He lay where they’d left him, on a king-sized bed in one of the smaller guest rooms. Someone had put sweat bottoms on him, and a blanket covered his upper body. A hellhound lay on the bed beside him, and judging by the look Cara gave the hound, Limos figured he was supposed to be on the floor. But really, one didn’t tell a two-thousand pound, man-eating monster where to sleep.
“If we have to keep Than here long, he’ll need an IV to keep him hydrated,” Limos said, her voice betraying her anger so clearly that the hellhound bared its teeth as if she were a threat.
“We’ll also take shifts to keep him company.” Ares wrapped his arm around Carais aoune wers waist, and Limos swallowed, wondering if she and Arik would ever find that intimacy again. “What is it you’re worried about?”
Cara gestured to Thanatos. “See for yourself.”
This couldn’t be good. They all eased close to their brother, who looked as peaceful as if he was sleeping. Except his eyes were open. They stared upward, unmoving but aware. Limos tensed, knowing exactly what he was experiencing and how he felt. At least he was with family, and he knew no one would hurt him. He’d be kept comfortable and safe.
Cara tapped Than’s foot. “Watch.”
Instantly, Than reacted. Not his body… just his upper lip. And… holy hell… his teeth. His canines elongated into fangs a tiger would be proud of.
Ares stepped back, nearly knocking Limos over. “What the hell is that?” He turned to Limos. “Do you know?”
She couldn’t tear her gaze away, even when Than’s mouth went back to normal. “I have no idea. Is his Seal intact? Reseph… Pestilence… he grew fangs when his broke.”
Ares peeled the blanket away to reveal Than’s Seal, which, thankfully, was whole. But that didn’t explain the carnivore hardware. Was Thanatos as confused as they were?
“These past few days have been interesting as hell,” Ares muttered. “And by interesting, I mean f**ked up.”
“Yeah, and I’m part of that.” Limos took a deep breath, knowing she had to do this and bracing herself for Ares’s fury. “I’m so sorry for what I’ve done and all the lies I’ve told. I don’t expect you to forgive me, and I understand if you hate me—” She choked up at that, because while she might understand it, she couldn’t bear it.
And then she didn’t have to. Ares hauled her up against him so hard her breath was knocked from her lungs.
“I don’t hate you,” he said, sounding a little choked himself. “I hate what you did, and I hate that you lied for so long, but I meant it when I said I loved you no matter what. I was wrong to have taken that away from you and said you were as bad as Pestilence. Can you forgive me?”
Oh, God. He was asking for forgiveness? How stupid she’d been for ever doubting him. She’d been raised to believe that everyone was only a single word or a single act from hating and betraying you, and it had never occurred to her that love could truly be unconditional.
But then, no matter how angry she’d been at her brothers, she’d loved them. No matter how angry she was with Arik right now, he still held her heart. Why had she not figured all of this out before? Like, a couple of thousand years before?
“There’s nothing to forgive, Ares,” she whispered.
He squeezed her tight, and then gently set her aside. Relief made her legs a little wobbly until she looked over at Thanatos. He had so much to deal with on top of her lies.
She sawn on the mattress and took Thanatos’s hand. “Hey. I know you can hear me. Everything is going to be okay. We can get Kynan to explain about Regan—” She broke off as Than’s lip peeled back again, and there went the teeth.
This time, though, crimson spokes flashed in his yellow irises, and a scorching burst of heat came off his body. His tattoos writhed, the scythe on his neck slashing at the scorpion.
Taking a deep breath, she eased off the bed and backed away, but the banked rage in him continued to burn.
Looked like they not only had the mystery of why he was fangy, but it was also apparent that he was still a very, very angry Horseman, and that was never a good thing.
Thirty-six
Reaver stood atop Mount Megiddo and cursed. Cursed until clouds swirled above him in an angry black vortex, and then he cursed some more. He couldn’t get to Heaven, not until his wings grew back. This was like being an Unfallen again, stuck between realms and practically powerless.
