Chapter 33
THIRTY-THREE
“You opened my eyes to a lot of things today.”
Douggie loaned me his truck and box trailer to spare me from having to pester Lucifer into making two trips.
The foal needed to go to the animal hospital, where she’d stay for at least two weeks while she endured having her legs splinted, stabilized, and prepared for a great deal of stall rest until the equipment could come off and she could develop her muscles.
I could understand why the previous owner had dumped the filly.
I would be out at least thirty thousand dollars by the time she finished her physical therapy and could live life as a spoiled pasture princess. Without divine intervention, she would never be ridden.
Pasture Princess would join the herd at home, and that was that.
Anthony followed me in his SUV, and to keep ourselves entertained, we made use of speakerphone to converse.
I laughed over the insanity of what I hauled and that the box trailer was packed as full as I dared.
By the time we reached Fort Lauderdale, the herd would be exhausted.
Then I’d have to do another leg to drop my animals off before returning the rig and begging someone to pick me up.
“I’m not sure if I’m more impressed that Douggie had a truck and trailer capable of hauling this many horses or your willingness to load up your pasture with rescues. ”
“You opened my eyes to a lot of things today.”
I bet. In his shoes, I’d need at least a week to come to terms with everything.
“Are you sure you want to go to your place? My place can hold all your horses, and I have some semblance of security. If you’re resigning, they’re probably going to take pot shots at you.
If you’re at my place, that’s far less likely.
I have dragons. You have empty pastures. ”
“I didn’t bring anything for an overnight stay.”
That was better than a no, and I could solve that problem easily enough. “How do you feel about a bunch of demons and devils robbing your home to bring you some stuff?”
“That would solve that problem, I suppose. I would need to write my resignation. I wasn’t quite to the point in my plan to make use of my exit strategy.”
“Don’t worry about it. I have everything you need to get your letter done.
We can also get your employment handled tonight so you won’t have any transition to worry about.
You’ll find you’ll be paid well for the work you do while being treated fairly.
You might have to defend me from my bosses, though. I’m not supposed to be working today.”
“I think they’ll forgive you once I start giving them some key pieces of information. You can let me handle that. You can hide behind me if needed.”
I chuckled at the thought of dodging Yuless for the fun of it. “Then it’s a plan. We’ll take these horses to my place, get them settled, and once we can guarantee your safety, we’ll haul them to your place.”
I had no idea if my altercation with a bullet had counted as my brush with death, but I worried if it hadn’t. And if it had, I would need to take care with my magic for a while to learn my new tricks of the trade.
I didn’t need an archangel warning me that a hedge witch’s brushes with death came with significant consequences.
“I really do appreciate this.”
“You’re welcome. Just try not to be alarmed. The dragons are curious, and they get hissy. If they really bother you, and they’re small enough to kick, just grab and punt. You’ll be fine.”
“Did you just suggest I treat a dragon like a football?”
“Yes. It’s therapeutic. Also, don’t worry about the alligators at my property. They like to cuddle.”
* * *
Chaos greeted me upon my return home, and I tapped my foot while the gate opened, shaking my head over the flock of bickering dragons making a fuss.
I rolled down the window, leaned out, and hollered, “Get out of the way, you scaled menaces. How am I supposed to unload my new horses if you’re fluttering about like a bunch of brain-dead butterflies? ”
A chorus of squeals and roars answered me, and a tiny dark dragon with an opalescent sheen flew over, perched on the window, and squeaked a protest. Well aware the sneaky little freak could talk, I opted to give him a kiss on his nose.
“I brought you home a present in the SUV behind me, and I’m expecting to be rewarded for my efforts.
Please put on your human clothes. I have a bunch of rescues in the trailer, and I’m going to need extra hands.
If you could ask your friends to put on their human clothes to help out, that would be nice.
And if they don’t have human clothes, tell them they need to go get some, and I’ll keep a room open for them to store their attire so they don’t have to run around the place as dragons all the time. ”
“We like running around as dragons all the time,” my fiancé complained.
As his voice matched in both human and dragon form, I understood why he’d limited his vocabulary to squeaks and squeals prior.
“You are all beautiful and magnificent, but I want to get these babies into a pasture so they can start enjoying their lives. Belinda loved horses, and my new friend behind me is probably trying to heal the holes in his soul.”
“I’ll give Lucifer a call,” Yuless replied before taking wing.
The other dragons flew off the wall and cleared space so I could safely drive the trailer through.
I parked in the courtyard near the gate, expecting a fight with the herd of horses.
In good news, I could release them all in the arena for exercise and make use of my quarantine stalls until we could ensure our conspirator’s safety.
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!”