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“You’re looking for Limos’s agimortus, right?” she said quickly. “And a way to mend your brother’s Seal. I can help. I have a special ability that can be useful.”

His eyes narrowed. “What special ability?”

“I can interpret ink on skin. That includes parchment.”

“I can interpret ink on parchment too,” Than said dryly. “It’s called reading.”

She brushed past him, ignoring the zing of awareness that shot through her body when they touched, and stalked to his library, where she looked around at the piles of parchments and scrolls and bazillions of books, some modern, but most ancient. Quickly, because Thanatos was coming at her like a locomotive, steam practically coming out of his ears, she grabbed a book with a cover that appeared to have been made from… oh, ick… human skin.

Whatever. She laid it on the desk, flipped it open, and put her fingers to the ink… blood?… on one of the pages. The language was unknown to her, but the emotions that seared her fingertips were not.

Jealousy, as thick as gelatin, rolled through her. “The author,” she murmured, “is… upset. Jealous.” Flashes of violence flickered like a grainy movie through her brain. “It’s a female, I think. She wants to kill… horriblyto killiblpse another female. The other female is beautiful, black hair, violet eyes. Whoever wrote this was thinking of a naked male. With wings.” She inhaled a shaky breath. “Angel?”

Thanatos’s fingers circled her wrist and pulled her away from the book. “You can do this with the documents pertaining to my sister’s agimortus?”

Regan nodded, the visions in her head still vivid. “Who were those people?”

“The author was a succubus named Estha. The violet-eyed female is Lilith, my mother. The male is either Azagoth or Sartael, before they fell, and one of two rumored to be our father.”

“Azagoth? The Grim Reaper could be your father?”

Thanatos didn’t say anything else, instead standing there and watching her speculatively. “You could be of use, but I’ll come to you. No female stays here.”

She had the upper hand right now, and she was going to use it. “That won’t work. I need access to your library. You need my help, and The Aegis needs yours. I’m not leaving, female or not.” Smiling, she sauntered out of the library and shouldered her duffle. “Now, please show me to my room.”

With a snarl, he stalked away, and though a vampire showed up a moment later to lead her deep into the freezing keep, she didn’t feel victorious at all. On the contrary, she was pissed as hell.

The Horseman she’d been sent to seduce… was gay.

Fourteen

Arik lost it. It was fucking great news that he was no longer in Sheoul, but now he was a big head case. Chunks of his memory were gone, and what was there seemed fuzzy, dreamlike, and he couldn’t tell memory from dream. Christ, he hated that, had always prided himself on having a damned good memory, especially after intensive military training that helped him recall minute details following encounters with demons. Now he wondered how much of his life he’d lost, and if any of it would come back.

In his freaked-out state, he’d gone to his room—Limos’s room, he guessed—but claustrophobia had wrapped around him tighter than a bulletproof vest, and he’d gone for the sliding glass door—only to find that it had been locked. From the outside.

Panic set in, and he’d smashed a chair through the glass, leaped over the railing, and whacked the male who’d been standing guard below. Arik ran, barefoot, into the jungle behind the house. He didn’t know how far he’d gone when he heard Limos calling to him, but he didn’t stop until his lungs were burning for oxygen, his skin was damp with sweat, and the path was blocked by a waterfall that split the jungle in half.

Panting, he bent over and braced his hands on his knees as Limos came up behind him.

“I’m impressed.” Her voice was soft as her hand came down on his shoulder, and now that he knew she was real, her touch felt bette ">

“I’ve been fighting demons since