Horse (Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Club Book 6) (15 page)

“But by calling me a friend and pointing out I’m Gabby’s husband, you pretty much told him you’d go to bat for me if it came to it, so thank you.”

We were all standing, and Nathan sat in a chair. Even in human form he reminds me of a stealthy, stalking, overlord of a cat.

Aaron grinned as he looked at him, and stepped to the loveseat to take a seat as well. Gabby and I sat beside each other on the sofa, and Nathan met my gaze as he said, “Gabby isn’t under my formal protection yet, but with your permission I’d like to make it so.”

“I take no issue with it but the final decision is hers.”

He shook his head. “She’s yours, and you’re hers. Apollonius was right about the bond the two of you have. I enjoy my time with her but I don’t want to overstep.”

“Will your protection weaken me, as Aaron’s would’ve if he’d given it to Horse?” Gabby asked.

“Rabbit’s aren’t known as fighters, but Grizzlies are,” Aaron answered. “It’s okay for us to put a Rabbit under our protection, but would send the wrong signals if we did so for a Grizzly Bear.”

“What will I owe you for the protection?” Gabby asked.

Nathan shook his head. “Don’t do something stupid that makes me have to save your ass. Shit happens, but don’t go asking for trouble.”

She nodded. “Thanks, Nathan. I know it’s a big deal, and I appreciate it.”

He nodded and looked to me. “I know ya’ll were looking forward to being alone, but we’d like to send two cougars to keep an eye on you. They’ll stay in cat form and patrol your perimeter, and will have a way to let us know if there’s a problem. If there’s an attack it’ll be the four of you defending yourselves until we arrive, but there’s a Faerie portal not too far away and we can take it and be here sooner than with the ‘copter. Aaron deemed it a strategic advantage to make Apollonius think the ‘copter was our fastest way here, this morning.”

I looked at Gabby to see her thoughts, and she nodded. I looked to Nathan and nodded as well.

“Thanks for making it cougars and not wolves,” she told him. “The wolves would’ve made me nervous.”

“I know, little bunny.” He gave her an affectionate grin, and his face sobered as his gaze turned to me. “I know you’ve made arrangements for her Deer to spend some time with her in a few days so she doesn’t run into trouble with too much Bear energy, but it might be safer if you bring in someone better able to defend themselves. I can use the portal if you choose me, but if you’d rather bring in her Leopard or Crow just let Aaron or me know and we’ll make the ‘copter available.”

I shook my head. “We need to find a way to make it safe for the Deer. Dale smooths out her energy better than any of her other regulars.”

“He was coming through Faerie?”

I nodded.

“Okay. I’ll make arrangements to bring him through, help the cougars patrol while he’s here, and then get him home safely so no one can follow him home. We’ll need to monitor the enclave’s security for a while, too.”

“No.”

We all looked at Gabby, and she repeated, “No. I won’t put him or the other Deer in the enclave in danger.”

“Gabs, you need—”

“No,” she interrupted me. “I’ll be fine with Nathan this week, and we’ll reassess the security situation next week. I
won’t
put the Deer enclave in danger.”

I could tell by the look on her face this wasn’t an argument I’d win, so I nodded and told her, “If Nathan’s good with it, I’ll patrol with the cougars and give ya’ll some time alone. Meanwhile, I think you need to talk to Aaron about setting up a time for you to see The Winter Queen about your grandparents.”

Gabby

He was right. I
knew
he was right but I didn’t want to have to deal with it. At a loss for words, I looked to Aaron in hopes he’d say he couldn’t arrange the meeting, but he held my gaze as he said, “Nathan, why don’t you take Horse out back and give him a crash course in how to interact with other high-powered leaders.”

“I’d rather stay and hear what Gabby has to say,” said Horse.

Aaron looked at me without saying anything, and I turned to my new husband. “If Aaron needs to speak to me alone, we should give him the opportunity. The odds are, there’s something he can tell a Rabbit that he can’t tell a Bear, or something he can share with a member of the royal family or… who knows? The point is, we both trust him, right?”

Horse kissed my forehead, stood, and left the room without a word. Nathan followed him, and Aaron walked to the sofa and sat down beside me.

“Tell me what you know about the time freezes.”

“Sometimes, everything in Faerie freezes except the Rabbits. It’s disconcerting, but it means we can pickpocket with ease, though we have to be careful because if time starts back while you’re rifling through someone’s wallet, things can go bad in a heartbeat. It’s also hard to explain how you disappeared from one place and appeared in another, because that’s how it appears to everyone who was frozen when time starts back. We usually stay as still as we can for a minute or two. Usually, they don’t last that long, but occasionally they last hours, and sometimes days.”

