Lethal Rider

Four

Regan couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t swallow. All she could do was stare death—literally, Death—in the face. Thanatos was going to kill her. His yellow eyes drilled into her, but when he spoke his words were for Ky and Decker.

“Leave us.”

“Listen to me, Thanatos,” Kynan began. “If you have a beef with someone, it should be me—”

“Shut up.” Than’s voice echoed through the auditorium, carrying as if he was talking through an amplifier. “Leave now. Last warning.”

He moved toward them, his boots thumping like death knells on the carpeted floor, the bone plates of his armor clacking, the sword at his hip more menacing than she remembered.

“Go to hell, asshole,” Decker drawled.

Regan reached out to grasp Deck’s shoulder in warning, but it was too late. Shadows rose up around Thanatos, the souls of those he’d killed. Once released from the prison of his armor, they were deadly, nightmarish weapons Regan had no desire to encounter again. She had no idea if one of them could kill Kynan, seeing how he was immune from harm by anything but fallen angels, but Decker would be easy prey.

So would she. Her ability to rip souls out of a person … or to defend against an attacking soul, seemed to have been affected by the pregnancy. The loss would have been a relief not long ago. Now it left her vulnerable in a way she hadn’t thought possible.

“Go,” she said softly, never taking her eyes off those swirling souls. “I’ll be okay.” She hoped. Kind of doubted, really. But she would not be responsible for Decker’s death.

“We’re not leaving,” Kynan said.

Thanatos smiled, and Regan shuddered. “I just killed a fallen angel.” He threw out his hand, and one of the souls, its inky form sprouting wispy wings, darted toward Kynan. It halted mere inches away, straining as if tethered by invisible chains. “He can suck the life right out of you, human.”

“Dammit,” she hissed. “You guys go. Hang out in the hallway, but please…go!”

Ky and Decker both glared in stubborn defiance, but finally, they stalked off. When Ky got to the door, he turned around and shot the Horseman a deadly cold look. “You’ve got five minutes.”

Five minutes? That would be an eternity, given that Thanatos could end her in under a second. The moment Ky and Decker were gone, Thanatos struck, wrenching her away from the podium and pinning her against the wall with his upper arm across her throat. She couldn’t even reach for her handy-dandy anti-Horseman dagger.

“You betrayed me.”

“Please,” she whispered.

“Please.” His voice was guttural. Low. Downright evil. “Say it again. It won’t help, but I want to hear you beg before I kill you.”

She would never beg for her own life, but she’d do anything for the child. She licked her lips, but she had no moisture on her tongue. “Please don’t do this.”

Closing his eyes, he inhaled, and a wicked smile curved his mouth. “The scent of your fear is intoxicating. How does it feel to be restrained and helpless, Regan?”

Horrific. It was horrific. “Do what you want to me,” she rasped, “but don’t… don’t hurt the baby.”

His eyes popped open. For a moment, he stared at her, his blond eyebrows pulled low over golden eyes. “Baby?”

How could he have missed the fact that she looked as if she’d swallowed a watermelon? The baby kicked, as if aware he was being talked about, and Thanatos looked down.

“What the—?” Thanatos leaped away, eyes wide and glued to her belly. “When?” He swallowed audibly. “Who’s the father?”

Now she had to tread carefully. The plan had been to wait until after the baby’s birth to rouse Thanatos and tell him about it … the hope being that if he came after Regan in a murderous fury, at least the baby would be safe. Now… shit. She wasn’t sure what to do. Weird, since she’d always been able to think on her feet.

“Listen to me—”

“Who?”

She inhaled a shaky breath. “I’d feel better if Kynan was here—”

“Kynan?” Thanatos let out a godawful snarl, and she swore she saw the flash of fangs. “The Aegi is the father? He dared to touch you?”

Dared? “No—”

“Kynan!” His roar shook the entire building, and then his sword was in his hand and those creepy shadows were circling his feet.

