Shifters (Shifters series Book 1) (21 page)

I can
’
t believe it, but they both look absolutely drop-dead gorgeous and nothing like themselves. It
’
s as though we all suddenly look thirty years old. Young, but sophisticated and aged to perfection. We look nothing like the fugitives on the news. Maybe this will work after all.

I find my silver mask, Devon finds her gold one, and Solé wears a silver one as well. We don
’
t put them on just yet, but we hold them up to the mirror. Then, we all squeal in unison. “We
’
re going to a ball!” I say in awe.

“Now we just have to find dates,” Devon says, half-joking.

“Oh, I think you
’
ve got one.” I wink at her.

Tanner’s standing just inside the door. His jaw is on the floor.

Chapter 32

The Driver and a Sloppy Kiss

–TANNER–

Obviously, I can
’
t talk about that part. They totally lock us out of both bathrooms. They’re in there forever. I have to go down to the lobby to go to the bathroom, which is a strange experience. There
’
s this guy just standing there, waiting for me to finish . . . you know . . . so he can hand me a towel after I wash up. Then, he offers me some cologne. I think
, Well, I am going to a ball, so why not?

I get back to the room where Kai and Kyle are on the computers, going over the plan with the Js. They’ve hacked into the Hoover Building
’
s security cameras and have 3D plans for the entire building. They also show us how to use some Bluetooth earphones Devon brought with her.

They seriously have the coolest stuff, like real James Bond stuff. They even have an app that shows exactly where we are right on the phone screen. They show us where to download the 3D model of the hotel plans, and it shows us precisely where we’re standing. Amazing.

Evidently, they created it and put it up on the App Store. They say it
’
s really popular with hikers and stuff because of how accurate it is. I wonder if that
’
s how they afford all of this cool tech stuff.

We hear a door close in the other room.

“Finally, I have to pee,” Kai says as he hurries out the door.

“Why didn
’
t he just go downstairs?” I ask Kyle. “The bathroom is amazing.”

“Whatever,” Kyle says dismissively. “It
’
s a bathroom.” He keeps talking to the Js as he moves the mouse on the screen and asks, “What about here? Is there another access?”

“Hang on,” one of the Js says. “Yes, but it
’
s not exactly a door.”

“What does that mean?” I ask.

“It
’
s an air vent five levels above, but the entrance is monitored,” the J says.

“What kind of monitoring?” Kai asks, walking back in the room.

“According to the plans, it
’
s a camera and lasers. Break the beam, and security is notified; the whole floor locks down,” the J says.

“I can handle the camera,” Kai says. “What about the lasers? Can you disable them?”

Kyle answers, “Not without setting off all kinds of alarms.”

“It looks like they reposition themselves based on a random timer. The system is independent from the main security system, so no one has access to alter it. Break the beam, and you
’
re dead,” the J says, sounding deflated.

Kai looks at me and says, “I take the camera, and you get the beams.”

What? Me?

“You heard what he said. Break the beam, and we
’
re dead,” I tell him.

“You got this,” Kyle says.

“
I don’
t have that kind of control,”
I argue.

“It
’
s just another ATM to you,” Kai says with a slight smirk on his face.

I look at Kai then at Kyle. Both look confident.

“
Besides, it
’
s five floors down. How do we get down without dying?” I demand, hoping for a better way.

Kai lifts his eyes toward the girl
’
s bedroom. Nodding toward the door, he says, “Our ride
’
s in there.”

Ryland?

That reminds me. They’ve been in there for the longest time. What in the world could they be doing for so long? I walk across the huge suite to the girls’ room. I open the door, and I
’
m about to ask what
’
s taking so long when I’m left breathless by the vision before me.

Solé is standing there, wearing a stunning light green dress with her hair looking wild and amazing. My sister, it must be my sister since the hair is the right color, is in this skintight black dress I absolutely do not approve of. Seriously, she’s never needed any help getting guys’ attention. This will definitely not help her to blend in.

I
’
m about to tell her there’s no way she’s going out in that thing when I spot Devon. Ryland says something in Devon
’
s ear I can
’
t make out, and she hesitantly turns toward me. I
’
m not sure exactly how long it takes, but she turns in slow motion, at least it seems like slow motion. Her hair is cascading down her back like a bright red waterfall glistening at sunrise.

