Page 34 of Dragon Her Heels

It would be simple enough for them to figure out where to go; there was only one bedroom on the third floor with any signs someone used it. Some days, I regretted not selecting one of the ground floor bedrooms, I generally disliked the ones on the second floor and intended to use them for guest bedrooms, and the third floor had my second favorite kitchen.

Keeping his wife contained with a hand, Lucifer opened the second pizza box, got out a slice, and took care with how he released her, making certain she got a hold of the food rather than his flesh again. Once Darlene worked at filling her belly, much as I did, he stepped back. “I know better than to take any of that pizza until you both are a little less snarly.”

Smart man. I made my slice vanish in record time and snagged my next gooey victim, sighing my happiness over the flavor.

Mmm, pizza.

“Please don’t check your email until tomorrow; nothing on the list is critical, and it should be a good warmup for you to get back into the swing of doing secretarial work. The research is into businesses Malcolm thinks might be lucrative for your dragon, either as a stockholder or as a purchaser.”

“He has the funds to purchase companies?” I inquired between bites, raising a brow. “Hasn’t he been asleep for a few hundred years or so?”

“Something like that. Dragons have hoards, and wise dragons protect those hoards even while they slumber. Your specific dragon had a custodial family, who built this estate, but upon their extinction, his matters were left unattended. I opted to attend to them, knowing he would be the first to wake up. The last thing anyone needs is that old dragon angry his hoard vanished without a trace due to the loss of his custodians. Of course, it would not surprise me if their loss is part of why he’s slow about raising his castle from the depths. Theirs was an old line, and he had watched many generations of them be born, live, and die. They were a joy of his.”

With that in mind, I could be as patient as the dragon needed before he came making a mess of my cushy life. Having confirmation I dealt with the same dragon as the one who’d devoured three cities in Georgia should have bothered me, but after he’d sated his appetite, he’d gone off to do whatever dragons did after rousing from a long slumber. “I’m still hazy on why he ate three cities.”

“I opposed the End of Days, and Wishing Well murdered most of the inhabitants—or bargained to gain access to their souls. Kanika saved those she could, and our friend spared us a great deal of grief and trauma cleaning up the bodies. The walking dead had congregated in all three locations. It would have done the survivors even more harm should they have had to handle the remains. In truth, he’s been lurking in Florida for a while, to the point rumors of him being here have spread, but he’s not out in the open yet. Don’t worry about your neighbors and their fussing. When rumor grows to become legend, and legend fades into myth, people accept the stories that make the most sense to them. And, well, his actions in Georgia have led them to believe you will be the one eaten so the rest of the street can live in harmony. In reality⁠—”

Darlene kicked the Devil. “Save your perversions for later.”

“She should be warned about what she is getting into. Her innocence isn’t refreshing. It’s disturbing.”

I found it rather amusing I drove the Devil wild due to being a virgin uninterested in changing my status. Well, for the most part. The tall, dark, and handsome had done a good job of convincing me to take a second look at him. “If I had found a boy worth kissing, I would have kissed him by now. But so far, they have all been lacking. Now that I have secured my home, I might even investigate if any of those boys are worth kissing now. So far, most men who share space with me do something stupid and annoy me.”

Darlene gulped down her slice, picked up another, and considered me with interest. “What have they done to annoy you?”

“They breathed.”

“Do you want to kiss girls? Because if the problem is the boys, there are plenty of excellent girls out there.” The succubus’s tail twitched. “I like a challenge.”

“I prefer the idea of boys over the idea of girls, I just haven’t found the right boy yet. That one in the feed store was worth looking at twice, though.”

“I’ll get you some pictures,” Lucifer promised.

I regarded Darlene with curiosity. “I really do not understand how anyone can dislike Lucifer. He brings good job offers, he offers photographs of handsome men, and he provides pizza when it’s clear more pizza is needed.”

She laughed. “He’s showing you his best right now. Don’t worry, soon enough, you’ll see him at his worst. In good news for you, you won’t be the target of that, but it’ll definitely open your eyes to his nature. Admittedly, I’m still confused about who could possibly dislike Lucifer until he yanks my tail and I try to kill him. Again.”

The Devil stared down at his bloodied chest. “I was trying to make a good impression for a change, too.”

“Well, if you hadn’t looked at our pizza, you wouldn’t have gotten scratched.”

I snagged another slice of pizza and went to work vanquishing my foe. Once I had it in my stomach where it belonged, I determined I’d eaten enough, licked my fingers, and said, “I’ve had enough. Thank you for dinner, Darlene.”

“You’re welcome. You get your pretty little head ready for bed, get that poor chicken settled, and try to relax. I’d say sleep in, but the animals will pitch a fit. I should know, I have an entire household of needy little wretches who expect their mommy and daddy to promptly feed them. Sleeping in is for those who don’t have a bunch of animals relying on them. You can always go back to bed after you’ve taken care of the beasts in the morning, though.”

“You know what? I just might. Thank you for bringing over the chicken house, Lucifer.”

“It was a small matter.”

Darlene cleared her throat and examined her bloodied claws.

“You’re welcome,” Lucifer added.

I scooped up my frizzle, shook my head at the insanity that had become my life, and went off to get some sleep, hoping tomorrow would prove to be a saner day.

* * *

Sometimes, I forgot all magic came with a price, and my magic had a sense of humor. Nothing started a day quite like a rain of frogs, which created mayhem and havoc across the entirety of my property. In good news, my wards did a good job of directing the newcomers to the lake. As I’d been outside at the time the frogs had manifested and plopped to the ground, I’d gotten a hefty dose of slime, lake water, and algae, as the magic had taken more than just frogs along for the ride.