Page 83 of Walking in Darkness

“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 abeautiful 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 alsomymate,” 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 hereallywant to draw the attention of the spider woman?

---