“It’s not Kynan,” she blurted, but Than wasn’t listening.

“Kynan is a dead man.”

“Thanatos! Yo, deaf Horseman. It’s not Kynan. It’s you.” She smoothed her hand over her belly. “This baby is yours.”

Thanatos had lived during the days when being poleaxed wasn’t just an expression. He’d managed to avoid it … until now.

Now he knew exactly how it felt as he stood there like a dolt, staring numbly at Regan’s belly. He dragged his gaze upward, to breasts that seemed larger than before, to her slender throat, and finally, he met her hazel eyes. They were as beautiful as he remembered, bright, with a warrior’s hard ice behind fire. But they were also tinged with fear, proving she wasn’t stupid.

When he’d first entered the auditorium, he’d been prepared to kill her. Now he just wanted a stiff drink.

He was going to be a father.

From virgin to dad in zero to sixty.

The door burst open, and both Kynan and Decker were there, pistols trained on Than. Bullets wouldn’t penetrate his armor or kill him, but they’d hurt like hell if they struck exposed body parts. Like his head.

“Fire those guns,” Than said quietly, “and every Aegi in the building will pay for it.”

“We don’t want any trouble,” Kynan said. “Leave now.”

“Leave?” Than laughed even as the souls in his armor spun like thousands of little tornadoes. Thousands? Why would there be so many? Didn’t matter. Not right now. He took Regan’s arm before she could scoot away. “I’ll leave. But she’s coming with me.”

Decker’s finger slipped from his pistol’s trigger guard to the trigger. “No way in hell.”

“It’s all right,” Regan said quickly. “I’ll be fine.”

“Presumptuous, don’t you think?” Than said, and then felt like an asshole when she paled.

“Regan, you don’t have to protect us.” Kynan stepped closer, and Decker moved with him, their bodies in practiced sync. “Let’s talk about this, Horseman.”

“Stall until you can summon my brother and sister? I don’t think so.” He dragged Regan to the door at the other end of the auditorium, and when he slammed it open he wasn’t surprised to find over a dozen Guardians, all armed to the teeth, waiting for him. Well, one female held a dagger and a menacing-looking cup of tea.

“First person who moves against me dies,” he told them. “Second person gets you all killed.”

Regan remained stiffly at his side. “Stay back, everyone. I’m going willingly.”

All but one obeyed, and the one, the idiot who dared to swing a skinny blade at him, found out how fast Thanatos could launch a soul from his armor. The other slayers found out how loudly humans screamed when they were having their souls ripped from their bodies.

“Stop it,” Regan yelled, but it was too late.

“I warned them,” he said, as he hauled her out of the building. “And I’m not in the mood for second chances, Regan. Keep that in mind.”

The second they were outside headquarters, Than threw a gate and tugged Regan through it. They came out at his Greenland keep in a marked-off area set aside specially for gates—the things had a tendency to slice people in half if they materialized next to or on top of someone.

Wind roared across the dark, barren landscape, carrying with it the faint tang of the nearby ocean and smoke from the fires inside the keep. Regan’s ponytail fluttered as she stepped onto the grass, her cheeks pinking up from the cool breeze. It might be summer, but it was still cold, cloudy, and wet.

“Why are we here?”

He took her elbow and marched her toward the door. “I live here.”

“I know that,” she ground out. “But I figured you’d want to go someplace less obvious. Especially since you’re now going to have the entire Aegis organization after you for kidnapping me and killing a Guardian.”

“You figured wrong.” He shoved open the door, and immediately his vampire servants came running.

“Master!” Viktor’s dark eyes were wide, a grin splitting his face. “You’re back. We didn’t know or we’d have prepared—”

“It’s okay. I’ll be back to talk to you later.” He led Regan down the stone steps to his dungeon, and when she resisted halfway, he swept her up and carried her. Oddly, where her belly touched his armor, her heat burned right through the bone plate.

“Let…me…go.” She struggled in his arms, and he cursed, gripping her tighter while trying not to hurt her.

