“And who is Abaddon?” Bruce asked.
“My dragon.”
I almost went tumbling down the stairs in shock at the realization I might not be alone in the world.
Bruce, however, didn’t take them at their word. “Listen lady, I don’t know what scam you’re playing, but dragons aren’t real.”
“Mads, can you?—”
“Already video calling him,” stated the male.
I heard ringing and then a gravelly voice. “Did you locate the hatchling?”
My eyes widened but it was Bruce huffing, “Geezus fucking Christ, there’s another,” that drew me out of hiding. I leapt over the railing and fluttered down, landing lightly on my clawed toes.
The woman smiled at me. “Hello there.”
I didn’t reply because I only had eyes for the handsome dragon on the phone’s screen. “Who are you?” I asked, despite having heard the name. Manners indicated they should introduce themselves.
“I am Abaddon.” The handsome dark-scaled dragon tilted his majestic head. “And you are?”
“Persephone.” Joy unfurled within me, tempered by caution. How fortuitous I’d been found by a male who could fertilize a future clutch of eggs. At the same time, how annoying another dragon existed to challenge me when I made my bid for world domination, a conquest that remained decades out of reach, meaning for the moment we could be allies.
“I told Pollita that Malone lied when he said the eruption of Mount Amiata failed to hatch an egg,” crowed Abaddon.
“Who is Pollita?”
“A female holding dominion in South America.”
Another female? Jealousy reared its head and I barely held in a hiss.
“How many more of our kind are there?” I asked.
“I don’t know. There was a group led by a scientist in my custody who caused numerous volcanoes to erupt in the hopes of curing the eggs scattered by our progenitor. He was under the impression most of those failed to produce. He was wrong, because here you are.”
“Why is a human trying to hatch us?” I asked.
Abaddon slipped into the ancient tongue to reply. “That is a discussion for later, when we can speak privately.”
“You do not trust your servants.”
“I do, however, some secrets are best kept amongst ourselves, don’t you think?”
Secrets could be as valuable as treasure. “Agreed.”
“Why don’t you tell me more about yourself?” he crooned.
“You first,” I insisted. “Starting with the size of your hoard.”
Because with dragons, bigger was always better.
Abaddon disconnected the call with the recently discovered Persephone and marveled at his luck at having two females to choose from when it came time to create heirs. How would he choose? Each of them appeared attractive, although Pollita might be wealthier than Persephone. Then again, who was to say he couldn’t fertilize two sets of clutches, assuming Pollita didn’t eliminate her sudden rival. Now that would be something to watch.
A siren suddenly blared, not an alarm Abaddon had ever heard before. He currently sat upstairs rather than underground in his domed habitat because he’d wanted to admire the Christmas tree his servants had installed by the fireplace. He’d foolishly claimed he didn’t want one for his abode. After all, a dragon didn’t follow pagan human rituals, but he found himself intrigued by the holiday after further research.
He tapped a claw on his keyboard and it took a moment before his summons was answered by Leo who bled from a cut over his eye.
“What’s happening?” Abaddon barked.
Leo’s lips turned down. “It’s bad. Real bad.”
It turned out the malicious scientist Malone had escaped, but worse, he’d wiped the computers holding everything they’d discovered: the clues they’d been deciphering, the volcanic activity they’d been tracking, even Malone’s encrypted notes.
“There’s nothing left,” Leo lamented.
“Don’t be so sure of that,” Abaddon muttered.
After all, he’d known the man would never stop trying to escape. Knew Malone would sabotage if given a chance. Now to see if the tracker Abaddon planted bore fruit.
And if not, as the humans would say, too bad, so sad for the unhatched. Abaddon had no need for other dragons. No need for competition, because only one dragon would eventually end up ruling the world.
