Vincent mentally began to curse; he was within only a few feet of Axel. The flames had been no obstacle. Now he just needed to make it the remaining distance. He reformed right behind his brother, reaching for his spare cuffs. They had all carried multiple pairs for this night, just in case.
Axel spun, eyes wide. Sawyer wrapped her arms around his, holding him there, in place.
“You sneaky piece of shit,” Axel growled. “And what now? Are you going to stab me while this fucking whore holds me for you?” He tried struggling, but Vincent knew his magic was depleted, or close to it. He formed a shield and Sawyer broke it by slamming him into another tree with a quick blink, then blinked back with a dazed and panting Axel.
Vincent said nothing as he reached for one of his brother’s wrists and snapped the handcuff on.
His brother sneered. “Really? I’ll get out again - you know that, right? I was nice this time and let you all play. Next time, I’ll just have you killed as quickly as I can.”
“No,” Vincent answered. He resisted the need to take one of her daggers and sink it deep in Axel’s chest. He wouldn’t do that. Not tonight. Better men. They were better men than Axel and would always work for that. Killing him now would weigh on them for the rest of their lives.
He deserved some honor, because the team was willing to give it to him.
Vincent pulled away and Sawyer tossed Axel to the ground. They sat in the ring of fire, hoping it would die soon. It was fueled mostly by magic, but already a few of the olive trees were catching.
Sawyer’s eyes were unfocused when he looked at her.
“The team,” Sawyer said, panting. “The guys are on their way. Sombra is leading them, though she’s taking her time.”
“That’s good,” he murmured, reaching out to her. They leaned together, their foreheads touching. Once the team was here, they were going to end this together. He ignored Axel. He wasn’t going anywhere. Not this time.
36
Sawyer
The fire was gone first, engulfed by the earth, along with the half a dozen trees it had jumped to. Next, she saw them. Sombra led her men to her and Vincent. Her family.
“Isn’t it funny how the past keeps coming back?” she asked Axel as she knelt and began to scratch her beautiful cat under her jaw. “Unescapable, really. You bury the hatchet and leave the handle sticking out. A Southern American saying.”
“Shut up,” he demanded.
“No,” she whispered.
“So, this is it.” Jasper looked at her sadly. “It’s time.”
“It is,” she murmured, leaning into her jaguar. It was time. For Midnight. For Henry. For James. For everyone she never knew or met that had been destroyed by Axel. For families wrecked and left to bleed out from their losses. For the loss of innocence and goodness in the world.
It was time.
“Turn me over. Let’s get this over with.” Axel scoffed. She knew it was an act. One look at him and she saw fear in his eyes. He was playing this off like he’d been arrested again, but everyone knew better. He knew tonight he was going to die and there was nothing else.
“Antonio, tonight you have a choice,” Vincent said as Zander hauled Axel to his feet and moved him to a clearer area.
She stood up slowly and saw Elijah carrying poor, sleeping Scout. Jasper and Quinn didn’t move far from the cowboy either, as if they were each ready to help carry the load. Shade stayed pressed against Quinn’s leg, as if it was the only way to make sure his brother was okay. Kaar swooped down and landed on Vincent’s shoulder, a scene she’d seen now a hundred times. It was practiced and easy, in a quietly impressive way. She had wondered how Vincent got used to it, since the raven wasn’t small.
They watched Zander push Axel back to his knees.
“And what is that choice?” Axel finally asked. She walked closer and stayed on her feet, even though she suddenly felt tired. Elijah gingerly laid Scout next to her, walking closer. It left her with Quinn and Jasper, both hovering over the wolf. Sawyer pushed a suggestion through the bond for Sombra to go comfort them, but the jaguar denied it. She would stay with her Magi now. Images of a little black house cat.
This was personal for her too, in a very strange, far off way.
“Elijah will hold a sword. You will have your own. You have two options. Fall on yours or fall to Elijah’s.”
“That’s honorable of you,” Axel bit out. “Really? Not even the WMC made me that offer. They just wanted to behead me. Not that I blame them.”
“We’re better people than the WMC,” Elijah answered, pulling the longsword from the sheath on his back and over his shoulder. It sang a beautiful haunting note of steel and death.
“Are you?” Axel snidely retorted. “Yet you’ll still kill a man on his knees.”
“I’m sorry,” Elijah answered calmly. “But I won’t let you hurt anyone else by forcing them to fight you and kill you in cold blood. There’s no need for assassins. There’s no reason for brothers to kill brothers.”
Sawyer swallowed a lump of emotion in her throat, holding back tears at those words. Vincent looked at her across the clearing. He mouthed one word.
Anything.
They would all do anything for each other. If that meant Elijah would bear the sword that would cut off Axel’s head, then so be it. No one would ever hold it against him.
In the end, it was Axel’s decision after all. It was all Axel’s.
Vincent pulled his short sword and tossed it on the earth in front of Axel. Now, only Elijah was within range to be attacked.
Sawyer knew the cowboy would win. Axel wasn’t good with a blade. He’d always found them beneath him.
