An Echo of Darkness (The Redemption Saga Book 4)

by Kristen Banet

  “I love you. You can’t leave me yet. I need you.”

  “Fucking finally,” he groaned. “I love you too, little lady.”

  “No funerals,” she whispered, leaning close, kissing his cheek.

  Vincent swallowed, looking away. He was happy for them, but he wanted them to have this moment alone. Even James and Charlie had the decency to look down at the floor and not try to stop it. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Quinn grinning like a fool.

  “No funerals,” the cowboy promised.

  There was a peaceful, happy silence as everyone let Sawyer and her damned cowboy have their moment.

  Vincent was so glad it happened. Those two deserved it.

  “Well, I hate to have bad news, but…” James began talking after the long moment.

  “Then don’t have bad news,” she muttered, looking around at him at the foot of Elijah’s bed.

  Vincent hid a smile with his hand and heard a choking laugh from Jasper behind him.

  “You were caught on tape screaming how much you love him. We’re going to have to deal with it.” Their handler sighed, shoving his hands into his pockets. “It could get you taken off the team.”

  “No,” she said simply, shrugging. “No.”

  “What?” James looked startled.

  “James, look at him.” She pointed at Elijah. “Really look at him. This happened to him because of the work he does for our government. To protect them and uphold their law. And the Amazon, where we were cornered into taking a mission where we could have all died, and Quinn nearly did.” She shook her head and Vincent realized where she was going with this. “And I’ve been with this team for all of this. As Jasper lost his leg upholding their law. I’ve been beaten on. I’ve been tossed aside. I’ve been condemned. I’ve nearly lost my life. And that’s only in the last few months…while upholding their law. With this team. This team who is willing go the fucking distance to get something done.” She looked down at her hands again, then back up at James. “Tell them the truth and then tell them that if they try to take me from this team, they don’t just lose me. They lose a team that has been broken and bled for them, that has fought for them, only to earn their distrust and their vitriol. And then I’ll take all of that to the press.”

  “That doesn’t-”

  “If they try to do it before this case is over, we’ll take Sawyer to our own safe house and we’ll leave them to sink or swim,” Vincent cut him off.

  James looked between them, swallowing, then nodded.

  “Then I’ll tell you what else you’ve all missed.”

  Vincent frowned. They had missed more?

  “You know the WMC has been in private sessions, trying to address the open seats on the Council, correct?”

  “Yes,” Jasper said, sitting down on Sawyer’s bed.

  “Well, today they plan on announcing their decision. They voted that special elections should be done immediately, to help repair the government as quickly as possible. So good news.”

  “That is good news,” Vincent agreed softly, nodding. “Did anyone vote against it?”

  “That’s not public knowledge. Sorry.”

  “Damn,” he sighed. “Fine. Well. Jasper and I will get to the IMPO headquarters and get back to work.”

  “Be safe,” she said to him, leaning over Elijah. He met her halfway for the kiss. He was nearly out of the room as Jasper did the same, saying goodbye to her.

  He loved that she, for all her toughness, took a moment to do that for them. To tell them to be safe, or goodnight, or to have a nice day. It made him feel like it was a genuine and real relationship.

  “Wait!” she called out, following him and Jasper out of the patient room.

  “What do you need?”

  “You don’t need to catch them today. That’s unreasonable. Get me something, though, Vincent. Anything. Even just a suspicion. Then…well, we can work on a plan that maybe I can use to dig up the rest.”

  He smiled, a small one. There she was, the professional.

  “Of course. Then we can do what needs to be done. Safely. No collateral damage.”

  “Exactly.” She ran a hand down his upper arm and he loved the casual, calm touch. He figured Elijah being alive had brought her out of the anger for a moment. It would return, but he was glad that she was finding some balance. There was nothing wrong with being possessive, but he didn’t want her to scar her soul more while defending them to the bloody end. She turned to Jasper and gave him a similar touch, placing her palm on his chest. “You two can do this.”

