The Enchanted: Council of Seven Shifter Romance Collection

by Juniper Hart

  “Do you think they could hear me when I told them I loved them?” she sniffled.

  “Yes, of course,” Trevor said without hesitation. “I think they’re always watching over you.”

  The sentiment only caused Ellsbeth to cry harder.

  “I miss them so much,” she sobbed. “Why did they have to die?”

  “Shh,” Trevor murmured, giving Kendra a hopeless look, but her eyes had taken on a faraway look as she absently comforted the little girl in his arms with slow, rhythmic strokes of her hair. “We will always take care of you, Ellie,” Trevor promised her. “And love you as much as any two parents can.”

  “Yes,” Kendra agreed. “That is our pledge to you.” But even as she spoke the words, Trevor couldn’t help noticing that she continued to stare out into the cemetery, as if she was expecting something.

  “Come on,” Trevor said as Ellie composed herself. “Let’s go get some ice cream, okay?”

  The little dragon pulled herself back and nodded, wiping her eyes bravely.

  “Okay,” she said, moving ahead to leave Trevor and Kendra alone. Trevor slipped his hand into hers, and together, they followed their ward silently.

  “Do you feel that?” Kendra asked suddenly, stopping in her tracks. Trevor frowned, looking back to follow her gaze.

  “No, what?” She shook her red tresses as if to shrug off a sensation and continued toward the parking lot. “What did you feel?” he asked. Kendra smiled enigmatically.

  “Change,” she answered. “I felt a change.”

  Epilogue

  The Council of Seven was in an uproar, the din causing baby Ember to wail in protest. Lane, the witch-vampire hybrid, rested the child on her hip, bouncing lightly as she looked desperately at her mate, Henry, to silence the meeting.

  “Can we just calm down for a second?” Henry cried over the loud voices. “This isn’t going anywhere.”

  “How the hell can it go anywhere when we don’t know what we’re dealing with?” Landon, the powerful wolf shifter, barked, baring his fangs with annoyance.

  “Well, yelling over one another isn’t going to accomplish anything,” Theo, the bear shifter, volunteered, slightly smugly.

  Reluctantly, the words began to falter until everyone was finally quiet again and looking to one another for a direction.

  “We need to get a handle on the Vulpes,” Raven, the Council demon, growled. “They’ve got hidden powers, and we have no idea where it ends!”

  “You’re making a huge assumption that this is because of the Vulpes,” Alec, the dragon, offered, but his protest was met with a collective scoff.

  “What the hell else could it be?” Henry groaned. “Ever since the Jagger sisters have surfaced, there’s been nothing but trouble.”

  “In all fairness, the Vulpes have been around a lot longer than the Jagger sisters,” Lane offered. All eyes turned to her in disbelief.

  “You’re the one who brought these anomalies to our attention,” Laurel, the fairy queen, reminded her, sitting back in her chair to fold her arms over her chest. “And that spawn on your hip speaks for itself.”

  “Ember has a scientific explanation,” Lane interjected quickly, shooting her mate a cautious look. “The Jaggers clearly have something special in their DNA which enhances fertility. I just happened to be exposed to it.”

  “You’re a vampire! Henry is a vampire! I don’t care what kind of drug you inhaled, this is weird!” Raven hissed. “And what about those wolf shifter twins who are impervious to silver?”

  “Again, they share the Jagger DNA. We don’t know enough about the Vulpes to jump to conclusions!” Lane insisted, but she wondered if she was being convincing enough.

  “And what about Christopher and Elyse Holland?” Landon drawled. The silence that fell over the Council was almost deafening.

  “We don’t know that it’s connected,” Lane said again.

  “Kendra Jagger is married to Christopher Holland’s brother,” Landon reminded her as if she had forgotten. “And suddenly he and his wife spring back to life after being dead and buried for a year?”