The deep green dress makes her look tall and perfect. As she slowly turns, the dress reveals a slit all the way up her thigh. I feel the blood rushing through every part of my body. It
’
s like I
’
m suddenly aware of every capillary as it races through parts of me I didn
’
t even know I had. When her eyes finally meet mine, I let out a small gasp. I realize I don
’
t remember how to breathe. Her bright green eyes flash and glisten with rich copper shades perfectly matching the flowing fabric. I still haven
’
t taken a breath when she gives me a shy look.

I hear a voice like it
’
s underwater. I hear it again, but I still can
’
t make out what it
’
s saying. Devon takes the dress in her hands and holds it out like she
’
s showing me. She slowly spins, and I
’
m lost in the flowing emerald waterfall of fabric when I see the amazing slit display the absolute beauty of her long, perfect leg. There
’
s that watery voice again. What is that? When she finishes her spin, she rests her eyes on me, and her expression changes. She looks slightly concerned or disappointed. There
’
s that sound again.

“Tanner!” Ryland says.

“Huh? What?” I say, finally realizing Ryland’s talking to me.

“
Well?
” she says expectantly.

“What?”

“Does Devon look okay?” she asks, slightly annoyed.

I look back at Devon, who now looks slightly deflated and say, “I can
’
t imagine anything more beautiful.”

Devon immediately brightens, and it feels like the world is perfect. She hugs me, and I remember how to breathe. I know the other guys come in the room, but I honestly don
’
t know what else is happening around me.

I’m wishing this moment would last forever when Devon says, “Now it
’
s your turn to show me how handsome you are in your outfit.”

Outfit? I don
’
t think I
’
ve ever worn an
outfit
. Somehow, when she says it though, I want nothing more than to put on an outfit. Anything to make her happy.

–RYLAND–

So, the boys stare awkwardly for a few minutes before going to get ready. That takes all of ten minutes. Seriously, how is that fair?

When we
’
re all in our tuxes and gowns, Kai slips a fifty to the concierge downstairs and asks him to call us a limo. When the concierge asks what kind we would prefer, I jump in before one of the children can say something ridiculous, “We want something low-key.” I flash him a winning smile. “We aren
’
t trying to be flashy, just stylish.”

I watch his eyes skim my body slowly, and he winks at me. “You got it,” he says.

Kai and Tanner both fume at him as though they’re going to punch him in the eye or something. I just blush and try to ignore it. The concierge is at least thirty. Granted, I probably look around that age tonight.

When our limo arrives, Kai holds out his hand to help me inside. My stomach drops, and I forget how to breathe. He looks so handsome, his tan skin against his black, perfectly-fitted tux.
Don
’
t trip
, I think urgently.

When we tell the driver where to take us, he eyes us suspiciously. “You work for the FBI?” I can
’
t tell if he
’
s concerned because he
’
s an illegal immigrant or if he
’
s actually going to report us as party crashers. That would be disastrous.

Solé beams at him brightly and says, “No, my boyfriend
’
s dad.
” As she says this, she flings her arm around Kyle and gives him a sloppy kiss on the lips, like she
’
s a little tipsy. “He’s like some big wig there or something. He works,” she bursts into giggles then speaks in a husky whisper, “he works in like an underground bunker. Shhh.” She holds her finger up to her lips.

Kyle grins at the kiss then quickly pushes Solé firmly back into the seat. “Honey, we talked about this,” his voice is a low whisper that carries perfectly to our chauffeur.

“He doesn
’
t really,”
I smile at him.
“He’s just in the administration, so he got us in. Cool, right?” I grin at Tanner and Kai.

“Yeah,”
Kai grumbles.
“This better kick prom
’
s—”

“Hey!” Tanner yells. “There
’
s sodas in here!
”

In that moment, I love my brother. He’s acting like a total dork just to make us seem like dumb kids. Otherwise, we might be too suspicious for this guy to ignore. When Tanner starts blabbing about his favorite sodas, the guy rolls up the window between us and doesn
’
t look back again.

I would sigh in relief if I could move or even breathe in this dress. I wonder if Devon’s mom ever actually wore it. Probably not. She bought it for a fictional daughter while ignoring her real one.

Solé’s still giggly and bubbly, which I think is only half an act. Partially, she’s excited about tonight, and partially, she wants this guy to think she
’
s some dumb bimbo. It appears to be working. I wonder how such a naïve, sheltered little thing can be so devious.

Kyle’s acting like he
’
s mad at her. Maybe he is. That probably isn
’
t the way he pictured their first kiss, a ploy in front of everyone, sloppy and awkward. I know I wouldn
’
t be happy. It might even be his first real kiss. He isn
’
t exactly Prince Charming with his dark brooding features and vampiric skin. He
’
s more the tortured poet type, probably because of his dad.

