“And I even screwed up trying to do something good for Vincent,” she said weakly, thinking about it. “I tried to give him a piece of his nephew and ended up screwing him. I nearly fucking killed him, Elijah. I tried to. I don’t… I don’t deserve him. Or Jasper, who’s too good for this world. Or Zander, who’s never let anything hold him back, always ready to charge into the thick of it, regardless of the consequences. I don’t deserve the steadfast friendship you’ve given me.”
“And Quinn?” he asked softly.
“Quinn. I think he’s the one of you I’m perfectly fine with.” Sawyer chuckled softly.
“You’re perfectly fine with me,” Elijah reminded her, getting back in her space. She watched something like indecision pass over his face. “As for the guys? Sawyer, things take time, but you deserve them. You deserve all of it. You never needed to do anything to prove yourself to us. We already know how much good is in you. The bad things you’ve done for all the right reasons? We know. There’s nothing to be ashamed of, nothing to work back from. You aren’t in a deficit of some sort to us. There are only two things holding your past against you. The WMC and you. Those are the eyes you need redemption in, not ours. Not the team’s.”
She didn’t say anything, swallowing another lump in her throat. She felt a hand touch her cheek. Elijah kissed her forehead gently.
She wasn’t in a deficit with them. She took Elijah’s words and held them close to her heart. They didn’t hold it against her. Why could she trust those words from Elijah more than anyone else? Was it his easy-going Southern nature? She didn’t know, but from him, those words meant so much.
“No one holds my past against me. We don’t hold Vincent’s past against him. We judge on the here and now. Sawyer, you’re doing fine,” Elijah mumbled gently to her. “I’m sorry if we’ve ever given the impression that that’s not the case. Let me know if I do it again, or anyone else. I’ll knock fucking heads around.”
“You could just give me permission to knock heads around,” Sawyer chuckled, feeling lighter.
“Knock them around, then.” Elijah laughed, hugging her.
“Sweet,” Sawyer said childishly, pumping a fist.
“So, what’s your plan for this?” Elijah asked, letting her walk away. Sawyer turned and smiled at him.
“Make sure he knows it can never happen again,” Sawyer told him with that dangerous grin. “Remind him there are scarier monsters out there than he tried to be to his children.”
“Well, that much I figured,” Elijah said slowly with a nod. “I meant, what is your actual plan?”
Sawyer thought about that.
“He gets here, I kick the shit out of him, you arrest him, then we wait for the guys to get back.” Sawyer shrugged. It wasn’t that complicated.
21
Quinn
Quinn sat uncomfortably in the back seat behind Vincent. Scout was half on his lap and licking the young girl on the other side. The older girl sat in the front next to Vincent.
That… sheriff had hurt these girls. Had hurt the boy. The idea of it angered Quinn. Young were to be protected, cherished, and raised to survive and thrive once they were no longer capable of staying with their parents.
Stevenson had betrayed that natural order by doing this and that infuriated Quinn.
“Mister?” The younger girl called out softly, as if she were afraid to raise her voice. Quinn looked over to her and frowned. She was holding a large children’s book. Quinn only knew it was a children’s book because he had to read a few when he first met the team. He despised them.
“Yes?” Quinn met the wide brown eyes of the girl and saw something shine in them.
“I’m sad,” Samantha whispered. She held the book out to him and he groaned. He wasn’t sure what she wanted.
“Samantha wants you to read her book,” Cara told him from the front, looking back over her shoulder. “She likes her book read to her when she’s sad. She can read it on her own, but she likes someone to read to her.”
“Why is she sad?” Quinn grumbled, trying not to bare his teeth at the youth.
“Ask her,” Cara said with confusion. “I can’t read her mind.” Cara tried to turn further. “Sammy, why don’t you read to yourself, quietly?”
“I don’t want to,” Samantha pouted.
Quinn looked back to Samantha, who continued to hold the book out. He saw tears shining in those eyes and sighed as he took the book.
“Maybe we can stop, and you can switch spots with Cara,” Vincent offered, sounding concerned.
