*~*~*~*~*
Jet was on the phone when the messenger Appeared in his office. Lilly stood from the chair she had been sitting in and approached the messenger, who handed her the book she held. The messenger disappeared in a bright flash of silver light. Lilly approached Jet, studying the cover of the book and held it out for him to see.
“That sounds good. I’ll check in next week,” Jet said to the person he was talking to before hanging up. Lilly opened the cover and a slip of paper fell out into her hand.
“Apparently, Roan requested that Adonia give this to us,” she said after reading the note.
“Why? We have this book in the mansion library,” Jet mentioned, his brow creasing as he opened up the cover and began paging through the book. It was a full account of the War of the Meadows, told by one of his ancestors.
“Jet, a page is dog-eared, over here in the middle,” Lilly pointed out, opening the book to the folded page. They both read the small print of the page, which told of the end of the War, just before the reconstruction and rebuilding of the Meadows.
Finally, Chaos was vanquished and the guardians and their allies emerged victorious.
The word “vanquished” had been circled and there was a penciled note in the margin in Roan’s handwriting.
Learn from the past, Monroes. Sometimes we miss small things that are actually quite important.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“Ladies.”
Isis bit the inside of her cheek as Jensen’s voice reached her ears. She and Alex had been practicing sparring when Jensen had wandered into the workout room. Alex went to the edge of the boxing ring and Isis twisted to look over at him. Wearing his usual cocky smirk and dressed to the nines, as always, Isis doubted the man had any normal casual clothing. His nice shoes barely made a sound on the mats as he crossed the room and stopped at the boxing ring. Jensen rested his hands at the edge of the ring, looking up at Isis and smiling.
“What’s up, Aldridge?” Jade asked as she approached from the opposite direction. She was sweating from the intense kickboxing she had been practicing. Her dark workout clothing was practically soaked through.
“Where’s the fourth?” Jensen asked, turning his gaze to Jade.
“Back here.”
Isis looked over to where Shae had been doing pull-ups. She let go of the bar and dropped to the floor in a crouching position. She straightened up and jogged over to the other four shape shifters.
“Jet and Lilly want a word right away,” Jensen’s eyes wandered back over to Isis. “Looks like the four of you, the Deverell brothers, and I are going to have a bit of fun tonight.”
“Meaning?” Jade asked.
“Alpha called. Seems some rather unusual men have wandered into the Lair. She thinks it might be worthwhile to have the Four investigate,” Jensen explained.
“We’re all going on a mission together?” Isis asked.
“The Deverells and I will be there just in case things get hairy. Never know when you’re going to need backup,” Jensen replied, tilting his head. “Don’t look so down, Isis. I’m sure Alpha’s looking forward to seeing you again.”
With that, he put his hands in his pockets and sauntered away, whistling an upbeat tune. Isis looked up to the ceiling and shook her head.
“I hate him,” she stated. “So much.”
*~*~*~*~*
Isis put her earpiece in, pressing the on button. She grimaced at the burst of static that drilled through her head. She sat in a sedan with the other three. The Deverells and Jensen were in a van behind them, equipped with a computer that downloaded the input from their listening devices. Alpha had also allowed them to hook into her security system so Ajax could receive video feed as well. The group parked on the road outside the club. Isis glanced out the back window and noticed four large wolves leap out of the van and lope off into the trees surrounding the Lair.
“Check, can you hear me?” Ajax’s voice filtered through the earpiece. Jade looked at the other three, checking to make sure everyone’s listening device was working. They all nodded, indicating they heard him.
“We’ve got you loud and clear, Ajax,” Jade responded.
“Malone, Devin, Nero, and Jensen are going around back. They’ll meet you inside,” Ajax reminded them. Goody, Isis thought. She had asked Jet earlier why Steve couldn’t come with them. She would have preferred having someone she already knew watching their backs, but unfortunately, Steve was on shift.
