by Larissa Ione
A couple of weeks? Why then?
Ares squeezed Than’s foot. “Someone will be here in a couple of hours for your next injection. We’ll be back when we can.”
He and Limos left, and hell, no, Thanatos wasn’t planning to be around for the next injection. For some reason, he could move again, and he was getting the fuck out of here.
Summoning all his willpower, he rocked his body until he built up enough momentum to roll out of bed. Hitting the floor hurt like a son of a bitch, but the pain only spurred him on. Something was tugging at his insides. Danger. Death. Both. Except the pull toward danger was a different sensation than anything he’d ever felt. It was almost as if he was the one in danger… but the feeling was distant. Whatever it was, it called to him, and he had to go.
He ripped the IV catheter out of his hand and dragged himself to the sliding glass door. Grunting, he shoved onto his hands and knees and crawled outside. Death and danger still yanked at him, two distinct ropes pulling him in opposite directions. The danger rope seemed more… urgent, but in his current, weakened state, he couldn’t risk dropping himself into what could be one of Pestilence’s traps. Death, however, filled him with energy.
Right. Death first, danger second.
Letting the tug to death guide him, he opened a Harrowgate and lurched through it. Instantly, hot, humid air hit Than like a furnace blast. The stench of rotting flesh and burning wood stung his nostrils. Weakly, he lifted his head and frowned at the sight of scorched earth and fallen trees. Than’s internal GPS was telling him he was Down Under, but he’d never seen it like this before.
So much death. Explained why he’d been drawn here.
“Hey there, man.” Thanatos jerked his head around to the shirtless male in skin-tight pants that kept shifting colors to blend in with the smoky gray and black background.
“Hades.” His voice sounded like he’d swallowed shards of glass. “Is this… Australia?”
“Yeppers.” Hades strode several feet, his boots crunching down on charred bones that appeared to be both human and demon. “Since it’s been claimed in the name of Sheoul, I can hang out here.”
Of course. Hades was as bound to Sheoul as a demon, although for a very different reason. A fallen angel, he’d been forced to run Sheoul-gra, the place where demon and evil human souls were kept, unless Azagoth, also known as the Grim Reaper, allowed him out.
“Azagoth let you… leave Sheoul-gra?”
“He gave me an hour,” Hades said, his voice degenerating into a sarcastic drawl. “His generosity knows no bounds.” He nudged Than with his boot. “Now I guess I’m stuck helping you. Recover quickly. I want to hit one of those new succubus whorehouses before I have to head back to the Gra.”
A million pinpricks stabbed Than’s muscles as he struggled to prop himself against a fallen tree. The blue-haired bastard just stood there and watched.
“Why… help… me?”
Hades’s face went as hard as the landscape around them. “Because your fucking brother is pissing me off. While I can appreciate what he’s trying to do, starting an Apocalypse and all, I get ticked off when he noses in on my business.”
Thanatos wiggled his toes, relieved to feel them again. “What are you talking about?”
The blue veins that spiderwebbed Hades’s pale skin grew brighter and started to pulse. “He’s trying to dismantle Sheoul-gra and destroy Azagoth.”
“Oh, shit.” Without a Sheoul-gra, any demon or evil human killed in the human realm would be free to wreak havoc in their phantom form.
There was also a running theory that Azagoth might be the Horsemen’s father, but so far, no one had been able to verify that. Until the rumor could be confirmed, Thanatos would rather the guy not be killed.
“Oh, shit, is right. Who’d have thought your screwball brother could have gone so serial-killer fucktwat insane?”
And that was the big problem. Reseph had been the kindest, most even-tempered of all of them. For him to have turned so evil did not bode well for Ares, Limos, and Than.
He became aware of a branch biting into his back, and at the same time, a low-level vibration started in the pit of his stomach. His body was coming to life.
And it was hungry.
Along with the hunger, the tug toward danger grew stronger, became a pulsing awareness in the back of his brain. What the hell was it?
“He grows stronger every day, Thanatos. The souls I watch over are starting to reincarnate at rates I’ve never seen.”
