Lethal Rider

A blast of rare anger vibrated the very air around Kynan. “She wouldn’t need that protection if you’d left them at headquarters instead of kidnapping them like a caveman. Pestilence would never have found HQ if not for you.”

Reaver whipped his head around to Than. “You were at Aegis HQ?”

“Yeah,” Ky gritted out. “And now, thanks to him, Pestilence was, too.”

“The damage?”

“We’re fucked.” Ky ran his hand through his dark hair, leaving behind spiky grooves. “Dozens dead. Prisoners loosed. Possible compromise of our regional cells.”

“Damn,” Reaver breathed.

Kynan flexed his fingers as if testing them. At least one had been broken before Reaver arrived. “Do you know why Pestilence would be looking for a dagger called Wormwood?”

“No, why?” Reaver replied.

“Pestilence had a bug up his ass about it,” Kynan said. “It’s not all bad news, though. We’ve got some new leads on a way to stop Pestilence.” Kynan filled in Reaver about the discoveries they’d made in the Torran.

“But there’s no way to know if the writings are just ramblings,” Reaver said. “Just because someone wrote it doesn’t make it true.”

Kynan scrubbed his hand over his face. “We have to proceed as if it’s true. We don’t have a choice.”

The timing of the baby’s cry had been confirmed to both Reaver and Harvester by their bosses soon after Than’s baby was conceived. Pestilence could, indeed, be stopped at that moment, but Reaver had no idea what was up with the Doom Star part of the prophecy. Not that he could discuss it with the Horsemen even if he knew.

“Do you know how to incapacitate Pestilence so you’ll have him for the birth?” he asked.

“The Aegis might be the answer to that,” Than said. “They have qeres.”

Of course. Pestilence, being half angel, might be susceptible to the substance.

“Do you know if it’ll work?” Ky asked.

Reaver shook his head. “I don’t know, but even if I did—”

“Yeah, yeah,” Limos muttered. “You couldn’t tell us. Stupid Watcher rules.”

“Speaking of rules,” Reaver said, “be careful what you say in front of Harvester.”

“Why? What’s going on with you two?” Arik asked.

“Nothing you need to worry about.” Reaver glanced over at Than. “What’s going on with the baby? You mentioned it’s protecting her?”

“Looks like,” Than said. “Demons and humans can’t seem to touch her without getting tossed, and a frost demon’s breath attack should have caused a lot more damage.”

Reaver frowned. “Did this all start recently? Within the last week or two?”

“Yeah,” Than said. “How’d you know?”

Smiling, Reaver clapped Than on the shoulder. “Because the baby is part angel. And angels, at around the eighth month in the womb, start showing signs of the powers they’ll have. Cool. Sounds like kiddo is going to have some battle angel in him.”

Thanatos beamed, and Reaver nearly choked on the good kind of surprise he never got from that Horseman. It was nice to see him glowing with such pride in his offspring.

“Is there any way around it?” Than asked. “I mean, it’s cool, like you said, but he could interfere with people trying to help Regan. Like doctors.”

Yes, there was, but neutralizing an angel infant meant using evil magic and blood sacrifice, which also carried a risk to the infant and could do massive damage to the mother. Even if Reaver could share the information, he wouldn’t.

“I can’t say, but I can tell you that you’re better off using your time to capture Pestilence.” Reaver nodded toward the hallway. “Speaking of the baby, I’m going to see Regan.”

That fast, Thanatos lost the happy-happy and moved to bar Reaver’s path.

“Don’t take her from me, Reaver.” Than’s stance was rigid, aggressive, but his voice revealed something Reaver had never heard from the Horseman: vulnerability.

“I won’t,” Reaver assured him. “I swear.” With The Aegis compromised, she was probably safest with Thanatos anyway.

But in a way, that was like saying she was safer with a python than a cobra.

Twelve

Regan spent a few minutes pacing, breathing, and counting through the OCD attack that was screaming for her to take control of her immediate situation. Even if all that meant was that she rearranged the bedroom to suit her, the desire to do something was stretching her like a rubber band on the verge of snapping.

A tap at the door broke her out of her thoughts. She opened the door…and gaped.

Standing in the doorway was an angel. A perfect specimen of a male, his shimmering golden hair falling in immaculate waves around his broad shoulders, his piercing sapphire eyes sharp with intelligence. He was stunning.

She’d been hearing stories of the infamous Reaver for years, had even seen him and another angel named Gethel a couple of years ago in Egypt. Back then, he’d been a fallen angel, but he’d been redeemed before her very eyes after a near-apocalyptic battle in which another fallen angel had very nearly opened the gates of Heaven to the evil forces of Hell.

He smiled, and she swore he sort of… glowed.

“Hi, Regan.” Reaver stepped inside the room, and she wondered if Thanatos was going to have a cow about this male being in a bedroom with her. “How are you feeling?”

Voice. She had to find her voice. “Ah…” She cleared her throat. It wasn’t every day you spoke to an angel dressed in expensive slacks and a silk shirt that matched his eyes. “Fine.” Fine? Dolt.

“And the baby?”

Her hand fell automatically to her belly. “Hungry.”

Cocking his head, Reaver eyed her stomach. “He won’t let me touch you.”

“The baby seems to be a bit protective.”

Reaver’s jewel-like eyes flicked up. “Not the baby. Thanatos.”

“I—what?”

“Not that I would touch you. I’m just saying. He’s as protective of you as the child is.”

Her mouth fell open again, but she snapped it shut and shook her head. “Thanatos hates me.”

“He might tell himself that, and he might even believe it,” Reaver said. “But it’s not true.”

She sighed. “For an angel, you’re sort of…um…”

“Naive?” His smile got wider. “Trust me, I spent enough time with demons to not be naive about anything ever again.”

Could Reaver be right about Thanatos? Between his fits of being angry with her, he did have moments of … well, she could almost call it tenderness. Tenderness that always made her lower her guard when she should be not only raising it, but fortifying it. But what if Reaver was right? Could he get past what she’d done to him? Could she get past it?

The answer to those questions came quickly. The pain she’d caused was a monumental hurdle they’d never clear. No amount of revenge he extracted from her was going to ease her guilt or heal his wounds.

No, Reaver wasn’t right about Thanatos. She met his gaze steadily, too mentally exhausted from the day’s events to keep circling around whatever the angel had come for. “Forgive me, Reaver, but why are you here?”

“To the point. I like that.” His voice was soft, but firm. “I’m here because technically, I can’t help the Horsemen with anything that relates to the Apocalypse. But I can help them with other things.”

“Other things?”