“Stop it. You’ll injure yourself or the baby.” A glint of silver flashed, and he blocked the blade before it bit into his cheek. With a snap of his wrist, he broke Regan’s grip on the dagger and it clattered to the stone steps. “Let me guess. Coated in hellhound venom? Nice try.”

“It’s also imbued with a locator spell, you giant ass. The Aegis will be able to track me.”

“Right,” he drawled, “because they won’t guess that you’re at my place. Seeing how I took you.”

She sank her teeth into his hand and he yelped, but he didn’t put her down until they reached the first cell. Quickly, he shoved her inside before she bit him again. Not that he was opposed to biting, but there were more appropriate times for that.

Oh, look… you got laid once and you’re already making everything about sex.

“You’re just going to leave me here?” Regan asked, incredulous.

He slammed the cage door. “Yes.”

Crimson splotches colored her pale cheeks, and she hugged herself, rubbing her bare arms. “Can I at least have a blanket?”

Fuck. Now he felt like a heel. She was dressed for summer in a gauzy white blouse, khaki capris, and bare feet, but it was freezing down here year round, and while it didn’t affect him, she was human, and she’d succumb to hypothermia. He shouldn’t care. In fact, he didn’t. But he wasn’t going to let her die while his baby was inside her.

“Well?” When he didn’t say anything, because he was actually considering taking her back upstairs, she sighed. “Look, I know you’re angry—”

“Angry?” he spat. “You drugged me, restrained me, took my virginity, and then left me so pissed off that my siblings had to imprison me for over eight months. Angry doesn’t even begin to cover it. Were you trying to start the Apocalypse? Does The Aegis know what you did, or were they in on it?”

“I didn’t know you were restrained, Than. I lost control of my ability, and I didn’t realize it was attacking you.” She shivered … or maybe it was a shudder. “And I didn’t drug you. I mean, obviously, you were drugged, but it wasn’t my idea. One of your vampires gave me that wine.”

“None of my vampires would betray me.”

“Well, I hate to tell you this, but one did.”

“Why?”

She shrugged. “Maybe he got tired of your grumpy ass and decided you needed to get laid. How the hell should I know?”

He ground his teeth. “They knew sex was off-limits for me. They wouldn’t have done it.”

“Fine. Whatever. Ask Ares or Limos. They know. The wine drugged me, too.” She winced and palmed her belly, and before he even knew what he was doing, he was inside the chamber, his hands on her shoulders.

“Are you okay? Is it the baby?”

She blinked in surprise. “It was just a kick. Ponyboy is really active.”

“Ponyboy?”

Again her cheeks colored, but this time with a soft, feminine blush. “Well, you’re a Horseman…the father… so…Ponyboy.”

He wanted to smile at that, but then he remembered he hated her and forced his expression to remain neutral. “I’ll get you a blanket.” He started for the door, but she stopped him with a hand on his forearm.

“I have to pee.”

He gestured to the corner. “There’s a chamber pot.”

“Seriously? Eew.” She recoiled in horror at the dusty clay vessel.

“Humans of your day are ridiculously spoiled. What do you think people did before toilets?”

“I don’t really care. We do have toilets now, and I’d rather use one.” She wrinkled her nose. “If I try to squat down on that, I’ll never get back up.”

“Fine,” he muttered, taking her wrist. “You’re a terrible prisoner, you know that?” She wisely kept her mouth shut as he led her back up the steps and to his bedroom.

When she saw where he was taking her, she ground to a halt just outside the door. “Um…”

“Would you prefer the dungeon? Your choice.”

Her eyes flashed, and she shoved past him. “This will be fine,” she said, as if she were a guest at a hotel who was dismissing the bellboy.

“Don’t try anything, Regan,” he warned. “I’m going to have a guard at the door.”

“How long are you going to leave me here?”

“Until I figure out what to do with you.” He bent to look her directly in the eyes. “But be clear on this; your life is now mine.”