The Enchanted: Council of Seven Shifter Romance Collection

by Juniper Hart

  “P.S.,” he continued. “I have to go home because my parents are missing me. Thank you for your understanding.” In a daze, the paper fell from his hand to the floor.

  How did I miss that before? How could I have not seen that?

  “Trevor, please don’t look so distressed,” Tristan pleaded, giving Will a caustic look, but Will looked perplexed by his reaction.

  “What is it, Trevor?” his cousin’s partner demanded. “What are you thinking?”

  “I hadn’t seen that part before,” Trevor whispered. He realized he was trembling.

  “Why does that make a difference?” Will pressed. “Should it make a difference why she left like that?”

  “Will, maybe we should stop talking about this,” Tristan said nervously, but neither Will nor Trevor acknowledged her.

  “Because her parents are dead.”

  Will and Tristan gasped in unison.

  “I don’t understand why she would say that…” Trevor muttered. Slowly, he looked up, understanding coloring his face. “Marika is in trouble,” he choked. “I have to go to Hungary and find her.”

  Will smiled humorlessly.

  “What?” Trevor growled. “Are you going to try to talk me out of it?”

  “Going to Budapest? Yes,” Will replied flatly.

  “I know you don’t believe me, but I know in my heart that something’s wrong,” Trevor insisted. “I need to—”

  Will held up a hand and shook his head.

  “I don’t know who this woman is or what her deal is, Trev, but if you really are going after her, you won’t find her in Hungary,” he said dryly. “She didn’t speak a word of Hungarian. If I had to bet money, I’d wager everything I had on the fact that Marika is Ukrainian.”

  Stupid, stupid, stupid! The anger at herself seemed to override her fear and desolation as she sat wedged in the seat between Leonid and Petro. You were almost free. Why would you do something so stupid?

  From the moment they had arrived at the apartment in Burlington, she had known how they had found her, her hindsight blindingly clear.

  Why would I think that enough time had passed for me to reach out to Svetlana? I should have known they would never stop looking for me.

  Leonid leered at her from the door. Petro strolled into the condo, slowly looking around with some amusement.

  “This is somewhat of a step down, isn’t it, angel?” Petro had asked, running a perfectly manicured nail atop the furniture.

  Kendra had said nothing, bile rising into her throat. Svetlana, why did you betray me? You are in exactly the same position as me! She knew, though, that the matter wasn’t that simple at all. And it hadn’t been for years.

  “There is a child here, Petro,” she told him. Ellsbeth was napping in her room, and Kendra felt a spike of fear for her.

  “A child?” he echoed, his expression twisted in grim amusement. “You have been busy, haven’t you?”

  “She isn’t mine,” Kendra told him quickly. “But I can’t leave her here alone. She’s small.”

  The men eyed one another and grimaced.

  “How old is she?” Leonid asked leeringly, and Kendra hissed at the question.

  “Too young,” she snapped. “She needs to be taken to her aunt’s.”

  “Get her,” Petro growled. “And don’t try anything stupid, Kendra. I’ve had enough of your antics.”

  Slowly, Kendra made her way into the bedroom where Ellie remained lost in a dream, a small smile on her angelic mouth.

  A lump formed in the fox’s throat. Is she old enough to shift? Can she fly us both out of here?

  It was an inane thought, and although the answer was “no,” in her desperation, she was willing to entertain anything.

  “Marika?” Ellie murmured, her lids fluttering open. “Is Uncle Trevor home?”

  “No, sweetheart. I have to go away for a while, but I’m going to take you to your Aunt Tristan’s now, all right?”

  Ellie had blinked uncomprehendingly. “Where are you going?”

  “I don’t have time to explain right now,” she whispered, pulling the little girl upward. “But you have to come with me and not ask any questions.”

  “Who is that?” The fear in Ellie’s voice masked what Kendra was feeling, and even without turning, she knew who loomed in the doorway.

  “Give us a minute, Petro!” she snapped.

  “Well, hurry up!” he retorted.

