Shifters in the Shadows: Seventeen Paranormal Romances of Sexy Shifters, Dangerous Vamps, & Things That Go Bump in the Night

by J. K Harper

Just like that, they had to forget what they were doing and get to work.

  Louis fastened his pants and rearranged the gurneys, while she smoothed her hair. Her face was still pink with arousal, she was sure.

  But it wouldn't take long for her to forget all about her own physical needs. It was what she'd been doing for years, after all.

  Any minute now, she'd have lives to save. That was more important than her desires.

  Definitely more important than her crazy attraction to this undead dude. Even though it scared her how important he felt to her.

  "I'm going to call Araminta Chase soon," she found herself saying. "I'll see if she has any more information about the Recruitment process."

  If there was a way … if she could make him a shifter, like her… Could she keep him?

  It was a long shot. She'd get in touch with Araminta anyway, even though it seemed hopeless.

  Having only known this man for the shortest time, already the idea of never seeing Louis again was painful. Painful enough to make her cast around for far-fetched ways she might keep him.

  What on earth had gotten into her? She couldn't even imagine.

  She picked up her stethoscope and prepared for a busy night shift.

  Close

  For three solid weeks, Louis assisted Isabel on her night shifts. And he was as good as his word. He didn't sample a single drop of her patients' blood.

  It must have been hard for him, but she'd never have known it. He was a model of good behavior.

  And every morning, when their shift ended, he came back to her room and got her naked. Which was the best part.

  Yeah, he was an evil monster. But somehow her brain just wouldn't dwell on it. She couldn't stop what they were doing if she tried.

  Even if he was a vampire, he was the hottest guy she'd ever been with in her life. She was actually proud to pretend they were engaged.

  Proud! Of a vampire lover!

  It was deranged, and she couldn't help herself.

  He let her touch him now. He even let her taste him, and fill her mouth with his cock that felt like cool polished glass.

  But he still refused to go the whole way with her. And that just made her want him even more.

  "I can't trust myself if we do that," he told her. "I couldn't stand to hurt you."

  Even when she begged, he resisted.

  How could he resist? He must have willpower of steel.

  They hung out together pretty much twenty-four-seven, except when he had to feed. It meant the army didn't question her about their engagement, but she sure wasn't getting enough sleep.

  And honestly? It had been the best three weeks of her life so far.

  So it really annoyed Isabel when she was abruptly assigned to the day shift for the last week of her assignment.

  * * *

  On Sunday morning, they slept soundly in her room as they did every night. A soldier woke them apologetically, and told Isabel she had a call.

  She stumbled to take it, then ran back afterward to tell Louis what had happened.

  "Hey. You awake?"

  "Mm." Louis stretched his long limbs, shooting her a flash of his flexed thigh muscle. She felt the familiar pang of lust in her stomach. "What's up?"

  "Louis, that was my boss. My boss at Shifter Medics International. He says I have to work the day shift, for this last week. Not nights."

  He sat up silently. She could barely see his face, even so close to him. It was bright and sunny outside, so her window was blocked with a thick blanket, to protect Louis from the sun's deadly rays.

  She switched on the light.

  "Days? Okay. Why? And did they get you a new nurse yet?"

  "Yeah. A day nurse. Some big-shot senator is coming over for a field visit this week. They want me available in normal working hours to meet her."

  He smiled and beckoned her to the bed. "That figures. You're the best doctor they have. Naturally, they want you to be their ambassador."

  Isabel took the hand he offered and let him pull her on top of him. She frowned as he slid his hand up her leg.

  "What is it, ma belle? You look melancholy."

  "It's my last week in the job. I'm at the end of my six-month rotation, remember? I'm being sent back to Colorado soon."

  He squeezed her ass. "You look almost like you want to stay here. In this dangerous war zone. Why would you?"

  "You know why."

  They lay in silence for a while.

  "So I'll come to you at night. We'll still see each other."

  "Yeah."

  The weight of all her unspoken feelings pressed down on her.

  "Louis, I'm going to call Araminta. I'll ask if I can use the army phone I just spoke to my boss on."

  "You will?"

  "And I'll ask her about the Recruitment."

  He stared at her. "You'd do that?"

  "Yeah."

  They kissed, long and slow.

  "I think you shouldn't."

  "What?" She pulled away from him, perplexed. "You don't want me to take me with you?"

  "What I want is neither here nor there." He kissed her neck, making her shudder with warmth. "I don't think there's a way you could turn me into one of your kind. I don't believe in this old magic idea. And I don't want to see you disappointed."

  "Let me handle my own disappointment."

  She snuggled into him, already used to his low temperature.

  The thought of leaving him left her hollow. She couldn't just walk away from him in one week. No way.

  Hell, even the idea of leaving him for twelve hours to work the day shift made her sad.

  He'd come out of nowhere. But he was suddenly essential to her happiness.

  Whatever this feeling was, she couldn't stop it.

  And she couldn't lose him. Not without a fight.

  "I'll call her tonight," she insisted, as his hand sought out her needy warm flesh once more.

