Immortal Rider

Thirty-five

They all went back to Ares’s place. Thanatos was carried, and Arik was propped between Limos and Reaver, though Arik figured Reaver could have used the help more than Arik. He didn’t know much about angels, but he kind of doubted they normally looked like they’d been run over by a tank and then shot out of its cannon. Arik had seen a lot of hangovers in his day, and he’d swear Reaver was coming off one hell of a bender.

After they’d settled Thanatos in one of the spare bedrooms with a hellhound guard to nip him if he stirred, they all came back into Ares’s great room and stared at each other. No one seemed to know where to start. Not a shock, given that there was the matter of Limos’s betrayals, The Aegis’s hijinks with Regan, Thanatos’s meltdown, and Reaver’s… hangover.

For Limos’s part, she still hadn’t met Arik’s gaze as she paced by the cold fireplace.

Ares, who stood next to the chair where Cara sat with Hal at her feet, crossed his arms over his chest and drilled a scowl into Reaver. “So. You going to tell us where you’ve been and why you haven’t responded to any of our summons?”

“It’s not your place to question my activities.” The angel might look like hell on legs, but his lethal power wasn’t diminished, and he still managed to become the centerpiece in an already grand room.

Limos stopped pacing. “Is it my place to question why you didn’t come to the most important event of my life?”

Reaver jerked like his holy ass had been goosed. “You found your agimortus?”

“Yes, but that’s not what I’m talking about.”

“Then what?”

Her chin came up. “My wedding.”

Reaver’s sapphire eyes darkened like a stormy sea. “To Satan?”

“No,” Arik said. “To me.” He finally caught Limos’s gaze and he hoped she got his silent message loud and clear. We’re married, and we’ll stay that way, no matter what bullshit you pull.

Him, bitter? Nah.

“I don’t understand.” Reaver’s dull, limp hair brushed his robe as he turned back to Limos. “Marrying Arik won’t negate your contract.”

“It most certainly did.” Limos gave a haughty sniff, as if offended that Reaver would dare question her. “When Arik removed my chastity belt and put his—”

“Okay.” Arik cut her off before she could go into detail neither her brother nor an angel should hear. “He gets the picture.”

Reaver grimaced. “Too clearly.”

Limos looked down at her feet and then back up at Reaver. “I get that you’re busy, and you have all those stupid rules to follow, but you know… there aren’t many people I care about, and I don’t have many friends… and I wanted you to be there.”

“I’m sorry, Limos.” The regret in Reaver’s voice turned it to gravel. “Those responsible for keeping me away will pay. I promise you that.”

Arik’s phone buzzed in his BDU’s leg pocket, and when he palmed it, Kynan’s text flashed on the screen: Will be at Ares’s place in two minutes.

Oh, this ought to be good.

He excused himself, leaving Limos and Ares to question Reaver on his whereabouts, but Arik wished them a silent good luck with that, because the angel didn’t seem inclined to answer.

Arik met Kynan in the courtyard, cutting Ky off before the guy could get “hello” out of his mouth. “Do you know what you idiots almost did?”

The other man’s expression remained passive, even though Arik had just jumped his shit. “I have no idea, but I’m guessing you’re going to fill me in?”

“I’m talking about Than’s Seal. Sound familiar? Do you know what was supposed to break it? Sex. His Seal was supposed to be broken by sex, so he’s been celibate his entire life.”

Kynan paled. “Wait… what? Regan said he was a virgin, but we didn’t know why… oh, fuck.”

“Yeah. Morons. You told me Regan was going to seduce Thanatos, but—” Arik broke off at the behind you gesture from Kynan, and sickly, Arik turned around to see Limos standing in the doorway, flanked by Reaver and Ares, her eyes sparking purple fire.

“You knew? All this time you knew why Regan was at Than’s place, and you didn’t tell me? Your lie could have caused the freaking Apocalypse!” She advanced, glaring at him with savage contempt that speared him right through the heart. “After all your bullshit about hating liars, you did it to me. You did it to me!”

Arik had no defense. Not even a lame, “You’re one to talk,” because while it might be true, the fact was that he was a hypocrite of epic proportions, and that was what this was about. Not his lie, not his omission. His hypocrisy.

“Well?” she demanded.

