Revealing the Monster (Playing with Monsters #4) by Amelia Hutchins

My mind wandered with their chants, giving in to the familiar taste of the magic they were using. Spyder still held my hand, his shadows slithering over me while he peered down at me. I searched his gaze, turning as someone else moved closer to my side.

“Magdalena, I need you to agree to what needs to be done to save you,” Lucian begged, his tone hoarse and filled with an emotion I couldn’t place. “It is going to hurt, and that cannot be avoided. You’re going to want to die and will probably beg me to end it. I won’t, because losing you isn’t something I will allow to happen. You’re my home, and I can’t lose you again.”

I opened my lips to speak, but nothing came out. My chest no longer rose or fell with air, and I blinked past the tears that refused to fall. Panic began to rise through me, swallowing me entirely. Lucian’s eyes studied my face, watching as the realization sank in that I was already dead.

Spyder’s hand tightened on mine, his sober look now making sense.

I’d died again.

The furies which were being ripped from me with the dagger were the only thing keeping me alive. It was no longer me driving because there was no part of me within my body.

“You’re still here with me, Magdalena. Spyder is holding you here. His shadows have you, keeping the soul that was inside of you, within him. You’re still my girl. It’s okay to be afraid. You can be scared, but you can’t give up on me. Trust me, little one. I’m going to fix this, and you will be fine. I promise you that,” he stated, leaning over to kiss my blood-covered lips with his warm ones. “Allow me to save you. I need you to want this, Lena. Say yes.”

“Yes!” I didn’t speak it out loud, but he’d heard it somehow.

I didn’t want to die, not after just discovering the stubborn asshole loved me! I held his stare, watching his lips sliding into a bemused smile. He shook his dark head, pushing the hair away from my face before he moved back, turning to nod at the people on the hillside that tossed more sage into the fires. Sparks filled the sky, sending embers into the night.

“Her body temperature is dropping. It’s time to get started,” Lucian announced. “She’s agreed to this. You all heard her agree, begin.”

He stepped back, and I slid my gaze through the robed figures, watching as they pushed the hoods back, staring down at me. If I had a working heart, it would have beaten wildly at what met my gaze.

My mother smiled sadly, her eyes swimming with unshed tears. My grandmother stood beside her, looking at me as they began softly chanting. I fought to speak, to whisper their names while they all chanted, their voices fluttering over me with a comforting melody.

Pain began burning in my chest, and I jerked against it. My back lifted off the altar, and the pillars with glowing blue lights turned crimson. Blood poured through them, painting the earth in a copper river that flowed up the mountains and hillsides.

Inwardly, I screamed along with the furies. It felt like we were all being torn apart or separated. It was debilitating pain that had my entire body shaking against what was being done to us.

It wasn’t normal pain. It was ripping me apart as if my genetic makeup was being rewritten with their words. I began flopping around, held only by Spyder’s grip while he watched over me. Fingers gripped my shoulders, slamming me down while the spell continued rushing through the circle.

Blue light shot into the night sky, the symbol of magic painting the image into the air above me. I was in the middle of a huge pentagram, one filled with powerful magic—the magic of my bloodline. My eyes moved to my mother, who watched me carefully.

Lucian hadn’t killed my family. I don’t know how I knew this to be true, but I did. I saw it all playing out in my mind. He hadn’t just stood by while they’d been murdered, as I’d assumed, or not for the reasoning I’d thought, anyway. They’d brokered a deal, one to ensure a member of our bloodline continued.

Black magic, mixed with forbidden magic in the air; Lucian had known they were marked for death, and he’d allowed them to be slaughtered because it was an easier way out than what the cost for meddling would have been.

Something wet began leaking from my orifices, and I felt a hand on my forehead. Thanatos peered down at me, his eyes sliding to where Lucian stood with the Fates, watching the witches work.

Hades and Persephone stepped up at my feet, each one grabbing a foot before they started whispering in a strange language I couldn’t understand. Panic was shooting through me even more with their appearance. Thanatos leaned down and brushed his lips against my ear, kissing below my earlobe.

“Do you accept the return of your soul, Magdalena Fitzgerald?” he asked huskily.

I blinked, turning to look at Spyder, who nodded, squeezing my hand tightly with encouragement. Fear filled my core, knowing that something big was happening here—something I couldn’t understand.

The seal was in my womb, and if it was unleashed, it would end the world. I didn’t know if that was the plan, but I refused to let it to escape and slaughter everything and everyone.

“That won’t happen, Magdalena,” he said, reading my thoughts. “Lucian wouldn’t allow it, not even for you. It’s been handled. Do you accept the soul you lost? Or do you deny what I offer?” Thanatos repeated.

“I accept. But not if it’s evil, cursed, been used to do shady shit, or anything to that accord.”