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

Chapter Seventeen




Some women are born to rule, but Lena, she’s a natural-born queen that was created to sit beside me on my throne. There’s so much she doesn’t see, but I intend to show her. ~Lucian



Lucian

Leaning against the railing, I stared out at the club, studying the people dancing, feeding, and openly fucking on the dancefloor. Many patrons were drunk and high, oblivious to the monsters using them and hunting them inside my club.

I’d revoked the feeding laws for most of the Otherworld beings. After all, it wasn’t like their existence was hidden and still a secret. But, if the humans were stupid enough to be in a club known for entertaining such creatures and didn’t take precautions, then they deserved what befell them.

Gazing down at a female, I watched her legs raise as two men fucked her. Her hands were around a vampire’s throat while an incubus demon took her from behind. The look of wonder in her eyes pissed me off and reminded me of Lena’s gaze, hooded with lust as Spyder and I fucked her. My threats hadn’t mattered. Lena and Spyder knew who she truly belonged to in that room, filled with lust, sex, and magic. She was mine.

I wasn’t so certain that I would allow Spyder to keep those memories. I didn’t enjoy the fact that he knew how dirty and perfect my woman was. She’d shed her human skin and embraced the monster she’d become while handling us both.

No woman had ever taken us both more than once, but Lena had held her own between us. My attention shifted to the bar, and I snorted, finding Spyder watching the same scene I’d been observing. His ice-blue gaze left the trio, lifting to lock with mine, and I saw anger burning within them.

Turning away from Spyder’s glare, I headed toward my office. I knew Spyder would be there before I reached the door. Bane nodded in my direction, studying my posture to guess the shit he’d have to clean up this time due to my temper.

Usually, Bane used his magic to fix what Lena and I wrecked inside the office. More often than not, she’d come in angry and fuck that frustration out on my dick. I preferred that form of anger management, but she’d tried to walk out on me. Lena thought she could escape me? Fuck that and fuck her. That wasn’t happening, ever.

“Why the fuck didn’t you just tell her the truth?” Spyder demanded, entering directly behind me as he stepped out of the shadows he used to travel.

I exhaled, moving to the sideboard inside my office to pour some whiskey. “It isn’t your place to question me, Spyder. Don’t confuse me sharing her once with allowing you to dictate what becomes of her. I permitted it because you’re my oldest friend and brother, and I didn’t want to lose you. I knew Lena wouldn’t understand you being reborn. I also wouldn’t want anyone else at my side when this shit collapses, and I have to decide whether to save this world or watch it die again.”

“I don’t give a fuck about her right now, Lucian. It isn’t about Lena. This about you and what you fucking deserve,” Spyder snapped, running his fingers through his hair. “She’s hurting, and you could fix that pain she is housing. Tell her the fucking truth. She will understand that you did it for her and that because she had escaped Death’s reach, creating an echo that came at a hefty cost, you had no other choice.” He shook his head, glaring at me before continuing.

“The moment she broke Death’s grasp on her, her entire line was linked and marked to replace her in the ground. Tell her about Harbinger, and make her see what you did and why you did it. You fucking spared her mother and the coven. You also gave her grandmother a painless death that you damn well know the reapers wouldn’t have given her. When Lena messed with magic that only the gods may use, she marked each of her family members for death. Not you, asshole. You want her to think you’re her villain, and you’re not.”

“I can’t tell her shit, Spyder. I won’t risk my son’s life just because she fucking hurts right now. Lena continues to go to Lucifer, which can only happen if she’s willing. Until that changes, I will not tell her about our son. Lucifer can read her mind and all her thoughts. If she knew her son was alive, so would the Devil. She doesn’t need that guilt. It’s better this way, and I can easily control her.”

“It isn’t easier. You panicked because you’re afraid Lena will choose to leave you. That pisses you off, and you wanted to make sure she didn’t leave. I get it; you’re addicted to the little minx, and why shouldn’t you be? She’s amazing, Lucian. She checks all your boxes. Lena is everything that you wanted in Katarina, without her selfish, petty bullshit. You won’t keep her like this, though, and we both know it. You want her? Tell her the truth.”

“Since when did you become a fucking sounding board of reason, asshole?” I snorted, holding his stare. Spyder shook his dark head, then grunted, scrubbing his hand over his mouth.

“I wouldn’t need to be a fucking sounding board if you weren’t a dick,” he returned with a chuckle. “Tell me you’re not fearful of her leaving you.” When I merely continued to glower at him, he smiled. “That’s what I thought. You’re afraid you will lose her, and you’ve never lost anything. Lena fucking died, and you had to deal with it, and now that she’s back and in your grasp, you don’t want to chance something happening to her.” Spyder chuckled, knowing he’d pegged it on the nose. “It’s not that easy, though, is it? Because we both know how much her family meant to her, and you can’t just tell her how you feel. You can’t tell Lena that you love her or that you sacrificed her family and coven to give her the one thing she wants. Luc is a problem, but he isn’t the only fucking one. If Lena is captured and confronts her actual creator, gates will start to open, and she’d be lost.”