Revealing the Monster by Amelia Hutchins
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Into the fray we go, unknowing that life will never be the same. ~Lena
Ryder and Synthia were finally able to leave Faery to help us get into the guild. We drove to Spokane to meet them in silence. Neither of us spoke about the bodies littering the highway. There wasn’t much you could say about the surreal, macabre scene. We exited the Cusick cutoff road and had to wait for Lucian’s men to remove several abandoned cars that sat on the road.
Once we started forward again, I swallowed the bile that burned the back of my throat as we passed the rock faces lining the four-lane roadway. Someone had hung humans over their edges, dangling corpses on ropes. From their looks, they’d luckily been deceased before being strung up for shock value.
Demons loved instilling fear in the living, and humans were afraid of death. It made them brash in their need to escape the boltholes in which they’d hidden. Those who lingered had survived the first onslaught of Hell being unleashed into the world. It forced the demons to hunt harder, to look deeper.
The bodies displayed on the rocks lining the side of the highway told others that the guild had gone silent. Previously, Alden had led others to clean up the deceased, giving them a proper burial. Now that enforcers weren’t leaving the guild or scurrying through the shadows, fear fueled the community like a wildfire. I could smell it and sense it around me.
If I looked hard enough, I could see into the shadows to catch sight of the demons waiting for prey to fall into their grasp. I couldn’t, however, see humans. That was good and bad. It meant the humans were hiding, but that they also weren’t foraging.
“These people are going to need food and supplies,” I stated offhandedly, turning to look at Lucian’s side profile. His jaw ticked, but his soft exhale and nod confirmed he’d do it nonetheless. “Medical supplies are a necessity. I could put together a guide for natural remedies and make some tonics to include in the packages.”
“You think they need shampoo?” he snorted, tightening his grip on the steering wheel.
I narrowed my gaze on him before I undid my seatbelt, immediately drawing his attention to me. Crawling onto Lucian’s lap, I straddled him, cupping his face between my hands. He jerked his face free as he lifted his eyes over my shoulder to see the road.
“I think small comforts bring up the morale when tragedy strikes. I believe stupid shit like shampoo and tonics to ease ailments will make them realize that there are still people out here fighting for them. It’s not always about the big things.”
“Erie is collecting humans, Lena. She has been doing so since this shit started. I discovered it a week after the Hell Gate opened, allowing demons to enter this world. The humans we’ve found wandering are taken to her shelter beneath the city. She’s been using an old bunker to house them, and Zahruk was taking them supplies when she couldn’t. The humans know they’re not alone. You can make them whatever tonics, soaps, and shampoos you fucking want, and I will see they are delivered to them personally. However, you won’t be venturing out to deliver shit no matter what happens, agreed?” he growled, settling his eyes on me as a wide smile spread across my face.
“You’re just a big softy, aren’t you?” I countered, lowering my lips to his throat. Gently, I nipped his neck and ground my need against his cock. He chuckled wickedly, turning his head to allow me more access.
“If that turns you on, I’ll be certain to find every last human living in this shithole and save them,” he purred huskily, growling when I pulled back, narrowing my stare on him.
“If Erie’s saving them, then why are so many hanging around?”
“Believe it or not, some want to be worn by demons.” This revelation deflated the subtle hint of hope I’d felt. “Some live on anarchy and crave the high demon’s promise to them. You can’t save everyone. Hell, we can barely save those who want to be saved, so trying to ensure the ones who don’t want it would be a tremendous waste of time and supplies.”
Crawling back into my seat, I silently pondered his words. It made sense. You couldn’t save someone who didn’t want to be saved. Sure, you could explain the repercussions until you were blue in the face, but it boiled down to what he’d said.
“Look…” he started, but I cut him off.
“It makes sense. I understand some people are hopelessly lost.”
“When did you become so agreeable?” Lucian snorted, reaching over and grabbing my thigh.
“I can be reasonable,” I scoffed, placing my hand over his and rolling my eyes at his wide, shocked expression. “What? I can be. Sometimes I take a little longer to see it, but then I’m still trying to look through rose-colored glasses. I don’t want to believe that people are evil or that they would throw away their lives to be used as Habitat for Humanity, demon style.”
