Lethal Rider

by Larissa Ione

  Yawning, she sat up, expecting to see Thanatos in the corner chair, but he wasn’t there, either. Disappointment penetrated her drowsy haze, but in her belly, the little pony squirmed, and she smiled. She might gripe when he kicked up a storm, but movement was a good thing, and she was always comforted when she felt him.

  “Let’s find your daddy, kiddo.” Daddy. Wow. How far Regan had come from first thinking of Thanatos as nothing but a sperm donor, to being a father, and finally, a daddy.

  She showered and dressed in one of the new outfits Limos had brought her, silently thanking the Horsewoman for not having terrible taste. Limos might dress in girly, bright things, but she’d chosen much less flashy clothing for Regan. The black fatigues-style maternity pants and olive and black top were neat and practical, and the black leather sandals added a feminine touch without being too dainty.

  Hellhound on her heels, Regan headed to the great room, but was greeted only by silence. “Thanatos?” she called out.

  A faint “In here,” came from the library, and she scooted inside to find Thanatos hunched over a large wood and leather object in the corner.

  The hellhound plopped down on the floor behind her as she moved closer to Thanatos. “What are you doing?”

  “Working on a project.” He glanced up, his gaze heating when his eyes met hers. She flushed, remembering what they’d done last night. “I made you some pancakes. And waffles. And bacon and eggs.” He gestured to the three covered platters on his desk. “I wasn’t sure what you liked, and you said you can’t cook.”

  Her stomach growled. “I like it all. Thank you.”

  She lifted one of the covers off a platter and tossed a strip of bacon to the hellhound before taking one for herself. And geez, was she really feeding demon dogs now? This baby was turning her all mushy and stupid. God, she hoped that wore off once it was born.

  And once it was safely living with Gem and Kynan.

  The thought that had once come so easily now made her stomach clench. She rubbed her belly, feeling the shifting movements under her palm. A foot or hand pressed up against hers, and her heart swelled.

  I’d do whatever it took to make sure that being with me was what was best.

  Regan wanted to be what was best. But could she make it happen?

  “You aren’t eating,” Than murmured, not looking up from whatever he was doing. His hair hung down across his face, shielding his expression, but his bare arms flexed as he used slim metal tools to etch designs into hardened mahogany leather. “Will it spark your appetite to know that Viktor is innocent of plotting to kill our son?”

  Thank God. She was relieved for the baby, but also for Thanatos. He’d needed that. Badly. “How do you know for sure?”

  “I took him to Orelia, my tattoo artist. She didn’t find any deception in his actions. But I don’t suggest that you use your gift on his tattoo. Apparently, he wasn’t always a good guy.” Than looked over at her, one braid catching on his shoulder, and she had the urge to reach out and twirl it in her fingers. “Viktor will be taking the others one by one. Afterward, will you have a problem using your gift to read the tattoos? I was with Viktor for his, so Orelia could tell me about it, but I don’t have time to sit with everyone.”

  “Of course,” she said. “It’ll be nice to be useful.” Taking a bite of bacon, she craned her neck to get a better look at what Than was doing. “Do you do this often?”

  “Yep. I have a shed in the courtyard where I make historical reproductions. Keeps me calm. I need a distraction while I’m waiting for Viktor to come back with Artur.”

  “He means a lot to you, doesn’t he?”

  When Than didn’t answer, she reached out and ran her finger over the curved wood base of the project he was working on. “It’s beautiful. What is it—” She snapped her mouth shut, finally seeing what he was working on.

  A cradle. Thanatos was making a cradle.

  “What do you think?” His voice was velvet soft as he ran his palm lovingly over the smooth lines of the exposed wood rockers and then across the finely tooled artwork in the leather that had been stretched over the frame.

  Regan couldn’t speak. In the silence broken only by the hellhound’s panting breaths, her gaze flicked to the designs—animals, all in a fluid Celtic style.

  Finally, she found her voice, but what could she say? Could he still be hoping to raise the child himself, even after his own servants had tried to kill the baby? Even though every evil being on the planet would be gunning to kill the baby in order to start the Apocalypse?

