revelations 02 - on a white horse

by corwin, monica

  “I’m up here,” Victor said, pointing to the next intersection.

  “I know.” Gwyn chucked. He glanced over and Victor wore a tight expression. Gwyn pulled up to the curb, and Victor opened the door to climb out.

  “I don’t get a kiss, honey?” Gwyn called after him.

  Victor closed the door carefully and flipped him off before heading in the building.

  Gwyn laughed to himself and pulled back into the morning traffic. It was time spy on Bianca at work. He made it to the shop before she did, and he spent a moment talking to Katherine, who somehow had no idea who he was. This amused him because most immortals at least could recognize their own kind. But then again, immortality seemed to be less and less permanent during times of war.

  When Bianca entered, she stopped dead at spotting him sitting at the counter, clutching a coffee cup. “Are you stalking me now too?”

  Gwyn shrugged. “What? I like to support local businesses, and I needed my caffeine fix.”

  Katherine approached the counter and he liked how she leaned her belly onto the edge, using it as a balance to stretch her calves and feet. He enjoyed watching people move about and do such human actions like stretch a sore muscle or awkwardly avoid eye contact. Sometimes he would go out of his way to mess with people to survey how they would react. Most of the time he could predict it, but sometimes they surprised him.

  Bianca glared at him and shoved through the swinging door to the back.

  Katherine watched her go before turning back to him. A hard glint replaced the friendly courtesy she displayed before. “I’m sorry, but who are you?”

  “My name is Gwyn.”

  Realization dawned. She had such expressive features. He instantly knew she was both curious by him and hated him. “I already know you’re Katherine.”

  She gave him a nod. Even now, he could see how she warred with herself, confused as to whether she should ignore him or question him further. He even saw the winning conclusion in her eyes.

  “What is it you want with us?”

  He shrugged and sipped his coffee. “I don’t require anything from you. I needed a Queen, in which I took Bianca, and I want to ensure humanity does not perish when Hel opens her seal.”

  Katherine glared at him before glancing toward a set of scales on top of a cabinet. He had originally thought them to be decorative, but now he wondered if it was her seal. Hidden in plain sight.

  “And how exactly do you propose to do that?”

  “Easy…it’s all about the balance between power and magic. My magic trumps your magic; therefore, mine is stronger. Upon taking Bianca as my queen, she inherited my magic and the magic of the mantle she bears. When Hel opens the seal, she will not be forced to end the world.”

  “And what about her powers? Our gifts or curses are tied to our seals. If the seal is broken, we don’t retain the magic or at least the large scale destructive powers. I imagine we would keep the small things that make us who we are.”

  He frowned. Her powers after the fact he’d not considered. “What might those small things be?”

  Katherine shrugged and continued on. “Do you know when that is supposed to occur?”

  “I don’t, but I believe, if I were Hel, I’d want it to be special. Or perhaps she is just insane and does things whenever the mood strikes her.”

  Katherine shook her head. “Leave it to her try attempt to corrupt a Biblical artifact with pagan pageantry.”

  “I don’t know. Contrary to popular belief, I don’t always know what’s going to happen. But I saw this, I was able to help, and so I did.”

  “I know Cloris would like to meet you,” Katherine said before refilling his mug.

  “I would very much like to meet her as well. And Hades too, of course.” Technically he should have interviewed for access to the club but under the circumstances he employed invisibility to gain access instead of using the proper channels.

  He’d first heard of the horsemen only a few hundred years prior. As humans began to worry more and more over the end of days and churches began to cover his green lands. Free will would always be something the immortals as a collective tried to protect but it pained him to see so many forgetting about him in favor of newer powers. In that spirit, he sought the horsemen out in the realm they lived in prior to Earth. They called it the Void. A great chasm of empty space meant only to house and contain immortals who had yet to approach their destinies. He thought about introducing himself then, but they seemed a solitary lot and so he observed until boredom took him to new pastures.

