The Enchanted: Council of Seven Shifter Romance Collection

by Juniper Hart

  Victor inhaled deeply. “Simone, I wouldn’t be calling you if it wasn’t important. She has no one here. We need the money, and she’s applied everywhere.”

  “You should have stayed in New York,” Simone told him coldly. “I have no idea why you came back to Boulder.”

  Victor was silent, and she could tell he was trying to keep his temper in check, but she didn’t care. She wanted him to yell and curse at her like he always did.

  He hasn’t changed, no matter how much he wants us to believe that Cinnamon is good for him. Goddamn Cinnamon.

  “Simone,” Victor finally said, his voice cutting. “I didn’t call to fight with you. I called because I sincerely need your help. We’re going to be evicted from our apartment. Please, just think about it before you turn us away.”

  The thought that Cinnamon might be living on the streets filled Simone with a sense of perverse happiness, but her father? Well, he was still the man who had come to her dance recitals and taken her out for ice cream. Even if he had abandoned her.

  It was a vicious cycle she played in her mind, one she wanted desperately to forget. If only he would let her.

  “Maybe you should drop the dead weight, Dad.”

  “I made a mistake calling you. I didn’t think you’d be so spiteful as an adult. I wouldn’t have bothered you if it wasn’t the last resort.”

  Regret instantly seized Simone’s heart, and she stifled a groan.

  How can they do that? she wondered. How are parents instinctively able to guilt you, no matter how much they treat you like crap? Is this something they learn from other parents? Is it a course online?

  “No,” she said before she could stop herself. “I’ll talk to my supervisor and see if there’s a reception position for her here.”

  Victor exhaled in a whoosh of breath. “Oh, thank you, Simone! This means so much to us. I will—”

  “I’m only doing it on one condition, Dad.”

  He paused. “What’s that?” he asked warily.

  “Once you and the cinnamon tart get back on your feet, you need to leave Boulder. Just knowing you’re here is an insult to Mama’s memory.”

  “Simone…”

  “Those are my terms. If you think I’m going to spend years staring at her face while you mock my mother’s memory—”

  “You need to stop saying that,” Victor snapped. “We came home, which is our right. I know you’re still upset about what happened—”

  “I’m not rehashing this with you again, Dad. That’s the deal, take it or leave it. You can get back to me if you want, but I have to go. I have a job, you see.” Simone couldn’t resist the jab, a cruel smirk forming over her mouth, even though her heart was aching.

  This is his bed, she thought. I have nothing to feel guilty about. And I have no interest in running into Cinnamon at the grocery store.

  There was another reason that Simone didn’t want her father and his new wife around, but that wasn’t something she was going to think about at that moment. Not that her mother would be exceedingly proud of her if she found what she had been up to since she had passed away, either.

  Simone shoved the thought of her head and waited for Victor to answer. It wasn’t her fault she’d resorted to making money in less than ethical ways. Maybe if she’d had a good role model as a father…

  Simone rolled her eyes at herself. She wondered how long she was going to keep beating that dead horse. I’m twenty-six years old. Time to get over my crappy childhood.

  “Well?” she demanded when Victor didn’t answer. “What’s it gonna be?”

  “I’ll talk it over with Cinnamon.”

  “You do that.” Simone hung up the phone without saying goodbye, her pulse racing slightly. The notion of seeing Cinnamon’s bleached blonde head around the office every day was not something which filled her with inspiration, but she couldn’t very well abandon her father in his time of need—even if that was what he had done to them.

  “You okay?” Toni asked, realizing she was off the phone. Suddenly, Simone found her cubicle suffocating.

  “Actually,” she mumbled, rising from her desk. “I feel a little sick.”

  “Where are you going?” Toni demanded. “Everett will blow a gasket if you leave.”

  “Screw Everett,” Simone said, though she was sure Toni didn’t hear her. The thought of spending one more minute inside the office was unbearable.

