Page 54 of Training my Human

“Don’t be paranoid. If that asshole knew you were here, he wouldn’t be sneaking in at night to cut a chunk from your back. You’d be in a lab somewhere, most likely being studied and dissected.” Something about trying to debunk Abaddon’s wild theory sent my mind racing, though. Could it be possible?

No, and I should not let Little Fella’s paranoia spread. Only, I couldn’t shake his claim. It made no sense. If the man in the suit knew we were here, he’d simply take Abaddon. However, that perfectly round wound, similar to those taken during biopsies, bothered me.

I would have picked Maddox’s brain about it, only he hadn’t been able to come over as he had an emergency plumbing issue in the shop. There had to be a logical explanation, the most likely being Abaddon had injured himself and didn’t realize it. However, to assuage Little Fella’s fear, that night I turned on both the camera inside the barn and those outside. I should have been doing that from the start when we went to bed. After all, I only worried about them recording when Abaddon wandered around.

The next morning, after another full eight hours of sleep—despite the several glasses of water I downed—after I emptied my painfully full bladder, I quickly scanned the footage taken overnight. Nothing. Nada. Not even a mouse scurrying by.

I told Abaddon but he remained mulish. “Something is amiss. We need to go.”

“Go where? We have nowhere else to hide that would be this well-protected.”

“It is not well-protected if someone can cut me in my sleep,” he insisted.

“Do you have any new booboos this morning?”

“No, but that doesn’t mean we are safe. We have to leave.”

“Not we. Me. I’m going to work.”

“You can’t depart now! I need you.” He clung to my leg, leading me to sigh.

“I’ve already taken too much time off, and I have appointments. You’ll be fine. The skylight is open if you hear anything and need to make a quick escape.”

Abaddon glared. “You are a most vexing servant.”

“Love you too,” I sang as I left, however, Abaddon’s worry proved contagious. I texted him throughout the morning and felt only slightly relieved each time Little Fella replied on his tablet.

Maddox noticed my unease when he came by to bring me some lunch—a submarine sandwich with steak, mushrooms, cheese, and barbecue sauce.

“What’s wrong?”

“Little Fella’s trying to convince me someone came by the other night and took a sample from him.”

“Why would he think that?”

“He had a wound above his tail that he insists he didn’t do.”

“I hear a but.”

“It was kind of odd. The spot is a perfect circle.”

“Odd, but not unheard of if he ripped a scale.”

“You’ve seen that before?”

“Sometimes the lizards rub a little too enthusiastically. Injuries can happen. But the real question is, what doyouthink?” Maddox took a huge bite of his sandwich and waited for my reply.

I shrugged. “I think the fact we haven’t seen or heard from that asshole in the suit has Abaddon imagining problems that don’t exist.”

“I could do a stakeout in the barn to ease his mind,” Maddox offered.

“Seems like a waste of a sleepover,” I grumbled. I missed him the nights he spent at home. “Besides, I turned on the cameras before bed. Nobody came by.”

“Show him the footage.”

“I already did,” I said. “It didn’t help.”

“I’ve got a new employee starting today at four, so I can leave earlier than usual. I’ll head over and check out the area for signs anyone other than us has been around.”

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