Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
ARABELLA
I suppose there had to be some type of snag in our plans, didn’t there?
Luckily it wasn’t a massive one. While I suspected the sis meta was on the coast, remembering her comment regarding flooding and it being warm, our first location was on the opposite side of the state, bordering the desert in one of the hottest cities in the country.
I was just glad our destinations were in the same state.
I wanted to hit both of our problems at once and make sure to get back.
There was a gut sensation that was warning me something was wrong—more than just the humans, despite my father’s assurances it was fine.
I believed him, but I didn’t think things would stay that way.
It didn’t help that from the time our jet touched down in California, I began to feel a very real sense of being far away from home.
This place was nothing like northern Michigan, especially nothing like the institute, and not only because it the climate here was particularly dry.
I winced as the hot sun hit my face, making me realize why a place like this wasn’t ideal for nightmares.
I wasn’t positive shade even existed here.
Don’t get me wrong—it was absolutely beautiful, down to the palm tree-lined streets and navy blue Escalades waiting for us at the private airport.
Still, though, it was really not the type of thing I would love on a daily basis.
It didn’t help that I could tell several of my men felt uneasy about being in a place like this, half of them having put on sunglasses to shield their eyes from the intense rays.
Once again, I couldn’t help but appreciate how attractive they looked in them.
Our flight hadn’t been a particularly long one, and I had spent the majority of the time going over details my father had sent me, Ashur holding my hand the entire time. With the exception of Damian’s occasional remarks of disbelief and headshakes, no one had commented on it—not even Saint.
I’d even had a chance to go through everything my father had packed for us, and I’d been thankful he had thought about the weather—or someone had—because there was a fair amount of warm weather clothes.
I paused, trying to imagine any of my mates in shorts and tropical shirts, let alone myself in a dress like that.
I shook my head with an amused smile—this was going to be interesting.
It was right around then that I realized someone had packed me a ton of different kinds of medicine, anything I could possibly need…
including an extra packet of birth control.
I knew I had missed enough that it was a problem, but I could probably hop back on it.
I put it in my bag and figured I would think through it more once I got to the hotel.
At first, I hadn’t understood why we were going to the inside of the state rather than any of the large cities…
until I realized this particular town was where the world’s largest MAM base was located.
Well, outside of the one in Washington, but that was less of a base and more of a political headquarters.
The military decisions were made here, and the further I delved into my father’s research, tucked in the front of the car as Razar drove away from the airstrip, I found that he believed the god terrors would be staying near the location in order to influence the humans’ decisions more directly.
I suppose that made a lot of sense, actually, and would explain why they had been so successful.
“This is where we’re staying?” Zain asked as we pulled up to a gorgeous hotel that looked like an oasis in the middle of the desert.
When we reached the front, a valet was waiting for us. I unrolled the window, suddenly glad that I’d sat in the front. “Hey there!”
“Good afternoon,” the older man greeted me before peering at Razar. “Are you here for the restaurant, or do you have a reservation?”
“Reservation,” I explained.
“Wonderful.” He nodded and signaled for someone. “Can we take your bags? We can park the car as well—”
“No.” Razar’s voice was hard.
Yeah, that would be bad. Not only did I not trust someone with our bags containing the important stuff we had, but I didn’t think Damian could walk into the hotel.
I mean, most of my men didn’t look human—hell, I didn’t even look human with my hair—but Damian’s horns and tail were a bit hard to hide.
I had no idea how we were going to handle this if they insisted…
“I think my ma—boyfriend—” I skipped right over the word ‘mate’ before it came out and confused the ever-living hell out of this man.
I could tell Razar didn’t know how he felt about that word though, so I continued on quickly.
“He wants to take everything in, so I will just hop out, is there somewhere he can park?”
I could feel the tension running through all of the men in the back.
I knew they didn’t want me going into the hotel alone, but we didn’t have much of an option right now.
