Protecting my Human (The Dragocracy Chronicles #5)

Prologue

I have a friend.

While dragons usually eschewed friendships, Abaddon had enjoyed Tigger’s company.

When the hatchling visited Abaddon’s ranch—a trip made possible because the lucky dragon’s servant possessed a jet!

—it became quickly obvious that Tigger greatly admired Abaddon.

Couldn’t blame him. Abaddon was pretty damned incredible, not to mention handsome, large, and adorned with impressive horns.

Meeting another of his kind in the flesh proved invigorating, especially since Tigger wouldn’t pose much competition when the time came to make his bid for supreme ruler of the world.

Perhaps the hatchling would be open to an alliance, allowing Abaddon to keep him around.

He could sweeten the offer with a token role in the Dragocracy government he planned to implement.

“Are you daydreaming about your girlfriends?” Pip asked as she entered his sanctuary, an underground space built specifically around the needs of a dragon.

Pip was his first servant, and his favorite, despite the fact that her training remained incomplete.

She still wouldn’t address him as his incredibly handsome highness or with any other impressive title, but at least she’d ditched her embarrassing nickname of Little Fella.

“What would be the point of fantasizing? It’s not as if I can visit them,” Abaddon grumbled.

The modern age was proving to be a dangerous place for dragons, especially when it came to flying.

The people of this time had things like radar and other detection systems that would spot a majestic creature of his size in the skies.

The humans also had jets armed with missiles that could cause grievous injury and even death.

This threat limited the exercising of his wings—and the expansion of his territory.

His servants—who claimed to have his well-being at heart, as they should—had placed restrictions upon him—Me, their supreme leader!

No flying during the day when he might be seen.

No exploring too far from the ranch at night, lest he be detected or shot at by some drunken cowboy.

He definitely couldn’t wing his way past the Canadian border, south through the United States, over Mexico to South America—Peru to be exact, to visit Pollita.

Just like he couldn’t head east across the Canadian provinces to the Atlantic Ocean to flap his way to Italy, where the lovely Persephone resided.

“You know we’re working on a way to fool the radars, but this kind of technology takes time,” Pip reminded, tilting her head with its silvery-hued hair.

“Jamming devices already exist.” Abaddon had been doing his research.

“They do, but given the distance you want to go, a battery pack won’t cut it. Add in the fact it would need to be somehow strapped to you and it adds an extra dimension of difficulty, seeing as how you squawk every time we try to fit you with a harness.”

“I am not an ox to be yoked, and all I hear are excuses,” Abaddon grumbled.

“And you’re lacking patience, considering you’re not even a year old. We’re doing the best we can, your grumpiness.”

“I’m not grumpy,” Abaddon groused.

“You are, and have been since Tigger’s left to go home. You miss him.”

“No, I don’t,” he huffed. Dragons weren’t prone to emotions like humans.

“Liar, liar, tail on fire,” she sang.

Glaring proved useless because she just grinned wider. “Okay, maybe I miss him a little. It was nice to have someone admire me and not constantly talk back.”

She snorted. “Someone’s got to keep your ego in line.”

“How did I end up with such a sassy servant?” Not said with any real rancor because he did value Pip’s frankness.

“Have we any word yet on Malone’s whereabouts?

” The evil scientist had escaped Abaddon’s clutches and almost captured Tigger.

The hatchling managed to save himself by spitting acid at Malone; however, that ended up destroying the tracking device they’d implanted in the bastard’s tooth.

Now they had no idea where Malone might have gone, and it troubled Abaddon, for the man knew entirely too much.

I should have killed him when I had him in my clutches.

“Nothing yet. Maddox and Leo have pored over all the passenger manifests available leaving Big Island but, so far, no luck. Not surprising, since the man has been using fake aliases.”

“He’s not going to give up on his mission to capture one of my kind.” Malone was obsessed. Understandable, given dragons were the greatest of all creatures. However, rather than serve Abaddon’s more advanced species, Malone had nefarious intentions.

“He’s definitely going to try to get his hands on a dragon. The question is, will he go after those already hatched, or will he try to force a new one to be born? I’m thinking the latter, since you’re all pretty well protected and on high alert.”

“He no longer has access to his funds or devices,” Abaddon reminded.

“He could have hidden accounts, and Malone still has the schematics for the device that can cause volcanoes to wake.” The scientist had acquired an ancient list that contained the location of some eggs and had been activating the magma in the suspected areas in the hopes of hatching them.

It was how Abaddon ended up being partially cooked then spat out to land in Pip’s firepit, where the coals finished the cracking of his shell.

“Do you really think he’ll try to force another dormant cone to erupt? He knows we’re monitoring.”

“It’s his best bet. And while we might be ready to swoop in, he’ll already be in position, ready to snag any dragons that birth.”

Birth? Pip still insisted on using that term, despite the fact dragons emerged from an egg.

“Could be one of the previous eruptions produced a dragon we’re not aware of.” Malone had activated a few he thought might have eggs, only to find nothing.

“It’s possible Malone missed one and the hatchling is keeping well-hidden, unlike you and your ladies being careless and getting caught on video.

” A reminder of why Pip had imposed stricter rules on Abaddon’s movement.

“Leo has automated bots crawling the internet for anything that might indicate another dragon but has yet to get any pings.”

Leo—the man who’d initially tried to capture Abaddon but had become his most devoted servant once he realized the error of his ways—had created some kind of computer program that did the work of hundreds of people, combing the World Wide Web for claims, videos, and posted text that might indicate the presence of a dragon.

Leo had tried explaining it, and Abaddon only half paid attention, something to the effect of using keywords and phrases like “giant lizard flying in the sky,” “loss of herds,” “unexpected volcanic eruptions,” and so forth.

As well as seeking out information, Leo had a friend, part of his lame dragon-loving society, who scrubbed anything that pointed at Abaddon’s, Persephone’s, or Pollita’s existence.

Tigger had also been added to that list. Given the billions of humans on Earth—and their many weapons—for now, the dragons needed to look out for each other, lest they be exterminated again.

“Do you have anything positive to report?” Abaddon asked on a sigh.

“Yes, actually. The Wagyu herd we ordered was just delivered.”

“Why didn’t you start with that?” Abaddon asked. rising from his throne—aka reinforced couch, custom built to hold his weight.

“Because I figured best give you the bad news first. Now, where do you think you’re going?”

“To eat.”

Pip crossed her arms and shook her head, her silvery locks flying. “It’s midafternoon. You know you can’t go outside.”

Abaddon glared at her. “I’m hungry.”

“I’m aware. Hence why—”

Before she could finish her sentence, his nose twitched. “You brought me one!”

Indeed, she’d had one of the cows delivered to his habitat.

It turned out to be quite delicious, fatty and flavorful, definitely his top favorite of everything he’d tasted thus far, although, according to the memories inherited from his mother progenitor, nothing could beat the taste of human.