Page 69 of Edge of Darkness

Nelson nodded. “About the only time we use titles is during formal situations or—”

Torres snickered. “Or if we’re arguing with another dragon and want to remind them we’re a higher rank than them.”

“You know how old folks are,” Sheila joked. “They are all grrrrr, get off my lawn.”

Kit tried not to cringe. Lord, he was at the bottom of the ladder then because he wasn’t a dragon and didn’t have a title.

“Don’t make me smack you with my cane, Sheila,” Beckett quipped.

“Oh, jeez, that’s right.” Kit goggled at Beckett. “You’re a Grand Lord. I keep forgetting you’re a thousand years old. And I’mstillhaving trouble believing those words are coming out of my mouth.”

Hudson waved at somebody coming toward them from across the room. “Get ready to meet a Grand Lady too.”

Kit gulped. Just what he needed—another thousand-year-old dragon surrounding him.

“Kit? This is Grand Lady Stella Yearwood. She runs my kitchen and everyone in it. Without her, we’d all starve to death.”

“Amen,” Audrey said.

Everyone sitting around them lifted their drink and toasted Stella, who rolled her eyes, even though she was smiling.

Stella held out her hands to Kit. “I’m very pleased to meet you. While you’re staying with us, if there are any dishes you’d like, please let me know. It would be my pleasure to make them for you. Seriously.”

“Oh, well, thank you. And it’s a pleasure to meet you too,” Kit said.

Stella was a drop-dead gorgeous Black woman with long auburn hair with black highlights. It suddenly dawned on him that every dragon he had met so far was simply gorgeous in appearance.

Talk about feeling like an ugly duckling.

Stella spoke for a couple minutes more, then returned to the kitchen, waving at the other dragons as she left. It amazed Kit how well everybody seemed to get along.

After breakfast finished up, Hudson and Connie escorted Kit to Beckett’s vehicle. Connie opened the door for Kit, and once he was inside, Hudson shut it.

Kit wasn’t sure what to make of the attention. He’d ended up between the two of them at breakfast, and both of them had touched Kit several times throughout the meal.

They were innocent touches, but they were still touches. If Hudson and Connie were human, he’d be tempted to think they were flirting with him—almost tag-teaming him.

But they weren’t, and he needed to remember that.

CHAPTER NINETEEN –HUDSON

“I LIKE him,” Torres said when Hudson and Connie returned inside. Several of the other dragons who’d sat with them during breakfast nodded their agreement.

“We like him too.” Hudson winked, sitting back down at the table as more and more dragons trickled in.

Hudson spoke with his inner circle quietly while Connie kept an eye on the ever-increasing crowd.

After about twenty minutes, Connie tapped Hudson on the shoulder. “I think that’s everyone.”

“Okay, thank you.” Hudson stood and cleared his throat. Conversations quickly died. “I would like to thank everybody for coming, especially on such short notice. As I mentioned in the email I sent out, we have a human staying with us. His name is Kit Meadows.”

Connie got to his feet too. “As you know, Kit was an innocent bystander in the attack on Austin by Nox. Because of this, paranormals were exposed to a human. But since Kit is friendly with Austin, Kage asked us to keep an eye on him. We were honored to do this.”

“Last night, Kit was attacked by someone who resembles Nox,” Hudson said. Whispered conversations immediately broke out between the dragons attending the meeting. “Yes, I know. That shouldn’t be possible since Nox is dead. Right now, we don’t have a good answer for what is going on.”

“But we do know Kit was targeted. Again. The attacker had a message for Kage, which he has also been told about,” Connie said.

“Kit will be staying here for the time being,” Hudson said. “Last night was the first night Connie had actually met Kit, although we had picked up his scent on Beckett, seeing as he works with Kit at his bookstore.”

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