Kai is sitting next to me, looking bored. His body is relaxed and slouched into the seat. I can see, though, his eyes are tense. He
’
s worried about something. I wonder if he thinks we
’
ll be caught tonight. He has nothing left to lose, but that doesn
’
t mean he wants to die.

Tanner’s looking after Devon like he
’
s her servant or something. He
’
s offering her sodas and complimenting her. It
’
s kind of pathetic. She doesn
’
t even know how to take the attention, which isn
’
t surprising given her home life. She
’
s probably never been worshiped like a goddess before.

I turn to Kai and whisper, “Do you think if we
’
re captured, the prophecy will be null and void?” I smile when I say it so as not to be suspicious to our chauffeur in case he
’
s watching.

“
I don’
t think prophecies can be averted,” he says coldly, his expression darkening.

“What do you mean?” I ask, my smile fading.

“Solé said whoever loses the most will be the one,” he begins, still whispering so he doesn
’
t disturb the others. “I think one of us is going to lose everything. Maybe starting tonight.”

A feeling of dread overwhelms me. I look around the car, and my eyes stop when they reach Tanner. What if I lose everything? What if I lose my family, my brother?

I shake my head. “Not tonight,” I say, determined.

He shrugs his shoulders as though he doesn
’
t care, but they hardly move. How can they when they’re carrying the weight of the world? He’s probably not the wisest choice for a crush, I think. Not that crushes are logical to begin with.

“Tonight we’re going to go
Mission Impossible
on them,” I say. “They
’
ll never see it coming.”

“We
’
ll see,” he says.

The window to the driver rolls down slowly. “We
’
re here,” he says.

I turn to look out the window and see a crowd of men and women dressed to the nines, as my ninety-year-old English teacher would say. “Wow,” I breathe.

They all look so beautiful, so glamorous. Then, I see how many security guards and guns there are, and I feel like I
’
m going to faint. We can
’
t do this.

We pull up to the curb, and we all put on our masks. Kai
’
s black mask cuts off half his face, but his eyes still glitter at me in the moonlight. “Ladies first,” he says as I step into the cool night air.

Chapter 33

The Waltz and the Trophy Room

–TANNER–

The limo is cool, but when we get to the ball, it’s crazy. There are all kinds of people wearing suits and talking into their cufflinks like secret agents which, I guess, they are.

Devon and I are the last ones out of the car. This agent guy comes up to Kai and asks for our credentials. Oh, great. We didn
’
t even make it past the sidewalk, and we
’
re already busted.

Devon steps in front and says, “
Jessica Richards, plus guests. We’
re on the registry.”

What? Who
’
s Jessica Richards?

The agent looks at his tablet and pleasantly says, “I
’
m sorry, miss. I
’
m not—”

“It
’
s with an R,” she says, placing her hand on her hip and sounding annoyed.

He looks down again and apologizes, “Yes, of course, Miss Richards. I see you’re all here.” He waves to another agent and says, “Please make sure Miss Richards and her guests are seated at the proper table.”

“Yes, sir,” the other agent replies. “Ladies, gentlemen, please walk this way.”

He takes the lead as we walk into the main entry toward the metal detectors.

Devon starts quietly talking to herself, saying, “Seriously, that was close. You told me it was taken care of.”

“What?” I ask confused.

“Nothing. Not you. My brothers,” she says, touching her ear.

That’s so cool. I give her a nod and try to keep cool, but we
’
re heading toward the metal detectors, and she has our earpieces, a little tablet computer, and Kyle
’
s flash drive. There is no way they
’
ll let us in with this stuff.

“Follow him through. They
’
ll check your phones and give them back to you,” she says walking off to the side.

“Where are you going?” I whisper.

“Just go through,” she says as she walks directly toward one of the agents.

Somehow this guy doesn
’
t even acknowledge her. What are these guys? Robots or something? She
’
s absolutely stunning. I notice a couple of agents on the sides jerk their heads toward her. My stomach tightens. I
’
m about to say something when the agents shake their heads and resume their pose. She steps right around an agent and walks up behind the metal detectors, grinning at me.

Ryland whispers, “Now that is seriously cool.”

We all hand them our phones. They run them through some kind of scanner and send them through to the agents on the other side. The agent at the metal detector waves Kai through. When he steps in, the light doesn
’
t even come on like it did when the people before him went through.

