Larissa Ione - Lethal Rider

For the Sisterhood of the Traveling Werefly: Penny, Bells, Dren, Tigris, Larissa B, Jen, Danielle, Marq, and Lara Adrian. Do you remember the Big Spoiler, or is my Jedi Mind Wipe still working? Love you guys!

Thank you so very, very much to all of my fabulous readers. Whether you e-mail me, chat with me on Twitter or Facebook, or simply buy my books, you need to know that you keep me sane, laughing, and writing. Your enthusiasm and energy is precious to me, and I am incredibly lucky to have you.

Special thanks to everyone involved in the publishing community who helps make my books available to readers, especially my publishers both overseas and in the United States. And huge, mushy thanks to everyone at Grand Central Publishing—you make me feel special. Thank you!

Big shout-outs to Judie Bouldry and Syd Gill for being awesome, to Cyndi, Joan Swan, and Suzi Tunning for your medical expertise (and for your name, Suzi!) and to Erika Fotis, Cid Tyer, Amber Hansford, and Elena Bradley for lending me some guys to um, eliminate, in the last couple of books. I hope I did them justice!

The Aegis— Society of human warriors dedicated to protecting the world from evil. See: Guardians, Regent, Sigil.

Agimortus— A trigger for the breaking of a Horseman’s Seal. An agimortus can be identified as a symbol engraved or branded upon the host person or object. Three kinds of agimorti have been identified, and may take the form of a person, an object, or an event.

Camborian— The human offpring of a parent under the possession of a demon at the time of conception. Camborians may or may not possess supernatural powers that vary in type and strength, depending on the species of demon inhabiting the body of the parent at the time of conception.

Daemonica— The demon bible and basis for dozens of demon religions. Its prophesies regarding the Apocalypse, should they come to pass, will ensure that the Four Horsemen fight on the side of evil.

Fallen Angel— Believed to be evil by most humans, fallen angels can be grouped into two categories: True Fallen and Unfallen. Unfallen angels have been cast from Heaven and are earthbound, living a life in which they are neither truly good nor truly evil. In this state, they can, rarely, earn their way back into Heaven. Or they can choose to enter Sheoul, the demon realm, in order to complete their fall and become True Fallens, taking their places as demons at Satan’s side.

Guardians— Warriors for The Aegis, trained in combat techniques, weapons, and magic. Upon induction into The Aegis, all Guardians are presented with an enchanted piece of jewelry bearing the Aegis shield, which, among other things, allows for night vision and the ability to see through demon invisibility enchantments.

Harrowgate— Vertical portals, invisible to humans, which demons use to travel between locations on Earth and Sheoul. A very few beings can summon their own personal Harrowgates.

Khote— An invisibility spell that allows the caster to move among humans without being seen or, usually, heard.

Marked Sentinel— A human charmed by angels and tasked with protecting a vital artifact. Sentinels are immortal and immune to harm. Only angels (fallen included) can injure or kill a Sentinel. Their existence is a closely guarded secret.

Quantamun— A state of superaccelerated existence on a plane that allows some supernatural beings to travel among humans. Humans, unaware of what moves within their world, appear frozen in time to those inside the quantamun. This differs from the khote in that the khote operates in real time and is a spell rather than a plane of existence.

Regent— Head(s) of local Aegis cells.

Sheoul— Demon realm. Located deep in the bowels of the Earth, accessible only by Harrowgates and hell-mouths.

Sheoul-gra— A holding tank for demon souls. The place where demon souls go until they can be reborn or kept in torturous limbo.

Sheoulic— Universal demon language spoken by all, although many species also speak their own language.

Sigil— Board of twelve humans known as Elders, who serve as the supreme leaders of The Aegis. Based in Berlin, they oversee all Aegis cells worldwide.

Ter’taceo— Demons who can pass as human, either because their species is naturally human in appearance, or because they can shapeshift into human form.

Watchers— Individuals assigned to keep an eye on the Four Horsemen. As part of the agreement forged during the original negotiations between angels and demons that led to Ares, Reseph, Limos, and Thanatos being cursed to spearhead the Apocalypse, one Watcher is an angel, the other is a fallen angel. Neither Watcher may directly assist any Horseman’s efforts to either start or stop Armageddon, but they can lend a hand behind the scenes. Doing so, however, may have them walking a fine line, that, to cross, could prove worse than fatal.

Regan Matthews was going to die.

She knew it as sure as she knew the sky was blue. Knew it as sure as she knew the baby inside her was a boy.

Knew it as sure as she knew the baby’s father would be the one to end her life.

Screaming, she bolted upright in bed, her eyes focusing on the glow of the nightlight in the bathroom. It took a second to realize she was awake, safe and secure inside The Aegis’s Berlin headquarters.

The dream had come to her again, the one where she saw herself lying on a floor and covered in her own blood, too much blood. Thanatos, known to much of the human population as Death, fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse, knelt next to her, blood coating his hands, dripping from his pale hair, and splashed across his bone armor.

She took a deep, calming breath, forcing herself to relax. Thanatos couldn’t touch her. Not here, in the apartment complex deep below the headquarters building that housed the twelve Elders who ran the ancient demon-hunting organization. Most of the Elders used their apartments only when they came to Germany for Aegis business, but Regan had called this spartan apartment home for years, and despite the fact that she was due to give birth in less than a month, she hadn’t done a single thing to prepare for the baby. There would be no decorating, no toys, no cribs.

She’d always hated pastels anyway.

Her hand, so pregnancy-swollen that she no longer wore her Sigil ring, trembled as she rubbed her belly through the cotton fabric of the maternity nightgown, hoping the baby would stay asleep. He was one hell of a kicker, and her organs were still recovering from his last round of hacky sack.

Regan fumbled in the darkness for the bedside table lamp. Her hand fell first to the hellhound-spit coated Aegis dagger all twelve Elders were required to carry as defense against evil Horsemen, and then to the bit of parchment next to the lamp. She allowed herself a moment to smooth her fingers over the inked lettering. The Latin words were a prayer of sorts, but that wasn’t where Regan found comfort.

No, as a psychometric empath, she could divine information with a touch or, more specifically, feel the emotions of the person who put ink to skin. This particular bit of writing had been penned while the author was feeling serene. Regan had kept the page with her for years, borrowing the emotions of the author like some sort of psychic vampire, and she’d needed it more than ever over these last few months.