Page 83 of Beyond the Darkness

“And maybe we could even feature some local authors, too, besides you. Give them a platform to share their work and learn from a seasoned writer like yourself.”

“I love that idea,” Austin said. “Why don’t I call you Monday, and we can talk more about it?”

“Sounds like a plan.” Kit checked his cell phone. “It appears as if you are officially done with the book signing. I’ll let everybody know so we can start packing things up, and you guys can go.”

“Thanks, Kit. I had fun. Glad everything went… safely.”

Kit knew immediately what Austin was alluding to—nothing untoward had happened at the event, which was a great relief.”

“I’ll help clean up, and we’ll get out of your way,” Austin said, standing.

“I think I’m going to call it a day as soon as we do. It’s almost quitting time anyhow,” Kit said, also standing.

Kit spoke to his employees, warning them that he was going to close early so they would know they could leave. Connie, Denisha, Torres, and Axel showed up to help pack the tables up and carted off any of the books Austin did not sell.

Everybody was cleaning up and setting things back to rights so when Kit walked back to his office and saw a trashcan overflowing with paper plates and cups, he stopped.

Grabbing the bag of trash, he veered off toward the back door. Opening it, he stepped outside and walked a few feet down the alley to his dumpster. Getting a good handle on it, he reared back and tossed the trash into the dumpster.

Turning around, he came face-to-face with Don.

Kit opened his mouth to scream for help.

“No, wait! Please, Kit, listen, I’m dying! Dying! Please, don’t call for them. Please!” Don flailed his arms in a frenzy. “Just five minutes. Just give me five minutes to explain why I’m here. Look at me, Kit, please. Reallylookat me.”

Kit’s gut told him to call for Connie and Hudson, not to believe anything coming from Don’s mouth, but there was no denying he looked like… well, like death warmed over.

The thing was, he wasn’t sure he had five minutes.

Connie or Hudson would soon realize he was gone and come looking for him, especially if that bout of fear showed up in the bond, but he didn’t think it did. Had he been startled?Absolutely. Had he been afraid? No, because he hadn’t really had time before Don basically started panicking.

Odd how the roles were reversed now, wasn’t it?

Still, Kit wasn’t confident he could stop his mates from attacking Don if they found him there, and something was definitely going on with Don. His skin had a sickening yellow tint, his eyes were sunken, and his hair was thin and stringy. His gaunt appearance was evidence of his declining health. He truly looked like he was on the brink of death.

“I’m not here to hurt you. Or kidnap you. Or whatever else you’re thinking! I need help. I need your help. And your mates’ help. Kit, please,” Don begged.

“What the fuck happened to you?” Kit whispered, deciding to give him a chance to speak, although they were both on the clock.

“My body’s rejecting the werewolf DNA, and it’s killing me.”

A wave of remorse hit Kit. He didn’t trust Don, but he did believe him. He could see the truth with his own eyes. No one deserved to die in such a brutal manner, regardless of their past actions.

“And there is nothing they can do about it? Or will do about it?” That seemed suspicious to Kit.

“It can’t be stopped. And I’m not the only one experiencing this. When it first started, the scientists ran tests and quickly figured out the issue. They told Nox, but he didn’t care. His response was that there were plenty of other humans in the world who could take our place.”

“Jesus.” How coldhearted, but unfortunately, it didn’t surprise Kit. Don and those like him were expendable. Wasn’t that always the way it was with the bad guys?

“I know you don’t trust me. You shouldn’t after what I did, but please understand, I really didn’t have a choice. Nox had kidnapped Chester, my baby brother. Do you remember him?”

“I do, actually. He was in college, right? A straight A student, if I remember correctly.” From what Kit could recall, Chester was the complete opposite of Don—sweet, shy, and an all-around nice guy, whereas Don had always been more of a bad boy. It was one of the things that had first attracted Kit to Don.

“Exactly. Much smarter than me, that’s for sure. When I balked at Nox’s plan to use you to get at Austin and Kage, Nox showed me a video of my baby brother tied to a chair in a room.”

“My God.”

“It was you or him, and I’m sorry, as much as I cared about you at the time, that was my baby brother. I did what I had to do.” Don’s shoulders slumped. “And it didn’t matter one damn bit.”

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