At least here he could call to his Heavenly brethren… assuming they’d answer. His body was full of marrow wine—but not enough. He craved it so bad he was shaking, and he either needed to score some more or get clean, and right now his brain was too pickled to consider the clean thing.
His scalp grew tight, and he turned as a strike of lightning torched the earth a few yards away. When it was gone, Harvester stood there with a burlap bag in her hand, her eyes glowing, her lips as blood red as the wine she’d forced down his throat.
“Someone’s a little pissed.”
Pissed didn’t cover it, and it took every ounce of restraint Reaver had not to launch himself at her. “What have you done?”
Cocking her head, Harvester smiled at him. “You just found out why I kept you prisoner, I see.” Thunder cracked, and rain pelted them with big, stinging drops. With a wave, she cast an invisible umbrella that shielded them both. “We couldn’t very well have you telling The Aegis not to send anyone to f**k Thanatos, now could we?”
Some of his fury evaporated, replaced by a sudden suspicion. She didn’t seem at all upset that Than’s Seal hadn’t broken, which told him she’d known it wouldn’t. Ending the Horseman’s celibacy hadn’t been the goal, had it?
“How did you know that his Seal wouldn’t break?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Of course I thought it would break.”
She was lying. But why? He looked up at the churning clouds and then back down at the evil fallen angel and realization dawned. “You know what Thanatos’s agimortus is, don’t you?”
“No idea.”
“You lie.” He lunged ,for her, but without his wings, she was faster, and his hand closed on empty air.
She stood three yards away, smirking. “I would never lie. I’m outraged that you would think that of me.”
“Outraged, my holy ass.” He ground his teeth. “How is it that you know about Thanatos’s agimortus and I don’t?”
“I’m special. You’re an angel with no memory of his past and with especially dirty wings. Oh, wait, you don’t have any wings at all, do you?” She reached into the bag she was holding. “Brought you something. Enjoy.” She tossed a bottle at him, and he caught it one-handed before realizing he should have let it break apart on the rocks.
Marrow wine. The flask burned his skin, almost as if it were sinking roots into his palm. Rain began to pelt him. Harvester was gone.
The wine… he watched in horror as his body disconnected from his mind, watched as he uncorked the flask and lifted it to his lips.
Stronger than this. I’m stronger than this.
The words penetrated his brain, but not because they were true. It was because he’d said them before, and he’d been wrong. But when? Why? The hazy memory was about as substantial as a phantom and harder to pin down. But the fact that he had any recollection, no matter how fuzzy, was a miracle.
Maybe a touch of Arik’s military-honed ability to recall important details was what had clung to Reaver when Gethel had separated his soul from the human’s. Interesting.
A thousand bursts of pain shot through his hand, and he looked down to see that he’d squeezed the flask so hard it had shattered. Clay shards were embedded in his palm, wrist, and fingers. Marrow wine mingled with blood and rain and ran down his arm and puddled on the parched ground at his feet.
Part of him wanted to get down on his knees and lick the wine before it seeped into the dirt. Somehow, he resisted.
Harvester was not going to win again.
Harvester flashed back to her place, where Whine was waiting for her, head bowed, eyes downcast. She’d been in a shitty mood when she’d found Reaver at Mount Megiddo, where he’d been cursing up a storm. Literally. She hadn’t wanted to see him again so soon after dropping him off, but orders were orders, and only a fool ignored Lucifer.
Feed his addiction, Lucifer had said. Keep him sodden. Easier said than done. Although she’d fed Reaver a steady diet of marrow wine while she had him in chains, he’d never asked for it, even when withdrawal tremors and fever set in. She’d stood nearby, wine in hand, waiting for him to beg.
Never once had he done so. She’d been forced to overpower him and dribble it into his mouth. Once he tasted the wine, he took it freely, but he’d possessed the incredible ability to never ask for it.
Such a proud, powerful angel.
She both admired and despised him for that.
