CHAPTER 8
One week later…
"You ready to do this?" asked Hoxson as he looked over Adie, who was clad in a long, gorgeous gown of dark red that clung to her every curve.
"As ready as I'm going to be."
It'd been a week since Adie had agreed to work with Mendoza. He'd been overjoyed when she told him that she was onboard and let her know that, in addition to keeping him abreast of what was going on in Starwood, she would be accompanying him to a gala in San Francisco, where he would be her date for the evening.
And making matters more complicated, Hoxson had also been invited to that same soiree by his clients. The most elite shifters of San Francisco were going to be there, and Adie had no idea what to expect.
"Okay," said Hoxson. "I'm taking my bike to the city, and you're riding with the Mendozas. Same plan as before – you're spying for them and you're spying on them."
"A double-freaking-agent," she said.
"That's right," he said. "You're going to have to learn the fine art of recon and espionage fast. First rule is be exactly the kind of person that the person you're talking to wants you to be. They want a flirty sex kitten, you be that. They want an intellectually-stimulating conversation partner, you're that. You get the idea."
As Hoxson spoke, Adie felt her eyes drift over Hoxson. He was dressed in a stylish, sleek tuxedo – an outfit that was about as sharp a contrast to his usual denim-and-t-shirt as it could possibly get. And she couldn't help but notice how goddamn handsome he was; part of her wanted to jump him right then and there, if only to take her mind off the night ahead.
But she knew she didn't have time for anything fun like that.
"Okay," she said, sighing. "Time to go."
Hoxson nodded and closed the distance between the two of them. He took her hands into his and looked deep into her eyes, his blues shimmering with animal passion.
"I'm going to keep you safe," he said. "Don't think for a moment that you're not my top priority. I swear that I won't let anything happen to you."
Adie nodded. Though he seemed sincere, she still didn't know just how much she could trust him not to leave again like he'd done before. But she knew that she had no other choice – Hoxson was the only person who was on her side. At least, she hoped.
After a brief drive to the Mendoza estate, Adie pulled in through the gates of the mansion where a row of luxury cars were parked along the circular driveway in front of the house. A helicopter was parked on a large square of concrete just to the side of the mansion, and the building was lit up with evening lights.
"There she is," said Julio Mendoza as he stepped out through the large front doors and onto the steps. "Been wondering when my lovely date would show up. Come in; come in."
Adie moved her hands along the curves of her gown, feeling suddenly very self-conscious. As she stepped up the stairs, arriving at Julio's side, he placed his hand on her hip and led her into the entry hallway. The place struck her as strange right away; she'd never been there at night, and the elegant space struck her as something from another time.
Julio led her into a small drawing room, where two other well-dressed, good-looking people –a man and a woman- sat in eveningwear, drinks in their hands. The woman was a gorgeous brunette with long, silky hair draped around her dark shoulders, a smoldering, sensual expression on her features. The man was slim, with a strikingly handsome face that seemed almost feminine. His hair was as dark as pitch, and close-cropped. Both had the same chocolate eyes as Julio.
"I'd like to introduce you to my sister, Lucia, and my brother, Emil."
The two both regarded Adie with the same skeptical expression.
"This is the little fox that you've decided to bring into our plan?" asked Lucia as she looked over Adie dismissively.
"Now, Lucia," said Julio. "What did I tell you about being welcoming?"
"I choose to take what you said as more of a suggestion," she said.
"A pleasure to meet you," said Emil as he stepped over to Adie and took her hand and shook it.
"Nice to meet you both," said Adie.
She still couldn't shake the fact that she couldn't pick up on what species, exactly, this family was. They had a strange lack of scent to them. They weren't bears, they weren't foxes, and they weren't tigers. They were something else, something that reminded her of…Hoxson.
"Wait a minute," she said. "Are you all dragons?"
The three of them shared the same raised-eyebrow look of surprise.
"Very good," said Julio. "Why yes, we are."
"See?" asked Emil to Lucia. "She's already proven herself observant."
This was all very strange to Adie. Typically, dragons never ventured outside of the major cities where they lived. She began to wonder if Hoxson's assessment of what was going on was indeed accurate.
"Why are you all here?" she asked. "Why are dragons in a place like Starwood?"
"And now she's already asking questions that she doesn't need to bother her pretty little head about," said Lucia.
Adie shot a scowl toward Lucia, who met the expression with a pleased little smirk on her ruby-red lips.
"Enough, ladies," said Julio. "We've a busy night ahead of us, and if you're going to catfight, I suggest you wait until you're at the party where I can put some distance between your little squabbling and myself."
