Sleepers: Shifters Confidential Romance Collection

by Juniper Hart

  Slowly, they had fallen into a proper routine, one that had become second nature, and soon, the perils of their past became a distant memory.

  “You know, I—”

  Laurel’s words were cut off as the front door opened and Nicoy strode inside, his smile radiating out toward them.

  “You can’t even wait for me before you start pigging out?” he teased. Laurel leapt from her spot at the head of the table and threw herself into his arms, raining kisses over his pale face. His blue eyes gleamed with the supernatural shine of a vampire and Laurel’s heart jumped as she took in his handsomeness.

  “You look good, Nic. They had you doing squats over there, huh?” Xander joked, throwing his arm around his friend. Suddenly, another young man appeared in the doorway and Nicoy pulled back, gesturing for the attractive stranger to come in.

  “Come in, Julian,” he called. “Guys, this is Julian. He was in my class and he gave me a lift home.”

  “Oh!” Xander said, eyeing the newcomer with interest. “You’re a…”

  He trailed off and looked around sheepishly.

  “You can say dragon, Xan,” Nicoy laughed. “We’re all friends here.”

  “Julian, this is my mate, Laurel, and my roommate, Xander.”

  “You’re a legend at the compound,” Julian told Laurel. “Everyone talks about your smarts.”

  Laurel blushed at the compliment.

  “I had no idea I was so well revered,” she laughed. “Welcome, Julian. Come and sit down. There’s lots of food.”

  Julian seemed uncomfortable at the suggestion but Xander guided him toward the table. Laurel didn’t miss the look they exchanged and she shot Nicoy one of her own.

  “I thought they might get along,” Nicoy whispered, kissing her neck. For a moment, Laurel sat in his arms, savoring his closeness.

  “It’s over, Laurel,” he murmured in her ear. “We’ll never be apart again.”

  “I hope not,” she breathed. “It was unbearable being away from you. Again.”

  “At least we got to talk,” Nicoy reminded her.

  “I’m shocked we didn’t get caught.”

  “I think Anatoli knew but didn’t care,” he replied, laughing. With an arm snaked around her waist, he led her toward the table and the four sat down. Xander cast her a covert look.

  “Why do you keep leering at my woman?” Nicoy finally demanded. “Did you two start an affair while I was gone?”

  He was joking, of course, and Laurel laughed.

  “No…” she replied slowly. “But something else did happen while you were gone.”

  As she spoke, an indignant wail filled the room and all eyes shifted toward the speaker resting on the countertop of the kitchen.

  “What the hell is that noise?” Nicoy demanded. Laurel smiled and placed her napkin on the table, rising with her hand extended.

  “Come with me and I’ll show you,” she promised. She saw Nicoy’s confused look as he obliged and followed her down the hallway and into one of the bedrooms.

  Throwing open the door, Nicoy gasped in shock. Here the screams were louder, more prolonged, and clearly the work of a newborn who demanded attention.

  “This screeching creature is your daughter,” Laurel told him. Nicoy reeled forward, his eyes wide with shock as he took in the screwed-up face of the baby.

  “You were pregnant?” he choked as Laurel reached down to scoop up the fussing baby. “Why didn’t you say anything when we spoke?”

  “I didn’t want you to worry about me,” she replied lightly, rocking the child to her chest until she settled. “Anyway, I had Xander. He was the best surrogate father a woman could ask for.”

  “I’m sure that’s true,” Nicoy sighed, his eyes filling with love as he took in the mother and child. “But I would have liked to have been here too.”

  “You’re here now,” Laurel said quietly, stepping toward him to put the child in his arms. “You’re here for both of us.”

  Nicoy nodded, his breath catching slightly as he accepted the murmuring baby.

  “She’s… she was made before I left,” he mumbled, trying to do the math.

  “Yes,” Laurel replied gently. “She’s half fox, half vampire.”

  “Geez,” Nicoy sighed. “What is that going to mean for her? The vampires and foxes can’t stand one another.”

  “I know a pair who like each other just fine,” Laurel said, turning her luminous eyes on him. “And the Sleepers are working to change all that. Think of her as the first generation of a brave, new world.”

  Nicoy visibly swallowed and nodded, pressing his lips to the baby’s forehead as emotion overtook his face.

  “How can you love something so much that you just met?” he sighed.

  “I don’t know,” Laurel laughed. “I felt like that about you.”

  Nicoy raised his head and met her eyes.

  “And you know I did too,” he breathed. For a long moment, they bowed heads, their breaths washing over the sweet face of their little girl.

  “What’s her name?” Nicoy asked.

  “I was waiting for you to decide that.”

  He nodded.

  “Why don’t we name her after your mother?” he suggested and Laurel’s heart almost burst. She had been hoping for the same thing.

  “Amber,” she agreed. “Welcome your daddy home, baby Amber. You’re stuck with us for a long, long time now.”

