Sawyer knew she was camp gossip. It was unavoidable. Once it got out, there was no stopping it. She didn’t blame Elijah for saying anything, since someone was going to slip eventually - like the colonel, who definitely had known before the mission began.
“Want me to say something?” Jasper asked her quietly.
“No,” she groaned. She dropped his prosthetic in his lap. “I’m going to use the bathroom, then lie down, though.”
“Be safe,” Vincent called after her when she stood up, grabbed their roll of toilet paper, and walked off.
She passed Quinn on the way out. “I’ll keep watch,” he said, turning to follow her.
“I don’t really need that, but fine,” she replied.
After her business was taken care of, Quinn grabbed her arm. “Come on a quick patrol with me. It’ll be slow. Stretch your legs a little without overworking them.”
“Quinn,” she groaned. “I just really want to get some sleep.”
“Please?” he asked, refusing to let go of her.
“Sure,” she whispered. He let go of her arm and she fell in beside him, the dark beginning to claim the jungle. “Can you see?”
“Well enough,” he responded.
She watched him as they walked and again noted that he was quieter than normal, but oddly at ease. Something seemed free about him, and that struck her as strange. “What’s going on with you?” she asked softly.
“What do you mean?” He frowned at her, and she shrugged.
“Even back at the village, you seemed…strangely comfortable. You’ve been different.” She didn’t know how to explain it.
“I like it here,” he admitted quietly. “I like the space. I like knowing that if I wanted to disappear out here, I can. It’s different from home and there’s a lot of danger here, but…”
“I’m listening,” she told him, looping her arm around his.
“I can use my magic out here and no one would question it. No one would call me a freak or feral. It’s not like the overcrowded cities, or even the tiny plot of land I have at our home. This is free. I wish the circumstances were different, because I’ve enjoyed being here. I just haven’t enjoyed knowing we’re living under the shadow of finding and killing a Druid.”
“We can come back one day,” she promised him. “You can teach me how to enjoy this. Something fun to do in the rainforest.”
“I can think of a few things,” he whispered down into her ear. Sawyer could hear the innuendo. There was something raw and passionate about the way he said it that sent shivers down her spine.
“Are you flirting with me?” she asked him incredulously, trying to keep her voice down in case they had eavesdroppers. She was shocked.
“Do you mind?” He held her arm looped in his.
“Um. No? It’s just a very Elijah way to flirt with someone,” she explained, shaking her head at the weird situation.
Quinn flirting with her? What?
“I’ve never flirted and decided to try. I see him flirt all the time.” He growled after that, shaking his own head. He tried to pull away from her and she kept her arm firmly wrapped around his. “I won’t do it again. I just…”
“Quinn. Be yourself. People like that.” She put her free hand on his chest, patting it a couple of times.
“People don’t like me being myself. It’s too different from them. I wanted to try to be more like everyone else.”
“Being different makes you interesting. It makes you something new. If they aren’t up for the differences, they aren’t worthy of you.” She shrugged. She liked him for who he was. Once she’d gotten used to it, she adored it, really. “People should be willing to put the work in to making something work if it means something to them. Not everything comes easy. Friendships, relationships, life. If they won’t put the work in, then you should cut them loose. Like Zander and me? We both feel for each other and it’s a pain, but we both want it, so we’ll keep trying. We’ll keep fighting with each other and for each other.”
“Yes. You’re right.”
She didn’t realize he’d stopped walking and jerked to a hard stop, still hooked to him by their arms. He pulled her back slowly and she raised her eyebrows when their chests met. Her pulse sky-rocketed under his ice-blue gaze. They stood out in the dark against his earth-toned skin.
Why did her wild friend have to be gorgeous and far out of her reach?
He flirted with her just to try something new. Her heart twisted. He was probably trying to learn for himself, which was good, but she selfishly wanted him to flirt with her because it was her.
It felt like a childish want.
“I know you don’t like it out here, but really, thank you for being here.”