“No, I can do it,” Quinn mumbled, looking at the cover of the book. He thought about it. He was reading much more difficult text now. This would be easy. Everyone made him read out loud to practice.
Easy.
“There once was a girl named Jill,” Quinn began and heard a giggle. He looked over to Sammy and narrowed his eyes on her. She was smiling at him now and nodding. Cara watched him, her brows brought together.
He read to Sammy quietly as Vincent drove them closer and closer to Dallas. At one point, he sank down a little and Scout curled into a ball. He took a quick glance at the girl and noticed she was buried in Scout’s fur and fast asleep.
He just kept reading, wondering if real parents did this for their children. And siblings. Quinn didn’t know his father, but his mother… she’d never done this for him. He remembered her ice blue eyes like his own, the white blonde hair. The pale skin, but without the freckles that Zander had. She had been a bit like Jasper in looks, he realized as he remembered her.
“If she’s asleep, you can stop,” Cara told him, trying to keep her voice low. Quinn closed the book slowly but kept it with him. He held on to it, as if it were a treasure. He thought about that a moment longer. Maybe to Sammy, it was a treasure. That made it more important to him.
“With Samantha asleep, may I ask you some questions, Cara?” Vincent spoke up, giving Cara a quick glance. Quinn sat back up, ready to hear whatever the youth had to say.
“About?” Cara inquired warily, giving Vincent a strange look.
“You mentioned that your mother is gone, but that she also made you promise to leave if you ever had the chance,” Vincent reminded her. “If we knew more, we could help more.”
“Oh,” Cara looked away from Vincent, turning to look out the window. Quinn watched her carefully. The child didn’t want to talk about it, but he had a feeling she would.
“Please?” Vincent pressed gently.
“Dad and Mom didn’t like Magi. They never had. But all of us were Magi. Me, Bucky, Sammy, and Cory. Dad too. But not her. She wasn’t a Magi,” Cara whispered, wrapping her arms around herself. “Over time, she changed. She stopped disliking Magi so much and decided to take us far away. Cory was hanging out with Dad a lot. Cory always has hung out with Dad a lot…”
“Forgive me,” Vincent cut in as Cara trailed off. “I’m not sure I understand.”
“Mom didn’t like that Dad hit us,” Cara bit out, and Quinn could hear the emotion in her voice. He held back the snarl, his shoulders shaking from the effort. “Well, he’d started hitting us, and she didn’t like it. He called us all sorts of things. Said we were demon-spawn, devil worshippers. That we sold our souls for magic, and it was his fault. Mom didn’t like that. I think she didn’t like Magi for other reasons. She read her Bible a lot and said God would want her to protect us. So, one night, she helped us pack bags to run. I was with Sammy, and she helped Bucky. We share a room.”
“What happened?” Vincent coaxed, and Quinn knew he was trying to be gentle.
“Dad stopped us,” Cara sniffed. “And Mom, the next day… she was covered in bruises. She said we would try again, and if she couldn’t do it, I should make sure I got Sammy and Bucky out. Then, a few weeks later, she was gone, and Dad said she left us behind. That she didn’t really love us. I didn’t… I don’t believe him, but I don’t have my own abilities, so I couldn’t do anything.”
“And Cory? Your older brother? He
should be protecting you,” Quinn growled. Brothers protected. He protected his brothers, wolves and humans. They protected him. Brothers protected their family.
“He agrees with Dad,” Cara mumbled, and Quinn watched her wipe her cheeks. “He’s not very nice either. He hangs out with Dad’s Anti-Magi friends. They both think I’m too stupid to understand, but I know what they talk about.”
“Oh shit,” Vincent gasped. Quinn kicked his seat.
“Children,” he snarled.
“It’s okay, our Dad says worse.” Cara chuckled weakly, “And anyway, Sammy is asleep. I’m fifteen, I can hear someone say shit. It’s not a big deal.”
“So, your mother, before she… left, said that if you ever had to chance to get away, you should take it?” Vincent was looking for confirmation. Left. Quinn wanted to snort. Died. Their mother was dead. There was no way a woman would work so hard to save her young and just leave them for her own safety. He refused to believe it. He had little faith in his own mother, but he felt like theirs would be better.
