Jezebel looped an arm around my shoulders. “Perfect. We’ll have a wild bachelorette party at my place all night instead. Do you have a problem with that, Nix, sugar?”
He smiled at her. “Jezebel, honey, I leave her in your capable hands. You can handle a sleepless night, but Dirk’s already too distracted. Have fun, ladies,” he said with a nod that went with his slow southern charm.
We did not have a wild bachelorette party. Jezebel didn’t even let me play Othello, just sent me to bed with a threat that she’d knock me out if I didn’t behave. It was like having a mother. A crazy mother, but it was kind of nice that she cared.
The next morning, we were at the compound at the break of dawn. “You’re driving with me today,” Jezebel said after she’d packed up the last animal she’d need for the race. Not the Bengal tiger. It didn’t seem like he did anything but add ambiance to her menagerie. At least he stayed in his cage, unlike the mountain lion.
“Not Dirk?” I was feeling less and less married every day. I missed him. Craved him like he was a cello. I’d told him that I loved him. It just came out, like the time I accidentally knocked out Tom. I was running on instinct, like my body wanted to takethe reins and run with it. But I couldn’t do anything about it until I’d earned back my body’s trust. So if I wanted to tell Dirk I loved him, that’s what I’d do, even if it was followed by a knife to the ribs.
Jezabel gave me a look. “No, sugar. He’s going to focus on his work, not make eyes at his bride. Nix said so.”
“Why does Nix always win?” I turned to face her and took off my gloves. We’d just gotten her stallion all settled in the trailer she was going to drive.
She plucked a stray piece of straw off my cheek. “He’s the best.”
“He seems like the laziest.”
She laughed, flashing her mega-watt smile at me. “He’s lazy like a shark. You know, they swim constantly or they die. They don’t look like they’re doing much, but always, always moving. That’s what he’s doing- always working out the problems ahead of time, adjusting things now in a way that will bring long-lasting results in the future. It looks like laziness, but it’s calculation. He also has predatory instincts second to none. He doesn’t use them often, but when he does, it’s stunning.” She went quiet and got a faraway look in her eyes. “It’s easy to underestimate him, but that’s how he wants it.”
“Like you want everyone to see the flashy cowgirl, and Trixie wants everyone to see the wild goddess.”
“Well, you’re right about me, but Trix is a genuine diamond, or wild goddess if you can overlook the greasy coveralls.”
“Like Horse.”
She shot me an amused look. “If he was stalking her, I’d stake him out in the desert where no one would find him, but she seems to follow him without being aware of it. It’s like she’s subconsciously torturing him with her untouchableness.”
“I don’t think that’s a word.”
She snorted. “Flashy cowgirls don’t need any words other than yippee kiyay, sugar. You got that side fastened tight?”
I pulled on the latch and nodded at her. “Got it. Why can’t I drive with Dirk?”
“He’s going to be up top in the helicopters for most of the trek, but you’ll see him this afternoon when we hit the cliffs and I take Dewdrop through them. If someone sets down trap hooks, I’m going to retrieve them after the race and use them on the people who set them.”
“We can do it for girl’s night.”
She patted my hair. “Ah, honey, no, that’s just fun for me. I don’t share vengeance for my babies. Do I, Snowdrop?”
Snowdrop kicked the gate, rattling the wagon. Yes, such a delicate creature. Jezabel took in the wild ones, like me.
I got into the truck and settled in for a long ride. We pulled up at the line between Trix’s enormous off-road vehicle and Nix’s supercharged truck.
Nix leaned out of his car and said something to Jezebel that I didn’t catch.
She responded, “We’re going to be just fine. Pull up and let someone else flirt with me.”
Nix revved his truck and pulled up, leaving a spot next to Jezebel, which was immediately filled by Bulldog, my favorite opponent. His window was rolled down, and the orc looked at Jezebel like she was a piece of meat.
“Whiskey,” he said with a nod. “Maybe after you lick my dust you’ll get a taste for it and?—”
She threw a handful of sand into his face. She must have kept it especially for such occasions. “That’s the kind of thing I’m not going to get a taste for, but I guarantee that I’d rather eat a whole desertful of sand than lick anything belonging to you, Bulldog.”
He spat and wiped the sand off, but she had her window rolled up at that point. She turned her head and smiled at me.“And we’re off.” She hit the pedal, and the truck shot forward. At the same time a thunderous roar swept through the desert and the stands where people had come out to see the start.
The truck looked old and weather-beaten, but it had a lot more power under the hood. The first few miles, racing down a gulley away from the crowd were exciting, with lots of dust and tricky maneuvers as the different teams vied for front spots, but as soon as the track veered around the corner of the canyon, the vehicles spread out and slowed down.
Between the engine and the radio cranked up, playing the saddest old country tunes imaginable, we didn’t have a lot of conversation. It gave me a chance to consider the plan. I was here to break Dirk Dagger. Jezebel wouldn’t mind if I broke him after the Three-Hundred, which would end tomorrow night, but I wanted Christmas. He said that we’d stay married until after the holidays, but you couldn’t trust a villain.