  She got it now … she so got why he’d want to keep the baby. But until the threat from Pestilence was gone, neither of them could raise this child.

  She settled for, “It’s beautiful. Amazing.”

  He seemed to know what she was thinking, and very gently, he gripped her shoulders and turned her to him. “I know your plans for our son. You know I hate them. But we’ve fought too much as it is, so with the time we have until he’s born, we’re going to work through this.”

  “That sounds so reasonable.” She gave him a small smile. “Not at all like the man who stormed Aegis Headquarters and kidnapped me.”

  “Yeah.” He blew out a breath. “I was a little worked up.”

  “It’s understandable, given what I’d done to you.”

  “We’re past that. You’re the one who said we need to not take the easy way out. To talk about things.”

  She inhaled sharply. Was she ready to talk? He was right; she’d said they needed to. Like normal people. Yes, because an Aegis warrior with demonic powers and the fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse were perfectly normal.

  “Okay,” she said, bracing herself. “Since we need to talk, I want you to know that if things go well with Pestilence… you know, we stop him…” She counted out three pieces of bacon and fed them to the hound. Than waited patiently, which was weird. “So anyway, I was thinking that maybe we could work something out with the baby.”

  Swallowing hard, Than closed his eyes. When he opened them, it was as if a tiny, new light glimmered in them. “We’ll beat him, Regan. We will. For now, let’s concentrate our energy on stopping this damned Apocalypse. We’ll figure out everything else after that.”

  He was such a contradiction sometimes. His uncontrollable rages could mean death for thousands, and yet, when he was calm, he was one of the most reasonable, caring people she’d ever met. She couldn’t believe she’d once thought of him as a monster with a heart of ice. Now she’d seen that heart melt at the prospect of having a family, and somehow her own heart had opened up to let him and the baby in. But what if it was too late to figure out where their relationship stood?

  Regan’s stomach wrenched. “We might not have much time.”

  “Not ‘might’,” he said gravely. “Don’t. While I’m dealing with my vampires and keeping you safe, Limos and Arik have been working on a plan to trap our brother, and Ares is going to arrange for Idess to take him to Azagoth.”

  Right. The Grim Reaper. Last year he’d said that the guy was possibly his father, but as far as she knew, he hadn’t confirmed the theory.

  “And if Azagoth isn’t your father?”

  “We’ll be screwed if we fail to stop Pestilence when our son is born. The one definite we have is that I heard from your colleagues this morning. Arik said Kynan will be delivering your Guardians and the qeres today.”

  For some reason, now that the Guardians were on the way, she wasn’t sure she wanted them anymore. The tension between her and Thanatos was practically gone, and at this point, The Aegis could destabilize everything. Besides, some secret part of her wanted him all to herself.

  “Thanatos?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Are you going to be okay with what we’ll have to do to your brother?”

  Thanatos swallowed, making his tats undulate wildly. “I’ll have to be.”

  “I would think that even given all you’ve done and been through in your life, if there’s one tatt
oo you’ll need, it’ll be that one.”

  “Would you be upset?”

  “I don’t have any right to be upset.”

  “That’s not what I asked.” His tone made his words a quiet demand.

  “No.” She flushed a little. “You were right when you said I shouldn’t judge you and the way you cope with things.”

  He reached up and brushed her hair away from her cheek, letting his hand linger, and her heart stuttered. His soothing touch made her achingly aware of his capacity for tenderness, and with each brush of his fingers, she craved more. “I didn’t say that, exactly.”

  “Not exactly, but it’s what you meant. And you were right.” She rubbed against his hand like a needy cat. “I have a lot of experience fighting demons, but I have approximately zero normal life experience. And I have no room to judge in any case. I cope by rearranging the socks in your drawer and doing counting exercises.”

  “Show me.”

  “Show you how to rearrange socks?”

  He chuckled. “No, the counting exercises.”

  “It’s nothing special. Just pick a number you like. I tend to do things in threes.” She took his hand and placed it on the desk. “Now tap your fingers and count.”

