Sleepers: Shifters Confidential Romance Collection

by Juniper Hart

  Her shoulders sagged but her eyes were bright with concern.

  “He’s going to come back after me, isn’t he?” she murmured. “He never got to finish what he started.”

  “He’s finished,” Dex growled with more confidence than he felt. He pulled Sabine against his body and kissed the top of her head, feeling the gentle race of her heart.

  I’m on my own in Germany with a pregnant mate and no backup while a homicidal demon is still on the loose. Oh yeah, and Sabine has no clue that she’s got magic abilities. What could possibly go wrong?

  Begrudgingly, Dex knew it was time to call Anatoli, as much as it pained him.

  Anatoli was silent so long, Dex had to check and see that the call hadn’t been dropped.

  “Ana?” he finally said, willing a response out of her.

  “Are you absolutely certain about this, Dex?”

  Her voice was even and calm, but Dex could sense a dangerous undertone.

  “About which part?” he asked. “About the maniac ex-recruit or about needing help?”

  “About Sabine.”

  The question chilled him and he bit on his lower lip.

  I shouldn’t have lied to her but I know what she’s going to demand if I tell her I found Sabine. She’s going to insist that Sabine be sent home right away and there’s no way I’m letting her out of my sight.

  “She’s close,” Dex replied. “I’ve asked around about her and folks think they’ve seen her, but I have nothing concrete yet.”

  “And you’re not at all concerned?” He didn’t miss the hint of sarcasm in her tone.

  “Of course I’m concerned but it sounds like she’s safe, left on her own accord…”

  He could hear how false his voice sounded.

  “Well, I’m not sure about Klaus Bremner,” Anatoli replied smoothly. “Yes, there’s bad blood but just because you two ran into each other and he lashed out doesn’t really give me a cause to send a manhunt after him. That’s hardly a way to blend in, is it? However…”

  Dex ground his teeth together so hard, the noise made him cringe.

  “If you find Sabine and need a safe extraction, please let me know.”

  Dex snorted loudly, darting his eyes toward the closed bathroom door where Sabine was showering.

  “I’m a dragon. I think I’m good,” he retorted. “Klaus Bremner is dangerous, Ana. He’s a threat to the entire program!”

  “Thanks for the warning. By the way, you have two more days to find Sabine. If you don’t make contact in that time, how about you shake your dragon tail all the way home, okay? The compound needs you. This new batch of recruits is a nightmare.”

  Anatoli disconnected the call before Dex could respond.

  “Two days?” he muttered to himself in disgust. “How the hell am I going to find Klaus in two days?”

  “What’s that?” Sabine called, stepping out of the bathroom, her hair wrapped into a towel turban over her head as she sashayed toward him.

  “Nothing,” he told her, drinking in her beauty. He extended his arms toward her and she hurried to him eagerly.

  If I want to catch Bremner, I need to tell Ana the truth about Sabine. That’s the only way she’ll send me backup to find him. If I do that, Ana will send in an extraction team for Sabine and she’ll never forgive me for that.

  Unless…

  A slow smile formed on his lips as he realized that he might have a solution to his problem after all. It would be sneaky and run the risk of irritating Ana, but it would certainly accomplish everything he needed to do without losing Sabine.

  “What are you grinning at?” Sabine asked, burying his face against her swollen breasts. “Did you talk to our boss and explain what happened?”

  “I did… Kind of.”

  Sabine pulled back and stared at him, her face etched with worry.

  “And?”

  “And she said we’ll figure out logistics later,” Dex lied. He loathed lying to her but there was still so much that Sabine didn’t know.

  “Dex, what’s wrong?” Sabine asked with concern. Dex sighed and shook his head.

  “I’m just so happy I found you again,” he murmured and he meant it. Once he had eliminated Klaus from the equation, everything would be right in their world.

  Well, until Sabine gets her memories back at least, he thought.

  One thing at a time.

