Chapter 1

Onyx was sleeping soundly beside me, his tail wrapped tightly around my waist, when I woke him up far less gently than he would have liked.

"Wake up already. Do you know what day it is?"

Onyx opened his eyes and shook his head, still groggy from sleep. He blinked up at me, looking completely lost.

The sight was so adorable that I froze for a moment. Then I remembered the important business I had to take care of. I pried his tail off me and nudged him toward the edge of the bed.

"Come on. No more sleeping. We have something important to do today."

Onyx seemed disappointed when I pushed his tail away so firmly. He lowered his eyes and said nothing. Although he had no idea what this important business was, he obediently climbed out of bed and followed me around while I hurried through my preparations.

I had to admit that the fortune I spent on Onyx at the exotic pet market years ago had been money well spent. He was gentle, intelligent, and surprisingly perceptive. Over the years, he had learned not only how to do housework but also how to cook.

He was practically a live-in housekeeper disguised as a pet and took care of me in every possible way. I could only credit myself for that. When he was little, I fed him by hand, bathed him myself, and rocked him to sleep every night, treating him like royalty.

I scooped up the entire dragon and carried him into the bathroom.

"Take a bath first," I told him. "You need to be nice and clean before we go out."

After shutting the door behind him, I waited.

Several minutes passed.

Not a single sound came from inside.

Curious, I opened the door and found the dragon curled up exactly where I had left him. He had not moved at all. The moment he saw me, his eyes lit up, and he immediately slithered over, trying to wrap himself around me again.

I sidestepped the tail reaching for me and frowned.

"Didn't I already show you how to use the showerhead last time? How do you still not get it?

"You learn every little chore so quickly. Why can't you ever figure out how to take a bath by yourself?"

I grumbled the entire time while giving in and bathing him myself.

Onyx looked deeply aggrieved by the scolding. He kept rubbing against me and nuzzling my shoulder, acting sweet and affectionate as though he were apologizing and asking me not to be angry.

With a sigh, I adjusted the water temperature for him anyway.

That was the one flaw Onyx had.

He was incredibly picky about bathwater. If it was slightly too hot, he hated it. If it was slightly too cold, he hated it just as much. On top of that, he always liked pressing against me and making soft, whining sounds whenever he was in the bath.

I could only conclude that I had somehow raised a very strange pet.

Most of the time, he was not nearly this delicate. He was simply a little too clingy. Yet whenever bath time came around, he insisted on the full treatment, acting as though he were the most precious creature in the world.

Just as I finished bathing Onyx, my phone rang.

I dried my hands and answered. An impatient voice immediately came through the speaker.

"We've been waiting forever. Why aren't you here yet?"

"Almost there, almost there," I said quickly. "Something came up."

After ending the call, I had Onyx wrap himself around me and headed out.

In all the years since I brought him home, Onyx had gone out only a handful of times. He was clearly excited by the outing, constantly looking around as we traveled. The excitement vanished the moment we reached our destination.

He froze.

A man with a giant golden python coiled around his body opened the door. His face lit up the moment he saw me.

"You're Kenzie Rowe, right? Come in, come in."

His gaze shifted to Onyx wrapped around me, and he clicked his tongue in admiration.

"It really is a rare top-tier breed. Look at those markings. Look at those scales. Look at those horns."

Uncomfortable under the scrutiny, Onyx buried his head deeper into the crook of my neck.

"What did you expect?" I said proudly. "I paid a fortune for him."

A moment later, I rubbed my hands together and gave the man a slightly embarrassed smile.

"About the price..."

The man laughed.

"Didn't we already settle that online? I'm not charging you anything. We'll split the eggs fifty-fifty after they're laid."

Only then did I finally relax.

"Great," I said. "It's a deal."