He didn’t bother undressing. He ripped open his jeans and sheathed himself inside her molten heat. They both groaned as he started to move with long, slow strokes, but too soon his control was gone, and he was grinding against her, alternating deep, circular action with shallow, fast thrusts.

Needing even more contact, he bent over her, pressing his chest to her back, and placed his hands next to hers on the rail. His fangs shot out, and he used them to graze the back of her neck as he pumped into her.

“Beautiful,” he murmured. “You’re…amazing.” His balls tightened, ready to burst. “Come, Regan.”

“Yes,” she moaned. “Now.”

Her core spasmed around him, squeezing and caressing, and he was lost. He went over the edge with a shout, his hot seed pouring into her, the sweet agony of orgasm making him see stars. He came harder than he ever had, and even as his first cl**ax waned, another bore down on him.

Erotic lightning gathered inside him, building to a fever pitch, and when it struck, it made the last orgasm look tame. Throwing his head back, Thanatos roared in pure ecstasy. This was what he’d waited his entire life for, and it wasn’t even about the sex.

It was about a mate. A family.

A family… oh, f**k. Panic set in almost as quickly as the orgasm had. “We can’t do this again,” he rasped. “Not until the baby is born.”

Regan’s voice was muffled, one cheek resting on the mattress. “Why?”

“Shade said something about sex inducing labor.” As eager as he was to finally hold his squirming son in his arms, there was another consideration. “We can’t risk our baby coming until we have my brother.”

“That sucks,” she muttered, and he agreed. They seemed to agree on a lot of things like that.

His arms were trembling as he pushed off her, not wanting her to bear any of his weight. She didn’t seem to want to move, so he stood her up, kissed her as he stripped her of her top and tucked her into bed.

“I’m not tired.” she said. And then she yawned.

He climbed in with her and gathered her against him. “Me either.”

She was asleep in under thirty seconds.

Thanatos eased out of bed, leaving Regan to some much-needed sleep. With his rage dialed back from a full boil to a quiet simmer, his brain function returned, and shit, he had a messy tangle of Apocalypse threads to unravel. The Aegis had gone ghastbat-insane, Pestilence had been too quiet for comfort, and he still hadn’t heard from Ares on whether he’d had any luck with Idess and Azagoth.

He was a firm believer in never saying that things could get worse, because they always could, but right now he was having a hard time seeing how.

He stepped out into the hall, where a hellhound stood guard, and Than glared. “Where were you when The Aegis stole her, you mangy beast?”

The hound glared back, but offered no explanation. Not that Than expected one, even if he could communicate with it. The hound hadn’t seen trouble in The Aegis’s arrival any more than Than had. And since Regan went with them willingly, the beast wouldn’t have acted until it was too late.

“Ah, don’t worry. I’ll nail those bastards. With railroad spikes.” Than reached out and patted the mutt on the head. “I’ll save you an arm or leg.”

He left the hellhound and stalked down the hall, texting Ares as he did. Aegis kidnapped Regan. Tried to kill the baby. They’re safe now, but where the f**k are you? Need to know Azagoth’s status.

Than jammed the Send button and shoved the phone into his pocket as he headed outside, where he was immediately hit by the stench of blood, bowels, and death. His heart became heavy at the sight of the charred remains of four daywalkers, including Viktor, that lay among the corpses of several Guardians. Hard to tell the exact number of Aegi, since there wasn’t much left of them. The hellhounds had made fast work of the humans.

Hard to believe that Than had once hated the beasts. Now he wanted a kennel full of them. As long as you didn’t try to suppress their basic instincts, and you agreed to let them have full dominion over the creatures they battled—allowed them the spoils of war, as it were—they were awesome allies. Plus, they hated Pestilence, and an enemy of an enemy, and all that.

There was movement to his left, and he whirled, scythe in hand, to find Artur standing there, his head bowed. Blood and ash streaked Artur’s pale skin, and in his hand, he held a stake.

“I failed you,” he rasped. “So many of us… failed you.”

Than went taut. “If you’re talking about Regan being taken, it wasn’t your fault—”

“No.” Artur swallowed. “There were traitors amongst us.” He waved his hand at the vampire dust. “Those who died were loyal to you. But the others… they ran.”

“Who, Artur? Where are they?”

