CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: KIT

THEY ARRIVED at the restaurant with no problem. There were limos, sports cars, and SUVs parked all along the street.

Mitchell got as close as he could and parked. They'd brought the limo since there were so many of them. And every last one of them was dressed in black leather.

As was Kit. His pants and knee-high boots were pretty boring, in his opinion, but the black shirt, well, that was all him.

There were jagged strips of black mesh across the front and back that exposed areas of skin. He finished the look off with a couple of silver bangles and long, dangling black pearl earrings.

And, of course, he left his hair down and braided a section next to his face like Hudson had requested. He and Hudson were the only two who had the braid, though.

Mitchell opened the door, and Hudson's inner circle exited first, then Connie. Since Hudson was royalty, Kit figured he would go last, but as Kit went to get out, Hudson rested his hand on Kit's knee.

"Wait."

"Huh?"

"You go last."

"I do? Why?"

"I want to make sure it's absolutely safe before you exit. If anybody is going to try something, they're going to do it as soon as I exit," Hudson said. "And if that happens, I want you in here where it's the safest."

"That's insane."

"That's paranormal society. And please keep in mind that out of all of us, you are the most vulnerable."

Kit was really beginning to hate that.

"Besides, I want you to make an entrance once I know it's safe. Appearances are everything, especially when dealing with powerful paranormals."

"Is this what celebrities feel like? Because I feel like it is."

Hudson ignored that. "Try to keep your emotions under control and keep your face as blank as possible."

Kit snorted. Yeah, good luck with that, but he didn't argue. What was the point? Every little thing showed on his face. All anybody had to do was look at him to know what he was thinking. And if they didn't? He was more than willing to tell them.

Hudson left the limo, and Kit followed him. As soon as he stepped on the sidewalk, he plastered on his best resting bitch face.

As nervous as he was, he probably looked constipated.

But the dragons around him certainly didn't. Every last one of them looked intimidating. Badass. He wouldn't want to mess with any of them.

The haughty indifference each wore was also kind of shocking. He was used to seeing them laughing and joking—not cold and calculating.

Especially Connie and Hudson.

It made his heart hurt to see them looking like that. Suddenly, he felt like a little kid playing dress-up. What was he doing wearing these kinds of clothes? There was nothing intimidating about him. Or badass.

A low growl drifted toward him, and surprised, he turned his head toward Connie, who was staring at him. Well, Connie's dragon was staring at him.

The iris of his eyes was a goldish red sunburst of color with black slitted pupils. Had he somehow picked up on Kit's insecurities? The last thing he wanted to do was set either of them off.

Connie grabbed Kit's hand and kissed his knuckles.

If anybody was looking, they definitely saw that little act of affection. "I'm okay. Calm down," Kit said, trying to reassure Connie.

Hudson gently tugged Kit's braid and then leaned over so he could whisper into Kit's ear, "The bond fluttered, but it wasn't a sweet feeling this time. It felt… uneasy. What's wrong?"

"Sorry. Just having an insecurity attack," Kit whispered back.

"Because?"

"Because you all look badass, and I look like a fraud," Kit admitted.

Hudson grabbed Kit's chin.

Kit stared into Hudson's dragon's eyes. It seemed as if Kit's moment of self-doubt had triggered both of his dragons, and neither had liked it.

"You look badass," Hudson said. "And hot. My dragon wants to bend you over the nearest flat surface and claim you."

Connie rumbled happily beside him. "I want to see that too."

Kit's cock twitched. He wanted to see that also, because as of yet, it hadn't happened.

Hudson raised his nose in the air and inhaled deeply. "You want that too. Soon, babe."

Damn dragon senses.

"Understand that my dragon would lay his hoard at your feet simply to see you smile, as would Connie's."

Well, shit. Kit blinked frantically as he ran a knuckle under his eye. Hudson was going to make him cry, and Kit was going to throw hands if he messed up his makeup.

"You're the baddest badass out of all of us because not only does a king's right hand treasure you, but so does the king," Hudson swore to Kit.

Kit hadn't thought of it like that—and while it was a beautiful sentiment, for the first time, it really made an impression on him. He really was their greatest treasure, but he was also their greatest weakness. That… that was scary.

"Hold your head high, Kit. You are as important as anybody else here," Hudson said, resting his hand on the small of Kit's back.

Kit's heart soared. Funny how a few simple sentences completely changed his mindset. He no longer felt like a fraud. Instead, he felt like the treasure Hudson called him.

