Page 7 of Dragon Her Heels

The Devil had come calling, and he’d brought his family along for the ride. “Am I going to hell for getting this place at a bargain?”

Snickering, Lucifer shook his head. “The previous owner was getting desperate because unlike you, he knows the history of this property. You don’t. I have decided you should be somewhat prepared for the days to come.”

How wonderful. “Is it a curse? Because I haven’t found any evidence of this place being actually cursed.”

“While my daughter is learning how to control her ability to curse anyone foolish enough to cross her, neither you nor the property are cursed. You just have nice neighbors who are hoping you stay despite the trouble coming.”

I gestured to the pasture with my three precious horses. “I bought it for three hundred thousand. Where else am I going to get a property like this for that little?”

“Hell,” Lucifer stated.

When a good bargain came my way, I acted, especially when I had the money available for it. Even having paid for the house in cash, if I could get a mansion in hell for three hundred thousand, I’d jump on it without any questions asked. I got out my phone and waved it at him. “Sold. Where do I send the money?”

Kanika tossed her head back and laughed while Malcolm bowed his head and pinched the bridge of his nose.

The Devil stared at me, and he raised a brow. “You didn’t even ask me any questions. Everyone asks me questions when I say something like that.”

I giggled at his expression. “I guess I should ask about the property taxes, maintenance bills, and so on. But come on, three hundred thousand for a property like this is a steal.”

“There aren’t any property taxes in my many hells, and I make the fucking assholes do the maintenance work in exchange for not torturing them in my dungeons,” he admitted. “But perhaps you should hear me out about the lake before deciding if you want to spend that money.”

“The commute would probably be a bit much,” I replied with a shrug, and I pointed along the track towards the lakefront. “There’s a gate we can use to reach the back as long as you don’t mind going near my cattle pasture. I warn you, the bull is the sweetest damned thing on four hooves and will try to love you to death. All the cows are nice except the red one. She’s got a heifer calf right now, and she don’t like nobody going near her calf. If you stay away from her, she’ll stay away from you.”

In good news for me, I’d learned to tame the beasts, and choice treats would get every cow I had doing what I wanted with minimal fuss, even Dandelion. Once Dandelion weaned off her calf, I expected life would be easier.

Well, until Ranger did his job and bred all my cows. Most of the bull calves would become steers, which would eventually become dinner on my table or dinner for my neighbors and those in need. The heifers would be moved to my second pasture, where I’d bring in a second sweet bull, allowing me to continue adding to my numbers until I was forced to sell off some of my stock to make space.

“You run a full farm here?” Kanika asked.

“I have some cattle, my three horses, a bunch of chickens, my garden, and the orchard. I used to be a secretary, but I’d gotten a good deal for the work. Ten years of drudgery later, I got this place, and I won’t be working again unless I want to.”

All three of them stared at me, and the Devil’s brows rose even higher. “I’ll admit, I learned very little about you before coming over. Isaac reached out because he likes you, knows you don’t know anything about this place, and felt that’d be a raw deal for you. You, according to him, are the nicest person on this street.”

I turned and pointed at Alligator Bait, who continued to run and buck like the wild thing she tended to be when she didn’t get to race as often as she wanted. “I pulled them off the slaughter market. I share my fruit, too. Why let it go to rot? I mean, I don’t cause any trouble on the street. Really, I prefer to be left alone.”

Kanika stared at David. “Please tell me that horse isn’t dead.”

I laughed. “It’s carcass time. Horses need deep sleep, which they can’t do standing up. Now that they know they’re safe, they indulge early and often. After Alligator Bait works out the rest of her energy, she’ll join them for carcass time. When it’s snack time, they’ll whinny at me from the gate until I come take them to the barn for their dinner. After dinner, they have the choice of going to their stalls or being turned out. Their stall doors are kept unlocked unless there’s a bad storm or there are construction workers out and about.”

“Our horses don’t do carcass time,” Kanika grumbled.

“Our horses are demonic entities that can—and do—sleep on all four hooves with no problems. Ours also don’t have nearly as many health problems as these. The conservatory horses engage in carcass time, though, and I’ll take you down when there is a mass carcass incident.”

While skeptical, Kanika nodded her acceptance of the Devil’s reply. “I don’t know why he’s tiptoeing around what’s going on with you, but here’s the deal, Crystal: there is a dragon and he will be coming here, and as the owner of this property, the dragon is your problem.”

I stopped and stared. “How is this dragon my problem?”

Lucifer sighed and raised his hand, a gesture Kanika respected. After a moment, he said, “This property is the caretaker house, and whomever owns the property deals with the dragon. The first thing to happen is the rising of the castle.”

“Castle? What castle?”

After pointing in the direction of Lake Hancock, he said, “There is a castle underneath the lake. Once the dragon comes into the area to stay, it will rise from the depths, drain out, and there will be a surge of magic in the area. It’s going to be an issue. You and your property will be fine, but everyone in the area is going to have a rough day once it happens.”

“So that nonsense about being sacrificed to a dragon is real?” I blurted.

“You will not be eaten by a dragon,” Lucifer said in an exasperated tone. “Well, unless you want to be.”

Kanika shrieked curses, grabbed her shoe, yanked it off, and beat her father with it. “Can’t you ever take anything seriously?”