Page 84 of Beyond the Darkness

“What do you mean?” Kit asked, although he was afraid he already knew.

“I was too stupid to realize that the room they were holding Chester in was a room in one of our laboratories. And he’s not the only one they have experimented on. There’s a witch there too. She has all three strands of DNA. Anyway, Nox had already injected Chester. After Nox was killed, we found out Lennox was actually the one in charge. He picked up where Nox left off.”

“Is Chester okay?”

“Well, he isn’t rejecting the DNA like I am, so I guess in that aspect, he is, but he’s under Lennox’s control just like the majority of us are.”

“Okay, so what has this got to do with me?”

“You’re mated to a royal dragon. Plus, he’s friends with all the paranormal leaders. But Hudson’s the most motivated toend this because Lennox is obsessed with you, although I don’t know why.”

Kit wasn’t touching that with a ten-foot pole. “Okay?”

Don rubbed his forehead, and when he dropped his hand, the skin sloughed off. Don stared at his fingers for a couple moments, then reached back up where a pink tinted liquid was beginning to rise to the surface. “Fuck.”

“Mother of all.” Kit stared in shock. Any question of whether or not Don was lying about his health was suddenly answered. “Don, my God, is that blood?”

Tears welled in Don’s eyes. “Yes, and it’s getting worse,” he said with a shaky voice. “I can feel it. The pain is constant, and my body is failing. My teeth and nails are falling out, and even my hair is starting to go.” He sighed heavily. “All I want is to save my brother and then just… die, preferably quickly so I don’t suffer any longer.”

“I’m so sorry.” Kit reached for Don, then dropped his arm. No, he had to remember what Don had done to him, even if he maybe did have a good excuse. He was still responsible for the trauma Kit was still seeing someone for. “You’ve dragged me into your mess and exposed me to the paranormal world.”

“I know.”

“That bastard bit me and sucked my blood.”

“Iknow.”

“What exactly do you want? And what the hell was that tunnel deal? Hudson said they chased you, so why didn’t you talk to him then? What was the point of luring him into those tunnels?”

“Because he wouldn’t listen to me then, and I needed him to find those tunnels, find the weapons in them. I desperately needed him to find those tunnels because that’s where Lennox is hiding out. And there’s something else. That’s where my baby brother is most of the time too.”

“What in the hell are you talking about now?”

“I told you that Chester was injected with paranormal DNA, right? I didn’t tell you what kind. It was mer. Chester is part merman now, and that lake you guys found in the tunnels? That’s basically Chester’s home now, although it does have access to the ocean.”

“Oh my God, I saw something in that lake.”

“I know. Chester told me.”

“Why didn’thesay something?”

“I’d like to know that too, and it’d better be convincing, or I’ll have Kage dumpyourass in the ocean,” Hudson growled.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE – HUDSON

THE REALIZATION that Kit was missing sent a jolt of fear through Hudson’s chest. He quickly gathered Connie and Kage, and they set off, following Kit’s scent trail out the back door of his business.

Part of him hoped that Kit had just wandered off—although he didn’t believe Kit would be that irresponsible. Regardless, he couldn’t shake the feeling something was wrong.

Don’s presence, standing so close to his mate, caused Hudson’s body to tremble as he fought to control the partial transformation that threatened to consume him. Connie’s hand on his shoulder and his soothing words whispered in his ear were the only things keeping him grounded.

But deep down, he couldn’t deny the conflict raging inside him—the desire to protect his mate at all costs versus the need to resist his primal instincts. It was a constant battle, one that left him teetering on the edge of losing control.

The fact that there was no fear coming from Kit was probably the only thing that stopped Hudson’s dragon from trying to force a shift, which would have been disastrous, but sometimes instinct overruled everything else.

Having a known danger so close to his mate was definitely a case for nearly losing his damn mind.

“Donotrun.” Hudson bared his fangs at Don when he noticed the hunter tense. “If you do, I’m not sure I can restrainmy dragon. Why are you here? Why are you speaking to my mate? What thefuckdo you want?”

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