“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 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 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-five 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.’”
She snorted. Good for that old lady. Keep the guys honest.
“You and Zander are only twenty-six and twenty-seven. That is hardly an adult for a man.” She pointed her water bottle at him and watched him try to hold back a laugh and fail. She grinned at the clear, masculine sound of it. Jasper had always had a beautiful laugh, and she was happy that hadn’t changed. Her heart thudded a couple of times in reaction.
“Don’t say that to Vincent,” he finally got out. “He’s only twenty-seven and prides himself on his maturity.”
“Elijah and Quinn?” She asked, wondering if all the guys were roughly same age. They seemed like it.
“Twenty-seven and twenty-five respectively.”
“Elijah is one of the oldest?” She asked incredulously. “Have you met him?” That earned another laugh from Jasper as he nodded.
“Yeah, and Quinn never seems like the youngest here, either.” He began stretching and she joined him, tossing her bottle to the side of the mat. “How do you feel about him?”
“Quinn? He scares the shit out of me,” she sighed. “His magic is wild.”
“He’s the strongest Magi in North America,” Jasper grunted. “Well, except for any Legends.”
“Holy shit,” she huffed. “That’s impressive.”
“He was completely unknown to the IMAS and the IMPO until Vincent found him and recruited him to the team,” Jasper continued. “It’ll take a little while to get used to him, and for him to get used to you, but he’s not mean or anything. He’s careful and wary.”
Like a wild animal, Sawyer thought to herself.
“Are you telling her how to make Quinn like her?” Zander’s voice filled the mostly quiet gym.
“Yes,” Jasper responded. She looked over and narrowed her eyes on the redhead.
“Is there some trick to it?”
“Of course.” Zander grinned at her. “Get Shade and Scout to like you and there’s nothing he can do. They’re friendlier than him, and he trusts their judgment.”
“Stop talking about me,” Quinn growled as he walked in after Zander. Zander spun to him and Sawyer edged a little closer to Jasper. She wasn’t normally so wary of someone, but goddamn, Quinn terrified her.
Vincent and Elijah were close behind him, and they were called to get to work. Sawyer kept a mental list of the workouts they were doing, in case she needed to add anything for herself. Jasper spotted her for the workout, while Zander paired up with Vincent and Elijah with Quinn.
Bench press, pull ups, the overhead press, lateral raises. The list went on and on. Sawyer quickly realized that these guys were going to make sure every single muscle in her upper body screamed for forgiveness. Now she knew why they were all fucking ripped, and this was coming from a woman who knew how to work out.
“Holy fuck,” she groaned, sitting down after Vincent made sure everyone completed their two-hour rotation around the gym. “It’s not like this every day, right?”
“We only work this hard three times a week,” Zander panted to her, collapsing next to her on the floor.
“You get the rest of the morning to shower and eat. Meet me in my office at ten,” Vincent told her before leaving. She groaned and leaned on the wall.
“What does he want?” She asked Zander, who sighed.
“He wants to know why he should take firearms off your training. They were the morning training session we had planned, but…”
“But I lashed out yesterday,” she grunted as she stretched her legs out in front of her. “It wasn’t about the guns, but yeah, I’m not touching them.”
“What do you have against guns?” Zander swatted her sore upper arm, and she rubbed it slowly.
“I think they are too easy, too cheap,” she snapped. “If someone is going to kill me, they owe it to me and themselves to have the balls to get in my face when they try it.”
“Wow.” Zander went wide-eyed after she was done. She
stood up and looked down at him. “Everything about crime and death to you?”
“Yeah.” She offered a hand to him, and he took it, standing up. “It’s all I’ve known for eight years, Zander.”
“You could lighten up,” he pressed. “Just for a minute. Like, I bet those kids and their parents would have been better off with a gun for self-defense. Assholes wouldn’t hit them if they had a gun to protect themselves.”
“That goes both ways, Zander.” She rolled her eyes. “Drunk, mean pricks get guns and threaten lives. Sometimes, the trigger gets pulled and innocent people die. And, you know what? I just don’t like them. That should be enough.”
“A bit hypocritical,” Zander said as they left the gym. “A woman beats the shit out of people in back alleys, but god forbid someone own a firearm to keep themselves safe.”
“Anyone can learn to defend themselves from a beat down,” she hissed. “Not even I’m a good enough Magi to dodge a bullet, unless it’s from a distance and I can fucking blink and sublimate.”
“Fine,” Zander stepped back. “I’ll let him know, but he’s still going to expect you to talk to him.”
“Fine.” She stomped up the stairs and was able to claim the shower after Jasper stepped out.
She knocked on the office door as hard as she could. She heard the opera coming from the office and knew it had to be Vincent’s music choice, not Elijah’s. Italian opera, at that.
“Come in,” he called out to her, and she pushed the door open and stepped in. This office was classier and more organized then Jasper and Zander’s. It had a full wall of books, and Sawyer eyed them as she walked in. The Art of War stood out to her, along with several books on chess. His book choices told her more about Vincent than she felt he ever would.
A Life Of Shadows Page 16