  “How is it you know so much about us, but we’ve only heard vague words about your history?”

  He wasn’t about to confess his dwindling powers to Katherine, so he gave her a noncommittal shoulder shrug. While Fairy floundered and his powers weren’t as strong as they once were, he was still one of the more powerful immortals in existence. Commanding an entire realm did have that affect.

  Thankfully, Bianca returned, tying her apron. Her hair sat high on her head in a ponytail and the apron accentuated the curve of her waist. He might need to have her dress like this for him at home.

  The thought struck him. How quickly he had assimilated her into his life and his house.

  She eyed him but began to wash some dishes in a short sink near the end of the counter. He chugged the rest of his coffee, black, and threw a hundred-dollar bill on the counter. He walked past her, slowly, and winked before exiting her cafe. He had other business to attend to now that she would be thinking of him all day.

  Chapter Fifteen

  BIANCA STARED AFTER GWYN as he left and the memory of his mouth against hers turned her insides to mush. Even now, her shoulder ached from hitting him. She’d wanted so much more last night, and the power intoxicated her. She closed her eyes and called on the glamour. She made her face appear a little less sallow than a night of no sleep afforded her.

  Katherine came over and peered around. “What is this magic?” She poked her cheek.

  Bianca swatted her hand away, covering her cheek. “What? Stop poking me.”

  “What did you do to your face?”

  Bianca pulled away from her until Katherine returned to her own space. “It’s a side effect of the fairy magic. I can glamour.”

  “Woah, cool. I wish I could do that.”

  Bianca wanted to be left alone, and Katherine picked it up pretty quick. She bustled off to help customers at the outer tables.

  She hated to admit it out loud, but she was a little terrified of her new abilities and what Hel had over her. She hated she hadn’t been strong enough to protect her seal and keep the bitch’s greedy hands from it. Most of all, she hated the fact she needed Gwyn. He had been right about it all. She didn’t like him, but she wanted him; he was a magnificent man and the magic only added to his appeal. She’d never needed anyone except her friends, and now having both Victor and Gwyn in her life, she wasn’t sure what to do with herself. Personal time would become a luxury of the past, let alone satisfying the sexual and physical needs of two men in the prime of their lives.

  She sloshed water down her front and someone sitting nearby laughed. She glanced up and the scent of sulfur struck her: a hellhound.

  “Get out creature,” she growled low. Hoping to import both her displeasure of him being there but not alerting other customers. She glanced at Katherine, who stood near a table staring at them, her eyes wide.

  “Oh, I think I’ll take a coffee.”

  Bianca put her hands on her hips and arched a delicate brow. “As the proprietor of this establishment, I reserve the right to serve or not serve whoever I choose.”

  “Whom.”

  “What?”

  “The grammatically correct insult is whom…you reserve the right to serve whomever you choose.”

  Bianca blinked at him. Too stunned to even be angry about his correction of her grammar. “Just get out.”

  He smiled and glanced at Katherine, who only stared back, before heading toward
the door. Once he reached it, he turned and leveled a serious look on her. “If you have business to attend to, I’d do it now because the end is coming.”

  For the first time, she caught the Welsh accent in his voice. All hard edges and swooping vowels. “Is that a warning from Hel? How kind of her.”

  Hel didn’t seem like the warning type. In fact, she reveled in the gore and bloodshed across her throne room when they last battled. Some of her hellhounds had been ripped apart, and she hadn’t battled a lash. The goddess of the Underworld seized it by forcing Hades off his throne and then taking him as her sex slave. No, definitely not the warning type.

  He shook his head. “No, that’s a warning from me.” He left the scent of sulfur following him out with the tinkle of the doorbell.

