Lethal Rider

Seven

Every cell in Thanatos’s body was vibrating with the familiar need to gate himself to a scene of death and add to it. What wasn’t familiar was the new vibration, the one that throbbed in his groin.

He needed sex. Ares and Reseph had always been able to ease their destructive impulses by getting laid, which made sense, since their mother was a sex demon. But Than had never had that alternative, and instead of sex, he went straight for the kill.

Now, maybe, he had another option. The real question was which act—killing or sex—would give him the most satisfaction.

And the most guilt later.

He supposed it would depend on whom he killed or whom he had sex with.

You’re going to pleasure me. Whenever I want. At my every whim. Right. He should storm back into the bedroom and get going on those months Regan owed him.

Except that in the mood he was in he didn’t trust himself to be gentle… and even through his murder-lust haze, that frightened him a little.

“Bludrexe?”

Thanatos snarled, ready to take the head off the day-walker at the end of the hall. Before that happened, he clenched his fists at his sides. He demanded loyalty from his servants, and he got it because he’d never abused them. He couldn’t—wouldn’t—start now.

“What, Artur?”

“Should we prepare a room for your female?”

Thanatos was in Artur’s face before he even knew he’d moved. “She’s not my female.”

“Yes, sir,” Artur said, shrinking back.

“Fuck,” Than breathed. “I’m sorry. I’ve got a lot of shit on my mind.” Like the fact that Regan was certain one of his vampires had tried to kill her. His hackles rose at the very thought. “Regan said two of you were taken from here by The Aegis.”

Artur, who was normally unflappable, shifted his gaze. Only for a second, but Than caught it, and in that instant, he went on high alert.

“Artur, tell me. Who?”

The daywalker swallowed. “Jacob, sire.”

“And?” When Artur said nothing, Than stiffened. “Dammit, Artur. What’s going on?”

Artur bowed his head, his long hair brushing the tattoo on his neck that all the daywalkers sported. “The other vampire was not one of ours.”

Now Than understood Artur’s reluctance to talk about this. No vampire visitors were allowed here. His vamps had to go elsewhere for human blood and companionship.

“Who was he? How did he happen to be here for The Aegis to grab?”

“He was…a wilding.”

A hiss escaped Than before he could stop it. “Why was he here?”

“I don’t know, sire.”

Than snared Artur by the throat and slammed him against the stone wall. “You’re lying. You have your finger on every pulse here.”

“The Aegis grabbed him and Jacob before he got a chance to tell us,” Artur said quickly. “But I suspect it had to do with your son.”

“How did this wilding know Regan was pregnant?”

“I don’t know how he knew. Jacob and some others wanted to find her to bring her to you.” Artur’s lip curled. “We were angry at her deception, and we wanted her to be here when you returned.”

The idea that a strange wilding had known of Than’s child before Than himself did made the need to kill seethe wildly inside him. “Did you know where I was?”

Artur nodded. “Limos and Ares let us know you were safe. We wanted to rescue you.”

So Thanatos’s servants had wanted to release him from the prison of his own body, but his brother and sister, his flesh and blood, hadn’t. Nice.

Thanatos stepped away from Artur, his body buzzing, his tattoos coming alive on his skin. The thump of his pulse pounded in his ears, drowning out the voice that demanded he return to the female he’d just told Artur wasn’t his.

Demons. He’d find some demons to kill. Australia was crawling with them. New Zealand was a demon playground. But he didn’t want to leave Regan.

He eyed the entrance to one of the spare bedrooms. Self-gratification had never worked to bring Ares down from battle rages—only full-on sex had done that—but at this point, Than was desperate to try anything.

“Tell the others that Regan is not to leave the keep,” he told Artur. “Go.”

The vampire scurried off, and Than shut himself in the bedroom. The darkness closed in on him as he turned into the wall and rested his forehead against the cool stone. It wasn’t cool enough. If it were made of ice, it wouldn’t be enough to ease the fever in his blood. Not when Regan was only a couple of doors down. All he could think about was her talented mouth, her warm hands, and the hot place between her thighs.

And as he untied his sweats and palmed himself, he prayed this would work. Prayed it would release some of the awful tension raging inside him, because if it didn’t, someone was going to die.

