by Juniper Hart
“What are you going to do with her?” he growled. “She doesn’t want to work for you anymore.”
“For us, you mean?”
The nonchalance in Anatoli’s tone was maddening.
“What?”
“Don’t you mean work for us? We work together, don’t we, Dex?”
“You know what I mean,” he hissed. “Just leave her be. You have enough Sleepers.”
“I can’t force her to stay if she doesn’t want to stay,” Anatoli agreed. “But you know she needs to be deprogrammed just like anyone else. Once that’s done, she’s free to go.”
“YOU LEAVE HER ALONE!” Dex howled. “I know what you’re doing!”
A long, deadly silence followed his words.
“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Anatoli finally said but he caught the hardness of her tone. “Nothing happens to the defunct Sleepers. You know that. You’ve seen them yourself.”
“Tell that to Klaus Bremner,” Dex snarled, racing down the street to find a secluded spot to shift. He needed to beat the extraction team back to the States.
“Again with Klaus Bremner!”
“Whatever you did to him didn’t take, Ana. Your deprogramming spell isn’t working anymore.”
This time, the silence was longer and Dex knew he was only pushing her buttons, but he was stalling, making her rethink her options.
“What do you know about the deprogramming?” Anatoli asked.
“I know you’re breaking the laws of magic using spells like that,” Dex shot back. “It was only a matter of time before it backfired.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Anatoli snapped, losing her calm façade. “Everything I do is for the good of the mission.”
“Yeah? Like kidnapping and mind control?”
“What has gotten into you, Dex? You used to believe in the cause,” Anatoli growled.
“I still believe in the cause,” he shot back. “It’s you I’m not so sure about.”
With that, he dropped the burner in the alleyway and spread his wings to spiral upward behind the buildings to shoot into the sky. He wished he’d had better cover, but he didn’t have time to worry about being seen.
Sabine needed him.
He’d never flown so fast in his life, the skin of his scaled wings burning with the velocity. The air was thinner above the mountain ranges and made Dex sleepier, but he ignored the sensation and focused on the thing of most importance: finding Sabine before Anatoli erased her memories.
I can’t endure that again, he thought, his long, forked tongue falling from his massive jawline to rest on his spiked teeth. If Anatoli does this, Sabine will never remember how we fell in love. She’ll never remember me.
His heart was hammering so wildly by the time he landed in the Appalachians, it was a small miracle it didn’t fly out of his chest. Dex was dizzy and parched but he didn’t stop for water. Instead, he sprinted the last few feet toward the compound.
The private jet was already on the runway.
I’m too late. They’ve already got Sabine inside.
He didn’t let the realization dissuade him, his feet kicking up pine needles as he scaled the fence and forsook proper security measures. He’d been there long enough to learn the ins and outs of the compound. In fact, he and Sabine had utilized the breaches in security several times to sneak away and enjoy each other’s company in the thick of the mountain forests.
Drenched in sweat, Dex raced down the sterile halls, ignoring the startled looks of recruits and instructors as he rushed to the deprogramming room.
It was locked.
He spun around wildly, looking for something to break it down with.
“Dex!”
Anatoli’s voice rang out, but he ignored her, morphing back into his dragon form to unleash a spray of fire against the door.
“It’s a fire door, Dex,” Anatoli told him in a pitying tone as she drew closer. Again, he sprayed a wave of fire against the threshold, unleashing a loud howl as his efforts were once more made in vain.
“Dex, you’re too late,” Anatoli told him softly. “She’s already been deprogrammed.”
His huge head spun toward her, his eyes glittering with fury as he advanced upon her, teeth gnashing, but Anatoli seemed to anticipate his reaction. Her hands rose and a burst of energy shot outward, blocking him from coming any nearer.
“You need to calm down now,” Anatoli said flatly. “Or I won’t let you see her.”
A wave of anguish shot through him, but he could read the determination in Anatoli’s steely green eyes. She would send the mother of his child into the world without any recollection of who she was—without any recollection of Dex.
He had no choice but to relent and shift back into his human form. To his disgust, Anatoli smiled.
“Good,” she said brightly. “Come this way.”
Every step he took was sheer agony but somehow, he managed to follow the director back toward her office. His breath caught as he looked inside the windows and saw Sabine sitting rigidly on a chair, her eyes darting around nervously.
He threw open the door and hurried inside.
“Sabby?”
She fixed her eyes on him, no glint of recognition there as she studied his face.
“Sabby?” she echoed. “No one calls me that.”
Bile twisted in his gut and Dex closed his eyes, wanting to block out the entire horror of it all.
“Sabine, this is Dex. He’s going to see you out, all right?”
Sabine shrugged and nodded, rising stiffly as she eyed him warily.
“Are you okay?” she asked. “You look like you’re going to be sick.”
Miserably, Dex shook his head, unable to speak.
“He’s fine,” Anatoli chirped. “But he does have a load of work to catch up on. He was out of the country for a few days.”
Dex shot Anatoli a baleful look as Sabine moved toward the door.
“Whatever. I just want to get out of this weird hospital-looking place. Where am I anyway? Please tell me I’m still in California.”
