revelations 02 - on a white horse

by corwin, monica

  She jerked. Boyfriend? They hadn’t discussed much about their relationship, but without a doubt he belonged to her. Whether they had a BDSM-based relationship or simply dated.

  Katherine returned, hair a little more human now. “I called the others.”

  Bianca nodded and glanced up at Victor. “I’m so sorry.”

  “What are you sorry about? You didn’t plan for a dog to bite me.” He chuckled, but tension still pulled the corners of his eyes. The sun had barely begun to rise, but the room lit up from the east. Bianca stood, grabbed a pair of jeans and a T-shirt out of the closet, and slipped them on.

  “You should get dressed,” she said, grabbing his clothes from where they lay discarded across her room.

  He dressed quickly, and Bianca rolled up his long sleeves, carefully folding back his shirt cuff so she could inspect the wound better. “You sure it doesn’t hurt?” she asked.

  He stared at it for a moment and then shook his head. “No. I can’t feel it at all.”

  Katherine, who waited in the hall while they changed, plopped in an empty chair across the way, and not even fifteen minutes later, the heavy cadence of feet running up the stairs announced the arrival of the others.

  “Guys?” Someone called.

  Katherine yelled, “in here.”

  They all crowded into the room and stared at Victor, who began looking more concerned as the entire crew descended. “What is going on?”

  Bianca scooted closer on the bed. “I’m so sorry,” she repeated. She didn’t know if saying it over again was meant to comfort her or him. Bile built in the back of her throat, and she swallowed it down, letting out a long wavering exhale.

  Victor must have picked up more than she intended to let on. “Stop saying that and tell me what is going on.”

  Bianca tamped down the regret and everything she’d tried not to feel for him before meeting his eyes. “We aren’t human.”

  He chuckled. “What do you mean?”

  That laugh lashed her like a tip of whip. She brushed some of his curls from his eyes and leaned up to kiss his lips gently. If she would never taste him again, she would have one last kiss. “I am the horseman of the apocalypse, Conquest.”

  He surveyed her like she’d grown a second head. “But really, what is going on?”

  She schooled her face into a mask, waiting for the rejection once it finally sunk in. “I’m Conquest.” She pointed at the others in turn: “Death, Famine, and War.”

  He stared back and forth between them and then stood, putting his back to the corner. “I’m confused.”

  Cloris approached. “I promise it’s not a joke and no lie. Bianca is telling you the truth.”

  “So, if you’re the horseman of the apocalypse, then this is it? The world is ending?”

  Cloris shook her head with a soft smile. “No, we decided we wouldn’t end the world, and that has become the problem. Hel, the goddess of the Underworld, decided she would do it for us, and she has initiated it. We believe the dog you glimpsed last night was one her hellhounds. Did it smell bad?”

  He shook his head and ran his hands through his hair before he answered. “I don’t think so, but I was half asleep.”

  “Is there anything else you remember?”

  “No, nothing.” He threw an imploring look at Bianca, and her heart broke a little by the doubt and confusion in his eyes.

  “What is going on?” he repeated and sat back down, cupping his head in his hands. “I don’t understand.”

  “I know this is a lot to take in,” Bianca said. She wanted to cuddle him into her arms. “Can I have a moment alone with him, guys?” She pinned each of them in turn with a look and they headed toward the door in response. Cloris hesitated but nodded after a moment. She was the least in favor of humans having knowledge of them.

  Bianca didn’t spare them another glance as they filed out, and she removed his hands so she could meet his eyes. “Look at me.” Her tone sunk in, and he did it immediately. “I don’t know what is happening, or what role you have in this, but I will not let anything happen you.”

  “What does that mean—conquest, and what about Pestilence, where is she?”

  Bianca chuckled, trying to lighten the mood, but his face didn’t betray even a whisper of helping her out in that regard. She fortified herself. “Just as it sounds; I am the horseman of conquest. Some people interchange pestilence and conquest depending on the version of the story being told. I have the ability to bend anyone to my will, whether they wish it or not.”