“You keep saying thank you. Stop. Being here for you is what friends do,” she reminded him. She tried to pull away, but he just wrapped his arms around her in a hug. She hugged him back and reveled in it. It lasted much longer than the awkward one-armed hug in New York.
“Let’s get back to camp,” he ordered, pulling away. “I don’t like us being out here alone for too much longer.”
She followed him back, seeing how they were on the other side of camp at this point. They had to walk through the soldiers to get back to the team.
“Tarzan and the criminal,” one soldier teased as they walked by.
“Hey. They say you can fight, Shadow. Want to prove it?” another yelled out.
Quinn snarled and began to turn to the camo-wearing soldier. Sawyer grabbed his arm and stopped his movement. He looked back at her and she just shook her head.
“Leave them. Not worth our time,” she whispered.
“Scared? Don’t want to fight anyone face to face?” the soldier taunted. “Or do you only stab people in the back? You one of those types of cowards, or is everyone in the IMPO a bunch of pussies?”
That got to her. She released Quinn and pulled a dagger from its sheath. She blinked into the face of the soldier, her dagger poised and poking his neck. She grabbed his shirt to keep him from backing away from her. A few of the people around scrambled away, shocked by her sudden move.
It had all happened in the blink of an eye.
“I’ll recommend you don’t call people cowards or pussies when they could very well and easily kill you,” she murmured to him. “I’m out of patience with this mission. I’m running on fumes. My legs hurt and I’m cranky. I won’t be taunted and teased, and I damn sure won’t allow you to insult my team. Keep your thoughts to yourself.” She glanced at his name badge and his rank patch. “Lance Corporal Todd.”
“Let him go,” a strong male voice came out. She turned slowly to see one of the master sergeants, Master Sergeant Coore. The highest rank of the enlisted soldiers, she knew this one would be able to make her life hard.
“Certainly.” She let the lance corporal go and he collapsed. He’d been on the verge of fainting the entire time. “Just thought he deserved a lesson in competently judging a possible opponent. Maybe next time he’ll know not to taunt the wrong person. Others might not be as forgiving as I am.”
She stepped around the master sergeant and back to Quinn, who was giving her a small smile. It was impressed and maybe even a little turned on. That got her pulse going again. Had he liked that display of temper from her? That’s what it was. She had lost her temper for a moment.
“Let’s get back to the team,” she said, walking past him.
She went straight into her tent, ignoring the team. Exhaustion weighed on her, but it did nothing to stop the thoughts of that smile Quinn had worn. She had enough men in her life. He had expressed absolutely no real interest in her. He was the safe one. She was imagining things.
Zander and Jasper both laid down and passed out long before she was able to.
Somehow, she’d ended up between them and they had pinned her in. She hadn’t gone to sleep between them, that was certain, but she didn’t honestly care too much. She was madder that she couldn’t get up and leave because of the n
ew positioning.
“Jasper,” she whispered harshly. “Let me fucking up.”
“Hm?” He blinked several times and also realized what happened. “Zander moved.”
“Yes. I can tell. I don’t want to wake up his cranky ass, though. Move, so I can get up.”
“Sorry,” he groaned, rolling away from her.
The sun wasn’t completely up yet, but there was enough light for her to get out and do her thing. Alone in the jungle, she felt something brush her mind. It was similar to how Vincent or Zander felt when they used their telepathy, but nothing was said. It also felt very personal. She didn’t understand, but something about it made her anxious and worried. It pricked at a memory that Sawyer didn’t understand. She couldn’t put her finger on it.
Back in camp, she saw Jasper searching through all their things. She shook off the weird sensation and decided to figure out what he was doing.
“Do you know where I put my damn leg?” he asked immediately. “I thought I put it in the tent bag but it’s not there. Like, the entire bag is gone.”
Sawyer groaned. She went to the second tent and pulled open their flap. “Guys, Jasper’s fucking leg. You bring it in here?”
