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

There was no world where Magdalena Fitzgerald wasn’t mine, not even when she figures out what I had done to save our son. If she tried to leave me, it would be a fight to keep her. I’d destroy the world she loved, forcing her to come with me to be mine.

Whatever it took.

Whatever I had to do, I’d do it twice.

I’d pay the price, and she and my son would be mine until the end of time.

I released Lena, watching as she moved toward a booth, realizing that pain was rippling through her once more. How would she handle the knowledge that I was the one who had allowed her entire bloodline to die? That I’d stood idly by, knowing death was coming for them? Her tiny frame slipped into the booth, and her arms folded onto the smooth surface of the table before she lowered her head, resting her cheek on it to look over the empty club. I studied her for a few moments before turning to Bane, giving instructions for the upcoming reopening of Club Chaos. He listened, but his eyes were glued on Lena, too, scenting the sulfur that filled the space around her the moment her eyes had closed.

“Lucifer is at her again,” Bane snorted, tightening his hands into fists at his sides. “That fucking bastard needs a new hobby.”

None of us liked it, but if we intervened, it would only hurt Magdalena. Lucifer couldn’t really harm her in stasis, but he could make her believe he would. I wanted to find him and murder the prick for even thinking he held any power over her.

“Lena’s safe from Lucifer,” I muttered as her chest rose and fell in the sleep of our kind. “He doesn’t want to scare her. He’s still trying to make her think he’s not the bad guy here. Hopefully, she’ll learn something about Makenna this time.”

“You do know he wants her in a totally sexual way, right? I say we take off the gloves and place a bounty on his head. It’s enough that he thinks he can take her from you, but this can’t keep happening—not to you or her. He’s toying with her mind. Eventually, it will fracture. All Lucifer has to do is convince Lena that he’s her savior. She isn’t happy with what she’s become.”

“I know that, prick. Magdalena may not like how she was reborn and what she has become, but she doesn’t want to die, either. Lucifer can only offer her Hell, and she’s not the type of woman to accept that. She’s a storm, one he has no idea how to handle. She’s mine, and he knows it. It’s why he wants her.”

I moved closer to Lena, seeing the way her lips tugged into a tight line. Her unique scent warred with the vile smell of Hell and Lucifer’s dark magic. I pushed the hair away from her face with my fingers, and she sighed, sensing me close. Lucifer didn’t understand shit about Magdalena Fitzgerald, because if he did, he’d know she was a fighter to her fucking core. He’d know that when she loved something, it became everything that mattered to her. She would put everything she had into loving it, no matter the cost. He’d learn how hopeless his task was because she’d never be his.





Chapter Two




And within the chaos, I learned to embrace his storm. ~Lena



Magdalena

Grief plagued me, breaking me apart from the inside out. The furies within me had opened the floodgates, doing as Lucian had instructed. I felt everything again. Where I’d been numb or able to disassociate from emotions before, I no longer had that ability. I almost missed the cold version of myself. I’d been emotionless and detached, able to accept death without it sucking the air from my lungs. Now, I had to feel it at one time, and that grief was debilitating.

I’d mourned my family all at once and still was. I missed them all, my mother, grandmother, twin sister, and the entire coven. The demons had spared no one. Well, that wasn’t true entirely. Kat and Dexter had escaped because they’d been locking pelvises during the slaughter. Now they barely left the room given to them, guilt-ridden at having survived the ordeal that had ended with the death of everyone they knew and loved. I didn’t believe that was living, though, considering they were miserable and refused to speak to me. However, they would leave for another guild soon, so they would be out of harm’s way for a while, at least.

Today, the pain that threatened to bring me to my knees was more intense. There was no filter and no way to dull it. Lucian had explained it was worse now because I was immortal. I felt everything deeper since I was newly born. Great, just what I needed with Lucifer hunting me, yanking my ass into his realm the moment my guard lowered.

I blinked, searching the shadows of the room in which I’d just awoken. My stomach tightened, and sliding my gaze to the corner of the room, I found Lucifer waiting for me. Had I fallen asleep? I’d only meant to rest my head for a moment.

Lucifer was once again taunting me in my stasis, which I’d learned was our version of sleeping. I heard Makenna cooing, smelled the sweet scent of the babe in the air as he moved into view, pacing just out of my reach. He was shirtless, strolling through a room bare of any identifying objects or anything else we could use to find him. It was typical of Luc, always keeping me from getting a read on his location. Not that I’d be able to figure it out without Lucian’s help.

Luc had promised me that Makenna was safe. Sadly, I bought it without proof. Today, though, I could hear her. My heart jackhammered, and I searched the room beyond where we were standing.