The thing stiffened and fell dead.

Arik blinked in shock, but who the hell cared why the thing died so easily? He went for the other, with the same result. Another came at him, and this time he didn’t bother with grabbing its throat. He punched the f**ker in the face, and it dropped. Time after time, he took the demons out, going through them like a lawnmower.

Eventually, he was standing waist-deep in demons,eephed the fu staring at the carnage around him, and the Horsemen were staring at him. At least the weird sensation of being watched by evil was gone.

“What the hell was that, human?” Ares asked.

“I have no idea.” He lifted his head, his newfound spidey-senses tingling again, but this time without the intensity. “Over there.”

Thanatos moved like a snake, faster than Arik could track as he disappeared into the brush. There was a squeak, a thud, and he emerged, carrying a rat by its tail. “This?”

“Yeah. That was it.” Arik scrubbed his hand over his face, confused as shit. “What the hell?”

Limos winced. “Crap. The blood exchange. Like vampires.”

“Ah.” Ares nodded. “Makes sense.”

“To you,” Arik muttered. “You want to include me in your cryptic conversation?”

Limos sheathed her sword. “Khnives are summoned demons. Spies. A lot of demons can summon one or two, but only a handful of beings could have summoned this many khnives, and Pestilence is one of them. Even as Reseph he could command disease carriers and use them to gather intelligence or spread disease… or he could destroy them at will. The blood exchange gave you his abilities. To what extent…” She shrugged. “Time will tell.”

“I’m still not following. You mentioned vampires.”

“Vampires often transmit their special abilities to those they turn,” Thanatos explained. “But since you didn’t technically turn, I suspect there’s something unique about you. What are you not telling us? Do you have a demon dangling from your family tree?”

As tempting as it was to tell Thanatos to f**k off, Arik wanted to know what was up as well. “No demons in my DNA, but I was bitten by one a few years ago.” He figured he’d leave out the part about how the demon that bit him had been sent by the demon he’d made a bad deal with back when he was a teenager, desperate to end his father’s reign of terror. “The infection from the bite nearly killed me, but Shade saved my life. There was a… side-effect.” He glanced over at Limos, who was watching him curiously. “I can learn demon languages after hearing just a few words.”

“You Aegi are full of surprises,” Ares murmured.

Arik had found that statement to be true enough. “So why did Pestilence send his spies to attack? I mean, if he wants me dead, can’t he do it himself? If he’d come with a few of his minions, I could have been toast by now.”

“You’re right.” Limos frowned. “It doesn’t make sense.”

“Maybe it was your charming fiancé?” Arik asked, but she shook her head.

“That doesn’t make sense either. I doubt he knows that Pestilence owns your soul. Satan would want you dragged to Sheoul to die, so he could have your soul. He’d lose it if you died here.”

“So what you’re saying then, is that there’s a new player in town.”

Ares nudged one of the khnive bodies with his foot. “A new player who wants you dead.”

Thanatos whistled. “Sucks to be you, human.”

Man, there were days you just shouldn’t get out of bed.

Sixteen

No more creepy demons attacked Arik and Limos on their way back to the house, and when Arik saw Kynan standing on the huge wraparound deck at the front of Limos’s house, he rethought the not-getting-out-of-bed thing. Limos disappeared to give them a moment as he folded Kynan into a bear hug and practically lifted him off the deck. Ky gave him a few manly pats on the back, and they broke apart, Arik grinning like an idiot.

“Man,” he breathed. “It’s so great to see you.”

“Ditto. You gave us a scare.” Kynan clapped him on the shoulder. “You look good. Shade and E did you right.”

“Speaking of Shade—”

“He and Runa are on their way,” Kynan interrupted.

“Good.” Arik sank down on one of the bar stools that cozied up to the bamboo mini-bar. The east decking was set up with tables, the bar, and a hot tub, and Arik wondered how much partying Limos did here. “Runa’s probably been a little worried.”

“A little?” Kynan snorted. “I think the only thing keeping her together has been all the time she spends in Underworld General’s daycare.”

Arik had forgotten that UG had a daycare run by Runa and a couple other in-laws of his, Serena and Idess. That was some weird shit. A hospital run by demons, with a nursery run by a werewolf, a vampire, and an ex-angel. There was a book or TV show in there somewhere.