  Quickly, Kendra dressed Ellie and ushered her into the living room where the men waited. Ellsbeth’s eyes were as wide as saucers.

  “I-I don’t want to go,” Ellie whispered. “Let’s just wait for Uncle Trevor.”

  There was nothing Kendra could do but clasp the child’s hand in hers and squeeze comfortingly.

  “Anything you want to take with you from this shithole before we go home, sweetheart?” Petro had asked conversationally, plopping down on the sofa. He eyed the woman and child with contempt, as if the mere sight of them made him nauseous.

  She shook her head, her jaw tightening as she watched him make himself comfortable in the place she’d grown to love so dearly.

  “Good. Then let’s go home where we can deal with your betrayal, shall we?”

  He ambled to his feet, and Kendra looked around desperately for something to use as a weapon, but she wasn’t a fool. She knew Leonid was armed, and even with her speedy healing, a gunshot wound would take her longer than a day to heal from if she was taken out. And there was no way she was going to subject Ellsbeth to any kind of violence.

  This is not the time to test my immortality—again.

  “Allow me to leave a letter, Petro,” she said suddenly, an idea forming in her mind. Fury flashed through Petro’s blue eyes at the suggestion, and he advanced on her, causing Ellsbeth to cower between her legs. Before his anger escalated, she rushed on. “You do not want a police investigation, do you? Let him think I have left on my own, and there is no danger of anyone coming looking for us. If I just disappear, he’ll worry, and there will be trouble.” Instantly, Petro had sat back, placated by the explanation.

  “Stupid Americans,” he scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Always making drama.”

  She stared at him imploringly, and he nodded curtly, shifting his eyes away. She thought she caught a glint of guilt in his eyes when he caught Ellie’s plaintive face.

  “Hurry up,” he ordered, and Kendra sat down to write, her mind racing furiously as she untangled her hand from Ellsbeth.

  “I don’t like this, Marika,” she breathed.

  I don’t either, baby, but we need to get out of here before Trevor comes back. She ground her teeth together and tried to focus on the task at hand.

  Petro was bound to read the note, so it had to be penned in such a way as to not arouse his suspicions. He stared at her expectantly while she peered at the page, trying to figure out how to get her message across to Trevor without alerting Petro.

  “Well? Are you going to write it or not?” Petro barked. Nodding quickly, she began to write.

  Please don’t come home, she silently prayed as her hand flew across the page. Stay at the market. Take your time. Kendra had no doubt that if he chanced upon the scene, Leonid would put a bullet in her fiancé. It wasn’t so much that she was worried for Trevor’s safety as she was that he would learn the truth about her.

  “Kendra, you’re beginning to upset me,” Petro hissed. “Let’s get out of here. I already feel like I need a shower, and I’ve been in this wretched country for only two hours.”

  Kendra tossed the letter on the kitchen counter and gestured for the men to follow. She didn’t want to waste any time getting them out of there.

  “Let’s go,” she told them, reaching for Ellie’s hand.

  Leonid paused.

  “Sir, shouldn’t we wait for him to come home?” the gorilla pressed. “He deserves to know what happens when he crosses you.”

  Ellsbeth gasped, inherently understanding the danger they all faced, despite the foreign l
anguage floating through her young ears.

  “What language are they speaking, Marika? Is this your language?”

  “No, baby. English is my native language,” Kendra replied truthfully, her eyes trained on Petro.

  You can’t hurt Trevor, not in front of his niece. You have no idea what you’ll be doing if you try.

  To Kendra’s relief, Petro shook his head. “No. We don’t need unnecessary attention here in the Americas. Let’s drop off the brat and just get back to the hotel. We’ll be on the first flight out of here tomorrow morning.”

  Leonid did not look happy with the answer, but he was trained better than to argue with Petro.

  That had been yesterday. Kendra had given Ellsbeth a strict warning not to breathe a word about the men to anyone and allowed herself to be taken by Leonid back to the hotel, where she had been left in relative peace.

  “Are you comfortable, angel?” Petro asked, leaning over to squeeze her bare knee across the armrest in the airplane. She winced and turned her head, but there was nowhere to look. Leonid’s disgusting face was equally as unappealing.