  She snatched her cell out of her desk drawer and reached for her purse, willing away the bile mounting in her windpipe. There were four more texts on her phone, two from Tommy and two from other customers, who were waiting for their products. Simone didn’t bother responding to them. As she made her way out of the building, she knew she wasn’t coming back to Harper-Morris for the day.

  May as well make those deliveries, she thought grimly. That’s where the real money is, anyway. Besides, her mind was no longer on her work or the data she had punched into the finance portal not ten minutes earlier.

  If she had remained at her desk for two more minutes, she would have seen the still open screen of her computer begin to blink and flash just as the freshly entered data was deleted and the page went blank.

  2

  Senator Trent Michaels glowered at the team over the board table, his contempt palpable.

  “What do you mean you haven’t heard from him in months?” the politician snapped. “He doesn’t just wreak havoc and then disappear!”

  “That’s exactly what he seems to have done,” Theo said quietly. “No one has heard from Jackrabbit since we returned from West Africa. There’s nothing that indicates he’s been active. Nothing with his signature, nor any overt proclamations from him. He’s in the wind.”

  “Then you better find him, Veriday. I don’t need to tell you how much money I’ve given you,” Senator Michaels spat, his eyes glowing furiously, and Theo met his eyes, checking his own temper.

  The senator was a demon, a fact that only Theo knew. Their relationship was tumultuous, mostly because of the power struggle which ensued between them. As a member of the Seven, Theo outranked the demon, even though Senator Michaels was more powerful by force. In mortal affairs, Michaels was also higher ranking, but Theo was far more dangerous. It was hard to say which being was truly the bigger entity; therefore, they danced around one another in a cloud of tension and suspicion.

  We have a common goal, Theo reminded himself, but even as he did, he wondered again what Michaels’ direct interest in Jackrabbit was exactly. Sure, the terrorist had made threats on American soil, but his works had been done mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere—certainly nowhere near Colorado.

  It’s like he knows something we don’t know, Theo often thought. Not that he cared much about the politics surrounding the venture. Senator Michaels’ money was as good as anyone’s, and the reasoning was not his to question. However, Theo could do without the attitude oozing from Michaels at that moment.

  “We are obviously looking for him,” Theo said, leaning over the table to meet Michaels’ eyes evenly. “But he’s elusive, as you well know. There’s not much we can do if he doesn’t make a move.”

  “Maybe I should take my business elsewhere,” Michaels spat, his eyes glowing with animus. Theo opened his mouth to speak, but Matthew interrupted, sensing his captain’s proximity to losing his temper.

  “We’ve been on Jackrabbit for months, Senator. If you bring in another team, they’ll have to be brought up to speed. That’s not something you want to waste time with, is it?” Matthew asked placatingly. “He’s laying low because he’s scared. Clearly, we’re getting too close, and that’s why he’s staying out of sight.”

  “Or he’s dead,” Theo mused, even though he didn’t believe it. The memory of the black-clad figure in the desert still rested heavily on his mind. He won’t die. No matter what. That guy is indestructible.

  He had toyed with the idea that Jackrabbit was immortal, that he was one of the Enchanted. But he had nothing to base that upon, since he
still had no idea what the man looked like. The profiler had given his best estimate of what to look for, but it wasn’t enough.

  Michaels grunted. “He’s not dead,” he said firmly. “Call it intuition.” The senator eyed Theo meaningfully.

  “I know what you mean,” Theo agreed.

  “I’m getting annoyed,” Michaels announced, rising from the table, and Theo swallowed a smile. It was clear that the senator was beyond annoyed already, but he didn’t push the issue.

  “We’ll be in touch as soon as we have more information,” Matthew offered, casting Theo a wary look and seeing the senator out of the glass boardroom.

  James Smitty eyed him worriedly. “I don’t blame him for being antsy, Cap. I’m nervous as hell about how quiet JR’s been since Niger.”

  “He really could be dead,” Eli Cole said brightly, his eternally optimistic brightness shining through.

  “He’s not dead,” Theo said flatly. “I’m sure of it.”

