“But,” a teen interrupted, looking upset, and Jasper knew the boy was a newer one of the group. “What are we going to do?”
“What you do every time I leave.” She smiled sadly at him. “You are going to listen to Charlie, Liam, and Jessie and never miss class. They will take over until I can come back. If anything happens at home, you need to tell Charlie, and he will help with that too.”
“My daddy isn’t scared of Charlie like he is of you,” a tiny one whispered. Jasper rocked back with shock. These kids knew. They knew what Sawyer did for them.
“Your daddy is never coming back.” Sawyer pulled the small one to her as she spoke. Her eyes flicked up to him and back to the minors around her. “He’s not going to do that.”
“Promise?”
“I don’t make promises, but I’ll make you a deal.” She held the little girl’s head to her own. “If he comes back, you tell Charlie. Charlie will tell me, and I will do whatever is necessary to come back and help you.” She looked up from the kids and met Jasper’s eyes again. “Whatever is necessary.”
He gave a small nod, acknowledging her warning. He knew what she was telling him. She would risk her life and freedom to help these kids, and it was something he would need to tell the team. She didn’t give a damn about her own life, not when it came to them. These non-Magi kids from the roughest neighborhoods of New York meant everything to her.
She was mad because she was breaking their hearts and leaving them without her for a length of time that she couldn’t confirm would ever end. They could fail, she could wind up dead, and these kids would never see her again after this.
“This is Special Agent Jasper Williams. He and his friends are the ones who want to protect me,” she told them, pointing over to him. “I grew up with him, if you can believe that. So, if you want to know all my dirty, embarrassing childhood stories, now is the time to ask.”
He froze and broke out into a cold sweat as all the eyes turned on him. The teens were glaring, angry at his intrusion into their lives. The small ones were curious. He didn’t know how to deal with children, and when a couple of the young ones started walking over, he backed away.
“This really isn’t…” he started, looking at Sawyer. She grinned and waved, turning to the teens and beginning a quiet conversation he couldn’t follow.
“Sir.” one of the little ones was tugging on his shirt. He looked down to find the young girl staring up at him. “Are you going to keep Ms. Matthews safe? Are you?”
“I’m going to do my best.” He looked away from her and out the doorway, hoping to call for help. He didn’t appreciate this, and he knew Sawyer did it to him on purpose. She had always been better with the younger kids at the orphanage.
“Will you tell us a story about Miss Matthews?” A young boy asked, and Jasper groaned. He looked around and finally decided to just sit on the floor. He stretched his legs out and glared over to Sawyer, who watched him as a teenage girl said something. “She said you would!”
“She once fell out of a tree,” he told the young boy. The kids were sitting all around him now, and standing in the doorway was Zander, grinning at Jasper’s misfortune. “Not really much to it.”
“Now, don’t do that to them,” Zander chuckled. “She was trying to throw rocks at some high school bullies, and then she fell out of the tree.”
“Into a bush, right?” Jasper felt more comfortable with Zander there. Thank God for small miracles.
“Yeah.” Zander launched into the story so that Jasper was saved from having to tell it. Jasper liked books, quiet, and a good video game on occasion. Children terrified him. He stood back up, extracted himself from the crowd of kids, and walked towards Sawyer whispering with the teenagers.
“So, you can watch Jonas when school gets out?” She pointed to an older young man, probably the oldest in the room.
“Yeah, he and Izzy can hang out together with me.” He nodded. “Jonas’ mom causing trouble?”
“Yes, but you aren’t to engage.” Sawyer was stern. “You know the rules- bring them here, and Charlie will keep anyone away and give you all my room in the apartment.”
“I’ve been training with you since the beginning,” he whispered back hotly. “Let me do this.”
“Remember your brother, Liam?” she whispered darkly at him. Jasper saw the young man pale. Liam, Jasper knew, was the oldest. Sawyer paid for his apartment and his education. “Could you do that? Day in and day out? You hated driving the truck, Liam. Don’t think you can be me. I’ve made it clear to all of you how this works. That’s not up for discussion.” She turned and saw Jasper. He crossed his arms. “Well, you might as well come on over, Jasper. I see Zander saved you from my trap.”
