by Juniper Hart
Their fates were sealed.
1
It was increasingly difficult for Laurel to concentrate on the work in front of her. The more she tried, the more she became aware of the struggle and the more she tried to ignore it, the more difficult the struggle became.
Just keep your eyes down and away from him, she chided herself, but the mental scolding wasn’t helping in the least. The mere feel of Preston’s nearness was enough to send her nearly over the edge, more so that day than ever before.
It’s because you know this is the last of the days you’re going to spend with him, she realized, the new thought not helping matters. It didn’t matter why; it only mattered that it was happening, and she desperately needed to stop thinking about him.
It didn’t much help that every time she looked up, Preston seemed to be casting her a similar look, his dark eyes meeting with hers to send shivers of pleasure through her body and a hot flush to her face.
For months, they had been dancing back and forth with a visual flirtation, one that Laurel had kept at bay despite her deep attraction to her lab partner. She had no intention of getting involved with Preston or anyone else, not when she was there to work and focus on the bigger picture. They were there to change the world, not fall in love. Still, she didn’t mind their pheromonal samba that seemed to be peaking in their last days at the compound. They only had one another, after all.
She knew that other recruits had ignored the fraternization rule and coupled off, but Laurel wasn’t other beings. Delicate features aside, the fox shifter had a core of steel which very few ever saw in her. She preferred it that way, her fragile appearance never rousing suspicion of anyone—until it was far too late to run. Underneath that gentle exterior was a brain that knew no bounds.
Laurel had to remind herself of all that as she again forced her gaze away from Preston and toward the stainless-steel counter in front of her.
You are stronger than this. Access that reserve of willpower and be strong!
The problem was, she wasn’t sure she wanted to. After nine months, she had proven to herself that she had the resolve to hold back but why should she bother anymore? They were done. They had done what they had come there to do, and Preston wouldn’t be a distraction anymore.
Their work at the compound was top secret, not that it was surprising given their newfound positions as Sleepers. From the moment they had walked in the door, they had been forewarned about the sensitive nature of their work. Yet Laurel and Preston had business that the others did not—or at least not that Laurel was aware of. For all she knew, there were dozens of covert operations happening all over the compound but she knew better than to ask. Even if she had asked, she would have been met with a stony wall of silence. The right hand wasn’t supposed to know what the left hand was up to. It was Anatoli’s recipe for keeping everyone in line.
She and Preston were scientists, a fact that had been kept from the recruits by the strictest of Anatoli’s orders.
“Everyone has a job here,” the witch/vampire hybrid had explained in her usual intense way. “Yours is simply more restrictive than some of the others. No one is to ever learn about your position. Is that clear?”
Naturally the wolf and fox shifters had wholeheartedly agreed to Anatoli’s terms when confronted with them, but in private, Laurel had a different take on the matter.
“I don’t understand what this lab work has to do with being a Sleeper,” Laurel had declared more than once but never to Anatoli. Like the other Sleepers, she was mildly afraid of the director and the last thing she wanted to do was rouse Anatoli’s wrath by questioning her motives, even when they were oftentimes questionable. In retrospect, Laurel had never seen the director do anything specific to indicate that she was dangerous, but there had always been an air about Anatoli that suggested she could be a very formidable adversary if push came to shove.
And Laurel had no intention of shoving.
One can’t be wanted by half the world without doing some shady things to earn that fugitive status, she thought of Anatoli. All the shifter law enforcement agencies couldn’t be wrong. Whatever search Laurel had tried to do on the director on her own time had proved relatively fruitless, but that only meant the fox didn’t know where to look. She could have asked some of the more tech-savvy beings for intel but she ultimately decided to leave well enough alone.
Laurel was happier not knowing. Life was so much easier when she ignored the negativity around her. She didn’t want darkness compromising her own focus.
“It could be worse,” Preston teased. “We could be out running laps around the compound.”
Laurel smiled but didn’t respond. She didn’t mind the physical activity that the other recruits endured. She was a fox, after all. Running was in her nature. Laurel would catch up with those laps later, when the workday was finished. It was one of the only times she was completely at peace with herself, darting around the compound in her fox body, bounding free and forgetting that she had been locked up for three quarters of a year. It was in her nature to move.
Science is also in my nature and I better get back to these samples before the entire day escapes me.
“Do you think this means we’re going to be paired together, wherever we end up?” Preston asked, once more distracting her from the task at hand. She didn’t admit that she liked the distraction. His was a query Laurel had pondered many times herself. As far as she knew, they were the only two scientists in their class, but she reasoned that it might lead to them being separated for that alone. Surely Anatoli wouldn’t want to keep two valuable assets in the same spot.
Then again, when does Anatoli ever make perfect sense?
She flipped her strawberry blonde mane over her shoulder and winked teasingly at him.
“Oh, I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” she replied lightly.
