A Life Of Shadows (The Redemption Saga Book 1) Read online

  “So I make your death painless.” Axel stepped up closer to her, and she rolled her eyes.

  “You don’t do anything painlessly, so you’ll have to find a better reason,” she reminded him, spitting on the floor at his feet. He had screwed up, and she was getting the hell out of there. “Also, fuck you.”

  “Don’t ever fucking-” He went to slap her but missed. She phased through the floor again, his hand passing over her head. This time she let the drop take her two floors down. She didn’t know much about the lower floors and she landed on a metal desk, the impact jarring her leg and buckling her knee.

  She didn’t waste time on the pain, as loud noises could still be heard above her. She pushed into the hallway and blinked toward the end of it. As Axel and his followers came into the hallway, she phased through the window she had found and jumped.

  Free falling from a plane was a cool experience. With a parachute. Skydiving was an exhilarating pastime. Free falling from an office building onto a busy street without a parachute wasn’t nearly as enjoyable. Base jumping was stupid and reckless, something only the foolhardy thought was good idea.

  She let herself fall for half the height of the building before reaching into the last of her magic to change shape. She wasn’t a shape-shifter, per se. That was only because the ability to shape-shift was limited to changing into animals, and she didn’t become an animal.

  Doing this was going to send her into Source burnout, but she didn’t have a choice. The ground was coming to meet her quickly, and she wasn’t particular on becoming a part of the street.

  One moment, she was a solid human shape. The next, she was ethereal, airy, and light. Sublimation, an incredibly Rare ability, and her favorite. As a cloud of black smoke, she could float on the wind, making it so the concrete and asphalt below her weren’t scary anymore. She couldn’t do it inside with Axel because of his elemental control. He would have trapped her and torn her to shreds, since she was now part of the air itself.

  She had enough energy for about two minutes in this form, since she had to force her movement against the air currents to get far enough away; but it would be enough. Axel was stuck in the building, probably unwilling to make even more of a scene than he already had, and even he couldn’t stop the natural wind currents from carrying her away.

  Eight blocks from the building, she lowered herself into an empty alley. She’d done this mission without a go-bag or any of her weapons, preferring to go light over hauling a bunch of crap around, so she only had the phone and wallet she kept on her. Now she just needed to find a taxi and to get the fuck out of the city. Fuck her employer. She sure as fuck wasn’t calling him ever again.

  She pulled off the face guard, stuffing it into her pocket. She couldn’t take the long sleeve shirt off. She was pretty banged up, and people would see that if she was only wearing the tank top she had on underneath.

  She had to stay calm and keep her head. She couldn’t draw attention to herself now. If she freaked out, people would ask questions and she would become noticeable. She had to stick to her emergency escape plan and just focus on living through the night.

  She walked out onto the street, pulled some Marlboro Menthols from her pocket, and lit one as she kept moving. She rarely smoked. She knew how bad it was for her; but damn, on some nights, a good cigarette was the only thing between her and a total meltdown.

  Sirens could be heard in the distance, and she took a moment to appreciate that Axel wouldn’t come looking for her tonight. He needed to get out, too, or he and his little band of merry murderers would be having a standoff with the non-Magi police. It was enough of a break that she felt some tension leave her.

  She strolled quickly down the desolate street. Most people were intent on ignoring the ruckus nearby. Groups of people hung out on their steps, and one group of guys got eyes on her.

  “Hey baby, you know that shit is bad for you, right?” A man called out, as a friend of his whistled. She stopped and rolled her eyes at him.

  “Probably as bad as you are in bed.” She flipped him off with a smile, the cigarette hanging from the side of her mouth. She started walking again as one of the guys sputtered and his friends taunted him.

  “Now wait a minute, gorgeous,” another called out as she moved farther away. She didn’t have the time nor the energy to stop and deal with them. She needed more distance between her and Axel, so the catcallers would need to find other prey. Fuck, normally she would stop and teach them a lesson, but her Source was depleted; and she hurt to her bones.

