Page 81 of Dragon Her Heels

NINETEEN

“My baby is all grown up.”

The morning of the race, I hauled my motley crew of horses and others into Churchill Downs. Lucifer took point in his rig, which contained the Four Horses, various members of his family in their equine forms, and everything needed to turn the Iroquois Stakes into a circus. Rather than keep our horses stalled in the barns, we’d be hauling them to one of Lucifer’s estates an hour away.

A pair of Lucifer’s generals would be handling the driving, as win or lose, the Devil expected me to be incapable of driving.

I didn’t question why Lucifer wouldn’t be driving, but as long as the horses made it to their evening accommodations, I would accept the change of plans without complaint.

I hated the idea of leaving any animal of mine stalled unnecessarily for long periods.

Fortunately for us, our horses could handle falling in line and following without requiring leads, although I handled Alligator Bait while Yuless led Buttercups and David.

Moon stuck to Zenzi’s side, and I realized I would need to wean him off sooner than later. Given another few months, and he’d appear to be any one of the other two year olds at the racetrack.

Damn.

Lucifer glared at me. “What’s the problem now?”

“My baby is all grown up.”

He relaxed before laughing. “Zenzi will wean him appropriately, so don’t worry. It’s better for the flighty breeds, like your thoroughbreds, to stay with their mother a little longer. He’s still being taught his social skills, and when you do take him to the races, he’ll be better at handling the stress. He won’t be quite up to Alligator Bait’s standards, but few horses are. He’ll still be an excellent stud, and he’ll do the breed a great deal of good. Try not to worry about anything other than your races today. Also, you’re going to be crushed in the demonstration race.”

I smiled at Aramathea, who lumbered along with the hellish horses. From tip of nose to tail, she matched well with David, had him beat by a full hand, and wouldn’t fit in a race gate even if we tried. Her coloration screamed of angelic ancestry, with a silvery white coat, silver hooves that tinkled and chimed rather than clopped, and a golden mane and tail with a tendency of bursting into heavenly blue-white flames.

Fortunately, we wouldn’t be using the gate for the demonstration, as I suspected most of the horses involved would find a way to destroy it.

“She could surprise us,” I replied, attempting to clutch to what remained of my dignity. “She is definitely one of the prettiest horses on the field, though.”

Lucifer considered the various competitors before nodding. “I’ll give you that. If we were scoring them for beauty, Aramathea wins. Sorry, everybody, but it’s true.”

The assortment of equines whinnied at the Devil’s comment.

The heavenly horse tossed her head and pranced forward to make it clear she was the prettiest big girl.

I loved everything about her already.

“Hey, Yuless?”

“What do you need?”

“I will need to reweigh after the first race and change into clean silks. There’s a chance I might sweat out weight after the first race weigh in, so if I drop weight, we’ll have to adjust the saddle.”

“I have four sets of silks for you, so please only need those. I’m a lot of things, but I’m not sure I can mystically handle a load of laundry in ten minutes.”

I laughed; he’d already proven capable of handling laundry, as I’d introduced myself to a mud puddle after failing to remain on Buttercups during an exercise session. While I’d nursed a variety of bruises and scrapes while showering, he’d made the evidence of my mishap vanish, and he’d even mended a tear, which had earned him almost as many points as my requirement for a good pie.

Unbeknownst to him, I had multiple ways of keeping score, and I fully intended on making excuses to keep him around throughout the entirety of the race season and beyond.

I might even be willing to forgo the pie in exchange for having a personal groom capable of handling my every need. When honest with myself, I harbored significant jealousy that my horses got more time with the man than I did.

After the Iroquois Stakes, I would do my best to change that.

“If we need all four sets of silks, I’m going to be hiding in a stall while crying in a corner,” I informed him in a solemn tone. “Those bloody things cost me a fortune, and if I need more than two today, someone will have to drag my crying ass out of a stall.”

He chuckled. “I recommend against taking any falls today, then. Falls do a good job of destroying silks.”

That they did. “When I’m going through my verifications, just stare at me like you think I’m about to do something stupid, please.”