CHAPTER SEVEN: KIT

KIT WAS pretty much lost in his head for the rest of the day. They stopped by his place so he could pick up since they agreed talking to his parents there was best. Depending on how things went, Kit hoped they could move to Hudson's compound after the talk.

Hudson mentioning that Kit's papa still might not be safe, even after all this time, had scared the ever-living crap out of Kit. He'd forgotten who Lennox's first obsession had been. Hudson wanted his parents to stay at the compound, and Kit was all for it. It really was safer than the apartment.

They ate a late lunch, did some shopping, and then returned to Hudson's compound. Kit overheard Connie telling Hudson the meeting had been moved to next Monday night.

They spent the rest of the afternoon lounging around Hudson's private pool. Fortunately, there were very few interruptions. They ate dinner in Hudson's quarters, then snuggled on the couch while watching a movie.

There had been some kissing, but Kit hadn't been in the right frame of mind, and his mates seemed to pick up on that.

Kit returned to his room, even though Hudson had hinted he'd be more than welcome to stay. He'd thought about it, he really had. But Kit had a feeling he wasn't going to sleep well tonight and didn't want to keep them up.

SUNDAY morning was there before he knew it. And sure enough, Kit hadn't slept a wink. They had breakfast, which was over much too fast for his liking, then it was time to go.

The drive into San DeLain was insane as usual, but they arrived at Kit's apartment with no trouble. They'd been subtle about it, but Hudson and Connie both kept an eye on surrounding traffic.

They parked and took the elevator to Kit's floor. Opening the door, Kit ushered them inside. Now it was hurry up and wait. They'd been there yesterday, so Kit had already shown them around. Not that there was much to see.

Kit turned on the TV, and they settled on the couch. He kept flipping through the channels, unable to decide what to watch. Finally, Connie took the remote and picked a program. When sitting became too much, Kit started pacing.

Time dragged on.

Hudson's phone chimed with a text message notification, and Kit hurried back to him. He waited not so patiently while Hudson checked his phone. He heard Connie's cell beep also. Both of them got text messages at almost the same time? That was a little odd.

Hudson raised an eyebrow. "Hmm. They should be here in fifteen minutes."

The butterflies in Kit's stomach suddenly grew teeth and chomped down. It was ridiculous that he was nervous, but he was. Which, okay, maybe it wasn't ridiculous—everything he thought he knew about his life had been a lie.

Fine. Fine! Maybe saying everything was a lie was a bit strong. His parents hadn't actually lied, they just hadn't told the truth. At least not the whole truth. Was an omission lying? Because they'd certainly omitted telling him a very important aspect of his papa's heritage.

He really needed people to stop doing what they thought was best for him and just be honest.

"Thanks," Kit said. Unable to sit down, Kit walked over to the big picture window in his apartment. A few seconds later, Connie and Hudson joined him.

"Not a bad view." Hudson rubbed his hand up and down Kit's back.

The gesture was comforting, Kit had to admit. "It's okay."

"You're nervous."

"Of course. How could I not be?" Kit grumbled. Did they need to review what his life had been like lately?

Connie wrapped his arms around Kit's waist, resting his chin on his shoulder. "What are you nervous about?"

"Everything." Kit leaned against Connie. "But mainly, I keep circling back to how they could've kept something like this from me. My papa hid his whole damn identity from me."

"Maybe there was a reason they didn't tell you," Connie said, then pressed a kiss to Kit's neck.

Kit shivered as a ribbon of warmth curled in his stomach. He was quickly becoming addicted to their hands on him. "Like what?"

"Well, that's not exactly something you would want a young child blurting out at the wrong time."

Kit turned in Connie's arms and glared at him. "You do realize I'm thirty years old, right?"

Hudson cleared his throat. "That's actually not—"

Kit glared over his shoulder at Hudson. "Maybe when I was a child that made sense, but not now. I'm not some small kid who doesn't know any better."

Hudson snickered. "Well, compared to us—"

"Not helping, old man."

"I'll show you old man," Hudson joked to Connie.

A surprised laugh escaped Kit, and he looked back at Connie. Connie picking at Hudson about his age was funny as hell to Kit, considering Connie was older than dirt too. "Who are you calling an old man, old man?"

Connie gasped. "What? What did you just call me?"

"Well, you're not as old as Hudson, but you're certainly no young chick."