  She smiled trying to comfort him, but it didn’t ease the tension in his face. “Once upon a time, we decided we didn’t want to end the human race and now we live amongst the very people we were fated to destroy. We seek to live real lives and create things for ourselves. But even so, the seals that could end the world still belong with us for protection. Unfortunately, the goddess of the Underworld didn’t like the fact that Hades joined us instead of remaining there to be her sex slave. She stole Scarlet’s seal last year and murdered Tyr. When we retrieved it and Cloris restored Tyr, there was an altercation between her and I and now Hel wants revenge against me.”

  His Adam’s apple bobbed as he considered her words. “So I’ve just entered an immortal battle with a jealous psychopath.”

  Bianca blinked and decided not to touch that one. “Everything else I told you was the truth. I’m still Bianca. I still love to cook and cuddle and mark your back with my crop. I’m the same person you slept with last night and woke up with this morning.”

  “But what about this?” he asked, pointing to his arm.

  She swallowed the guilt forcing its way into her chest. If she only left him alone and dealt with her magic some other way, he wouldn’t be stuck in this position. He had no options. If he left, Hel would likely hunt him down and kill him for the sport of it. If he stayed, he basically declared allegiance and entered the fray regardless. Bianca hated Hel even more for forcing this. “I don’t know. I don’t know at all. We need to call Baldr, but he isn’t answering.”

  “Is he another of you?”

  “Well, sort of, but he spent a long time in the Underworld and could have more of an idea about what is happening.”

  He nodded and peered down at the red welt on his arm. “Am I going to die?”

  “If I have to move Heaven and Earth, I will not allow that to happen.”

  Somehow, as she said it, he seemed to believe it. She reached out and drew him into a hug, and she realized how much she’d grown to care for him in a few short days. She couldn’t imagine a future without him, and as long as blood still flowed through her body, she would protect him from the hellhounds or whatever came his way.

  Katherine knocked softly. “We can’t get ahold of Baldr.”

  “Where could be he?”

  Katherine sagged against the door frame. “I don’t know; I haven’t heard from him in a few days. He was staying with Cloris and Hades.”

  Bianca stood and leaned in to whisper, “yes, but I heard he split when they had a house guest.”

  Katherine’s eyebrows drew up in shock. “Who could make him run that far away?”

  “Persephone.”

  Katherine nodded. “Oh.”

  “What does that mean?” Victor asked. “Who is Persephone?”

  Bianca sat down with him again. “No one who matters in these circumstances.”

  He jerked. “Wait a minute…is Hades the Hades? I thought maybe your friend’s parents had strange fascinations.”

  “What about Hades?” she asked.

  Upon mention of his name, Hades poked his head in the room beside Katherine. “You called?”

  Bianca bit her lip as guilt assailed her. There were things Victor needed to know and things he didn’t. Things were already so heavy, and she’d laid it all on him in one shot. He seemed to be taking it well despite the severity of the information.

  Hades waved his hand around, dragging her from her thoughts. She hadn’t thought to ask h
im before. Her mind had been clouded, and she acted irrationally when it came to Victor. She gestured at the wound. “What is this?”

  He shook his head and shrugged. “He could die.”

  “That’s helpful.”

  Hades’ beautiful eyes bore into her. “Do you want me to lie to you, or do you want it straight?”

  “I want the truth, but you could give us options.”

  He shrugged. “I suppose he could live as well. I don’t know. It depends on what the hound wanted with him.”

  They all shared a glance.

  “What would a hellhound want with me?” Victor piped in.

  “We think Hel has targeted me. She stole my seal this time. If she opens that seal, I will be overcome by my magic and begin the apocalypse. I’ll become nothing more than a machine to end the world.”

  Victor’s eyes bugged out. “Oh, sure, no big deal.”

  She glared at him. The sarcasm wasn’t helping the situation. “Anyway, she took my seal, and I had a vision about it, and you.”

  “A vision?”

  Shit. She hadn’t meant to spring that on him yet. “I am sort of psychic.”

