Lethal Rider
Page 35

He stepped out into the hall, where a hellhound stood guard, and Than glared. “Where were you when The Aegis stole her, you mangy beast?”
The hound glared back, but offered no explanation. Not that Than expected one, even if he could communicate with it. The hound hadn’t seen trouble in The Aegis’s arrival any more than Than had. And since Regan went with them willingly, the beast wouldn’t have acted until it was too late.
“Ah, don’t worry. I’ll nail those bastards. With railroad spikes.” Than reached out and patted the mutt on the head. “I’ll save you an arm or leg.”
He left the hellhound and stalked down the hall, texting Ares as he did. Aegis kidnapped Regan. Tried to kill the baby. They’re safe now, but where the f**k are you? Need to know Azagoth’s status.
Than jammed the Send button and shoved the phone into his pocket as he headed outside, where he was immediately hit by the stench of blood, bowels, and death. His heart became heavy at the sight of the charred remains of four daywalkers, including Viktor, that lay among the corpses of several Guardians. Hard to tell the exact number of Aegi, since there wasn’t much left of them. The hellhounds had made fast work of the humans.
Hard to believe that Than had once hated the beasts. Now he wanted a kennel full of them. As long as you didn’t try to suppress their basic instincts, and you agreed to let them have full dominion over the creatures they battled—allowed them the spoils of war, as it were—they were awesome allies. Plus, they hated Pestilence, and an enemy of an enemy, and all that.
There was movement to his left, and he whirled, scythe in hand, to find Artur standing there, his head bowed. Blood and ash streaked Artur’s pale skin, and in his hand, he held a stake.
“I failed you,” he rasped. “So many of us… failed you.”
Than went taut. “If you’re talking about Regan being taken, it wasn’t your fault—”
“No.” Artur swallowed. “There were traitors amongst us.” He waved his hand at the vampire dust. “Those who died were loyal to you. But the others… they ran.”
“Who, Artur? Where are they?”
Artur held up the stake. “I caught them. I’m sorry they betrayed you, Bludrexe.” Artur had helped most of the daywalkers through their transitions, so he had to be taking the betrayals as hard as Thanatos. Hell, for centuries, Artur had helped seek out Than’s…indiscretions…and bring them back here.
“Don’t be.” Than kicked himself for not acknowledging Artur’s pain sooner. He’d make it up to the vampire. Somehow. “You didn’t know.”
A bitter smile twisted Artur’s mouth. “But I did. At least, I suspected. I was one of those who held a grudge against you. I loved you like a father, Thanatos. I’ve always loved you. But your tight hold chafed. We’re destroying ourselves to be free of it. Forgive me.”
“For what?” A sinking sensation made Than’s gut tank. “Oh, God, Artur. What did you do?”
Artur’s eyes grew liquid, and the stake in his hand trembled. “I found the wildings and convinced them to rebel. But I swear, I didn’t want your son dead. I didn’t think they’d take it so far.”
“You?” Thanatos’s throat felt raw, as if he’d been screaming. “And Dariq? Who killed him?”
“I did,” Artur said. “Just as I killed all of them, Bludrexe,” Artur said. “Your keep is safe.”
“You killed everyone who was plotting against me?”
“Save one,” Artur whispered. He reached up and ripped his shirt from the collar to the hem. And there, fresh and swollen over his heart, was a tattoo—a tattoo of Thanatos, with Artur putting a noose around Than’s neck. “This is why the others ran. You’d soon know the truth. I’m so sorry, Thanatos.” He brought the stake to his chest, the point piercing the center of the tattoo. Blood trickled down his torso.
Than’s breath lodged in his throat. “Don’t. Artur, listen to me—”
“I failed you.”
Thanatos lunged, but Artur was faster. He jammed the stake into his own heart, and Thanatos watched helplessly as his oldest, most trusted creation became nothing more than a blackened pile of charcoal on the ground.
