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Thanatos cursed and slammed his fist into the punching bag in his gym, where he was desperately trying to work off the residual high that coked-out his body when he was immersed in a lot of death. He needed to level out, needed to regain his ability to concentrate, because after leaving Australia, he’d unearthed information that might prove to be a huge break in his quest to repair Reseph’s Seal. But if he couldn’t get out of this killing mood, he wouldn’t be able to follow up on that lead with a clear head.

Atrius, one of his daywalker vamps, interrupted him with a soft tap on the doorframe. “Master, you have a visitor.”

Than pulled his last punch. “Could you be more specific?”

“It’s an Aegi.”

Kynan, then. “Let him in.”

“Ah… it’s not a him. It’s a her.”

Than wheeled around. “Did you verify that she’s a Guardian?” Pestilence had been sending succubi on a regular basis to tempt him—there was, in fact, one of said succubi chained naked in the great room, awaiting his interrogation. He definitely wouldn’t put it past his brother to resort to trying to trick Than into believing a succubus was an Aegis slayer.

“Of course. She wears the Aegis symbol on a ring, and she gave me this to present to you.” Atrius held out a cell phone.

Thanatos took it, cycled to the address book, and sure enough, the name Dean Winchester was listed among the hundreds of other names in the book. Right after Arik had been taken, The Aegis and Horsemen had come up with a way, a code of sorts, to ensure that no false Aegi could ever again gain entrance into a Horsemen stronghold or trick them as one had when he’d walked into Ares’s house and handed him a poisoned weapon.

The Dean Winchester thing had been Limos’s idea. She loved her supernatural TV shows.

Than snatched a towel off the treadmill bar. “Show her in.”

He wiped the sweat off his brow and face, then drained a bottle of water. As he lobbed the empty vessel into the garbage, a woman entered. And… damn. The Guardian was striking, made even more beautiful by what others might consider flaws. Long, thick lashes framed nondescript hazel eyes that were a little too far apart, and her slightly crooked nose had clearly been broken at least once. A scar puckered the bronze skin at her temple and again at her chin.

But her injuries only made her that much more attractive to Than, who could appreciate a woman who had survived combat.

<"0eut p height="0em" width="27">She wore a crimson turtleneck that molded tightly over full breasts and emphasized a slim waist. An embroidered candy cane sat above her left breast, reminding him that for the humans who celebrated it, it was Christmas time. Low-slung jeans hugged wide hips and slim thighs, and on her feet were leather boots that came up to mid-calf and that no doubt concealed a handful of weapons.

“You done checking me out?” she asked in a husky, smoky voice, and he took his time dragging his gaze up.

“Not checking you out,” he drawled. “Sizing you up.”

“For?”

“A hole in the ground.” He stalked toward her, but she didn’t give way. Nice. “It was stupid to come to me unannounced, slayer.”

“I tried tweeting you, but looks like you Horsemen-types are afraid of social media.”

Funny. A comedian Guardian had come to visit. “What do you want?”

“What? They didn’t teach manners in your day? I don’t get tea or anything? Maybe you want to chain me up like the naked chick in the other room?” She licked her lips, which he just noticed were full, maybe too full, and his erotic imagination took off. And since imagination was all he had when it came to all things erotic, he could spin out some amazing fantasies.

“Answer me,” he barked, and she didn’t even jump. Impressive.

“Can we talk somewhere else? Maybe after you put some clothes on?”

He grinned. “Does my bare chest tempt you?”

“Hardly. But your tattoos are distracting.”

He got told that a lot. Probably because many of them were depictions of death and destruction, scenes taken right out of his head by a demon