“That’s right.” Cara nodded. “And here we are. I know what the IMPO is. Dad doesn’t know, but when he’s away, I look stuff up on the internet. I’ve… always wondered if maybe I should send an email or call Dallas for help, but I figured if my Dad found out… it wouldn’t be good.”
“You did what you could,” Vincent said gently, reaching out to pat her shoulder. Quinn saw her wince, and his nostrils flared as he took in the scent of her pain.
“You are hurt,” Quinn snarled. “Zander could have healed you after Bucky and Sammy. Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I’m fine,” Cara mumbled. “Cory pushed me a couple days ago, I fell, and it’s just a bruise.”
Quinn’s next snarl was inhuman, and Vincent snapped his fingers back at him.
“Stop. Sawyer and Elijah are handing it.” Vincent commanded, glaring at Quinn in the rear-view mirror. “We’ll have Zander look at it when we stop for food.”
“When are we stopping?” Cara asked. “Bucky is probably begging for food. It’s nearly his lunch time.”
“We’ll stop once we hit Dallas. We’ll give you and your siblings a couple of hours to relax before handing you over to someone else. Other agents, who will be able to send you away from here.” Vincent smiled at her.
“And they won’t separate us,” Cara said with a steel, stubbornness that impressed Quinn. Good for her, he thought. She would protect her siblings where her brother had failed.
“No, they won’t. Actually, when we stop to eat, you can question a couple of the team, Zander and Jasper, about where the Dallas agents will send you. It’s an orphanage of Magi children, and they grew up there.” Vincent nodded at her, pointing back to the rear window. Zander and Jasper were driving behind them with Bucky and Shade, staying close on their back end.
Quinn began to ignore the conversation between Vincent and Cara as he entered Shade’s head. Shade lifted his head and gave Quinn the view he wanted. Bucky was playing with two action figures. Zander, sitting next to him, was helping. Zander looked up from the toys and met Shade’s eyes. Quinn/Shade gave a nod that Zander returned. The bruise on Bucky’s cheek was completely gone, like Sammy’s black eye.
Quinn left Shade after confirming that everyone in the other Explorer was okay. He came back into his own eyes and noticed Cara giving him a wide-eyed look.
“What’s wrong with you?” she asked, only sounding curious, so Quinn felt she might not know what he’d done.
“The wolves are my animal bonds. I can look through their eyes. I was checking in with Shade, who is with Bucky.”
“I knew they were your animal bonds, but I didn’t know you could do that!” Cara gasped. “That’s really cool. Will I get one? I would love a puppy!” Cara’s eyes twinkled, and Quinn felt his heart tighten.
“You might,” Quinn told her, smiling. “You’ll find out when you get your abilities.”
“I can’t wait. I did a lot of research on Dad’s computer. I knew they had to be yours. I read a bunch of articles about different abilities, and I hope I get healing and an animal bond. It’s really cool that you have two. That means you’re really strong, right?”
“Some think it does. Thank you.” Quinn inclined his head, feeling somewhat proud to have been called cool by the youth. No one had ever said he was ‘cool’ before. He knew what it meant. It made him feel normal to hear her say it. Less different, less strange. Less like a weird freak of a Magi.
“I’ve never had other Magi to really talk to.” Cara sighed, happily. “What other abilities do y’all have?”
Vincent chuckled and told her about Kaar. Quinn cut in to talk about his own abilities as well. They both began the slow education of Cara, Magi without a community. She knew so much about what she was, but Quinn knew she never could verify it. She had two younger siblings who knew less than she did and didn’t understand. Her father was a Magi who hated his own kind, and her brother seemed to be going down their father’s path.
“Here comes Dallas-Fort Worth,” Vincent announced, pointing to the city on the horizon. “We’ll stop at the mall or something and you get you three some food and maybe a few more things to keep you occupied.”
“Bucky will want more toys.” Cara laughed. “Thank you.”
“For?” Quinn asked, giving her a small frown from his spot in the back.
“All of this,” Cara answered. “Saving us, taking us away. For showing up and bringing us here.”
