Revealing the Monster by Amelia Hutchins
Chapter Twenty-Five
The world was on fire and burning around us, and I merely wanted to burn with him. I wanted to feel the flames I saw in his stare consume me until only ashes remained. ~Lena
A rendition of Bruce Springsteen’s I’m On Fire was playing on the speakers, and there were only two tables with patrons inside the Nightshade tonight. I scanned the few who remained, noting that Vlad’s stare lingered on the table filled with women.
“Penny for your thoughts?” I asked, smiling when his silver gaze slid toward me.
“I don’t suppose this is a permitted field trip?” he returned, shifting his gaze between Erie and me. When neither of us said anything, he exhaled, shaking his head before sliding the bottle closer to us. “So what brings you beauties in tonight?” Vlad crossed his arms, giving us his full attention.
“Lena has Lucian problems, and I killed my guy, again,” Erie popped off as if she was explaining the weather.
Vlad’s brow lifted, and his gaze slid between us slowly. “Elaborate on both issues,” he snorted, gazing toward the back of the room where the last stragglers were moving to the lower level, which was a sanctuary for creatures. “Something is buzzing.”
I grimaced, shaking my head before groaning. Before I could explain, Erie chuckled, patting my shoulder.
“That would be Lena’s pussycat,” she beamed like it was something cool. “Lucian stuck a vibrating tracker into her vagina and hasn’t let her come in days. He’s more archaic than I believed him to be,” she blurted.
My cheeks heated as silver eyes locked with mine. “Days? That’s sadistic and just mean-spirited. Did you piss him off, or is he priming it for fireworks?” Vlad asked, scrunching his brow in question.
“It’s punishment for trying to leave him.” I briefly explained why I was upset with Lucian, and Vlad stared at me with a blank expression. “It’s Lucian, Vlad. If anyone could have stopped my family and coven from dying, it would have been him. They were everything to me.”
Vlad exhaled before unfolding his arms, placing his palms on the bar to give me a pitying look. He was speechless, which said a lot. He’d never been at a loss for words before. After a moment, he grabbed the towel and began wiping down the counter in front of us.
“Is something wrong, Vlad?” I asked, worried.
“You died, Lena. You slit your fucking throat in front of us. All of us. If Lucian did something to bring you back, I don’t blame him. If he sacrificed your family and your coven to make that happen, then he did so with their permission. They were mortal, and mortals die. That’s just how the fucking world works,” he growled, causing my stomach to tighten with unease.
“Just because mortals die, it doesn’t mean immortals get to choose when or how they die, Vlad. They deserve to live, too.” I swallowed the tears that threatened to escape. “To witches, their line is everything. My line ended with me, and those who lived shouldn’t have had to die for me. Nyx and Hades intervened for Lucian, but I don’t blame him either. I just want to know why he chose what he did. I just need to understand why they died. They’re my family.”
“You’re right, Magdalena. I know they were. It’s just been a fucked up night here. The guild was attacked, and there’s been no response from within it. I sent word to Synthia. But they’re dealing with shit unfolding in Faery right now. It seems that some of the fae have transformed, while others have gone missing altogether.”
“Alden was instructed to go into the catacombs, which were turned into a safe room. Lucian placed men outside of the guild, and I’ve not heard that it was attacked.” I drank from my cup while considering that Lucian probably wouldn’t have told me the news.
“From the outside, it looks like a bomb went off,” he admitted. “From what I could see of the inside, it appears untouched. I tried to gain access, but wards alerted me moments before doors began sealing around us. I have people stuck inside, unable to get out.”
“Vampires who cannot get to sustenance,” I finished for him.
His dark head nodded before he looked between Erie and me, where a dark-haired woman stood, glaring at him. They stared silently at one another until she spoke.
“I want to know why you did it,” she whispered while her vibrant green eyes held his.
She was ethereal, with oak-colored skin and midnight hair that wafted to her lush hips in gentle waves. Dainty fangs were visible behind ruby-red lips that tugged into a frown. Her camisole top snuggly held her ample breasts in place, revealing a hint of a lace bra beneath it. Leather pants hugged her thighs, hidden under the impressive mid-calf leather boots with three-inch heels. She wasn’t tall, yet her presence seemed to hold Vlad’s undivided attention.
“You have mistaken me for someone else, darling,” he said softly, his gaze slowly lowering to her mouth.
“No, I didn’t and you know that. I can feel you. You made me, and I want to know why you did it. Who the hell were you to fight Death and steal me from him?” she hissed.
“I didn’t. I have never even seen you before tonight. You can stay, but if you do, I suggest you get below before the doors lock for the night. We’re closing early.”
“I’m leaving, but you will answer for what you did. I want to know why you turned me and left the others to their fate. It sucks, doesn’t it? When the past comes back for you, and they’re not grateful for what you did?” She stepped back, smiling coldly, before tilting her head. “Careful, ladies. This one bites, and his bite is to die for, isn’t it, Vladimir?” she hissed with tears in her eyes. They fell, leaving a red trail in their wake before she turned, exiting the club without the other women.