“Right, we’ll head in now,” Jade’s reply brought Isis out of her thoughts. Isis played with the charm at her throat, glancing out at the snowy landscape again.
Jade opened her door and stepped out of the car, followed by the other three. As usual, Shae was the most dressed up in black slacks and a cranberry-colored V-neck top. Jade wore cargo pants and a green camouflage tank top. Alex wore glistening jeans and a plain gray top. Isis had chosen to dress in a similar way, but she wore a black sleeveless top.
Alpha had forbidden them from bringing firearms or any kind of bladed weapons in her club. It seemed to irk Jade, but made perfect sense to Isis. Hotel or not, if there was a panic, it would be a disaster. Isis listened as Jade went over the Monroes’ instructions. They were only to use force if the strange men started anything. Alpha didn’t want a rumble breaking out in the Lair. If there was trouble, they were to rely on hand-to-hand fighting and only use their batons as a last resort. As they emerged from the trees into the spotlights, Jade turned around.
“According to Alpha, there are six men and they’re pretty unremarkable except for a couple things: they don’t have any kind of scent and they seem to be able to move faster than is natural,” Jade explained.
“Isn’t that how Sly described the men who attacked her?” Alex asked, her eyebrows rising. Isis glanced to the side when she heard rustling. Two redheaded women chased each other out in the snow, giggling, and shifted into a pair of raccoons. They disappeared in the trees.
“Okay, how is it possible to not have a scent?” Shae’s question brought Isis’ attention back to her teammates.
“Not everything produces an odor, but this is really unusual,” Jade answered. “According to Alpha, they’ve kind of spread out around the club and just seem to be watching everything. She has requested we be discreet and not draw attention to ourselves.”
“Question,” Isis spoke up. “I’m still not clear on the whole ‘not having a scent’ thing. I don’t smell people. I don’t think my sense of smell is that heightened.”
“It’s probably a lot more heightened than you realize, but you don’t notice it. Trust me, if you encounter something scentless, you’ll probably know,” Jade explained.
“Unless her senses are muddled from all that time she spent among humans.”
Isis clenched her jaw when Jensen’s voice filtered through their earpieces. She cleared her throat and ignored him. Shae and Alex snickered but Jade remained serious.
“We’ve got five floors to cover, so we’re going to spread out,” Jade explained. “We’ll be switching up throughout the time we’re here. Sometimes we’ll be alone, sometimes with one of the Deverells, et cetera.”
“What about Jensen?” Alex asked.
“I’ll just wander around with the rest of you,” Jensen’s voice came through the earpieces again. Isis could hear the throbbing music in the background. She had a feeling his “wandering” would be on her heels, annoying the living hell out of her. Isis listened as Jade went on about staying in communication and in sight of at least one other person. Jade finally finished and nodded over her shoulder, indicating they should go inside.
They went up through the pillars. Isis noticed the same young woman from the first time the Four had ventured to the Lair. Instead of a red hood, she wore a dark purple one. Her crystalline blue eyes followed them and her short wavy hair peeked out from the hood. Isis kept pace with the other three as they hurried to the front door. The same large tiger sat there, but this time, he didn’t hassle Jade. She
pushed open the door, waving the other three in.
They were immediately engulfed in dark blue lighting. People danced everywhere with glowing bracelets and necklaces, some holding glowsticks. Neon hair blazed in the darkness, glowing under the blacklights. It was much more crowded than the last time the Four had been there. The warmth inside was in stark contrast to the frigid cold outside.
Jade swiftly gestured directions: she and Alex would start upstairs, Shae should go to the bar area, and Isis should go out to the main dance area. Isis nodded her understanding and started making her way through the crowd of people toward the main dance floor. She noticed a hallway that ran along the dance floor and slowly made her way around it. Some couples sat at tables and some at booths, sipping various drinks. Isis paused halfway through and moved to the railing, standing at it for a moment. She watched the people on the floor, moving and swaying to the music. Her eyes wandered up to the second floor where there was a similar open hall looking down on the dance floor. She noticed Alpha standing off to the side, watching the goings on below. She had a beer bottle in one hand and leaned on the railing. She noticed Isis and raised her bottle slightly. Isis tilted her head in acknowledgment and Alpha sipped her drink.
