Page 139 of Dragon Her Heels

I was hard at work releasing the beasts when Yuless came over, and he had three men with him who fell into the tall, handsome, and golden category. I raised a brow and whistled, admiring the entire lot of them. “The Universe was not playing when she made dragons, that’s for certain. Start modeling. Everyone deserves that view.”

My fiancé sighed. “The old biddies down the way saw you climbing into an SUV with a stranger and had themselves a conniption. A male stranger.”

Well, that explained the drama. “I can climb into SUVs with strangers all I want,” I informed him. “You should be concerned when I do, though. I bring home horses. You’re lucky, only one of the horses in this trailer belongs to me. The rest are Anthony’s, and he would have cleared out the entire kill pen if I hadn’t told him about the bills the ones he was eyeballing would bring in. I did actually pull them all out of the kill pen, but I did it so they could be euthanized immediately. They couldn’t be saved, and I wasn’t going to see them suffer even a few extra hours.”

“I’m sorry you couldn’t save them,” Yuless replied before eyeballing the herd. “I see there is another miniature demonic horse here.”

I laughed as the miniature horses we owned to keep Elegance in Moonlight company understood their place in the world, and that was as the undisputed rulers of the homestead. “Belinda loved horses with a lot of white on them. He’s a candidate to be gelded unless you or Lucifer think he can be converted into the mortal equivalent of an angel.”

I appreciated that using the Devil’s name might result in him appearing, as the subject of our discussion popped into existence in a flash of silvery light. “I can’t leave you alone for five minutes, can I?”

“You really can’t. Am I being paranoid bringing him here?”

“Not particularly. Here is safest for all involved for now.” Lucifer observed Anthony, who was hard at work trying to convince the demonic miniature horse to cooperate with him. “As I was snooping, I will be taking that little one to stallion boot camp. For the holes in his soul to heal, he requires the offspring of that stallion—and their offspring. For him, she will live on through his herd of miniature horses, and he will find purpose and happiness in their keeping.”

“Will their souls meet again?”

The Devil nodded. “One day, yes. He will lead a life of wealth, prestige, and happiness, although he will never wed nor have children. That is a fate for a later version of himself, with the woman he decided he would love loyally until the end of their days. Between his dedication and her suffering, their souls have earned a new and better life together. A question, if I may?”

“Sure.”

“Would you permit Yuless to punt you as he permits you to punt him?”

I laughed. “If I’ve earned a punting, I will accept it with the same undignified shrieking which heralds the most satisfying of splashes. All I ask is he mind those talons when he’s sending me across the lake and try to avoid smacking me into his castle. There is a difference between screams of protest and terror, after all.”

“I will make certain he is aware of that. As I told you, Yuless, the world is not ending yet.”

I snickered at the thought of the big bad dragon having a meltdown because of my independent nature and willingness to take risks. “It’ll be okay, Yuless. I’ll kiss it all better later. But first, we have to get the horses settled, fed, and cared for. We can also discuss the freeloaders I have coming in once the foal can walk. Also, I require consoling. I’m spending tens of thousands of dollars getting a little baby rehabbed.”

“What’s wrong with the baby?”

“I don’t know, didn’t care enough to ask. I sent the momma and baby to a horse hospital to deal with.” I eyed Lucifer. “Do I want to know?”

“No, you do not.”

I shrugged. “I don’t want to know, Yuless. The momma was going to be killed because of the baby, and even if the baby doesn’t make it, the momma will. Lucifer, I need that annex. I don’t have enough acreage!”

“It’s in process, but I regret to inform you that it’s actually numerous annexes. I may have meddled. You will have Ashley’s property, Isaac’s property, and the land separating you from Ashley; those folks wanted to move somewhere bigger, so I gave them the incentive; I bought for the purchasing value of the home they wanted and agreed to be their real estate agent, thus removing the commission. You will also have several properties on the other side.”

I twitched. “That’s going to fuck with my homestead, isn’t it?”

“It’s not. I took care of the legal loopholes, and the order I’m annexing matters.”

“How many acres?”

“Five hundred and thirty.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Including mine?”

“Excluding.”

Sometimes, all a woman could do was cry, and I flung myself at Yuless. Had I been wiser, I would have warned him first. As I had not, I deserved falling on my face like some fool.

Thus was life.

* * *

If someone had told me someone could brush close with death from being an idiot and falling, I would have laughed at the absurdity of the thought. Unlike my previous ventures to the Valley of the Shadow of Death, the world around me crystallized, and the darkness fell away to an eerie golden glow. As promised, numerous beings joined me, with the Four Horses of the Apocalypse thundering over first and thrusting their heads against me for comfort.