The Redemption Saga Box Set

by Kristen Banet

  “Jasper,” she said when he didn’t continue.

  “Want to have a tour of the place?” He shuffled uncomfortably, and her heart squeezed a little. Jasper had always been uncomfortable with emotion, but this was his way of offering help.

  “Yeah, I’d like that.” She gave him a weak smile, and he beckoned her to follow him. “How’s the IMPO treating you?” she asked as they made their way back into the house.

  “Better than the IMAS.” Jasper gave her a small smile back. “They’re willing to work around the knee, and now hip, problems.”

  “That’s good,” she followed him towards the stairs. “Where are we going?”

  “I heard your run in with Zander last night, so I figured you should know whose room is whose, first.” He smiled at her and she groaned.

  “You know, don’t you?” She side-eyed him and he nodded.

  “He told me during boot camp.” He shot her an apologetic smile. “I don’t care. You know that, right?”

  “I didn’t think you did,” she said nonchalantly. She did think he cared, at least when he first found out, even if he didn’t now. Things had been different that last six months before they left. Teenage hormones and tempers. Her own weird teenage girl feelings about the guys she grew up with, and their apparent weirdness about those feelings.

  Jasper had been a virgin, and she had stupidly hit on him, trying to lose her own v-card while she was drunk and he was sober. Then she had rolled into bed with an even drunker Zander, like an idiot, because Jasper had turned her down. She had been so conflicted about her feelings for them both. She was almost a little thankful that they left when they did, because it had been getting to the point of nonsense.

  “Well, here on the right, you know where Zander’s room is, and the bathroom,” he pointed to the third door as he spoke. They both studiously ignored the previous topic. “That one is me. Zander and I share the bathroom on this side.” He turned to the left and she followed. “The first door here is Vincent, then it’s Elijah. They share the bathroom on this side. Quinn’s bedroom is on the first floor, and he has a private bathroom, so you don’t need to worry about running into him up here, for the most part.”

  “For the most part?” She didn’t miss that tacked on at the end of Jasper’s little second-floor tour.

  “He does come up here to hang out.” Jasper shrugged. “Let’s go back down, and I’ll show you everything on the first floor, then the basement.”

  “Basement?” She frowned. “You have a basement?”

  “Yeah, we put a gym down there with all of our training equipment. Keeps it from prying eyes. Also, the entertainment room is down there.” Jasper led her down and began pointing out things she had already seen. Living room, rarely used unless there was company. Dining room and kitchen, check. A drawing room, never used and wasn’t even furnished. Quinn’s bedroom door, in the hallway that led to the backdoor.

  She stayed quiet as he led them to the basement, through a small door near the kitchen that she had somehow missed. A narrow staircase led to a narrow hallway with three doors.

  “Come on,” Jasper led her to the single door on the left and pushed it open. She nearly dropped her jaw.

  “This is some state of the art shit,” she whispered in appreciation. They had it all from treadmills that hooked up to the runner and monitored vitals to every piece of weight-training equipment she could think of. He pointed towards the back of the room and she saw an entire training area set up with a mat and mirrors.

  “We are required to stay in the best shape we can be,” Jasper told her. “Hence, our schedule.”

  “Damn, this is nice,” she chuckled. “Elijah told me you guys were paid well, but I wasn’t expecting this.”

  “Actually, the gym stuff is from the IMPO, itself.” Jasper shrugged. “They give this equipment to all their top teams.”

  “And I get to use this stuff?” She gestured around and resisted the urge to go touch all of it.

  “You’ll be following our workout schedule, so yes.” Jasper nodded slowly. “Sawyer, about what happened in the kitchen with Vincent.”

  She froze, and whatever shred of relaxation she found evaporated.

  “Want to tell me about it?” he asked her softly.

  “Not really,” she mumbled, still looking over the gym. She wasn’t officially diagnosed with PTSD, but she knew the signs. She wasn’t stupid. Charlie had tried to get her into therapy once, but she’d resisted. She could handle it on her own, and most of the time it didn’t affect her life. “Any more cool facts you got about it?”

