Page 4 of Walking in Darkness

One of the children, Nox, had been a mimic—a paranormal who was apparently so feared they were often killed as soon as it became obvious what they were.

This half-brother of Kage’s had attacked Kage’s mate, Austin, at Kit’s bookstore. Nox had mimicked Kit and lured Austin to the bookstore and tried to kill him. Nox was able to impersonate someone by taking their blood, thus Kit’s aversion to all things related to fangs now.

Oh, and Nox had run a huge company that funded super-secret experiments in which they either used volunteers, or kidnapped humans, then turned them into paranormal hybrids. This company also funded the hunters who were targeting paranormals in San DeLain.

Only certain paranormals could be used in these experiments, though.

Daemons, dragons, and gargoyles couldn’t change a human into what they were, so they were useless to Nox. Since they couldn’t be used, anyone in those groups was often exterminated.

Nox had been killed, and everyone thought that was the end of not only Nox, but the hunter problem.

Then Kit had been attacked,again, at a club by someone who looked amazingly a lot like Nox. That was when they’d found out that the problem hadn’t been resolved, and that Kage actually hadtwohalf-brothers, not just one.

The other one was named Lennox and had been stalking Kit, which was why Kit was now living at Hudson’s compound. Only no one could figure outwhyLennox was targeting Kit.

“But why amIhere? I have nothing to do with any of this!” The urge to scream was there again. “I don’t understand. I’m not involved with Kage or his daemons. I’m friends with Austin, but that’s it.”

“Oh, you are very much involved. You just don’t know it.”

CHAPTER TWO-KIT

“WHAT?” THAT phrase of beating your head against a brick wall? Yeah, that one. Suddenly, Kit understood what that meant. All he needed was the brick wall. “I don’t—”

“Shhh. Look.” Gaura waved at the woods. “Listen and learn the truth you seek.”

“Could youbeany more cryptic?” Kit snarled under his breath.

Gaura raised one scaly eyebrow, and Kit cringed. Once again, he reminded himself that it wasnotin his best interest to piss off the scary inhuman deity.

“Sorry,” Kit muttered softly.

Then his attention was snagged by the obvious noise of something running through the wooded area. Kit’s eyes bulged as a decent-sized wild animal burst through the thicket. It looked to be some sort of feline—which meant it had sharp claws and teeth.

“Um…” Kit took a step closer to Gaura.

“You’re safe.”

“You sure about that?”

“Of course. We traveled back in time.”

Horrified, Kit’s gaze flew to Gaura. “What?”

“This is the past, Kit.” Gaura waved at the felines. “Several centuries ago, in fact.”

Centuries? Centuries? “What?”

“We cannot be seen or heard. We can only observe what’s about to happen.”

“Are yousureabout that?” If anybody was going to be eaten, it most likely wasnotgoing to be the fire dragon deity. As far as the time jumping went, for the sake of his sanity, he was ignoring that little gem.

Gaura glanced at Kit. “Dear, you are much too important to Hudson and Connie. I would never jeopardize your safety. Your story has just begun.”

Kit’s head was going to explode, just explode all over this damn deity, and it served them right. “Say what now?” He was important to Connie and Hudson? And what was up with that “story just begun” comment? What exactly didthatmean, and why did it feel like Gaura was leaving a lot unsaid?

“Shhh. Watch.”

Aggravated, Kit’s gaze returned to the feline—and how the hell had he forgotten about that?—who was still running toward them. It was unnerving having a wild animal making a beeline straight for them. “Ah, what kind of cat is that?”

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