Twenty-nine
Regan woke up with stomach pains. They were worse than the Braxton Hicks she’d experienced before, but they weren’t regular. Damn…what if sex had triggered labor? With her due date less than a week away, the baby could come any time, and while in any other circumstance she’d be happy to help it along, right now would be a very bad time if they couldn’t nail Pestilence.
A sense of urgency drove her out of bed and into a pair of maternity pants and a sweatshirt. Even though a glance at the clock told her she’d slept less than an hour, she couldn’t believe she’d fallen asleep, not when there was so much to do and so much going on. It was as if the baby had taken away her soul-sucking ability and given her narcolepsy.
The hellhound, whom she was going to call Velcro from now on, was waiting for her outside the bedroom door. He followed her, his nails clacking on the floor, until she reached the great room, where Thanatos was just entering from outside. Tension came with him, a tangible crackle in the air.
“You don’t have to worry about my daywalkers anymore,” he said, his voice a dull monotone. “They’re dead.”
“Oh my God,” she breathed. “All of them? Did you—?”
“The Aegis killed those loyal to me, and Artur … he killed those who weren’t. He’s gone, too.”
Regan wasn’t sure what to say. Thanatos had protected his vampires for thousands of years, had kept them with him and gave them a home in the only way he’d known how. They had been as much his family as The Aegis was hers.
“I’m sorry,” she said, and before she could even finish, he pulled her against him and held her tight. A lump swelled in her throat. In a way, this was the most intimate they’d been. She wished she could do more, wished there was a way to ease his pain the way sex eased his violent tendencies. She couldn’t bear to see him in so much pain. If she could take it, she would.
“And I’m sorry about your colleagues,” he said roughly. She knew he wasn’t really sorry, but it was nice of him to say.
They stayed that way until Velcro took it upon himself to separate them by wedging his nose between them, and that fast, the world crashed down on them again.
Regan glanced up at Thanatos. “I need your phone.”
Than said nothing, merely dug a cell phone from his pocket and paced as she dialed.
Kynan answered on the second ring, but she didn’t allow him to say anything beyond a snappish “What?”
“Ky, it’s Regan. I need to you to keep your mouth shut until I’m finished talking, and then you had better give me the truth.” She spilled the events of the day, keeping one eye on Than. With each word, the storm cloud surrounding him grew more intense, until she could almost feel the static undercurrents of it on her skin.
Her voice was quavering by the time she was done, and for a long time, Kynan didn’t say anything. Finally, his gravelly voice, much more torn up than usual, came over the airwaves.
“Are you and the baby okay?”
All she could manage was a quiet “yes.”
“And Thanatos? Is he level?”
Saying yes would be a lie, but “no” wasn’t entirely accurate. “For now.”
“Okay, listen to me. If our people have been compromised with possession or a spell, this could be widespread. Pestilence knows the locations of too many regional headquarters. Fuck, this is worse than—”
“Worse than what?” she blurted.
“Nothing. Stay close to Thanatos and keep him calm. I’ll be there as soon as I find out anything.”
He hung up just as the door burst open and Ares rushed in. “Than, got your text. Fuck… Regan, you okay?”
Not even close. But she nodded.
Ares shifted his gaze to Thanatos. “Our brother is gearing up for something big. I went to Underworld General to find Idess—”
“Did you get her?” Than interrupted.
“That’s what I’m trying to tell you. Pestilence took out the anti-violence spell inside the hospital. Brought in his minions and turned the place into a f**king meat grinder. He got to Idess before I did.”
“What do you mean, he got to her?” Thanatos said tightly. “Did he kill her?”
“He took her. Hades told you Pestilence was trying to destroy Sheoul-gra. With Idess, he can get in, just like we planned.”
Regan didn’t take her eyes off Thanatos. “Do you think he has the same idea about Azagoth? Maybe he wants to destroy Azagoth to prevent him from breaking your Seals and starting the, uh, good Apocalypse.” Not that any Apocalypse could be good, but at least three of the Horsemen would be fighting on the right side of it.