  “Another night, boys,” she called back, taking a drag off the cigarette. Her hands shook from exhaustion as she flicked the ash off the end. She stopped on a corner and sighed as she took another long drag. She waved down a cab once she was done and had stomped out the cherry, pocketing the butt so she didn’t litter.

  “Where are you headed?” the guy said in Arabic, and she held back a groan before responding as she slid into the car.

  “This address,” she mumbled back, also in Arabic, handing him a card with only an address on it. She continued in English. “As fast as you can.”

  “Okay,” he nodded and handed the card back to her once he had punched it into his GPS. She repocketed it and watched LA fly by them. Cops were everywhere, and Sawyer mentally cursed everything that had happened. Now she needed to get the fuck out of Los Angeles before the cops started putting together what had happened. She kept her fingers crossed in the hope that they were more worried about Axel than her.

  “We’re here,” he said in heavily-accented English. “Your fare is-”

  “Here. You never saw me.” She pulled out her wallet, grabbed three hundred and tossed it in his passenger’s seat. He nodded and, the moment she closed the door, was spinning wheels to leave.

  She took a deep breath and walked into the decrepit apartments where she had the cab leave her. She staggered up the steps, trying to ignore the pain stabbing through her knee. When she bumped into the wall, she winced because of her injured shoulder.

  She got to the fourth floor and pounded on the door until she heard locks being turned. The woman who opened it looked at Sawyer wide-eyed as she pushed into the apartment. Sawyer didn’t have time for civilians.

  “Travis!” Sawyer called out, looking around the trashed living room. “This is fucking disgusting,” she mumbled to herself as she heard Travis stumble around in a back room. “Travis, I don’t have all fucking night.”

  “I’m coming!” She watched him spill out into the living room, pulling on sweatpants. Another woman was behind him, wrapping herself in a robe. “You weren’t supposed to be here for another two days.”

  Sawyer looked him over. Ragged, brown hair and bloodshot, muddy eyes. Too thin. Sawyer knew a drug addict when she saw one, and Travis, once a rising Magi star, was definitely an addict.

  “I’ll double my payment if you get me out of LA in the next hour.” Sawyer looked to the couch, needing to sit down and get off her bad knee, but the couch looked like she would get some unknown disease from it. No, thank you.

  “Fuck,” Travis glared at her. “And if I say no?”

  “I hire someone else, permanently,” Sawyer snapped. “And we both know I fucking fund your dumb ass.”

  “Fine,” Travis nodded, looking away from her.

  Finding a Magi who could make portals was hard, but Sawyer had connections. She didn’t need Travis as much as he needed her. It was bargaining chip she didn’t like using, since Travis wasn’t a bad guy. He had made some shit decisions that had ruined his life, though. Sawyer was the only person who was willing to give him a decent paycheck for the work he did. Others would just come in and threaten him or rough him up until he agreed.

  “Thank you,” Sawyer whispered kindly, inclining her head to him. He nodded back and waved for her to follow him. She ignored the two women watching them as she was led into the back room. “Come with me to New York? I know I promised you a few more days to enjoy the city, but we both need
to get out of here tonight.”

  “That bad?” Travis frowned at her. “I like Los Angeles, though.”

  “People tried to kill me tonight, Travis,” she whispered to him, closing the door for the back room. It was the cleanest room she’d ever seen, but Travis took his magic seriously. Magi who could make portals were Rare and well paid, but also highly regulated, much like pilots for non-Magi aircraft. He took the utmost care that his portals were perfect, even when he was as high as a kite. “I’ve got that apartment for you, and we can get you cleaned up. I don’t want to leave you here in case they find out about this and you.”

  “Who tried to kill you? You’re just some thief with a lot of money,” Travis hissed. He looked paler than before. “In the three years that I’ve worked for you, nothing like that has happened.”

  “Doesn’t matter who.” Sawyer shook her head. Travis, while a nice guy, wasn’t the most trustworthy person when it came to secrets, especially when he wasn’t on a sober streak. On top of that, he had no idea about her ties to Axel and the Ghosts, and she didn’t want him to. “We’ve got to get out of here. Get the portal up and aim for home. Charlie is going to want to see both of us.”