“No,” Elijah grumbled. “Tent bag, outside the door to your tent.”
“Not there. Bag is gone,” she told him. She had never seen Elijah move so fast.
“It’s not there? What, did a fucking monkey steal it?”
“What?” Vincent yawned as Elijah nearly barreled over her to get out of the tent.
“Jasper’s leg is missing. Where’s Quinn?”
“He always leaves before dawn with the wolves to check the camp perimeter,” Vincent explained, moving out of the tent as well. He gave Sawyer a chance to move out of the way. “Jasper’s leg is missing?”
“Yeah.”
“Why wasn’t it kept in the tent?” Vincent asked, frustrated.
“I don’t know,” Sawyer answered honestly. She realized the idiocy of it. She couldn’t miss it. It had been right outside the tent, so she wanted to know more about how someone, or something, silently moved it.
“I hope it was just misplaced,” Vincent snapped. “Great way to start day four in the goddamned jungle.”
Sawyer just let him get mad. He had reason to be. Now they would either be slowed down by a severely handicapped Jasper or slowed down looking for the leg.
He went silent and sighed after a moment.
“Quinn should be on his way back to help find it,” Vincent told her and walked over to Jasper and Elijah. Sawyer followed slowly. They were going through everything in their portion of the camp. Some soldiers nearby watched as they broke down their own tents, ready to get moving.
Shade and Scout were there first and began sniffing around. Sawyer watched as Scout’s head shot up and he looked at her. She sighed. The wolf wanted her to follow.
Both wolves began to walk back out of their area of the camp, following a scent. “Let’s follow,” Sawyer declared. “Except you.” She pointed at Jasper, who glared at her.
“Yes. I’ve realized,” he retorted.
“It was stolen by a soldier, I guarantee it,” Zander harshly snapped. “They love stupid fucking games like this.”
“Jasper said they like hazing?” Sawyer asked him as they followed the wolves through the camp.
“Yeah. I’m going to beat the fucking ass of whoever did this.” His temper was lit, and she grabbed his arm.
“We can’t have fights,” she reminded him. “We can push and argue, but we can’t get into brawls. We have more important shit to worry about in this jungle.”
“Says the woman who held one of them at knifepoint last night,” Vincent noted. She turned a glare on him. “You were just trying to scare him a little, yes, I know. Quinn explained.”
“Good,” she bit out.
They were all cranky and this just made it worse.
“Let’s just find the fucking leg,” Elijah snapped. He stomped past them. Only Quinn wasn’t in a completely bad mood, but she wasn’t going to test it.
She spotted the leg first. The wolves were leading them through a particularly crowded area of the camp, and she caught a reflective glint that made her interested. It was propped up on a tree next to one of the soldier’s tents. Sawyer walked directly for it, not bothering to call everyone over yet. She would grab it and go. No harm, no foul.
“What? He didn’t want to come get it himself?” a soldier asked, grinning. A few laughed, finding the entire thing much too funny for her taste. She turned to glare at them as she lifted the prosthetic.
“Do it again and I’ll just stab you,” she warned softly. “This shit isn’t acceptable. Not on a mission, not in the fucking real world.”
“It’s a joke. We were going to give it back to him, help him put it on,” the first one explained. Sawyer didn’t like his grin.
“Yeah, after he hobbled over here,” another said, snickering.
She turned to leave. She would point them out to one of the higher-ranking soldiers before they broke camp.
“Guys!” she called out. Quinn looked over to her. The wolves were milling around. Sawyer guessed they must have lost the trail in the large area with so many other people going through it. “Got it!”
“Thank fuck,” Elijah growled. He stomped over to her and snatched it away. “I hope they didn’t sabotage it. They could get him killed.”
Sawyer watched him walk away back to their area.
“I’ll talk to the colonel. He’ll pass a message along for them to not take our things. Can you point out who did it?” Vincent stopped at her side.
“Yeah,” she answered. “Let’s do that now.”