  “The boss asked you a question, Kendra,” Leonid growled. She whipped her head up and glared at him.

  “I have ears, Leonid. I do not believe it is your place to tell me how to answer my husband,” she snarled. Leonid glowered and opened his mouth to retort, but Petro gave him a look which silenced him instantly.

  “How true your words are, my love,” Petro said smoothly. “Leonid seems to have forgotten who you are while you were on your little trip.”

  “I can see that,” Kendra retorted. Her guts were a twisted mess of worry.

  There was no doubt that Petro was livid. His calm exterior was not fooling her in the least. The fact that he had let her stew in the aftermath of her recapture spoke volumes. He wanted her to suffer the night, not knowing what was going to happen.

  She stared down at the unread magazine in her hands. A million thoughts were running through her head. She considered screaming for help. She thought about excusing herself to the bathroom and bolting off the plane. She even wondered if she could pull off a hijacking, if only to alert the US Marshall on board. But she dismissed all the plans, knowing that she would only put Ellie and Trevor in danger if she did anything but go compliantly with her husband.

  Kendra hoped that Trevor would understand the cryptic message she had left for him.

  If he understands it, at least he will know that I did not leave him by choice. If he doesn’t, he will be devastated. Either way, he will be miserable without me.

  She thought of the time she had spent with Trevor over the past months, how she had grown to adore him and how he had grown as a person. She had watched his self-confidence slowly build, and he had become a man, not a meek shadow. He’d become the dragon he was meant to be, and she had helped him get there.

  He’s finally realizing his self-worth, she thought, trying to focus on Trevor and not on the predicament in which she found herself. In her mind’s eye, she was playing with Ellsbeth or stealing kisses with Trevor as they curled up on the couch and watched a movie with popcorn.

  She dared not think of Petrol’s calculating eyes or Leonid’s seething on either side of her, because she knew that once they returned home to Kiev, she was a dead woman—even if she continued to breathe.

  Just like she’d been before she’d escaped Europe.

  9

  Sleep was impossible, regardless of how the wine flowed that night, and when the front door opened the next morning, the family jumped in shock.

  “Have you guys been up all night?” Johnny demanded in dismay as the kids followed him inside. Ellsbeth’s eyes widened when she saw her uncle.

  “Uncle Trevor!” she gasped, tears pooling in her face. “You’re safe! You’re okay!”

  Stunned by the greeting, Trevor extended his arms to her and embraced her tightly.

  “Of course, I am,” he said quietly. “Why wouldn’t I be?” Ellie didn’t answer right away. She sniffled and buried her face deeper into her uncle’s chest. “Are you okay?” he asked quietly, stroking her matted hair comfortingly. “What happened?” He looked at Johnny, who shrugged.

  “She was quiet the entire trip,” he explained. “But she wouldn’t tell me what was going on.”

  “Is this about Marika?” Trevor asked. “Is that why you’re so upset?”

  Ellsbeth’s head pulled back, and she looked to Trevor with huge eyes.

  “They took her away,” she whispered, and Trevor felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise.

  “Who?” he demanded, dropping down to meet his niece’s eyes evenly. “Who took her? Where?”

  “What are you talking about?” Tristan interjected, hurrying over with Sasha in her arms. Trevor looked accusingly at his sister.

  “Who was with her when she dropped off Ellie?”

  “No one!” Tristan insisted. “Don’t you think I would have said something if there had been?”

  “I don’t know,” he growled back before turning his full attention to Ellsbeth. “Tell me everything you remember about what happened. What did she say? Who did she go with?”

  Quivering, Ellie looked down and shook her head.

  “I promised I wouldn’t say anything,” she sighed.

  “Ellsbeth, Marika might be in danger. You need to tell me what you know.” Fear sparked in Ellie’s eyes, and Trevor realized that he was speaking far too harshly. “You’re not in trouble, Ellie,” he told her, dropping his tone a notch. “I’m just really worried about Marika.”