“Yeah, he must have gotten the flight scheduled faster than expected.” He looked between them. “What is this?”
“When I leave town, the teens and I make plans on what do in case anyone gives them trouble.” She lifted her chin and met his eye. He only had an inch, maybe two, on her. She was intimidating when she needed to be. “Most of them are in the same foster homes or live close to each other. The plans are given to parents and foster parents so they don’t need to worry about babysitters and things like that.”
“No one takes up your job?” He had to ask.
“Fuck, no. Did you not just hear me tell him that?” she snapped, pointing at the young man she called Liam. “Are you crazy? They are kids. Plus, we don’t talk about that here. Don’t bring it up again.”
He frowned. They were just talking about it… Oh, they weren’t supposed to talk about it in front of him. A stranger.
“Yeah, we’re supposed to pretend not to know,” a young woman commented. She had blonde curls, cut short, and a scar on her left cheekbone. These kids were just as tough and beaten up as Sawyer. “I mean, we all do know but…”
“I’m an IMPO agent, please stop.” Jasper held up a hand to silence them. They were all non-Magi, but with Sawyer involved, the IMPO could very well find this a problem. The team could be implicated in, what amounted to, a conspiracy. This was becoming an actual criminal conspiracy. He hadn’t expected it. “I’m going to pretend I’ve heard none of this.” He pointed to Sawyer after that. “You have fifteen minutes to meet us out front.”
“Fine, we’ll be done by then,” Sawyer growled, turning away from him. He took that as the dismissal it was and left her to it.
Jesus. He shook his head as he passed Zander who was telling the kids that it was time for him to leave. When he got out of the room, Zander was hot on his heels.
“These kids worship her,” Zander mumbled. “Like they are head over heels in love. It’s awe-inspiring and a bit terrifying.”
“Yeah,” Jasper hissed. “And all the older ones are in on it. They fucking know what she does. They know, even if they don’t talk about it. This shit is straight up a criminal conspiracy involving minors.”
“She’s done good things for those kids.” Charlie walked over to them, hearing them talking about Sawyer and her little ‘class’. “No one paid them any mind, but Sawyer saw what was happening and started putting an end to it.”
Jasper turned to Charlie and frowned. Jasper liked the law, the rigid expectations that society was held up to. He was willing to bend a little, unlike Vincent, but he wasn’t sure he could bend as far as Sawyer did. Zander could but not Jasper.
“It’s not legal,” he reminded Charlie, “and you are an accomplice.”
“She breaks into my files, and I have no idea what she does with the information.” Charlie grinned for a second. “When the ‘good guys’ forget about them, who else do they have? She gets them part-time jobs, finds them homes if they need them. She teaches them self-defense, so they can protect themselves from bullies and their own families, if necessary. You’re taking her out of here anyway, get over it.”
“You’ll keep those kids out of trouble?” Jasper pointed to the door leading to their training room as Charlie nodded.
“You make it sound like it’s hard,” Charlie grunted. “Those kids don’t get into trouble. You need to understand—Sawyer does the dirty work, so they’ll never have to. She gives them the protector they need and cheers them on to making better lives for themselves. All of those teenagers are straight A students now, and the oldest is in college. He just won’t move on from this. Liam is getting a physical therapy degree and becoming a personal trainer, so I’ll have to hire him.”
Jasper felt like he had just been reprimanded, and Zander cleared his throat. She was their hero. That much was clear.
“You all need to hurry up and get her out of here,” Charlie sighed. “I’m starting to feel guilty.”
“She’s got you figured out, by the way,” Jasper told him. “She guessed on her own.”
“Wonderful.” Charlie turned and walked away, grunting in annoyance at the situation. “I didn’t want her to…” He walked away without finishing, and Jasper rubbed his eyes.