  First eliminate Klaus Bremner and his partner. Then he could start his life with Sabine and their baby just like he’d always wanted.

  14

  Anatoli sat in her office, an eerie calm upon her face. For a long while, she did not move, her emerald eyes fixed solely on the desk before her, hands unmoving.

  He’s lying to me, she mused.

  Her gut never lied. An ancient wisdom coupled with years of fugitive life had taught Anatoli that there was little more reliable than her instincts. Being on the run in every country had certainly broadened her horizons enough to acknowledge the tingle in the back of her neck that almost always proved true.

  Almost.

  It was incredibly difficult for her to reconcile that her Dex, the dragon she had handpicked from the Marine Special Forces, was being untruthful but she had no doubt that he was and Anatoli could imagine why.

  “He’s found her and learned about Sabine’s pregnancy,” she said out loud to no one. “Now he’s being foolish and forsaking the cause to throw away everything we’ve worked for. All because of her.”

  She had known about the relationship between the instructor and student as it had been happening but it had hardly been the first time any such thing had occurred. Being confined to such close quarters for such a long time, it was inevitable that both the students and their handlers were bound to get restless. Truthfully, Anatoli had been surprised that both Sabine and Dex had sought out other people but ultimately, she had turned a blind eye to it simply because they were both such vital assets to the organization. Anatoli had yet to meet another recruit with Sabine’s dedication or a being with Dex’s loyalty.

  Some loyalty, she thought with a surge of bitterness. I give them everything and this is how they repay me?

  Anatoli rarely permitted her emotions to play a role in any of her decisions but in this case, she was comfortable with the bit of rage that seeped into her bones and made her head cloudy.

  The question was, what was she going to do about it?

  Several scenarios played out in her mind. She reasoned that Sabine could be reeling in the aftermath of learning about her pregnancy and deciding what to do. She fathomed the idea that Dex was trying to convince her to get herself together and remember her commitment to the mission.

  She had given him a time frame, after all. He could be spared for two days, even if it was an inconvenience.

  He’ll do the right thing, she told herself, her confidence mounting. She didn’t like the feeling of second-guessing herself, after all. She had built a business of following her well-honed intuition.

  She sat back in her chair and glanced at the digital map, the blinking lights of her Sleepers’ trackers meeting her eyes. She knew them all by rote, each red LED light a story of how far she’d come in building this empire, this legacy that no one but their operation knew about.

  And the recruits who have left, she reminded herself, another wave of uneasiness settling in as Dex’s words echoed through her mind.

  “Klaus Bremner is a loose cannon. He’s harboring a grudge and he’s dangerous.”

  She had all but laughed it off. The recruits who didn’t make the cut were deprogrammed immediately, the few memories they had gathered of training wiped from their subconscious with a small but ancient spell only the highest order of witches would know.

  I imagine the Cabal has their hands on that spell too, Anatoli mused but her concern was not with the big picture for the moment. She couldn’t help but wonder how much truth was in Dex’s statement about the failed recruit.

  Did the spell not take? How could he possibl
y remember Dex or anything else about the compound?

  She remembered that demons were more impervious to certain magic, their lineage outdating anything else known on the earthly realm. Of course, she’d said none of that to Dex. A part of her considered that he had been lying about that encounter, if only to use it as a distraction from him and Sabine.

  That’s a rather elaborate and specific lie, she mused. Dex had no way of knowing about the deprogramming spell. It wasn’t a widely advertised practice and the dragon was known for his righteous indignation, which Anatoli found irritating at times.

  Let’s just see how all this plays out.

  Her gaze settled on the northern region of Germany on the map in front of her, her eyes narrowing at the flashing light. There was only one there, three others further south.

  Slowly, she rose from her chair and inched closer to the map. It was by no means as intricate as, say, a Google map where she might zone into a specific location through the wall-length atlas. If need be, she could zoom into a location on her laptop and zero in on who she wanted. This grid was less detailed but from where she stood, it seemed that Dex was precisely where he was supposed to be.