Choking on his misery, Dex hurried to catch up with Sabine.
“You don’t know where you are?” he asked, his voice hoarse. She shrugged and nodded.
“I thought I came here for a job interview but…”
Again she shrugged and glanced over her shoulder to smile at him.
“Are you sure you’re okay? You really do look like you’re going to puke.”
Dex would have laughed if his heart hadn’t been completely broken in that moment.
“The exit is here,” he told her gruffly. “Walk down the pathway and you’ll be met with a car to take you anywhere you want.”
She paused at the metal door and looked at him.
“Uh…that sounds kinda creepy. Do you think you could show me to the car?”
Dex nodded, grateful for the extra few minutes he would have with her.
They moved into the dying sun and headed down the path in silence.
“Not much of a talker, huh?” she asked lightly.
“I guess not,” Dex murmured. He was trying not to stare at her openly, but he wanted this last mental picture of her to store away in his memory forever.
“Have you forgotten how?”
His eyes narrowed at the inane question.
“What?”
Sabine laughed but she continued walking.
“Memory is a funny thing,” she said. “Sometimes it fails you when you most need it and sometimes…”
She abruptly stopped.
“Sometimes, it overcomes everything, despite all odds.”
Dex’s mouth gaped open but before he could speak, Sabine turned and skipped back down the forest path.
“Keep walking, lieb. There are cameras everywhere.”
His heart swelled as he bolted after her, realizing that he hadn’t lost Sabine after all.
“How?” he hissed, keeping his eyes trained forward.
“Didn’t she use the spell on you?”
“She did,” Sabine replied. “But I guess it didn’t take.”
“Because you have demon blood in you…” Dex breathed, suddenly understanding the connection.
“I have a theory about that but obviously not one I have time to share now,” Sabine said, nodding toward the black town car at the bottom of the path.
“Where are you going? When will I see you again?” Dex whispered, his pulse quickening as he realized he needed to let her go again.
“I’m going home. To Hude,” Sabine told him, her eyes still trained straight ahead. A driver appeared and Sabine slowed her gait slightly. “You can join me anytime, but Dex, before you do…”
“What?”
“Get that damned tracking chip out of your head.”
Sabine took the lead without so much as a goodbye, leaving Dex to stare after her.
Suddenly he felt like an utter fool.
That’s how they tracked Sabine to the clinic in Berlin. Anatoli had always had a tracker on him. The director was never fooled by his proclamations about Sabine.
He realized he needed to head back before Anatoli grew suspicious.
He thought about how much destruction Anatoli had caused in his life already, but it hadn’t gone how she’d planned. He and Sabine would still be together and she was safe from Anatoli—as long as the director never suspected that the witch was lying about her memories.
We’ll have to be very careful, Dex thought, his mind already formulating a plan, one devoid of ire and emotion. One that was going to dismantle Anatoli from the inside out.
19
This really is my home, Sabine thought as she ambled into the apartment, a relief settling into her bones as she looked around. Once upon a time, she had been frustrated by the tiny space and lack of décor, but suddenly, it was the coziest place on earth.
She was free of Anatoli, feigning her memory loss almost instinctively. It was as if all of her training had struck her the moment she’d realized she had forgotten nothing. There would be no more extraction teams, no more Sleeper training. She would always be a waitress at a small café in a rural town in Germany. The program was done with her. The only threat now was Klaus Bremner—if he dared return.
Dex and I will overcome that together, she vowed. When he comes back for me.
She knew it might be a while before it was safe enough for him to come see her, but Sabine knew it would be worth the wait. Knowing he was coming was much better than knowing she would never set eyes on him again.
Heavily, she sank to the futon and rubbed her belly.
“It’s just you and I for a while now, huh, liebling?” she cooed to the baby growing inside her. She spoke in German, determined to make the language her child’s first tongue.
“Sabine!”
Frau Schiller’s voice ricocheted across the alleyway and Sabine smiled to herself.
Everything is just as it’s supposed to be, she thought, rising awkwardly to her feet. She threw open the window and smiled at the nosy neighbor.
“Guten Morgen, Frau Schiller.”
Frau Schiller gaped at her in disbelief.
“Guten Morgen? I’ve been worried sick about you! Where have you been? Who was that man you were with? The police have come by, wanting to talk to you and Hans said you called in yesterday…”
A serene smile touched Sabine’s lips as she heard the old woman’s lecture, the words drifting in and out of her ears.
“What are you grinning at!” Frau Schiller grumbled. To save her from answering, the shrill ring of the landline distracted Sabine away from the window.
“I have to take that, Frau Schiller,” she apologized, closing the dormer window and hurrying to answer the call.
“Hallo?”
“Fraulein Mayer?”
“Ja, that’s me,” Sabine replied. “Who is it?”
“This is Dr. Weiss from the Schwartzman Clinic in Berlin.”
“Oh…yes, hi. Is everything all right?”
Dr. Weiss cleared her throat and paused as though she was searching for the right words to say.