He spoke carefully, as if making sure he only told me what he could. “The Winter Queen isn’t affected by them, either. If time freezes, it’s possible I’ll be frozen while the two of you aren’t. There are
no
guarantees with her, and being under my protection won’t guarantee your safety when it comes to The Winter Queen.”

“What do you advise?”

“You step into Faerie long enough to give me the power to negotiate on your behalf, and then return to this realm.”

I shook my head. “I want to meet my grandparents and have a chance to speak with them before I decide whether or not to bargain for their release, and before I decide how much I’m willing to give away in the bargain.”

“Your uncle will be the one to decide how much he’s willing to give away. He’ll do the bargaining, he just needs you to request their release.”

“Then why do you need me to state you can negotiate on my behalf?”

“So I can legally declare you want them released.”

Again, I shook my head. “I want to talk to them before I make a decision.”

“You want to voluntarily walk into The Winter Queen’s dungeon? Gabby, it’s a horrible place.”

No, I didn’t want to go into the dungeon, but I also couldn’t leave them in such a terrible place if there was a possibility they’d acted to try to save my mother from Dwight.

“I’d rather talk with them outside the dungeon, but if my presence is the only way to make it happen then yeah, I’ll go.”

“Knowing she might be able to arrange for time to be frozen so I can’t protect you?”

I was pretty sure he was skating around something he couldn’t tell me, and logic told me there was a good chance The Winter Queen could freeze time at her whim. It would make sense — and he was exactly right about my not liking the idea of being alone with Her Majesty.

“Is there another way for me to talk to them? Look, Aaron, I trust you. Work out the best scenario you can for me, but don’t give too much away to do it. I can’t imagine how much I owe you for all you’ve done for me already, and I know asking you to negotiate this with The Winter Queen is one of the biggest asks
ever
.”

“Let me see what I can work out, little one. In case your aunt didn’t explain the rules, now that Horse is your betrothed, if you bind him you can tell him about the time stuff.”

“Really? No, she didn’t tell me. Thanks.”

“I’m sure she would’ve if she were here and knew you needed to know.”

I nodded because he was probably right. She’d taught me so much about how to live in Faerie. I’d been clueless when I first arrived.

Gabby

I felt helpless walking into Faerie with Horse. Sure, we had Aaron and Nathan with us, and something had happened so Aaron now assured me I’d be safe even if time froze and I found myself alone with The Winter Queen, but I was still barely holding myself together. 

We went into one waterfall and stepped out of another — completely dry. A twenty-yard trail through the dense woods led to a large meadow filled with wildflowers, and to a woman who had to be The Winter Queen seated on a throne. The wildflowers throughout the field were various colors, but the blossoms leading up to the throne were all white, giving the appearance of snow.

The four of us stopped about ten feet away and bowed, and Aaron said, “My Lady, may I introduce Gabriella Taylor, previously known as Avalyn Lepori, and her husband, the Grizzly Bear known as Horse.”

The Winter Queen was dressed all in black and she
looked
evil. I stared at her feet and wished I didn’t care why my grandparents had made the decisions that had sent my parents to the human realm and set the stage for so much tragedy.

“I’ve had a lot of fun with your grandparents over the years, little bunny. I bet you’d be fun, too.”

“My Lady, please?” I’d never heard Aaron’s voice sound so plaintive before.

She sighed and flipped her hand as if she’d do as he asked even though she didn’t have to, and said, “What do you want to say to them, little bunny?”

“I want to know why they wouldn’t allow my parents to marry. I’m told it was their decision to make, and they insisted she’d never be allowed into the family, and neither would her offspring.”

“And if you give them their status back, they might make you legitimate? Is that why you’re here?”

“No, Your Majesty. My aunt offered to bring me into the fold. She was willing to adopt me — apparently there’s a way to adopt an adult relative to bring them into the royal family? Anyway, the point is, I like my anonymity. There are only a few people in Faerie who know me as anything other than Gabby, a distant relative to the King’s sister.”

“Rumor has it you’re strong enough to take the Crown — family or not.”

The Crown has stayed in our family so long because it’s been handed down. When you have the power of the Crown, you have access to the energy of every Rabbit in the realm, so it’s impossible for another Rabbit to overpower you and take it. Succession means if you kill the King, his son is now all-powerful, and the Royal security forces make sure the dozen or so people in the succession line aren’t all available to take out at the same time. However, I’m strong enough, they tell me I could take it from him without killing him, which would thwart the line of succession. I don’t want to take the Crown from him, but Aaron and Nathan are still of the opinion I might do it by accident.

