Page 70 of Training my Human

I got my answer when the door to the office was flung open and in stalked Maddox, my big, beautiful boyfriend.

“Pip, thank fuck you’re okay,” he exclaimed.

“Hey, babe. I’d give you a hello kiss but I’m kind of tied up.”

His expression turned rigid as he took in my state. A pocketknife emerged as he knelt behind me. “Give me a second to get these ties off you,” he muttered tightly as he began to saw at my wrists.

“What are you doing here? I thought you needed to keep an eye on your shop?”

“Turns out Suzy was out of power, too, and since she lives only a block away, offered to mind the genny and the store so I could run out and check on you. While en route, Abaddon texted me to say you were in trouble.”

“I’min trouble? He’s the one in real danger,” I exclaimed. “Leo was behind those attempts to kidnap Abaddon. He sent that fucker in the suit, who goes by the name Malone, and those goons to my trailer. Turns out, Abaddon was right. They were spying on us at the barn as well as drugging us at night to take samples from Abaddon.”

“Those fuckers!” Maddox swore.

“Now they’re planning to stick Abaddon in some kind of cage to study him. We have to get him away from here.”

“Don’t worry about bud. He’s holding his own outside and making those thugs regret their life choices.”

The plastic tie fell from my wrists and I pulled my arms forward as I stood to rub the sore spot. “He’s in danger. Malone’s got his goons armed with sleeping gas.”

“Those cannisters they tried throwing?” Maddox chuckled. “Yeah, between the blizzard conditions blowing the shit away and Abaddon using them as target practice, that ain’t working out so well for them.”

As if to prove that point, shouting erupted, followed by a drawn-out, gurgling shriek.

My brows raised. “Guess Malone wasn’t exaggerating when he said Abaddon was killing his goons.”

“Bud is pissed. His text to me was:Since you’re not here to do your job, I shall have to go myself to save Pip from her evil employer and his minions.”

For some reason that made me chuckle. “Sounds like my Little Fella. Although, I’m not sure I approve of his murderous retaliation.”

“You’d prefer they captured him?”

“No, but let’s see if we can wrangle him and get out of here before he does something we can’t hide.”

As we exited the office together, I noticed the front door caved in by Maddox’s truck, the engine sputtering, the front wheels still spinning. Swirling through the gaps, snow entered the house, bringing a chill.

I uttered a low whistle. “Damn, that’s going to take some work to buff out.”

“Just a little,” Maddox quipped. “Shall we go give bud a hand?”

The sudden brightness as flames jetted made me think that going out the front door might not be the best idea. I thought of the layout, the ranch-style home offering many exits, but we had to be careful. Malone and his goons were out there hunting my Little Fella. I wouldn’t want to get darted—or roasted—by accident.

“Let’s try popping out via the French doors in the living room so we can figure out what’s going on instead of diving right into the action.” I dragged Maddox left into a room that could have fit my trailer several times over. It held a few leather couches, the biggest television available to buy, and an eclectic display of art on the walls that had me pausing suddenly as I really looked at it.

“What’s wrong?” Maddox asked.

“It was in front of me the entire time.” I pointed. “Leo’s obsession with dragons.”

Previously I’d assumed the many paintings displaying fantastical landscapes were just because Leo thought them cool, but I realized now that each and every one displayed a dragon of some sort, whether as a tiny speck in the sky or wrapped around a pile of treasure. Add in his admission that his dinosaur bones were in actuality dragon ones, and I couldn’t believe I’d never realized Leo’s fixation. Then again, even if I had noticed I’d have played it off because dragons weren’t supposed to exist.

Opening the French doors let in a blast of cold air and snow that had my teeth chattering. I still had on my jacket, albeit unzipped, and my boots, but hadn’t worn a hat or gloves on the ride over so my hands immediately got cold.

The dark and blustery storm made it impossible to see much. The artic whistle of the wind was eerie, especially when you added the shouted, “Where is it? I lost it?” immediately followed by a shrieked, “Oh fuck! Argh….” The tapering scream came from the same direction as the sudden orange glow.

Another goon turned to charcoal.

I probably should have felt some kind of chagrin. After all, these people hadn’t signed on with Leo to die. However, what else could my dragon do? Let himself be captured? Any animal threatened would fight back. And humans were no different. I know I would totally love to give Leo a bitch slap or two or three. As for Malone… if I ran into him again, I might find out if I had it in me to kill.

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