  He jerked back from her. “What do you mean? You can read people’s minds?”

  “No, not like that. I only have visions. I can see some things when I touch them or try to focus on them.”

  “Oh,” He blinked heavily. “Why did you see me?”

  She rubbed his arm and sighed in relief when he didn’t disentangle himself from her grasp. “I don’t know yet, and you were only in the one vision that my crown was stolen in. It happened the day after we met at the club.”

  “Was that it?”

  “Yes, that was it. I will never lie to you.”

  He swallowed, appearing worried, but she couldn’t blame him with the threat of death on the table and the whole psychic revelation. That he hadn’t run out of the house screaming said a lot. About him as a person, or about how he felt for her, she didn’t know.

  “Do you have any more questions?” she asked.

  He met her gaze. “I think I will, but I’m sort of in shock at the moment.”

  “Of course.”

  “There are two reasons I am still sitting here. One…I am a little worried I’m about to die. And two…no one in my life has ever made me feel like you do.”

  The world silenced as she met his gaze. “I feel the same. I need you to trust that I will take care of you. Just like when we are at the club. You trust me then, don’t you?”

  He nodded. “Yes. I do.”

  “Good. Then trust me now. We will get through this, see what is on the other side, and be stronger for it. I know this is so much. I know.” She cupped his face and kissed his lips. “Just stay with me, please, and we will figure it out.”

  He nodded and laid his head against her shoulder before wrapping his arms around her waist. When his bite met her skin, she jerked and another vision slammed into her.

  The scene was chaos, like she stood stuck in the middle of a tornado but it wasn’t a storm. It consisted of dogs, and horses, mounted soldiers, and one man at the center of the maelstrom staring right at her. No one had ever interacted with her in a vision. She watched him closely, trying to pick out details, and he winked at her. His beard was clipped short, and he mimed the universal call me symbol with his thumb and pinky before the world went black. He was the same man she’d seen in the vision at the cafe.

  Katherine’s voice came from somewhere above her. “She had a vision. It’s okay.”

  Bianca opened her eyes and found herself bowed back in the confines of Victor’s arms. She pushed herself up and slumped across his shoulder before twisting away. “I just need a minute.”

  Katherine grabbed a glass of water, and Bianca made it to the trashcan in time to dry heave against the plastic liner. She slid to her knees, and Victor gathered her hair in his hands behind her back. “Is it always so bad?” he asked.

  “No,” she said, as the heaves began to subside. “No.”

  Katherine brought the water, a ginger ale, and some crackers too. Bianca sat back, releasing the can, and Victor smoothed her hair down, letting it go.

  “Get the others,” Bianca said, steadying her breathe. Katherine left, and in a moment they all filed in.

  She spoke fast in pieces and fragments trying to remember everything. “I don’t know what I saw. It was like a storm of people, of animals. It was the end of the world, but it wasn’t. There was a man at the center. I didn’t recognize him, but he looked at me and motioned for me to call him. Like I’d know him.” She shook her head, the vision already going fuzzy.

  “What did he look like?” Cloris offered.

  “He had a short beard, cut close, and he seemed well-groomed, wearing a suit, standing in the midst of such...” She couldn’t even explain it right.

  “And what did you touch,” Scarlet asked.

  Bianca looked down at Victor’s arm, and the image of the man’s face popped in her head. Somehow this all had to do with this mystery man. Whether she wanted Victor in the thick of it or not, he was now, and that man held the key to something. Could he save him?

  Bianca glanced up at Victor, but spoke to Scarlet. “His wound grazed across my skin.”

  Chapter Nine

  SINCE EVERYONE WAS ALREADY awake, Katherine announced she’d make breakfast. Victor was glad to have one less gawker at the moment. He stared down at his arm again. The raised skin didn’t hurt at all, but it definitely put a damper on his mood.

