Page 46 of Edge of Darkness

“That’s right, Hudson told me to make sure you had red hair and brown eyes when I met you. He said that it was a—well, he called it a trait.”

“Which it is. So? Do you want to go to Embers?”

“Sure.”

Beckett put on his blinker and moved into the lane that would take them toward downtown.

“So, a moment ago you saidanyFire Court. There’s more than one?”

“Absolutely. Hudson is king of the San DeLain Fire Court. There are Fire Courts in pretty much every major metropolis in the United States and overseas. There are also differentkindsof courts.”

“Really?”

“Sure.” Beckett sighed when a Lamborghini cut in front of him. “I swear, these people can’t drive worth a crap. Okay, so, San DeLain only has one dragon court—ours. Hudson claimed territory here when the city first got started and ran other dragons off.”

“Dragons can do that?”

“Of course, if they’re strong enough. And believe me, Hudson is strong enough. He’s an Ancient and also royalty.”

“When you say Ancient you mean…?”

“He’s a thousand years old.”

Kit blinked several times in shock. “Holy mother of all, he doesn’t look like he’s more than thirty.”

“We stop aging once we hit a certain age.”

“Well damn. Must be nice.” Never get wrinkles? Body parts never sagging? Yeah, sign him up.

Beckett laughed. “It certainly has its perks. Okay, back to the dragon courts. The Fire Courts—those are dragons who have control over all kinds of fire and have the ability to breathe fire. Their dragons are a combination of reds, yellows, and oranges. Kind of like fire. People who belong to this court all have some shade of red hair and brown eyes.”

“Like you guys.”

“Yes. Then there are the Storm Courts. Those dragons are a combination of blues, greens, and purples. They breathe bolts of lightning and have control over the winds and rains of all storms. Unlike us, their hair can be any color, but their eyes are a weird combination of blue, green, and purple.”

“Can they be of any race, like you guys?”

“Yes, all dragons can be of any race. Next up are the Winter Courts. These dragons are either silver or white. With them, it’s always oneorthe other, and they all have silvery-white hair in human form, but no particular eye color. They breathe frost and can call forth and control frost and snow. They like to freeze things. They’re the smallest of the dragons, and they tend to avoid fights.”

“I bet that white hair is eye-catching.”

“It was, but not so much in this age. We have people walking around with all sorts of hair color now, so the white dragons don’t quite stand out like they used to in the past.”

“Gotcha.”

“Finally, there’s the Night Court. These dragons are either blackorgray. Again, it’s one or the other. In human form they have gray eyes and black hair that has gray streaks.” Beckett grimaced. “They spit acid.”

“Holy crap!”

“Yeah. They’re bad news all the way around. While red dragons tend to be the most powerful, and quite frankly, the most aggressive, dragons from the Night Court are brutal. Cold. Mean. Dangerous.”

“So, avoid them at all costs.”

“Exactly. I’m not exaggerating when I say that either. They truly are dangerous. If you see a human who matches the Night Court’s description, get away from them as quickly as possible.”

“Jeez, they’re that bad?”

“They’re that bad. Please understand, I’m not trying to scare you, but you do need to be more aware of your surroundings now.”

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