  * * *

  That Monday evening, the night shift doctor and nurse arrived at five o'clock sharp. It was the start of the new fall timetable, which meant Isabel's shift was a couple of hours shorter than usual. The extra time off was very welcome.

  She filled them in on the day's events, and then she left.

  There was a little bounce in her step as she walked back through the army camp. She'd see Louis later, of course. He’d stop by her room on his way back from his … ew, his hunt.

  Yeah, his hunting activity was pretty gross. She tried not to think about it.

  She imagined talking to her friends about him at their next reunion. "The man I'm fucking? Oh yeah, he lives on the blood of the recently dead. Pass the salt."

  No candlelit suppers for her and Louis, that was for damn sure.

  Her friends would have no idea why she was hanging around with a vampire at all. They'd be appalled, she predicted.

  But how could she do anything else when it felt like his face was tattooed right onto her heart?

  How could she resist him if it felt so right when he touched her?

  She burned to feel him inside her. And still he held back, for fear of hurting her. Though it seemed impossible, he was a good man. She knew he was. Even though he was a vampire.

  Their final week would pass too quickly. She needed to do something, or she'd regret it for ever.

  It was time to call Araminta and hope she could help.

  Ask

  When she unlocked the door of her room after work, the sky wasn't totally dark yet. Louis couldn't come by until the night was fully upon them.

  She had plenty of time to make the call to Araminta before he arrived. Hopefully, she'd have good news for him by the time he got there.

  After a lukewarm shower, she changed into a fresh army uniform. It was all the clothes she had, and she'd gotten used to wearing it now.

  A couple of corridors away, there was a booth containing the army satellite telephone that Shifter Medics International had called her on. She headed on over there.

 
"Corporal Bailey?"

  The soldier on guard duty looked up. He was a kind-looking older guy, with salt-and-pepper hair and a friendly grin. He seemed to like Isabel, and they always joked around together when he was on duty.

  Would he do her a favor? It was worth a try.

  "Can I help, ma'am?"

  "Yeah, perhaps. Would it be possible for me to use the telephone? Just a quick call to London. I, uh … I'd like to make contact with an aunt. I'm flying home to the States soon, but my family lives in England. Need to keep them updated, or there'll be hell to pay."

  He didn't need to know Araminta wasn't actually her aunt, or any kind of blood relative.

  The corporal smiled at her. "Make it quick."

  "Yes, sir."

  Thank the Lord for kind soldiers.

  After the international code and the British national code, she punched in her aunt's landline number, memorized after years of calling her friend Sebastian when they were kids.

  The landline was her only option, so she hoped her fake aunt was home. Araminta Chase wouldn't carry a cellphone even if the Queen herself asked her to.

  Isabel pictured Araminta's horrified face at the Queen suggesting they hang out on Snapchat. She smiled to herself while she waited for the call to connect.

  The Chase family's housekeeper answered almost immediately.

  "Hey, Mrs. Chivers. It's Isabel Prowse. May I speak with Mrs. Chase?"

  A minute or so later, Araminta's voice appeared.

  "Isabel? Are you still in that God-forsaken hellhole? Get yourself home, you silly girl."

  Isabel grinned. Good old Minty Chase never changed. Not that she'd dare to call her Minty.

  "Hey, Araminta. I'm using an army phone and I don't have long. May I just ask you a quick question? It's about the old days. Shifter history. The Recruitment. Remember talking to me about that ages ago?"

  "Hmph."

  Isabel imagined her haughty expression and felt a rush of affection for her.

  She pressed on. "You did call it the Recruitment? Right? When we could all turn people?"

  Araminta was tentative. "That's right. We're going back hundreds of years, though. Possibly even thousands."

  "But there really was some kind of magic where shifters could turn humans? It's not just a story?"

  "Of course it's not, you silly girl." Araminta was a history fan, and hopefully she'd been lured in now. "And not just humans. Magical people could be turned too. It only worked once a year, on the new moon closest to Halloween."

  Bingo. Exactly what Isabel had hoped she'd say.

  "So when did this all stop? How long ago?"

  Araminta sighed. "There was a lot of controversy about it at the time. Witches fought very hard against shifters. They resisted being turned. Lots of shifter species rebelled against the social expectation of the Recruitment. It's all in the history books. Try reading some once in a while."

  "Wow. Yes, I really must."

  "Then again, some people wanted to be turned into shifters, of course."

  "So how did we do it? How did we turn people? What was the spell?" She grabbed a sheet of message notepaper from the stack by the phone, and a stubby pencil.

  Araminta sighed. "Oh, my dear girl. We don't speak of the specifics now. It's history. The spell was outlawed long before any of us were born."

  Damn it. She wasn't going to talk.

  "But you do know how it was done?"

  She was silent a moment. "I know the magic, yes."

  "Araminta! You're such a rebel."

  The older woman's magical knowledge was vast. If only she'd share some of it with Isabel.

  "Nonsense. More importantly, it would be a serious crime to use any such spell. The Supernatural Council would be onto you in a heartbeat."

  Those killjoys. Getting in the way of a girl's love life.

  "But it could be done? The spell would still work? If someone didn't mind taking the consequences of breaking the law? And, I mean, what would they actually do about it? It'd just be a fine and a slap on the wrist, right?"