  “Thank you,” the Golden Boy whispered.

  Then she went back into the patient room, and Vincent looked at stormy blue eyes. “We’re on our own.”

  “We are, and we need a lucky break.”

  “We do,” he agreed.

  25

  Quinn

  Quinn stepped closer to Elijah’s bedside as Sawyer walked back in. He’d heard, thanks to the wolves, what had been said out there. He was glad she was considering the pack, how they worked together. It was easy for something like the jaguar to decide to go out on its own.

  But Sawyer was remembering the pack. She was stronger with them backing her up, even if her actions were her own.

  “Quinn,” Elijah murmured, extending a hand. Quinn took it, a firm grip, knowing what the cowboy wanted. “I got into a car accident.” The words were slurred from drugs the wolves could smell. Quinn knew what hospitals were like. He knew there were chemicals in Elijah that weren’t natural. They eased the pain, though, so it didn’t worry him.

  “You did, and you nearly died,” Quinn whispered. It had hurt to know Elijah was nearly gone on him. Like losing a limb, or losing one of his wolves. “Don’t do that again. Sawyer doesn’t like it.”

  “Haha.” The cowboy snorted, looking at her. “Hey, little lady. I’m stuck in bed. Come be stuck with me.”

  “Oh good gods,” she muttered, a small smile taking over her face. “Charlie?”

  “He’s fine. We stopped the bleeding in his brain, set and healed the breaks. Closed the lung, which actually did require cutting him open to set the rib that had punctured it. Then we healed that closed too. As long as he stays in bed and doesn’t hit his head again, everything will heal just fine.”

  “No sign of long term problems?” James asked that. The wolves could smell their handler’s worry and even a tinge of uncomfortable feelings, probably over the displays of affection between all of them.

  “No. No signs of dead tissue. Since it was being watched and IMAS was all over the city, the first healers and EMTs got to him quickly enough.” Charlie smiled at them. “Before I get out of here, I’ll get Zander to come in so everyone is accounted for. He’s burned through everything. Tried to get him out of the room when he burnt out, but he refused. Boy doesn’t play anything safe, does he? Touched his life force like an idiot and then three of us forced him out.”

  “He’s…known for reckless behavior when he’s healing,” Quinn explained.

  “He’s known for just being reckless in general,” she corrected, grinning. “But it’s a good reckless. We know he’ll never let any of us die.”

  “Well, with that all taken care of, I’m going to let you guys keep an eye on this one.” The big black man pointed at Elijah. “I need to get home.”

  “Be safe, Charlie.” Sawyer walked to hug him and it was a good solid embrace. “I hear you might be the only civilian Magi in the city now.”

  “Like a fucking assassin is going to chase me out of my city. The others are just fucking pussies. They didn’t know one had been here for years already.” Charlie shook his head. “Plus, I can’t leave the gym to fucking Liam - who, by the way, has been up my fucking ass about everything going on. Boy loves you too damn much. Oh, and all the older kids have been rooting you on and telling everyone they can about you. Shadow’s kids, they call themselves.”

  “Save them from themselves,” she muttered, letting him go.

  “I’
m trying,” the old man grumbled back. “I’m going to take a fucking nap first.”

  “I should also be going,” James said, looking between them. “It’s…been an interesting night. I’m glad everyone here is okay. I think I need to start working on making sure this isn’t all broken up. It’s the only thing I can do for you right now.”

  “Thanks, dude!” Elijah grinned. “Wait. Fix what?” Elijah frowned, a dopey frown that looked like something Quinn had seen in a cartoon one of them had made him watch before.

  “It’s not memory loss. He’s super drugged,” Charlie said, leaving the room.

  “Us being broken up because I’m with all of you in a romantic relationship that is not only inappropriate, but…against conventional standards,” she explained, smiling as she sat on the other side of his bed again. Quinn enjoyed how close they were in that moment, around their injured packmate. Everyone had their places. Vincent and Jasper were on the hunt for the pack’s safety. Zander was resting from saving a member of the pack. He and Sawyer were supporting the injured pack mate as he recovered in a safe environment. Such a natural way for them all to fit together.

