Revealing the Monster by Amelia Hutchins
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.
The moment she whimpered, Luc vanished to tend to her. I listened to him, whispering that her mommy would be there soon and that we’d all be together. Tears filled my eyes, trickling down my cheeks as he returned with her swaddled in a bright pink blanket. Lucifer held Makenna against his naked chest, gently patting her back. The only thing visible was her wispy, caramel-colored hair.
“She’s perfect, Lena. We need you,” he whispered, kissing Makenna’s forehead while holding my stare prisoner. “Come to me, and I’ll let you hold her before I punish you. You’ll like my punishment. I promise. I crave you, and my daughter needs a mother. She needs one who will love her, and you do. I feel it, you know? I feel your need to touch her, to hold her. You think to protect Makenna from me, but she’s mine. You could be too.”
“All I have to do is sell my soul to the Devil, right?” I stared at the tiny hand that waved in the air as Makenna moved. Lucifer placed his finger in her palm, allowing her little fingers to wrap around his.
“You have no soul, my sweet queen. Lucian can never love you. I can, and I do. I’ve thought of nothing else since I had you on my stage, tasting the darkness within you on my lips. I didn’t get to finish last time. I intend to remedy that.” Lucifer smiled and then turned his attention to the babe in his arms. “Makenna needs a brother, and I can make that womb of yours work again. You could have my son, and we could be a family.” He lifted his head, and we locked eyes. “Lucian won’t do that for you. Not because he can’t, but because he simply won’t chance it, not even for you. Have you figured out what he did yet?”
“No. Why don’t you tell me what Lucian did?” Magic encircled me, wafting through the room, and I gasped as my skirt and camisole turned into a wispy black dress. It barely covered my chest, opening in a deep V-line that stopped just above my pubic bone, exposing the swell of my breasts. The skirt flowed to my feet, and a breeze ruffled my hair as the soothing scent of lavender filled the air.
“That’s better,” Luc chuckled, letting his gaze slip to my chest and lower. Then, silently, he pushed the blanket down to show me his daughter. “Would you like to see your new mommy, Makenna? She’s very beautiful, just like you are my precious sweetling.”
Big, curious turquoise eyes stared up at me. Makenna’s tiny lips puckered as her small hand moved to her mouth, and she began sucking her fingers. Tears slid free from my eyes, and my heart clenched at the perfection of Kendra’s daughter. I reached for her, and Lucifer smiled, sensing my need to hold her. His dark head shook, and he turned, walking back toward the other room. I watched him disappear with Makenna, making my stomach twist with pain.
When Luc reemerged, he grinned as he ran his hands down his muscular torso, covered in pulsing tattoos. He was taller this time as well. Luc’s body was a mass of sinewy, hard, chiseled curves that promised dark, sinfully corrupt pleasure. I swallowed, dragging my gaze down his powerful body, sliding lower to the black silk pants that hugged his hips. A knowing smile curved his full, luscious mouth as he shuffled toward me. He grasped his bottom lip between his teeth, releasing it before pausing in front of me.
“I want you, Lena. I want you to be mine. You fucked me over, and I get it; I do. I hurt you. I can be a bit overzealous and aggressive, but you’re into that. Aren’t you? I watched you with Lucian, and then I saw him break you. I won’t do that to you, ever. You’ll give me a son, and we’ll raise our children together. Our son and my daughter,” he offered, pushing his fingers through his thick, silky dark hair. “Let me return what I stole from you. If you choose me, I will give you everything you want. Be my queen, and we will rule the new world together. You will be at my side, as my equal.”
“You intend to end the world, Luc.” I pulled my stare back to his dark blue indigo depths, using his nickname on purpose, watching as he shivered with anticipation from the reminder of when he had me on his stage, demanding I call him Luc. “I am from that world, not yours. I get that you’re mad at me because you lowered your walls and whispered your insecurities to me. But here’s the truth: You bashed in my fucking head. You killed me, even before I used a dagger to end my life. You are to blame for mine and my son’s death.”
“I can’t deny that,” he stated honestly, closing the distance between us. Lucifer trailed his finger down the skin he’d exposed, drifting lower until his tattooed fingers stopped before they could dip into my dress. “I’m the Devil and not a nice guy. I didn’t know you, and what I did that night created this version of you. You were going to die one way or another, no matter what I did.” He inhaled, stepping closer until my body was flush against his. “I can give you another son. I can give you the world and whatever else you want.”
