Lethal Rider

by Larissa Ione

Kynan’s temper snapped, and he started for Lance, intending to beat him to a pulp, but before he reached the threshold, he ran into an invisible wall that felt as solid as a steel barrier. Wraith grabbed him before the crushing head pain could take hold.

  “You know what, buddy?” Wraith said. “They aren’t worth it. Not now. But later …” He jabbed his finger at Lance and bared his fangs. “You’re mine. And dude, I play with my food.”

  Thirty

  Regan felt so damned useless. While Ares took off for Sheoul in an attempt to send a message of warning to Hades about Pestilence’s possible ability to get into Sheoul-gra with Idess, Thanatos tried to summon Reaver. Regan… she took a shower. Thanatos had been adamant that the hot water and steam would make her feel better.

  It had felt good to wash away the smell of the Aegis ship and the salt water, but when she stepped out of the shower, she was still tense. As she dried off, she tried her best to calm herself, because the cramping pains in her belly and back seemed to get worse when she was worked up.

  Please, please don’t let this be labor. Yes, the fact that they didn’t yet have Pestilence was a huge concern, but right now, her own fears were surfacing. For eight months she’d avoided thinking about motherhood, since the baby was going to Kynan and Gem. But things had changed. She’d fallen for the baby, and she was falling for its father.

  That would have been a good thing in a normal world, maybe. But so much uncertainty was going to surround her son’s birth, and so much weight was being placed on his tiny shoulders. She wanted to bear it all, and she wished like hell she knew how.

  Thanatos tapped on the door. He entered, his bone armor clacking, tension making the scorpion on his neck sting his jugular.

  “Your friends are here.” He flexed his fingers at his sides. “Kynan and Decker. Arik is here too, with Limos and Ares.”

  Full house. How perfect, given that she felt like crap and wasn’t sure she wanted to hear what Kynan had learned.

  “Give me a minute to get dressed.”

  “Need help?”

  “No, I—” She broke off at the quirk of a smile on his lips. “I think,” she said wryly, “that if you helped, it might take long enough to get out of here that our guests would become suspicious.”

  “Good.” He strode over to her and put his mouth to her throat. With a little rumble, he scraped his teeth over her skin in a blatantly possessive marking. “I want them suspicious. I don’t want anyone fucking with you ever again.”

  Ever again? What did he mean by that? They’d both avoided talk of the future, because truly, the future looked so bleak, so uncertain. In Regan’s case, she just didn’t dare to plan. She’d had her life torn apart so much, and each time she’d thought her future with a family was secure the ground beneath her feet fell away again.

  Thanatos stepped away and moved toward the door. As he exited, he looked back over his shoulder. “No matter how bad Kynan’s news is, I’ve got you, okay?” Before she could respond, he closed the door softly behind him.

  Choking back emotion that seemed to scald her throat, she finished dressing and joined the others in the great room.

  The tension in there was as thick as an Oni demon’s blood. But she was glad to see that Than’s nightwalkers were back at work. Peter gave her a respectful nod as he slipped into the kitchen.

  Kynan and Decker were sitting stiffly on the long bench that ran the length of one side of the trestle table. Ares, Limos, and Thanatos were standing, fully armored, as if they were waiting for Ky and Deck to attack. Reaver was there, and he and Arik had angled themselves between the two groups as if prepared to prevent a battle from breaking out.

  When Kynan saw Regan, he and Decker both came to their feet. She felt Than’s gaze on her as she crossed toward them, her palms sweating and her gut churning. The expressions on her fellow Elders’ faces were the grimmest she’d ever seen.

  She stopped next to Thanatos and didn’t beat around the bush. “Tell me.”

  Ky and Decker exchanged glances. “It’s bad, Regan,” Ky said. “It wasn’t a spell or possession. Our colleagues planned your kidnapping and the baby’s sacrifice based on some kind of bullshit interpretation of the prophecy.”

  “No.” She shook her head so hard her wet hair stung her cheeks as it slapped against her face. “I don’t believe that. You’ve got to be wrong. Talk to them again. I’ll talk to them. This can’t be right. They wouldn’t do that to me. To us.”

