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Pestilence took a graceful sidestep, and the blade punched into the wall, the handle vibrating harmlessly. Casting a smile over his shoulder, he took the corner, disappearing from her sight.

That asshole. That goddamned son of a bitch!

Closing her eyes, she planted her fists on the counter and stood there until her blood pressure wasn’t in danger of blowing out her eardrums. But e Srdred ven as the thud faded away, she once again heard the sound of footsteps. At least this time, it was Thanatos who stepped into the kitchen, wearing his usual black pants and a long black coat that buckled from the high collar to the waist. She’d bet he had on a black turtleneck under it. Instead of his favorite thick-soled Goth boots, he wore combat boots.

“You look like hell.” He tossed a pair of sweat pants and a T-shirt onto the table. “And why is there a knife in the wall?”

“Pestilence was just here, and that knife was meant for the back of his skull.”

Thanatos tensed, his yellow eyes darkening to a golden amber. All around him, shadows gathered. “What did he want?”

“Mostly to taunt me.”

God, she hated this. Hated that her brother had gone evil. Hated that he had so much power over her. Hated that he now owned Arik in a way she never would. Not that she wanted to own his soul, but she definitely didn’t want Pestilence having it. Arik was… what? Hers? Impossible, even if he didn’t hate her.

Thanatos had gone still, as if considering what their brother might have done to taunt her. She expected him to ask, so she was surprised when he said, “How’s the human doing?”

“I’m not sure. He doesn’t remember escaping.”

“Did you mess with his memories?”

She and her brothers could erase memories—depending on the situation and individual, they usually couldn’t go back more than a couple of hours or so, but often, that was all that was needed.

“I haven’t done anything to his mind. He thinks he’s still in Sheoul.” She blew out a frustrated breath. “I’m a little worried.” A little? She was freaked.

“Yeah, well, remember how screwed up you were after you got away from The Aegis?”

How could she forget? Those bastards had paralyzed her with hellhound spit and kept her in a dungeon while they poked and prodded, and threw in a little torture for fun. Reseph had rescued her, and she’d spent two full days trying to get her bearings.

“He just needs some time.”

Thanatos shifted his weight. “Speaking of that…”

“Don’t say it,” she growled. “Killing him so he won’t get grabbed by demons isn’t an option. Our asshole brother did some sort of blood exchange with him, and now if he dies, his soul belongs to Pestilence.”

“Fuck,” Than breathed. “That’s not cool.”

“You think?” She loaded the food and water on a tray. “What I don’t get is why he’s waiting. Why not kill Arik now?”

“No idea. Maybe tethering a soul is like turning a vampire? It has to ‘take’?”

“I don’t know about t S knwidth="27"hat, but I do have some good news.” She dug Sartael’s coin out of her shorts pocket. “Look who’s surfaced.” She flipped the coin at Than, who snatched it easily out of the air.

“Well, well,” he murmured as he studied the coin. “The angel of hidden things came out to play for the Apocalypse.” He looked up. “How did you get this?”

“I killed a demon who was using it to track Arik,” she said, enjoying the flush of heat that tingled over her skin. She could have told Than the truth, that Kynan had killed the demon, but her brother would have wondered why she’d been with Ky in the first place. “I thought Sartael was dead.”

“There have always been rumors that instead of death, he was imprisoned by Satan. Some say he was turned into a hellrat and kept as a pet.”

“So why let him out now?”

“Maybe your fiancé was desperate to find Arik after he escaped?”

“It’s possible, but it seems pretty extreme to bring Sartael back after so long just to find one human.” She eyed the knife in the wall. “Pestilence,” she spat. “He mentioned Sartael when he was here. I’d bet your left nut that Pestilence arranged for Sartael’s release so he could help him find my agimortus.”

Thanatos