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

“Sure thing, pretty monster.”





Chapter Seven




Once upon a time, I knew better than to walk into the shadows and play with darkness. Now, I am the darkness. ~Lena



The three of us appeared in a dark alleyway bathed in pulsing shadows and what seemed to be some kind of portal. My eyes slid over the wafting darkness that beckoned us forward seductively. Tiny rainbow prisms covered the ground in front of the swirling, wispy tendrils of dark shadows, while the sound of a beating drum came from the gloomy portal, deeper inside the alley. Or, at least, I assumed it was a drum. Zahruk toed the crystals before kneeling and using his fingers to grab a shard of one of the larger pieces. Then, bringing it to his nose, he jerked it back away from his face, tossing it down as he rose to his impressive height.

“What the fuck is happening here?” Zahruk’s voice held worry deep within his sultry timbre. “It feels wrong, even to me.”

“Good question, but no one seems to know the answer, and whatever it is, it’s spreading into our world.” Alden crossed his arms over his chest, his bushy brow raised as he glared at the shadows. “I sent enforcers into that shit, and two came out… changed, for lack of a better word. One became insane, and the other had brand-like markings all over him. Not like yours or Ryder’s, though. These markings have altered his genetic make-up. His ears are now pointed, and when he’s angry, his eyes turn entirely black, swallowing the sclera and iris. He hungers, and no matter how much we feed him, he is never satisfied.”

“They didn’t come out the same?” I asked, watching Alden’s head shake.

“When did this anomaly show up?” Zahruk asked, narrowing his gaze on the pulsing, thrumming shadows that continually sang an eerie song, sending a shiver rushing up my spine.

“It was here when we exited the shelter; after all that shit went down in Faery. We came out here because I got reports of people going missing around this area. I figured it was an otherworldly creature feeding on humans. I never expected to find something like this,” Alden grumbled, shaking his head. “There are other areas all over town where the same thing has appeared. Some are silent, and others sound the same as this one, like a war drum is beating from within the darkness.”

Zahruk stepped closer to the shadows, holding his hand out to touch one. It grabbed onto his wrist, jerking his body forward as he hissed through clenched teeth. One minute he’d been yanked forward, and the next, he slammed against my body, sending us both crashing to the ground in a pile of limbs.

“Fucking hell,” Zahruk ground out, his hand lifting with the shadow still attached to him. I groaned, not moving from beneath him as I peered around.

“Where is Alden?” I asked in a panic.

“Over here,” Alden grunted, forcing us both to turn to where he’d placed distance between him and the creepy shadows. “Next time, warn me before you decide to get frisky with the spooky dark magic.”

Zahruk grumbled, shaking his hand to dispel the wispy tendrils that clung to him. Sitting up, I spread my legs to drop his ass to the ground between them, both of us still observing the shit he’d shaken off as it crawled back to join the larger shadows.

“It’s alive,” Zahruk announced.

“Very much so,” I snorted, which drew his gaze to my bare thigh, cradling his body.

“Your bite isn’t so bad, witch.”

“That’s just to ensnare you and make you lower your guard. Haven’t you heard? Witches are wanton things that feed off of unknowing men. Witches do everything better, and that witchy magic, it’s lethal when it bites,” I purred huskily, watching his shoulders shake in amusement. “Are you laughing at me?” I demanded, offended that Zahruk wasn’t the least bit worried about my bite.

“Save it for your boyfriend, Lena. I don’t play well with other men’s women. I enjoy the challenge of claiming them, and you’re not fucking claimable. You’ve got two of the biggest, baddest mother fuckers on this planet trying to play in your backyard. I don’t want the type of fruit you’ve got down there in your lady garden. That shit’s forbidden. You make Eve, and her apple, look weak and lacking.”

“I don’t know about fruit, but it’s a man-eater,” I laughed, hearing Alden’s strangled groan. “Get up so that I can move.”

The moment Zahruk stood, reaching down, he yanked me up with him. His hand was ice cold, causing a yelp to leave my lips as if Jack Frost had bitten me. Standing the rest of the way, I stared down at my hand, noting the shadows wafting up from it.

“What the hell is this shit?” Zahruk asked, looking at his hand with the same shit sticking to it. We both turned, eyeing the slithering shadows that still made a drumming sound. “Do you hear that?” He tipped his head to the side, and his eyes glowed sapphire and indigo as he ignited his power.

The sound changed, coming out like a siren’s song that drifted over the water to lure fishermen and sailors to their doom. Zahruk stepped closer, but I grabbed hold and pulled him back. He turned, staring at me without his glamour, showing me a pretty, lethal package.

“Holy shit,” I whispered breathlessly, shuddering at the beauty of his image.

I shook at the intensity of his features, with a jawline that was sharp like glass. His ears were slightly pointed, and his eyes slanted with the inhuman glow of the fae. He looked like death personified, bathed in lust and darkness that promised untold desire. His golden skin turned translucent, with pulsing markings beneath it. His brands were gold, shifting with a powerful hum that caused my hand to move, touching his warm flesh.