  “How?” Gregory Fend scowled. Theo found himself studying his fat face intently. He had been unable to shake the idea that he was breeding a traitor amongst them, and Fend seemed like the most likely candidate.

  “You ask a lot of questions,” Theo told him softly. “I’m not used to it.” His meaning cut through Fend’s expression, and contrition shadowed his face instantly.

  “I-I’m not questioning you, Captain. I-I’m just wondering how you can be so sure he’s still alive. This is the longest he’s been silent since we started tracking him, isn’t it?”

  “We haven’t been tracking him long enough to know if this is his pattern,” Theo reminded him. “Instead of sitting around waiting for him to make his next move, we should be going back on all the attacks he’s executed in the past and see if there are any common denominators. If he’s hiding somewhere, we might find a clue as to where.”

  The team rose as Matthew re-entered the boardroom, leaving the two men alone.

  “Why do you insist on going head to head with Michaels?” he demanded. “He’s our biggest client.”

  “He’s not going to fire us,” Theo said confidently. “He’s got too much to lose, and he’s paranoid we’ll out him for what he’s doing.”

  “What the hell is he doing?” Matthew sighed, flopping onto a leather chair. “None of this has made sense from the start.”

  “It’s not really our job to ask questions, is it?” Theo reminded him, glancing at his watch casually. He needed to get to the company private jet soon and meet the Council that night.

  “Come on,” Matthew scoffed. “You really aren’t curious why a US senator has all this interest in an international and relatively unknown terrorist? Jackrabbit hasn’t even struck on American soil.”

  “To our knowledge,” Theo agreed. “But as you well know, we are not a government agency, Matt. We are paid for a service and don’t ask questions. You used to be on board with that.”

  Matthew paled. “I still am,” he replied quickly. “I—Never mind. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

  Theo sighed and stood, his eyes fixed on his lieutenant. “Matt, we’re friends. We’ve worked together for years, but I’m telling you, as your boss, that you can’t start snooping around in the clients’ affairs. If you start doing that, then the team will follow suit, and suddenly, everyone is off on their own missions, playing private dick. It will ruin our reputation for discretion, and it will open all kinds of doors we can’t close. Just leave well enough alone. We’re not doing anything illegal.”

  That we know of, Theo added silently, but that part was always implied. There was something different about Jackrabbit—something that didn’t quite sit right with Theo, and he knew the others felt it, too. Maybe it’s easier for me to stick my head in the sand in this case because the senator is an Enchanted.

  “We won’t get very far if we’re questioning one another, Matt. We’re supposed to be on the same page, right?” Theo reminded him.

  “You’re right. You don’t have to worry about me.” Matthew offered Theo a brief smile.

  “It’s human nature to be curious,” Theo said magnanimously. “But be curious on your own time, not mine, all right? And the clients are always off limits. I’ve got a meeting to attend in New York tonight. I’ll be back tomorrow, but you can text me if you need me. In the meantime, I want you to pull up all of Jackrabbit’s old files and pour over them, see if you can’t find some clue as to where he’s gone.”

  I’d settle for knowing where he came from, Theo thought, moving out of the boardroom and making his way toward his spacious office to collect his belongings. Although he was tired, he was looking forward to the meeting that night. Despite what he had said to Matthew, his own interest was far too piqued to let Trent Michaels’ desire to find Jackrabbit go uninvestigated. Of course, his team didn’t need to know that. They didn’t have the same resources that Theo boasted.

  When I get to New York, he told himself, I’ll pick Raven’s brain about the senator. I wonder if she has anything to say about him.

  Abruptly, he stopped, feeling an eerily familiar sensation on his chest. The amulet was glowing again, the heat of it burning into his skin. Theo examined it with the same surprise as he had the only other time it had begun to react in such a way. Why is it doing this all of a sudden?

  There was no answer that he could find as he stood alone in the office. The circumstances were almost completely the opposite as they had been in the desert. There was no one near him that had been there that day, and yet something had set the amulet off.

