Page 3 of Edge of Darkness

“I’m okay, Sire. I’m just having trouble getting the seat belt to unhook. I—”

Their headlights shined on a rather large truck, which had two shadowy figures moving around inside. Then the truck doors flew open.

“Incoming! Take no prisoners,” Hudson warned. He didn’t know who’d attacked them—and in his territory, no less—and he didn’t care. They would die because of it.

Hudson reached for the door handle as the driver’s door was violently yanked off. But that… that was simply impossible. No human had that kind of strength.

“Mothefu—” Wilson desperately slashed at his seat belt with his claws.

A human scent flooded the vehicle, but it was wrong.Off. Tainted in some way. And he knew. He knew immediately who’d attacked them.

“Hunters!” Hudson roared. How dare they? How fucking dare they attack him. And on his own land too.

A masked hunter yanked Wilson out, and the sound of a single gunshot froze Hudson. No. Oh no. No, no, no. Chills ran down Hudson’s back and horror flooded him.

The smell of blood saturated the air—a lot of blood. Too much blood. Reality slowed down as the scent of that mingled with the awful scent of a genetically altered human.

Distantly, he heard the thump of a body hitting the ground. Connie was yelling beside him, crowding into Hudson. Anger unlike any he’d ever known lit his blood. They killed one of his dragons. His skin tightened, and his horns began to grow from his forehead as his true nature tried to emerge.

A soft laugh echoed on the air currents as a masked man leaned into the driver’s seat, his gun pointed at them. Connie shoved Hudson hard just as the gun went off. Agony burned across the top of his shoulder.

“Die, you—arrrrgh!”

Hudson fell against the side of the car, his hand clamped against his shoulder. Next to him, a line of dragon fire flowed from Connie’s open mouth, engulfing the hunter who had just shot at them. The smell of cooking meat filled the interior as the burning hunter stumbled back from the car, screaming in agonizing pain.

Good. He hoped that damn hunter didn’t die too quickly from suffocation.

“Hudson!” Connie spun, still crouched. He reached for Hudson, fear stark on his face. “Fuck, you’re bleeding! Are you hit? Oh fuck, you’re hit!”

The rumble of an engine turning over caught Hudson’s attention. “The other hunter is escaping. Connie, please, I need you to take care of that.”

“But you’re hit!”

“Connie! Deal with the hunter while I check on Wilson! Please!”

“Oh Gaura, oh great dragon gods, Wilson. Yes, yes, I’ll take care of the hunter. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine. Go.Now.”

Connie gently wiped the blood off Hudson’s chin, then scrambled out of their upside-down vehicle just as the truck reversed, tires spinning as the driver slammed it into Drive and took off.

Hudson slowly crawled out just in time to see Connie transform into a dragon and then launch himself into the air after the hunter’s truck. He trusted Connie to do what needed to be done.

Still holding his shoulder, Hudson knelt beside Wilson’s body. The hole in his forehead told Hudson everything he needed to know. Not even dragons could survive a bullet to the brain.

Grief washed over Hudson as he slowly closed Wilson’s eyes. He sincerely hoped Connie took his time and made the last moments of that hunter’s life torturous.

SEVERAL HOURS later, Hudson and Connie were in his office. The scene had been cleared, and Hudson’s Mercedes and the hunter’s truck had been towed.

Thank the dragon gods they’d been on Hudson’s land and not on the interstate when the attack had happened. This way, the human police were kept entirely out of Hudson’s business.

Arrangements had been made for Wilson’s funeral, the court had been notified of a fellow member’s death, and Hudson’s shoulder had been treated. Fortunately, the bullet had only grazed him. He’d shift later to finish healing it.

Hudson didn’t quite know what to make of his assistant and right-hand man. Connie was pacing Hudson’s office, little curls of smoke drifting up from his nostrils. His eyes were still those of his dragon, and his claws were still extended.

In all the time that he’d known Connie, he’d never seen his unflappable assistant so… flapped. Hudson could hear Connie’s heart racing.

While Connie paced, Hudson made a quick phone call to Kage to inform him of what happened.

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