  “Tap?”

  “Tap.”

  He cocked an eyebrow, but his long fingers moved beneath hers. It struck her that as old as he was, they should have been rougher, more calloused. But his skin was smooth and supple, his hands well-shaped and so … capable.

  “See,” she said hoarsely. “Don’t you feel calmer?”

  His voice was husky, his mouth curved in a quirky smile. “Strangely, I’m feeling the opposite of calm.”

  “You might be a big, bad warrior,” she huffed, as she drew her hand away, “but you suck at OCD.”

  He laughed, a throw-back-his-head stunner. “Maybe you can show me how to rearrange socks then.”

  “Oh, you’re hilarious.”

  He waggled his brows. “I have my moments.”

  More and more of those moments as they grew comfortable with each other, and Regan liked it. There had been too much ugliness between them and in the world. What terrified her was that she had no doubt more ugliness was coming.

  Yes, she and Thanatos had rounded a bend in their relationship, and he might have made it sound like he and his siblings and The Aegis were making progress, but in her experience, just when things started looking good … well, that’s when things went to hell.

  Twenty-six

  Regan had come around. Thank God. Oh, she was still planning to give up their son if they didn’t stop Pestilence, but by now he knew that it wasn’t because she didn’t want the baby. He’d seen evidence that she loved the child all along, but now she was less certain that giving their son to Gem and Ky was the right thing to do.

  Good, because Thanatos wasn’t going to let it happen. Regan might not believe he could keep their son safe from Pestilence and his forces, but once Than got the vampire situation straightened out, he’d have guards. He’d ask Cara for a pack of hellhounds. He’d hire a dozen dens of assassins. Hell, he’d build a freaking fortress if he had to.

  He would have his son, and he’d keep him safe.

  Which left another question. Would she want a role in their son’s life? Would she want more than that?

  His heart skipped a beat, a crazy little flutter at the idea that he might actually get more than he’d ever hoped for in this life.

  A family.

  Ruthlessly, he shoved that thought out of his head as he stepped from the shower. He’d worked out while Regan shared breakfast with the hellhound, and now it was time to meet up with Kynan and the Guardians who should arrive at any moment.

  Once he’d dressed in black jeans and a turtleneck, he found Regan in the library, a book in her lap—but her eyes were glued to the TV set.

  She turned to him, her cheeks burning red. “What is this? Vampire porn?”

  Well, shit. This was a little embarrassing. But mostly because now he wanted to throw Regan on the desk and play out the scene for real.

  “Yep.” Than watched a vampire on the screen fucking and sucking a human female while another vampire gnawed on her wrist. “Oh, and this is a good one. Muffy the Vampire Layer.”

  “It looks professionally made.”

  “It is. There’s a huge market for it.”

  “Are the…blood participants willing? This woman… and the now-anemic one in the bedroom were running from the vampires earlier.”

  “Sometimes the participants are willing,” he said, and then rolled his eyes at her gasp of outrage. “What? That’s half the turn-on for vampires. The hunting and take-down of the victim. Obviously, the females in this one are willing. They’re enjoying it.” He gestured to the screen with one hand and casually adjusted his erection with the other. “See, she’s having an orgasm.”

  Regan turned the color of an aroused Sora demon. And if her scent was any clue, the aroused part was right on target. “And you watch this?”

  Her huffy tone would have had more impact if a woman wasn’t moaning and crying out, “Oh, yes, yes, yes!” in the background. And if Regan wasn’t all breathless. And if Regan didn’t make those same sounds in bed. Her moans were a little deeper though, with a smoky, serrated edge.

  “I seem to remember you enjoying the feel of my fangs sliding across your neck,” he murmured.

  On screen, one of the males had dragged a female out of the bedroom and was rousing her by nuzzling the inside of her thigh, his fangs grazing her skin, his tongue flicking closer and closer to her center. When he covered her core with his mouth, Than had to bite his lip to stifle a groan. He hadn’t done that to Regan, and he suddenly wanted to… very bad. Like, his mouth watered and his fangs throbbed, and yeah, he was going to taste her when she came.