  “You aren’t the only person in the house who deals with that kind of stuff.” Jasper watched her carefully. “You could talk to Quinn. He would understand better than the rest of us.”

  “He’s…” She tried to find words that didn’t make her sound rude or assumptive.

  “He’s different,” Jasper nodded, “but don’t change the subject. You know, you can talk to me or Zander while you’re here, too. We would listen. I know I’m a stickler for rules, but I wouldn’t hold anything against you.”

  “Thanks.” she gave him an indulgent smile. He would hold all of it against her. He might have turned a blind eye to her business in New York, but she didn’t think it would extend to murder. “I’ll consider it.”

  She wanted to try, though. She wanted to open her soul and let the shadows pour out. She wanted to peel back the layers and find some peace with knowing the secrets were gone. She was accustomed to secrets and shadows, but she didn’t like them. If she could get rid of all of them, she would, but lives were on the line, and they were all safer if she kept her silence. She couldn’t forget that… But maybe he was right. Maybe there were a few things she could tell them just to get them off her chest without putting them in danger.

  “Please, do.” Jasper ran a hand through his hair, looking away from her. He was turning an adorable shade of pink, her golden boy. “You’ll be here for a little while, so…”

  “I get you.” She nodded. “I missed you, Jasper. And Zander.”

  “We looked for you.” He swallowed. “We started searching the moment we joined the IMPO. We weren’t allowed to put company hours into it, but we tried to find you.”

  “I’m sorry to say,” she sighed, “that I didn’t look for you. I felt it was better that you stayed a pleasant memory for me, and I stayed a hopefully pleasant memory for you.”

  “You were always more than just a pleasant memory, Sawyer,” Jasper whispered. Sawyer swallowed on a lump in her throat, trying to ignore the amount of emotion loaded in that sentence. After a minute of silence, Jasper cleared his own throat. “Zander wants to take you into town, if you’re willing to go.”

  “I would rather get a feel for this place, first.” She went up the stairs first while he trailed behind her. “Anything else you want to tell or show me?”

  “No.” Jasper shrugged. “Vincent wants to see you again later today. And if you want to go wander in the woods, you’re allowed, but stick to the trails and don’t go down the second east trail at all. There’s a marker, you’ll know it if you see it.”

  She stopped in the hallway at that. That was a weird rule.

  “Why?” She tilted her head a little.

  “Quinn runs the woods here; there’s no local Druid since we’re only twenty minutes from a town. His garden is down that trail.” Jasper snapped his fingers as he remembered something. “Our offices. Quinn doesn’t have one, but the rest of us do. Come on.”

  “Alright…” She followed him slowly to another hallway on the first floor, past the living room. Two doors, alone in this hallway, and Jasper opened the one on their right.

  Inside were two desks with computers and stacks of paperwork. Pictures slid out of files, showing her faces of criminals she both knew and had worked for. She had even worked against some of them. One of them was dead and had been for years. She was amazed no one had found that body. She didn’t kill him, but she knew where the body was.
She had been there when it was buried. He had discovered one of the Ghosts’ secrets, and they had dealt with him. Axel had dragged her along to see it. She’d been eighteen, and it was the first dead body she had ever seen. It obviously wasn’t the last.

  “This is my office with Zander.” He waved around at it. “It’s a bit of a mess. He and I were on vacation when LA happened, and when we got back, we sank neck deep into finding you.”

  “And, let me guess.” She pointed to the other door. “Elijah and Vincent share that one.”

  “That’s right.” He nodded to her, closing the office door again. “You aren’t allowed in the offices without us. You’ll find us here during most of the working day, though, if you need anything.”

  “Cool.” She bit her bottom lip and saw Jasper’s eyes fall to it. She rolled her eyes. “That scar is fairly obvious, Jasper. I’m a fighter, and lips tend to get busted easily.”

