Starting a Ryot (The Hounds of Zeus MC Book 3) Read online

  STARTING a RYOT

  The Hounds of Zeus MC

  Book 3

  By Faith Gibson

  All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  The author acknowledges the copyrighted or trademarked status and trademark owners of the wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction.

  Copyright © 2020 by Faith Gibson

  Published by: Bramblerose Press LLC

  Editors: Jagged Rose Wordsmithing, Candice Royer

  First edition: August, 2020

  Cover design: Jay Aheer, © Simply Defined Art

  Cover photography: Golden Czermak, © FuriousFotog

  Cover model: Thomas Tourville

  Dedication

  To all the members of my reader group, The Front Porch.

  Acknowledgements

  Writing this book has been hard with everything going on in the world. My tribe has been steady, though. Whether they are there in chats, calls, or in spirit, I couldn’t have made it through this book without them all.

  Candy, Kerstin, and Nikki – thank you for the awesome feedback. Each one of you had a hand in making this book so much better.

  Jay, you are a trooper. With all you have going on in your own life, you still manage to create such beautiful artwork that is my covers.

  To all the wonderful readers in my group, thank you for taking time out of your days to make me smile and let me ramble on.

  To the man: Here’s to another year together. I love you.

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  A Note from The Author

  Coming Soon

  About the Author

  Other Works by Faith Gibson

  "Now hear another monstrous sight: Beware:

  The sharp-beaked hounds of Zeus that never bark"

  ~ Aeschylus, "Prometheus Bound", 5th century BC

  “Mother Earth, hear me calling

  I’m your daughter, you’re my home

  Sister moon, hear me calling

  In the night, we are not alone

  Father Sun, hear me calling

  Let your strong light shine in me

  All my ancestors, stand by me

  Teach my spirit to be free.”

  Pagan Chant – Origin Unknown

  Prologue

  Rhiannon

  Rhiannon walked over to the window and looked out. The house next door hadn’t changed much over the last ten years. She wondered if Jimmy’s parents still lived there. If they did and she saw them outside, maybe she could get them to help her. Rhi was looking for any type of movement outside when her bedroom door opened. Her captor had a plateful of pizza in one hand and a grape soda in the other, and he placed them on the dresser.

  “Just in case you get hungry.” He didn’t say anything else before leaving her alone again.

  She was hungry, but did she trust him not to poison her? He said he was protecting her, so that had to count for something. But it didn’t mean he wouldn’t drug her. He’d already proven that when he knocked her out. Rhi had already decided to bide her time, so if he did drug her and she passed out, that would make her time there in her old home go by quicker without her having to interact with him. Rhi picked up a slice of pizza and sniffed it. It didn’t smell funny, and there didn’t appear to be any type of powder sprinkled on it. She shrugged, then took a bite. Rhi moaned around a mouthful of extra cheese. God, how she’d missed pizza. She devoured the three slices and downed the soda. Never again would she take greasy food for granted. She wiped her hands on the paper towel he had brought, then resumed staring out the window.

  Movement next door on the second floor caught her eye. Was that… Jimmy? It looked like him, but she couldn’t be sure. Rhi reached for the lock on the window when she felt her body getting numb. “Son of a bitch.”

  “Momma, what’s wrong with the bunny?”

  “It looks like a larger animal attacked it. That’s a hard lesson nature teaches us. There are always bigger, stronger of our kind we have to watch out for.”

  “But I want to help it.”

  “You can’t help it, Baby.”

  “But I can. Momma, please. I have to try.”

  Momma sighed, smiling. “Okay. And when it dies, I’ll help you bury it.”

  Rhi sat down on the ground next to the bunny and cried for the tiny creature. She didn’t understand how something could attack such an adorable animal. A breeze blew through the trees, whipping Rhi’s hair around her head. Rhi concentrated on the rabbit. She closed her eyes and prayed to the goddess, the way her momma taught her. She had no idea how long she sat outside with the animal, gently rubbing it’s back where it wasn’t harmed. When her mother returned to take her inside for the night, she gasped.

  The bunny, which had been happy in Rhi’s arms, startled at the presence of someone else and wiggled until Rhi set it down. It hopped away, stopping next to a larger rabbit.

  “Rhi… Honey, what did you do?”

  “I fixed it.”

  “But how?”

  “The way the goddess told me to.”

  “Oh, Rhi. I knew you were special, but that…” Momma sat down next to Rhi and grabbed her hands, looking at Rhi’s palms. “Rhiannon, you have a gift, but it’s yours and yours alone. You can never tell anyone what happened. Not even your daddy. Okay?”

  “But why, Momma?”

  “Because it’s too special to share with anyone. Promise me you’ll never tell anyone how you helped the bunny.”