“You aren’t scared?” Vincent gave her a glance and Cara shook her head.
“No. Home was scary. This… this is our great escape. I’m sorry about the knife when you showed up. I couldn’t see the Magi come in, the lady and the blonde one, Jasper. I was scared they had come to hurt us.”
“Thank you, for trusting us to help you and not trying to stab one of us,” Vincent said with a humorous tone. “Though that lady would have won if you tried to stab her. She’s scary.”
“She really is!” Cara said, excited someone seemed to agree with her. “She just stood there, looking super angry, and I was really confused and terrified. Elijah was much nicer.”
“Her name is Sawyer. She used to be an assassin,” Quinn told her nonchalantly. “Now she works with us to help people. She lived in New York and saved other kids like you, there.”
“An assassin?” Cara gasped, swinging to look at Quinn, her limp brown ponytail whipping around.
“Quinn, we can’t just tell people that.” Vincent coughed.
“I’m not sure what the big deal is,” Quinn huffed. “I think Cara would like to know that an assassin is going to make sure Sheriff Stevenson never comes after them.”
“That’s so cool!” Cara exclaimed, grinning. “Was she really?” She directed the next question to Vincent, who groaned.
“Yeah.” Vincent sighed, “she really was.”
“THAT’S SO COOL!” Cara screeched, clapping her hands together. Sammy shot up, and looked around, confused.
“Sis, why are you yelling?” Sammy complained, kicking Cara’s seat.
“Oh, sorry,” Cara laughed. “It’s nothing, Sammy. Lay back down. I’ll make sure you’re up when we stop for food.”
“Okay,” Sammy yawned. They all waited for Sammy to fall back asleep. Quinn nodded towards the front the moment he was certain they wouldn’t disturb her again.
Quinn was amazed by these children. Cara had done well with them, making sure they were always ready to run, to leave. They trusted her judgement without question. She’d taken the place of their mother and yet was still a child herself.
“I have a question for you guys,” Cara spoke up, dropping the topic of Sawyer’s previous profession. “Why were you in my house today? Dad had mentioned something about outsiders coming in to be nosy about some old Magi dying but…”
Quinn held his breath, deciding that Vincent should answer this. How does someone tell a child that there was a serial killer running around? He always let Elijah handle yo
unger children. This was the first time he’d ever had to deal with them on his own.
“Cara… I’m going to give you the truth. The honest, scary truth because I think you’re mature enough to handle it. I think your father is covering up for a serial killer. We broke into your home to gather evidence.”
Quinn watched Cara pale and sink into her seat.
“The people dying,” Cara whispered, shaking her head. “No, no, no.”
“Cara?” Vincent’s voice was laced with worry as he reached to touch her.
“They’ve been whispering about it,” Cara mumbled as Vincent patted her shoulder. “Cory and Dad. They’ve been whispering about the people that were dying. Saying there was no way anyone would ever find out what really happened.”
Quinn leaned forward, thinking about that.
“Let’s stop,” Vincent said suddenly. “Let’s eat. Cara, forget I said anything. It’s nothing you need to worry about.”
“But-”
“No buts.” Quinn cut in. Cara looked back at him with a frown. He’d heard her say it to Bucky earlier.
“Cara, you need to focus on Samantha and Bucky,” Vincent reminded her. “Do that and you’ll be helping us.”
“Okay.” Cara sighed. “Okay.”
“If you know anything else, though, we’d be happy to hear it.”
Cara only shook her head.
“Alright, let’s eat something. I’m going to call the Dallas office once we stop.”
“How long do we have until we need to get back to Sawyer and Elijah?” Quinn asked as Cara wrapped her arms around herself and sank down in her seat.
“I left Kaar there on watch for them. He’s going to let them, and me, know when Stevenson gets home. Cara, when does your dad get off work?” Vincent turned back to the youth as they entered a parking lot.
“Around five or six,” Cara informed him softly. “He never comes home early, though he could come home later. Sometimes past dinner. Sometimes he even goes out at night, like really late. I’ll hear his truck.”
A Heart of Shame (The Redemption Saga Book 2) Page 27