That made everyone laugh as Zander sputtered and turned red.
“Save me.” Zander’s voice entered her head. She just shook her own in response. He was on his own.
“I’m not into other guys!” he exclaimed. “Sorry, Elijah, but this redhead only gets on his knees for his lady.”
“All right,” Vincent cut in, smiling. She was glad that no matter how far he went, the team could still pull him back to happiness. “Everyone focus. We need to find something to eat before this meeting continues.”
“And tomorrow, we’re hunting. We should be focused for that too.” Quinn leaned down and scratched the head of Shade as Scout turned in circles, obviously excited for a hunt.
“Yes, and tomorrow we’re hunting,” she agreed. They began to file back into the building, but Sawyer was stopped by a hand on her elbow. She turned to see Jasper and Zander hadn’t moved yet. “You guys need something?”
“Vincent, y’all go on. We’ll catch up,” Zander said, waving the rest of the team inside.
“Okay. Come in soon, though. I don’t want us separated for too long.” Vincent’s eyes fell on her when he said it. The door closed and she looked at her two oldest friends.
“What’s going on?” She leaned against the wall, looking at both of them.
“I wanted to talk to you about something…” Jasper was shifting around, nervous. She waited patiently. “I’m going to leave the team after this is all said and done. I can’t…keep being an agent after everything.”
“And I’m leaving with him,” Zander added softly.
She let that sink in. Leave the team? They couldn’t…do that to her. This was their family. She had thought it was. She was doing everything so they could all stay together.
“Leave?” The word escaped her, falling out of her mouth with a vulnerability she couldn’t contain.
“Not you, just the job!” Jasper corrected. “Not the guys. We just…I can’t do this anymore, Sawyer. These people have blurred the line between everything I was taught about right and wrong, and you haven’t helped. My government. Our government, our bosses, are asking you to be the assassin Axel made you, to kill him. What if they decide not to give you the pardon after this? What if they tell you to go out again? I can’t support them. I can’t be their dog that sits on command and kills too. I joined because I thought I was upholding the law, but…”
She looked away from him and his blasted stormy blue eyes. Zander just filled her vision instead, all flaming red hair and green eyes, with those freckles she could count and remember from their youth.
“And I’m not going to stay without him. The IMPO was never the career we wanted. After this, I think it’s time for me to really find what I should be doing with my life. Like Jasper, I don’t think this is a good place for me because of what they’ve shown me. How they’ve treated me and the team. I can’t do it.”
“And what about the rest of us?” she asked softly.
“We’re not leaving you or them,” Zander said stubbornly. He grabbed her shoulders. “We’ll keep living with you all, and…being with you. I would never let you go. This isn’t like when we were teens. This isn’t like when Jasper and I aged out and had to find work fast so we enlisted. This is just a career change. That’s all.”
“Me neither. Just the IMPO.” Jasper reached out and touched her cheek. “We wanted to tell you before the rest of the team. This seemed like a good time to do it, before we jump deeper into this case and things get dangerous. We’re not going to tell them for a little while, though. We really wanted you to understand first.”
“Okay…” She nodded, accepting that for a moment. “Okay. We’ll come back to this conversation later.” She couldn’t let this happen. She couldn’t let the team fall apart. She had to do something about it, she just didn’t know what.
“Sawyer…” Jasper murmured. He wrapped his arms around her. “I’m happy right here with you and Zander. I’m just not happy with the job anymore. That’s all.”
They were breaking the family. She held onto him with one arm and reached out to grab Zander’s shirt with the other. Sombra pressed against her legs, trying to keep them all together since she sensed Sawyer felt lost. Like she was losing her males forever.
“We’ll come back to this later,” she promised. She couldn’t focus on it yet, but she was going to find a way to keep her team together. She needed them, all of them. “Don’t do anything rash yet.”
“Of course,” Jasper agreed. “Zander?”
“It’s not like we were going to quit tomorrow.” Zander shrugged. “Like we said. We’re going to see this case through, then figure it all out. Just wanted you to know now. Didn’t want to drop it on your head when it was over.”
She hadn’t even begun thinking about after and here they were, planning on leaving when it was done. She shook her head, pulling away. She walked back inside, unable to find anything else to say. She marched back to the meeting room, Sombra, Zander, and Jasper trying to keep up.
She sat down silently at the large table and grabbed the salad she knew someone put there for her. The other teams were gone, off to think and talk about their own deal in this large case. They weren’t being let out of the building, and she knew Thompson was also having them monitored so no leaks happened.
For a moment, she just ate lunch and ignored the world. Looking around, she saw Zander still teasing Elijah and being teased back. Jasper sat quietly reading, shoulder to shoulder with Vincent.
She now had more work than she figured. Leave the team? No, she couldn’t allow that to happen.
She finished her lunch and threw out the trash. Then she went back to the files. She knew these names and faces. While she had been in, they had been seconds to other inner circle members. They were replacements, like their seconds would be their replacements and so on.
She refocused from her man trouble to the case as she stared and memorized every detail she could. She had an idea. Axel knew she was coming. He knew Sawyer Cambrie Matthews was coming for him, but he’d never been scared of her. He wasn’t scared of some Magi girl.
