Page 15 of Rifted Hearts
There were many rift species that could take on an equine form but only one with poison fangs that could sink into flesh and psychic powers that could melt brains.
Kaveh had brought the mother of the baby repoequus on display in the petting zoo for him to ride. Mixed, since she could hold the shape of an Earth horse, but still dangerous.
Lyall’s warning came back to him, a nagging irritation from his subconscious. He pushed it away. Kaveh was human. He had to be. The drakones didn’t mess around outside their clan. The vet took care of Riftworld animals, and maybe his bosses had given him a dangerous one to play with.
Remi gave Amanita a hard look, and she glared back at him. The species was rare, and Remi had never encountered one before coming to the dude ranch. They were known for confusing their prey with awake nightmares, having a toxic bite that could do damage even to a drakone, and possessing an all-around nasty disposition.
On the positive side, she didn’t hate him for being ratkind, as a regular horse would.
Images assaulted the edges of his mind, views of blood and lightning, alternating with disturbing flashes of dismembered bodies of rodents strewn in sizzling pools of acid. A primal terror rose up in him, a sense of panic that he was stuck in a nightmare and couldn’t wake up.
Remi’s telepathic abilities revolved around emotions or images involving sexual attraction. He wasn’t sure how his ability could block a psychic attack by a repoequus, but hewas not about to let this damn demon horse ruin his date with Kaveh.
He pushed back at her onslaught with every horse porn image he could remember.
The awake nightmare of gruesome sights ceased, and Amanita huffed, which Remi chose to interpret as her being mildly impressed.
“Maybe Remi would prefer a different horse.” Jeanette had come up to them, eyeing Amanita with concern. At least the pretty blond wrangler had some sense of self-preservation, unlike Kaveh. “She had a foal recently and might be a little…skittish.”
The images from Amanita returned, this time tinged with fondness, and included a mental picture of the baby repoequus, complete with dripping fangs.
“Adorable.” Remi said that out loud, since this telepathic exchange had stretched his abilities to the max. “I’m sure Amanita and I will get along just fine.”
Remi directed that last part at Kaveh, who had been watching him with his head tilted, assessing him. Was this all a setup?
“Let me help you into the saddle.” Kaveh motioned to the platform, and Remi trotted up the steps and waited as Amanita was brought around. Fortunately, the repoequus had decided Remi was her kind of monster. He settled into the saddle, wincing as he stretched his thighs out and let Kaveh adjust his stirrups. This trip was far more athletic than he had planned on.
Kaveh swung into Ranger’s saddle, and the repoequus jerked forward to follow the real horse out of the corral without guidance from Remi. The vet glanced at him as they rode away from ranch. “You seem more comfortable on Amanita.”
“I’m getting the hang of things.” Remi decided to try to combine his seductive abilities with old-fashioned flirting, given that his encounter with Amanita had gone well. His voice grew sultry. “Although, if you have any suggestions on how I could move better, let me know.”
Kaveh nodded, not showing a hint of reaction to Remi’s best attempts to be suggestive. “Try to move with the horse. Sometimes we tell less experienced riders to sit as if they had a hundred-dollar bill in their back pocket they need to watch out for.”
Remi gave a few pelvic thrusts, pouring waves of lust in Kaveh’s direction.
“That’s better.” Kaveh gave him the barest of smiles then looked up and waved. Kat was riding toward them on a black-and-white-spotted horse, with Lyall trotting along beside him.
Remi held back a long sigh of frustration. He understood that Kaveh was ace, but he had never failed so utterly with a mark. Worse yet, the less his seductive wiles worked on Kaveh, the more his own interest in the man grew. That never happened. Yes, some of Remi’s marks were more attractive to him than others, but the sex was a chore, yet another job his father assigned to him.
“The terrier’s coming with us?” Kaveh’s face broke into a smile for the first time as he gestured at Lyall, who sat, tail wagging. Damn the man. None of Remi’s usual tricks did anything to the veterinarian’s chilly exterior, but the dog only had to sit on command and Kaveh was fawning all over him.
“Remi suggested I take him, and…” Kat’s adorable face scrunched in confusion, as his currently clear mind tried to make sense of his lust-dazed agreement with Remi’s plan last night.
“If Remi’s coming to the monstertown, Lyall might as well.” Kaveh gave a smile that was as reassuring to Kat as it was concerning to Remi. He again wondered if this was a trap. Even if Kaveh was human, his drakone masters must have told him about potential threats. The drakones hated and despised the ratkind, and the feeling was mutual.
More importantly, how the hell had Kaveh remembered Lyall’s name but barely exchanged a few words with Remi?
Remi was still stewing about that a half an hour later, when they descended the rock-strewn hill and headed toward the monstertown. The outer barrier to the interzone Lyall had mentioned had no visual manifestation, unlike the glimmering air rift in the distance. When they crossed the demarcation though, Remi sensed a shift similar to one during a rift storm, the natural laws of earth weakening, and his ratkind alter form coming closer to the surface.
Given how Amanita had tried to take off after a jackrabbit that crossed their path, the last thing Remi wanted was to reveal his chinchilla alter form, which could best be described as snackable, from the repoequus’s point of view.
The monstertown was a gated community of sorts, with an eclectic collection of half-buried trucks, shipping containers, and hunks of concrete forming a wall around it. Paint peeled off an ornate sign from before the Monster Apocalypse that read: Cactus Flower Estates. Ornate, wrought-iron gates flanked by a pair of stone Chinese guardian lions led into the main street of the development.
Kaveh and Kat dismounted as they drew close to a lean-to structure with a trough of water and wooden posts located about sixty meters from the gate. Remi had planned to pretend he couldn’t get off the horse by himself, but his heart wasn’t in it.
He swung off the repoequus, sending more naughty horse images her way. A ripple of emotion came from her, dangerously close to amusement.
“I can’t believe you rode Amanita out here.” Kat took her reins and secured them to a post in the lean-to. “She was so well behaved too.”