This was becoming a bit messier than any of them had intended. They hadn’t really considered that Sawyer had things she needed to take care of before she left. They just assumed that she was a criminal, always ready to run, so it wouldn’t be a big deal if she disappeared into the night. Sure, they looked into her life, but they hadn’t really considered it.
Jasper started reciting facts he knew about New York’s non-Magi crime problem. He was getting stressed, and that would calm him down. It didn’t help as much as he wanted, since he remembered she was a part of the crime problem in New York.
After two minutes of trying that, he switched to random Magi facts. He recited the rarity rankings for abilities in his head. Common. Uncommon. Rare. Mythic.
He had two Common-ranked abilities and two Uncommon abilities. Phasing, air manipulation, dream walking, and illusions. Phasing and air manipulation were Common, while dream walking, and illusions were Uncommon. He had a strong and deep Source, so he could create powerful illusions that could fool a mind that wasn’t strong enough to fight back. He could delve into someone’s subconscious with dream walking and find out their most hidden secrets. He never used that skill, since it was an invasion of privacy.
He moved on to Zander, who was standing next to him. He had three Common abilities, and one Uncommon. His Common abilities were water manipulation, shielding, and healing. His Uncommon ability was telepathic communication. Zander could touch his Source to someone’s mind and send them messages through that connection. It was a one-way street, though, unless the other person also had the ability.
As Sawyer walked out, he sighed. Animal bonding was Common like phasing. Blinking, that annoying short-range teleport was Uncommon, but her sublimation and cloaking were Rare. He was seriously impressed with that. She had two Rare abilities, and her evident control over her powers meant she was a force to reckoned with.
“Are you doing that weird thing where you recite facts to yourself?” she asked him, stepping in front of him. He snapped out of his thoughts and frowned at her.
“How did you…?” He ignored Zander’s laughter.
“You always get a spaced out look when you do it. That much, it seems, hasn’t changed.” She rolled her eyes. “Geek.”
“Brute,” he mumbled.
“You’re both weird,” Zander chuckled. Jasper watched him look over Sawyer casually. “Ready to go?”
“Yeah…” she sighed, looking around the gym. Her gaze landed on Charlie, and Jasper took that as his sign to get out.
Jasper left the gym quietly and made his way to the loaned Range Rovers they got from the IMPO’s New York headquarters. New York was the permanent home to the IMPO’s leaders, along with the World Magi Council. He hated being in this city because it put their odd team too close to those who really didn’t like them.
He leaned against the Range Rover and tapped his foot. He was ready to get the hell out and see home again. A good book, some quiet classical music. Maybe he could start another online class, teach himself another new skill. He already had four bachelor’s degrees. What was one more, at this point?
“She’s still beautiful.”
Jasper nodded aimlessly at Zander’s communication. He looked through the front windows of the gym and saw Zander smirking at him.
“Brazen. Tough. Not much has changed, except now I think she could actually kick my ass instead of just trying. It’s hot. I am excited about this. You?”
Jasper gave an exaggerated eye roll. Zander was right, but Jasper wasn’t ready go down that path again. She might not have changed much, but Jasper didn’t know this new Sawyer. She took the law into her own hands. Not only did violence not scare her, but she wasn’t afraid of blood, either.
Zander found it interesting and sexy. Very Zander.
“It could be like old times again once we get this Axel shit settled.”
Jasper narrowed his eyes at Zander. Damn him. Jasper couldn’t respond without alerting everyone in the parking lot and building to what was going on. He also didn’t have a response. He just didn’t know where this was all going to go. He did know that Zander was getting ahead of himself, but Zander always did.
“She’s done with Charlie and I see Vin and Elijah on their way. It’s time to go.”
“Thank fuck,” Jasper mumbled to himself, pulling open the door he was leaning on.
13
SAWYER
Sawyer was loaded into a Range Rover and sat in the back by herself. Elijah drove while Vincent read over her file again. He carried it everywhere, the fat thing that apparently held most of her life.