But he was scared of Shadow. That’s why he always wore a shield when he was in the same room with her when things had turned ugly.
14
Sawyer
Sawyer settled into the small room with two beds. They had to do this fast, so they were able to secure a portal to make it to California without losing time. That meant they only had two rooms at the shabby hotel no one would think to look for them in. The hotel hadn’t had space to give them the three minimum the team normally needed.
And since no one wanted all three big animals in one room, she couldn’t room with Elijah and Quinn. She was with Zander and Jasper instead.
She was still cranky with them.
“Going to ignore us this entire case now?” Zander asked, dropping his suitcase next to hers.
“Considering it,” she replied. She had too much to worry about, and now them? Leaving the fucking team? She was stewing and she knew better than to stew. They had shit to do. She couldn’t be wrapped up in this. This was something they needed to deal with after the case.
And yet, she wanted to rail at them. Leave the team, over her dead body. They needed to keep the team together. What would the rest of them do without Zander and Jasper? Zander was their healer. Jasper was one of their most intelligent and reliable.
“Let’s get some sleep,” Jasper said with a sigh.
She glared between the two beds as each guy claimed one. “Why don’t you two share?” she asked.
“How about we don’t?” Zander fired back, pulling a blanket over his head. “Come to bed, Sawyer. We can argue about it tomorrow. Or weeks from now. There’s no reason to be pissed off at this exact moment.”
No reason? She wanted to agree, but her heart wasn’t accepting it. They were at least here for now. That was something, right?
“You’ve left me before and now you want to leave again. I thought this was suppo
sed to be our second chance and now-”
“I’ll repeat this again, then,” Zander snapped, sitting back up. “We’re not leaving you. If we can’t live with you, we’ll buy a house down the street if we have to. We’ll build something right on the edge of the damned property. We’ll always be with you. We’re just looking to change careers.”
“And what about us?” she demanded. “What if we have a case and you two aren’t there and we need you? What if Elijah gets hurt again? Or Quinn, or Vincent, or me?” She had to know what they were going to say to that. She relied on them. She didn’t know what was going to come after Axel, but she had never figured it wouldn’t include some of them. She always figured she would keep them all or lose them all. Not bits and pieces falling away from her, slipping through her fingers like sand. That’s what this felt like. That Jasper and Zander were slipping away and she couldn’t catch them and hold them close. “We need you.”
“We’ll work it out when it’s time, Sawyer.” That was all Jasper had to say.
She shook her head, finding a chair near a small table. She would sleep later, after they woke up. She didn’t want to deal with them.
One of them turned off the lights and she reviewed her files in the dark. So many things to worry about now. They were going after a man named Alfie. Powers were fire manipulation and illusions. Some said he tortured prostitutes he brought in illegally by actually burning them a few times, then making a strong enough illusion to make them think they were burning alive. It was a psychological torture that made Sawyer sick to her stomach.
Between Alfie and the problems behind her in bed, she wasn’t much looking forward to the next few days. Tomorrow, they would raid Alfie’s San Diego home, while the other teams went after someone in London and another down in Brazil. And Alfie wasn’t even the worst. Just one of a group of men and women that thought they could do as they pleased with Axel’s backing and a little magic to help them subjugate and control everyone around them.
“Sawyer,” Jasper called softly. “Come to bed.”
“I’ll need to sleep in tomorrow if I want to be fresh for a raid at night,” she reminded him. “I’ll come lay down in a few hours.” She knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep.
And she never did. The guys woke up in the morning, hurrying to go about their business, and she just waited, staring at files as the sun began to leak in from the window.
“Take a nap today,” Jasper suggested gently when he kissed her forehead after he got out of the shower and Zander went into their bathroom.
“I will,” she promised. “The plan is simple. We know where he lives. I’ve been reviewing his blueprints all night. If-”
“I know the plan, Sawyer. We talked about it all day yesterday. We know. We’re just spending today to make sure everyone has what they need.”
He was right. They had planned these raids in only a few days, and the idea was solid and simple. The guys would approach the front, a standard arrest. They would make it known they were coming in and anyone who didn’t surrender would be considered enemies of the WMC. Sombra would run with Quinn and the wolves, patrolling the property around the compound in case they had to stop any runners.
They were a distraction. Sawyer would already be on the property and she was gunning for Alfie. Her main objective was to bring him down and put handcuffs on him without any casualties and before he could deliver orders. If she took control of him and the compound’s speakers, it would make it clear to anyone else that they should just surrender. They had already lost.
“I’ll get some sleep,” she promised again.
Eventually, with both the men out of the room, she did. Not a lot, but enough.
Sawyer slid into black leather pants and a fitted black turtleneck. Next, thick black socks and her best boots, with steel toes, just in case. She walked to her bathroom mirror while she slid on her gloves. In the mirror, she tamed her hair, making sure it was straightened and in a slick bun, out of her way. It couldn’t be in her way tonight.