Out of the corner of her eye, Isis noticed a shadow. She turned her attention to the side, leaning back. In the corner of the hall stood a man in a light gray business suit. He was the most non-descript person Isis had ever seen. The strange man was pale with sandy-colored hair, brushed forward. His expression was mostly flat, showing little emotion, but from the angle she was at, it looked like he was sneering. Isis glanced across the floor in the opposite direction and noticed a similar-looking man standing on the other side. Her eyes wandered back to the first man when the strobe lights started. Isis just caught a glimpse of movement in the flashing lights. She tensed up and reached for her baton when the strobe lights stopped. The place where the man had been standing was empty. Isis looked all around, her gaze wandering across the wide floor. She stared when she saw the first man standing beside the second all the way across the hall. No one moved that quickly, it was impossible. Even if he had taken a shortcut across the floor, he still only should have made it halfway through the crowd in the time the strobe lights were going.
“What’s got your interest?”
Isis grabbed Jensen’s jacket and dragged him over to the steps that led to the dance floor, ignoring his questions. She pulled him onto the dance floor, looking at the other dancers, and then yanked him against her. Isis started to move her body in a similar slinky motion, running her hand up into his soft dark hair. She turned around to face him, noticing the expensive-looking vest and light shirt he had worn. He looked nothing short of bewildered. She put her face next to his, nuzzling his neck and smiling as she ran her fingers over his chest. She turned him a little so that she could watch the two strange men in her peripheral vision. One was looking out over the floor. The other seemed to notice Jensen, but was doing his best not to show it.
“Have you completely—?” Jensen began.
“I’ll explain in a minute. Now would you please shut the hell up and try to blend in?” she hissed behind her smile and then turned so her back was against him again. Jensen pressed himself against her and began kissing her neck. He ran his hands down her hips.
“Watch those hands,” she warned sharply.
“Look around, darling. Modesty isn’t exactly on display here,” Jensen murmured, kissing her neck. She could practically feel him smirking. Isis grabbed his hands and placed them on her hips, squeezing the small bones in his fingers as an added warning. They continued moving and swaying to the music. Isis swallowed, trying to ignore the heat. Her temperature seemed to rise. Jensen’s subtle aftershave wasn’t helping matters. She didn’t think a person could smell that nice.
“You mind telling me why we’re grinding to awful dubstep music or is this your way of coming out as a rebel?” Jensen whispered in her ear. Isis turned her face toward him, resting it against his chin and smiling as if he had just said something sexy.
“You see the two guys in suits standing in the hall to my right?”
Jensen turned his head so he could look where she indicated. She nipped at his ear, pleased when he stiffened again. It was quite fun having the upper hand on him.
“The plain guys who look like they work for an insurance company?”
“That’s them,” Isis whispered. “One of them somehow made it all the way across the floor in the space of maybe a minute.”
“Impossible.”
Isis glimpsed another man out of the corner of her eye on her right. She grabbed the front of Jensen’s shirt, pulled him closer, and kissed him passionately. She could feel him go completely rigid as if he wasn’t sure whether or not he should pull away. After a moment’s hesitation, he opened his mouth and met her tongue with his. She opened her eyes, looking in the direction of the man. He was sitting on a bench that ran adjacent to the dance floor, isolated from the few other people. He had darker hair than the first man she had seen, but was equally nondescript. His eyes wandered over the dancers. Before he looked in her direction, Isis closed her eyes and turned her attention back to the kiss. She still gripped Jensen’s shirt in one fist with her other hand on the back of his neck. Her body started to tingle as if electricity were racing through her. Jensen also seemed to be getting a little excited.
