Page 91 of Edge of Darkness

“Say what now?”

Hudson sighed softly. “I’d say it’s time to fill you in on the whole sordid story with the hunters, paranormals, and the DNA-mutated super-soldiers that either Lennox or Nox created through their funding of the hunters.”

Connie listened as Hudson laid it all out for Kit from start to finish. He left nothing out.

As Hudson spoke, Kit’s eyes kept getting bigger and bigger. When Hudson finished the sordid tale, Kit gulped his wine.

“Mother of all. They’re experimenting on humans?” Kit asked. “They’re kidnapping and turning them into some sort of hybrid? Holy shit, did they do that to my ex? Did they turn him?”

“It’s very possible. Hunters whose DNA has been mutated have a smell that’s… off.” Hudson grimaced. “I doubt a human would notice, but a paranormal definitely would.”

“It’s something we look for now,” Connie said. “We, meaning paranormals. And I don’t know if Don was experimented on. Did you notice anything odd about him before he betrayed you? Did he seem stronger? Suddenly hear things he shouldn’t have been able to?”

“Jesus. He slammed a door one night when we were arguing and broke it. That by itself isn’t that unusual, but suddenly he couldn’t pick up a glass without breaking it. He twisted a doorknob completely off once too.” Kit cleared his throat. “And he was a lot rougher during sex.”

Connie didn’t quite manage to hide his growl. Smoke trailed from his nose. Had the asshole hurt Kit?

“Don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong with rough sex,” Kit hurriedly said. “I like being manhandled as much as the next guy, but this wasn’t that. He left scratches all over me, and Don always had short fingernails. I couldn’t figure out how he managed to do that.”

“If he had mutated DNA, his claws probably came out and scratched you,” Connie said. He too wanted to leave his mark on Kit, but he didn’t want tohurthim.

Connie thought about all the times he’d pierced Hudson’s skin with his claws during sex. Had Don done more than scratch Kit and Kit wasn’t saying?

“Oh. Is that a thing for you guys?”

“Do you mean us or paranormals in general?” Connie asked, dragging his thoughts back to the conversation.

“We’ll get to you guys in a minute,” Kit said. “What about paranormals in general?”

“It can be,” Hudson said. “It’s trickier when the partner is a human though,” Hudson said. “A simple scratch from us could be problematic.”

“Because humans don’t heal as fast as paranormals,” Connie finished.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR –KIT

“I CAN see how that would be a problem.”

Kit had never minded love bites, as long as they weren’t noticeable. He worked with the public, after all, and wasn’t comfortable having his neck covered in bruises.

Now, when he wasn’t at work? Different story. He had no problem showing any marks he had. He loved sex and was proud of his body. In fact, he wasn’t modest by any stretch of the imagination. Part of that was how he was raised, but the other part was just… him.

Connie’s cell phone beeped, and he quickly checked it. “Dinner will be arriving momentarily.”

“Oh, good. I’m hungry.” For Kit, lunch had been a long time ago.

“Any more questions about the hunters or Lennox?” Hudson asked.

“No, not really. I’d like to be kept up to date, though. Is that okay?” Kit wanted to be kept in the loop, even though there wasn’t anything he could do to help.

“Absolutely,” Hudson reassured Kit. “You’re directly involved, so of course you should be kept apprised of the situation. If you ever have any questions, you can ask me or Connie.”

Kit nodded. “Thank you.”

A few minutes later, dinner arrived. Stella came, along with a couple of other dragons who pushed the carts of food. She made small talk with Kit while everything was set up on the dining table. Once more she asked Kit for a list of his favorites, and he rattled a couple of things off the top of his head.

“Okay, you guys have a good evening,” Stella said. “Good night.”

The food was superb, and Kit stuffed himself. He did yoga to help relax, but if he kept eating like this, he was going to have to start an exercise routine or he was going to be in trouble.

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