He didn’t have a chance to answer, not that he knew what to say, because Cara hurried up to them… attempted to, anyway, since Hal kept trying to grab her shoelaces. “I just checked on Thanatos. I think you might want to see this.”

Ares went bowstring taut. “Is the venom wearing off?”

“No, everything’s fine. But… you really should come with me.”

Ares shot Arik a you’re mine later look, and Limos did the same. Man, Arik was in a metric fuckton of trouble, and all things considered, he’d really rather go up against Ares than Limos. He had to fix this. Had to fix it now.

He started after them, but Kynan grabbed his arm. “A little advice from one married man to another. You have to chase her. Women never forgive you if you don’t. But give her a few minutes to calm down first.” Kynan smiled wryly. “Trust me on this.”

Arik’s muscles twitched with the need to go after his woman, to explain the unexplainable and fix all of this shit between them. He wasn’t going to feel solid with her until all of their dirty laundry was aired, and until he knew for certain that she would never try to get rid of him for his own good. They had to get past this, and even though he knew Kynan was right, Arik couldn’t wait. He was a soldier, and his job was to destroy the enemy.

Right now, the enemy was his own stupidity.

He started forward again, but this time it was Reaver who stopped him. The angel stepped out of the house, seized the back of his neck, and frog-marched him over to Kynan as if Arik was an errant schoolboy.

“We’re going to chat first,” Reaver said, releasing Arik so both he and Kynan could get the you’ve-been-bad-boys lecture. “When did The Aegis decide to send Regan to Thanatos?”

“A few days ago,” Kynan said. “Why? And you look like hell, by the way.”

“I live for your opinion,” Reaver drawled. “Now, what was the purpose of taking this action?”

“We recently found a scroll written by a Guardian who was an accurate Seer back in his time.” Kynan shifted his weight a few times. “He… indicated that in order to save the world from Pestilence, an Aegi had to mate with a Horseman.”

Reaver’s eyes narrowed. “Where did you find this scroll?”

“An Aegis chamber Limos took me to.”

“Ah.” Reaver looked out at the sea surrounding the Greek island, his expression troubled, and Arik swore the guy was shaking a little. “Interesting, isn’t it, that while I was being held outside of summoning range, Limos took you to a scroll that instructed you to do something everyone thought would break the Horseman’s Seal.”

“We didn’t have any reason not to trust Limos. She said she found the chamber while looking for her agimortus. We didn’t take action lightly or without researching the items we found in the chamber.”

A lump of suspicion the size of a Gargantua demon sank into Arik’s gut. Limos hadn’t mentioned this chamber, hadn’t brought up doing anything to help The Aegis recently. Was this yet another secret? Another attempt to start the Apocalypse?

No. He couldn’t think that way. She’d told a lot of lies, but he believed she regretted them all, and if she’d done something to lead The Aegis astray, it hadn’t been because she wanted to.

A breeze kicked up, ruffling Reaver’s robe, and he tightened the sash before returning his attention to Kynan and Arik. “Since Than’s Seal didn’t break, no harm done, but the situation leaves a lot of questions.”

“Like what will break Than’s Seal.” Arik blew out a frustrated breath. “Even he thought sex would do it.”

Kynan’s face took on an oddly green cast. “Ah… there’s more.”

Oh, Jesus. Hoping Kynan wasn’t going to say what Arik thought he was going to say, he ground out, “What else is there?”

“It’s Regan,” Kynan blurted. “She’s pregnant.”

Absolute silence fell. And then Reaver stumbled backward, eyes burning blue fire. He let out an angry roar, and then he was gone.

Fuming, feeling like a damned fool, Limos followed Ares and Cara to the rear of the mansion. How could Arik have kept something so huge from her? This wasn’t a, “Honey, no, that dress doesn’t make your ass look fat,” kind of thing. He’d known The Aegis had sent someone to betray them all, and he hadn’t warned them. How long had he known? Had he been part of the decision?

Maybe, during their wedding ceremony, instead of admitting to how many other women he’d kissed he could have said, “Oh, hey, by the way, Regan is here to fuck your brother and I knew about it.”

Yeah, that would have been good. How many people had died in Greenland because of his treachery? And what kind of consequences were yet to come?

And now, because of The Aegis, Thanatos was incapacitated, trapped inside his own head with only his rage as company.

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 fucked 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 sank down 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.