“I don’t know, My Lady. The Dragon King and Amakhosi have advised me it’s possible, but I’m not interested in taking the Crown, Your Highness. I enjoy my life in the human realm.”

The Winter Queen waved her hand to reveal a bound man and woman to the left of the throne. Or, perhaps the wave of her hand had teleported them along with all of the hardware. There was no way to know without asking, and I wasn’t inclined to ask.

The woman was bent over, her neck and wrists in wooden stocks, and a man was whipping her from behind. I watched in horrified fascination as he flicked his arm and the cruel leather snaked through the air before landing on her bottom, and her facial expression and scream broadcast how much the impact hurt. He dropped his hand to his side, observed her ass as if deciding upon the best spot for the next strike, and then lifted his arm, set his aim, and let the whip fly once more. I cringed with every strike, and again with every scream, and was grateful for the comfort and security of Horse’s arm around me.

After several of these shots, I shifted my attention to the bound man. He stood in front of a post and his leather-bound wrists were looped over a hook above his head, lifting him so he was on tiptoe. His cock was in a metal cage much too small — so tiny even a Rabbit would have trouble fitting into it. His balls had a rope wound around them and tied to the ground, so when he went on tiptoe he pulled them painfully. I noted his nipple clamps were attached to the hook over his head, and realized he’d have to choose whether to hurt his balls or nipples.

Neither looked like a grandparent. In the human realm, most would have assumed them to be in their early to mid-thirties, as Rabbits live for around one hundred and fifty to two hundred years and we age slower. Luckily, Bears have a similar lifespan.

“They’re both wearing a large butt plug,” The Winter Queen informed us, “and I don’t believe you can see your grandmother’s nipple clamps from here, but rest assured she’s aware of them.”

I stared at Her Majesty’s feet because I knew I’d get us all in trouble if I glared at her right now.

“You may speak with them one at a time,” Her Majesty continued, “but your Grizzly Bear will have to take the place of the one you’re speaking to.”

Now, I looked her in the eyes and said, “They can burn in hell before I let you do that to my husband.”

Instead of looking pissed, she seemed intrigued. “What
would
you let me do to him?”

I sighed. “He has to be in control during sex. If you can have normal vanilla sex with him, and if he
wants
to have sex with you, you both have my blessing. It has to be his decision, though.”

She tapped her long, glossy black nails on the arm of her throne and muttered, “Vanilla sex with a Grizzly Bear. Could be interesting.”

She stood and held her arms out to the side, and her outfit transformed from a dress befitting an evil Queen to a black corset, long black silky sleeves that magically stayed in place, and high-heeled black thigh-high boots. She walked down the steps with purpose, and I suddenly wished I was the one about to have sex with her. She glanced at me and grinned. “We can work something out later, little bunny. Go speak with my slaves. You have until your Grizzly Bear and I are finished.

I looked at Horse. “If you don’t want to, just say the word. You don’t have to do this.”

He grinned. “Sex with The Winter Queen? I’m in, Gabs.” He turned to the Queen. “I have a few stipulations, Your Majesty. We don’t leave this field, and you do nothing to shield us from Gabby, Aaron, or Nathan — or vice versa. Also, if I ask you to stop doing something, it stops, and you don’t block me from being able to ask you to stop.”

She waved her arm and a bed appeared on the other side of her throne, and Nathan reached for my hand to walk me to my grandparents as Horse walked the other direction with Her Majesty.

I stood in front of my grandparents and asked, “Do you know who I am?”

The man with the whip struck as I asked the question, and I looked to him and asked, “Can you stop doing that while we talk?’

“I have my orders, ma’am. Sorry.”

Aaron raised his voice a little to say, “My Lady?”

The Winter Queen spoke from the other side of the throne. She didn’t speak loudly, and yet I heard her as if she were standing beside us. “Whip her if she doesn’t answer truthfully, or if she refuses to answer, or takes too long to answer. Otherwise, let your arm take a break.”

The man dropped his hand to his side and looked at us with a nod.

I asked the woman again, “Do you know who I am?”

“Yes. You’re my Dwight’s daughter.”

“Did you know about me before today?”

She didn’t answer, and without Horse’s arm around me for comfort, I jumped as the whip struck her from behind.

“Yes! Yes! I did!” she shouted through her pain. She closed her eyes to try to get on top of it, and then opened them and let me see her sincerity as she added, “I’m sorry for what you had to go through.”