  She threw the rag on the counter and stalked to the back. Anger burst through her, and the repeated assaults on her emotional stability were beginning to take a toll. She wondered what she would feel if Hel opened the seal. Would she still be herself, would she still get visions? Just as the question popped in her head, a vision swamped her and she dropped to her knees on the cold tile of the kitchen. Gwyn and Victor lay in a heap on the floor of Hel’s stone great room, and stood over them as if protecting them from something. She could feel herself using power beyond her own, beyond anything she’d ever used before. An ominous scratching and seething sounded from behind her, but the vision-Bianca laughed manically. And then everything went dark.

  Chapter Sixteen

  AT FIRST VICTOR BEGAN to itch, like something crawled under his skin. Swiftly, on the heels of discomfort, inexplicably the notion Bianca needed him hit him like a slap to the face. He couldn’t get to her, however, because of the partner’s meeting he sat in. He pulled his phone surreptitiously off the table and slid it underneath, shooting a quick text to her phone. He waited for his text receipt indicator, and when she didn’t answer after five minutes, the unease built heavier in his chest. What good was power if he couldn’t help the people he needed when they faced trouble? He remembered Gwyn. There was no real love for the man, but Victor accepted he would have a part in his life and in the relationship. He should also have more power and more ability to go help Bianca.

  He considered how to contact him. He hadn’t received his phone number. What would his contact list name be? Gwyn Ap Nudd, ruler of Fairy, leader of the Wild Hunt? He realized he had Cloris’ number though because she was a very high profile client of the firm. He scrolled through and sent her a quick text: Bianca is in trouble.

  Not even a minute passed before she texted him back. How do you know?

  I just feel it. I think she is working today.

  I’ll check on her.

  Nothing else came from her. The worry and dread built inside him until he had to excuse himself from the meeting for fear for her life. She wouldn’t ignore his text messages or phone calls. They needed each other, and despite any delusions about what their life could have been he accepted that being with her now meant having Gwyn in his life. Being a partner gave him some leeway, but he would receive a lecture about it later from the others. He sprinted to his office and called her phone: straight to voicemail. He redialed, and Katherine answered.

  “Victor?”

  “Yes, is Bianca okay?”

  “She was fine, but not now. I found her passed out on the kitchen floor. She won’t wake up.”

  “Can you take her to the hospital?”

  He heard a shuffle, and then Gwyn’s voice cut through the line. “I’ve got something better.”

  The click of the phone hanging up rang through Victor’s head and he stared down at the screen. The man hung up on him. He let out a long sigh, grabbed his stuff, and ran out the door. The trek to the cafe was a few blocks, and he needed to see her.

  He ran down the sidewalk amidst the startled masses. People didn’t usually run around in Armani unless they were James Bond. He pushed open the cafe door and caught a whiff of sulfur before heading back to the kitchen. He found Bianca’s friends standing around Bianca as Gwyn leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. She jolted in his arms and pushed him away from her. “What the hell, man?”

  He stumbled back and landed on his butt. “A little gratitude would be nice?”

  “For what, you kissed me?”

  Relief flooded through him, and despite the flare of jealously that rose when Gwyn touched Bianca, he now mostly felt gratitude that at least Gwyn could do something to help.

  Gwyn huffed. “You were unconscious.”

  “So…I would have woken eventually, and what is up with the magic kiss? This is not a fairy tale.”

  He raised an eyebrow before standing and straightening his slacks. “I’ve woken a few women, who were more gracious about it, with my kiss.”

  “Then go kiss them.”

  Victor stood to the side, unsure if he should insinuate himself in the situation. His self-preservations instincts said no, but Bianca acted incredibly ungrateful for her revival.

  Something surged through him. A ripple of fear and anger, and he didn’t know what was happening. A moment passed of the strange sensation. He stared down at his hands and arms and his skin seemed to vibrate. He shook his head before bending over and then falling to his knees. He really hoped Gwyn wouldn’t have to kiss him to bring him back around.

  He huddled into himself at first, but relief came as someone touched his back. “Breathe through it. The first time is the hardest.” Gwyn spoke softly and slowly, and Victor was drawn to it. He wanted to rub his face against his chest and sleep there.

