Page 42 of Dragon Her Heels

Yuless stared at me. “You call that carcass time?”

I nodded. “The first time I saw communal carcass time, I about had a heart attack. All three of my horses, dead in their pasture? No, it was just nap time, and they had learned the pasture is safe, so they got proper sleep. Horses can nap standing up, but they lie down for their best sleep. My horses are champion sleepers. They don’t even bother with having one stand guard while the others sleep. They all just go down for carcass time together, and that’s that. If I want to get those grain guzzlers up, I best come with the treat bag. They will interrupt carcass time for treats.”

As the last thing I needed was anyone fussing over the castle and my decision to rope myself into dealing with the castle and the dragon of my own accord, I nudged Conquest in the direction of the house, where I might at least distract my guests with the property as a whole. Careful to keep my legs engaged, I reached down to offer my colt some butt rubs, which earned me the baby’s approval.

Time would fix most of his bad habits, or so I hoped. Well, time and a great deal of patience.

Yuless regarded the castle for another few minutes before he turned Zenzi to follow me. “And you do not mind the castle being there?”

“If I minded, I would have locked it down and pissed the owner off rather than simplify his life. And that’s all I know about the owner, for the record. The owner is male, and the owner happens to be a dragon. I’ll figure out the rest as I go.”

“You’re going to regret that,” Lucifer warned.

“What haven’t I regretted in some fashion or another lately?” I pointed at the colt, who kicked his heels and threw a temper tantrum because I’d stopped giving him attention. “Take this little shit. He’s going to cost me my sanity, but he’s so cute I’m going to be forced to like it. But my sanity is going to be gone.” Alligator Bait, tamed from her breeze, stood patiently for the Devil, and I praised her for being a good girl. “I’m going to have to teach this lady a special rotation to get us to race day without her trying to buck me off or prove to me she’s the boss. I’m hoping if I breeze her every four days and do a better routine between breezes that she’ll be a little more cooperative, but I’m expecting her to test me. That’s what horses like her do. They push the limits.”

“But that’s why horses like her tend to win,” the Devil replied with a grin. “Would it make you feel better if we did some practice races? I am sure I can convince the horse owners in my life, along with some of the unicorns, to participate in some training races. I can even acquire a proper gate and some minions to help with the restraining of the beasts. There is no reason her breezing can’t be done in race format. Your version of breezing is essentially a race, and racing will give you a chance to improve your skills, which you will need when it comes time to actually run against experienced jockeys.”

The experienced jockeys would be a problem. My first race, they’d humored me—and they’d all been shocked when I’d gotten the win, playing the track smart and conserving Alligator Bait’s strength and allowing her to take advantage of her stride length and size.

That day had transformed the Triple Crown from a pipe dream to a feasible chance.

“If Yuless wants to help as a groom, seeing how races work would be a good idea.”

“I can help,” the tall, dark, and handsome replied.

I was doomed. Surely, I was being punished for some horrible crime I’d done in a past life. How was I supposed to handle actually working with him?

Would I even be capable of focusing on my work with such nice scenery around?

The Devil stared at me with a rather puzzled expression. “I think you mean rewarded. Try not to think such nonsense, Crystal. Someone as smart and confident as you should not be indulging in such blatant self-esteem issues.”

At least he hadn’t told my dirty secret to the subject of my interest.

Judging from Lucifer’s sigh, I vexed him. “Now I’m questioning what I have done to be punished so.”

“You breathed,” Azrael muttered.

If the Archangel of Death and the Devil sparred, would any of us survive? “Please do not start the apocalypse today. Dealing with the landscaping was tiring enough, but at least my office will have a spectacular view now. And Lucifer?”

“Yes?”

“If you happen to see that dragon, please request that he wait until after the Triple Crown to see what I’ve done with his place. I don’t need any additional projects right now. I have a plethora of projects.”

“Did you just call him a project?” Lucifer asked, and he blinked.

“Well, yes. Isn’t that what he is? He’s a big project destined to devour hours upon hours of my day. I’m not ready to lose hours upon hours of my day yet. I have shit to do! Getting eaten by a dragon is not one of those things.”

Azrael’s laughter chimed. “Good luck with her, my brother. You are going to need it. I will take the other horses home. I am certain Conquest can find his way back to his pasture at his leisure—and if he doesn’t, you can tell the other facets where he went. If you could, perhaps, inform Anwen regarding the Fates, thus sparing me from that task, I might even be forced to be vocally appreciative of your existence.”

“Can you be vocally appreciative to my wife?”

“I can.”

“You have a deal.”

Azrael vanished, and he took Death, Famine, and War with him.

“He secretively loves me,” Lucifer announced.