  “Look, I know it’s weird, and there’s a lot going on that we don’t get yet, but calling the Jaggers dangerous isn’t fair,” Henry said. “Three of the sisters are mated and living Council-approved lives. They aren’t criminals, they aren’t hiding their comings and goings. We can’t invade their lives because we’re worried. This is how we fear mortals are going to treat us when they learn about us. That’s why we keep ourselves hidden from them. We can’t discriminate against them.”

  “Then what do you propose?” Laurel asked. “Because we sure as hell can’t let them keep running amok without knowing what they can do.”

  Lane again exchanged a look with Henry and then turned to Ember, who had settled to snuggle against her mother’s chest in slumber.

  “We have no idea how many of them there are,” Lane said. “All we know is that there are less of them than demons.”

  “We assume,” Raven interjected.

  “We assume,” Lane agreed. “That said, we need to find representation for them.”

  The Council paused.

  “It’s better than spying on them,” Henry added when no one spoke up. “And given the little we do know about their powers, it’s hardly a good idea to make an enemy out of them.”

  There was a hesitating murmur of agreement, and Theo put the order to a vote.

  “All in favor of adding a fox to the Council, raise your hand.”

  Seven hands went up, and Landon immediately rose to his feet. “Fine. Find one and make it happen, but if anyone else comes back from the dead, I’m out of this arrangement, and I’ll go after them myself.”

  With an unnerving heaviness, the rest followed to leave the church in which they had held their impromptu meeting, leaving Henry and Lane alone with their child.

  “This is just getting weirder and weirder, Lane,” he muttered. “I’m not sure that bringing a Vulpes here is the smartest thing until we know what they’re up to.”

  Lane exhaled and rubbed her daughter’s back.

  “How are we going to know if they’re up to anything unless we ask?” she replied quietly. “We’ll catch more flies with honey than vinegar.”

  “Or we’re literally letting the fox into the henhouse with an open invitation.”

  Their eyes locked, and Lane could plainly read his indecisiveness.

  “I guess we’ll find out, won’t we?” she murmured. “But it’s coming true, isn’t it?”

  “What’s that?”

  Lane closed her eyes and recited the words she’d learned in her mother’s cold cellar all those months ago. “In the light of a Vulpes love, all that wasn’t will rise above.”

  Renewal

  Enchanted Foxes

  Prologue

  Not for the first time, Lane found herself staring at the sleeping body of the child in her arms with wonder and awe. She asked herself if she would ever get over the miracle of Ember’s birth and decided that she likely wouldn’t.

  Her mind whirled as to how the child could have come to be and what this meant for the Enchanted as a whole. She understood how it had happened from a scientific standpoint, but it didn’t change the fact that she was plagued with the confusion of how she was able to have a perfectly healthy child with her mate, who was also a vampire.

  Since the arrival of the Vulpes in their midst, Lane had been consumed with a terrible yet excited sense of foreboding, a combination of wanting to know what else was to come and despising the idea simultaneously. She likened it to riding a roller coaster, wanting to take the plunge into the abyss below but dreading it all the way up the climb.

  I wish I could be more like your father, she told Ember silently. Taking things in stride. How does he manage to remain so stoic when I’m a bundle of nerves all the time?

  And on one level, Henry was completely correct to have such a mentality. After all, there was little she could do by worrying. What h
ad the Jagger sisters brought but goodness for the Enchanted? What real harm had they done? True, they were a force unlike any other that Lane had known, but she was also younger than most of the other Enchanted, despite her experience over the past years. She hadn’t seen a quarter of what some of her counterparts had, no matter how much she tried to pretend otherwise.

  Sometimes, she thought back to the scared little girl who had run away from that very first Council meeting and shook her head. It was hard to believe that she was the same being at times. It seemed like a lifetime ago.

  Lane still didn’t know how she felt about the way the prophecy had changed everyone. She wished that she hadn’t found it, that the Vulpes were still a mystery to her and everyone else.

  Not everyone, she reminded herself. Some of us. Really, what has changed for the Enchanted as a whole? The problem was, Lane knew there were more of them out there, at least one more sister that had been unaccounted for. Who knew how many more others?

