Lethal Rider

He didn’t want to discuss it, but his brother had tortured her and she deserved more than silence. “I’m sorry for what he did to you. Pestilence was as desperate to find your father as I was.” Pestilence’s goal had probably been as much to destroy their father as it was to gain access to Sheoul-gra. More of that getting rid of anything personal thing.

“Why did you want to find Azagoth?”

Than stared blankly ahead. “It doesn’t matter now.” Yeah, he wanted to confront his father for a lot of reasons, but those reasons weren’t nearly as important anymore.

Idess’s expression grew hard. “Well, Pestilence would never have found him. I wouldn’t have given anything up.” Her strength reminded him of Regan, and he nearly faltered as he mounted the giant steps to the temple.

“Are you sure I had to bring her body with us?” he asked hoarsely.

Idess’s sad smile almost made him break down again. No, he hadn’t taken it well when she’d told him, nor when he’d had to put down his son to leave his keep. The boy was now part of Than’s heart, and being away from him seemed to make it stop pumping.

“No,” she admitted, “but if he can see you with her, your pain might be more…real…to him.” She started forward. “He’s not the warmest individual you’ll ever meet, so you have to take advantage where you can find it.”

The King Kong-esque double doors opened, and inside, endless passages stretched as far as Than could see. Everything was black, just like outside, except that inside the temple, all the surfaces gleamed. Statues of humans and demons in pain lined the rooms and halls, and the fountain they walked past in the giant fore-room ran with blood.

“Your dad has interesting tastes in art,” he muttered.

“‘Interesting’ is one word for it.” She led him through a maze of hallways that never changed. “Have you thought of a name?”

“Name?”

“For your son.” Her smile was warm. “He’s beautiful.”

“Yeah,” he choked out. “He is. And no, we didn’t discuss names.”

“I’m sure whatever you choose will be perfect.” She stopped at a door—how she knew which of the hundreds of identical doors they’d passed was the right one, he had no idea—and reached for the handle. “You ready?”

As if Regan knew what this was about, she made herself known, and warmth spread from his armor to his skin. “As I’ll ever be.”

Idess opened the door, and they stepped over the threshold into a bright, colorful office of sorts. A tall male with black hair was standing in front of the archway to what looked like the cut-out side of a tunnel, so he could see the souls of dead demons being escorted by griminions through it like an assembly line. The male held up his hand and the parade stopped.

Thanatos held his breath as the guy turned around. “Idess. Sweetheart, it’s good to see you.”

“Father.” She inclined her head in a respectful nod.

Azagoth turned his emerald-ice gaze on Thanatos. “Death. Interesting to finally meet you.” He gestured to the people in the tunnel. “You’ve sent me so many of my subjects.”

“I do what I can to help,” Than said dryly. “And now I need you to do the same.”

One black eyebrow lifted. “I’m guessing this has something to do with the corpse you’re carrying?”

Corpse. On his arm Styx reared up, his actions not reflecting Thanatos’s sudden anger but his own. At some point, the stallion had learned to like Regan, and he didn’t appreciate the dismissive, cold words any more than Thanatos did.

Idess had warned Than about the guy, so he kept his temper in check. He could rip Azagoth a new one after he got what he wanted.

“She’s the mother of my child. She would have been my wife. I killed her.”

“Why?” Azagoth folded his arms across his chest, looking utterly bored. “Did she betray you? Warm someone else’s bed? One of your brothers’, perhaps?”

Thanatos was going to strangle this asshole. “She gave birth,” he ground out. “I tried to save her.”

“So what you’re saying is that she’s in your armor.” He paused. “What do you want me to do about it?”

“I want you to remove her and allow her to pass to the Other Side instead of being brought to Sheoul-gra by your griminions.”

“And why would I do that?”

Okay, he was going to lay down a card he hoped was his ace. “Because you’re my father.”

Idess’s head whipped around to stare at him. Azagoth eyed him for a long time, and Than got the impression the dude was intentionally letting him sweat.

“You have balls coming to me and expecting a favor from a father you never met.”

“So it’s true?”

Azagoth laughed. “No. I’m not your father. I’d have remembered fucking Lilith. That bitch has been after me for centuries.”

Damn. That had been Than’s only good play. He had nothing else. Had Azagoth been anyone different, Thanatos could have threatened him, tortured him, beaten him until he agreed to help. But this was a guy who held power over souls, which meant he could torment Regan, and everyone else Than cared about, for eternity.

“Please.” Thanatos hefted Regan’s limp body closer, as if she could shield him from having to beg. “I’ll do anything.”

“Anything? Will you give me your son?”

A hot ball of fire dropped into Than’s gut, and inside, he felt as though he was being pummeled by fists. Regan’s fists.

“Anything but that,” he growled.

“That’s what I want.”

Inside his armor, Regan clawed at him. She didn’t need to worry. No one was taking their son.

“Go to hell, Azagoth.” Than headed for the door before he went crazy and slaughtered the asshole.

“Thanatos, wait.” Idess approached her father, her hands folded together as if in prayer. “Thanatos saved my life.”

Great. There was a reason he hadn’t brought that up. Nothing like telling a father that your brother tortured the fuck out of his daughter.

Azagoth narrowed his eyes at Than. “Explain.”

Thanatos stiffened at the command, but checked his pride before he screwed up something that might save Regan’s soul. “You know Pestilence was trying to destroy Sheoul-gra.”

“Of course.” Azagoth turned toward the hearth, which was blazing but not putting off heat. “Word gets around down here.”

“Father,” Idess said, “Pestilence was capturing Memitim and torturing them into giving away your location.”

Azagoth’s head damned near pulled an Exorcist, swiveling around to Idess without his body moving. His eyes had gone oily black, swallowing the whites, and when he spoke, his voice had a dangerous, serrated edge. “He dared to harm my children?” His body finally followed his head. “He took you?”

She nodded. “If not for Thanatos, Ares, Lore, and Reaver, I’d still be hanging from razor wire.”

The Grim Reaper’s snarl sent the souls and griminions in the tunnel scattering.

“Drop your armor,” he snapped at Thanatos.

“Why?”

Azagoth practically spat fire. “Because I requested it.”

Reluctantly, Than did as the bastard requested. “Now what?”

“Remove your clothes.”

Than locked his jaw to keep from cursing. If Azagoth wanted sexual favors … Than shuddered, but lay Regan gently on the ground and stripped. Never before had he felt so exposed as Azagoth circled him, his finger trailing over Than’s skin as he went. At least Idess had turned away. He wondered if her father was going to make her stay for whatever was to come.