To my shock, though, her breathing began to ease and the sickly pallor in her skin began to fade.
It took her opening her eyes and then smiling at me as she said, “What smells so nice?” for me to realize I’d cured her.
I wasn’t just a poisoner. I could heal too.
Maybe I could still conquer the world.
Chapter Twenty-Three
One minute, I felt myself dying, unable to properly breathe, every nerve ending in my body on fire, my shoulder throbbing—because that prick Malone shot me. The next, my little dragon was there, pleading with me to not croak. He even cried!
Shocking, I know, but of more surprise, the moment his hot tears hit me, I began to feel better. And I don’t just mean my lungs could expand and the burning sensation disappeared. Better as in the aching in my shoulder disappeared too, and was it me or did something smell really good?
Oops, apparently, I mentioned that out loud because, next thing I knew, a flurry of questions came at me.
“Iolana, speak to me, promise you won’t leave me alone!” my grandfather exclaimed in a full-blown panic.
“Iolana, thank fuck,” Apollo huffed.
“You’re welcome,” came from my smug dragon.
“For what? I’m pretty sure your fart almost killed me,” I grumbled as I tried to sit up.
“It would have.” His snout scrunched. “Apparently, my ability is of a poisonous and acidic nature.”
“And healing.” Apollo removed his hands from my shoulder. “The bleeding’s stopped, and the hole’s closed.
“How marvelous, Tigger.” I reached out to stroke his snout. “My special baby.”
“That is a pretty cool power,” stated a deep voice, who then added, “Hey, folks, name is Maddox, and before you panic, I know about dragons because I work for one named Abaddon.”
“Abaddon?” Apollo asked as he helped me to my feet.
“Yup. He’s a dragon who started out just as small and arrogant as your little guy.”
“Abaddon grew, though, right?” Tigger asked, wringing his paws.
“Yeah, although he’s still pretty demanding. They all are.”
“Wait, are you saying there’s more dragons?” Keanu’s mouth rounded.
“Yup. Once we get somewhere more private, I’ll tell you all about them, and you can tell me what happened with Malone.”
The mention of his name chilled. The man would have killed me and only Tigger’s intervention saved my life. We piled into the SUV, me, Tigger and Apollo in the back, Tutu behind the wheel, with Maddox in the passenger seat. My grandfather might not have been the best choice to drive, given he almost killed me a second time. My grandfather thought speed limits and road rules were for tourists.
On the trip back to Apollo’s place, we peppered Maddox with questions and found out Malone had been behind the eruption of several volcanoes resulting in the births of at least three dragons. Abaddon, Persephone, and Pollita. A tracker Malone didn’t know about led Maddox to Big Island to find out what the scientist was up to.
“I kind of figured I’d find another dragon, given how quickly Malone made his way to Hawaii,” Maddox stated. “Sorry if I didn’t arrive at the airport quick enough to intervene. Someone pulled the fire alarm at the hotel I was at, and the chaos made it hard to catch a ride to the airport.”
“Where is Malone now?” I asked.
“I don’t know, actually.” Maddox held up his phone. “His tracker went offline.”
“Maybe he’s dead,” Tigger stated from his snuggled spot on my lap. “I spat at him, and it turns out my drool is like acid. It burned through the flesh of his cheek and the fingers that tried to wipe it.”
Maddox grimaced. “Guess the acid on his face explains the tracker going offline. We gassed him one night and had it embedded in a tooth. It must have been damaged.”
“Meaning he could be anywhere.” Tigger shivered, and I smoothed my hand down his back, rubbing between his wings.
