent told him softly. “He doesn’t give up his secrets without need, so we’re a little blind too.”
“God damn it,” the colonel growled.
“Quinn?” Elijah called out his name. Sawyer could hear the concern in his voice and related.
Quinn turned to them and sighed. “I’m going to bury the bodies,” he told them simply. “Then we’ll talk.”
“All right, buddy,” Elijah called out.
“Do you need help?” a soldier asked, walking to Quinn. “We have the manpower to get it done in a few hours.”
“I don’t need it,” he answered.
The ground beneath them rumbled. Sawyer had felt power like this before, when she’d gone and pissed him off with the books. This didn’t feel unleashed though, or aggressive. This was calm. Someone yelled, and Sawyer looked in the direction of it with Vincent. She watched as a body sank beneath the earth.
He was burying them all without their help.
It ended in a minute. “There,” Quinn whispered.
Sawyer walked to him and touched his shoulder gently. “Are you okay?”
“No. We can’t leave now,” he answered. “Everyone, attention on me!” he yelled out. Everyone was already paying attention to him. “The Druid that did this will do it again. We need to hunt her down and end it. We’re camping here for the night and we’ll leave at dawn. Keep a watch rotation at all times. She will notice we’re in her territory. We need to hope she doesn’t come for us before we go to her.”
Sawyer’s heart dropped.
“The second village?” Colonel Fischer asked, his arms crossed.
“Is probably just like this. It would be a waste of time to go north, find it and then start the hunt for the Druid that did this. Both villages are in this Druid’s territory. That we know. Now, others could live here, but I’m hoping it’s only the one who did this.”
“Why would she do this?” the colonel continued his questioning.
Quinn sighed. Sawyer didn’t like it. It seemed tired and the mission had just gotten off to a brutal start.
“Druids have a tendency to go mad,” he began softly. The team already knew some of this. Sawyer crossed her arms in a protective fashion. She felt uncomfortable. Something about the way he was talking made her uncomfortable. “The area has been totally invaded by humans, who cut down the trees, poach the animals. Sometimes…sometimes Druids get angry about it, sometimes they disconnect with humanity and fight back against invaders. This is the result.”
Sawyer didn’t like that he made it sound unavoidable. As if they always went crazy and killed dozens of people.
“If there is a diplomatic solution, it will have to be one to stop us fro
m driving Druids to this point.” Quinn waved his hands around to point out the village. Sawyer felt it was unneeded. They all caught his meaning. “But right now, the best course of action is to go out and put this Druid down. Probably the second one too.”
“How do we tell one Druid from the next?” another soldier called out. Sawyer thought that was a very good question.
“We won’t, or at least not very well,” Quinn called back, just as loud. “Their magic all feels the same. It’s not unique among them, not like one of us. We all feel distinct to each other. There are some differences in the Druids, but they are very minor. Calmer Druids will have a calmer feeling over all, while wilder Druids will feel wilder. This one? She feels wild.”
“How do you feel it?”
“I’m strong enough to, and I know what to look for,” Quinn answered. “As we grow closer to her home, where she lives constantly, you’ll start to as well. It’ll feel like magic just hanging in the air, and it will grow more concentrated. As you start to feel, we’ll know we’re nearly on top of her home.”
“How do we know when she’s close?” Sawyer asked.
“I’ll let you know,” he told her. “I can’t feel her right now. She’s not close enough to us. If she were to use more of her power, I would. I will. That will be how we track her. Eventually, sometime over this night and tomorrow, she’ll use her magic for something and we’ll move in that direction. I’ll be able to give everyone here a warning if she’s close as well. No worries.”
“Hence why we follow your rare orders,” she muttered. “Okay.”
“You heard him, war dogs,” the colonel called out. “Set up camp!”
“Yes sir!” they all answered.
Sawyer winced at the volume. Too fucking loud for the middle of the goddamned jungle. “We’re sleeping in the vehicles,” she bit out, walking back to the SUV. She looked at the cigarette she was holding. She’d stopped smoking it and it had burned out. She pocketed the butt and lit another. She was taking a long drag when Zander leaned on her side.
“You don’t have to stop. I just needed to be near something normal,” he whispered.
The Redemption Saga Box Set Page 84