  “Oh. That. Fuck them. I got plans. She’s staying with me.” Elijah said it simply.

  “Plans?” he asked softly, sitting down on the bed as well now.

  “Yeah. Those plans.” The cowboy gave the most exaggerated wink of all time. It wasn’t hard to figure out exactly what those plans were, not for him, but the cowboy decided to elaborate. “You know. The plans where we both-”

  “Let’s not talk about those plans here,” he said quietly, eyeing James. “If you don’t want to be uncomfortable, you might want to leave.”

  “Yeah. I’m going. Need to speak to Thompson immediately. I’m sure that video is now viral. I’ve been avoiding checking the news…or answering my phone.” At that, their handler did look down at it and groaned. “Yup. Ten missed calls. All Thompson. Forty-two texts.”

  Quinn didn’t have anything to say to that.

  James waved at them, wished them well once more and left.

  When he was gone, Quinn finally relaxed more, leaned down further and placed his forehead to Elijah’s. “I’m glad you’re going to be okay.”

  “Yeah, bud, I’ll be fine.” He dragged fine out. “Now why don’t both of you relax with me. There’s space.”

  There wasn’t, but Quinn backed off so Sawyer could crawl a little further on the bed. Something about the sight of that made him growl in pleasure. Sawyer crawling into a bed with them in it.

  “Those plans,” he murmured, looking between them.

  “Oh.” Realization dawned on her face. “By the fucking gods, you two.”

  “Yeah, the fucking gods,” Elijah said crudely, grinning.

  “You can’t…do that,” Zander said walking in. “No fucking. You’ll lie in that bed and fucking heal, you god damned perverted cowboy.”

  Zander looked exhausted, too worn, something that was common since the man couldn’t resist doing literally anything in his power and beyond it to help someone.

  “Go sleep on my bed,” she ordered softly. “And thank you for helping Elijah.”

  “Of course. You love him. He’s my teammate, my family. I was going to keep him alive. No reason to say thank you, babe.” Zander smiled wearily. It was an attempt, at least. Then he walked to her empty hospital bed and collapsed, snoring in only a few moments.

  “We should turn the news on and keep an eye on it. Watch out for that WMC announcement. Work.” Quinn was already reaching for the remote as he said it.

  “Of course. We can brainstorm while Jasper and Vincent are safe at the IMPO headquarters.”

  “And I will keep us safe here,” he promised her. He glanced at Elijah, noting that he was silent already, and saw that the cowboy had passed out between sentences. Just out like something flipped a switch. It was good to see him resting. “You all need rest. I am fine.”

  “Thank you, love,” she murmured, her head nestling gently next to Elijah. He saw she was careful to not put any sort of weight on him.

  “Of course.”

  He watched her eyes drift to a close.

  Soon enough, he had three people all giving him a melody of the quiet snores of sleep. Not the animals, though, who took that moment to get up and stretch. He eyed Sombra, the dangerous jaguar. He couldn’t feel her like his wolves - that was up to Sawyer - but he hoped his boys would tell him if anything was wrong. So far, the only thing they had told him was that she worried about her Magi. Her human had been hurt and one of her males had been hurt.

  He watched the news while the animals jumped around. Even Kaar was hopping around, staying inside with them. It was unusual for the raven to stay when Vincent left. He tried to peck at Sombra, who gave him a lazy swat, making the bird puff up, trying to be bigger. The wolves found it humorous.

  “Don’t you know that cats eat birds?” he asked, his eyes on the news.

  Kaar jumped on Sombra’s back like it wasn’t a big deal. The jaguar bared her teeth, but nothing happened.

  He had gone from hunting assassins to babysitting the animals. He wanted to think this was an unusual occurrence, but really, it felt more normal than anything else had in New York.