Connie stumbled away from Kit, his hand pressed mockingly against his chest. "Wounded. I am wounded, I tell you. Old, he says. I'll show you old."

Eyes narrowed, he slowly prowled toward Kit. Connie's eyes flickered, changing color to that of his dragon.

Kit squeaked and fled behind Hudson. Kit wasn't scared, not really, but the sudden predatory look in Connie's eyes was a bit intimidating. And hot.

Very hot.

A nice tingle started in his groin. He wondered what Connie would look like prowling across the bed toward him. That was something he needed to check out as soon as possible.

Connie stopped and sniffed the air, then a slow smile crossed his face. Shit. Could Connie smell that he was a little excited? Hudson's phone beeped with another text message. Whatever tingle Kit had going on evaporated like water on a hot day.

"Nelson says they're here. They just parked and are heading to the elevators."

Kit took a deep breath. As nervous as he was, he really wanted to see his parents. He'd missed them. Was he aggravated with them? You betcha.

But thanks to Gaura, he'd seen what his papa had gone through, and that information would go to his grave with Kit. But that he was a shifter? Yes, that was something they should've told Kit when he was older.

Neither Connie nor Hudson said anything, but they crowded closer to Kit, both of them wrapping an arm around his waist. Together, they stared out of Kit's window.

He rested his head on Hudson's shoulder. Had they known he needed them right that second? Could that possibly be the bond that was forming between them he'd been told about? If so, them being able to sense he needed them was definitely a perk.

An eternity later, there was a knock at his apartment door. And the butterflies in his stomach were now trying to climb out of his mouth. Kit untangled himself from his mates and slowly approached the door.

As much as he wanted to see his parents, he dreaded the upcoming conversation. Kit checked the peephole before opening it. Seeing that it was indeed his parents and Nelson, he opened it.

"Sweetie!"

Dread took a back seat to the overwhelming love he had for his mom. Kit wrapped his arms around her and lifted her off her feet. He hugged her for all he was worth. "Mom."

Closing his eyes, he breathed her in. She smelled like his childhood. That was the best way he could put it. She loved to bake, and Kit had grown up with the scent of homemade breads, apple pies, fresh chocolate chip cookies—basically, his house had smelled like a bakery.

That scent was one of his earliest memories.

Kit placed her gently on her feet. His mom was five feet nothing, had shoulder length light brown hair that was wavy, and eyes the color of dark chocolate. Physically, she kind of reminded him of that soap star, Susan Lucci. His mom might be tiny in stature, but she had a huge personality.

Over her shoulder, he saw his two dads standing in the hallway. Holding his arm out, he motioned for them, and they quickly joined him and his mother.

Their group hug lasted for several minutes, and a little peace seeped into Kit's soul. He was still annoyed with his parents, but it didn't change the fact that he loved them dearly.

"Kit?" Nelson looked down the hallway. "Why don't we go inside?"

"Good grief. Yeah. Good idea. I wasn't thinking." Kit moved out of the doorway so his parents and Nelson could enter. Once they were no longer in the hallway, he hugged both his dads. So maybe he hugged his papa a bit longer.

Once they were inside, he heard Hudson mumbling under his breath. He couldn't make out what Hudson was saying, but there was definitely a rhythm to the words.

Kit noticed his papa's eyes widened.

Hudson and Connie were still standing in Kit's living area while he and his parents were crowded into the kitchen. He was basically standing in the middle of two groups of people.

Kind of ironic since he felt like he was straddling both worlds—the human one and the paranormal one. His parents were on one side, and Hudson and Connie were on the other.

Kit ushered everyone into the living room, and boy did it get crowded quick. "Mom? Dads? This is Hudson Redmond and Conrad Turner."

Kit glanced briefly at his mates as he made the introductions. Why did both of his mates suddenly look guarded?

But before he questioned them, his parents said hello, but it was definitely stilted and hesitant. He also noticed that Nelson slipped past them and came to stand with Hudson and Connie. Dammit, was Kit supposed to introduce them by their titles? Why hadn't he thought to ask?

"Hudson? Connie? These are my parents, Grace Meadows, Chris Meadows, and Michail Papadopoulos Meadows."

Hudson and Connie greeted Kit's parents, which was also strained. Wasn't this just going swimmingly?

"For clarification, I call Chris my pops, and Michail my papa," Kit said.