  Theo tucked it back into his shirt and scaled the stairs up to the helipad on the roof. The chopper would take him to the airport, and it was ready to go, the pilot waving Theo inside as he rushed against the high winds caused by the blades.

  “Good evening, Captain!”

  “Mick.” Theo slid inside, and the doors closed as Mick readjusted his headset, clearing the helicopter for take-off. The amulet continued to pulsate under his white button-down shirt, but not with the same heat intensity it had in the desert.

  Miriam Aldwin popped into Theo’s head again, although whether he had put her there himself or whether it was part of how the necklace reacted, he couldn’t be sure.

  In an instant, he understood the connection between Miriam and the pendant. You found it in the woods, all those years ago. The amulet belongs to a witch. That’s why you’ve got Miriam on your brain.

  A slight sense of relief passed through him as he sat back against his seat and looked toward the melting snow. It was a good thing that he was going to the Council meeting. Not only could he speak to Raven about Michaels, but he could see if Lane knew anything about the charm he’d been carrying around for years around his neck.

  Lane’s grandmother, Miriam, had once served on the Council herself. Theo wondered if Miriam had ever seen the charm. It wasn’t as though he spent a lot of time socially with the other members of the Seven. He was more prone to keeping to himself, as bears did. He liked his privacy, and he was the youngest immortal on the Council.

  Or rather, I was the youngest immortal before Lane turned, he reminded himself. The other councilmen had served the Seven for thousands of years, while Theo was not quite yet half a millennium old. While they did nothing to make him feel like less of a councilman, he could not help feeling out of his league among them, despite his infinite power. Theo had always managed to take care of his affairs without their help, and asking them had never crossed his mind until that moment.

  Who knew the Council might actually come in handy for me one day, he thought with amusement. I’ve never asked them for anything before this. Will they come through for me?

  He had no doubt they would. They always did, after all. He just hoped he would be ready to hear what they were going to tell him.

  3

  Theo arrived late for the meeting, the group already assembled in their respective spots. Landon eyed him and smirked when he sauntered inside.

  “Look who decided to grace
us with his presence,” he mocked, interrupting Laurel, who was speaking about fairy business. She cast Landon a scathing look and barely glanced at Theo as he took his seat.

  Theo said nothing. He simply set his eyes among the others and let the meeting continue, their words flowing in and out of his mind as he thought of his own issues. There was nothing pressing at the monthly meetings—at least, nothing that he hadn’t heard thousands of times before—and after they engaged in their usual comments and complaints, they broke before rituals.

  Theo found Henry and Lane outside, leaned up against the church they had used for their meeting, each locked in the other’s eyes. He paused, unsure if he should interrupt them in what appeared to be an intimate moment, but he also knew that he would be hard pressed to find a moment when they did not look at one another in such a way.

  Looks like Miriam’s spell worked on everyone except me, he thought, but there was no rue in him. Love was not something he had ever focussed on; not when his life was so hectic. He couldn’t imagine worrying about protecting his mate from his mercenary lifestyle, dragging her from one place to another as he hunted the world’s most dangerous men. Even if that’s not for me, I’m happy for them.

  Theo cleared his throat quietly, a slight embarrassment touching his cheeks as they turned to look at him in surprise.

  “Theo!” Lane called, smiling. Her eyeteeth gleamed against the full moon, and Theo could see she was still struggling with her new shifting ability.

  This is why we don’t turn witches into vampires, he thought wryly. The power of an Aldwin witch with immortality… It was a good thing that Lane was gentle in nature. Such power in the wrong hands could only prove to be fatal.

  “Is everything okay?” Henry asked, shooting Lane a nervous look. Neither was accustomed to having the werebear approach them unsolicited.

  “I’m sorry to interrupt,” Theo said. “But I have a question for Lane.”

  “Ask away,” the redhead replied, pulling out of Henry’s arms and looking at him speculatively. “What’s on your mind?”