A Life Of Shadows (The Redemption Saga Book 1)

by Kristen Banet

  “Of course,” Charlie huffed. She knew he wasn’t mad at her. He was worried. Some part of her still craved the hunt and thrill of being an assassin, even if she didn’t kill people anymore. She had diverted that part to the dregs of humanity, those who deserved to be taught her brutal lesson.

  “Let’s get out there before people start to notice that something is going down,” she told him shortly, pointing toward the door out to the main area. She left him standing there as he mumbled that it was too late. She grabbed a ring girl as she made her way into the crowd. With her arm over the woman’s shoulder, she bummed a smoke and let the little Magi woman light it for her.

  She took a long drag as she sat down, pulling her new friend onto her lap. She still had appearances to keep, so she reclined back her seat, and the ring girl laughed about something with someone who passed by.

  “What’s your name?” Sawyer asked as another fight got started.

  “Stacie.” she smiled at Sawyer. “You don’t need to tell me yours. I hear you are pretty secretive.”

  “Really?” Sawyer grinned. “Well, you can call me Cambrie.” It was her middle name and one she gave to her hook ups, since it was easy to remember. She wouldn’t be hooking up with Stacie, not Sawyer’s type, but she could at least give the ring girl a name.

  “Well, Cambrie,” Stacie leaned into her and kissed Sawyer’s cheek. “Do you want me to get you anything to drink?”

  “I’ll take a whiskey on the rocks, but only one. I’ve got a fight later.” Sawyer chuckled as Stacie left her lap and walked away. When Stacie brought the drink back, she didn’t stay with Sawyer. At least I got a drink out of it, Sawyer thought to herself.

  She sipped on the whiskey and watched the girls flirt with Liam. He was going to avoid her for the rest of the night now, and she couldn’t blame him.

  Charlie never did show up and sit with her, but they didn’t always hang out at these things. At one point, she saw that handsome Italian wandering around. He wasn’t dressed the same as he’d been the previous times she’d seen him. Tonight, it was black cargo pants and a tight black shirt. She wasn’t sure which was better. Him in a well-fitted shirt or him shirtless. Sawyer was mildly impressed that he made a simple black tee look that good.

  She slipped between the ropes and looked over at her opponent. She grinned, ready to get in another fight. She hadn’t expected to get two fights in one night, but then again, what happened in the locker room was hardly a fight.

  It was magicless fight, and it was exactly what she needed. She even took a couple hits.

  9

  ZANDER

  Zander leaned against the wall when she walked in at the start of the night with the large black guy, Charlie, trailing behind her. He remained in the thickest part of the crowd, invisible to her as he observed. She had such a swagger to her walk that he wanted to grin. Some things, he thought, never changed.

  They had been watching her for weeks, with Elijah or Vincent closer while Zander and Jasper backed them up. They learned about her work at Charlie’s gym, and, one night around midnight, they found her leaving and tailed her. She was so confident in her privacy in New York, she hadn’t noticed them.

  They didn’t intervene when he and Vincent saw her put a man in the hospital that night. What had been said and their own plans to get her into custody deterred them from trying to stop the brutal, back-alley justice Sawyer had a reputation for dispensing. They had only heard the whispers of rumors until that moment. That night, they had a front row seat to the woman Sawyer had grown into.

  He remembered the rush of pride and utter terror he felt at the look on her face when she was done. She had blood splattered all over herself. It dripped from her knuckles and was starting to create a pool in the dark summer night, though carefully out of range of the streetlight.

  He waited impatiently for her to leave the locker room, wondering why she hadn’t come out within minutes, like she had on other nights. When a young woman ran out with a red, bruising mark on her, Zander tensed. Vincent met his eyes from across the room and gave a tiny shake of his head. They couldn’t reveal themselves. No one else even paid the girl any attention, and Zander curled his hand into a fist. Sawyer hung around some real pieces of shit at these things. She didn’t interact with them much, but she was in their world and they were in hers.