Kai starts to walk away, but the agent says, “Hold on, sir.”

Kai gives him his best innocent look and says, “Can I do something for you?”

“Please step through again, sir,” the agent says.

“
No problem,
” Kai tells him, as he steps back in and the machine still doesn’t react.

He waves Ryland through, and the machine reacts normally. He has Kai step through again, and the machine finally acknowledges his presence.

The agent shakes his head and says, “I
’
m sorry, sir. No problem. Have an enjoyable evening.”

We all go through, and the agents hand us our phones.

Ryland walks next to him and asks Kai, “How did you make it see you?”

“I have to make a conscious effort to be seen,” Kai tells her. “My dad showed me how to do it before I Shifted. I had to practice.”

“You had to practice being seen?” Ryland asks.

Kai shrugs and says, “It
’
s harder than it sounds.”

I walk up to Devon and ask, “How did you do that?”

She just smiles and takes my hand. With that, I completely drop the subject. We begin walking toward the large room as Devon hands us each an earpiece. We put them in our ears and test our connection. Now this is weird. I can hear our whole group talking and whispering as though they’re inside my head. I can even hear the people talking to them.

“I have all locations,” I hear one of the Js say from inside of my head.

“All broadcasting?”
Devon asks.

“We got you,” her brother says.

Solé smiles and nods. She starts to put her hands together to do a Charlie
’
s Angels pose, but Kyle takes her hand to stop her. He
’
s probably right, but she
’
s only trying to have fun. Ryland holds both hands in front of her and silently squeals in excitement to Solé.

I really don
’
t get what they’re so psyched about. It’s just a bunch of way overdressed people standing around talking just like a school dance. Except for it being in the FBI headquarters.

I went to one of the lame school dances a couple of months ago. Pretty much the whole time, they were blaring music while most everybody just stood around. If you wanted to talk to someone, you had to yell over the music. Both Chucky and Frederick were way too afraid to talk to any girls, so we spent the whole dance standing against the wall. I bet nobody even knew we were there.

Anyway, we’re escorted to our table. We all sit, and the girls squeal every time a new dish arrives. I have to admit seeing my sister have this much fun is pretty cool. We’ve been through a lot in the last couple of weeks, and she deserves this. Devon, Solé, and my sister act like they’ve been best friends their whole lives. I can
’
t help but smile watching them have so much fun together.

The Js stay silent in our ears, letting us enjoy the first part of the evening. I know we’re getting ready to move when I hear them start giving directions.

“When the Senator is finished speaking, there will be a special dance,” the J says. “When she has distracted them, go through the door at your nine o
’
clock. We
’
ll guide you from there.”

At that, Solé stands up and walks over to Kyle. She leans down and gently kisses him for a long minute. I just stare at them, not sure if I should say anything.

“Are you ready?” Solé says to Kyle as she slowly stands up.

Kyle takes a deep breath and looks at each of us. He wipes his hands on his pants and says, “Let
’
s do this.”

Solé walks across the ballroom floor directly toward an older gentlemen, a senator. She starts whispering to him and fawning over him like he’s the most interesting man in the world. When the dance is announced, he holds his hand out to her, and she accepts. We all watch as she steps out on the floor with him.

I’m amazed. As they waltz around the floor, she moves as if she’s floating. The older guy looks like he thinks he’s the luckiest guy in the room. When the music finishes, he puts his hand around her back and begins to escort her off of the floor. He places his mouth close to her ear, and she jumps back and slaps him as hard as she can.

Solé lets out a blood-curdling scream and yells, “You said you were leaving her!”

The guy holds his arms up and tries to calm her.

“You told me you loved me!” Solé continues. She slaps him again.

Everyone in the room stops what they’re doing to witness the spectacle. It
’
s not every day a US Senator
’
s mistress publicly calls him out.

The Js are in our heads immediately, saying, “Go, now.”

We head straight through the door and close it behind us.

–RYLAND–

As we stare down the long hallway, I realize our mistake. These hallways are not empty. There are three men in dark suits standing thirteen feet away from us having a cocktail. They probably shouldn
’
t be given they
’
re on duty, but there it is.

“Excuse me,”
one guy snaps gruffly at us.
“
You aren
’
t supposed to be back here.”

I flash my winning smile at him. “I
’
m sorry, sir.” I feel my lower lip trembling in a pout. “It was just so noisy and crowded in there.”