  As if hearing her thoughts, Ember began to stir slightly, and Lane immediately stilled her own mind. The baby was nothing if not sensitive to her moods, and the last thing Lane wanted was to wake her from her nap.

  Henry appeared in the door to the nursery.

  “You good?” he asked in a low voice, and Lane nodded, forcing a smile.

  “Of course.”

  “Want me to take her for a while so you can get some sleep?”

  Lane leaned back in the glider chair and shook her head.

  “She’s fine, and I’m not that tired,” she fibbed. Henry grinned at the lie.

  “You really do think you’re Superwoman, don’t you?” Lane laughed softly.

  “I have some of her traits,” she replied jokingly. “You can’t fault me for thinking so.”

  “You surpass her,” Henry murmured, stalking closer to crouch beside his mate and child, staring deep into Lane’s bright eyes. “But you’ve been burning the candle at both ends for months. Why don’t you go have a rest?”

  “Don’t we have a Council meeting tonight?” she asked, her question interrupted by a yawn.

  “You don’t need to be there,” Henry said. “And I can bring Ember with me.” Lane blinked sleepily.

  “Since when don’t I have to be at Council meetings?” she asked, feeling her eyes closing as she spoke.

  “Since we can get through this one without you,” Henry insisted, reaching for the baby. Lane allowed him to take her, a warmth filling her as she watched them together. She was sure that as long as she lived, she would never tire of the sight of a father holding his child, particularly a child that was nothing short of an anomaly. Or a miracle.

  She again shoved the odd thoughts from her mind and refocused her attention on Henry.

  “Is there any word on Elle Jagger?” she asked, another yawn threatening to break through her lips.

  “Never mind any of the Jaggers right now,” Henry grumbled, a glint of annoyance flashing in his eyes. “Go to sleep.”

  Reluctantly, Lane rose, but as she padded her way toward the doorway, she paused and looked at Henry.

  “You have heard something about her, haven’t you?” she asked, her sixth sense honing on something in her mate’s face. Henry looked away, confirming her suspicions.

  “She’s… around,” he offered lamely, sensing that Lane wasn’t about to give up without learning something.

  “What does that mean?” Lane demanded. Henry sighed and shook his head.

  “She’s got her own story,” he said, a pained expression forming on his face. Lane groaned, and Ember stirred again, causing Henry to give her a warning look. “You can’t be surprised,” he added quickly. “Given their upbringing and what we’ve learned about the other three—”

  “What abilities does she have?” Lane wanted to know, any sleepiness slipping away. She couldn’t imagine what else the Jaggers could possibly throw at them, but something told her she was about to find out.

  “I don’t know,” Henry said, and she could see he was telling the truth. “But I know she’s a little bit… intense.”

  “In what way?”

  “Let’s just say she’s running with an interesting crowd.”

  “How about you just say what’s on your mind and don’t let my imagination run wild,” Lane replied, losing her patience with Henry’s dance of words.

  “Honestly, I’m not entirely sure. I mean, she’s not as bad off as Harmony. She knows who she is—maybe a bit too much.”

  Lane continued to stare at him, a deadpan expression on her face. “Henry…”

  “All I know is that she’s an activist of some kind, but as far as anyone can tell, she’s living a relatively normal life.”

  Lane could clearly hear the doubt in his voice. There is nothing normal about any of them. They all possess cerebral qualities the likes of which the Enchanted have never known.

  “Anyway, she’s within our sights and hasn’t found her mate, so at least we don’t have to worry about the world spinning off its axis or anything.” He didn’t add the unspoken, “for now” that he was undoubtedly thinking. “Anyway, whatever Elle Jagger is up to can wait until you’ve caught up on your sleep,” Henry said firmly, nodding toward the door. Lane chuckled dryly.