Than frowned. “You think Pestilence is responsible for that?”
“Maybe not directly, but as the Apocalypse grows closer, souls are leaving me faster than they’re coming in. Pestilence is getting a big boost in the demon population, and I’m growing weaker. You need to kill him.”
Thanatos rocked his head back against the tree trunk. “I intend to repair his Seal, not kill him.” Than had found evidence that Reseph’s Seal could be repaired, but only if Than stabbed him with a specific dagger at a specific time. Problem was that he hadn’t figured out the “time” detail.
“Criminy. Whatever. Just do something. My very life comes from those souls. I need them.”
“Criminy?” Than stared. “Seriously? Big, bad, mohawk-haired demon says ‘criminy’?”
“Yes, criminy.” Hades rubbed his bare chest. “And, fuck off.”
Than closed his eyes. “That’s better.”
The vibration in Than’s core became a gnawing hunger, threaded with malevolence. The scent of blood hit him, and he snapped open his eyes. Hades was on his haunches next to Than, a knife in his hand. Blood flowed from his slit wrist, and Than’s fangs punched down as the starvation that had been kept at bay for eight months roared to the surface.
He lunged at Hades, but the male caught him around the back of the neck and slammed his bleeding wrist against Than’s mouth. Thanatos’s brain blanked out as his body was hijacked by fierce hunger and pure animal instinct.
“Ow, fuck.” Hades’s rough voice was a mere buzz in Than’s ears.
At this point, he didn’t give a hellrat’s ass if he was savaging the male’s arm. All that mattered was filling the hole inside him that, when emptied, led to indiscriminate feedings and a lot of death. Fortunately for Than, Hades was one of the few people who knew about Than’s need, although he didn’t know the extent of it.
Time swirled in multi-colored circles until finally, Hades pulled away and left Than leaning back against the tree, his body completely charged. The hunger was gone, but the other, odd tingle of impending danger still vibrated at the base of his skull. It was like a homing beacon, screaming at him to go.
“Thanks, man.” Shoving to his feet, Than flexed his muscles, testing them after so many months of disuse. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flicker of movement in the burned-out forest, and knew he’d get a good workout in a minute.
They had company.
“No problem. I owed you one.”
Keeping one eye on the creatures slinking from out of the shadows, Than casually flicked his finger over the crescent-shaped scar on his neck, and instantly, his bone armor snapped into place. Next, he summoned his scythe. “More than one. I’ve sent you a lot of souls, asshole.” He was about to send Hades more.
“Yeah, fuck you.”
He started to flip out his standard response of, “Can’t have sex,” but he remembered that yeah, he could. Thanks to Regan and her betrayal, he knew he could. But Hades was a dude, and Than wasn’t that desperate.
But the urge was there, so powerful he suspected that it was similar to what Ares felt, a coil of tension that, if not released, resulted in death and destruction.
Good thing then, that Thanatos was in the mood for a little D&D, and not the role-playing game.
“So, what are you going to do now that you’re not frozen solid?”
“First, I’m going to kill those demons and that fallen angel behind you.” The scorpion tattoo on his throat began to sting his neck, its ta
il moving like a pulse, reminding Than that death was what he was meant for. Never one to argue with fate, he swung the scythe in a powerful arc, lobbing off one of the demons’ two heads. He glanced back at Hades, who was looking like he might want popcorn to go with the action. “Then I’m going to do the same to the woman who betrayed me.”
Three
Regan sat on the floor, staring at the vampire who had saved her from one threat and was planning to deliver her into the hands of another.
“You can’t take me to Thanatos. He’s incapacitated—”
“Stupid female,” he barked. “I’m taking you to his keep until he returns. Several of us have come up with a plan to get him back.” His voice softened. “And there are things you need to know, warnings I can’t tell you here—” Blood spurted from his mouth, and he jerked forward, catching himself on the podium.
A crossbow bolt pierced his sternum.