  Tyr and Scarlet hovered in the doorway, and Cloris and Hades, arms wrapped around each other, surveyed Bianca. She sat huddled at his feet, clutching her knees. He didn’t understand this version of her: fragile and delicate. He slid from the bed onto the floor and enfolded her into his arms. Then he grabbed the heavy blanket and draped it around both of them. Like it or not, he was in this and he doubted he could extricate himself even if he wanted to.

  Bianca huddled into his chest, and he held on tighter while making deliberate eye contact with Hades and Tyr, who no doubt understood perfectly. They ushered their counterparts from the room. The soft creak of the stair floorboards announced their descent. “You want to eat?” he asked against her hair.

  She nodded and began to pull away from his embrace. He hauled her back and kissed her on the lips. She gave him a little smile, and it was enough to sustain him. Throwing the blanket back on the bed, he stood and pulled Bianca to her feet. She wobbled, but he caught her by the elbow and supported her down to the kitchen.

  The gathering remained somber, but everyone felt comfortable enough to speak now, even if only in whispers. He let out a sigh as he plopped on the stool facing the center kitchen island. Katherine gave him a megawatt smile he couldn’t help but return as she slid a stack of pancakes coated in butter and syrup across the table to him.

  He blinked at the pancakes. “How did you know?” Pancakes had long been his comfort food when he felt down.

  She winked at him and decided he shouldn’t ask any more questions.

  Bianca slid into the seat next to him, and Katherine shoved a plate of bacon and eggs in front of her. She dug in without the same questions as Victor. Once she’d finished, her cheeks held some color. She stopped eating mid-fork-rise and looked up at him. “Do you need to work today?”

  For a moment he froze, the morning’s events addling his sense of time. Then he remembered and shook his head. “No, not until Monday.”

  She laughed. “Not like you need to be there anyway, Mr. Senior Partner.”

  “Who else would take care of the pretty clients?”

  She swatted at his arm. “You better not be taking care of anyone else. Or I’ll make you pay.”

  Unwittingly, maybe she claimed him. He liked the idea of being owned by her. Belonging to only her. “Is that a promise?” he asked.

  She winked at him and stood from the stool to stretch. “I’m going to go shower and change. I’ll be back in a few.”

  As she l
eveled her gaze at everyone in the room he ducked his head but listened. “Do not grill him. He’s part of us now, and you need to make him feel welcome.”

  He looked up in time to watch her eye Tyr a little longer than the others before exiting up the stairs.

  Victor stared at his plate, intent on not drawing anyone’s attention, but he could feel their gazes boring into him until finally he couldn’t take it anymore. “What?” he asked, putting the fork down.

  Scarlet stepped forward and gripped his chin hard. He would have had a sexual reaction to it before he met Bianca, but Scarlet’s touch did nothing for him as he waited for her to say whatever she needed to. “I like you.”

  He already had a retort ready, but it fizzled at her declaration. It wasn’t what he expected, so he offered a meager, “thanks?”

  Scarlet gave him a brief nod, and Tyr gave him a warning look before following her from the room. Cloris broke out in giggles. “If Tyr only knew…” she said, laughing. Hades smiled while sliding his fingers through Cloris’s bone-straight blonde hair.

  Katherine finally sat down to her own food, and he glanced at her plate. It barely contained anything. A small portion of eggs, a piece of bacon, and a slice of bread. He didn’t want to be rude and ask, so he averted his gaze and finished his pancakes in silence.

  He surveyed her as she barely ate and decided, of the group, she appeared the most approachable. “How long have you been here?”

  She put her fork down and looked at him, brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

  “Like, how long have you been here?” He gestured around. “On Earth.”

  “Oh.” She chuckled. “A few years.”

  “And what made you decide to come here?”

  “What’s with the third degree?”

  He shrugged and picked up his coffee cup to hide behind. “I’m curious. I care for Bianca. I want to know about your world. About who she is.”

  “We are all different, we all wield different powers. Learning about me will tell you nothing about her.”

  He nodded his assent and watched as she picked the food on her plate. This strange group he’d joined somehow comforted him, and despite the declaration of non-humanity, he could feel it in his soul that they meant him no harm.