  Hours passed, and he got no word from anyone. Sawyer woke up at one point, pulling up a chair to sit next to him between the two beds. It was an amicable silence, their shoulders touching. Every so often, he would reach out to touch her hand, hold it for a moment, to let her know he was there. She would squeeze it, letting him know that she knew.

  That was all he wanted, really. He liked the quietness. There was no great public passion between them, though the possibility was there. In the months since the Amazon, they had become silent. The silence wasn’t bad; they had just moved on from needing to say anything. A simple touch told them each what they needed to know.

  He loved her.

  She loved him.

  They were pack and belonged with each other. They could support each other and would always do so.

  “I am glad you have…found peace with Elijah.” He wasn’t sure how to word it. “I had hoped you would love him. He needs love.”

  “You all need love. Everyone needs love.” She smiled. “God, listen to me. ‘Love fixes everything.’ What have I become?”

  “I like it,” he murmured.

  “I do too,” she whispered, keeping her eyes on the screen. “Oh, fucking finally. Thought this was going to be a morning release.”

  “New from the WMC today. They have decided not to do special elections to refill the seats of the Council, and instead elected a Head of Council, Councilman Suarez. This is due to the state of emergency that the Council is facing. The attack on a safe house where over half of the Council members are staying, and the severe injuries sustained by Sawyer Matthews and Elijah Grant, has led them to this decision.” The anchor looked pale and his face was pinched, as if he knew something the viewers didn’t. “Have a nice afternoon, everyone.”

  Quinn frowned. That hadn’t been what James told them would happen.

  Sawyer was on her phone in a second, talking away with Vincent.

  Quinn just kept frowning. Politics of this sort weren’t his expertise. He would do as the team told him.

  26

  Sawyer

  Well, what the actual fuck.

  “Just saw it. No one was warned,” Vincent said as he answered the phone. “I’m going to guess that you have an idea.”

  “Yeah. Let’s talk to Dina.” Sawyer couldn’t believe those words were coming out of her mouth.

  “What?” He sounded just as shocked as she felt. She heard a growl from Quinn, but had to ignore it for a moment so she could explain.

  “We know Dina. This is obviously some behind closed doors politics. This could very well be, and possibly is connected to what’s going on.” She took a deep breath. “And Dina owes us. She owes me.” For the secrets she planned on keeping for the Councilwoman. For the things Dina h
ad put her and her team through.

  She owed them.

  If Dina was as morally righteous as Sawyer believed she could be, then this was just a way for the woman to help do what’s right. If it was connected, anyway.

  “You’re right. I haven’t made any progress here. We’ve been looking through financial records, but we were downright refused the records for individual Council members.” Vincent groaned. “Damn it. I was going to call you the same moment to say I think this had something to do with it all. You just shocked me by saying Dina. It’s a solid idea. Jasper and I-”

  “I’m going too. We’ll leave Quinn to protect Elijah and Zander, while we handle Dina.”

  “Should we bring James?” he asked. “Don’t answer that. I’m going to bring him as well. He’s been stalking around the building, yelling at people. We’re getting some dirty looks because of what happened last night. And the Triad member? Adaih? He’s not talking, so everyone is pretty pissed off at everything.”

  “Okay. Come pick me up.” She hung up. She had known that assassin wouldn’t talk, but she had said it on the first day in New York: this was all moving so fast.

  Too fast.

  Something, in the back of her mind, realized why. It clicked.

  The Triad weren’t making the rules. No, they would want to slow down. They would want to wait for the heat to cool and drop off before going after another target. They wouldn’t roam into a building full of guards. They weren’t stupid.

  They were being pushed to go quickly. But by who?

  That was the important part.

  She chewed on that thought.

  Too fast. Too bold. Too big.

  The Triad were also out of their depth. That’s why all three of them had come after her. They had assumed she would set the trap, but did they have time to plan for who on her team would be there with her?

  And now a major political shift. The person behind the scenes?

  “Quinn?” She looked to her beautiful man, who was frowning still. The frown hadn’t left since the announcement.