“Okay. Zander, Quinn, you guys help Elijah break down the tents.”
“Sure,” Zander snarled. Quinn just nodded and followed Zander away, with Shade and Scout on their heels.
“It was just a few young guys. They had wanted to get a laugh out of Jasper hobbling around to look for it.” Sawyer was pissed but she knew she couldn’t go pick a fight. She wanted to. She really did, but it wouldn’t do them any good.
“Come on,” Vincent sighed. She walked with him to the largest tent where the colonel was having a talk over a map with his captain and the master sergeants. Vincent came to these talks, but Sawyer didn’t. It was considered too sensitive for her to know. “Colonel, we need to have a talk.”
“What about?” the colonel asked, straightening up. His eyes narrowed at her, and Sawyer grinned.
“Some of your soldiers, enlisted boys, decided they wanted to have a bit of fun. They stole something that belonged to one of my team. I want them reprimanded.”
“What did they steal?” the Captain asked, frowning.
“Special Agent William’s prosthetic,” Vincent answered. “Sawyer can point them out. She found it with them.”
“How did you find it?” Master Sergeant Coore, the one from the night before, asked cautiously.
“It was just sitting out against a tree. They weren’t trying to hide it,” Sawyer scoffed. “They wanted a laugh. They better hope they didn’t fucking break it or ruin the enchantments. Shit will get ugly then.”
“Roger that,” the master sergeant answered. “I’ll go with you. You point them out and I’ll handle it. Colonel?”
“Go. Spread the word that we won’t tolerate this.”
“Yes sir.” The master sergeant popped a salute and let Sawyer lead him and Vincent to the group that had stolen the prosthetic.
“That bunch.” She pointed. ‘That bunch’ saw her and some even glared. Sawyer grinned at them too. Idiots thought that she was going to let it slide? Stupid.
“I’ll take it from here,” he told her and Vincent. “Thank you for bringing this to us.”
“No problem,” Vincent replied.
They went back to their own camp, everyone able to hear the Master Sergeant lay into the group of soldiers who thought they were funny. The team took its time getting ready,
annoyed and wanting to be assholes to the soldiers who were all waiting on them.
“Let’s hope this shit doesn’t keep up with them,” Sawyer said as she pulled her main bag over her shoulder. She was armed and ready for any fight the jungle could throw at her.
“I think we pissed them all off,” Zander whispered in a mischievous tone. “Making them wait an hour on us.”
“Fuck em,” Elijah growled.
“Amen,” Jasper huffed.
“I never asked the guys how they did it.” Sawyer realized that with a bit of regret. She wasn’t going to ask them now since they had gotten reprimanded because of her.
“Does it matter?” Vincent asked, ready to get moving.
“Maybe?” She shrugged and forgot about it by the time the group began to move even deeper into the sweltering jungle.
18
Sawyer
For two more days, they hiked. Through the underbrush of the rainforest, through a stream that was deceptively deep, through a hot, humid hell that was driving Sawyer insane.
One thing was certain to her though. They were getting closer.
“Do you feel that?” Zander asked her towards the end of their fifth day. She knew what he was talking about.
“Yes.”
The magic in the air clung to them and everything around them. It vibrated like Quinn’s magic, unrestrained, a little feral, but it was everywhere. It had gotten stronger, much stronger, throughout the day. It had started like an itch to Sawyer in the morning. As the day progressed, it began to weigh in on them, suffocating their own magic. Even the weakest of the soldiers around them were noticing the power in the world around them.
“Quinn,” Jasper called out. “Have any idea how close we are?”
“I would guess another couple of days,” Quinn answered, stopping to look back at them. Sawyer admired the courage from him. He’d been leading them for days, always in the front, directing their progress. It meant if they stumbled on the enemy, he would be the first in the fight. “We’re coming towards the center of her territory. She might not be there, but the magic in the area is too rich for me to feel her specifically.
The Redemption Saga Box Set Page 86