Page 11 of Dragon Her Heels

That I spoke with the exception would give me a great deal to think about.

“Magic,” Lucifer answered, and something about his tone caught my attention. “What do you know about hedge witches?”

“We paid for our magic with our lives,” I answered. “We’re not undead—we never actually died—but we came close in the pursuit of our gifts. Or curse, depending on how you think about it. I guess I started as a practitioner but things went sideways.”

“You were always a hedge witch. That’s part of who you are. Practitioners chase magic. You are magic. Death just opened the last door to your potential. Frankly, that old dragon is going to have his hands filled trying to contain you. If I have my way, you will never be contained. But nobody will need to contain you. Your role is to bring prosperity to the future.”

Interesting. I narrowed my eyes. “I thought you hadn’t peeked.”

“Some things I can’t dodge noticing. Think about it this way: at pivotal points in history, the Universe herself rejoices or weeps over what is. Your birth was one such moment. Everyone who is of critical importance for the greater good makes the universe rejoice. I take notice of those people. I take notice of the ones who make the Universe weep as well. Those souls are of equal importance, and I make certain my many hells are prepared to receive those ones when their day comes.”

A chill swept through me. “I’m one of those people?”

“You are.”

“But I’m nothing that important, Lucifer. I’m just a hedge witch.”

“You’re not just anything. I think I know your role, but I don’t know how to get you to where you need to be.”

I rose from my seat, grabbed a pen, and scribbled my signature onto the employment contract before grabbing the relevant pages and heading downstairs to my favorite of my kitchens. Tea might help, maybe. “All right. Hit me with it. I prefer working with a full deck of cards.”

“My father’s daughter must live for the risk of the End of Days to vanish to nothing but the dimmest of possibilities on a distant horizon. Should she die, the End of Days are a guarantee. Should those times come, my family dies, and I will persist alone.”

While there was nothing human about the Devil, I marveled at the reality of the situation. In some ways, I believed there was no force stronger than love. That Lucifer could be such a being willing to defy his role within his own pantheon staggered me.

The beauty of it all stole my breath. “Jesus is a girl?”

“Her name isn’t Jesus, but yes, she’s a girl.”

“That’s present tense.”

“Yes, she’s been born. She’s alive and well for now. But it’s the for now that’s a problem. I have most of the other players in place, but I’m still missing a few. You’re one of them. And you’re not the kind I can trick into cooperating with me. Hedge witches tend to be difficult at best. The other hedge witches simply have zero care for how the story ends.”

“Aren’t there many hedge witches?” I knew at least six in Fort Lauderdale alone, and I hadn’t sought any of them out. Something deep within me recognized them for what they were.

“There are many lesser hedge witches,” Lucifer conceded. “I had held hopes one of the lesser ones might grow into her strength, but that flower never bloomed. She contracted lycanthropy and was content with what she became—and she has found her personal heaven in her family. I’m evil, but I’m not that evil. She earned that heaven, and I made the choice to leave her to enjoy it. The conditions needed for her to rise into greater power passed her by. I received an excellent flower from that garden, though, which more than makes up for the lost opportunity.”

“Okay. What does that have to do with me?”

“You’re no longer a lesser hedge witch.”

I headed down the spiral staircase connecting the floors, pondering his words. “What other kind of hedge witches are there?”

“For the sake of simplicity, I’ll break them into three categories. The common type is the lesser hedge witch. These are people who have come close to death and their magic bloomed. There are hedge witches, who have stronger magic and more skills than the lesser hedge witches. Most just call both types hedge witches. The third group consists of the greater hedge witches, and they have obtained portfolios of some sort or are developing their own portfolio. You are in this group.”

I’d heard the term portfolio, and it involved the divines who could perish and rise again into a future life, with the portfolio being inherited, often by an infant. “I inherited a portfolio?”

The last thing I needed was to contract a serious case of divine.

“No, you didn’t inherit a portfolio. You are the originator of one, however. I could feel your presence all throughout your estate. All portfolios have an origin, and the estate you purchased has become your origin point. A node is also forming somewhere on your property, which is going to be useful when your dragon comes calling. That node will help sustain him throughout this era and into the next—and it might buffer the region from the castle’s rise. With luck, it’ll consume the surge of magic, strengthen itself, and spare those nearby. I spoke the truth when I told you that your neighbors would have a bad day at the castle’s rise, but that was before I realized what I was sensing.”

I marched to my favorite of the kitchens, which was located on the second floor, a rustic haven in the midst of an otherwise modernized home. I grabbed my kettle, filled it with water, and plunked it on the stove before turning on the burner. “Nobody is paid enough for that shit,” I informed him in a cool tone.

The Devil laughed. “You’re right. It’s a burden. Anyone who thinks otherwise has no idea what it’s like to be responsible for true power. So, here’s the reality of the situation: I need you to save my sister, and I have no idea how you play a part in her salvation. No matter how I look, every future and possibility is masked behind a shroud—and it’s a shroud of the Universe’s making. The Universe herself wants no one to know what will happen in the days to come. All I know is that there’s a future beyond this moment because of you, but I cannot tell what that future is.”

I foresaw giving myself many headaches trying to make sense of Lucifer’s plight and my role in it. “All right. Let’s assume I’m playing your game with you. Obviously, I like living as much as the next person, so I don’t want everything to end. Where is your sister?”

“That is hidden behind the shroud. All I know is that she has been born recently and that she is safe, and you will be a major reason why she remains safe.”