  “I hate that guy,” Travis mumbled. “I’ll put us in that empty warehouse. You know the one.”

  “The warehouse works,” Sawyer sighed. “I’ll tell the girls to get the hell out of here.”

  “Thanks,” Travis waved at her absentmindedly, already focused on his task.

  Sawyer walked back out into the main room and found the women giggling on the couch with a pile of white powder on the table in front of them. A simple inspection told her that they weren’t Magi. Of course, Travis would get a brunette and blonde to have fun with. Both had the largest fake tits Sawyer had ever seen, but that wasn’t something she was going to fault them for. She did fault them for not putting on a single shred of clothing while she was there. That was just rude.

  “You girls have to go,” Sawyer announced. “Travis and I are leaving, and you are too.”

  “What?” The brunette frowned, and Sawyer wanted to roll her eyes at the glazed, confused look in those brown eyes.

  “You heard me,” Sawyer grabbed the clear baggy the blonde was holding and the credit card on the table. “You’re leaving. Now. Go get some clothes on.”

  “Are you stealing our coke?” The blonde hissed, and Sawyer shook her head.

  “I’m putting it away. Plus, I know for a fact Travis bought it,” Sawyer sighed and slowly pushed the powder back into the bag. “Go get dressed. You can have the cocaine when you leave.”

  The girls shuffled away quickly, and Sawyer took a moment to refocus. Her shoulder ached. Her knee pulsed. Her emotions… well, she just needed to keep those under control for a little longer. Stay calm, she chanted internally. She and Travis were running out of time. Axel would never follow them back to New York, but they had to get there first.

  She waited near the door, gingerly holding the bag for them. She didn’t enjoy just giving these women the drugs, but she didn’t want to put their lives in danger by sticking around for the argument like she normally would have. She would rather them be high as kites anywhere else than in this apartment if Axel found it.

  “Here,” Sawyer groaned, shoving the bag into the blonde’s hand when she tried to pass. “Call a cab and go anywhere else.”

  “Alright,” the blonde shrugged with a nonchalant air. Sawyer felt a pang of jealousy, which was a strange moment for her. She didn’t like being jealous of drug addicts, but Sawyer wished she could be so secure of her place in the world. She wished she felt nonchalant and easy about how her night was going.

  Sawyer locked the doors and limped back into the room where Travis was nearly done. Portals took a lot of magic and time, depending on the distance crossed. If she had asked him to just go across the state, then he would have been done in a minute; but from one end of the country to the other… that took time, skill, and raw power. Travis had two of those, but Sawyer couldn’t trust that they had time.

  “How close?” She asked him quietly, staying away from the swirling vortex of blue magic that Travis seemed to be shaping. Touching an unfinished portal? Terrible way to die.

  “Another minute,” Travis grunted. She saw sweat bead on his forehead. He would be in burnout when this was over, that much was certain.

  Sawyer lit another cigarette as she waited. Once Travis was done, the swirling blue magic became what looked like a blackhole. It was standard for a portal, but it freaked Sawyer out to look into what seemed like the abyss.

  “Let’s go.” Travis reached out a hand to her, and she grabbed it. She took a long drag on her smoke as he led her into the dark.

  2

  SAWYER

  Sawyer staggered out of the portal, shivering from the cold that had seeped into her bones during the trip. Portals were efficient, but they weren’t instant. Rather, you had a seemingly endless fall in the dark, and it was cold. Magi scientists hadn’t yet figured out how they worked, but they did work, even if they bent the laws of physics. Sawyer didn’t really know why it was a big deal. She could turn to smoke and retain thought without a brain, and that didn’t make much sense either.

  “Call a cab, Travis,” she gasped. He didn’t seem bothered at all. Sawyer huffed. The ass.

  “Alright,” he chuckled.

  Yeah, get a laugh, Sawyer growled internally.

  They waited in silence for the cab. Sawyer looked up into the sun, letting the heat soak back in. Travis was twitching, something Sawyer had stopped letting get on her nerves years ago.

