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“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.