Page 155 of Dragon Her Heels

The instant I’d caught a whiff of the curse’s foul influence, which attempted to eat away at the boy’s essence while creating entropy wherever he went, I’d unraveled it, crumbling every strand to dust so it could never be revived. Some other force had held the entropy at bay, and the instant the curse no longer clawed at the boy, it too had unraveled.

I waited until after the pomp and circumstance to the yard with the barns so Alligator Bait could enjoy her beloved bath to ask Lucifer, “What was that other power I sensed?”

I glanced in the direction of Yuless and Caleb, who met my other horses, including Aramathea.

It had taken the heavenly horse half a second to claim her next faithful admirer.

“His grandmother is the wish child of a djinn, and his mother has inherited some of those tendencies. The most important wish of his mother’s life was to see her son have a bright and fruitful future. That magic is the only reason he has lived this long,” the Devil replied, and he checked his watch. “Gavin will be arriving soon, by the way. I have decided he can enjoy the complete festivities tomorrow. I may have shrouded Caleb’s location to make it clear the divine are messing with him. Honestly, that helped; the instant Gavin realized divines were behind his son’s disappearance, he relaxed somewhat. Caleb’s mother is anything but relaxed.”

“Well, obviously. We kidnapped her son.”

“And upon finding out the truth, you will have yet another devoted worshipper of your person.”

The last thing I needed was more worshippers of my person. I pointed at Yuless. “I would be fine with him being my sole worshipper.”

“I know. Your resistance amuses me. Don’t be startled when he shows up. And try not to scold Alligator Bait too much. He’ll surely frighten her, and she will do as horses do. In good news, she won’t actually hit him.”

That was something. Aware my horse was about to go insane, I stepped back and worked at spraying her down with the hose. We’d turned the ritual into a game, and she won when she bit the stream. As I had her on cross ties, she waited until I worked on her neck to strike.

Sure enough, a bleach blond man, fuming so much he steamed, popped into existence nearby. Alligator Bait squealed and kicked her hooves, missing him by a mere inch.

Caleb caught sight of his father, shrieked, and bounded over, practically knocking the divine off his feet. “Dad, Dad, I got to watch the Belmont!” He pointed roughly in the direction of the wire. “We had fancy seats and everything, and the nice lady let me pet her horse. Her horse won.”

I couldn’t help it; I laughed at Gavin’s perplexed expression. To help defuse the situation, I raised my hand. “I’m the nice lady, and the horse is Alligator Bait, who almost kicked you in the face. I’m not even sorry about that. She’s a horse, and you startled her.” To make it clear I wasn’t upset with my thoroughbred, I blasted her in the chest with the hose.

In her world, nothing beat the hose.

“Are you all right? Your mother is worried sick.”

“I’m fine. The nice lady is inviting us to her wedding. It’s tomorrow.”

Judging from the way Gavin’s eyes crossed, his son might end up the death of him. Heaving a sigh, he bowed his head. “Did you kidnap him or did he kidnap you?”

I snickered at the thought of the teen attempting to kidnap any one of us. “We did kidnap him, but it was for good reason. We’re finished with him, so you can take him home if you’d like, but the invitation to the wedding is real, it is tomorrow, and the rest of Caleb’s family is welcome to attend.”

“Perhaps introductions are in order,” Lucifer said, joining us with Hagnar and Yuless in toe.

Gavin and Hagnar eyed each other, and Hagnar smirked.

Gavin scowled. “You haven’t kicked the bucket yet, ancient pest?”

“I have a new purpose now, and I brought Caleb here so you might join me in having a new purpose.”

The divine sucked in a breath. “That’s not how it works.”

“It is when Fate decides it to be so.”

“The Fates are dead,” Gavin replied in a cool tone. “I felt their departure as a tearing scratch across my senses, much like when they’d been forced into the world.”

“I said Fate, not Fates,” Hagnar corrected, and then he pointed at me.

I waved, and I smiled. “I’m a hedge witch who had a few too many close brushes with death.”

Gavin stared at me as though seeing me for the first time, and then his eyes widened. “I see.”

I figured he did. “I am not promising death won’t come to your children at some point, but it will come in the natural order of things rather than an inevitable event that you wait for with all-encompassing dread,” I promised. “And sorry, Caleb. We didn’t tell you why we brought you here because we wanted your father to hear it at the same time. Lucifer?”

The Devil sighed. “In six months, there would have been a car accident. That is no longer written in the stars. There still might be a car accident, but it won’t be in New York, it won’t be right near his school, and you won’t have to witness it, aware that it was a fate you could not fight. Those days are over. You are no longer bound to witness the relentless demise of your offspring. Instead, you will have the honor of watching Caleb grow old and pass in peace, and then you can watch over his children, and then their children. There will be life where there had once been only death. I recommend that you thank his mother. The wish of her heart is what brought us to this moment. But Crystal needed to be born and face her death before she could save you from yours. I had… made a previous effort, but it failed. I am too gentle a soul.”