Page 64 of Dragon Her Heels

I picked the smallest of the pair, which shared the same color as the sky on a crisp day. “Please tell me what’s going on.”

My chosen victim whistled before sighing. “The magic of the level required to raise the castle created a fluctuation of power, which has resulted in a series of severe storms making an appearance. It’s normal—well, as normal as this gets. Whenever we bring our domiciles from their resting places, this happens.” The dragon tilted his head to the side, and his eyes swirled with blue glimmers of light. “Actually, you are to be praised. The storms are far milder than normal. I had not known a hedge witch could mitigate this so well. You are to be commended. There will be wind, there will be rain, there will be lightning, but unless humans make foolish decisions in the face of the storm, there should be few deaths, if any.”

“Car crashes will be a problem,” Isaac muttered. “People forget how to drive when the weather goes sideways. The smart ones will slow down. The dumb ones will plow their vehicles into the rear of the smart ones, and the smart ones will no longer feel smart. Thus is human nature.”

No kidding.

“Was I overreacting bringing my livestock in?”

The blue dragon shook his head. “Not at all. The animals would seek shelter with you, for they trust you to protect them, so bringing them in will keep them calm. Outside? They would panic. The wild animals will be less prone to such things.” He eyed Mr. Magic the Bold. “Excepting that beast. You have meddled fiercely with that beast.”

“I did not wish to be eaten by an alligator larger than me by a significant margin.”

“Wise,” the dragon conceded. “But you should be aware that this alligator will be reliant on you for the rest of its long life. I recommend that you stock fish in the lake, as that is what he mostly eats, and bringing him a chicken at least once a week would be wise. It can be a grocery store chicken rather than one of your pets. There is no need to buy boneless meat.”

I could handle buying Mr. Magic the Bold whole chickens. “I will take that advice and make use of it.” I narrowed my eyes, went to my kitchen, and opened the freezer, locating one of the chickens I’d purchased for a rainy day, plunking it onto the counter. Making use of more magic, which drained away in an ongoing trickle, I thawed the bird to room temperature before going to the sink, cutting open the plastic, and rinsing off the meat, taking it into the entry, and offering it to my new pet.

Mr. Magic the Bold opened his mouth, gingerly accepted the prize, and went to work gulping it down.

I scratched between his eyes, gave him a fond pat, and left him to his meal. Once back in the kitchen, I washed my hands. “I doubt I could have gotten my pullets into the garage without him, and in that rain? They’d get sick, and I’d probably lose at least a few without the intervention of an archangel. While I’m not against calling Lucifer and demanding help from one of his brothers, if I can avoid that, I will. As it is, Darlene is out for my underwear.”

Isaac snickered. “They aren’t pretty enough for her?”

“They really aren’t. She was making such a fuss about it. So, if I vanish off for a day, it’s because Darlene is taking me out shopping. It might keep the whining to a minimum.”

The incubus shook his head. “Has she forgotten you’re not even dating anyone right now?”

“She wants me to be dating, and this has somehow turned into an emergency. She’s being absurd. I’ll probably just order some lingerie online, leave it in its packaging, and tell her I got some to appease her.”

Everyone laughed at my suffering, and Ashley grinned at me. “Assuming we don’t lose power, I can show you some good shops online. With how it’s blowing out there, we’re going to lose power.”

In good news for us, I had a generator. “We should be fine. It’s our neighbors I’m worried about.”

Isaac pointed at the ceiling. “In good news for our neighbors, your upper floor can see the entire neighborhood, and if something does happen to them, we’re armed with two dragons. I don’t know about you, but I’m going to be keeping a close eye out the windows just in case.”

“Good call. Why don’t I show you to the fourth floor first, that way we can make some tea, stare out the window, and hope we don’t have to abuse the two dragons with us. I haven’t had much exposure to dragons so far, but I’m confident they’re all master whiners.”

“You’re not wrong, but I recommend against telling that to their faces. These two are at least trying to make a good impression upon you, our new landlady. Others? They’ll just reduce you to ash and bone for a snack before going about their day.”

“Three dragons is three dragons too many.” I eyed the dragons in question. “And apologies to you and your dragon friends, but I saw the footage of what your tiny friend did to three cities. My sense of self-preservation is still intact, and I don’t wish to become your snack.”

The dragons hooted and bobbed their heads.

I bowed my head. “They think I’m funny, Isaac.”

“That’s because you are funny. Let’s get upstairs and watch the storm, that way, if any of our neighbors get into a tight spot, you can ride to the rescue.”

* * *

Two hours into our vigil, my nightmare came to life, and it began as a rumble similar to that of an oncoming train. In the gloom, I spotted the clouds spinning and swirling, gaining structure. The infantile funnel, if it continued to grow as it did, would strike near Donna Leanne’s house. However much the woman drove me to the brink of madness, I would never forgive myself if I could have done something to prevent her death but hadn’t.

Spitting curses, I bolted for the staircase, dove down the steps, and sprinted through the house, dodging chickens on the way to the garage. I slammed my hand onto the door opener on my way in, angled for the closest horse, which proved to be Zenzi, vaulted onto her back, clucked my tongue, and whacked her with both legs to indicate we needed to move like we meant it.

The devilish horse squealed, headed for the opening door, and surged out into the driving rain and screaming wind. Rather than waste time on the gate, I clamped my legs to her side, pointed her at the wall, and prayed Zenzi could clear over five feet on soaked cobbles in darkness deeper than the middle of the night.

The mare accepted the challenge, gathered herself, and jumped.

On the other side, rather than land on grass and street, flood waters swirled, coming up to Zenzi’s knees. Water sprayed up, and I urged her forward, my eyes locked on the strengthening wind wall overhead. Once halfway down the street, where leaves sliced through the air along with rogue branches, I lifted both hands, sought out the storm’s surging energies, and attempted to weave it into any pattern other than the one it strained to create, one of destruction and nature’s fury.