Page 73 of Edge of Darkness

The conversation went pretty much the way Hudson expected. Isadora was reluctant to believe what Hudson told her at first, at least until he shared the possibility of a clone.

Isadora descended into a spate of Spanish that would’ve made a sailor blush. “Dammit to hell and back. Has someone notified Kage?”

“Of course I have. I’m waiting for him to call me back even as we speak,” Hudson replied.

“I sincerely hope you’re wrong about this, Hudson.”

“You’re not the only one, my dear.”

“Fine. Next Monday night at ten PM we’ll meet at my restaurant,” Isadora said.

“Same fee?” Hudson asked.

“Yes.”

Isadora’s restaurant was considered neutral territory, so the leaders always met there. Since she would lose paying customers that night, Hudson always covered her lost revenue. “Payment sent.”

“Thank you, dragon king. I’ll see you then.”

Hudson disconnected the call and sent out a mass email letting everyone know about the meeting. Ten PM would give the gargoyles and vampires enough time to wake up and get moving.

“Okay, that’s taken care of. What’s first on my agenda today?” Hudson asked Connie.

BY MID-MORNING, Hudson’s time, his cell rang. Hudson quickly hit send on the email he had just finished and pulled his phone out.

Seeing it was Kage, he answered immediately. “Hello?”

“Son of a bitch!Son of a fucking bitch, that mother-fucker had a fucking twin, Hudson.”

Connie’s head snapped up, horror on his face.

“A fucking twin! How the hell did the Council of Wolves miss that?” Kage swore violently. “They were so happy to throw who Nox was in my face. Did they not bother to check intoallthe details? Nox was a twin!”

“By Gaura’s scales, what kind of twin? Identical?” Hudson’s stomach dropped. If Nox had an identical twin, that would answer some of the questions they currently had. Some, but not all.

“No. The original birth certificate didn’t say, only that the second baby was male. But I met with the feline shifter tribe their mother came from.”

Well damn, Hudson was impressed. “How in the world did you manage that? How did you track them down so fast?”

“Money talks.”

“And?

“Nox wasnotan identical twin. The second child, born five minutes later, was a feline shifter like their mother. Nox was the only mimic, thank fuck. The other child was named Lennox Astor.”

“Wait. One was named Nox, and the other was named Lennox? You do see the similarities in the name, right?”

“Of course. And get this, as children they looked a lot alike, from what I’m told. Like, nearly identical. Get your hacker on this, Hudson, and I will too. We need more information.”

“I will. Quick question—the leader of this tribe just volunteered this information?” Hudson asked.

“Well, he did after I threatened to make the alpha’s only male child disappear,” Kage snarled.

“Of course you did.” Hudson met Connie’s gaze and rolled his eyes. A pissed off Kage was a deadly Kage. At least no one had been dropped from a sky rise. Yet.

“I wanted answers, and I got them. Look, it’s eight thirty here. I’m going to notify your plane and crew to return without us.”

“Really?”

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