  What had led the feisty young teen he’d known to live like this? Zander was confused and a little irked, but Jasper was having a hard time with it. The lack of knowledge on why was eating away at him. She had been so awesome when he and Jasper left for the IMAS, to make a better life for all of them, but then she got adopted and promptly disappeared, never contacting them again. When they got into the IMPO, they started to search. After six years, they had found nothing—until Axel nearly killed her.

  He watched Charlie stroll back to the locker room and repositioned himself to get comfortable. People around him had gone a little quiet, except for a few whispers.

  “She’s done it, don’t you think?” A guy whispered to another attendee. The other one slowly nodded.

  “Yeah,” he mumbled. “She’s why I don’t bring my girl to these things. She jumped out of the ring once and took a guy outside for a beat down when he slapped his girl around a little. She’s got a gnarly temper and doesn’t know how to mind her own business. She’s just scary as fuck.” Zander raised an eyebrow. So, even the people here knew about her. She’d always been the type to go from zero to one-hundred with her temper, but somewhere along her road to this place in her life, something had changed. Zander knew that much.

  “Shit, look at that guy,” another person in the crowd gasped. Zander flicked a look back over to the locker room. Holy hell. She had made him unrecognizable. Why weren’t people freaking out more? Why was she allowed here to fight, if she could do that to a guy in the locker room? Surely there had to be some rules.

  “I’d fuck her, if I didn’t think she’d eat my head like one of those bugs do,” the first one chuckled. Zander wanted to grab him by his long brown hair and slam his face into the wall. “Maybe that’s what she needs, a strong man to put her in her place.”

  Zander’s own temper flared at the conversation happening only feet from him.

  “Nah, she’s too muscular for me,” the second snorted. “I mean look at her,” he jerked his head toward the locker room.

  Sure enough, Zander had been distracted by their conversation and missed her coming out. She had a fake smile plastered on her face, one he’d seen years before. She was never very good at pretending and had always worn her emotions on her sleeve. He watched her flirt with one of the ring girls and smirked. The Sawyer he grew up with really was still there. Darker, more dangerous, but still there.

  He kind of liked the dangerous feel to her now. The toned body, the sharp edge of barely contained violence, and the swagger to her walk. He had been infatuated as a teenager, but something about Sawyer all grown up really got him going. Zander always was a risk taker, and toying with a woman like her seemed incredibly risky.

  “Why isn’t she in trouble?” He asked a ring girl who passed by. “For that guy?”

  The girl looked him over and smiled. Zander gave a smile back to the blonde, hoping to coax the information he wanted out of her.

  “You must be new,” she chuckled. “What happens in the locker room stays in the locker room. If she caught him hitting his girl, then he deserved what he got. Some of the guys here might not like her for it, but she’s got a fan club with the women.” Then she shrugged. “Plus, she’s Charlie’s roommate and business partner. Those two own this gym, so if people don’t like how things are done, they can stop showing up.”

  “Makes sense,” he grinned, showing a pearly white set of teeth. She blinked and blushed a little. “I’m glad someone is looking out for you gorgeous women, here. Seems like a rough place.”

  She stuttered a little bit, then wandered off, still blushing. Zander smiled to himself as he looked back to Vincen
t. He was talking to Charlie. Zander wondered how mad Sawyer was going to be when she found out that their contact for getting close to her was the old man she trusted the most. He was cagey with them, but he wanted to get her out of the criminal world and knew only the team could do that. Charlie had been thoroughly freaked by her and Axel running into each other.

  When Sawyer got called to the ring, Charlie left Vin and headed towards Zander. Zander shook his hand when he got close.

  “Charlie,” Zander smiled pleasantly.

  “Z,” Charlie said curtly. “You aren’t going to get her on assault charges, right?”

  “We already caught her on a midnight… escapade and didn’t arrest her. We haven’t shut this place down. Why would we drag her off in handcuffs now?” Zander shrugged. “Doesn’t do us any good.”

