by Juniper Hart
“This is my compound!” she snapped. “I need to protect it!”
“You can’t protect it if you have no handle on what’s going on. You of all beings know the importance of seeing the bigger picture.”
Anatoli hesitated, eying him warily. Somehow, she felt like he was making a jab at her but as it stood, he was her only ally in the room.
Should I tell him my suspicions? she wondered.
The day had not gone how she had planned. She had hoped to size up Jair for loyalty and compatibility. Instead, she was thrust into a life or death situation, and she didn’t know who she could trust.
Don’t be dumb. Whoever they are, whatever they want, they can’t kill me…at least not easily.
If she had gone up against the Cabal, a tribe of vampires didn’t have a chance.
Especially not if Pascal was leading. Kyla might be another story.
“What?” Jair demanded when she didn’t speak. “Do you know what this is about?”
“I might,” Anatoli blurted out. “But I can’t be sure.”
Jair waited but again, she paused. So much of her life she had spent mistrusting others, the world disappointing her from the minute she was born. It was exhausting figuring out who she could depend on. If Dex could leave her and the cause behind, could Jair or anyone else really be trusted?
She met his coffee-colored eyes evenly, gauging his sincerity through the thinly veiled worry and made a decision.
“Anatoli, if you don’t fill me in on what’s happening, I can’t help you.”
“I think it might be Kyla,” she sighed. “She was a handler in Cape Town.”
“Yes. I remember her,” Jair replied quickly. “A witch, right?”
Anatoli nodded.
“I think that one of my Sleepers turned her dark.”
I should have never let things get as far as they did with Pascal, Anatoli realized. I knew from the start he had been sent here to infiltrate us from the vampires, but I had such high hopes for him.
It was just more confirmation of what Anatoli had gleaned all along, that she was not cut out for the task she had set in motion. Once upon a time, she would never have allowed the likes of Pascal into the compound. The last thing she would have done was try to change him.
And this is exactly the reason why. I’ve lost all control. I’m a disgrace. So much wasted time, money, and energy. I should have given up a long time ago.
“What?”
Confusion overcame Jair’s face, exasperating Anatoli. She glared at him with contempt.
“Don’t play dumb,” she snapped with annoyance. “I know you’ve heard about the unrest.”
Jair would have to have been asleep not to know what was happening worldwide. He was a fixer after all.
“Of course I’ve heard that you’ve lost Sleepers, Anatoli,” he said slowly, in a way that made her believe that he knew much more than that. “However, have you really lost enough that they would turn and attack you?”
She didn’t want to believe it either but that was where they were now.
I’ve made too many mistakes. I created enemies within my own ranks. This is all my fault..
“Ana…”
She lifted her head and stared at him her jaw locking tensely.
“What?”
To her surprise, he took her and led her toward one of the twin beds, sitting her down gently.
“You’ve been working tirelessly for years. You’ve made a million or more enemies in the Cabal. Kyla is a witch, not a vampire. What makes you certain it’s her?”
Unexpectedly, tears of frustration filled Anatoli’s eyes. She started to turn her head away, but before she could, Jair caught her chin.
“Don’t,” he told her quietly.
“Don’t what?” she growled, but she could not deny the flood of heat that flowed through her as his fingers touched her chin.
“Don’t shut me out. Isn’t that why you brought me here in the first place?”
Her heart skipped slightly.
“What?” she muttered, shifting her eyes away but Jair held fast to her.
“You brought me here because you need help,” he insisted. “Right?”
Begrudgingly, Anatoli nodded and met his gaze again.
“Yeah,” she sighed.
“Then let me help you. Let’s figure this out together.”
4
Anatoli lowered her head and Jair finally released her chin, much to the Director’s disappointment. Being touched by him had given her the only semblance of comfort she had felt in years.
“You’re right,” she grumbled, a steel rod straightening her back as she struggled to regain her composure. “There’s no shortage of beings who might be responsible for this. I’ve made mistakes. Lots of them.”
“Like the hybrids?” Jair asked. Anatoli’s head jerked up in surprise, her face paling.
“Y-you heard about that?” she whispered.
“What the hell were you thinking?” Jair demanded bluntly. “The Sleepers were willing to do anything for you and that’s how you repay them?”
“Don’t you see?” she implored him, her eyes widening. “I was doing it for them. By turning them into hybrids, they would be more powerful, more formidable.”
“Don’t you think they should have had some say in the matter?” Jair growled as he studied her face. “The way you did it…”
“I know!” Anatoli exploded, the guilt overwhelming her. “I see that now, but my intentions were good! The Cabal…you don’t understand what they’re capable of.”
“No one does,” Jair said flatly. “Only what you’ve told us.”
A moment of silence followed his words and she again dropped her head.
“I was trying to protect everyone,” she muttered, hearing how weak she sounded. “And we’re not helping matters by locking ourselves in here. The recruits—”
“Can handle themselves,” Jair insisted, rising as she did to pace the tiny dorm room. “Until we have a plan of attack, Ana, the best place we can be is here. Undoubtedly, whoever planned the attack is looking for you.”