Hudson rumbled next to him.

Some of Hudson's inner circle led, while the others brought up the rear as they walked inside. Beau Monde was like any other ridiculously expensive restaurant in San DeLain—lots of windows, great location, and elegance that bordered on ostentatious.

The dark woods and low lighting, along with fireplaces, ocean views, and splurge-worthy meals, gave the place a romantic feel. Someone had darkened the smart windows for privacy, and round tables had been set with name cards.

He quickly scanned the people there, trying to remember everything he'd been told.

He recognized the vampires because of how they were dressed. Plus, they were ridiculously pale. There was also a beautiful Asian lady, who he was pretty sure was the alpha of one werewolf pack.

He also recognized Austin and Kage, so he knew where the daemons were sitting. He couldn't tell who the rest were.

There was only one empty table, which had a place card with Hudson's last name on it, so that was theirs. Torres led them to it. Sure enough, several heads turned as they made their way. One or two paranormals lifted their heads and inhaled.

He'd seen Hudson and Connie do exactly the same thing. It dawned on Kit they were sniffing him. He wasn't sure how he felt about that, outside of wigged out.

Once they were seated, a waiter brought them each a glass of water, then disappeared. A beautiful woman moved away from the bar and walked into the middle of the clusters of tables.

"Hello once again, everyone. Welcome back. Before we move on to business, I would like to introduce a new employee of mine. His name is Jamail Rodriguez. He is claimed as mine, as are all my employees, so treat him with respect or else. I also noticed a new face among us. Hudson?"

Kit suddenly found himself the center of attention. It was not a comfortable feeling because he was pretty sure he was the only truly human one there outside of maybe the waiter, and he wasn't sure about that either.

Hudson stood. "This is Kit Meadows. Some of you may recognize him. He is the owner of the bookstore that was used in the attack on Austin, Kage's mate."

Connie also climbed to his feet. "Kit is my mate."

A gasp ran around the room. Kit looked at Connie and then Hudson, wondering if he should also get to his feet. Or should he stay sitting?

"Kit is also my mate," Hudson continued. "And before anybody says anything, yes, as you can tell, Kit is human. I sincerely hope we don't have a repeat of the Austin situation."

Everybody glanced at Raven.

Raven rolled his eyes. "I learned my lesson. Thank you."

"Kit is with us because we have recently learned he is being targeted by Lennox," Connie said, looking down at Kit. "He is safest with us."

"That's all we wanted to say," Hudson said, sitting down. Connie joined him.

"Welcome, Kit, and congratulations. My name is Isadora Ocho. This is my restaurant, Beau Monde."

Kit might not be into women, but he wasn't blind either. Isadora was stunning. But he'd come upon the conclusion that paranormals were just simply blessed in the looks department.

Every last nonhuman in that room looked as if they deserved to be on the cover of a fashion magazine.

Isadora was dressed in a hunter green pant suit with sequin lapels. The clothing fit her like a second skin and showed off her Mediterranean skin tone. Her dark hair was loose around her shoulders, and the gold jewelry she wore complemented her skin tone.

Kit especially liked the chunky gold chain around her neck. He would kill to know where she got that from. Maybe he could ask her. On the other hand, did he really want to draw the attention of the spider woman?

But it really was a cool necklace. He wondered if that was genuine gold, because if it was? That was definitely out of his price range.

She was incredibly attractive, but there was no mistaking the "don't fuck with me" vibe. This was the arachne Hudson had mentioned earlier—the one who shifted into a spider. Or had spiderlike features, at least.

Kit always thought he had a pretty good imagination, but that was just something he couldn't visualize, and he was pretty sure he didn't want to.

"It's nice to meet you, ma'am, and thank you."

"Such a nice young man." Isadora glanced out over the gathering. "Welcome everyone. Let me just reiterate—as a favor to the king of the Fire Court of San DeLain, I have opened what I consider my territory to you. Act accordingly."

Everyone nodded.

"Kit? I've known Hudson and Connie for a long time. I consider them to be above average males," Isadora said, winking at Hudson.

Hudson snorted. "Such high praise from you."

"You're welcome. Now, Hudson? I turn the floor over to you." Isadora glided to the bar at the back of the restaurant, where a wineglass waited for her.

The waiter, the one she had introduced as Jamail, was on the other side of the bar. He was dressed in what Kit considered a waiter's uniform—black pants, black shoes, a white shirt, and a black tie.