  “I’m sorry,” Kynan said. “There’s more.”

  The glow that surrounded Reaver flickered as he said roughly, “More?”

  Regan listened in disbelief and horror as Kynan described what had gone down in Scotland. The Horsemen didn’t react until Kynan got to the part about Harvester’s possible involvement.

  Reaver’s wings flared. “Harvester helped them? As a Watcher, the risk would be…” Reaver shook his head.

  Kynan rubbed the stubble on his jaw. “They said they had angelic help, and they used blood magic in the ward against me. Only an evil angel would use that kind of spell. They also had Harvester’s silver charm. She could have told them how to find your keep and how to find a way around the baby’s ability to keep Regan safe.”

  “How could anyone find a way around the baby’s ability?” Arik asked.

  Reaver looked troubled. “There are ways around anything. You just have to find the right combination of magic, evil, herbs, power, whatever.”

  “I just hope they were smart enough to not tell her the location of the new headquarters.” Ky had been careful to keep that information from the Horsemen as well, deftly avoiding any reference to Scotland, or even Europe, while he spoke.

  Regan had no words. How could people she’d known all her life do something so inconceivable?

  “Regan?” A touch of stressed-out Texas twang had leaked into Decker’s voice. “You okay?”

  “I just…” Sweat dampened her temples. She counted to three, doing her best to keep from breaking down. “What do we do now?”

  “We salvage what we can,” Ky said.

  “What do you mean, salvage?”

  Decker and Kynan exchanged another glance before Ky spoke. “Lance and the others took everything they could to the new HQ. And then they destroyed the old one. I don’t know how long they’d planned this, but they knew exactly what they were doing. They promoted four Guardians to the Sigil, and they’re actively seeking support from all Regents worldwide. Since they hold headquarters, they have the advantage. Val is trying to get support for our side, but we’ll be lucky to get twenty percent of the Guardian population to back us.” He blew out a shaky breath. “We’re now the Rebels, and they’re the Empire. Regan, the Aegis is broken.”

  Thanatos sensed something was wrong with Regan, maybe even before she realized it herself. Kynan’s announcement that The Aegis had broken settled over the room like a shroud, but where everyone else erupted into curses, Regan went still and silent, her face draining of color and her hands clutching her belly so tightly her fingers went white.

  Very gently, Thanatos settled his hands on her shoulders and pulled her against him, her back to his chest, bracing her. He dipped his head, letting his lips brush her ear. “You okay?”

  She didn’t respond. She was trembling so hard her teeth chattered. Thanatos’s heart felt like it had been dragged behind a car going eighty on fresh, hot asphalt.

  “Regan?”

  “They were my family,” she whispered. “I gave them everything, and they tried to hurt me. They tried to kill my son.”

  Yeah, and someone was going to pay for that. “They’re bastards, Regan. They never deserved you.”

  “I needed them. Every family I was fostered out to gave me up. The Aegis was all I had.” She swallowed over and over, trying to hold back tears. “Belonging to The Aegis meant that I wouldn’t be unwanted anymore.”

  He turned her around so she was facing him, and the devastation in her expression skinned him alive. She’d dedicate
d her life to the organization, had given them her freaking body to use when they’d sent her here to seduce him, and they’d thanked her by offering her and her baby up as a sacrifice.

  He’d asked what her personal objective was when she’d come to seduce him. Now he knew. She’d felt she had to make herself indispensable to—wanted by—the only family she’d ever known. She’d not wanted to be given up.

  Those bastards. Those fucking bastards.

  “You’re not unwanted.” She didn’t look at him, so he hooked his finger under her chin and lifted her face to his. “Do you hear me? I want you. I want you and our son. When all of this is over, when Pestilence is gone and the world returns to normal, I want you here with me.”

  Her eyes met his in surprise, but he had no idea how that could be. Had he not given her enough signals? Had he not made it clear that she was his? He didn’t make cradles for random children, he didn’t kidnap random females, and he definitely didn’t tell random strangers that he’d fathered an entire race. She was part of his life now, and that was that.