  He eyed the desk and wondered how fast he could get her out of her clothes. An erotic growl slipped from between his lips, and he swung back to her, his gaze focused on her like a laser.

  He was going to take her. Now.

  She came to her feet and met him halfway across the room, splaying her hands on his chest and lifting her mouth to his. “Desk?” she whispered against his lips.

  “We are so on the same page,” he whispered back.

  Carefully but urgently, he spun her around and lifted her onto the wood surface, not giving a shit that papers, pencils, and dishes from breakfast clattered to the floor. A snort came from the doorway, and quickly, before the damned hellhound could get into the room to clean up the damage, Than kicked the door closed. An unhappy yelp followed the slam of the door.

  Regan sighed his name and reached for his pants, but just as her fingers started to grapple with the zipper, the distinct whup-whup of a helicopter vibrated through the keep’s thick walls.

  “Jesus Christ,” he snarled. “Mother. Fuck.”

  “Definitely same page.” Regan’s voice was husky and fierce, and his inner warrior whooped in approval.

  “You Aegi have terrible timing.”

  He tore away from Regan, unquenched lust burning him from the inside out. After nearly ripping the library door off its hinges, he stormed to the front door. Habit and instinct had him shoving Regan behind him as he armored up and opened the door.

  A transport helicopter had set down about fifty yards from his keep. Men were bailing out of it, some in fatigues carrying weapons, and others more casually dressed, but without a doubt, these were Aegi. But where was Kynan?

  Regan nudged him. “You can put away the sword. I know these people.”

  Than looked down at the blade in his hand. He didn’t even remember drawing it. Cursing, he shoved the sword into its scabbard.

  “Could you get rid of the armor, too? It’s not necessary, and it’s going to put them on the defensive.”

  “Good. They should be.”

  “Thanatos.” She tapped her foot in annoyance. “We’re not your enemies. Please do this. For me.”

  Damn her. She knew
exactly how to get what she wanted from him. That could never be a good thing.

  Swiping his fingers over the crescent scar on his throat, he stepped out into the daylight as the armor melted away. “Halt.” The four guys in the lead froze, and the others followed suit. “Identify yourselves and your purpose.”

  “Oh, for God’s sake,” Regan huffed. “Do you automatically revert to medieval speak in front of Guardians? That’s Lance, Juan, Takumi, and Omar. They’re Elders. The others I don’t recognize, but they’re definitely Guardians.”

  Great. Good. But why the hell were they all here? He’d been expecting Kynan, and maybe Decker. Although it would be wise of Decker to not show up again. Ever.

  “Where’s Kynan?” he asked the guys.

  The one named Lance stepped forward. “He’s busy. You deal with us now.”

  How the fuck did these people know where his keep was? How could they see it? He had magic in place that kept his home invisible to most human and demon eyes. Once someone had been escorted through the magical field, they could see the keep after that, but new people … not so much.

  He supposed Kynan had given them the coordinates, but that didn’t explain how they would have been able to actually see the buildings.

  “The Elders can come in,” he said. “The rest of you … stay.”

  The four males came forward, and Regan greeted all but Lance with hugs. Jealousy and protectiveness nearly drove him mad, but ultimately, he was pretty damned proud of the way he didn’t rip their heads off and feed them to the two hellhounds slinking up behind them.

  Regan shot Than a withering glare. “Could you tell the hounds not to eat my friends?”

  “Sorry, boys,” he shouted to the mutts. “No snacks today. Go patrol for Pestilence.” The hounds snarled with ill-tempered tantrums, but they took off, howling their displeasure. The Guardians, meanwhile, looked like they might need a change of underwear. Funny.

  He turned to the humans, who were standing in a semicircle in the center of the great room. “Explain. How can you see my keep?”

  Lance smiled, and Than instantly hated him. There was something… sneaky about that one. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is that we brought Guardians and the qeres. We’ll leave the grunts and the rest of us will be out of your pissing range after we discuss some things with Regan.”