Alone in the small hotel room, she took her time to prepare for the raid, continuing to wander around as she worked. It was a ritual. It always had been and always would be. There were some changes, though. While she had slept, Elijah snuck in and took care of her blades. She knew they would be sharp and ready thanks to him.
She slid a belt through her leather pants’ hoops. She attached her daggers’ sheathes and then made sure it was all secure. Next, her shoulder holster, for the sidearm. She never wanted to be the type to carry a gun, but she had relented finally and added it to her ritual. On the same thick leather band going over her chest, she carefully placed her throwing knives. Testing the position, she pulled one out and threw it across the room. It hit the target, landing in the center of a reproduction canvas. The IMPO could replace the cheap art.
She didn’t bring her kukri. It seemed excessive at that point. She opted instead for a third dagger on her thigh and a thin one for a boot sheathe, a place she could pull it out in case something sent her to the ground or to her knees.
Then she opened her bag, staring at the last piece. Picking it up with care, she walked back into the bathroom.
To an average viewer, it looked like a black ceramic mask with eyeholes and small nose holes. They had no idea.
She looked at her own face one last time, took a deep breath and put the mask on. Activating it was simple enough. It recognized that she could sublimate and something in it, an enchantment she didn’t understand, pulled on that. It became nearly fluid as it wrapped over her face, covering and darkening her features to the point where they were indistinguishable. It slid underneath her jaw and down her neck just enough that there was no gap between the turtleneck and the mask. Paired with her dark eyes and hair, the dark outfit, and her general visage, she was exactly what everyone had always called her.
A shadow.
Apt.
She stared for a long time at her own reflection. This was how she had done it all without anyone knowing who she was or what she looked like. There was no way to discern what sort of face lay under the mask, since it was just that deep of an inky black.
With another deep breath, glad she could still use it after so long, she touched it and pushed outwards with her magic, practically forcing it off. She didn’t need to wear it yet; it would scare people. While that was the intention, she didn’t need it yet.
A knock at the door meant her time was up. She had to be ready.
She was.
“Coming,” she called, walking out of the bathroom. She pulled open the room door and Vincent stood silently waiting on her. “I’m ready. Let’s go.”
He didn’t move, his eyes falling to the mask. “Why?” he asked softly. Why was she bringing the mask?
“I want them to know,” she answered honestly. “I need them to know and I need them to be scared of me.”
He didn’t reply, just backing out of her way. She had no idea how he felt about it, but that wasn’t going to change her mind.
They walked out the hotel through the staircase and out the backdoor. She looked over the team, nodding at them in appreciation. All black. IMPO official uniforms. Handcuffs and weapons ready for anything.
“We’re ready, then?” Elijah looked between her and Vincent.
“We’re ready. Sawyer, we’re going to drop you and Quinn a mile from the property. You can make that distance in…” Vincent trailed off. She knew he didn’t forget, but wanted her to clarify again, so they all knew the time limit.
“Seven minutes,” she answered. “Without magic. It won’t even wind me. I’ll be fine.”
“Which means we won’t go in for twenty-seven minutes. Twenty minutes. That’s what we’ll give you to get to him and begin securing him. If you run over a little, we’re going to think you found more trouble than expected and it’s going to get personal.”
“It’s not already personal?” she asked, managing a small smirk.
“I’ll rephrase,” Vincent murmured,
leaning close to her. “If you get hurt or don’t report in on time, the team and I are going to get pissed off and I’m not going to particularly care if Quinn sinks the entire damned compound under the earth.”
“That type of personal,” she whispered back, nodding. “Okay. I’ll make sure to get it done.”
She hadn’t expected him to answer back with ‘I would kill everyone there.’ It was sexy and she was shocked it came from him. Vincent, who was so moody and all over the place recently, would kill everyone in that compound, not caring if they needed information. He would do it, and so would the guys, if she got hurt.
Talk about crossing lines. Here she was, worried about what the case would lead her to do to succeed.
“Let’s get moving,” he ordered, finally breaking eye contact with her.
This was the first mission where they were letting her off the proverbial leash and sending her out to do what she did best. Infiltrate and eliminate on a solo mission. She hoped it didn’t come to what Vincent was talking about. She was rusty, but she wasn’t that rusty.
They loaded into the two dark SUVs. The local IMPO agents were on standby, but they didn’t know why. They wouldn’t until Vincent made the call for the team to go into the compound. Which meant only the team knew she was going to be going into that compound before anyone else.
It was the safest way, but as they drove, she could feel how uncomfortable the team was. She rode with Vincent and Jasper and neither spoke until they hit the drop off spot.
“Be safe,” Jasper told her. “Please.”
“I can do this,” she promised, leaning to kiss him in the front seat. It was sweet, a reminder of the wonderful things he gave her. Normal and loving. A piece of a real life, like the ones everyone else had. She turned to Vincent next in the driver’s seat. He kissed her next and she wanted to melt from it. She hadn’t touched him in so long and the kiss held all the secret emotion Vincent never showed anyone but her. And even then, sometimes she couldn’t see it either. “Quinn is watching my back out here.”
The Redemption Saga Box Set Page 146