  She was his.

  “What if the world doesn’t return to normal? What if the world does return to normal, and you don’t need me to help you stay calm anymore?” She looked around wildly, and Than knew she was seeking something to organize or straighten. “What if—”

  Than cut her off with a finger to her lips. “Shh,” he whispered. “Count it out.” And wait, What if the world does return to normal, and you don’t need me to help you stay calm anymore?

  Did she honestly think that how he felt was dependent on her ability to give him something?

  Fuck, The Aegis had messed with her head, hadn’t it.

  There was a sudden shrill ring of a phone, which Than barely heard through the buzz of disbelief in his head.

  Ares swiped his fingers over his neck, and his armor disappeared. He snared his cell phone from his khakis’ leg pocket. “Cara? Cara, shit.” The phone fell from his trembling fingers, and then he was armored again and racing for the door.

  “Ares!” Limos ran after him. “What is it?”

  “Pestilence. He’s at my place. Hurry!”

  Kynan gestured to Than. “Go. Deck and I will stay with Regan.”

  “I can’t leave her.”

  As Ares and Limos disappeared through the front door to open a Harrowgate, Regan reached up and feathered her fingers over his cheek. “Go. Stop him. If you want the world to return to normal, you’ve got to stop him.”

  “When I get back, we need to talk.” He kissed her, lingering only a second before turning to Ky. “Thank you.”

  Than jogged after his brother, sister, and Arik, praying this was just a minor skirmish Pestilence had planned as an annoyance. But as Than stepped out of the keep and opened his Harrowgate, something went wrong. The gate, usually a shimmering portal, was blackened and twisted, its surface undulating like oil on water.

  Than tried to close it, threw himself backward, but it sucked him in like quicksand.

  Thirty-one

  The second Thanatos was out the door, Regan made a beeline for Than’s library. She hadn’t even needed to count to get out of the panic she’d started to feel. An emergency usually made her think straight.

  And she hoped to hell that Cara was okay. Regan didn’t know Ares’s wife very well, but the woman had been nice to Regan. And anyone who could charm hellhounds definitely possessed a likability factor.

  “Regan.” Ky came after her, Decker on his heels. “What are you doing? You should rest.”

  “And what did Gem tell you when you said that to her when she was pregnant?”

  He sighed. “She suggested I shove a blunt object someplace really painful.”

  “There you go.” Regan searched Than’s shelves for the book she needed. And there, in Than’s collection of almost every holy book known to man and demon, was a Holy Bible.

  Her hand shook as she took it off the shelf and placed it in the cradle Than had left in the corner, his leather tools scattered beneath it.

  “Ah…Regan?” Decker asked. “You okay?”

  “Peachy.” She turned to the guys. “Ky, I want you to put your hand on the Bible and swear something for me.”

  Kynan’s dark eyebrows shot up. “You know that any oath sworn on a holy book is merely morally binding unless it’s accompanied by magic.”

  “Duh. But that’s what I’m counting on. You’re the most moral person I know.”

  “I don’t understand.” Ky eyed her like she maybe needed a straightjacket. “Are you sure you shouldn’t sit down?”

  “Just put your hand on the Bible.”

  She was pretty certain he was humoring her, but he did it. “Now what?”

  “Swear to me that if anything happens to me, you won’t fight Thanatos for his son.”

  Kynan straightened. “What? Regan, we decided that the best thing for the baby would be for me and Gem to raise it.”

  “Yeah, and that’s the thing. We decided. Thanatos hasn’t had any say in any of this. We did what we did for the sake of the world, but we steamrolled him while holding onto this righteous idea that we were doing this grand thing. We were so sure we were right. We’re no better than Lance and those bunch of assholes. At this point, Thanatos needs to make the decisions that will keep our son safe. He deserves that, at least.”

  “And what about you? What do you deserve?”

  She glanced at the cradle. “I’m not sure what I deserve, but I know what I want.”