His pops was of average height. He had dirty blond hair and hazel eyes. Kit got his pops' eye color and his mom's hair color. His papa had dark hair, a Mediterranean skin tone, along with the Grecian, slightly convex nose and dark almond-shaped eyes.

Kit rubbed his temples. The tension was so thick he could cut it with a knife. "Hudson? Is it safe to talk about certain things? Thin walls, remember?"

"Yes. A privacy spell has been cast," Hudson said.

Kit heard his mother gasp. He might as well address that first. "Mom? Pops? We're the only humans in the room. Who wants a beer, because by damn, it's five o'clock somewhere."

Grace spluttered. "Kit!"

"I was kidding. Kind of. Too soon, maybe? Okay, look, why don't we all have a seat?" Kit grabbed a couple of kitchen chairs and brought them into the living area.

His mom started toward the couch, but his papa maneuvered her into one of the kitchen chairs, which Kit couldn't help but notice was closer to the only door in the place. Was that a shifter thing?

"Sorry it's kind of crowded, but we thought it'd be better to do this here." Kit stared straight at his papa. "Hudson figured you'd see this as my territory, since, you know, you're a shifter and all."

Michail sighed heavily. "This was not how I wanted you to find out."

Kit collapsed on the couch. He knew, of course, but hearing his papa admit it was still shocking. He rubbed his chest as Hudson and Connie sat on either side of him.

Both casually touched him, which surprisingly helped the sudden ache in his chest. Was that the bond? It had to be. Had they felt his surprise? Was that why they touched him? Were they trying to comfort him?

He didn't know, and guessed it didn't matter, because their touch did calm him. If he was already this sensitive to the bond, he couldn't imagine what it would be like once they officially mated.

Nelson sat in the other only empty chair.

"Apparently it was something you never intended to tell me," Kit snapped, getting angry all over again. "Which, frankly, kinda blows."

"Kittappa."

Kit fought the instinctive need to cringe. Welp, if they didn't know his full name, they did now. But they probably already did. Regardless, his mom just trotted out his full first name. That was never a good sign. They'd told him his name was a way to honor his papa's nationality.

It was a mouthful, which was why he went by Kit. He'd grown up knowing that Chris was his biological dad. Not to mention, it was pretty obvious since he was almost the exact replica of his pops.

"Sorry, Mom, but come on. Was this really something none of you thought I needed to know? I mean, I can understand not telling me when I was a kid. I totally get that. But I'm not a kid now."

"And just how were we supposed to tell you something like that?" Grace asked. "It's not like the world knows there are paranormals out there walking around. You wouldn't have believed us, then we would've had to prove it to you."

Kit was tempted to tell them that if he'd already known about the paranormal world, seeing Kage in his true form might not have been so scary. Probably not, but still. Besides, even though he was aggravated, he didn't want to put that kind of guilt on his mom.

"Okay, but—"

"I was afraid you would've looked at me differently," Michail said quietly. "I didn't want you to think I was some sort of animal. Just because I can change into one doesn't mean I am one. Humans don't always react favorably."

"That's very true," Hudson said. "Nine times out of ten, a human gets hysterical. And that's the best-case scenario. Sometimes their brain can't take it, and the human completely breaks."

"He's not kidding, Kit. Humans have ended up in insane asylums," Connie said.

Now Kit was glad he'd kept his mouth shut. He remembered how he'd reacted to seeing Kage. He'd been so terrified it had felt like his heart was going to pound out of his chest. Seriously, he'd thought he might be having a heart attack. Then there was his reaction to Nox. That had ended him up on a therapist's couch.

"So you never planned to tell me?"

"I never said that," Grace pointed out. "You did."

"Then you did plan to tell me?"

"Yes. When the time was right," Grace answered.

Kit grimaced. "Heard that a lot here lately."

"What?" Grace asked.

"Nothing. It's just someone else said that to me not long ago." Kit shot a look at his mates. "Anyway, when did you plan to tell me?"

"Can we circle back to that?" Michail asked. "And we will, I promise. But right now, I'd like to know how you found out. Your dragons could not have known, even if one is royalty."

Welp. That definitely answered the question of whether or not his papa recognized Hudson's name. He also didn't know how to answer his papa. Was he supposed to tell him that a damn dragon deity spilled the beans?

Yeah, no. His papa would think he was nuts—then again, maybe not—but it wasn't his place to reveal dragon deities existed. Well, he knew one did. Kit didn't know about any others, and frankly, he didn't want to know.