“When did you find out about me?”

“Your mother and her parents wrote letters to each other, and I had someone intercept their correspondence so I could read them before they were delivered. When the letters stopped, her parents tried to find out why, but as slaves they had no way to leave to check on her, or to hire someone to do so on their behalf. I made sure their owner kept them on a tight leash, as we didn’t want them to find out your mother was dead, because we feared Dwight had killed her.”

“Did you investigate? Did you
know
he’d killed her? Did you knowingly leave your granddaughter to be raised by someone who kills and rapes without remorse?”

She nodded but didn’t say anything, and I let Nathan put his arm around me for support as I saw the whip fly through the air once again. These strikes seemed to be a great deal more painful than the ones the whipmaster had given her when the trio had first appeared, and she screamed in agony and her knees gave way, but she quickly got her feet back under her before she choked herself any worse on the wooden stock.

My grandfather gave me the answer I’d already known, deep in my heart. “We believe your mother grew into a young woman and he didn’t want her anymore, so he killed her. We were told he was close to you and didn’t represent a threat to you.” I nodded and looked to the ground as I took in his confirmation. The girls Dwight had raped had looked like my mother when she was twelve, not like the young woman she’d been growing into.

“I liked your mother,” my grandmother told me. “She was too good for our son. Too sweet, too pure. I knew he’d sully her.”

“She thought you didn’t think she was good enough because she was a slave.”

“Well what were we supposed to say? Our son wasn’t good enough for a slave? The Royal Family can’t say that. Our only explanation had to be that she wasn’t good enough for him. Didn’t matter it was the other way around.”

“Couldn’t you have invited them back, once you saw they were going to get married even without your permission? Once you realized he’d take her away where no one could protect her from his evil?”

“Don’t you think we did?” my grandfather practically spat. “Once he was there, he decided he
liked
it there.”

“And when I found out I had a granddaughter I’d never meet, my heart broke,” my grandmother said. She looked a whole lot like my aunt, and I could see my dad’s eyes in hers.

For the first time, I looked towards the bed, and saw The Winter Queen riding my husband. I smiled as I heard his moans of pleasure, and looked back to my grandparents.

“When did you first know something wasn’t right with my father?”

My grandfather winced as he shifted off his toes so he was nearly flat on his feet. His balls weren’t pulled down as far now, but his nipples were stretched farther up. I hurt for him but knew better than to try to release him. His eyes looked old and tired as he said, “When he was three or four, I caught him tearing the wings off a wind sprite. Poor little thing — I carried her home because there’s no way she’d have made it without being able to fly. She cried the whole way and my heart broke for her.”

“What did you do to your son?”

“He was seven before we realized he
liked
watching his whipping boy have to pay for his crimes. We didn’t know it wasn’t a deterrent, yet. We tore the hell out of his whipping boy’s back, until it looked like the wind sprite’s had, and Dwight cried as if it hurt him, but…
we didn’t know
.” He looked at me again, his eyes forlorn. “We didn’t know. I’m so sorry. We didn’t know.”

I looked at my grandmother. “You knew.”

She shook her head and the whip struck her again. She shook her head again and said, “There was no way I could’ve known, either!”

The whip struck her twice with even more force, and she burst into tears, “Okay, I wondered! I didn’t know for sure, but his tears seemed off! I couldn’t believe my little boy could enjoy watching something so awful, so I ignored what my gut told me! I’m sorry!”

I looked at the man with the whip. “How do you know when they’re lying?”

He shrugged. “It’s my gift. I’m valuable to Her Majesty.’

Yeah. I bet. And somehow, things had been arranged so I’d know for sure if they were telling the truth. I owed Aaron in ways I’d never be able to repay him.

“You both know I was born in human form?”

My grandfather’s look told me he hadn’t known and he wasn’t pleased, but my grandmother nodded, her eyes soulful. “Please don’t hurt my brother.”

“How do you know I could hurt him?”

“The legends say you can, and how else could you have the political pull you’ve amassed? You’re standing between the Dragon and Lion Kings, and you’ve convinced The Winter Queen to let you question us with benefit of the Lie Detector.” She said his title as if it were his name, and I glanced at him again, wondering what his story was. I didn’t have time to worry about him, though, so I looked back to her. “Why didn’t you tell your husband I was born human?”

She shook her head and the whip hit her twice before my grandfather practically yelled, “Because it would have fallen to me to report it to the King so you’d have been killed, had I known!”

I leaned against Nathan a few seconds and then stepped away from him as I drew in the energy of Faerie and ordered, “Explain!”