Page 60 of Training my Human

K. Be careful. Luv u.

I blinked, but there it was. The L word. And he’d said it first.

Leo returned, grumbling. “We’d better not be out of power for days like the last time.”

“Guess it will depend on the storm,” I murmured, recovering from my shock as warmth spread through me. I debated firing back a text sayingLove you too, but hesitated. What if he thought I only said it because he had?

“You ready to head out so I can lock up?” Leo asked.

“Yeah, but change of plans. Turns out I’ll be riding with you, after all. Maddox is stuck at the shop until the power’s back on.”

“That sucks. Will he be okay?”

“He’s got a genny but he’s got to keep an eye on it and his lizards.”

“Speaking of a generator, the barn doesn’t have one. I kept meaning to get it installed but then Frank died and well…” Leo shrugged. “If you lose power, you can stay at the house, which does have one.”

A great offer but for one thing. I couldn’t leave my dragon alone nor could I bring him to Leo’s place.

“I’m sure it will be fine. The barn has a fireplace to keep me warm. It will be like when Granny fired up our little woodstove.” Which heated the front of the trailer like crazy and had me sweating on the couch.

“Well, if it happens and you change your mind, give me a ding and I’ll grab you.”

“As if I’d make you drive and risk an accident.”

“Who said anything about driving the truck? I’ve got a new Polaris in the garage that I’ve been itching to try out.”

Ooh, a snowmobile. I hadn’t ridden one of those in years. The old Artic Cat I used to have died and I never replaced it.

We chatted about sledding during the drive, a perilous thing as the snow fell thick and furious. The wind made matters worse, whipping it across the road, forcing Leo at times to slow to a crawl as we lost sight of the road.

While early afternoon, the storm made it seem as if night had already fallen. The bright headlights made almost no difference. What usually took twenty minutes instead became a journey of almost an hour. When the ranch gates came into view, relief filled me until I noticed them gaping wide.

“What’s going on? Why’s the gate open?” I asked.

“Power must have gone out. When that happens, a safety feature opens the gate to ensure we can exit. There’s a built-in battery that stores just enough power to run the mechanism.”

I frowned. “I thought you had a generator.”

“I do, but it only runs the house. Didn’t see any point in extending it any further.”

The snow lay thick on the ground, but I could see ruts where vehicles had passed. “Guess you’re going to get to try out your new sled when you run me over to the barn,” I stated as Leo crept up the driveway, but he didn’t take the fork for the barn but rather headed for the house.

“As mentioned earlier, there’s no backup power for the barn. You’ll be more comfortable at my place.”

Me yes, but what of Abaddon? I couldn’t leave him alone in this frigid storm but how to turn down the offer without sounding nuts? “Appreciated, but I’ll be fine. I’ve weathered worse.”

“You’re worried about the dragon.”

At his statement, I went rigid. “Excuse me?”

Leo sighed. “You know, I’d really hoped you’d tell me about him yourself. I thought we were friends.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” A lie spoken through stiff lips.

“You don’t have to pretend, Pip. I know about the dragon that hatched after Tseax erupted. Which was a surprise, I’ll admit. I mean, we suspected there was an egg in the cone. When we managed to get the volcano to activate, we expected to see the critter shortly thereafter, only it didn’t appear. Hence why we started searching to see if the egg got expelled. What a task hunting for all the rocks that hurtled out of it. My team collected every sample they could find and even questioned people to see if they’d sighted a lizard. Imagine my shock when you told me you’d acquired one as a pet. Right away I knew it had to be the dragon.”

My mind digested everything Leo said and pieces began falling into place, leading to a shocking conclusion. “You sent those assholes to my trailer.”

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