"It's a long story, but it revolves around brothers—Nox and Lennox Astor," Hudson said, jumping in.

Michail stiffened.

Kit could have kissed Hudson because he did not know how to answer his papa's question, but he hated to see his papa's reaction.

"The brothers are from Greece originally," Connie added.

Kit's gaze immediately went to his papa's hands. They were clutching the edge of his chair, and holy shit, was he seeing that right? His fingernails were claws.

Kit blinked.

That wasn't something he'd expected to see. Poor chair. That was going to leave a mark. Then Kit jumped at the sudden growl in the room. Holy shit. He was definitely not ready to hear the damn sound that rumbled in his papa's chest. Nor was he ready to see the flash of fear in his papa's face. That, more than anything, broke his heart.

"Yeah, Papa, it's who you think," Kit whispered.

"What I think is that I need to hear this ‘long' story," Michail growled, his gaze snapping toward Hudson. "Your Majesty."

"Did you know who I was when Kit mentioned my name?" Hudson asked.

"I didn't, no," Michail said. "But I googled you. On the Internet, you come across as an insanely rich human."

"Which I am," Hudson agreed. "Rich, I mean."

"Then I searched for pictures of you. I noticed immediately the people who surround you have red hair. All the people closest to you have red hair and brown eyes, as do you."

Kit pursed his lips. That was true.

"I found it odd that the people closest to you were all redheaded with brown eyes. That was my first inkling that you might not be human," Michail said. "I have contacts in the paranormal world, and a few discrete inquiries verified what I thought. You are the king of the Fire Court of San DeLain."

"Do you know about daemons?" Connie asked, joining the conversation.

"Shadow demons?" Michail asked. "Of course. Who doesn't? As I understand it, there are some in San DeLain, yes?"

"There is a clan here. I'm best friends with the Elder of the San DeLain daemons," Hudson said. "His name is Kage Dargon."

"His mate's name is Austin Hathaway Berkshire. He's a pretty well-known paranormal romance author, and we're friendly," Kit added. "He's done a couple of book signings at my store."

Hudson stared at Michail. "Kage's father sired two bastards in his quest for more daemon children. Their names are Nox and Lennox Astor. Kage is their half-brother. Nox was targeting Kage, and unfortunately, he used Kit in an attack against Austin."

"What?" Michail demanded.

Kit watched as his mom took his hand. Why was he just now noticing that both of his dads had put his mom in the middle of them? It was almost like they were protecting her. Then he looked at where he was sitting. Huh.

But who were they protecting her from? Connie and Hudson? Surely, they didn't think his mates would do anything to her? Did they really think that?

"Were you hurt? Are you okay? Kit, why didn't you tell us?" Grace asked.

"I wasn't hurt. I'm okay. And the reason I didn't tell you was because I was sworn to secrecy. I promised not to reveal the paranormal world. Please remember, I thought all three of you were human," Kit said.

Michail frowned. "But—"

"I don't know if you knew this or not, but Nox was a mimic," Connie said, jumping in.

"I heard later. I—" Michail opened his mouth, then abruptly shut it. "Wait, you just used past tense."

Connie nodded his head. "Yes, I did. Nox is dead."

"Mother of all!" Michail exclaimed.

"He was killed," Connie continued. "Again, it's a long story, but Nox is dead."

"I was dragged into it because Nox had mimicked me to lure Austin into my office. Nox had found out Austin knew me. He attacked Austin, and that brought Kage running, of course," Kit said.

"Of course," Michail said. "A mate is a gift from the goddess."

"Glad you said that," Hudson murmured.

"Unfortunately, I literally saw Kage step from the shadows in my office. Anyway." Kit shuddered, trying not to get lost in the memories. He was tempted to rub his neck but didn't.

Hudson took Kit's hand. Connie rested his arm on the back of the couch.

Michail's gaze tracked the movement.

"Anyway, Nox used Austin to get Kage to come to my office," Kit said. "Nox injected Austin with something deadly. Austin's okay, but I saw Kage in his true form."

Michail flinched.

"Kage found out Nox was his half-brother. At the time, we didn't know Nox had a fraternal twin," Connie said. "Kage took Nox's body back to Greece and started checking into Nox's history."

Michail shifted uneasily on the hard kitchen chair. "Nox was here? In the city?"

"Yeah, Papa, he was," Kit said.

"Then you need to come home with us immediately," Michail demanded.