  If you’re going to leave it alone, leave it alone, a voice growled in her head. Anatoli smothered a grin at the sound of her father’s irritated voice. You can’t worry about something that hasn’t happened yet.

  She knew his wisdom was sound as always and she turned away from the map, determined not to waste another second on the thought.

  As she took her seat, her private cell rang again and Anatoli eyed it, knowing who it was before she answered it.

  “Yes?” she said sweetly.

  “Ana, I’ve found her,” Dex whispered into the phone. “Sabine. I know where she is, but I was right about Klaus Bremner. He’s been stalking her. She won’t leave the house and she’s refusing to take my calls.”

  Anatoli’s eyes narrowed into disbelieving slits.

  “Oh, that’s terrible!” she murmured, mustering as much sympathy into her voice as possible. “What can we do?”

  “You need to send me backup to track down and neutralize Klaus Bremner. Ana, he’s not working alone. I don’t know what to say to convince you but he’s got at least one other sidekick and possibly more.”

  “I think you should return home immediately,” Anatoli said coldly. “Both of you.”

  “It’s not that easy,” Dex sighed. “I’m not kidding, Ana. Sabine is holed up in her house. She’s taking no prisoners. She needs an extraction team STAT.”

  Anatoli couldn’t help but grin at his ingenuity. By sending an extraction team, he would get the backup he desired.

  Maybe I was wrong about him. Maybe he doesn’t love her as much as I thought.

  She idly considered asking him about the baby but decided against it. She didn’t want things to get antagonistic between them—at least not yet. Dex was still her prize instructor, after all, and she would be remiss to let him go.

  “I can arrange for an extraction team to get her out, Dex, but you’re coming home too.”

  “I’m good with that,” he replied, his voice barely audible.

  If she isn’t in earshot, why is he whispering? He really is a terrible liar. It’s one of the reasons I never sent him out in the field. Phenomenal tracking skills, terrible poker face.

  “I knew I could count on you, Dex,” Anatoli said sweetly, disconnecting the call.

  Yeah, right. Sabine Mayer is not being stalked nor is she sitting tight in her townhouse in Bremen. She’s with Dex as we speak and she’s defected, taking Dex with her. First order of business: bring them both back here.

  After that, she would see if there was any merit to Dex’s claim about Klaus Bremner.

  She pushed a button for her landline intercom.

  “Callie, come in here.”

  “On my way.”

  In Dex’s absence, Callie had filled his massive shoes and while the fairy was efficient, she did lack certain physical qualities that Dex certainly had. However, what she lacked in stature, she more than made up for in cunning.

  A moment later, the tiny redhead threw open the door to the office without knocking.

  “What’s up?”

  “How is that gaggle of idiots doing in forensics?” Anatoli asked, grunting as she thought of the new recruits. Callie sighed and shook her head.

  “After the last batch we sent out, I don’t think anyone is ever going to hold a candle again,” the fairy replied honestly.

  “You’d be surprised,” Anatoli replied.

  One’s already pregnant and defecting, dragging my right-hand down with her.

  “We need an extraction in Germany,” Anatoli continued, her face suddenly all business.

  “Let me guess—Winter and Wayland.”

  “Nope. Sabine Mayer.”

  Callie’s mouth gaped open and she whipped around to look at the board.

  “Her tracker is gone,” Anatoli explained when she saw Callie searching. “It’s been removed. That’s where Dex is right now. He’s found her but she apparently won’t leave the townhouse.”

  “Sabine? Really?” Callie asked in disbelief. “She was the top of every class. She was the last one I would have expected…”

  She trailed off when she caught Anatoli’s look.

  “Right. Extraction from the townhouse in Bremen,” Callie concluded. “I’m on it.”

  She spun to get to work but Anatoli stopped her with a single word.