"So," said Emil. "They're all going to be there?"
Julio's eyes flashed.
"They certainly are," he said.
Adie's ears perked up at this. She opened her mouth to speak, but before a word could come out, Julio began again.
"Enough of this; let's get to the city – we have an interesting night ahead of us. I can just feel it."
The group gathered up and was soon in the back of the helicopter and rising up over the estate. Adie watched as the massive house turned into a small, illuminated squire below them. After a few more moments, she could see the crisscrossing orange lights of Starwood off in the distance. She glanced downward at the highway that led toward San Francisco, thinking of just where Hoxson might be down there, and wishing he was at her side rather than this strange family of dragons.
After a time, the glittering form of San Francisco appeared in the distance, the dark waters of the bay beyond. The helicopter flew over the city and toward one of the taller towers near the edge of the city. Eventually, it descended on a helipad, the vehicle lurching as it landed.
The Mendozas stepped out first, with Julio extending his hand toward Adie and helping her out onto the helipad. He flashed her a sly-eyed look and a warm smile, and Adie, at that moment, began to get the sense that there was more to Julio's desire to have her on board with this operation than just that she'd make a good employee.
A suited man stood at the door leading from the roof, opening the door for the group. They soon descended a flight of stairs that led to a pair of tall, black doors. On the other side, Adie could hear chamber music along with the din of many conversations. A doorman gave the group a nod as he recognized the Mendozas. His eyes then locked on Adie.
"She's with me," said Julio with another one of his charming smiles.
The doorman nodded slightly and let them in. Pulling open the doors, he revealed an enormous penthouse apartment with ceilings that had to have been two dozen feet high at least, and floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out over the sweep of San Francisco. Dozens upon dozens of well-dressed men and women packed the place, and the scent of many different shifter species wafted into Adie's nose.
"This is amazing," she said, stepping into the apartment.
"You like it?" asked Julio. "It's mine."
Adie's eyes went wide.
"You own this place and the mansion near Starwood?"
"Then you must be fucking loaded" almost slipped out of her mouth, but she caught herself just in time. She didn't want to look more impressed than she already had.
"When you've lived as long as we have," said Julio, "that allows you to accumulate quite a bit of personal capital."
"I'm getting a drink," said Lucia, flashing a smile at some dashing silver-haired man near the bar. "I'll do my best to not get in the way of the little fox's fawning."
Julio gave her a dismissive wave as she strolled off.
"Don't mind her," said Emil. "She's only a bitch like that to women she feels threatened by."
"Why, little brother," said Julio, "she'd carve your eyes out for making a comment like that."
"Which is why I did it after she left," he said with a smirk.
"So, what's the occasion?" asked Adie, looking around.
Her eyes eagerly scanned the place for any sign of Hoxson, but she couldn't spot him. She was worried for a moment, but then remembered that he was arriving by bike while she'd taken a helicopter. Still, she wished he'd hurry up and get there. Part of her hated how much she wanted to feel safe at his side.
"The occasion is a yearly gathering of the elite dragon families of the city. There are five of us in total – the Dubois family, the Van Wauters clan, the Rochesters, the Graystones, and us, of course. Between five of us, we run the shifter societies in San Francisco. And once a year, we meet at the home of one of the heads of the families to discuss various boring municipal matters that you needn't trouble your pretty little head with."
"And why am I here?" asked Adie.
"As I've said, you're our liaison in Starwood. And my date for the night."
Adie said nothing, part of her certain that there was something more to Julio's motivation for bringing her than he was letting on.
"I'm going to make the rounds," said Emil. "You two have fun. But not too much fun."
He flashed a wink and was off.
Out of the corner of her eye, Adie spotted the front door open and a new group of guests arrive. Her heart skipped a beat as she caught sight of Hoxson's mane of red hair, which was styled into a neat ponytail. And to her shock, his face was shaved clean. The wild beard gone, Adie could see more clearly the face of the man she'd known since high school. A warm feeling spread throughout her body, which shocked her.
His striking blue eyes locked with hers, but he played it cool, not allowing any sign of recognition to appear on his face, not wanting to blow his cover. The group that he'd arrived with appeared to Adie to be one of the other top families of the city. They were an elegant group, all with the same fair skin and sun-bright blonde hair.
Adie watched as Hoxson took a quick look around him, as if to make sure that no eyes were on him other than Adie's. Then, he said something to one of the men in his group, who nodded in response. Then, Hoxson cut across the floor, approaching Adie.
Her heart raced as he came closer and closer. But his eyes were fixed off into the distance, and Adie realized that he was trying to make it look as though he wasn't approaching her.