“What was that about?” Erie drummed her fingertips on the bar with her gaze still on the door through which the woman had exited.
“A case of mistaken identity,” Vlad growled, turning away from us before bottles began exploding behind the bar.
We ducked beneath the counter, staring at one another silently. Slowly, we peeked over the counter to find Vlad staring at us, with the bottles still in place and perfectly fine. Peering down, I eyed a piece of glass that sat on the floor, missed.
“It’s safe, Lena,” Vlad grumbled, returning to wiping down the wooden bar top. “Erie, I wouldn’t be too upset if you placed wards tonight. There’s an abundance of demons fucking up shit outside, and I don’t fancy dealing with them tonight.”
“On it,” she chirped, jumping off the stool and walking to the walls.
I studied Vlad, hating that he was suffering. Obviously, he didn’t plan to elaborate or speak about what just happened. Instead, we sat silently until he pushed a glass toward me, smiling while leaning closer to where I sat.
“What other problems are going on in that pretty head of yours, Lena?” he asked softly, his eerie stare holding mine captive.
I could hear the slurping of blood, the click of fangs, and the pounding of heartbeats coming from within him. Vlad was a problem solver, one who spent most of his time tending bar inside his establishment. He didn’t need to, but I was guessing he did it because it was one hell of a way to gather information on the pulse in the city.
“I feel like I am standing in quicksand. Like the foundation I once stood upon, is crumbling and everything is shaky. I love Lucian. I love him with every part of my being, but he doesn’t tell me how he feels. I don’t know where I stand with him or if I have a place inside his world once this shit with the Hell Gates and Lucifer has ended. I don’t have a game plan for once in my life, and I don’t know what to do.”
“You think Lucian will ever allow you to leave him? When you died, he was helpless for the first time in his entire existence to do anything to save you. That shit does things to a person. He has never faced that type of situation before. Lucian’s never lost control until you. My guess is, you scare him. You’re a weakness his enemies can use against him. Ryder was like that at first, with Synthia. She terrified him. He fell hopelessly in love with her amidst a war, and he feared they would use her against him. She was the one thing he couldn’t live without.”
“Yeah, but its Lucian we’re talking about, Vlad. What could he possibly fear? I am immortal. I already died, and I came back. I don’t need him to tell me he loves me. I just need to hear that I’m more than something he owns or that I am simply his property.”
Vlad snorted, nodding at my wrist. “Do you know what that says?” he asked.
“No,” I admitted. “Lucian placed these words on me tonight in front of the immortals within the lower level.”
“Ask him what it means, Lena. Ask him to explain the meaning in detail and allow him the opportunity to show you who you’re ending up with before you do anything stupid.”
“Like leave after I promised I wouldn’t?” I asked, watching his eyes sliding over my head.
“He left you in the hands of someone capable of protecting you. He had to know there was a strong possibility that Erie would make an escape with you in tow, given half the chance,” he chuckled.
Power rippled through the club, and a shiver rushed down my spine. Erie laughed, clapping beside me while returning to her chair.
“Fred! You didn’t die. Did you miss me?” she asked, which was followed by a masculine baritone that made the furies within me shriek or something. They were making noises I’d never heard them ever make before.
“No, I didn’t miss you at all,” the male grunted. “I did have the most amazing dream. You were disemboweled and torn apart by rabid hellhounds. Pity I woke from it to discover you still breathed the same air as me. I’m going to have to talk to that male you’re bumping pelvises with and give him some pointers on how to end you.”
I turned, staring into startling blue eyes that skimmed over me before coming back abruptly. The male wore a suit, the white cuffs standing out against his olive-colored skin. He had black hair that looked as if it had blue highlights in the dimly lit club. A smile played on his lips while he studied me carefully.
“Hello, my darlings. What a pretty shell you’ve chosen this time,” he purred, which caused the furies to echo the sound, followed by something akin to sighs exploding from all three. His hand lifted, and Erie growled in warning.
Everything inside of me pulsed, and no matter how much I wanted to pull away from this man, I couldn’t. It was as if his touch controlled all of me, or more to the point, the furies. Lust ripped through me, and my body grew heated with need.
A soft moan mingled with a sob, which had my hackles rising, even though I still couldn’t pull myself from him. His gaze held me prisoner, while his touch turned me into someone else, something else. Fear ripped me apart, and the longer he touched me, the more I succumbed to his power.
“Get your hands off of her, Fred. She’s off-limits,” Erie warned with a tone I’d never heard her use before.
“Of course, she is,” Fred chuckled. “She belongs to me and only me now. I created the furies, and whoever they inhabit becomes mine. I dare anyone to intervene against me.”
“Challenge accepted, asshole.” Lucian’s voice exploded into the room as something wet and warm splattered against my face.
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.