The man looked over at Razar and nodded in understanding.
“Of course. Just park around back, and then you can take the elevator from the parking garage right up to your room. What’s your last name? I can check where you’ll be at.”
“McCroy,” I said. Saint’s growl from the back had me nearly smiling.
The man’s gaze lit up. “Ah, the presidential suite, of course—just park in sector one of the garage. You will have a private elevator—Ms. McCroy will be able to buzz you up when you’re ready.”
Oh, sweet.
“I’ll go right up to the room after checking us in, okay?” I said as I grabbed one of our bags. I hoped all of them would get the message, but my eyes were on Razar.
His eyes darkened for a moment before he nodded in understanding.
I sighed and hopped out as Razar rolled up the window, and I walked towards the lobby doors.
I breathed out a sigh of relief because it seemed everyone here, outside of the employees, dressed to stand out.
Maybe my men wouldn’t make that much of an impact.
I mean, none of the guests had horns or tails, but their outfits, makeup, and hair were all very unusual.
To the point I had to wonder if there was a festival or something going on.
As I walked towards the front desk, I could feel eyes on me, and I realized that this was possibly the first time I’d been alone in a very long time.
I mean, seriously—when was the last time I’d been able to do anything other than pee by myself?
I felt a bit uncomfortable, like I was missing something essential. Most likely my men.
“Hello! How can I help you?” the woman at the front greeted me.
“Checking in. Last name McCroy,” I explained.
Her light blue eyes lit up as she offered me a big smile. “Of course. Let me grab your room key and we will go right to the private elevator.”
I nodded in understanding, and she led me over to the bank of elevators, going to the very back one. As we approached, as one elevator opened to reveal a group of people dressed in neon that greeted us before walking into the lobby.
“Music festival,” she explained to me with a shrug.
Honestly, I wasn’t positive why humans thought the nightmares were the odd ones…
They really had some very unique things they thought were fun.
Don’t get me wrong, a music festival sounded neat, but why did one of the girls have an alien headband on?
It was honestly sort of cool and made it easier for us to blend in… but totally odd.
I followed the woman’s instructions on scanning the key card for the special elevator access, the doors closing as she offered a parting smile, and then the elevator shot up to what I had to assume was a penthouse.
I couldn’t help but smile as the doors opened to reveal a wall of windows framing a picture perfect panoramic desert view.
I stood transfixed for a moment, looking at the mountains in the distance, before a ringing sounded. I walked over to the elegant phone, noticing the decor was in an extremely luxurious modern style.
“Hello?” I answered, hoping it would be the boys.
“Ring us up.” Blackwell’s deep voice had me smiling because of his bossiness.
I pressed a green button next to the phone, and a distant humming sounded before the phone disconnected.
Looking around the penthouse, I noticed that on the first floor there was a marble kitchen and a living area that stretched all along the windows.
To the left side was a set of stairs, and as I trailed up them, I counted a total of seven doors, most of which probably led to bedrooms. When I reached the one with double doors—the master, presumably—I let out a sigh of appreciation.
The bedroom faced out towards the city, and it was absolutely gorgeous.
Okay, maybe I could learn to enjoy a climate like this if I was inside.
When the voices of my men began to echo through the penthouse, I walked out and smiled as they carried in bags, coming in through an elevator on the opposite side of the one I’d arrived in.
“Damn.” Zain looked around with a whistle.
“Your dad went all out,” Damian said.
“That’s not why he got this room.” Razar chuckled softly.
“Why then?” I arched my brow.
“Because he wants you to have your own bed, love,” Blackwell called out.
“No, it’s not.” I rolled my eyes as Cy carried my bag upstairs, offering me a heated look before going to the master. I knew he was thinking about us being in the same bed together like that first time in his room…
“Thinking like that is going to get you in trouble,” Saint warned, appearing out of freakin’ nowhere.
“No idea what you’re talking about,” I said, blinking innocently.