  “I promise.”

  Rhiannon’s back ached. When she opened her eyes, she realized why. She had fallen asleep on the floor. No, she had passed out from being drugged. Again. Stretching her legs, she noticed something strapped around her ankle. It was a piece of black plastic attached to a band. She pulled on it, but it wasn’t coming off. What have you done to me now?

  Chapter One

  Rhiannon

  Rhiannon ignored the preacher as he droned on about the same things he had for the last ten years. One would think the man would find something different to talk about. There were sixty-six books in the Bible, but he only taught from those in the Old Testament. Rhi had been raised pagan, so she tried to tune out what he yelled about. Fist pounding, spit flying. Why he felt he had to yell to get the message across was beyond her. Ever since she and her father had come to live in their new community,
Rhi had been the outcast. Whenever she found herself in trouble, she had to read the Bible as penance. What she found was Jesus of the New Testament was a kind man. One who loved everybody, much like her goddess. When she brought that up – not about the goddess, but that Jesus was kind – her preacher yelled at her for insolence.

  Her father had left the punishment up to the preacher since the man was the shepherd of their little town. Rhi hated them both. Hated her father for taking her away from their home after her mother died. Hated him for allowing his mother to tell him how to raise Rhi. Hated the preacher for keeping Rhi from having friends. For keeping her away from the plants. Away from anything resembling normalcy. Rhi had gone from a loving home where she and her mom tended the gardens daily, laughing and enjoying life to the fullest, to one where she wasn’t allowed to speak to anyone other than the other girls who lived in the small community. Instead of going to public school with hundreds of kids her age, Rhi sat in a classroom with forty kids of varying ages.

  “Ow,” Rhi hissed to herself when the older woman standing next to her pinched her arm. Rhi glared daggers at her father’s new wife. Well, she wasn’t new; they’d been married for years.

  Marion wasn’t supposed to be there. This morning’s sermon was for the single women. Single men had already heard their daily lesson, and couples would hear their lecture next.

  “Anna, you need to pay attention,” Marion scolded, using the name the preacher insisted upon because it sounded more biblical and less worldly. Rhiannon loved her name. She’d been given it by her mom who loved old rock ’n’ roll music. Another thing they had shared a love for. While kids her age listened to the newest hits, Rhi had loved singing along with her mother to the older stuff.

  Rhi looked around. The other single women had already left the church, which explained why Marion was there. Rhi had been lost in her head again. Without a word to her father’s wife, Rhi stood and strode out of the building and over to the dining hall. Her stomach rumbled, but she wouldn’t get to eat for a while. Not until the others had been fed. She hated her job of washing dishes. Another punishment for being different. For being difficult, as the preacher put it. She hated her life. Nothing about it was hers.

  Martha scowled at Rhi as she did every time Rhi was even a minute late. Rhi ignored the older woman and got busy cleaning the dishes from the couples’ meal. Every day was the same. Get up. Shower. Head to the dining hall for breakfast, then clean the dishes. Go to church. Go back to the dining hall. Clean more dishes. Eat quickly so she could clean even more dirty plates and utensils. Rhi’s hands had long ago gone from smooth to a wrinkled mess. Hands that were no longer allowed to feel the softness of flower petals or the silkiness of leaves or the soothing richness of soil as she tended to the plants that had once filled her life with happiness.

  Normally, Rhiannon rushed through her job so she could get back to the quiet of her little cabin. Once she finished with the noon meal, she had a couple hours’ free time where she enjoyed her solitude. The two women who shared the cabin had jobs that kept them away all day, and for that, Rhi was thankful. Today, though, she had been summoned to the preacher’s home. She spent her two hours of solitude dreading the upcoming session. Couples who came to the town already married were allowed to live together. Single men and women weren’t permitted to be together without a chaperone, and that happened to be the preacher. Rhi had caught the eye of a man named James. An older man whom Rhi had no interest in. But that didn’t matter. Women in their community had no say in anything. Everything was dictated by the men, overseen by the preacher. Another reason she hated him.

  Instead of a smaller cabin like the rest of the residents had, the preacher’s home was a three-bedroom house which sat back away from everything in their town. Rhi dragged her feet as she walked through the trees. Rhi couldn’t stop and enjoy the greenery. She wasn’t allowed to commune with nature, and that was the one thing that had killed her soul soon after being taken from her home. A guard was two steps behind, always accompanying Rhi so she wouldn’t stray from the path.

  This wasn’t the first time she and James had been together for what the preacher deemed their courtship. They had been meeting three days a week for several weeks. Rhi found it ridiculous. She might have been thirteen when she was thrust into this new life, but she never forgot what it was like out in the real world. Where families sat down to dinner together. Where kids were allowed to play in the streets or visit each other’s homes and watch TV or play video games. Where they rode the bus together to school and ate lunch together. Where boys and girls laughed and flirted with one another. She would never forget, because one day, she would be back in that real world.