Artur held up the stake. “I caught them. I’m sorry they betrayed you, Bludrexe.” Artur had helped most of the daywalkers through their transitions, so he had to be taking the betrayals as hard as Thanatos. Hell, for centuries, Artur had helped seek out Than’s…indiscretions…and bring them back here.

“Don’t be.” Than kicked himself for not acknowledging Artur’s pain sooner. He’d make it up to the vampire. Somehow. “You didn’t know.”

A bitter smile twisted Artur’s mouth. “But I did. At least, I suspected. I was one of those who held a grudge against you. I loved you like a father, Thanatos. I’ve always loved you. But your tight hold chafed. We’re destroying ourselves to be free of it. Forgive me.”

“For what?” A sinking sensation made Than’s gut tank. “Oh, God, Artur. What did you do?”

Artur’s eyes grew liquid, and the stake in his hand trembled. “I found the wildings and convinced them to rebel. But I swear, I didn’t want your son dead. I didn’t think they’d take it so far.”

“You?” Thanatos’s throat felt raw, as if he’d been screaming. “And Dariq? Who killed him?”

“I did,” Artur said. “Just as I killed all of them, Bludrexe,” Artur said. “Your keep is safe.”

“You killed everyone who was plotting against me?”

“Save one,” Artur whispered. He reached up and ripped his shirt from the collar to the hem. And there, fresh and swollen over his heart, was a tattoo—a tattoo of Thanatos, with Artur putting a noose around Than’s neck. “This is why the others ran. You’d soon know the truth. I’m so sorry, Thanatos.” He brought the stake to his chest, the point piercing the center of the tattoo. Blood trickled down his torso.

Than’s breath lodged in his throat. “Don’t. Artur, listen to me—”

“I failed you.”

Thanatos lunged, but Artur was faster. He jammed the stake into his own heart, and Thanatos watched helplessly as his oldest, most trusted creation became nothing more than a blackened pile of charcoal on the ground.

Twenty-nine

Regan woke up with stomach pains. They were worse than the Braxton Hicks she’d experienced before, but they weren’t regular. Damn…what if sex had triggered labor? With her due date less than a week away, the baby could come any time, and while in any other circumstance she’d be happy to help it along, right now would be a very bad time if they couldn’t nail Pestilence.

A sense of urgency drove her out of bed and into a pair of maternity pants and a sweatshirt. Even though a glance at the clock told her she’d slept less than an hour, she couldn’t believe she’d fallen asleep, not when there was so much to do and so much going on. It was as if the baby had taken away her soul-sucking ability and given her narcolepsy.

The hellhound, whom she was going to call Velcro from now on, was waiting for her outside the bedroom door. He followed her, his nails clacking on the floor, until she reached the great room, where Thanatos was just entering from outside. Tension came with him, a tangible crackle in the air.

“You don’t have to worry about my daywalkers anymore,” he said, his voice a dull monotone. “They’re dead.”

“Oh my God,” she breathed. “All of them? Did you—?”

“The Aegis killed those loyal to me, and Artur … he killed those who weren’t. He’s gone, too.”

Regan wasn’t sure what to say. Thanatos had protected his vampires for thousands of years, had kept them with him and gave them a home in the only way he’d known how. They had been as much his family as The Aegis was hers.

“I’m sorry,” she said, and before she could even finish, he pulled her against him and held her tight. A lump swelled in her throat. In a way, this was the most intimate they’d been. She wished she could do more, wished there was a way to ease his pain the way sex eased his violent tendencies. She couldn’t bear to see him in so much pain. If she could take it, she would.

“And I’m sorry about your colleagues,” he said roughly. She knew he wasn’t really sorry, but it was nice of him to say.

They stayed that way until Velcro took it upon himself to separate them by wedging his nose between them, and that fast, the world crashed down on them again.

Regan glanced up at Thanatos. “I need your phone.”

Than said nothing, merely dug a cell phone from his pocket and paced as she dialed.

Kynan answered on the second ring, but she didn’t allow him to say anything beyond a snappish “What?”

“Ky, it’s Regan. I need to you to keep your mouth shut until I’m finished talking, and then you had better give me the truth.” She spilled the events of the day, keeping one eye on Than. With each word, the storm cloud surrounding him grew more intense, until she could almost feel the static undercurrents of it on her skin.

Her voice was quavering by the time she was done, and for a long time, Kynan didn’t say anything. Finally, his gravelly voice, much more torn up than usual, came over the airwaves.

“Are you and the baby okay?”