"Meet me on the balcony in thirty," he whispered quickly into her ear as he passed, his voice hot on her ear and sending tingles down her spine.
Adie resisted the urge to nod, checking the time after Hoxson passed and making a mental note. She wanted to speak with him then and there, to feel safe at his side. But she knew she had to play it cool as not to wreck their cover.
"Come with me, pretty little thing," said Julio, taking her firmly by the hand and walking with Adie to a more secluded part of the room.
"What do you think of all of this?" he asked, sweeping his hand toward the party.
"It's…quite the party," said Adie, not sure of where this conversation was going.
"It is," he said. "A little different from what you’re used to in Starwood, I'm sure."
"To put it mildly," she said.
A moment passed.
"This could be all yours, you know," he said.
Adie raised an eyebrow.
"What do you mean?"
Julio took a slow sip of his champagne.
"There are…plans in the works for this evening. Plans that are going to shake up the shifter community in this city – hell, in this state. And you, my dear, have the chance to be at the center of them."
"I still don't know what you're talking about," said Adie.
"That's because all you know right now is what you need to know," said Julio. "And now I'm going to give you one more bit of need-to-know information: when the time is right, stay by my side."
"What?" she asked. "What ‘time’? Why are you being so cryptic?"
"All will be revealed before the evening is out," he said. "And you'll know when the time has come. Just don't leave my side when it does. But, until then, I want you to enjoy your evening, to get a taste of the life that you may soon be a part of."
Julio was being too mysterious for Adie's liking. It was the sort of coy that only a man who had complete control over a given situation would express. Then, with a smile, he strolled back into the party, mixing in with a small group of very wealthy-looking men and women.
A feeling of tight anxiety formed in Adie's gut. Something was going on – she just knew it. She took a glass of champagne and sipped it slowly, taking in the scene in front of her. After the thirty minutes passed, she hurried off to the balcony to meet Hoxson.
She stepped outside, the evening air chilly. The balcony was huge, and little groups were gathered here and there, chatting and sipping their wine. At first, Adie didn't see Hoxson. But after finding a hidden area where the balcony wrapped around the building, she spotted him.
"There you are," he said, laying his sapphire eyes on her.
"You look great without the beard," said Adie, placing her hand on Hoxson's face, and taking in the smoothness.
He shook his head.
"The shit we do for clients," he said.
He turned toward her, Hoxson's body seeming like he was at the ready for anything.
"What is this all about?" Adie asked.
"I've got a feeling," he said. "Something's going to go down tonight. There're just too many weird things lining up – the Mendozas moving into Starwood, the enlisting of the bears as their personal army, and now coming back to the city like nothing's going on. It stinks like shit."
"What do you think is going to ‘go down', exactly?" asked Adie. "Please, tell me something, anything! Between you and Julio, I feel like I'm wandering around blind!"
"That's the best I've got for you," he said. "But just know that I'm going to be keeping a close eye on you, that I'm going to be watching out for you, just like I said I would."
Before he could speak another word, a slight commotion sounded from around the corner of the balcony.
"Come here," he said, taking Adie by the wrist and leading her to the edge of the corner.
"…the Mendozas have requested that all guests come into the main room," spoke a party worker. "Please, come inside."
Adie and Hoxson peeked around the corner, watching as the guests on the balcony began to make their way back inside.
"I don't like this," said Hoxson. "Whatever that ‘something' that I thought was going down, it's happening right now."
"What should we do?"
"Just stay close."
Hoxson led Adie to one of the windows that looked out into the main room from their secluded position. After checking to make sure that no one had noticed them, Hoxson opened the window slightly. Adie took a quick look inside and saw that the Mendozas were standing on the stage where the band played, the music now silent and the guests gathered around.
"What a pleasure it's been to have you all here tonight," said Julio, his melodious voice carrying through the room. "And what a pleasure it's going to be to tell you about just what us Mendozas have in store for the future of the dragon societies here in San Francisco."
Then a moment passed.
"But you know what?" he said. "It'd be more fun just to show you."
Another moment passed, and Adie could spot confusion appearing on the faces of the guests.
"Oh, shit," said Hoxson quietly.
"It's been a pleasure knowing you all," said Julio, "but I think the time for us to share the power here in the city has come to an end. Emil? Lucia?"
The siblings stepped to Julio's side, and the trio shifted into their dragon forms.
"I hope you all have had a wonderful night," Julio said, a wild smirk on his lips as flames began to jet from his nose.
Then he lowered his head toward the now panicking crowd and covered it with that boiling flame.