Page 78 of Dragon Her Heels

In the time since I’d brought the little baby home, she’d nipped, kicked, and squealed good manners into him, and all it took for her to bring him into line was a single snort.

Aware I hauled precious cargo, I eased the truck and trailer through my gate, pulled over, and waited for Lucifer to bring his rig out.

Unlike my vehicle, which was a regular truck with an insane tow-haul capacity, he drove an animal transport, as wide as legal without counting as an oversized and making use of every inch of allowed length.

It could, in a pinch, haul forty horses, and it was meant for evacuation situations.

For the trip to Churchill Downs, he’d be hauling the Four Horses and David, although I questioned why he had set up ten individual stalls in the rig.

I hauled Buttercups, Zenzi, Moon, and Alligator Bait, and the only reason I wasn’t hauling David was because Moon was old enough to ride in his own stall and David would be more comfortable in the larger rig. I would stop every few hours to give Moon a chance to nurse, but he already began the process of weaning on his own, finding grass and grain to be to his liking.

Ashley sat in the front passenger seat, and she giggled over the Devil’s rig. “That thing is insane. I thought he was taking the other truck and trailer!”

“I did, too. But no, he decided he was bringing a monster transport. I’m concerned, however. First, the Four Horses are coming with us. Second, I’m worried he’s going to make us do a demonstration race with the Four Horses. They love racing. If there’s a demonstration race, that means Zenzi is going to be running. If Zenzi is running, we’re all riding.”

That got both my housemates sighing over their misfortune.

Yuless snickered but otherwise kept quiet, fiddling on his phone.

To better train Alligator Bait, we ran races with the Four Horses, and Ashley, Isaac, Realt, and Saurrel tended to be the poor bastards forced into competing against me. Alligator Bait hated losing, and every time the Four Horses kicked her ass, she redoubled her efforts.

I’d even, with some cooperation from the devilish horses, taught my precious mare the value of holding back, running the outside line, and biding her time until I dropped my hands and let her fly.

I carried a crop, but I hadn’t needed to use it since she’d learned she was to bust her ass after I dropped my hands and held on for dear life.

We were a team, and I hoped we would best the other horses and jockeys. The jockeys I would have a slight advantage over.

I only had one horse to worry about.

Most of them rode numerous horses, which barred them from developing bonds with theirs as well as I could with mine. My trainers included the best the world ever had to offer, treacherous in their ways but willing to give me their best to prevent a round in the dungeons.

“We’re riding a demonstration race before the actual race,” Isaac informed me in a guilty tone. “You’ll be riding Aramathea.”

“Who?” I frowned. “Did I pick up a horse I don’t know about?”

“His gift is getting picked up after we’re on the road, and you’ll get to ride her in the demonstration race. He wanted a heavenly representative in all the sin that’ll be prancing around the track. Lucifer will be riding his nephew, Darlene will be riding Conquest, Kanika will be riding Malcolm, and we’ll be on War and Pestilence. Belial will be riding Zenzi. It’s going to be a clusterfuck,” the incubus announced. “Lucifer planned it this way because there will be inevitable complaints that you’re not a valid entry because you’re a woman. The complainers will shut up because you will have just ridden a race ten minutes prior to the start of the Iroquois Stakes, which means you are at a severe disadvantage. You’re going in fatigued. They are not.”

Fucker jockeys. My trainers had warned me, repeatedly, this sort of shit would be common. “I will crush them fairly,” I swore.

Ashley giggled. “I’m riding War, and Realt will be riding Death. Realt is going to be showing up in his full form to scare the piss out of people for the fun of it.”

What had I gotten us into? “My parents are going to kill me, aren’t they?”

“Your parents are going to be gloriously confused that they’re in the VIP section with Lucifer,” Isaac reminded me. “They might be ready to kill you once they realize their baby girl is one of the jockeys. I’m sure you can handle their disapproval. Yuless and I will be riding with Lucifer once we get to where they live.”

“That’s going to send a weird message. We’re going to be blocking the street while we pick them up.”

“Lucifer already notified the locals of the disruption. It’ll only take ten minutes, and we’re leaving one lane open. There will be a pair of cops directing traffic. Lucifer will be sitting on his rig and posing for the public while you pile your parents into the truck. It’ll be a madhouse, but it’ll be safe for everyone involved.”

Lucifer blew his horn on his way by, and I laughed at his antics before closing the gate with my phone, making certain my house was locked, and putting my truck into gear to follow. For the Lord of Lies and Harbinger of Sin and Debauchery, he took care to follow the posted speed limits and making certain the rig and its precious contents made it to my parents’ home without incident.

As promised, their street had one lane closed, and as we pulled up, the cops moved their vehicle so we could get through. We parked in front of my parents’ home, a single story stone home in a sea of prefab homes, which survived hurricanes with staunch dedication to defying nature. My parents waited with their luggage by their car, and I smirked, killing the engine of my baby before hopping out. I gestured to my truck and trailer with pride. “Surprise! I am a real adult now. Look what I got.”

My mother, who was an older version of me with dark brown rather than blonde hair, eyed my truck. “Well, there goes your plan to drive her, babe. It appears she came prepared. However, I was not aware we needed an entire trailer each to go to Churchill Downs.”

I grinned. “I wanted to surprise you.”

“Well, I’m surprised at the excess, that’s for certain.”