“Why not? I think we’d make a great team!”
“Well, that’s exactly it,” Laurel chirped back jokingly. “I’ve already had to put up with you for nine months. I don’t know if I could endure another minute.”
Preston scoffed and pretended to be offended but Laurel clearly read the twinkle in his eyes.
“You’d be lucky to be paired with me,” he insisted. “I’m a survivalist. I can handle the wilderness and I make a mean steak.”
Laurel blinked and laughed, confused at his declaration.
“Wilderness?” she echoed. “Since when are we being sent into the Amazon?”
Preston turned away and Laurel couldn’t read his expression, but a peculiar feeling of apprehension shot through her.
“Who knows where we’re being sent?” he replied quickly, pressing his eye to a microscope. She wondered if he was really examining something or if he was trying to keep his face from her.
Did he just inadvertently spill the beans about something I’m not supposed to know?
The idea both intrigued and bothered her. It was one thing for Anatoli to keep her unaware of what the other recruits were doing but to keep Preston informed while she was left in the dark? That didn’t seem right.
“But the wilderness?” Dubiousness overtook her tone and she shook her head. “You seriously think they’d send us there?”
Preston sighed and raised his head.
“We’re shifters, aren’t we?” he reminded her. “We’re made to be in the wilderness. It’s almost a waste of our talents to live in condos and buy Starbucks every day.”
Laurel gaped at him, wondering if he was only teasing her.
Why would they put us in the lab and then thrust us into the wild? That doesn’t make any sense, does it? We’re supposed to be training for our placements. Regardless of what Preston says about his ability to make fire, we wouldn’t last a week in the wilderness!
Moreover, she asked herself if Preston genuinely believed that the shifters should be living in caves, not enjoying mortal luxuries like everyone else. Suddenly, she wasn’t so sure about her lab mate. She had encountered
some strange beings at the compound but this had to take the cake. She’d never heard anything so absurd.
Preston laughed abruptly, the sound filling the room in a canned fashion, and Laurel felt her shoulders relax.
“Of course I’m joking!” he jeered at her. “We’re scientists. What the hell good would we be in the middle of nowhere? Anyway, how would I know where they’re sending us? I’m a recruit too, remember? I’m just as clueless as you are.”
Laurel giggled and turned her head back toward her own microscope. Despite being chained to his side for three quarters of a year, maybe she didn’t know him as well as she thought. She had been sure he was being serious.
He’s just a better liar than me, an unexpected voice offered. She frowned.
“I guess we’ll find out one way or another next week,” she said, shrugging as she washed off the uncomfortable feeling.
“Are you going to be happy to get out of here?” Preston asked curiously and Laurel again raised her head to meet his eyes.
He’s purposely trying to get my attention, she realized. She wasn’t going to get any more work done that day.
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know. I mean, are you looking forward to it or would you rather just stay here?”
She pondered the question seriously.
For all those months, she had almost forgotten that the compound was only a stepping stone. She’d allowed herself to get comfortable, caught up in the structure of training and in Preston’s company.
This time next week, my entire life is going to be completely different. I might not have Preston to gawk at or even a lab in which to work.
A part of her was going to miss the compound and her covert work but a bigger side of her was excited to leave it all behind. She knew that the other recruits saw her as weak, unable to handle herself. She heard their gossiping words when they thought she was out of earshot. They mistook her fragile appearance as delicacy.
I’m going to prove them all wrong, Laurel thought with conviction as she slowly nodded her head. She didn’t remind herself that she would likely never see the others again after they left the compound. It was just another one of those unhappy thoughts she could shove out of sight.
“I’m excited to be starting somewhere new,” she replied slowly, forming her words as she thought them. “I’m excited about making a difference in this messed-up world of ours.”
Oddly, Preston’s face went blank but he managed a small smile.
“I’m sure that wherever you go, you’ll be a great success as long as you follow the plan, Laurel.”
Another spike of uneasiness shot through Laurel’s body, but she couldn’t say why. Somehow Preston’s words sounded ominous, threatening.
Don’t be ridiculous, she chided herself. What does Preston have to threaten you about?
Yet as she once again returned her attention to the work before her, she couldn’t help but cast Preston a sidelong look.
Why do I get the feeling that he knows something that I don’t know?
None of it made sense. No matter how many times she read the words and rearranged them in her own mind, she couldn’t reconcile what she was seeing. Back in her room at the compound, she stared at the manila envelope with blank eyes, shaking her head. Laurel had purposely waited until she’d returned to her room to open the placement envelope but now, she wished she’d confronted her instructors with what was on the page.
She was headed as close to the middle of nowhere as possible.
Just like Preston had predicted.
A chill trickled down her spine as she flopped back onto the cot and stared up at the ceiling, gnawing on her lower lip. It hadn’t been a prediction. He had known something. She wished she’d pressed him about that too.