“I have some…interesting news for you,” Dr. Weiss said quietly. “It’s unbelievable and quite honestly, a medical mystery.”
“You’re alarming me,” Sabine said tersely. “Is my baby okay?”
“Ja, ja,” Dr. Weiss said quickly. “The baby is not the issue at hand.”
“What’s wrong with me?”
“Nichts! I mean, nothing we can see except…well, your blood tests came back and it appears that you’re a hybrid of sorts.”
Sabine felt the air deflate out of her lungs as she sank onto the futon, shaking her head.
“A demon hybrid?”
“I know, this is unusual, but the test was run and rerun.”
“Unusual? Has this happened before?”
“Well…no…but just because they aren’t recorded doesn’t mean they don’t exist.”
It was little comfort or sense to Sabine.
“So what does this mean for my baby?” she murmured, her pulse racing.
“Probably nothing but we should keep an eye on you to monitor for changes. I wouldn’t worry about it, Fraulein. I’m sure it’s more a miracle than a curse.”
That wasn’t a ringing endorsement.
“Please call the office and schedule another appointment at your convenience,” Dr. Weiss went on.
“I will,” Sabine sighed. “Danke.”
She disconnected the call, tossing the phone off to the side of the futon, and stared at the white wall in front of her for a long while, uncomprehendingly. She didn’t notice the closet door opening until it was too late for her to arm herself.
She and Klaus Bremner stared at one another, unspeaking for a long moment.
“I will scream,” Sabine told him flatly, her mind racing for the best way to get her and her baby to safety.
“I’m not coming any closer,” Klaus told her, his voice dull. “Is it true?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Are you a hybrid demon?”
Sabine inhaled and nodded, annoyed that he’d been there for so long without her detection.
“Is that why you’re trying to kill me?”
Klaus shook his head miserably and sank back against the wall, his back sliding over the cracking white paint.
“No,” he mumbled. “No, I made a mistake.”
Slowly, Sabine rose, inching toward the door.
“Trying to kill me was a mistake?” she chuckled. “That’s a pretty big one.”
He lifted his head to stare at her, shaking his head in dismay.
“No…I thought…” he inhaled. “I thought you were spying on me for Anatoli.”
Sabine stared at him, her body pausing as the words sank in.
“I saw your storage unit with all the recruits and I thought you had been sent to spy on us rejects to see how the experiments were working out.”
“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about, Klaus, but I wasn’t spying on anyone for Anatoli.”
She debated telling him what she had been doing but decided not to.
“How did you even find me in the first place, Klaus?”
Apprehension stole her air when she realized that perhaps he was working for Anatoli but that didn’t fit either… Did it?
“You were careless. You started following my friend, Jayce, and he mentioned you even though he had no idea what it meant.”
“Jayce Corbin,” Sabine remembered. “He was deprogrammed too.”
“Only he genuinely was deprogrammed. He didn’t remember any of the time he spent at the compound, not like me who remembered it all.”
Sabine’s eyes narrowed.
“All?” she asked. “What did they do to you?”
Klaus smirked mirthlessly.
“The same thing they did to you, but in reverse,” he replied shortly.
“I don’t understand, Klaus. What did they do to me?�
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Klaus exhaled and jumped to his feet, causing Sabine to jump back defensively. He shook his head sadly.
“I’m really not going to hurt you, Sabine. I made a horrible mistake, but I see that now.”
“Klaus, you’re really not making a whole lot of sense,” she told him quietly. “What happened to you?”
“The compound turned us into hybrids, Sabine. They experiment on the recruits.”
She didn’t know why the news was so shocking, but it chilled her to the bone.
“Are you sure?” she choked.
“How else do you think you got through your entire life without realizing you were a hybrid? You weren’t one until you did your training.”
“But why? Why would Anatoli do something so horrific and why don’t I remember it?”
“You were likely injected in your sleep. I was. I woke up when it was happening.”
“Holy hell,” Sabine muttered, suddenly feeling dizzy.
“Yeah, well…” Klaus chuckled again and shrugged. “I suppose the best way to fight divisiveness is to ensure that everyone is interbred, right?”
“Is that the justification for experimenting on unsuspecting recruits?” Sabine choked. “They better do better than that!”
“I don’t care what their reasons are,” Klaus muttered. “I don’t want anything to do with the compound or Anatoli again, but I knew before I disappeared, I needed to come and make things right with you.”
She nodded curtly.
“I’d be more forgiving if you stopped breaking into my house and kidnapping me,” she replied shortly. Klaus looked abashed.
“I’m sorry,” he mumbled meekly. He cast her a sidelong look, his eyes filled with shame. “Will you call off Dex too, please?”
Sabine nodded slowly.
“If you leave now and never come back,” she agreed. Relief sagged Klaus’ shoulders and he turned to leave. He paused at the doorway and peered at her bashfully.
“Congratulations on the baby, by the way,” he mumbled. “You and Dex will have beautiful children.”
He disappeared before she could respond, but the words had an unexpected effect on her.
“We will make beautiful babies, won’t we, lieb,” she murmured to her unborn child. “You just watch and see.”