  “Sure. So, Vincent said you all had a plan, but he didn’t elaborate. He told me to come talk to you, away from the ring.” Charlie seemed uncomfortable, but Zander could forgive him for it. Zander was impressed with the guy. He’d been great about not letting Sawyer in on anything going on behind her back.

  “Get her to go out tonight,” Zander whispered. “Then, you should stay with a friend for the night.”

  “That’s all?” Charlie frowned. Zander nodded, dismissing him. Charlie’s eyes turned hard, and Zander rolled his own.

  “We’re not telling you the entire plan. I’m telling you what you need to do,” he growled softly. “Take it or leave it.”

  “You are lucky as hell I recognized you from her old photos. It’s the only reason I trust you or your friends in this building. You’re my only option for getting her out of all of this,” Charlie growled, turning to stomp off. Zander ran a hand through his hair, sighing to himself.

  They had wasted so much time setting this up that they had no idea if Axel was close to finding her. He didn’t have access to the things they got from the IMPO, but Zander knew that nothing stopped Axel for long. New York might be considered a safe zone for Magi, but that probably wouldn’t stop Axel from trying to get what he wanted.

  He heard a cheer rise from the crowd and looked back to the ring. Sawyer was fighting without magic tonight, and she was killing it. She was as quick as lightening, determined, and intelligent. She got a focused look in her eyes, but she always kept a taunting smirk on her face unless her opponent pissed her off. She was popular among the crowd, too. She was made for the ring.

  But Zander still was haunted by the most important unanswered question. How the actual fuck did she end up as a thief and fighter hiding in New York after nearly getting killed by Axel?

  If their plan worked, he and Jasper would be getting the answers they wanted very soon. If their plan worked, he was also going to be out one hundred dollars.

  10

  SAWYER

  Sawyer changed and showered in the apartment after the fight. She was about to sit down when Charlie stomped in.

  “Get up. We’re going out,” he told her, grabbing her elbow and pulling her from the half squat she was in.

  “Excuse me?” She jerked away, confused. “I didn’t agree to go out tonight.”

  “You need it,” Charlie grinned at her, “and I want you to come out with me and all the guys and other fighters. Come on, you haven’t been out with us since before LA.”

  She groaned and leaned on him. The night had been interesting enough, and now the old fart wanted to drag her out? It’s one in the morning, she thought, a little cranky.

  “Charlie, why?” She considered pouting, but she was too old and much too tough for that. He wouldn’t buy it, anyway.

  “Because no matter what I’ve done over the last few weeks, you haven’t gotten out of your slump.” Charlie dragged her to her room. “Get changed. Wear something hot, get laid, and out of my hair for a couple of days. Shit, I’ll stay with a lady friend so you can have the apartment.”

  That had her laughing hysterically, even with her aching and tired bones. This wasn’t the first time Charlie demanded that she relax and cut loose for an evening. She was already clean and just needed to change.

  “Charlie, are you taking your own truck?” She called out.

  “Yeah, no worries!” He called back.

  She changed into her favorite pair of leather pants. She didn’t get to wear them enough, sticking to jeans when she was running around on errands. She grabbed a few shredded tank tops and layered them, then spent a moment frowning. Should she cover up the scar between her breasts or not? It wasn’t like she could hide the missing finger, and if the night went well, some guy would be seeing her scars anyway…

  She decided not to cover it and grabbed a light leather jacket. She knew Charlie was waiting on her to get moving, so she couldn’t just hide out. She slipped into her favorite boots. She didn’t own any heels. She would probably look good in them, but she didn’t want to be over six feet tall. The boots added an inch, and that put her at six feet even, she had no need or desire to be much taller. It was hard enough to get laid, since she really liked men taller than her; she didn’t need to make it impossible.

  “Let’s go, old man,” she laughed, walking back into the living room. Charlie looked her over and nodded, satisfied. She was sliding a ring on her right middle finger when he finally started moving again.

  “Come on,” he chuckled. She was quiet as they walked into the garage. She got into her own car, and Charlie led them to their favorite biker bar in his truck. She slid out of her car and followed him inside. She saw the ring girls having beers in a booth and the more regular fighters scattered around the bar, talking to women. She left Charlie as he walked to the booth and immediately hit the bar. Him and those ring girls. Sawyer shuddered at the thought. She should have never asked.