  “No.”

  “No?” The confusion was evident on Callie’s pixie-like face, her blue eyes curious. “I thought you just said—”

  “Yes to the extraction, no to the townhouse,” Anatoli sighed. “She’s not going to be there. It’s a distraction method to buy time.”

  Consternation overcame Callie’s face.

  “From Sabine?”

  “Perhaps or from Dex. Maybe both.”

  Anatoli’s tone was almost cheerful as Callie continued to gape in dismay.

  “Dex Rousseau?” she choked. “Our Dex?”

  “It’s too soon to tell,” Anatoli said dismissively as though she wasn’t troubled by the entire affair. “But they do need an extraction.”

  “But you just said that Sabine doesn’t have a tracker…”

  Callie’s perplexity was beginning to annoy Anatoli.

  “She doesn’t,” the director growled. “But Dex does.”

  Callie’s complexion waned at the announcement, Inadvertently, she took a step back and stared at her employer, pupils constricting slightly.

  “What?”

  She’s cluing in to the fact that she has one too that she didn’t know about, Anatoli thought, slightly perturbed that so many others were learning the secrets she enabled to keep everyone safe. And now she’s looking at me like I’m the devil.

  “Why?” Callie asked flatly.

  “Why do you think, Callie? To make sure he’s safe in the field.”

  “And he agreed to it?”

  “I think we’re digressing off topic here,” Anatoli snapped coldly. “The point is, Dex has a tracker and Sabine does not.”

  “How the hell does that help us?” The cold malice in her voice told Anatoli that it was going to be a frosty few weeks at the compound.

  I don’t care. I’m not here to make friends. I’m here to right all that’s wrong in this world.

  “It helps us because they will be together,” Anatoli replied with a smugness that made Callie’s scowl deepen.

  “How do you know?” Callie insisted. “If we scramble a team and end up extracting Dex without Sabine… I mean, I don’t need to tell you what kind of risk we take when we do an extraction at all.”

  “And I’m telling you that my intel is solid,” Anatoli snarled, rising from her desk. She could feel the throb of her fangs against her gumline, the mere act of defiance sending her into a tailspin. “Just do what you’re told. I want them in front of me in twenty-four hours.”

  Callie huf
fed slightly and spun, her sentiments transparent.

  Save your indignation for this new set of idiot recruits, Anatoli thought wickedly. If our best group is already falling apart, we’re in more trouble than I thought.

  15

  As night fell over Hude, Dex and Sabine sat at the broken kitchen table to devise a plan to find and capture Klaus. Sabine was not without a barrage of questions, ones that Dex was vague in answering.

  “Tell me more about this mission. Who is this Cabal? What governments run them?” she wanted to know.

  “They operate in secret,” Dex explained. “And from what we’ve gleaned, they don’t answer to specific governments. Think of them as a government over any leadership you’ve ever known. They are more powerful than the CIA, the FBI, the Senate, even.”

  “Does the president know about this?”

  Dex ground his teeth and Sabine was left feeling like she was missing a key element to what was happening.

  “What am I missing?” she insisted when he didn’t answer. “Tell me!”

  “I can’t really do that,” he countered evasively. “There’s…there’s a lot to understand, things that took months to cover in your training.”

  Training that I don’t remember, she thought, anguished by the realization now.

  “Don’t I have a family looking for me?” she demanded, her suspicions flaring again. “Surely I didn’t just pick up and leave everything behind, not knowing if I’d ever see my parents again.”

  Dex sighed.

  “You did,” he replied quietly. “And yes, you have a family, but you left them knowing full well what you were doing.”

  He met her eyes evenly and Sabine felt her heart catch in her throat.

  The same way I left you, she thought, her heart fluttering with regret. She tried to tell herself that it didn’t matter now, that they were together and would never be apart again, but somehow, she felt like it wouldn’t be so simple, that the challenges ahead of them were yet to come.