  “I wasn’t going to ask.” He raised his hands slightly, and she narrowed her eyes on him. “Today. I wasn’t planning on asking today.”

  “Thought so,” she huffed. “I’m going to go relax in my room all day. Is there anything you all want from me, or am I allowed to do that?”

  “You can do that.” He smiled, and she left him there.

  “When Charlie said retire, I was thinking something totally different,” she sighed, collapsing onto her bed. “Something with beaches and cabana boys for a few weeks. Sexy and plentiful cabana boys who would massage me and cover me in lotion. Drinks with umbrellas that taste like fruit punch and come in obscenely large pitchers. The cabana boys would serve them to me, so my glass would never be empty.”

  She didn’t even like drinks with umbrellas, but that wasn’t the point of her little fantasy.

  “Fuck,” she pulled a pillow over her face.

  15

  SAWYER

  Five in the morning on Monday, and Sawyer was sleepless from the day before. It would take weeks for her to get comfortable sleeping here, and that meant she was going to start getting cranky quickly. She gave it another two or three days before sleep deprivation finally allowed her a single full night of sleep.

  She stood in the backyard and stared at the stars above. Just a tiny bit of sun was peeking over the horizon, not quite bright enough to ruin the night sky yet.

  “Good morning,” Quinn’s rough voice called out to her. She turned to him and reveled in the shirtless sight of his sweaty chest. For a mystery wrapped in an enigma with more than a bit of danger topping it off, he was an insanely attractive man. One that she felt would probably bite the hand that tried to touch him. A shame, really, because she had the feeling that touching him would also be fantastic. Him touching her? Now that was a fantasy she could get behind.

  “Good morning,” she answered brightly. “Am I late for the run?”

  “No, I go out early with Shade and Scout.” He stepped a little closer and her instincts told her to step back, but she didn’t allow her feet to move. She realized what it was about him that really set her off. It was his magic, which seemed to fill the air around him, vibrating with barely restrained wildness—like a rabid wolf on a leash held by a toddler. She snorted internally at the mental image she’d conjured for herself.

  “How long have you had them?” She looked around for the wolves and finally spotted them, close to the woods, lying in the open grass.

  “Eleven years,” he told her, his voice dropping to a whisper.

  “What do you shift into?” She needed a piece of duct tape for her mouth. This was the guy who made a smile seem like a threat, and the strength of his magic outpaced hers by miles—and she was strong.

  “A wolf,” he told her with a curtness that made her look away from him. Three howls. That made sense.

  “Cool.” She swallowed.

  “Yup,” he said, and she took another quick look at him. He was watching her like she was a hare, and he was hungry for a snack. She wondered if she could make some sort of animal metaphor for everything he did and decided to make a game out of it for herself. She figured it would help her get more comfortable with him. Comfortable? With him? She snorted out loud this time. She had a feeling she would find cuddling a rabid dog easier.

  “Am I early?” She looked around, and he shook his head.

  “No, they are all a little late.” He pointed to the back door. “They always are.”

  She looked to where he was pointing, and, not ten seconds later, only three of them walked out. Vincent, Zander, and Elijah all jogged down to where she and Quinn stood on the grass.

  “Where’s Jasper?” She frowned.

  “He does low-impact cardio inside,” Zander told her, moving to stand next to her. “I love your running outfit. Are we going to be blessed with this every day?”

  She was confused for a moment and looked down at herself. A black tank top with a black sports bra, then her black spandex running shorts that went about a third down her thigh. They were supposed to reach halfway but her legs were just too damn long for that to work.

  “Real mature, Zander.” She looked back up at him and he shrugged.

  “I won’t lie to you and say I won’t be enjoying the view. You’ve got a killer body.” He grinned and threw a playful look down her long legs.

  “Amen,” Elijah chuckled. “She also looks like she’s going to take those killer legs and use them to pop your head open like a grape.”