The men look at us warily, eyeing Kyle, Kai, and Tanner closely. “I
’
m sorry, miss,” they say to me. “You
’
re going to have to turn around.”

I nod petulantly. “Sorry, sir.” I mumble.

Suddenly, Kai is standing over deftly knocked out FBI agents. “Let
’
s go,” he says, grinning at me. “Way to be a distraction.”

I roll my eyes. “As if you needed one. Those were normal FBI agents. They weren
’
t prepared to be attacked by someone with superpowers.”

His grin widens. “I do what I can.” He winks at me, and I feel myself blushing a deep scarlet.

Tanner frowns up at the cameras. “When they watch that later, will they just see the guards talking to us and falling down awkwardly?” he muses.

Kai laughs and shrugs. “They
’
ll be completely confused.”

Devon steps forward hesitantly like a doe crossing an unfamiliar road in the forest. “Shall we take down some Keeper overlords?” she asks more confidently than she looks. I wonder if this newfound confidence stems from Tanner
’
s absolute worship and adoration of her or just being away from her parents.

We run down the hall in our formal apparel, and I hum quietly. “
Dun dun, duh-na! Dun dun, duh-na!
”

“Are you seriously humming the
007
song?” Kyle asks, bemused.

“I thought that was from
Mission Impossible,”
I mutter.

We slip down a side hallway and find an elevator. Devon is hissing angrily to her brothers. “You said we
’
d see no one,” she mutters. “You better get it together before we get killed.”

“What’s going on?”
I snap at her.

“I
’
m sorry,” she says. “My brothers are airheads.”

“Do we know where we
’
re going?” I ask.

“Down,” Kyle says darkly. “I
’
ve been here before.”

“You have?” We all whirl on him.

“Well . . . my dad was kind of . . . he was sort of… they were considering making him the leader,” he stammers and stares at his shuffling feet.

“They were
what
?” I ask in shock.

Tanner rolls his eyes at me. “If you had bothered planning with us at all, you would know that.”

I roll my eyes back at Tanner. He’s always loved planning everything out. Even when we were little and I would play with him and Chucky and Frederick, he would map out the whole game before we even started to play. I was some damsel in distress, maybe a princess being guarded by a ferocious dragon, and Frederick would ride in gallantly to save me.

“Well, after he was in the military and trained to be a Keeper, he rose in the ranks and became very popular.” Kyle shrugs as he continues, “He was trying to be elected to their leadership position. He lost, so we were sent somewhere the new leader wouldn
’
t feel threatened by him.”

“Did your dad . . . work here?” I ask.

He nods his head slowly. “Yeah, he was sort of like . . . Lieutenant Director of . . . uhh . . . Shifter Subversive Activities.”

“What does that mean?” Devon asks, wide-eyed.

“It means his dad was basically in charge of hunting us down,” Kai says coldly, his voice as dark as the deepest Winter night.

“Oh,” Devon mutters softly.

“The elevator has a code, but I know it,” Kyle whispers, depressed.

We file quietly into the elevator; all the air of joviality and adventure has been destroyed. It was obliterated. No one blames Kyle, not really anyway. We just don
’
t know what to say, how to respond.

Elevator music plays quietly through the speakers. We all look around at the dull metal walls, feeling claustrophobic. The elevator dings, and the door slides open.

We stare at a huge hallway, as wide as my house. The halls are decorated with . . . Oh! My! God! Are those heads? Human heads?

Devon mutters a little cry. Kai looks like he’s about to kill someone.

I feel rage boiling inside me, matching his own. I’ll burn them to the ground. I’ll destroy every last one of them. I’ll take away everything and everyone they have ever loved. I’ll make them suffer and cry and weep and beg for forgiveness before I finally take their last breath from them.

“We need to go down the third hallway on the left,” Kyle says quietly. “There’s a server room at the end of the hall. We need to get in there.”

“Is there anyone here?” I growl through gritted teeth.

I want to pulverize someone. I want to grind them into dust. I want to . . . I
’
m so angry I can
’
t even come up with a punishment cruel enough to avenge this.

Tanner takes charge. “Okay, let
’
s go.” His voice is tight and small. “We need to get moving.”

We walk slowly and steadily down the hall, trying to stare at the dark granite floor. We don’t look at the walls or ceiling or anything else. When we turn down the narrow hall, I notice now the walls are bare.

It’s dark and dingy, but it feels less like a macabre palace and more like a dungeon. When we enter the server room, Tanner and Kyle take over.