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

“Party time?” She grabbed my arm and yanked me behind her toward the people expecting us below. “Everyone is waiting for the new Mistress of Chaos!”

I laughed, following her, my heels clicking on the tile as we descended the stairs. At the bottom of the staircase, I dragged her back a step. Joshua stood at the bar, staring at me with a smile that lit his eyes.

“Joshua,” I whispered as he came toward me.

“Lenny,” Joshua said the moment he reached me, hugging me to him. “Blink twice if you need to escape this shit show.”

I pulled away from him slightly, smiling until I caught the blackness swallowing his pretty blue eyes. His dark brown hair was longer than he normally allowed it to be, and there were dark circles beneath his eyes, highlighting the lines that shouldn’t have been there. He was aging.

“What happened?” I asked, but he shook the question off.

“This night is about you, Lenny. Not me. I’m sure you know what’s going on. It isn’t happening tonight, though. You’re free, and you look amazing.”

“We will figure it out, Joshua.”

“Sure,” he said, appeasing me, even though his smile no longer touched his eyes. I rushed back into his arms, knowing he didn’t feel the loss I felt and that I sensed what was happening. Or maybe he did. I was losing him again, and nothing could stop it this time because his soul was too far gone.

“I love you, Joshua,” I whispered.

“I know, Lenny girl. I know you do. I should be able to return the sentiment, but I can’t say it because I won’t mean it. That part of my soul is gone. I loved you in our first life. You’re my sister, and you will always be my Lenny.”

He pulled away, leaving me rooted in place as he vanished through the doors. Both mom and grandma watched him go as Lucian spoke softly to them. I wanted the floor to swallow me whole, but I knew I couldn’t leave yet.

With a heavy heart, I moved to where Lucifer sat, staring at me. There was a quietness to him that almost made me shrink away from what was coming. He smirked, sensing it before I reached him. His violet-blue gaze studied my face, and then his dark head slowly shook back and forth.

“Joshua will come to me because of what he did and became in this lifetime. I’ll make sure he is safe, Lena,” he promised. At my shocked look, he frowned. “All beings who escape death come to me. They’re not welcome in Heaven once they’ve received their immortality. He’ll be reborn, but he won’t be your brother anymore. He will be a recycled soul that never fits into this world. They normally become those that are lost, never understanding the shit haunting them from their past life.” Lucifer turned, grabbing a drink from the bar.

“We need to discuss Makenna.”

“She’s staying with you and Lucian. If she can? She’s not safe with me right now. I am being hunted by angels once again. If they find her, they will kill her.”

“I was going to say that she should stay with you. Does anyone have any good news?” I asked, as Lucifer downed his drink and rapped his knuckles on the counter for more. “Kendra said you loved her and that she belongs with you.”

“No, she didn’t. She has no idea what happens down there or what I am.” He snorted, draining his glass. “I have Cassidy, and Helen in Hell, being tortured endlessly, and I enjoy watching them suffer. They’re being skinned alive and then slowly burned until they are nothing more than a meal to consume. Once the last morsel is eaten, their bodies are made whole again, repeating the process on an endless loop throughout eternity.”

“Oh, that sounds lovely.” He turned to look at me mid-drink, with his brows raised to his hairline. “I mean, I wouldn’t want to try it out or anything. But it seems a fitting end to the likes of that pair.”

“How’d that asshole get you? What did he do that I didn’t, Lena?” Luc asked, scanning my face as if I’d give it away.

“I fell in love with him first and wouldn’t let him forget that I was worth loving,” I admitted, nodding at the bartender, who placed a cup in front of me, pouring a drink. “I will keep Makenna, Lucifer. I will love her as if she was my own, but you will still be in her life. I can’t begin to understand the decisions your father made when he cast you from Heaven and abandoned you, but you are not him. I know you would not forsake Makenna and that you want to be a part of her life, and so you shall be, in whatever capacity you choose.”

He snorted, downing another drink. “You almost fucking died, and I hated myself for being the reason for it. You’re quicksand, Magdalena. You’re fucking quicksand.”

Lucifer turned, smiling, as he noticed something over my shoulder. He leaned in before I could guess his intentions and kissed me on the lips. Backing up, I stared at him as if he’d lost his fucking mind.

One second he was on the stool, and the next, he was sailing through the air without anyone having touched him. I watched his body break the wall, cracking the plaster as he smashed against it, slowly sliding down. He landed on his feet effortlessly, fixing his suit jacket before he winked at me.

Shifting my attention back to my drink, I found Lucian on one side of me, and Spyder standing on the other. Smirking at their jealousy, I lifted my glass and sipped from it.

“Was that necessary, Lucian?” I inquired.