  The only thing either of them said when the cab arrived was the address for Charlie’s gym. Sawyer lived there, in an apartment with Charlie on the third floor. She needed a couple of days to get Travis resettled, but she always had an apartment in New York for him. While he hated using it, he wasn’t going to get the choice this time.

  She used her remaining cash to pay the driver without saying anything. She didn’t give Travis a chance to ask for a ride somewhere else, either. She just grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the car with her.

  “Sawyer, I really don’t find this necessary,” he groaned at her as she took him in through the back.

  “He’s going to knock you out until you sober up, then you can go to the apartment,” Sawyer told him sharply. “This is serious, Travis. You need to listen to me for a few weeks until I know we’re completely safe here.”

  “No one is going to try and kill us here in New York,” Travis complained in a whiny tone. “That’s why people hide here. No one causes shit with them nearby.”

  “I know that,” Sawyer growled, yanking him to look her in the eyes. “But I know how bad this really is, and you are going to fucking deal with my rabidly over-protective nature for a couple of weeks. Is that clear?”

  “Yeah,” he whispered, going a little pale. She felt a pang of guilt at her harsh tone, but she didn’t want to wake up one morning and find out that he accidentally got high and left the city for a weekend romp, only wind up in a ditch.

  “Go upstairs and lay on the couch. Charlie is probably in his office; I’ll get him. We’ve got a guest room if you want to use it instead.”

  “I’ll see you up there,” Travis nodded, and she was glad to see some color returning to his face.

  She looked around the garage and sighed at the familiarity of it. It was good to be home, but it was soured by the night she’d had. It wasn’t over, either. She touched the handle of her motorcycle and wondered when she would feel comfortable with going on a long ride again. It would be months before she felt comfortable leaving the city. She ran a hand over the hood of her other baby, a blue 2016 Audi R8 V10, as she walked by it. It was a gorgeous car, and Charlie hated it; but she wouldn’t give it up for the world.

  She was nearly to the back stairs leading up to the residential floor when she heard the yelling. She sighed and looked over to main gym, narrowing her eyes on Charlie.

  At s
ix feet two inches and three hundred pounds, Charlie was a born-and-bred Bronx resident. He was an imposing African-American who didn’t take shit from anyone, for any reason. She watched him grab a water bottle and throw it as he told someone to get the fuck out of his gym.

  “Charlie?” She called out, raising an eyebrow at him. She began walking over as he turned to her, giving her a deep frown.

  “Sawyer?” He picked up the water bottle he had thrown and put it on a fold-out table nearby. “You’re home early. Why?”

  “Later,” she whispered, looking to see who he was yelling at. It wasn’t someone she recognized, and who would be in the gym at this hour, anyway? It was nearly five in the morning, and Charlie looked like he hadn’t slept all night.

  “You might be able to help me,” the guy looked her over. She stiffened her spine in response, waiting for whatever this guy had to say.

  “She won’t help you either,” Charlie snapped. “Get the fuck out of my gym.”

  “What the fuck is going on?” Sawyer looked between them. Charlie looked furious, and the other guy glared him. She saw the resemblance.

  “Nothing,” Charlie growled at her. She raised an eyebrow at him. They stared at each other for a long time before Charlie began cursing under his breath. “He wants me to train him.”

  “And you won’t?” Sawyer laughed as she looked to the other guy. He was young, probably around her age—early to mid-twenties—and healthy. He had the body of a fighter, and she wondered if he’d tried it before or if he just took care of himself. “What did you do?”

  “I didn’t do anything,” he glared at her. “I was at Fight Night earlier and asked him to help me get in, but he’s been turning me down.”

  “That sucks, but at the end of the day, this gym is choosy with its clientele,” Sawyer shrugged. “You should go. There are other gyms. Though, if you keep up with the attitude, you’ll find that none of them will train you, either.”

  “Fine,” the guy huffed. She didn’t bother to ask for his name as he turned and stormed out. She looked back at Charlie and frowned.