Regan was forcing herself not to freak out.

Thanatos was beyond angry. Irrational.

Not that she could blame him. Even if things hadn’t gone down the way they had that night, even if he hadn’t been a virgin, even if he’d eagerly jumped into bed with her, he still had every right to be furious about being used.

Every night since then, she’d tried to come up with a way to explain it to him, to apologize, to do anything to make it better. But spending the better part of a year as his personal sex slave? She wasn’t sure if the idea terrified her or thrilled her, but it definitely wasn’t going to happen.

She needed to be with people she trusted, the only family she’d ever known. And she knew exactly how to get out of here. Thanatos kept a fleet of snowmobiles and ATVs outside his monstrous castle for his servants to ride to the Harrowgate a couple of miles away. If she could get to a phone, she could call Kynan and have him meet her there to get her through the gate. Sucked, but humans, unless they were special in some immortal way, died if they went through a stationary Harrowgate while conscious.

Once she was back with The Aegis, maybe they could spin up a ward for the baby so Thanatos couldn’t find her.

But standing here wasn’t going to get her anywhere. She needed a plan if she ran into vampire trouble.

I can sense the life within you. I’m going to enjoy feeling it snuff out.

Yeah, she definitely needed a way to protect herself, especially since Thanatos didn’t believe her about how dangerous his vampires were. Unfortunately, the Horseman didn’t have jugs of holy water or a bag of wooden stakes lying around. But she’d always been resourceful, and the wooden desk chair looked like just the thing…

It took one good smash of the chair on the floor to break one of the legs. She waited a minute to see if the noise brought anyone running, and when it didn’t she gripped the wooden chair leg, pointy end all ready to stab, and slowly opened the door. Thanatos and his vamps were nowhere to be seen. The arrogant jerk probably thought she had nowhere to go and no way out.

She made it to his library without being seen. Quickly, she ducked inside, found his phone, and gaped in disbelief. She’d spent entire days with her nose in his books, but she’d never noticed this.

He had a freaking rotary phone. Who still used those relics? Thanatos, apparently. Unbelievable. She dialed Kynan’s cell number, but he didn’t answer, and the stupid phone wouldn’t let her press one to leave a message. She had to waste precious time waiting for the other option of holding, and when the voicemail finally picked up, she whispered that she’d meet him at the Greenland Harrowgate. Hopefully, he’d check his messages soon.

Distant clinking noises came from the kitchen, as well as the mouthwatering aroma of roast chicken, and her stomach growled. Leave it to her pregnant self to want food during an escape.

Later, she told herself. Later she’d gorge on an entire buffet, but right now, she had to make it outside before anyone saw her. With as much stealth as she could manage, she crept across the great room, her bare feet padding silently on the icy stone floor. She walked on rugs when she could, careful not to step on the silky tassels.

Yep, her OCD issues were out of control. This was the worst it had ever been, and while some of it was likely pregnancy-related, being kidnapped and held prisoner had definitely tripped her crazy-switch.

She made it as far as the front door. One of Than’s vampires, a burly, ugly dude whose name escaped her—pregnancy-brain sucked—blocked her path.

“Our orders are to prevent you from leaving.”

“I’m just taking a walk.”

He bared his fangs. “And I’m a mermaid. Now go back to your room.”

She raised her makeshift stake. “Get out of my way.”

He laughed. “Stupid, fat human. You’re no match for me.”

“Fat? Fat? I’m pregnant, you walking corpse. I might be fat, but you’re dead.” With a lot less grace than she was used to, she lunged, but the vampire shifted, and her aim went awry. The end of the stake merely grazed his shoulder, but that was enough to piss him off.

He cursed, his hand snapping out to clutch her by the throat. She sucked hard, trying to gulp a breath. What was it with vampires and their habit of grabbing you by the throat?

Cursing in her head, she clawed at his neck, ripping his silk shirt at the collar. Her fingertips skimmed a tattoo there, and in an instant, the vampire’s fury washed over her and her mind lit up with a vision, a strange one involving Thanatos bent over this vampire as the monster lay on a stone slab. The strange word the vampire at headquarters spoke, Bludrexe, blasted through her head, and then the vision was gone.