“Get away from her!” Lance, one of Regan’s fellow Elders, rushed toward them, crossbow in one hand, wooden stake in the other. More Guardians followed on his heels, including Suzi, who had moved into headquarters to assist Regan in her final months of pregnancy. From the side entrance, Elders Kynan and Decker burst through the doors.
“Don’t kill him!” Regan shouted, but Lance ignored her, driving the stake through the vampire’s heart.
“Dammit, Lance!” Kynan rounded on Lance as the vampire smoldered. “That’s not how we do things.”
“That’s not how you do things,” Lance said. “Not everyone in The Aegis agrees with your squeaky clean new way of treating the enemy.”
Suzi crouched next to Regan. “Are you okay? Should I call your doctor? Oh man, I should have been with you—”
“I’m fine,” Regan assured her, but Suzi wrung her hands, worry bleeding from her pores. “But you know, I could use a cup of your awesome honey chamomile tea.” Suzi grinned, clearly relieved to be able to help. As she took off, Regan remained on the floor, gathering both her thoughts and her breath. “Why were Thanatos’s vampires here? How did they get in?”
Juan, another Elder, kicked at the remains. “We captured them a couple of weeks ago. We needed to see the daywalkers ourselves. Somehow they escaped their cells.”
“You morons,” Regan snapped. “Don’t you think we’ve done enough to Thanatos?”
“We didn’t do it to the Horseman,” Lance said, his expression so smug she wanted to slap him. “It was your report that brought his vamps to our attention. We needed to study them.”
Oh, damn. Once again, she’d managed to screw Thanatos, just in a different way. Her guilt manifested into bitter anger, which she aimed at Lance.
“The Apocalypse is on our doorstep,” she growled, “and you wasted time with vampires? Nice.”
Lance scowled. “You’re the one who volunteered to take over as vampire expert when Jarrod died last year. You should have known that when you discover a new breed, we’re going to want to dissect it.” He cast her a nasty glance. “You aren’t going to cry about it or some shit, are you?”
God, she hated when he did that. He and a couple of the other Elders seemed to think that as a woman, she’d break down into tears about every little thing. They’d been the negative voices when Regan’s promotion into the Sigil was on the table, and now she never passed up an opportunity to show them she was just as capable as they were. She didn’t have a chance to rip into him though, because Kynan intercepted and steered them back on topic.
“Dissect it.” Kynan shoved his stang blade into its slot on his hip belt. “We have standard operating procedures for new species, and those include informing other Elders about plans to capture. They don’t include dissection.”
“You’ve been busy with your happy little demon family,” Juan said. “We didn’t see the need to make a big production out of capturing a couple of bloodsuckers.”
Regan fought the urge to scream in frustration. “What if the Horsemen see this as yet another betrayal? Did you think of that?” The Aegis’s relationship with Limos and Ares was already strained, thanks to what had gone down between Regan and Thanatos, and this could only make things worse.
“I’m more concerned about the impending Apocalypse than what the Horsemen think, but the fact that the vampires escaped is definitely troubling.” Lance nodded at Juan. “Let’s check the cells to make sure no other nasties are loose.”
As they took off, Decker glared after them. “I hope they get eaten,” he muttered.
“How are you feeling?” Kynan offered her a hand, but Regan refused it and pulled herself to her feet on her own. She’d had enough of being touched tonight.
“I’m feeling surprisingly good.” She winced as a tiny foot caught her in the ribs. “When I’m not being kicked.”
Kynan unzipped his leather bomber, revealing a weapons harness loaded to kill an entire legion of demons. “Gem said the same thing when she was pregnant.” Ky’s daughter, Dawn, was almost a year old now, and the cutest little dark-haired thing ever. Regan wondered what color hair her child—a boy, she’d learned a couple of months ago—would have, given that Thanatos’s hair was blond and hers was dark brown. “I know we talked about this before, but if you need someone to talk to about pregnancy stuff, Gem is there for you.”