Arik propped one heel on the stool rung and leaned back, letting the sun hit his bare skin. “I’ll bet the hospital has been busy.”

“Everything has been busy. It’s bad, man.” Kynan dragged his hand through his hair. “The Aegis is overextended, and we’ve lost nearly ten percent of our Guardians in assassinations and battles with demons. We even lost an Elder. Decker took his place.”

Arik’s eyes shot wide. “You made Decker an Elder? He isn’t even an Aegi.”

“He is now.”

Arik rubbed the back of his neck, stunned at this new turn of events. “Wow. The Aegis has a really intensive selection process, doesn’t it?’

“Ha-ha.” Kynan shook his head. “We had a few candidates shortlisted, but we decided to take someone from the R-XR.”

“Why? You already had us, well, him, as a consult.”

“Yeah, but as an Elder, we can share more sensitive information with him, and when he’s sworn to keep something secret, he has to.”

“You mean, keep something secret from the R-XR.” Arik hated all the secrecy crap. How the hell were they supposed to solve the end-of-the-world puzzle when the players wouldn’t share their pieces?

Ky shrugged. “So… now that you’re back…” he trailed off. “You are back, right?”

Arik looked up at a seagull soaring overhead and wondered how to respond. This was something he didn’t know how to answer. His mind was still scrambled, Pestilence held the deed to his soul, he could alert to spies like a bird dog, a gob of people were trying to kill him, and then there was the… whatever it was… going on with Limos.

“Look,” Ky said, interrupting Arik’s musings, “if you need time off, a vacation… therapy… it’s understandable. Hell, it’s required. But the world situation isn’t getting any better. The Apocalypse took a break, but it’s knocking at our door again. We need you, man.”

“Trust me, I want to kick some demon ass. But I’m not sure leaving right now is a good idea.”

“What, you want to stay here?”

Fucking idiot that he was, yeah, he wanted to stay. Because hey, nothing like self-torture to make one’s life complete. “My soul is in danger. If I die, I become Pestilence’s soul-bitch. Long story, but if he decides he wants me dead, I’m probably safest here. Our best defense against an evil Horseman is another Horseman.”

“Fuuuuuuuuck.” Kynan scrubbed his face. “I could use a double shot of whiskey right now.”

“I’m sure Flicka keeps hard liquor behind the bar.”

“Flicka?”

“I don’t want to say her name.”

“So you’re calling her horse names?” Ky cocked a dark eyebrow. “I can’t wait to see how she reacts to Mr. Ed.”

The slatted-wood double doors that opened to the deck from the living room swung wide, and Arik leaped to his feet as Runa stepped out, Shade at her side.

“Sis!” As Arik moved toward her, Shade put his big body in the way, menace all but leaking from his pores. What the hell was that about?

Runa, seemingly unconcerned by her mate’s reaction, went around him and threw herself into Arik’s arms.

“Thank God,” she whispered. “Thank God you’re okay.”

“Yeah.” His throat closed up a little. “Yeah. I’m okay.”

She pulled back so he could see her face. “You know it’s me, right?”

“Ah, yeah.” What the hell?

“You on the up-and-up?” Shade asked. “Because you pull any shit like you did last time, and I will gut you. Runa won’t stop me this time.”

“Shade!” Runa scolded. “He’s fine.”

“Overprotective, much?” Arik glared. “And what the f**k are you talking about?”

“Hey, everyone, why don’t we give Arik some time to rest?” Limos, changed into a bright blue sundress, hurried outside, her smile so fake and unsteady that it was obvious she was trying to keep Shade and Runa from answering Arik’s question.

“No deal, Secretariat. I don’t need any rest.” He swiveled around to Shade, knowing the demon would give it to him straight. People who didn’t give a shit about you were always the most honest. “Answer me.”

“Arik, this isn’t necessary.” Limos took Arik’s arm to lead him away, but he didn’t budge, and Shade didn’t seem inclined to listen to her either.

“Let me refresh your memory.” Shadows writhed in Shade’s dark eyes, and he poked Arik in the chest with one finger. “We were here yesterday. You beat the shit out of Runa. Broke her cheekbone, smashed her nose, and fractured three ribs.”

The ground shifted beneath Arik’s feet. “That’s not possible. I would never—”

“It’s okay, Arik,” Runa said. “You were out of your mind. You didn’t know what was real.”