“I’ll give you to the count of twenty,” Elijah told him as he picked up the sword and put it into position. He angled it before Axel so that all he had to do was fall forward, letting it slide into his heart. It was sharp enough that it would go easily.
“Now?” Axel asked softly. She heard the moment of defeat. She knew in that moment that even he knew it was absolutely over. If he tried to run, he would die. If he tried to fight, he would die.
There was no reason for a blaze of glory. The last stand of Axel Castello was already over.
She heard Felix, further away, calling out for them to stop. He would pay them anything to not kill Axel Castello. He loved the man. She nodded to Jasper. He walked away to get Felix and drag him closer. He could have a better view of everything at the end and know there was nothing he could do about it.
“Tell me where Henry is?” Vincent asked softly. “If you want to go out on one good note, tell me where he is.”
Axel looked up but said nothing. Sawyer nodded at Elijah this time.
“Twenty.”
Axel was breathing deeply. Felix was sobbing.
“Nineteen.”
She counted the seconds mentally now, ignoring Elijah’s words. She could keep a twenty second count.
Axel wasn’t moving. He was staring at Vincent, considering the question.
“We were never good to each other, not after Mom died,” Vincent said in Italian. “I never got to know him. I want to at least say good bye. If you do this, I’ll bury you next to him, if that’s something you want.”
Sixteen.
Sawyer’s throat threatened to close at the touching offer Vincent just made to a monster. One last plea for humanity.
Fourteen.
The silence was deafening. He said nothing, only turned his gaze on her.
Ten.
Vincent didn’t try to ask again. The clarity of Axel’s eyes in those last seconds was terrifying. She was locked in olive green, wondering if he had finally found something while facing down his own death. Some important piece of the puzzle he was always missing.
Five.
“He’s buried in the Castello Mausoleum without a name.”
Sawyer’s heart stopped.
He didn’t say it to Vincent.
He said it to her.
Three.
/> She would never know the answer to her question, her private wonder about what was going on in his mind.
Axel closed his eyes.
He fell forward.
She couldn’t believe her own.
One.
He was already dead when Elijah’s sword came down and made sure nothing could ever bring him back.
She fell to her knees, staring at the head that rolled away. That was it.
They stood in the grove of olive trees on the cold winter night without saying a word. Felix was loud and awful, whimpering and crying out for his master. He could put Axel back together, if they just let him go. He would give them anything.
None of the team moved. Sawyer stopped looking at Axel’s body after a while. Someone sat down next to her.
“We should take his body back to the other teams,” Zander whispered calmly.
“Not yet,” she murmured. “We should burn his body before leaving, too.”
“Why?” Jasper asked that time. Quinn fell to the earth next to her. She reached out and gently petted Scout.
“I want to watch the sunrise,” she answered.
Vincent and Elijah joined last, finishing setting up the funeral pyre. Her cowboy went to her back while Vincent lay in front of her. They all faced east.
It was hours later when others found them, took Felix away and left them alone with Axel’s burning body again.
And slowly, steadily, they watched the sun rise again.
“Tomorrow,” she whispered for them. “It’s finally tomorrow.”
It wasn’t over yet. Sawyer straightened her outfit. The team around her all still smelled like smoke and fighting, but none of them were letting this get pushed off. They had done it, and it was time for the WMC to follow through with their promise. The only two missing? Scout was with a Magi vet, making sure there was nothing that would cause him permanent problems except the leg, and Kaar, who refused to come into the building.
She thought she would feel elated, but she didn’t. She wasn’t sad either. There was a contented feeling in her chest. A feeling of readiness that had settled it. It was over. There was just one more thing to do.
They had driven to Rome before leaving Italy. Sawyer had written Henry’s name on his place and Quinn used his magic to make sure it was cut into the marble. Forever, Henry’s place would be there.
And forever, her place would be with the men who helped her find him and put him to rest. Who helped her get to this day, this moment.
They walked into the Council Chamber again. Only a few rough weeks since the last time they entered. This time, there was no heavy feeling in the room. If they tried to betray her, she would go public with everything that had happened and walk away from their employment anyway.
No, they owed her this.
“Miss Matthews, it’s an honor to see you on this day,” Councilwoman D’Angelo greeted her. “And I understand that…it’s time.”
“It is,” she agreed. They had Thompson pass along that message. He said none of the WMC disagreed.
“And his body?”
“Cremated and the ashes left in the Castello Mausoleum next to his son’s tomb.” It was Vincent who answered, since it was his idea. It was the best they could do. Elijah had burned him hot and they had refused to leave until they had something to take to Rome. It had made them very late getting to New York, but she didn’t care.
“Of course.” Dina nodded quickly, then looked around to the other Council members. They were still down those who had been killed, but elections were going to begin for emergency fills any day now. They had been working on that while the team went after Axel. “We’re all in agreement. Sawyer Cambrie Matthews, this is the official record of your crimes.” Dina motioned to a table set in the center of the room. “Next to it is the official declaration of your pardon. You will keep the original. All you need to do is sign it, and an enchanted copy will be stored here for as long as the WMC reigns.”