  “I’m seriously considering it,” she agreed, and Zander stopped checking her out.

  “It wouldn’t be the worst way to die, though,” Elijah continued, elbowing Zander. “I mean, your head would need to be between her thighs for that to work.”

  “You made this very perverted, very quickly,” Zander laughed. “Elijah, does your mind go anywhere else?”

  “No.” Elijah grinned, and Sawyer didn’t like the naughtiness in it. Scratch that. She didn’t like how much she enjoyed the naughtiness in it. “My official street address is Plantation House, Middle of Nowhere, Georgia. Room number, The Gutter.”

  She snorted and covered her face. Holy shit, their jokes were bad. How did she get caught by Elijah and his awful lines at the bar? She looked up a moment and took in the fact that none of the guys were wearing shirts. Elijah’s massive frame was only five feet from her, and then she remembered. He had been just fucking too damn good looking to pass up, and she’d been a little drunk.

  “Are all of you done, or will we be standing here for this all morning?” Vincent was stretching farther away from the group.

  “I’m ready when you are,” she told him, hopping on the balls of her feet.

  “Let Zander and me stretch,” Elijah said and got to it. She looked at Quinn, who was glowering at her, now. His hungry stare had turned into one that bordered on hostile. She wasn’t sure what changed, but she didn’t like it. She met his eyes and watched his nostrils flare a little before he turned away. She looked back to Vincent, who wasn’t paying attention to any of them. These guys were going to drive her insane from confusion within a week.

  “Well,” she mumbled to herself, “at least they all look pretty.”

  “What was that, Sawyer?” Vincent asked, looking up from his stretching.

  “Nothing,” she called to him. Fuck, how had he heard her?

  “Let’s get going,” he called out after another couple of minutes. He led the group and she was pushed in right behind him, with Elijah and Zander behind her.

  Only a minute into the run, her eyes began to wander, and she looked down to Vincent’s ass. Even in his basketball shorts, she had a good idea of how nice that ass was. She shook her head and looked back up. They weren’t going a very hard pace, and even the wolves were running with the group.

  “Stop,” Vincent called after another few minutes. “Twenty pushups.”

  She dropped with the rest of the group and began. None of them were keeping count out loud, so she kept track on her own.

  This pattern repeated until they were nearly forty-fi
ve minutes into the run. 100 pushups and 100 sit ups total, she counted. The house came back into view and they slowed down. Even the wolves were panting softly as they made it to the back porch.

  “Gym in ten minutes for upper body today.” Vincent looked at her as she leaned down on her knees.

  “Can do,” she told him with a nod. “Every morning like this?”

  “Yeah,” he said as he walked away to go inside. She looked around and saw Zander stretching with Elijah and Quinn following his lead.

  She ignored them and went to the gym without stretching. She would get her stretching in down there; it was time for her to get out of the heat.

  She found Jasper in the gym getting off the cardio bike. He had a towel wrapped around his neck, and she wanted to groan in agony at the sight of his chiseled form. Did they all have to look like this? Was this what she would have to see every morning of her captivity? She wasn’t sure if it was a blessing or a curse.

  “Hey Jasper,” she called to him, and he looked her way.

  “Morning.” He smiled at her. “How was the run?”

  “Vincent tried to kill me but failed,” she laughed softly as Jasper nodded.

  “Did he do the intervals with you?”

  “Yeah; is that not what he normally does?”

  “No.” Jasper shook his head, opening a minifridge she hadn’t noticed the day before. He pulled two waters out and tossed one to her. They both took a drink before he continued. “That’s a once- or twice-a-week thing when he needs to work himself harder.”

  “Good to know.” She found a basket of clean towels and grabbed one. “Who maintains all of this for you guys?”

  “We hire a nice old Magi lady who lives in town to come out twice a week. She’s supposedly retired, but don’t tell her that. She wouldn’t let five adult men live alone without a ‘woman keeping us out of trouble.’”