Chapter 18
Maddox gave me a toe-curling kiss before taking a blanket and pillow to sleep in the barn.
Me, I sat upstairs watching television with Abaddon—who happily ate my share of the popcorn that Maddox brought.
Along with the microwavable kernels, fresh from the store, Mads also supplied dinner from a local rib joint that included stuffed baked potatoes, coleslaw, a six-pack of beer, and a two-liter bottle of Fresca for Abaddon.
Call it being overly cautious, but it wouldn’t hurt to eat things we knew hadn’t been tampered with.
Eleven came and barely even a yawn. At midnight, I went to bed and lay staring at the slanted ceiling. Eventually, I fell asleep to my first restless night. I kept waking up, frantic, until I felt Abaddon’s solid weight draped across me.
I roused well before dawn and was on my second coffee when Maddox joined us.
He took one look at me and said, “Looks like we both slept like shit.”
“Ya think?” I drawled, sipping my chest-hair-strength coffee.
“Should you be drinking that? I thought we were avoiding stuff in the barn in case it’s been contaminated.” He indicated my mug of java.
“At this point, I’d welcome a nap. More seriously, though, I don’t think it’s the food putting us to sleep.
While tossing and turning, it occurred to me that we never eat the same thing every night.
Not to mention, Abaddon sometimes eats a gazillion times his body weight, so how could someone put a sleeping agent in our food without causing harm? ”
Maddox pursed his lips. “Good point.”
“How did your night watch go?” I asked as I turned to the coffee maker to get him a cup.
“As far as I can tell, no one entered the barn.” He’d laid a noisy trap across the doors, cans that would have rattled if knocked over. “Have you checked the outside footage?”
I nodded as I handed him a steaming mug. “No time skips.”
To which Abaddon replied, “They must be aware that we’re wise to their tricks.”
“How?”
Before my paranoid dragon could reply, Maddox had a theory. “If they can tap into the camera feed to turn it off, then they could have seen me.”
Not exactly a reassuring answer, which caused me to grimace. “Meaning your stakeout last night might have been a waste of time.”
“Not really. We’ll just have to be wilier the next time.”
“Wilier how?”
Maddox had some ideas, and we implemented them over the next few days.
He took an Uber to the ranch after dark and walked from the gate to the barn so his truck wouldn’t be seen and no one would know he’d come.
We continued to only eat food freshly purchased from a restaurant or store.
The door to the loft gained its own set of noisy dishes that would fall over the moment someone tried to swing open the door.
We even disconnected the cameras one night so no one could spy at all.
To no avail.
No one visited and Abaddon didn’t incur any new injuries, and all of our noisy traps remained untouched—except for the night Princess knocked over the stack in the barn, startling Maddox awake.
After a week, I finally had to tell Abaddon, “I think we might have overreacted.”
“You would ignore the evidence?”
“What evidence? An injury that could have been because of your molting?” I stated as I put our dinner cutlery in the dishwasher.
“And the video that stops?” Little Fella reminded.
“I happened to mention it to Leo today, and he informed me that the cameras recently underwent maintenance and went offline to update some software.”
My dragon didn’t seem convinced. “My enemies are lulling you into a false sense of security.”
I slammed the dishwasher shut and started the cycle. “Or you’re letting your fear of capture color your perception.”
Not a reply he appreciated. “I’m going to practice flying in the barn.” He went to the computer desk and used his claws to tap a few keys, no longer needing me to turn off cameras or open doors. My growing dragon learned new skills at an insane rate.
I slumped on a kitchen stool, tired after a stressful week of waiting for something to happen. Maddox wouldn’t be swinging by tonight as he had an early shipment in the morning. You’d think I’d be happy to have some alone time, given he’d been around every single day.
Nope. I missed him terribly.
A still-grumpy Abaddon joined me around ten.
“How was the flying?” I asked.
“Better. I managed to do eight laps of the barn before I tired,” he proudly stated.
“Damn. Look at you. Getting so strong.”
His chest puffed. “This is only the beginning. Eventually I’ll have the stamina and size to bring you on flights with me.”
My jaw dropped. Me? Riding a dragon?
Fuck, that would be cool.
Abaddon yawned, his jaw dropping open wide enough to eat a cat—which made me thankful they’d become friends.
“Seems like we’re both tired.” Most likely because of our shitty week of restless slumber. “Shall we hit the sack early?”
“Let me place the trap first,” Abaddon said.