Iceland. What the hell is in Iceland?
A knock on her door caused her to shoot straight up and hide the placement information under her bed before allowing the visitor to come in. Preston appeared, his olive cheeks flushed as he entered.
“Well?” he asked, his eyes gleaming. “Are we going to Hesteyri or what?”
Laurel balked slightly, her shoulders squaring as she met his eyes evenly. He sounded excited, not at all put off by the idea.
Am I crazy for thinking this is ridiculous?
“We’re not supposed to be discussing our placements,” she replied quietly but even as she said it, she knew that Preston had always been aware of what was happening.
“We’re going together,” he laughed, shaking his head. “Isn’t that awesome?”
Laurel forced a weak smile and nodded.
“It’s good,” she agreed.
“Anatoli wants to see us both,” Preston replied, ignoring the clear pain in her voice.
“Now?” Laurel demanded. She wasn’t sure she wanted to see anyone before she could fully process the placement.
“Yes. And when the queen calls, we are in no position to refuse,” he reminded her, chuckling. Laurel knew that was the truth also.
“I’ll be there in a minute,” she promised. “Close the door behind you.”
Preston seemed surprised by her demand, but he didn’t press the issue although he did pause at the doorway.
“Don’t be too long. We have a plane to catch. Iceland waits for no one!”
He was gone, leaving her alone with her own thoughts.
Something’s wrong here, she told herself, pursing her lips together. Something’s funny.
Yet as always, the harder she pressed to discover the problem, the more evasive it became. Whatever it was troubling her was on the tip of her tongue or tickling her ears like an unidentifiable song. It was there, just within reach, but…
Laurel shook her head. She was getting nowhere like this.
She hurried to lock the door in Preston’s absence before reaching for an encyclopedia perched on a high shelf in the corner of the room. Inside the book, the pages had been cut out and that was where she’d stashed the burner phone, one she hadn’t used until that moment.
All personal technology had been prohibited from the compound but that hadn’t stopped Laurel from sneaking away during the party the previous night to purchase one. It had been the first time they’d been allowed off campus and Laurel wasn’t about to let the opportunity go to waste. Her instincts were rarely wrong and something had told her that she needed contact with the outside world, something separate from what Anatoli was offering.
With mildly shaking hands, she dialed a number and waited as the phone rang. A female voice piped onto the line after the third chime.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Mom, it’s me.”
Amber inhaled sharply on the other end of the phone.
“Baby. Are you all right?”
Laurel paused, a combination of emotions overcoming her as she tried to decide what to do.
I should tell her I’m in Virginia and want to come home, Laurel thought. She’ll come and find me before I’m whisked away to Iceland for who knows how long.
But before she could confess to her mother that she was scared and that something felt wrong, a dozen images of her fellow recruits popped into her head.
They expected you to fail out months ago, she recalled, hearing their hurtful words in her head. They think they’re better than you, that they’re smarter, faster, cleverer.
“Laurel? Honey, where are you? I haven’t heard from you in months. I was going to file a missing person’s report.”
She cleared her throat and shook her head.
“No, Mom, don’t do that. I’m fine. I…I got an opportunity that I couldn’t refuse and unfortunately, I couldn’t tell you or anyone else about it.”
“Laurel, that doesn’t sound right,” Amber muttered, the ever-astute mother reading the apprehension in her only child’s voice.
“It’s fine, honestly. I’m fine.”
I’m doing this. I’m not going to let a case of nerves scare me off.
“You don’t sound fine,
” Amber insisted. “Can I see you? Can you call me on Skype?”
“No, Mom, I can’t,” Laurel sighed, wishing she hadn’t called now that she’d worried her mother more. “I just wanted to call and tell you that I love you and that I’m going to be out of touch for a while.”
“Laurel! You’ve been out of touch for nine months already! What is going on?”
“I’m sorry, Mom. I can’t talk about it. In fact, I shouldn’t even be on the phone right now but I couldn’t leave without saying goodbye.”
“Laurel, you’re scaring me.”
“No, don’t be scared,” Laurel assured her quickly. “In fact, be happy. I’m going to change the world. This is a huge deal.”
Amber paused and Laurel heard her draw in another deep breath.
“Laurel…what is going on? I promise whatever it is, you can tell me.”
“I love you, Mom.”
She disconnected the call and turned off the phone before replacing it in the encyclopedia. It would come with her wherever she went…just in case.
Then she pulled back her shoulders and rose from the bed. It was time to meet with Anatoli and try to figure out what was going on.
2
Every time Laurel laid eyes upon Anatoli, she was reminded of a pharaoh, splayed across a throne. It didn’t much matter if the director was sitting or standing, dressing in fatigues or dolled up in diamonds, the aura that radiated around the witch hybrid was powerful and unrelenting. It was a small wonder that everyone was moderately terrified of Anatoli, despite her slender stature.
