Page 131 of Dragon Her Heels

Of course he couldn’t. He was a dragon, and dragons lived to preen and posture. “Obviously. In bad news for us, our celebration is going to be a trip to a hospital, as I’m pretty sure I’m about at the limit of my pain tolerance. And no, I refuse to ride a dragon to the hospital. I will take the ambulance like a sensible being.”

In good news for me, the racetrack had medical staff on hand with an ambulance, which the race coordinators paid to be on call should any jockeys or staff require assistance. Without the archangels keeping me mostly together, I would have missed out on giving Elegance in Moonlight the glory and fame he deserved.

“Yes, we should attend to that.” Yuless rose, and he glowered at the officiators. “I trust there has been sufficient ceremony for today? We can resume this later if need be. If you need some additional ceremony, Lucifer is over there, and I’m sure he’d be delighted to keep you all entertained.”

After a brief consultation, which involved making sure the appropriate pictures had been taken, I received authorization to leave. I handed Elegance in Moonlight off to Lucifer, who promised to make certain he was settled and treated like a king.

Then I dealt with the tedious process of being transported to the hospital, which involved medical bondage on my shoulder and arm to immobilize them and being strapped to the gurney to make certain the injury wouldn’t worsen. As Lucifer would lose his shit if I went unattended, Gabriel accompanied me as did Yuless, resulting in a crowded ambulance but relaxed paramedics.

The archangel promising they could sit and enjoy the ride helped with that.

“At what point do I get the good drugs?” I asked, as neither of the paramedics had seen fit to put me out of my misery.

The man and woman stared at the archangel in search of guidance.

“Her pain tolerance is quite high, and if she were not of a stern stock, she would be screaming, so appropriate medications for a break of that severity is wise. She has more pride than she knows what to do with, and she understands her partner will lose his temper should she start whimpering and whining.”

Yuless raised his hand. “That’s me. I only look harmless right now.”

“Quiet, dragon,” I ordered. “Unless you’re asking for me to punt your scaly ass across the lake, of course.”

“Would you like to punt me across the lake?”

I nodded. “I really would. You make the best noises when you go soaring, and then there is this tiny splash of pure hatred, and I can’t get enough of the tiny splashes of pure hatred.”

“I will make certain to give you all the satisfaction your heart desires, even if it means I have to deal with faceplanting into a lake. I’ll survive.”

“You better.”