“Can you give me my son back?” I asked icily. His thick lashes dusted his high cheekbones before he opened his eyes to stare at me.
Having the Devil gaze into your eyes was seduction dipped into wicked desire. Luc wasn’t the ideology of what you’d expect the Devil to be. He had weaknesses, and he’d allowed me to see them once. I’d used his vulnerabilities against him, but then the prick had prematurely ended my life that night.
“No, because not even Death knows where your son, Harbinger, ended up, strangely enough. It makes me curious, considering only a few creatures are powerful enough to recall a life from the Keepers of Souls, me being one of them. Yet when I call for his, it does not answer me. Someone either bartered for your son’s soul or stole it. I did try since Makenna would love to have him as a brother, back with us.”
“Before I died, I ensured that my son’s soul would be reborn, so it isn’t surprising to me that you could not call it to you.” I smoothed the fabric of my dress, trying to hide my grief while talking about my son. “You’re so certain that we end up together?”
“Let’s just say that I’m certain once you figure out what Lucian has done to you and your family, you’ll choose me, Magdalena. I know what happened and how you were returned to him. I know Hades made it so that only I, Lucian, and himself could bring you pleasure. I don’t see you settling for Hades to get a quick fuck when you’re in the mood. You’re not that type of woman, which is part of your allure. You need to feel love, and that’s something I have craved for a very long time. You and I want the same thing. We want to know love and for it to last the ages.” He lowered his lips and brushed them against mine.
“You could find someone else to love you,” I breathed against his kiss, closing my heavy eyelids against the temptation his mouth created.
“Why would I do that? I felt your love when you kissed me before. Sure, you believed me to be Lucian, and it was a cheap trick, but I tasted you, and you enjoyed being with me. You thought I was a monster that couldn’t be loved, but you kissed me with unguarded emotions, baring the purity of your soul to me. You knew Lucian was a monster, and yet you fell in love with him. I felt genuine love for the first time against your heated lips, and I desire that from you. You don’t put up with my shit, either. You face the Devil, yet you don’t tremble or tell me what you think I want to hear. It’s refreshing to have a woman say she wants to murder me. None before you have ever dared to do something so insane to my face.” He lifted his hand, brushing his knuckles against my cheek as I stared at him. Makenna let out a soft cry, and he turned, glancing into the room where she rested. “Think my proposition over and remember that Makenna needs you now, too. If I have to come get you, you will not like the punishment I choose for you. I’ve offered to be gentle, but that offer has a time limit, Magdalena.”
“Do I look like I would need you to be gentle with me or that I would ask you to be?” I countered, as his eyes burned with need. He smiled, revealing white, even teeth that clasped his bottom lip as a deep, sultry growl escaped past them.
“I make Lucian’s kinks look like child play, Lena. How’s Spyder handling his desire to thrash that tight pussy of yours? I hear he’s going insane from the magic they used to protect you from me. Luckily for you and me, it won’t be long before that happens. Blood magic and the strength it took for them to do that binding, well, the cost is high.” Smiling, he ran a finger along the side of my face and tipped my chin up, locking eyes with me. “See you soon, beautiful.”
Lucifer ejected me from the room, and I appeared back at Club Chaos. A quick look told me he could alter what I wore, yet he couldn’t hurt me. Lord knew he had tried several times during the month he’d spent yanking me into different places within the veil. Still, I hadn’t been able to get a location on him or sense where he was. Standing from the booth, I peered around until my eyes slid over Lucian, who stood at the bar staring at me.
His hair was disheveled, and midnight eyes with dark blue flecks glared at me as I approached him. Of course, he wore his signature suit and tie. Not even an apocalypse had messed with the sexy enigma of this man. He was the epitome of perfection, and knowing what remained hidden beneath that suit didn’t help my over-eager sex drive that came from being reborn.
“This has to stop, Lena.”
“I saw Makenna this time,” I whispered. “She’s beautiful, Lucian. She’s tiny with these huge, gorgeous eyes, just like Kendra’s. He hasn’t threatened me with harming her.” That was an actual fear, since I’d already witnessed Lucifer’s wrath. “He let me see her, and she was so close I could smell her,” I murmured as his mouth tightened.
“He’s using her to get to you. You know that,” he grumbled, pulling me close to kiss the top of my forehead.
“He asked how Spyder was. Lucifer said he’d heard Spyder was going insane. Is that true?” I questioned, and he closed down his emotions. “Lucian, is he okay? He’s Spyder, and I can’t stand that he won’t even get near here anymore; this is his home, too.”