Bitterness stung her tongue as she beckoned Whine to her. In a heartbeat he was before her, kneeling and kissing her feet. The scrape of his teeth on her skin infuriated her—the only time he was ever even a little careless in the way he touched her was when the full moon was rising in his native Hungary, which meant that she’d need to release him for three days in order for him to work off his warg energy.
Dammit. This day just kept getting better and better. Eons of planning was coming together and yet… it was so close to falling apart.
Arranging for the Aegis girl to get pregnant had been one massive gamble.
In nine months, that gamble would either pay off for Harvester or ruin her.
In nine months, the Apocalypse would either be averted… or it would break the world.
Thirty-seven
Arik stared at the empty space where Reaver had been, wondering when and if the world was going to get back to normal. His best guess amounted to when hell freezes over, and wasn’t that a joke, because if Pestilence got his way, hell was going to be right here on earth.
“Dammit,” Kynan said. “This is a mess.”
“A mess?” Arik pivoted around. “Understatement of the century, don’t you think? The Aegis is f**king lucky they didn’t break Than’s Seal with that little stunt.”
“At least we were trying to do something to stop the Apocalypse,” Kynan snapped. “The R-XR is sitting on its damned ass. By the time they act, it’ll be too late.”
The military had always been reactive rather than proactive, just like the government, but on the opposite end of the spectrum, The Aegis had always leaped before it looked. But this was old news, not worth arguing about, and ultimately, Arik’s anger wasn’t directed at Kynan. It wasn’t even directed at himself for keeping his knowledge about Regan away from Limos, though he was definitely kicking himself for that.
What it came down to was that Arik knew he had a decision to make, and it was one he never thought he’d have to face.
Kynan, who had always been able to read a situation as if he were two steps ahead of everyone, knew exactly what Arik was thinking. “You coming back to us, or not?”
“You going to make me keep secrets from my family?”
There was a long silence before Kynan sighed. “Man, I know where you’re coming from. I’m a Guardian with demons for in-laws. I’m mated to a demon. My loyalties are tested every day.”
“But?”
Ky’s denim blue eyes drilled into Arik. “But you’re in chin-deep with people who could turn on us hard if their Seals break. There are things we have to keep close to the vest.”
“I get that, and I know Limos does too.” His girl might be pissed right now, but she was far from stupid, and she understood the consequences if she went evil. “She’s not going to ask anything she knows will compromise us if her Seal breaks. But the other things… things like tricking the Horseman into getting a Guardian pregnant? Yeah, you just keep that shit to yourself, because here’s the deal—I’m not keeping anything from her.”
Never again. Secrets and lies had nearly destroyed his relationship with her and her relationship with her brothers. Hell, they could still destroy everything. She hadn’t come back yet, and he was beginning to wonder if she would.
Kynan cursed. “You know that if you were anyone else, we’d tell you to take a hike.”
“I know. But even without all my training, demon-fighting skills, and ability to learn demon languages, I’m too valuable for either the R-XR or The Aegis to lose.”
Neither organization would want to lose an intimate insider in the Horsemen’s circle. The problem was going to be that as long as Pestilence owned his soul, Arik had to be careful where he went and who he was with. The fucker could sense him, and no way would Arik risk Pest popping in to Aegis Headquarters or some shit.
“I hate it when you’re right.” Kynan glanced at his watch. “Look, I gotta go. But we need you. We need you now more than ever. Think about it.”
Arik didn’t really need to think about it. If the pesky little Apocalypse thing hadn’t been a concern, Arik might not have considered going back, but the world needed all hands on deck right now, and he wasn’t going to turn his back on humanity.
“You’re such a dick,” Arik called out, as Kynan headed down the path toward the island’s Harrowgate. “You know what my answer is.”
Kynan didn’t turn, merely shot him the finger over his back. “I know.”
“Asshole,” Arik muttered. He rubbed his temples and braced himself for the next confrontation.
Limos. And Ares. Not only did he get to explain why he’d kept a secret from them, but he got to tell them they were going to be an aunt and uncle. Something told him this wasn’t going to be celebration-type news.