  “Whiskey,” She wasn’t in the mood for anything else. She found that the one she had earlier in the night had hit the spot. When she got her drink, she turned and looked over the bar. Some new faces that she wanted to pay attention to, but no one she found interesting enough. Damn.

  She turned back to the bartender and sighed. He chuckled at her, took her glass, and topped it off, even though she had only taken three swallows. She and Jeffery had a connection, though they never spoke to each other beyond drink orders.

  She sat on a stool, placing her elbows on the bar as she drank. By the end of her drink, the bar was getting more crowded, not less. By two a.m., all the seats in the bar were taken, and she knew that Fight Night had followed the fighters to the bar.

  “Another, Jeffery,” she sighed, sliding her empty glass to the bartender. He nodded and began pouring her a new one, leaving his other orders waiting.

  “Let me pay for that,” a deep, country-accented voice said over her right shoulder. It was friendly and masculine. This guy was out looking for a good time. She slid off her stool and turned slowly so she could see this new option for her night. He was obviously making the first move, and that seriously impressed her.

  She didn’t believe in the gods, from any pantheon, but she knew one when she saw one. Not really, he was just another Magi like her, but holy shit. She thought the Italian was handsome? Ha. Ha. Ha.

  He towered over her by more than a few inches, and his hazel eyes danced brightly under the shadow of his black cowboy hat. It hid the color of his hair, but that didn’t matter. Hell, he could have been balding, and she wouldn’t have cared. He had a warm face and an easy-going smile that had more than a touch of cockiness to it. He knew he looked good with a couple days scruff on his jaw. She looked down his body slowly, taking her sweet time. She was in no rush as she took in the man’s physique. Thick neck, broad shoulders and chest, trim waist, arms bigger than her thighs, and his legs, in blue jeans, promised to be just as defined as the rest of him.

  “Having a good time there, gorgeous? Going to take me out to dinner before you undress me in your head?” He chuckled. His southern accent brought out her own, something she worked hard to hide, but she couldn’t stop herself.

  “We’r
e past that point,” she laughed, giving him a smirk. “I’ll take your name, though, before I fuck you in my imagination.” She waited a long time for that piece of information as he looked her over just as slowly as she had done to him. At least she and Mr. Cowboy were on the same page. She saw the heat in his eyes as he looked over her toned legs wrapped in leather. “What, I don’t get even a name before you undress me, big fella? Like what you see?”

  “Evan. I hate bars, but I would love to see more nearly anywhere else. You?”

  Well, he was forward. So was she, but she had just gotten a fresh drink. She needed to slow them right on down. She was here to get laid, but she was far too sober.

  “My name is Cambrie,” she chuckled. Time to bring out the middle name for hookups, she thought. “I’ll make you a deal. You stand there, look good for an hour, let me wear the hat, and I’ll follow you anywhere. Also, keep the drinks coming, Cowboy.”

  His laugh was booming. He immediately dropped the cowboy hat on her head and leaned down to her.

  “Just promise me that you know how to ride.” He winked. She tipped the hat’s brim, a dare for him to try and find out later.

  “Riding is the easy part, Cowboy,” she told him confidently.

  “Ride a lot, do you?” He leaned on the bar, looking down on her. The cowboy hat was just a little too big, and she had to push it up to keep her eyes on his.

  “I’ve never ridden a horse in my life.” She shook her head with a laugh at the face he gave her. She knew where his mind had taken that comment. “Motorcycles are more my thing.”

  “Find yourself on the back of a lot of motorcycles then?” He raised an eyebrow back at her, and she shook her head again.

  “No, Sugar,” she poked his chest. Sugar. God, sometimes the Georgia just fell right out of her mouth and she couldn’t stop it. It might have been the cowboy in front of her and his own accent bringing hers on. “I ride my own. Got a problem with it?”