Page 37 of Beyond the Darkness

“Did he just…?” Hands on his hips, Connie glared at the little male.

“Oh yes, definitely trouble,” Hudson said quietly.

A few minutes later, there were hurried footsteps running through the woods toward them. A young female dragon appeared, looking around frantically.

She spotted them, and her hands flew to her mouth. “Oh, thank the Flames!”

“Hello, Liz,” Hudson said.

The youngling looked up, saw Liz, launched himself out of the basket, and then tried to bury himself in Kit’s arms.

“Sire.” Liz nodded to Hudson. Then she glared at the youngling. “And you!”

Surprised, Kit looked down at the bundle he suddenly was holding.

“You are in such big trouble, mister.” Liz stomped toward them as the youngling let out a distressed yip.

Connie smirked.

“I don’t know who to reprimand first—you, Connie, for acting like a youngling, or the youngling for acting like a youngling,” Hudson said.

Kit wrapped his arms around the baby dragon protectively and glared at Liz.

“Or Kit,” Hudson added.

Liz stopped in front of Kit and the youngling, staring down at them. “Hi, Kit. My name is Liz Prosser. Miles, your mother is going to kill you and me both. You are insomuch trouble.”

Kit suddenly realized he was glaring at the baby dragon’s babysitter. It dawned on him that the little guy must’ve ditched her and went exploring.

Slowly, he turned Miles so he could make eye contact with him. “You are adorable, but I don’t think that’ll get you out of trouble. You should not have done that.”

“Exactly,” Liz said. “You scared me.”

“You’re not the only one who got the life scared out of them,” Connie muttered.

Kit flashed Connie a look.

Connie rolled his eyes.

Liz scolded Miles some more before finally talking him into letting go of Kit. Kit’s heart dropped when the little guy whined.

Kit squatted down next to the little dragon. “None of that, now. And no more ditching your babysitter, okay? Maybe if you’re really good, I can visit you, if that’s okay with your mother.”

“I’m sure Joni would love that. She’s his mother,” Liz said, then looked at Hudson. “But only ifyoudon’t mind, Your Majesty.”

“It’s fine,” Hudson said.

“Sounds like we have a deal.” Kit scratched the little dragon behind his ears one last time. “I need to talk to my mates now, but I’ll try to stop by and see you in a few days.”

Miles snorted out a smoke ring, then nodded his head.

“Heh, that’s cute. Okay, great. See you later.”

Liz waved goodbye as she herded Miles back through the woods. As soon as they were out of sight, Connie flung himself at Kit, wrapping him up in his arms.

Kit calmly patted Connie on the back. “I’m okay.”

“I was so scared,” Connie choked out. “For a few moments there, I completely lost control.”

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