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

Lucian’s rage was palpable. His glowing blue glare met mine, and I exhaled the breath I’d held. The wards began shrieking and pulsing inside the club until Lucian whispered in a foreign language and disarmed them. His armor pulsed, swirling in eddies around his large frame. The male’s body crumbled to the floor, and Spyder grabbed the head, tossing it in a bag before he threw it out the door.

“Lucian,” I swallowed, relief at him coming for me, making my limbs heavy.

“Do not fucking talk, Lena,” he warned with barbs in his words. Turning, he leveled Erie with a murderous look. “I asked you to protect her inside my club, Mórrígan. I warned you not to leave with her, and you agreed to the terms.”

“Oh, no. You don’t get to ask the crazy goddess to babysit and not expect me to steal the babe.” She chuckled but straightened when he didn’t laugh her off. “Lena is safe.”

“You call that safe? He wasn’t supposed to know she held the furies inside her. Period. She didn’t look safe, Mórrígan. Had Asmodeus left with her, he would have been within his right to claim her. You think he’s on your side? He isn’t. He’s on the side of whoever can offer him the most to add to his body count and stature in the hierarchy of Hell, Erie. Lucifer owns him, and if you think Asmodeus won’t run and tell him what Lena holds in her, you’re crazier than you’re pretending to be.”

“Everyone knows she houses the furies, Lucian. That’s not a secret,” she stated, narrowing her gaze on him before slowly shifting her focus to where I stood. “It’s not just the furies, though, is it? You hid something within them, didn’t you?”

“If you value our friendship, Mórrígan, you’ll cease speaking of it right now,” Lucian warned in a barely audible tone.

“Done,” she agreed without question. “Lucifer followed us here. I have something for you,” she said smoothly, holding the bag with his severed hand. “I believe the words you are looking for are, thank you, Mórrígan. I couldn’t have done it better myself had I thought of doing such a thing.”

“You used her as bait. I will never thank you for using Magdalena as a fucking lure for the Devil. Had you slipped up, she’d be gone right now. You fucked up and broke my trust.”

“I asked her to bring me—”

“You keep your mouth shut until I say otherwise,” he snapped, using the compulsion he held to enforce me to comply. My lips closed, and my stomach sank at the anger burning in his stare. Lucian wasn’t just angry; he was hurt. “I’ll deal with you when we get home.”

“Are you staying long enough for a drink?” Vlad asked, pushing a bottle of scotch toward Lucian.

“No, we won’t be staying. The guild was attacked.”

“I know. I sent word to Synthia and Ryder, since they alone can bypass the codes and locks that sealed the lower levels,” Vlad disclosed. “There have been some developments in Faery that are keeping them from leaving. They should be here within the next few days.”

“I’m aware,” Lucian grunted. “Contact me if they arrive, or send word to my club.”

“Will do. I’m sure we can use the backup to breach the lower levels.”

Lucian nodded, grabbing my arm before the floor fell from beneath me, and the entire room spun in a circle. I gasped for air, fighting to get it into my lungs. One moment we were in Nightshade, and the next, we were inside our apartment. Before I’d even been able to process what had happened, a chain was clasped around my wrist, and Lucian’s broad back was marching toward the door, which sat open.

“Lucian!” I cried, jerking on the chain that was attached to the wall behind the bed. “Lucian?”

His back straightened, and he turned, staring at me. “I asked you to behave for one fucking day, and you couldn’t even give me that. You’re so fucking busy running headfirst into danger that I can’t focus on what is important because I have to come and save you. Now, you don’t have the freedom I’d granted you. You will remain here while I finish the meeting to protect my world and everything in it.”

He slid through the door and slammed it closed behind him. I stared at it for a moment before I screamed his name again, rushing forward to pound on it. My wrist protested where the metal bit into my flesh, but I didn’t stop yelling or hitting on the door until hopelessness rushed through me, and my voice became nothing more than a whispered scream.





Chapter Twenty-Six




They say love is a battlefield, but they forget to warn you about the landmines you walk through unknowingly. ~Lena



Days passed me by in utter silence. No one came to check on me or even to see if I still lived. Music hummed softly through the bedroom. Mazzy Star’s Fade Into You replayed for the fifth time in the last hour. Feathers drifted in the air from the subtle movement I made, remnants of the once glorious bed that was no more than torn shreds of cloth and feathers.

Sitting up, I frowned at the disarray of the ruined room. I’d lost my ever-loving shit by day three and had gone on a rampage. Nothing stood in one piece inside the bedroom, closet, or bathroom except the bedframe and one dresser.

The tinkle of Luna’s bell chimed, and I turned my attention to where she sat, batting her paw at the feathers. Behind her lay a pile of Lucian’s clothing I’d wrecked, ripping through them with my claws while laughing at the image of him discovering his beloved suits, nothing more than shreds of material. The satisfaction, imagining the look on his face, lasted for a mere moment before the silence reminded me he’d have to return to even notice what I’d done to them.