Clearly, her soul-sucking ability was gone, but her psychometric gift was still intact. Not that it could help her in this situation. No, old-fashioned dirty-fighting was all she had to rely on. As the vampire jerked his head back from her nails, his body shifted, allowing her to lift her knee and crunch it into his groin. He oofed and released her, and she nearly fell when her feet hit the floor.

“Bitch!” he snarled, and grabbed for her again.

His fingers never touched her. A godawful roar shook the keep, and faster than she could blink, Thanatos had ripped the vampire away from her and had him on the ground on the other side of the room. She didn’t waste time hanging around to see what was going to happen next.

Leaving behind the sounds of a violent smackdown, she scurried out into the gray morning dawn, heaved herself onto one of the 4-wheelers, and started it up with the keys left in the ignition. The big machine roared to life, and she was out of there. She gunned it, the wheels bouncing over the uneven terrain and jostling her badly enough that she had to slow down more than she’d have liked. Every once in a while, she risked a glance behind her, but so far, so good.

Until she reached the half-mile marker.

Thanatos stood there, his eyes like gold lasers, his arms crossed over his broad chest.

Shit.

She stopped the vehicle, but she didn’t turn it off. She stared, and he stared back, and nope, she wasn’t going to win this. Calmly—on the outside, at least—she turned the ATV around and started back toward the keep. Even over the rumble of the engine, she heard hoofbeats, and a moment later, Than’s pale stallion, Styx, was next to her, his long-legged stride carrying him over the tundra at an easy gallop. Thanatos sat erect in the saddle, his watchful gaze on everything except her.

Great. She’d much rather he was glaring or yelling. She hated silence. Grinding her teeth, she sped up, desperate to get away from him. It didn’t work. Styx kept pace with her, and she swore Thanatos smiled. It only lasted a second, but it was a smile.

And not a nice one.

“Regan, stop!” Than’s voice cracked like an avalanche breaking loose on a mountain.

Startled, she let up on the gas as a massive white horse and an armored rider appeared in front of them. Pestilence. She braked hard—too hard. The ATV fishtailed, its rear end popped up, and she flipped into the air before hitting the ground with a heavy, bone-jarring crunch.

The baby… oh, God, let the baby be okay. Regan pressed her hand to her belly, praying the fall hadn’t hurt the little pony.

Groaning, she started to push up, and yelped when an arrow punched into the dirt an inch from her belly. Horses screamed, and the metallic clank of clashing swords rang out. Shit, shit, shit! Frantic to get out of the way of the flailing hooves, she scrambled, limping, toward the ATV.

Just as she reached the vehicle, an ice-cold puff of air flowed over the back of her neck, and with it, a snort … deep, growly… and a chill slithered up her spine. Very slowly, she turned, and froze solid at the sight of the thing standing there, its gaping mouth full of sharp teeth and its foot-long claws extended. The dragonlike creature was crystalline, like a giant rock-candy tree, all shards of ice, hard angles, and tiny, black, triangle eyes. Against a landscape of icebergs or glaciers, the demon would be invisible.

Invisible until it bit your head off with jaws the size of an alligator’s.

Distantly, she heard Thanatos calling her name. Unable to look away from the monster, she stumbled backward, but it followed her, its scaly feet digging deep grooves in the earth as it moved. Then she heard the huff, felt the liquid nitrogen breath of a second creature at her back. Bone-chilling cold seeped into her flesh. Her nerve endings burned with white-hot fire. Pain stabbed her with evil little fingers, and shivers wracked her body.

Thanatos. He was trying to get to her, but he was injured … so much blood. She took a step toward him—at least, she tried to. Her legs were numb and her coordination had fled with her body heat. Hypothermia? Yes, it must be hypothermia, because when one of the creatures breathed on her again, she didn’t feel it. No, there really was no more cold. She was tired, though. So exhausted.

She blinked. Where was she? Screams rent the air, horrid, pained noises. All around her, shadows swarmed over the ice monsters, who shrieked until they blew apart, sending icicles blasting like shrapnel.

Where was Thanatos? Didn’t matter. She just wanted to sleep, and the ground looked so soft …

The world spun as her legs gave out and she hit the earth. She didn’t know where she was, couldn’t remember her name, but at least she was finally warm.