  “And that is?”

  “Thanatos and the baby.” If they’d have her. Thanatos had said he wanted her, but other people had said that, too. Then they changed their minds. Or tried to kill her.

  The nightmare she’d had about Thanatos killing her flashed through her head. She hadn’t had that dream since she’d been here, but now the images came back, as vivid as they’d been every night for months. She’d been convinced the nightmare was a warning, and maybe it was, but if so, she had to take precautions.

  “The Bible, Ky.”

  He let out a long, frustrated breath, but he bent over the cradle and once again lay his palm on the book.

  “Now, swear that no matter what happens to me, no matter what Thanatos does to me, you will not make any attempt to take his son away.” She glanced at Decker. “And you won’t let anyone else try either.”

  “I swear,” Ky muttered.

  “Good,” she said brightly. “Now, I think we should prepare some qeres-coated weapons.”

  “We don’t have any qeres. Lance and the others have it.”

  “Nope. I grabbed a vial of it when I was on their ship.”

  Decker grinned. “Awesome.”

  “Now we just have to hope one of the Horsemen can hunt that fucker down.”

  Regan touched her fingers to her belly as another cramp struck. “And something tells me they need to hurry. You might want to put Eidolon on notice. I think the little pony is wanting out.”

  Pestilence was such a fucking bastard.

  Thanatos had experienced a lot of death in his life, but this… this went beyond death. This was carnage. And how the hell had Pestilence hijacked his Harrowgate like that? Whatever he’d done, it had trapped Thanatos in Finland, unable to even summon the gate again.

  Unable to get back to Regan.

  He had no doubt that whatever was going on at Ares’s place had been a ruse to lure Than into using the tainted Harrowgate, but he also had no doubt that whatever Ares was dealing with was very real, and very violent.

  His fury blended with the effect of all the death around him, leaving his ability to think as fragmented as a shattered window. He tried to call Kynan to check on Regan, but his rage was too encompassing, and he crushed the phone in his hand. After that, only the need to kill was left in his thoughts.

  And there was so much to kill.

  Here on the outskirts of Helsinki, humans were in the throes of some sort of malady that made them go crazy and slaughter each other. Thanatos stoo
d among the remains of a family killed by their father in their own house, his scythe dripping with blood. Than had taken down the father, but not before the man had hacked his wife and three sons to death.

  His scalp prickled, and he whirled as a Harrowgate opened up across the living room from Than. Pestilence stepped out, naked and dappled with gore. That was disturbing enough, but what truly made Thanatos’s chest cavity grow cold was his brother’s appearance. This wasn’t the male who had appeared human even after his Seal had broken.

  This was a demon. A beast with eyes as black as tar, skin as pale and veiny as marble, and elongated claws that could gut a killer whale. Hatred and evil had ravaged everything that had once been Reseph, right down to his appearance.

  Pestilence hissed, his fangs a good inch longer than they’d ever been. Jesus. “You enjoying this? You like wading knee-deep in blood and guts, you fucker?”

  “Reseph.” Than made one last plea to the demon who used to be his brother. “You’ve got to be in there somewhere.”

  “He’s gone,” Pestilence roared. “When will you assholes get that through your thick skulls? He’s gone, and I’m sick of all the goddamned reminders of him, of you, of all that he cared about. I’m wiping the slate clean and starting over. Your whelp is next on my list.”

  Protective fury shuddered through Than. “You will never touch my child.”

  “Oh, I will. Even if I didn’t need to kill him to break your Seal, I’d kill him for fun. For spite. To ruin your fucking life.” He cocked his head. “Though maybe I don’t need to. With your temper, you’ll probably kill him yourself. That would be awesome.”

  As much as Than wanted to think he could refuse Pestilence’s bait, his grip on his scythe was so tight that the handle seemed to fuse to his flesh. Maybe because Pestilence had voiced the concern Thanatos had been trying to deny; that he might be a danger to his own child. The dead children on the floor, victims of their own father, slammed it all home like a baseball bat to the skull.