I saw no harm and even helped him create the tower of cans that would be knocked over if anyone opened the door. That night we both fell asleep, deeply and soundly. So deep, we never heard the stacked cans toppling.
The next morning, I eyed the scattered mess on the floor. No Princess to blame. It definitely wasn’t me. Might have been a rodent, although I’d seen no sign of any. Abaddon remained abed and I wondered if perhaps he’d done it given my statement the previous night.
I picked up the mess before heading over to the computer to pull up the previous night’s footage. I got a pop-up message.
Unavailable.
No matter how I tried to access it, none of the camera feeds would load. I fired a text to Leo. Are the cameras doing maintenance again?
His reply arrived not long after. Network glitch. Apparently, my IT guy forgot to offload the files and the server ran out of space to store recent security videos. Should be fixed later today. After which I’m firing his ass!
Plausible, but suspicious, too. Little Fella wandered from the bedroom and grabbed a box of dry cereal which he then proceeded to eat in front of the television.
The weatherman waved his arms around as satellite predictions played behind him showing an approaching snowstorm.
Only October and way too early for the white stuff, but tell that to Mother Nature, who was about to blast us.
Now you might wonder what a motorcycle-riding gal did when the weather turned to shit. It depended. Rain? I had gear to keep me dry. Cold? I wore layers. But snow? That shit always kept me home, hence I fired off a text to my boss.
Snow in the forecast. Think I’m gonna stay put today.
Blinking dots appeared as he typed back. I can give you a ride. You’ve got the final touches on Bruno’s tat today and I know he’s leaving soon to visit family out east so he’ll want it done before he goes. We’ll leave the shop early though so we don’t get screwed on the roads.
Fuck. I’d forgotten about Bruno. At least I had a ride. The Suburban could easily handle a storm.
I’ll meet you at the house in twenty, I texted back. Enough time for me to change and make sure Little Fella had enough food for the day before I rode my bike over and parked it.
“Don’t leave.” Abaddon didn’t turn his head but knew I readied to go.
“I won’t be gone more than a few hours. I’ll grab some pizzas for us on the way home.” Although how I’d explain to Leo why I needed four for just me would be interesting.
“Stay. I have an ominous feeling.”
I crouched by his side. “I know you hate it when I go to work, but given the favor Leo is doing us, I can’t screw him over by refusing to do my job.”
“You wouldn’t need a job if I had a hoard.”
“I look forward to the day I can retire on your dime, but until then, I’ve got to make money to feed you or we’ll be stuck dining on ramen noodles and lentils.”
“I like the noodles.”
“You’d hate them quick if you had to eat them multiple times a day. Now give me a hug.”
We’d taken to doing embraces on the regular. Weird, I know. I mean, who intentionally squished a dragon? Me, apparently. I squeezed the sturdy body tight and murmured, “I’ll be home before you know it.”
“With pizza?”
“Yes, pizza.”
“Meat lovers?”
“Yes.” I’d learned my lesson the one time I came home with a veggie-only pie.
I headed out wearing a few layers, because only an idiot didn’t leave the house prepared for the weather when the meteorologists were crowing this hard about it.
Yes, I’d be ensconced in a luxury SUV with heating, but sometimes vehicles broke down, or required digging out of snowbanks, or tires changed. Better to peel layers than freeze.
I rode my bike down the road to the main driveway and up to the house. The Suburban idled out front. I parked and headed for the passenger seat, sliding in to Leo’s upbeat, “Morning, Pip.”
“Hey, boss. Thanks for the ride.”
“No problem. How’s things at the barn?” he asked as he put the truck in gear.
“Good.”
“And the boyfriend?”
For some reason my cheeks heated. “Also good.”
“Seems like a nice guy.”
Leo had met him when Maddox popped by to do lunch with me but they’d not really had a chance to socialize. “He’s great. I’ll talk to him about a night we can have you over for dinner. I’ll have him make his crazy ass yummy chicken parmesan.”
“I look forward to it.”
We spent the rest of the drive discussing upcoming clients and the possibility of attending an ink convention in Vegas. I pretended as if I’d actually be there, when in reality I had no intention of going. Abaddon couldn’t be left alone for that length of time.
Bruno came in for his appointment and I went to work, intent on the art, so focused on my task I didn’t realize the storm hit earlier than expected until Bruno was leaving and I looked outside.
“Oh shit.” Thick snowflakes swirled, a brisk wind whipping around the fluffy stuff.
“Don’t worry. I’ve got my winter tires and four-wheel drive,” Leo boasted.
Only slightly reassuring.