  Ellie bit on her lower lip and looked up again. “There were two men, speaking a language that wasn’t English.”

  “Did it sound like this?” Will asked, stepping forward. He unleashed a sentence in Ukrainian.

  “Yes!” Ellie said eagerly. “And Marika spoke back to them, too, but she says that English is her first language.”

  Confusion and consternation threatened to drown Trevor as he looked around at his family.

  What is going on? Who is Marika really? It didn’t matter—whoever she really was, he needed to find her and rescue her from whatever mess she’d gotten involved in.

  “Tell me everything you can remember about the men,” Trevor told the child urgently. “Were they Enchanted?”

  Ellie shook her head, albeit uncertainly.

  “I-I don’t think so,” she murmured, but her words weren’t a ringing endorsement. “I mean… they didn’t seem like…” She trailed off and chomped down on her lower lip again, shaking her head. “I don’t know,” she sighed.

  “It’s okay,” Trevor told her quickly. “We’ll figure it out.” He raised his eyes purposefully and met his sister’s eyes. “Won’t we?”

  Tristan nodded eagerly, but Johnny didn’t seem so sure.

  “Whatever this is, Tristan, we can’t get involved.”

  “A woman could be in trouble, Johnny, a woman who knows where your niece lives.”

  Johnny clamped his lips closed, but Trevor could read his mind. He was thinking about his own children.

  “We’ll find her, Trevor,” Tristan piped up, giving her husband a customary nasty look for his lack of support. “You have my word.”

  Trevor nodded, but he wasn’t wracked with confidence. They’d already been gone for almost a full day. Even if Will was right and they were headed to Kiev, that was a city with a population of three million. He wouldn’t even know where to start looking for Marika—assuming that was her real name.

  He had far more questions than answers, and that didn’t fill him with the least bit of hope. All Trevor knew was that he needed to find his bride-to-be. Everything else could wait.

  “Trevor, lower your voice!” Johnny hissed, closing the front door behind him and pushing his brother-in-law onto the front lawn.

  “Can you do it or not?” Trevor insisted. “You know you can.”

  “No way, Trev. You’ll get us both arrested!” Johnny cried, throwing his hands up. “Not to mention
getting pulled before the Council. Actually, maybe the Council could help—”

  “The Council isn’t going to help me with a Vulpes. There’s no one to advocate for her except me.”

  “I don’t know what to tell you, Trevor, but I can’t do this.”

  “Have I ever asked you for anything, Johnny?” Trevor stared at him, his eyes filled with frustration. Johnny shook his head and sighed, looking down at the frozen lawn around him.

  Has it only been a year since Marika has come into my life? Why can’t I remember life before her? Why do I feel like there’s no life after her?

  “Trevor, please don’t put me on the spot like this,” Johnny begged. “I can’t—”

  “You can’t, or you won’t?” Trevor interjected, his voice barely a low growl. He could feel the prod of his fangs inside his mouth as his body threatened to shift under all the pressure he was feeling.

  “Trevor…”

  The idea had flooded over Trevor in a whirlwind as he sat on Tristan’s couch, feeling lost in the aftermath of what Ellie had disclosed to him.

  Where do I go from here? What do I do with all this information?

  It was then he had caught Johnny’s eye and a lightbulb had gone off. Johnny had once been a brilliant computer hacker, long ago, in the dawn of the internet age. He had apparently given up the illegal activity to raise his family and stay off the Council’s radar, but Trevor had a sneaking suspicion that old habits certainly died hard with hackers.

  The little he knew as a web designer was pale in comparison to what his brother-in-law did, Trevor was sure. There had never been a firewall too daunting for him, no site too secure, and no government agency off limits.

  Once, Johnny had been caught breaching the Pentagon’s security cameras, a feat he had only done for shits and giggles, but it had landed him in federal prison for a year. That was the time that Tristan had broken up with him and refused to reunite unless he swore to never touch a computer again. Johnny had sworn to the gods above and below that he would not engage in any form of hacking or illegal activity if Tristan stayed.