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

“I’m coming with you,” Erie announced, skipping across the room until she reached the table. “So, who are we killing?”

“Anything that fucks with us,” I muttered.

She laughed girlishly, clapping her hands loudly. “That sounds like fun! Mount up, Riders of the Storm!”

Everyone stared at the Goddess of War, who wore full armor and weapons gracing almost every inch of her. She was also covered in blood, with bits and pieces of flesh all over her body.

“Erie, who or what is all over you?” I questioned.

“Everything that tried to fuck with me!” she chirped, waggling her brows emphatically.

“Oh boy,” Synthia groaned.

“And girls!”

“Fuck,” Lucian muttered. “I smell human, Erie.”

“One, but he was housing a nasty inside of him. I handled it, and a family lived because of it. I won’t be made to feel bad on that one, Lucian.”

“Agreed,” Synthia and I said at the same time. My eyes met hers, and we smiled as the men snorted. “Let’s do this.” We said together, knowing what the other would say.

It was Alden, after all. The guild elder fought for what was right. The same man who had chosen to die as a mortal because he believed he would find peace in the afterlife. Our group of immortals began checking weapons and donning armor as we prepared to exit the club. We didn’t know what would be waiting for us inside the guild, but at least we wouldn’t be left wondering if they were alive or dead within it.





Chapter Thirty-One




We’re one mad decision away from becoming a reality show. ~Lena



The front of the guild looked as if a bomb had gone off from within it. Glass shards reflected the sun setting from the east, and brimstone mixed with the tang of blood clung heavily in the air the closer we got to the entrance. No one spoke, unable to put into words the emotions we felt at the sight before us.

I’d never seen the guild in disarray, and it got worse as we reached the top of the staircase that led up to where the front door once stood. Inside, we saw bodies littering the floor, and nothing moved. There were no signs of life.

An eerie calmness radiated through the gaping holes of the building. A soft hum of magic played through the air, and from where we stood, we could see the runes and wards had been disabled. My stomach sank with the realization that the chances of anyone being alive within were dismal at best.

“That’s not good,” Synthia whispered thickly.

Her shoulders drooped and her eyes watered with unshed tears. I felt her emotion, experiencing the same heart-wrenching pain of loss that I’d sensed the last time I’d been on these stairs, preparing altars for my family to be burned for burial. It was déjà vu all over again.

“It doesn’t mean they couldn’t reach the shelter below, Pet,” Ryder offered, pulling Synthia against his tall, lengthy frame to wrap his arms around her. “Alden is smart and resourceful. He would have protected the orphans of Faery from being hurt or murdered with his last dying breath.”

“I know he would, but that’s also what scares me. I can’t lose him too, not right now,” Synthia replied, leaning back to escape Ryder’s comfort.

My attention slid to the charred remains on the ground. Something had turned the enforcers into overcooked corpses. The smell of brimstone in the air was due to the bodies being blackened in death, but the tang of freshly spilled blood was off.

“How did the guild look untouched from the street, then revealed the damage as we got closer?” I knew I hadn’t imagined it looking like a strong, fortified building.

“Glamour, young one,” Ristan answered, giving me a tight-lipped smile before swinging his attention back to the shambles of what had once been the strongest structure in the Inland Northwest. “We needed it to look intact to others, allowing us time to get here without the site being disturbed. We didn’t want humans coming to see that the one thing standing as their protection and protectors had fallen to the enemy. The illusion is a spell that was activated the moment the guild was attacked.”

“But you weren’t able to get here,” I pointed out. “So the humans think they’re still protected, and the truth is, without the guild, they’re not. They’re sitting ducks for demons remaining inside this world that want to inhabit the humans.”

Ristan exhaled slowly, blowing the air out of his lungs before he replied, “Sadly, that is exactly what took place.”

“I should have been here,” Synthia groaned. “I was so busy dealing with Faery that I missed the seriousness of the situation.”

“I was here, Synthia, and by the time I realized what had happened, it was too late for any of us to enter without you and Ryder,” Vlad grunted beside me. “We’ve passed by the guild and saw the broken glass, but I didn’t notice how badly it had been attacked with the complications happening here.”

“We’ve all had obstacles lately. We have failed the one person who never let us down,” Synthia replied, exhaling as she wiped away the tears that had formed.

“I understand the charred stench of brimstone, but not the coppery tang shit that is making me gag,” I interrupted, hoping to get an answer for the scent of fresh blood. “You smell that too, right?”