  One day needed to come sooner rather than later because the preacher had promised James he could take Rhi as his wife. It didn’t matter that Rhi couldn’t stand James. It didn’t matter that she flinched any time he tried to hold her hand. If the man tried to kiss her, she’d probably vomit from repulsion. She didn’t find him attractive in the least. In fact, she found no redeeming qualities in him whatsoever. Why couldn’t one of the younger men have sought her out? Oh, because she “needed a firm hand.” Rhi needed a man who could keep her in line. Yes, that’s what the preacher had told her the first time he’d summoned her to his home and informed her of James’s intentions to marry her. Rhi had proven his point when she laughed and said she refused to marry James or anyone else in their town. It was one of the few times she had spoken in the last few years.

  Sure, there were some younger men who were nice enough to look at, but even they weren’t nice enough for Rhi to give up on her dream of one day escaping their little community. The men weren’t allowed to take a wife unless they were over thirty. Rhi tried not to imagine what those younger men did to relieve their sexual tension. She couldn’t imagine masturbating in a cabin with two or three other men sleeping only feet away. They probably took care of business in the shower like she did.

  When she arrived at the preacher’s home, he and James were waiting for her outside. She knew today would be one of those times she was allowed to accompany James into town. The first time had been a shock to her system. Rhi would never forget it.

  “Anna, today you are going to accompany James to town for supplies. This will allow you both a bit of privacy. I have arranged a set of clothes for you to wear on your trip so you will blend in with the outsiders. You are not to speak to anyone other than James. You will represent our town with the same meekness I have attempted to instill in you over these last ten years. If you disobey, you won’t like the consequences. Am I understood?

  Rhi nodded. The preacher sighed, but he didn’t chastise her for not vocalizing her words. She hadn’t spoken to anyone since the day she argued about marrying James. When the women joined the preacher in hymns, Rhi simply moved her mouth, pretending to sing along. Music, which had once been a huge part of her life, held no joy when the message was praising a god she didn’t believe in.

  “Go inside and get changed. The clothes are in the yellow bedroom. You have two minutes.”

  Rhi was excited at the prospect of leaving their little town, even if it was with James. It had been ten years since she’d been in the outside world, and she wanted to see how much it had changed. What she had missed out on. What she had to look forward to one day. She hurried inside and switched out the drab cotton pants and top for a dress that looked like something her grandmother would have worn. Did the preacher think this would make her stand out any less? When she walked back outside, both men eyed her appreciatively. As much as the man spoke against sins of the flesh, he didn’t school the lust in his eyes when he raked them down her bare legs.

  “Where are the pantyhose? It’s too cold for you to go without them.”

  Rhi just stared at him, refusing to answer. Grabbing her by the arm, the preacher dragged her back inside. “Put the stockings on, Anna, or you’ll find yourself in solitary for a month.”

  That didn’t sound so bad to her.
When she was confined to the square concrete room, she didn’t have to clean all the dishes or have her “dates” with James. On the other hand, she wanted to go into town. She grabbed the offending garment off the bed, kicked off her shoes, and sat down on the floor with her back to the preacher. She hadn’t worn stockings since she was little, and as soon as she pulled them up her legs, she cringed at the way they clung to her. Rhi hated the way the nylon rubbed against the hair on her legs. That was another thing she hated about where she lived. Women weren’t allowed to shave. The preacher was probably afraid someone would use the razor to slash their wrists.

  Rhi shoved her feet back into her shoes and pushed past the man to head back outside. He grabbed her wrist, stopping her from getting far. “I’m warning you now, Anna. You make one move while on the outside, and you’ll regret it.” Rhi faked a smile and nodded all while contemplating his murder. No, she wouldn’t ever actually kill someone, but a girl could fantasize. In her heart, she knew what the preacher and his little community stood for was wrong, but she was one against many. She continued to stare at him innocently, and finally, he loosened his grip. When she walked back toward the front door, the preacher’s wife, Nadine, was standing at the kitchen entry, arms crossed over her chest. Lines creased Nadine’s forehead, making her look older than she likely was. Her gray hair was plaited, and the braid hung over her skinny shoulder.

  Ignoring the scathing look, Rhi continued on outside where James was waiting. His eyes darted to Rhi’s legs, then he schooled his features. Probably because the preacher was right behind her. “James, you know the rules. I expect you back within three hours.”

  “Yes, Brother Josiah. Thank you for this opportunity. I won’t betray your trust. This way, Anna.”