But even at a glance, Kit could tell the clothes were of quality, and he'd know, considering a lot of his outfits were bought from stores that sold vintage stuff. The white of his crisp shirt really popped against his darker skin tone and hair.

He was a good-looking guy, but there was a dangerous edge to him. Kit couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. Still, the guy was definitely uncomfortable.

Kit didn't think it was because they were surrounded by dangerous paranormals. Maybe it was because Jamail was fiddling with his tie. And the collar of his shirt. And he just looked uncomfortable in dress clothes—like it was something he wasn't used to wearing.

Kit zoned out while he listened to Hudson disclose the information they had on Lennox, and why they thought he was targeting Kit. There was also something about an uptick in kidnappings among humans and paranormals, and then a discussion about another base being destroyed, whatever that meant.

He wasn't stupid. He knew he was focusing on Jamail so he didn't have to listen to what Hudson was talking about. But staring at the other man probably wasn't a good idea either, so he dragged his attention away. His gaze then drifted over this odd assembly.

Kit could see the place card for some tables, so he had an idea of who was sitting there. He wasn't surprised the blonde guy was a merman. He was tall with a swimmer's build, which, now that he thought about it, made sense.

What would it be like to breathe underwater and have an incredibly long tail? It also kind of made him not want to go into the water, quite honestly. Because if there were mers out there in the ocean, what else was out there?

He turned his attention to a guy who looked like a biker. Now, Kit had no problem believing this guy was a werewolf. He was fit and muscular and just gave off this asshole vibe.

If the other pack was Cross River, this must be Crimson Fangs. Even the name sounded intimidating.

Even though the vampires freaked him out because of the blood deal, he had to admit they were pretty cool looking in their Victorian-goth outfits.

He had a few suits that fell into that category, and he looked damn good when he wore them, in his opinion.

That just left the two gargoyles. He couldn't get a read on them. They had little to say, and as far as appearances went? Well, they were both sexy, but in a very understated way. Where the vampires stood out, the gargoyles blended exceptionally well.

The daemons were dressed as Hudson had said, in suits and dresses. Again, Kit wasn't attracted to women, but the two women with Kage were exceptionally stunning. But then, so was Kage. Hell, for that matter, so was Austin.

Finally, Kit turned his attention to Hudson's court. Maybe it was because he was Hudson's and Connie's mate, but he found the dragons the most interesting.

The members were all drop-dead beautiful, of course, with varying shades of red hair. Seriously, it really ran the gamut from dark auburn into almost a strawberry blonde. And their totally black clothing really set off the red hair.

Then there were Connie and Hudson themselves. Out of every person there, they were by far the sexiest. Of course he was biased. Of course he was. But he was also right.

He didn't know what he'd done in a previous life to get this lucky, but whatever it was? It must've really been something.

He'd been so lost in thought, it surprised him when the meeting ended. "Are we done?" he asked Connie quietly.

"Yes. You really zoned out, didn't you?" Connie asked, standing.

Kit shrugged as he also got to his feet. "Less stressful that way. I'm sure if there was anything of importance, one of you would tell me."

"That's very true." Hudson stood next to Kit. "So? Are you ready to meet some people?"

Kit nodded slowly. He was excited, but also a little intimidated. Pretty much everyone here could probably take him with one arm tied behind their back and blindfolded. Okay, probably both arms tied behind their back.

He noticed that the gargoyles, the mers, and the vampires were some of the first to leave. He didn't really care about the vampires, but he would've liked to meet some of the merpeople. Oh well.

"Hey!" Austin popped up in front of Kit. "I'm surprised to see you here, but I'm so glad you came."

"It's certainly been an experience," Kit admitted. "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing very well. How are you?"

"I'm good. I mean, seriously, I really am good. Things have been moving fast, and sometimes I feel like I'm being swept along, but I honestly have no complaints." Kit lowered his voice. Not that he figured it would do any good. "I'm happy."

Austin beamed at him. "I'm so very glad to hear that. You definitely had a rough start of it."

"Austin, my dear? I understand you know Kit." Kit turned his gaze to Isadora.

"I do, yes. You really should check out his bookstore."

Kit laughed. "Thank you for the plug."

"My pleasure."

"I'll have to make time to stop by some day. Would that be okay?" Isadora asked.

"You are more than welcome, ma'am." Kit didn't know why he kept referring to her that way. It just seemed like the thing to do. No one had told him if she had a title or not.

"You may call me Isadora, my dear."