Ugh. This had been an uncomfortable subject ever since Juan had brought up the fact that Regan didn’t have a mother to share the experience with or to ask for advice. No, Regan’s mother had committed suicide-by-demon after giving birth to Regan. As Lance had once put it, “You should feel lucky she didn’t off herself the second she found out her demon-possessed lover knocked her up.”
He was such a dick.
Regan offered a polite smile. “Thanks, Ky, but I’ll be fine.”
He nodded. “Offer still stands. When’s your next doctor appointment?”
“Tomorrow. Dr. Rodanski is concerned about the baby’s size, so he’s going to do another ultrasound and decide if we’re going to do a C-section instead of a natural delivery.”
“You really should see—”
“No.” She cut Kynan off before he could suggest allowing a demon doctor from Underworld General to take care of her. It was one thing to be working with demons to prevent the Apocalypse, but allowing one to touch her intimately? Not unless things got dire. Way dire.
“Regan,” Ky said. “Your body reacts badly to medication. You can’t have a C-section without meds and pain management.”
“Rodanski said he’d figure it out.” She hoped so, because what Ky, a former Army medic and physician at Underworld General, mentioned was a huge concern. The baby’s delivery could be potentially dangerous. Still, she wasn’t ready to deal with demon doctors and their alternative therapies.
Her stomach growled loud enough for Decker to hear. “Want me to get you something to eat?”
“I don’t suppose you have a chocolate milkshake in your back pocket.” She’d always been a bit of a health nut, but pregnancy had given her a major craving for all things ice cream.
He wrinkled his nose. “That crap will kill you.”
An image of Thanatos popped into her head, and no, it wouldn’t be the milkshakes that killed her.
“So,” she said. “Tell me why you’re here at this hour of the morning.” The boys exchanged glances, and her gut twisted. “What is it?”
Beepers went off, three at once. Decker grabbed his phone first. “It’s Lance. Fuck. Demons loose in the building.”
Instantly, Ky and Decker drew weapons and closed rank around Regan. “What the hell is going on? If we hadn’t come to discuss rousing Thanatos, Regan could be dead.”
Regan gripped the podium so hard her nails dug into the wood. “You were thinking about rousing him? Now?”
“Long story, but yeah. We came across new information. We need to consider waking him right away.”
“You’re a little late for that, Aegi.” The deep, rumbling voice from the doorway drained every drop of blood from Regan’s face. She broke
out in a cold, clammy sweat as she looked up to see Thanatos at the auditorium entrance, his big body radiating danger even his armor couldn’t contain.
And she knew, without a doubt, that her nightmare was about to become reality.
Also by Larissa Ione
THE DEMONICA SERIES
Pleasure Unbound
Desire Unchained
Passion Unleashed
Ecstasy Unveiled
Sin Undone
LORDS OF DELIVERANCE SERIES
Eternal Rider
Immortal Rider
Lethal Rider
Acclaim for Larissa Ione’s Previous Novels
IMMORTAL RIDER
“Provides a thrilling ride for readers… Ione balances all the angst with plenty of action, sexual tension, and dark humor.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Ione plunges readers back into her creative, dark, sensual, and violent world without missing a step… a fast-paced multilayered story with all the ingredients that fans of Ione’s wicked, sexy, dark paranormal romances have come to expect… Larissa Ione’s acerbic wit, imaginative, vivid world and larger-than-life überalpha heroes make for a thrilling, fun, paranormal romp. I’ve read a number of awesome books this year, but I have to say Immortal Rider is my favorite of 2011.”
—USAToday.com
“Gritty… Twisted family dynamics and treachery play out on a global scale in this hard-edged yet sexy adventure. Ione’s worlds are always complex and darkly tinged. Intense to the max!”
—RT Book Reviews
“5 stars! Larissa’s world building skills are off the charts with this series… engaging… sizzling… highly entertaining… a wonderful blend of romance, action, and drama.”
—SeducedByaBook.com
“This is one of the best books Larissa has written to date. I’m shocked by the sheer wonder of it all… If you’re dying to get your hands on a great paranormal romance that has a few zingers and pushes the envelope, which Larissa has done, you need to read this book.”