Isis pulled out of the kiss and glanced over to where she had spotted the third man. The space was empty. She looked over to the hall where the first two men were still standing. She let go of Jensen’s shirt and straightened up. Jensen cleared his throat and smoothed his shirt, tugging on his vest, as he tried to regain his composure.
“One just disappeared,” Isis said, looking around. “These guys move fast.”
Jensen followed her gaze around the dance floor, trying to find whomever she was looking for. There were a bunch of neon-haired rebels, other shape shifters, and a few other supernatural species. The music continued throbbing above them.
“I’m going to have a look on the second floor,” Isis stated, nodding at his crotch. “Might want to sit down for a minute there, Jensen.”
She smiled and waved her fingers as she walked backwards toward the steps. She jogged up them and disappeared around a curve in the hall. Jensen whistled once and ran a hand through his hair again. He looked back toward the two men she had pointed out earlier.
One was gone.
*~*~*~*~*
Malone and Devin stood on the second floor, watching the action below. Alpha had passed by earlier, heading for her office. She barely even acknowledged them. The music continued throbbing. They watched their youngest brother grind with a couple rebels.
“He’s in his element,” Devin mentioned. Malone smiled and nodded toward two other figures on the floor.
“So is Isis apparently,” he stated. They laughed when their niece pulled Jensen into a passionate kiss, obviously flustering him. Malone squinted and leaned down.
“She’s looking at something,” he observed.
“Have you two seen anything suspicious?” Jade’s voice barely filtered through the music.
“No, but it looks like Isis might have,” Devin called back, watching as Isis left Jensen on the dance floor. Jensen took a moment to straighten his clothing and glance around the dance floor. A few rebels danced about him, but he waved them off.
“I’ve seen all six, but they move fast and they don’t stay in one place for long,” Ajax’s puzzled voice was a little clearer. “Who the hell are these guys?”
“Or what?”
Devin looked over his shoulder when his brother straightened up. He followed his gaze down the hall to where a strange stone-faced man in a dark gray suit stood. A small smirk began to cross his lips. The lights started changing: red to yellow to green to blue back to red, bathing the dance floor in different vibrant colors. The man suddenly disappeared in a blur. Malone and Devin looked around, trying to locate him again.
“Where did he—? There,” Malone stated pointing over Devin’s shoulder. Devin turned and spotted the gray suit immediately. He stood near some rebels on the other side of the hall. He wove around them and disappeared down one of the dark halls. Malone and Devin hurried after him. They moved around the patrons in the crowded hallway, ignoring the complaints as they climbed over a few. They rounded the bend and spotted the man standing in a packed elevator as the doors closed. He smiled and shook his head once.
“No way that’s a shape shifter,” Devin said. Malone shook his head, looking behind him.
*~*~*~*~*
Alex walked down the second floor steps, moving to the first floor. She jumped back when she felt a hand slide up her leg. A white-haired woman grinned foolishly, obviously under the influence of something. Alex stepped away from her, turning her attention back to the stairs. She didn’t understand the appeal of narcotics at all.
“Alex, did you see anything on the second floor?” Jade’s voice was barely audible over all the other noise.
“Negative,” Alex responded as she reached the bottom of the stairs. “Where are you?”
“Third floor,” Jade answered. “Malone and Devin are going to head up to the fourth. Shae’s going to join me in a — Hey! Back off!”
“Are you all right?”
“I’d be better if we were not here,” Jade grumbled. “Can you meet up with Isis while I sweep the third again with Shae?”
“That’s what I was planning.” Alex paused when she entered the glass-floored bar. In one corner, she spotted the outline of a tall man. The light flashed yellow, revealing a man in a suit. He appeared to be looking at nothing in particular. Alex made her way over to the bar, keeping the man in her peripheral vision.
Through Storm and Night (The Shape Shifter Chronicles Book 2) Page 13