“Either way, this is bad news.” Anger laced Than’s words. “Pestilence will release all the souls from Sheoulgra. Millions of them. If that happens, it won’t matter if our Seals are broken, because the Earth is going to become a demon Disneyland.”
Kynan shook with rage and disbelief for a good five minutes after he hung up the phone. A moment later, his wife Gem hurried out of the bathroom, her red-streaked black hair wet, her hands fumbling with the ties to her skull-and-crossbones robe.
“I heard the phone ring. Who was it? Any news about Idess?”
“No.” His voice was lower and raspier than usual, and not just because he was exhausted after getting home only half an hour ago from the chaos at Underworld General. “It was Regan.”
He dropped the towel he’d wrapped around his waist after showering with Gem. They’d come home to clean up and check on their daughter Dawn who, thank God, had been here with Shade’s mate Runa and their triplets when Pestilence struck UG. It had been a stroke of luck that Eidolon had shut down the nursery a couple of days ago, although that had nothing to do with keeping the kids out of there. The hospital had needed more space for the patient overflow.
“Is she okay?”
“For now.” He tugged on his jeans and a sweatshirt. “But I gotta get to Scotland.”
“Why? I was hoping you could stay with Dawn while I head back to UG.”
He kissed her lightly on the forehead, wishing he could do exactly that. Right now he wanted nothing more than to hold his daughter and keep her safe from all the horrors that had invaded their lives.
“It’s an emergency. Some Elders did something really f**ked up, and I need to get answers before the Horsemen go crazy and kill us all.”
“When their Seals break?”
He tore open the closet door and spun the lock on the weapons safe concealed inside. “No. Like today.” The safe opened up, and he yanked out a weapons harness. “I need a spellcaster or exorcist. Pestilence killed ours in the attack on headquarters. I don’t suppose you know a good one.”
Gem sank down on the end of the mattress as if her legs had given out. They might have. She’d been working almost nonstop for weeks. He hated that. Hated that he and his wife were so exhausted they couldn’t find time to do anything together but sleep. Sure, they’d showered together just now, but only the soap had seen any action from either of them.
“You think someone in The Aegis has been possessed or is under an enemy spell?”
“It’s the only explanation.” The only one he’d consider, because the idea that his friends and colleagues had gone rogue, had planned to kill an innocent child, was just not possible.
Gem sighed. “Underworld General has a few magic users on staff, but you won’t want them knowing about your new headquarters.”
“I’ll get Wraith. With all the artifacts he’s found over the years, he’s got to have something that can break an enchantment.”
He finished weaponing-up, checked on his daughter, and then gave Gem a good-bye kiss that he hoped conveyed everything he felt for her. Lore’s pain when he learned Idess had been taken by Pestilence was still fresh in Kynan’s mind, the demon’s roar of anguish still ringing in his ears. Ky wasn’t sure what he’d do if Gem was in that kind of danger, but even the thought of it made his heart hurt.
He called Wraith during the fifteen minutes it took him to drive to the nearest Harrowgate, which sat in a sparsely populated suburban New York neighborhood, and then he gated himself to a remote beach in Scotland. Wraith showed up within five minutes, dressed in his beat-up leather duster, jeans, and combat boots. As the demon stepped out of the gate, which was camouflaged against a cliff face, he tapped the backpack slung over one shoulder.
“Got some potions, powders, and metal doodads. Something should help un-enchant people.”
Ky started up the rocky trail to the vehicle he kept parked in a nearby field, since the Harrowgate they’d just come out of was the closest one to the Aegis castle, and there was no way Ky was walking the twenty miles. “Are you sure?”
Wraith shrugged. “No, but it’s always more fun when there’s a risk factor involved.” He flashed fang. “We gonna get to kick some ass?”
“I f**king hope not.” Normally, Ky would be up for a battle, but he wasn’t up for a fight with people he’d worked with and trusted for years. “How’s Lore? Any luck locating Idess?”
Wraith kicked a rock and watched it plummet to the shore below. “Lore’s about how you’d expect. E had to sedate him, but it’s not going to hold him long. We got nothing on Idess.”