“Spyder is working on finding a solution to our issue. It takes time. He can’t be near us without craving you, and vice versa. We agreed that it’s for the best, at least for now.”
Spyder wasn’t released from the bond after our semi-threesome. Instead of it freeing him, it had tightened, pulling us all together. It had become hard for Spyder to be in the same room with me, which bothered me. I didn’t want him in the way the bond told us we needed each other, but that didn’t matter. Magic was yanking us together, and the rope that tethered the spell was forcing a primal need. Even I felt it when he was close to me.
“Luc said Spyder would go insane if we didn’t fix it soon.”
“Luc? Now you’re on a nickname basis with the Devil?” he growled, holding me away from his body, peering down with a brow raised in question.
I smiled, looking into the angry blue eyes of my monster. “Are you jealous?”
“I don’t get jealous, woman.”
“He kissed me.” Blue flames soared to life in Lucian’s stare. His hold on my lower back tightened, and his mouth crushed against mine.
It was a kiss of ownership, and hell, if I didn’t crave it from this monster. His tongue pushed past my lips, claiming mine with an urgency that stole a whimper from my lungs. He picked me up and forced my legs around his waist as he sat me on the bar. He slid his fingers through my hair, yanking my head back as he broke the kiss.
“You’re mine, remember that. You claimed me, which means you belong to only me now, Lena. He’s the Devil, not Luc. The moment he gets you to agree to remain with him, he will kill you. I will never lose you again. If it were to happen, which it won’t, but let’s say it did. I’d burn this fucking world you love so much to the ground and go back to mine. I would reanimate you, and you’d live there knowing this world was nothing more than a memory and that everyone here died because you let the Devil get too close to you.”
“Don’t get all bent up. I used Lucifer’s nickname to make him lower his guard. He made me call him Luc on stage because I’m guessing when I screamed your name as he gave me pleasure, it pissed him off a little.” Lucian smirked, and it was a wicked one that sent a shiver of warmth rushing up my spine. “I think he loves Makenna. I think the Devil loves his daughter, and that terrifies me the most.”
“He’s never cared about anything except his own selfish needs.” Lucian cupped my face between his hands, searching my eyes before placing a chaste kiss on my forehead. I shivered, sinking into the heat his body radiated. “He didn’t notice the tracker?”
“The one you pushed into my vagina? No. I didn’t let him fondle me. He didn’t really kiss me. Lucifer just touched me. He couldn’t do anything more than that. The runes worked too, which means we’re closer to figuring out where he’s hiding with Makenna.”
“I’m afraid they didn’t work here. I’ll paint different runes on you tonight, and if Lucifer tries again, you’ll be ready.”
“I still couldn’t get any feel on where we were. It’s an empty room with nothing to identify and a nursery off the back of it. There was only one door inside the room, which led to where Makenna was when I arrived. It was strange, Lucian. He tended to her when she even hinted at crying.”
“Stop humanizing him,” he warned, leaning in to place a kiss against the soft column of my throat. “He’s no more human than I am.”
I shivered at the reminder, pulling away to peer into the galaxies that burned inside his inky depths. Lucian smirked, lifting his hand to lay his palm against my cheek. He didn’t speak, not until the shadows erupted beside us, and Spyder strode out of them.
I slid my gaze to Spyder’s ice-blue eyes, shivering with the intensity I found burning within them. He stepped back, nostrils flaring in warning while remaining focused on me. Then, slowly, he took another step away from me, moving flat against the wall. His chest rose and fell with labored breaths as his shadows slithered across the floor, reaching for me.
“Lucian, we need to talk,” he stated tightly.
My eyes lowered to Spyder’s bare chest, drinking in the sight of his body while heat uncoiled in my belly, rushing through me as a cocky smirk played on his lips. The silkiness of his shadows wrapped around my legs, caressing and promising me pleasure. I moaned, unable to prevent the sultry noise from escaping past my lips.
“Kitty, I’d stop moaning. I’m at the end of my fucking rope. That thread that started in Portland, it’s about to snap.”
“I’m sorry, Spyder,” I sighed, pulling Lucian back for a quick, chaste kiss before I jumped from the bar and headed toward the basement, remodeled to be our bedroom.
“I’m sorry too, pussycat,” Spyder whispered, his words barely registering as I passed Bane, Devlin, Layton, and the rest of Lucian’s men. I’d let them handle whatever was happening without me, so Spyder wouldn’t be forced to leave because of my mere presence.