  Wait. What?

  “What is happening?” Bianca asked, coming closer. Her footsteps sounded next to him, loud like cannon fire. His hearing amplified, going crazy, and the scents of the kitchen began to swirl around him, magnifying and overwhelming. Then a growl ripped through him from his belly and out his mouth. He’d never made such a noise before. His skin began to itch, and he could do nothing as he changed from man to beast. His skin strained and stretched around his bones. It wasn’t painful more of an itch he couldn’t quite reach until it ended and he sat panting.

  Victor glanced around and they all had wide eyes staring at him. He did a mental check of himself. He could smell things stronger and hear better. His mind seemed to be functioning the same as before, yet Gwyn seemed so much more attractive to him while in hound form. He peered up at Bianca. She radiated light, like an angel, and he trotted over to her and pressed his face into her hands. He wondered how he looked as a dog, and Cloris crouched down and pulled a mirror from her bag. He peered into the glass, at least he made a decent canine. A Great Dane sort of, but larger and more menacing. Although that wasn’t an adjective he used very often to describe himself, if ever.

  Then Bianca scratched his ears, and it was an even better sensation than her whip against his back. She crouched down in front of him and smiled. “You’re okay.”

  Then, with a little more heat, she addressed Gwyn. “What the hell happened? Why is my boyfriend a dog?”

  Victor pressed against her hand, further trying to impart his pleasure at calling him her boyfriend. Gwyn appeared uncomfortable for the first time since he’d met him, and Victor could almost smell the shame wafting from him. He cleared his throat and sighed before answering. “I think he had a reaction to my emotions. He is a hound, will forever be a hound, but usually he can choose when to change unless I force it. I didn’t mean to, but I think he reacted to the mix of my emotions and yours.”

  She continued to scratch his ears and met Victor’s eyes. He gave her a small woof and she smiled. “So this is what a hound of the Wild Hunt looks like. You don’t look so mean.”

  “Imagine him and many like him chasing you down in a horde. Then you might be afraid.”

  He woofed at Gwyn, who smiled almost fondly. “You do make a beautiful animal, Victor. I must admit.”

  As a dog, everything seemed a little less hostile and a little more like they would survive and get through it all. He woofed a
gain and Cloris spoke up. “He wants to know when he will change back.”

  “When did you start speaking to animals?” Katherine asked.

  Cloris shrugged. “I speak every language.”

  Gwyn crouched down beside Bianca. “It’ll be a few hours, big guy. Sorry. Hope you didn’t need to do anything.”

  He nudged the rumpled suit around his legs. Cloris interpreted again. “He needs you to text his friend Phil to let him know he won’t be back at work today.”

  Bianca reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone, and smiled. The home screen displayed her beating eggs on their first date. She bit her lip and opened the phone to text Phil before helping him out of the confines of pants and sleeves and folding his suit neatly over a chair.

  Gwyn gasped and grabbed the material shaking it out straight and laying it unfolded. “You can’t fold Armani. You don’t fold Armani.”

  Victor woofed his agreement, and Cloris laughed. Bianca raised an eyebrow at her. “What did he say.”

  Cloris’s laugh faded to a surreptitious cough. “He agrees with Gwyn.”

  Damn right he agreed with Gwyn. You don’t fold Vicuna. Ever.

  Bianca gave Victor a look that said good grief.

  He woofed and Cloris spoke for him. “He said we need to talk about Bianca. I agree with him. What did you see in your vision that was so strong you passed out?”

  Bianca met Victor’s gaze and buried her hand in the scruff of his neck. He liked being her grounding stone. He liked that she needed him for something, and not just his ability to enjoy a good whipping.

  She let out a long sigh, and her breath smelled faintly of coffee. “I saw a vision of me, Gwyn, and Victor in the Underworld. In Hel’s castle. I was using more power than I’ve ever felt in my life. I don’t know why or what, but I passed out shortly after I saw it.”