  “Will I ever catch up on my sleep again?” she asked lightly, but she didn’t argue and turned toward the hallway. Henry had a valid point. Whatever abilities the Vulpes had only seemed to erupt when they were in the company of their mates. If Elle was still on her own, there was nothing to worry about.

  But as Lane sauntered into hers and Henry’s shared bedroom, falling face first onto the bed so that her red strands spilled over the pillow, she wondered how long it would be before the prophecy reared its magnificent and terrifying head again.

  Something told her that she would be one of the first to know about it.

  1

  You know what you’re doing here. Your mission is simple. Don’t lose focus. Maintain control and look only forward, never back. The future of our planet depends upon you. If you don’t go through with this, everything in the world is at risk. Keep your head down and look at no one. They will never suspect you don’t belong here. Then you can go home and never return as long as you draw breath.

  The thoughts were not comforting in the least, but they were all that rushed through the head of the cloaked figure, making her way through the mob. One step after another, she moved, head down, instructing herself.

  The crowd was thickening, more and more people cramming themselves into the already ridiculously full space, but the figure did not slow her stealthy pace. There was no time to waste, no room for error. Barely memorable to the keenest observer, she flowed forth without definition, as if she were floating through the indoor market, donning a long black cloak with a dark hood, hiding any semblance of a face from the depth of the black material. The mere smell of the thick material made the figure slightly nauseous.

  Ruining the earth. These beings are horrible. There was nothing she could do now. It was all she had on hand for the task, and the scent of the material was really the least of her problems now.

  She did not make contact, physical or otherwise, with the throng of people pushing through, seemingly unaware of the almost claustrophobic variables around her.

  Drawing closer to the center of the hub, she managed to increase speed. With a rush of movement, she found herself before a kiosk. The political group pushing for new pipelines and fossil fuel energy.

  I’m doing the world a favor, she thought grimly. I’m doing everyone a favor. I am not going to kill anybody. I am just sending a message.

  She remained stock still for a brief moment in time, absorbing the masses of people surrounding the booth. Of course, fossil fuels and drilling weren’t the only reasons the earth was changing. People needed to change their ways before it was too late.

  Now. You must act now. Abruptly, the dark cloak fell away in the front, revealing a set of black gloves. The package in her hands thrust
forward and burst through the people, almost knocking down some of the unsuspecting shoppers. She hurled the object toward the kiosk and the people advocating for fossil fuels before turning to flee in the opposite direction.

  The flying orb disappeared behind the booth and instantly exploded into a cloud of toxicity before anyone could understand what was happening. The horde’s shocked screams were immediately replaced with chokes and coughs as the tear gas seeped into lungs and throats indiscriminately. Just over the chaos, a woman could be heard chanting, “We need to save the earth!”

  Elle rushed into the washroom and pushed her back against one of the bathroom stalls, heart pounding furiously. For a terrifying moment, she found it impossible to catch her breath, but she reminded herself how vital speed and composure were in this matter.

  Quickly, she fully removed the dark cloak from her shoulders and let the bag hiding from its depth onto the lid of the toilet. She stuffed the long garment into the knapsack and removed a pair of black, slim heeled pumps. Slipping the cheap sneakers off her tiny feet, she made the shoe switch and let her long, red waves loose from a tightly wound bun. The tresses spilled silkily about her shoulder blades, a dramatic contrast to her black turtleneck.

  She took a deep breath, trying to steady her nerves, and listened. If she strained her ears, she could still hear people yelling from the market, but she blocked out their confusion and focused on getting out undetected. Satisfied that she was alone in the six-stall washroom, she cautiously opened the door and confidently strode out, leaving the bag behind. She didn’t need it anymore. She’d done what she’d come to do.

  The door swung open, and Elle hurried out of the market, stiletto heels clicking like Russian roulette rounds against the tile flooring. Every step could mean capture, but no one paid attention to the wan redhead making her way from the throng. Most flocked unsuspectingly toward the cause of the commotion. They had no way of knowing they were walking directly into the line of fire.