Anatoli opened her mouth to argue, but she realized that it was a ridiculous argument. Of course the attack had nothing to do with the recruits. She was the focus. Staying hidden for now was the only plan that made sense.”
“Jair, I don’t feel right staying back here like this,” she insisted but this time, there was less confidence in her voice. The attackers had not come without a plan of their own. The last thing they would expect is for Anatoli to be hiding out.
It didn’t mean that she had to like their current situation.
“What happened, Ana?” Jair asked after a moment of silence. She half-paused her steps to glance over her shoulder.
“With what?” she asked in confusion.
“With everything? How did we get to this?”
The question was loaded with a weight that almost crushed her. Blinking, she stared, unsure of how to answer.
“You were so sure of what we were doing when this all started,” he reminded her gently. “You lost control along the way. Surely it wasn’t your intention to do experiments on your own teams…or was it?”
Anatoli was uncharacteristically lost for words. It was the same thing she had been asking herself for a very long time.
“It’s not that simple,” she muttered, not willing to meet his eyes.
“It never is,” Jair agreed, unwilling to let it go. He rose to his feet, but Anatoli continued to pace.
“I’ve been hearing crazy stories about the lengths you’ve gone with the Sleepers,” Jair continued. “I guess they’re all true, the way you tracked them so they could never get out.”
“Because the Cabal could get to any of them, anytime!” she yelled before she could contain the burst of defensiveness. “How could I be sure about any of them?”
“That had to be a risk you knew you were taking when this all started,” Jair prodded gently. She shook her head, wishing that sh
e could tell him the truth, that she didn’t know when it had all fallen apart. It had happened so gradually, so subtly. It wasn’t until her project was in ashes that she understood that she’d gone about it all wrong, but it was too late now.
Maybe I should just turn myself in and accept my fate from whomever it is who wants to deliver it, she thought. Maybe this is my punishment.
“You should go,” she breathed, suddenly realizing what she needed to do. It was the only way out, the only way to ensure that everyone was protected in the compound.
His hand snaked out to seize her wrist and suddenly, she was yanked toward him, her face level with his. Her breath caught in her throat as their gazes locked.
“You really want me to go?” he growled. She waited for the instinct to withdraw but it never came, and she remained frozen in Jair’s arms. “Do you?”
Swallowing, Anatoli shook her head, waiting for the kiss she knew was coming. A rush of heat spread through her body, a wave of warmth filling between her legs.
“No?”
Again, she shook her head, unable to find her voice, even though her subconscious was screaming out warnings that nothing good could come from this. All hell was breaking out around them and yet she couldn’t draw away.
How long has it been since anyone has touched me like this?
“I can’t hear you.”
Suspended inches from his mouth, Anatoli needed to decide but she was not longer thinking with her head. Her body had taken over and she was powerless to stop herself from going in for a kiss.
But Jair seemed to anticipate her move and ducked his head to the side, his grip on her wrist tightening to draw her down further while simultaneously spinning her around. With a gasp, she found herself face-first into the mattress, Jair’s hard body on top of her, his breath hot in her ear.
“I’ve never done an interview like this,” he purred, his hands sliding along the slender curves of her hips, fingers slipping toward the front of her body, along the lines of her crotch. Anatoli stifled a moan, loathing that she didn’t even try to object.
Rome is burning around me and I’m letting it, she thought, a combination of self-pity and desire overtaking her.
Jair’s hot mouth found the line of her neck and this time, the moan escaping her lips was loud and sincere. His lips were as soft as she had imagined.
“You want me just as much as I want you,” he sighed, and she realized he could feel her arousal through the material of her jeans. It seemed to her that if anyone else had said something like that, she would have raged, argued, fought. But Jair dispelled all the argument inside her.
Skillfully, his hands continued to explore her center, undoing the buttons of her jeans without any effort, almost as though he had been planning his actions for hours. Already, she was throbbing, the anticipation alone driving her to the edge and Anatoli was embarrassed.
“Wow!” There was a slight surprise in his tone, like he hadn’t been sure his advances would be so well received. A long, thick finger had made its way inside her and Anatoli wriggled against him permitting his hands more leverage.
“Yeah?” he breathed, his voice taking on an edge of gruff excitement. She moaned feeling beads of sweat form over her brow and pulled her pants lower, bucking back against him. Jair groaned and suddenly Anatoli could feel the heat permeating from him.
His thumb began to work at her, and a headiness overtook Anatoli as she bit down on her lower lip to keep from crying out. She wanted him inside her, but his fingers felt just right, the pace of his movements, the flick of his thumb. She knew she was losing control.
As if he was reading her mind, he rasped, “That’s it. Let it go.”
With a mewl, she did exactly what he requested, and Jair chuckled. She reached up to pull herself up, ready for him to finish what he had started.
She peered at him imploringly over her shoulder and saw the naked desire in his face, his jaw twitching almost angrily as he stared at her.
“You’ve taken on so much,” he said but in such a way that she didn’t take it as a compliment. He sounded almost angry, as though he wished she hadn’t.
“Take me,” she breathed. “Take me now.”