  Dragon’s Roar

  Shifters Confidential

  Dragon’s Roar: Shifter’s Confidential

  Text Copyright © 2020 by Juniper Hart

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  First printing, 2020

  Publisher

  Secret Woods Books

  secretwoodsbooks@gmail.com

  www.SecretWoodsBooks.com

  1

  A flurry of movement caught the corner of Anatoli’s emerald stare, shattering her slight reverie. Instinctively, she turned her head away from the digital world map splayed across the far wall of her office to look toward the half-closed blinds of her windows.

  She instantly realized what it was that had captured her attention: the single-file line of new recruits walking warily through the sterile halls of the compound, their eyes shifting around for any detail that they might later regale their friends and colleagues with should they choose not to stay. There was nothing to see; Anatoli had seen to that. They had no idea where they were or how they’d gotten there, just like the crew before them, and the ones before that.

  And if they don’t make it through, they won’t remember ever coming either.

  In fact, this was the fourth said round of recruits and looking at them, the witch/vampire hybrid was already unsure about them.

  We already recruited the best of the best, she thought wistfully, remembering the group’s predecessors. As if reading her mind, Dex spoke.

  “I’m not sure about this batch for the Sleepers program,” he sighed. “They get more and more skeptical with each round.”

  Anatoli pulled her eyes away from the window to regard him with a half-smile. She had almost forgotten he was there with his stoic calmness.

  “Can you blame them?” she asked, sinking back into the leather of her swivel chair. “Considering the way we bring them here?”

  “It’s not just that,” Dex insisted. “They’re aware that they’re being taken now, so they’re more cautious and rumors are flying. I hate quashing rumors about what we do here.”

  Anatoli pretended the words didn’t bother her.

  “It was to be expected,” she repl
ied. “We’ll have to develop a better recruitment strategy is all.”

  She grinned disarmingly at him.

  “That might be a task suited to you,” she purred demurely.

  “You make it sound so simple,” Dex grumbled, his onyx eyes flashing incredulously. He again began pacing around the office as he had been before his focus had fixed on the newcomers. “Everything is becoming increasingly complicated, Ana, and you know it.”

  Anatoli felt her patience wearing thin. There was a reason she had always kept Dex so close to her, after all. He was supposed to be her voice of reason, but sometimes the dragon shifter was too much to take with his cynicism. She knew what his problem was. He was getting restless and a restless partner was a dangerous partner. She wondered if that had anything to do with the last crew who had been sent out, the one which had included her.

  But that’s why I called on him today, isn’t it? Soon all will be properly balanced as it was supposed to be.

  “Are you losing faith in our cause?” she asked innocently, knowing that was not the case in the least. Dex grunted, unmoved by her passive-aggressive stab at his loyalties.

  “I’m still here, aren’t I?”

  “Your physical presence isn’t my concern,” Anatoli retorted, sitting forward. Her dark mane fell over her pale complexion, framing her deceivingly heart-shaped face as she studied Dex closely. “You haven’t had much positive to say since we sent out the last dozen. Is there something you’re not telling me?”

  She watched his response closely.

  Not that I don’t already know everything, she added silently.

  “I already talked to you about that,” Dex muttered defensively. “It’s not like I’m hiding my sentiments.”

  “No,” Anatoli agreed. “You’re certainly not being quiet about it.”

  Dex sighed heavily and finally sat, facing her squarely.

  “I warned you already that I had my doubts about that group,” he said firmly. “I won’t apologize for speaking my mind.”

  Anatoli was silent for a long moment, chewing over Dex’s words. He was the most talented instructor she had brought into the compound, ten years earlier, well before they had even been ready for the recruits. He had not been her first choice for a partner, but as Anatoli had learned, things were not always as they seemed on the compound or with the Sleepers. The ones she had expected to remain had failed out or had run at the first sign of trouble, while others she had expected to cry had held strong and became the company’s most valuable assets.

  Dex had remained steadfastly at her side when all the others had disappointed her in one way or another. They had been hand-selected after a long, grueling process from various walks of life. There were scientists, doctors, law enforcement officers, and many more. Anatoli had not been discriminating about their lines of work. In fact, she had insisted on diversity. The Cabal had its hands in every pot. Why shouldn’t the Sleepers?

  She trained her eyes back on Dex.

  I should probably cut him some slack, she thought, stifling a sigh of her own. He’s invested just as much into this as I have. We all get cranky sometimes, don’t we?

  But Anatoli knew that wasn’t true either. If what they were doing was ever exposed, it would be Anatoli who would go down for everyone.

  “Don’t go all quiet on me,” Dex growled, falling back in his chair to fold his arms over his broad chest defiantly. “I hate it when you stare at me like that. I never know what’s going through that brain of yours.”

  “I’m thinking,” Anatoli replied honestly. In fact, she hadn’t stopped thinking for a month, ever since the latest issue had arisen. She was no stranger to problems with her Sleepers. The program was new and there were endless kinks to iron out, but this latest matter was beyond anything she had expected.

  And I have no one to blame but myself for that. I should have foreseen this happening. This last group was by far the smartest we’ve had.