  Araminta's tone grew suspicious. "Why on earth are you asking all of this, dear? Tigers wouldn't want to recruit, even if we had the choice now. We don't need extra numbers. We're already running the world. People would kill to be one of us." Her voice became contemptuous. "Even lions."

  "I know. It's nothing. I – I was just interested."

  "You should spend a little less time on flights of fancy, and a little more time finding a new husband. It'll only get harder now you're over thirty. Don't leave it too late."

  Isabel rolled her eyes, but she laughed anyway.

  Here came the usual topics of conversation. Time to wrap it up. She wasn't going to get any more details from Araminta tonight.

  "Okay, I'd better go now. Please send my love to Montgomery and everybody. Tell Seb and Finola I'll call soon."

  She thanked the corporal for letting her use the phone. As she headed back to her room, she thought about what Araminta had told her.

  There really was a way of turning someone into a shifter. Even a person who was already supernatural. If witches had been turned, then why not vampires?

  Could she find out how that magic worked, without Araminta's help?

  The older generation of tigers knew a lot about magical history. They were always complaining about how their kids' magical schools hadn't taught them properly.

  Isabel's own parents definitely wouldn't tell her. They'd take the same view as Araminta. She knew them too well to ask.

  But if this sort of thing used to be taught in schools, they couldn't be the only shifters who knew the magic required. There must be a lot of tigers in her parents' generation who knew the spell.

  Could she persuade one of them to tell her? Could she ask someone else to find out on her behalf?

  Was there really a way she could make Louis into a tiger instead of a vampire?

  It seemed such a long shot. How could a vampire ever be transformed into something else? How could a tiger ever be made, instead of born?

  Still, it was October now. Nearly the end of the month. Nearly time for the Halloween full moon.

  It felt too much of a coincidence to ignore.

  She pondered the consequences as she paced the floor.

  The Supernatural Council would probably strip her of her medical qualifications if she used the forbidden spell. She'd lose her job. She'd be disgraced. Maybe it'd just be a fine, like she'd guessed earlier. But maybe they'd want to lock her up?

  It was pretty alarming stuff.

  But so was the fact that her flight home to America was booked for November 1st.

  If she didn't find a magical way around it, she would be wrenched apart from Louis for ever when October ended.

  Screw that. She wasn't going to lie down and just take Fate's beating.

  There had to be a way she could do this.

  She ran back to the phone.

  "Corporal? I'm so sorry. Could I possibly use the telephone once more? I forgot I'll need a ride from the airport when I land in Denver."

  He raised his eyebrows, but waved her on over to it.

  She had to be quick. Landlines weren't reliable in that part of the desert, and some army person might need to make a call. Any number of things could interrupt her.

  She punched in the cellphone number for her old friend Rufus.

  He picked up instantly, like he always did. Rufus still worked for her ex-husband, and he was fiercely loyal to all of Sebastian's friends too.

  "Rufus, I need you to do something for me. I need you to research some old magic. Right now. Then read it out to me, so I can take notes. Can you do that?"

  "How old is the magic we're talking about?"

  "It's really old magic."

  "And if I can't get it right away for you?"

  "Can you call me back?" She read out the number printed on the phone plate. "You'll need all the international codes and shit. I guess you can do a search for that. But I'm leav
ing for America on Sunday. It needs to be before then."

  She explained the kind of magic she was looking for.

  Rufus laughed. "Okay. That's not something I can rustle up in a hurry. I'll do some digging, and I'll call you back on this line when I find something. It probably won't be for a few hours, at least."

  "You're a diamond, Rufus."

  "Don't thank me yet. Let me see what I can do."

  As she made her way back to her room, she crossed both fingers.

  Rufus could do it, she told herself. He had this covered.

  Please let him find a way. Please.

  Hope

  "Let me just give Mr. El Kheir this last shot of ibuprofen, and I'll be out of here."

  Isabel couldn't wait to hand over to her night shift colleague. Her final week had passed in a flash.

  She needed to be with Louis tonight. It was their very last night together.

  And she really needed to be within range of the army telephone. Rufus hadn't yet found her the spell she needed. But she had a good feeling about tonight.

  Tonight, he might call.

  Tonight, he might pass on the information she needed to take Louis out of this twilight existence and back into the real world.

  It could work.

  It had to work.

  It was the Halloween full moon too, and she was well aware how close to the wire they were.

  As she crossed the courtyard, a strange aroma hit her nostrils.

  What the hell?

  Wolves?

  "Aw, shit. Not Milo," she groaned, as she turned the corner.

  But it wasn't just Milo, standing back there.

  It was Milo and three of his buddies. And someone else.

  Five men stood half-hidden in the deep black shadow cast by the corrugated iron building.

  Four wolves, and—a vampire?

  Milo and his henchmen were standing in a circle around Louis. And they didn't look happy about it.

  * * *

  Before she could reach them, Milo and his friends shifted. Within seconds, they became wolves.

  Louis stood tall in the center of the circle, his fangs sharp and white. He showed no signs of intimidation, even though he was outnumbered.