He was on her then, her jeans falling to the floor as he spread her wide with one hand, his other undoing his pants to free himself entirely. Anatoli turned her head, ready for him to take her fully, all the sense of order she had clung to flying out the window.
Again, she arched back, wondering what was taking him so long.
“Take me!” she begged, once more glancing over her shoulder but as she did, all sense of desire evaporated from her body. Gasping, she sat up and moved to shield her nudity. She knew now why Jair had hesitated.
Callie stood in the doorway of the dorm, gaping at them in shock.
5
Anatoli opened her mouth to explain, but she didn’t have a chance to speak a word. A slow, cruel smile replaced Callie’s stunned expression.
“She’s here!” she screamed out into the hallway. “Back in the dorms!”
Time slowed for a moment as Anatoli tried to make sense of what the fairy was saying, but Jair seemed to understand instantly. A low growl escaped Jair’s lips and he fell forward onto all fours, his body shifting as he did. It was only then that she began to understand the gravity of what was occurring.
“Callie?” Anatoli whispered. “What did you do?”
The fairy sneered and advanced but before she could take a full step, Jair leapt between the females, unwilling to let Callie anywhere near the Director.
“What did I do?” she spat. “You’re a mess, Anatoli! You’re the blind leading the blind and it’s high time someone did something to right the havoc you’ve created.”
Anatoli tried to scoff, but she couldn’t deny what the fairy was saying.
“And you think you’re the one to do that?” she retorted. “You’re a fairy, Callie. Even if you had the brains or the connections to do a fraction of what I do, you don’t have the balls.”
Callie lost the smile and glowered, wings sprouting from her back as she hovered above a snarling Jair.
“You arrogant wench!” she spat. “I was the loyalist to you! More loyal than Dex or anyone else! I deserved to be promoted more than him! You think I don’t know all the shady shit you’ve done? I knew about it and I still protected you!”
Shame almost drowned Anatoli as she realized that she was just as responsible for Callie as she was everything else that had gone wrong.
I created this mess. All of it.
She cast the furious wolf at her feet a scornful look as he jumped up to nip at her, but she managed to stay above them both. Jair turned his majestic head to look at Anatoli and she could read his thoughts clearly.
We need to get out of here, Anatoli realized. Her reinforcements are coming, and they’ll have us surrounded.
“Your solution was to sell out our location? To whom? The highest bidder?” Anatoli demanded, eyes trailing about the dorm room for the best plan of escape. Jair inched toward the door as Anatoli distracted Callie, but the fairy was onto them both. Her beam returned and Anatoli instantly knew why. A yelp escaped from Jair’s mouth as he stepped toward the threshold.
“I cast a spell,” Callie said, confirming Anatoli’s thoughts. “You’re not going anywhere until the vampires get here.”
“Of all the—” Anatoli started to snap but Callie interjected.
“They hate you the most, Anatoli. You betrayed your own kind when you started this mess. Your own family has had a bounty on your head for fifty years or more. It only seemed fitting that they were the ones to bring you down.”
Anatoli balked, but her attention was shifted when she heard commotion outside the door.
It was over.
“Sorry, Ana. You could have saved yourself a lot of trouble if you’d just appreciated what you’d had,” Callie taunted her.
“Yeah. Sounds like I dodged a bullet,” Anatoli spat back as the door flew
open. To her utter shock, it was not a vampire she saw, but that of a familiar, dark-haired bear.
“Damon?” Anatoli choked, unsure if she should be relieved or terrified. The bear shifter did not respond and instead morphed. Jair unleashed a loud roar, preparing to attack but Damon did not go for the wolf at all. He turned his attention fully on Callie, a wide paw reaching up to knock her back to the ground. Jair wasted no time pouncing as Callie screamed for help.
“No use in that,” Damon snarled, becoming his mortal self again. “Your backup has been disabled. We took care of them too.”
“We?” Anatoli echoed, barely comprehending what he was saying. “Who is we?”
Damon looked behind him and Anatoli gasped when she saw Dex and Sabine, her heart flooded with gratitude.
“B-but you hate me!” she choked. “You…”
She trailed off, worried that she might lose any small favor she might have found with the pair. She had not seen them in years. Damon shot Dex a look and nodded, encouraging him to speak but it was Sabine who did the talking.”
“We were afraid you were coming for us,” Sabine countered with a sigh. “We never hated you, Anatoli. We just didn’t trust you.”
“And now you do?” Anatoli asked, her perplexity doubling as she looked from body to body.
“You can thank Damon for that,” Dex sighed. “I was looking for ways to take you down.”
The words made Anatoli shudder as she glanced at Damon, but the bear looked away.
“Damon explained that he’s been working inside the Cabal,” Dex went on. “That you encouraged him to infiltrate them. It…well, it cast some doubts on my doubts.”
Anatoli sighed heavily and looked gratefully at Damon who flashed her a nervous smile. Jair shifted, his own eyes darting from one body to the next.
“How did you even know what was happening?” Jair asked suspiciously. Damon snorted and shrugged.
“Working from within has its perks,” he replied. “Callie’s big mouth and plans got to me.”
He shook his head almost pityingly as he stared at the disgraced fairy. Callie looked away.