“Where were you from sixteen to twenty?” He looked back at her, and she shrugged.
“Just roaming around, really. Didn’t put down roots, pickpocketed. That sort of thing.” She gave him a tight smile. She had practiced this story a long time ago, and everyone who knew her after Shadow ‘died’ would only know this version of her life. Except Charlie, and he’d been nice enough to keep her secrets tucked in the shadows where they belonged. “Tried to find my place in the world.”
“You were adopted though, what happened with that?” Vincent pressed. She was going to lose her patience if he didn’t step-the-fuck-back on this line of questioning.
“He was an asshole, and I hated him.” She shrugged nonchalantly. Not a lie in the slightest. Her ‘adoptive’ father was a prick, and he’d been a recruiter for Axel. He looked out for any potential strong, young Magi that could be easily swayed to crime. A lonely young woman whose friends were off traveling the world and hard to reach? No family whatsoever? An easy mark.
“You are going to make this difficult, aren’t you?” Vincent gave a small frown. He was quiet like Jasper, she’d noticed, but it was colder and more stand-offish. He only had small expressions, tiny movements of his lips and eyebrows, that meant she had to pay attention to him when they spoke. His voice gave away nothing. “I thought we had an agreement. You get to tie up loose ends, and we get a cooperative protectee.”
“I agreed to come willingly,” she grinned, “not give you all of my deepest secrets. Or even, really, talk to you at all. So be thankful I’ve told you as much as I have.”
“She’s got you there, Vin,” Elijah chuckled. “Also, can this wait until we get home, or at least on the plane?”
Vincent continued to frown at her, so she flipped him off. That, oddly, made him turn the frown into a small smile. He was a weird man, this Italian Magi.
“Yeah, wait for the plane, Vincent,” she mumbled in Italian to see if he would respond.
“You don’t give the orders here, little thief,” he responded, also in Italian, his smile growing.
“If both of you could speak English, that would be fantastic,” Elijah muttered under his breath. She watched Vincent give a small eye roll, and she started getting increasingly more curious about the guy.
“Learn Italian,” Vincent told him, back to the straight face and bland voice.
“You keep saying that,” Elijah groaned. “But I learned German for
you. I don’t think I’ve got the mind for any more.”
“A pity.” Vincent turned back to her. “How many languages do you speak?”
“Six.” She smiled at him. “I’ve been trying to learn German and Japanese as well.”
“Well, Elijah can help with your German.” Vincent looked thoughtful. “Jasper is our Japanese speaker.”
“Is it common to know multiple languages as an imp?” She leaned back in her seat, and Vincent gave a small shrug.
“It’s preferred, but many don’t learn multiple languages; so, they can’t get sent out around the world. Only Zander doesn’t speak any second languages on our team, which is fine.” Vincent pulled a notepad and pen of out his pocket. “Write your languages down. I wouldn’t mind having a translator for anything if none of us speak it.”
She took the notepad and pen slowly as Elijah turned them into the airport. She didn’t write anything, wondering if this was really something she could give up. She considered it for a long moment, wondering what future repercussions could come from them knowing. She made her decision quickly when she noticed Vincent was still watching her with quiet intensity.
“I tried to get a variety of languages, so no matter where in the world I end up, I can find someone to talk to.” She wrote them down as she spoke. She tore off the page and held it out to him.
“My notepad and pen.” He looked over the list and then folded it. She watched it go into a pocket of the black cargos. They were all wearing the exact same thing: black cargos, black tees, black boots. She rolled her eyes as she gave him the notepad and pen she had tried to keep. “Thank you.”
“Yup,” she sighed.
“You didn’t really think that was going to work, did you?” He frowned.
“It’s actually surprisingly easy to steal from people. Take smokers and the endless lighter conundrum. Hand someone your lighter to borrow, and suddenly, they’re walking off with it while you completely forget about it.” She shrugged. “Speaking of a smoke, can I get one before getting on the plane?”
The Redemption Saga Box Set Page 12