  “What are you thinking about now?” Dex wanted to know. Through her peripheral vision, Anatoli saw that the last of the new group had disappeared down the hall with Callie. In mere moments, the fairy instructor would have a good handle on how well Anatoli’s intel had panned out, if the latest crew had what it took to overcome a universal cabal of various creatures who was hellbent on keeping the enchanted beings divided.

  For most of their lives, the supernatural figures had lived among the humans, loathing one another. Anatoli knew this was a disconnect carefully concocted by the upper echelons of political society, a knowledge that had made her public enemy number one for over three decades. It did not help that she was a hybrid and therefore considered an abomination in every circle but instead of wallowing in her misfortune of birth, Anatoli had decided to use what she had to her advantage.

  Once upon a time, we didn’t all live so separately. Once upon a time, all the magical beings were allies, friends even. We can accomplish that again, Anatoli told herself, giving her much needed encouragement.

  The concept was farfetched, Anatoli knew. It was not easy to undo decades of discrimination and bigotry, roused only to further the political gain of the wealthiest members of enchanted society. It had taken months of reprogramming for the Sleepers to understand that the very beings who had divided them were doing business with one another, laughing behind their backs.

  It had not been easy, but Anatoli had finally managed to show her disciples the light, even if she had lost some along the way. Not everyone could easily shake their predisposed notions of how life was meant to be and embrace the idea of a better future for everyone. The process was sometimes disheartening but Anatoli refused to give up, not when there was so much progress to be made.

  “Ana?”

  Again, Anatoli shook off her thoughts and refocused on the matter before her.

  “What?” she asked.

  “What’s wrong?” A note of alarm crept into Dex’s voice as he peered closely at Anatoli’s face, recognizing something he didn’t like. She tried to cover her worry with a smile, but the action was futile. Of course Dex could see right through her. She had wanted to broach the issue on her own terms, but it was hard when Dex was gazing at her with such intensity.

  Maybe I keep him around because he keeps me honest, Anatoli mused, not for the first time.

  “Probably nothing,” she replied nonchalantly but he only grunted at her response.

  “Probably?” he echoed. “Not a ringing endorsement.”

  I guess I’ll have to tell him now, she thought reluctantly.

  She wasn’t looking forward to his response.

  Anatoli rose from her chair to fully close the blinds before turning back to the digital map. She picked up the remote pointer and fixed it on Europe, her eyes carefully averted from Dex’s perplexed stare.

  “Sabine Mayer,” she finally said simply. She didn’t need to say much more than that. She already had the reaction she’d known she would get from him. Dex’s dark brows rose almost to his hairline in surprise.

  There’s a name I bet you weren’t expecting to hear again, Anatoli thought with bemusement. Not expecting but hoping, I’m sure.

  “What about her?” he demanded, his voice rising an octave. Anatoli knew why. Sabine had been under his express supervision during her training but that was not all there was to it. There had been a time when Anatoli had suspected that the instructor and witch had been involved in a deeper relationship than Dex had let on, even when he’d been asked point-blank about it. She still wasn’t clear on the specifics of what had occurred between her trusted partner and the woman.

  I should have nipped that in the bud the moment I suspected anything. It’s clear now that they had much more than a sordid fling, Anatoli realized.

  But the point was moot for the moment. It had nothing to do with what was happening across the world.

  “Ana!”

  “I’m not sure there is truly a problem,” Anatoli rushed on, suddenly wishing she hadn’t said anything at all. “G
iven the nature of her assignment.”

  Dex’s eyes were inky pools of nothingness as he set his sights unwaveringly on her.

  “What happened?”

  “I have no idea,” she confessed, shrugging slightly. “I lost track of her.”

  A long silence followed Anatoli’s announcement as Dex stared at her.

  “What does that mean?” he demanded, finally finding his voice. “How do you lose track of a Sleeper?”

  Anatoli scoffed lightly.

  “It’s easy when she isn’t activated,” she replied shortly. Dex’s confusion became palpable.

  “Then how do you know she’s lost if she doesn’t need to be activated?”

  It was a valid question but not one Anatoli wanted to answer. She knew what Dex’s response would be to what she’d done and she wasn’t sure she was ready to hear about it.

  There was no reason to know where the Sleepers were unless they were needed. Their training had been intensive enough to ensure they were properly placed and from there, trust was the key factor in the handler/Sleeper relationship.

  Unfortunately, Anatoli had never been exceptionally trusting.

  “ANA!”

  “Fine,” she muttered, darting her gaze away and settling back behind her massive desk. “Her GPS chip isn’t activated.”

  More silence ensued and Anatoli didn’t need to look at Dex to feel his indignation.

  “What did you do?” he growled furiously. She was slightly taken aback by the near-fury in his voice.

  “What do you mean?”

  Feigning innocence was only going to buy her time for so long.

  “Don’t give me that,” Dex spat. “What do you mean GPS chip? What did you do?”

  “I did what I had to do to keep the Sleepers safe,” she retorted defensively. “A GPS tracker was the best way to ensure that I know where they are at all times.”

  Dex began to shake his head, the dubiousness in his face almost slapping her in hers. She was almost in awe of his righteousness.