She didn’t wait. She walked evenly across the room, grabbed the pen they had waiting and signed her name to the document. Next to it wasn’t just the record of her crimes, but also the deal she had made with the IMPO. It lit up in flames and disintegrated, leaving her with only her pardon. The deal fulfilled at last.
Looking back for a moment, her mind wandering, it hadn’t really been that long. Caught in July, the deal was made in August. Or did she go all the way back to the original? That if she helped defeat Axel she would be free…
It didn’t matter. With this piece of paper, she was redeemed. Oddly, it struck her that maybe she never really needed it, except to those who didn’t matter. The ones she always wanted with her loved her with or without it.
She lifted the piece of paper and held it out. Waiting patiently, she watched Vincent walk forward and take it. He was the guy who kept all this stuff for everyone. She trusted him with it far more than carrying it around for herself.
Thompson began to clap and so did everyone else in the room, including her men, the only ones she had eyes for. Everyone else could fade away, but their pride and happiness mattered most. She wished they’d had time to get Charlie and Liam before the small event. It wasn’t even public. Quietly, later in the day, the WMC would release a press statement that Sawyer ‘Shadow’ Matthews was pardoned and left to her own life. What she would do was her decision.
She already knew. Only the team knew their plans.
“Special Agent Matthews,” Dina murmured kindly. “It’s been a pleasure to know you. I hope we continue to have a working relationship.”
“Actually, we won’t,” Sawyer answered, smiling politely. She reached into her back pocket to get the wallet she had grown accustomed to carrying around. Inside was her official IMPO ID and the badge. She held it out. “I’m not interested in the IMPO. I’m not sorry about it, either. You all can find someone else. There’s a ton of great agents, once you weed out the corruption.”
People gasped. Thompson began to sputter as Dina took her badge slowly. Sawyer looked back at the guys, grinning like a fool.
Together they pulled their own badges out, and dropped them in front of Thompson, who looked like he would have a heart attack.
“We quit,” Zander told him, smiling as well. “It’s been fun. Not really. We’re retired as of today. We expect to see our pensions for years of good service in the coming months.”
“Of-of course,” Thompson agreed quickly, looking between them.
Sawyer didn’t say anything else. She reached down and felt the thick black fur of her jaguar. Together, they walked out of the Council Chamber, her team surrounding her.
They were going to go find tomorrows together. Tomorrows without the strain of the IMPO. Tomorrows without the possibility of Axel.
Just tomorrows.
37
Sawyer
Fifteen Years Later
“I think our time is up, Sawyer.”
Sawyer groaned. “Why? This is the best hour of my week. You know that.”
Her doctor chuckled. “Yes, well, we’ve discussed several times how you shot yourself in the foot by ending up in a long-term relationship with five men. What were you thinking?”
“For a man, you are always surprisingly perceptive about your own sex.” She eyed him.
“For a woman who’s been with five men for over fifteen years, I figured you would have figured us out by now.”
She started to laugh. Fifteen years. “Oh fuck, they lost their minds when I turned forty, Doc.”
“I know. I remember you stomping in, mad and needing to rant. Still that scared of being forty?”
“No, I’ve gotten used to it. The body slowing down and such. It was bound to come eventually, after everything I’ve put it through.” She didn’t try to move. She knew Doctor Larson had no one after her. He never did. He always left extra time in case she wanted to wait around and refused to leave.
“You didn’t have much to talk to me about today,” he noted. “Are you sure there’s
nothing? I can spare a moment to hear it.”
“No, not this week. Be proud of me. I haven’t had a nightmare in a year. I bet one will pop up eventually, but it’s my new high score.”
“And how’s the rest of it?”
“Well, to be honest, I’m wasting my time with you because I don’t want to get home during homework time. Plus Zander needs a ride home from work. You know, the holidays are over and everyone is getting back to their regularly scheduled busy lives.”
“It happens to everyone,” he reminded her.
Sighing, she nodded. Yeah. It was a normal thing, a normal life.
She loved it.
“I’ll leave you then, if my company is so awful.” She said it playfully, teasing the older gentleman.
“If I thought your company was bad, I would have denied you as a patient fifteen years ago,” he retorted, closing his notebook. Solid point. “Tell them all hello from me.”
“Always,” she promised, grabbing her bag.
She strolled out of his office, and then out of the building. She was in her car in record time, knowing she was behind schedule. She was done with Doctor Larson thirty minutes before, and that had been the third time he’d tried to get her out the door. Zander was probably freezing outside the gym now, wondering if she forgot about him.
She could never forget, though. She had tried once or twice. Somewhat sadly, Zander Wade was a permanently attached tumor on her heart that she couldn’t get rid of. Not like she had ever tried very hard, but she had made a token effort.
She didn’t find Zander outside the gym, tucked in the center of the Bronx. She frowned, parking as she considered where he could possibly be. No one had told her through a text that they had picked him up.
She saw what was going on when she walked into the gym. He was chatting with some youths, all in their early twenties, probably fresh out of Academy. IMPO agents.
She didn’t say anything as she leaned on the door of the training room. One of them tried to start a play fight with Zander, causing him to react. She grinned as Zander, while very good, was outdone, landing on his back in a painful slam.
The Redemption Saga Box Set Page 165