“You’re the most infuriating woman I’ve ever met, Magdalena,” he laughed, causing my chest to tighten.
It wasn’t because he upset me. In fact, his declaration spread warmth through me. This creature loved me, and he’d proven it over and over last night by kissing every inch of me. Lucian would never say the words, but he had shown me through his actions.
I’d been blind to it because in my short time on earth, I’d never known real love. Not the type he showered on me. He protected me, even from my own mistakes. It was in the simple things he did for me, the way he held me at night, curling his massive body around me while softly talking until we both gave in to the need to refresh our minds, and slipped into the velvety darkness of stasis.
Sure, I felt like an ass for not realizing his feelings for me without having to read the notes, but it was us in a nutshell. We were chaotic creatures, ones that loved blindly, uncaring what the world thought of us. I had been in love with him since the moment he’d picked me up after Todd was inhabited by demons and violated me.
Lucian caught me when I fell, but he allowed me to fall and learn things on my own. He knew I preferred to pretend I was still human and as if I hadn’t lost my humanity and soul. He let me be who I was before I’d protected him, and that made me love him even more.
“Alden is resourceful, Lena. Stop believing the worst has befallen the elder. He didn’t get to where he was from being weak.”
I blinked, peering at Lucian across the center console, smirking. “I wasn’t thinking about Alden.”
“Then what were you thinking about just now?” he questioned, slowly rubbing his thumb over my thigh.
“Todd, and how you were the only one who knew what I needed at that moment. At my darkest point, you held me up and kept me together. You barely knew me then, yet you understood me better than anyone.”
“It didn’t take much to figure you out, Little Witch. You just needed time to compartmentalize what had transpired and climb out from the wreckage. I should have followed you home and kept you safe, and it wouldn’t have happened at all.”
“No, you shouldn’t have.”
“Magdalena,” he started to argue, but at my exasperated groan, he stopped.
“That was the first time I knew I was falling in love with you. I wouldn’t change it for anything. You held me through the night and allowed me just to experience life. When did you know you were falling for me?” I asked, wondering if he’d tell me.
“When you took my entire dick down your throat,” he stated with a straight face. My mouth opened and closed, and he snorted. “The first moment I met you, Lena. Your soul shone so fucking brightly that it blinded me. You left me awestruck, and there was a familiarity to you I couldn’t explain. You felt like someone had turned on the heat, and for the first time since my creation, I felt warmth sinking into my frozen tundra of existence. I wanted to kill you to stop it from spreading, but I had to know where it would lead. I had to know you and taste what shouldn’t ever belong to something as dark and cancerous as myself.”
“You think you shouldn’t be loved, but you’re wrong. You’re an asshole, but you’re my asshole.”
“You say the sweetest shit.” He smiled, leaning forward as he looked through the windshield at the dark clouds gathering above us.
“Looks like a storm is coming,” I stated softly, nodding up at the sky.
“That’s not a storm. That’s what happens when demons congregate in one location, causing an imbalance of the normal atmosphere with their unearthly presence. Lucifer senses you’re no longer hidden and are here. This is a bad idea.”
“So was leaving me home alone,” I pointed out, which didn’t seem to ease the tension inside the car. “I can’t hide forever, Lucian. You’re here with me, and Spyder is literally clinging to the roof as your backup. I’m safe.”
“You’re not safe, Lena. You won’t be safe until he can no longer reach for you,” he snapped, anger and power rushing through the vehicle. Thunder clapped loudly above us, and Lucian jerked the car to the left, as lightning stuck where it had been. “Put your seatbelt back on, now.”
I didn’t question it or point out that I was immortal. Instead, I fastened the belt and scooted closer to him. Lucian’s hand on my thigh tightened as shadows slithered into the backseat from the open window.
“Our presence has been noticed, and the scent of demon stench is insufferable outside,” Spyder announced, leaning between us. “Nightshade should appear in front of us within the next few moments. The others are taking defensive positions around us now. I’d hold on to your panties, Kitty.”
“She’s not wearing any.” Lucian turned the wheel abruptly, jerking the car hard right. I yelped, surprised by the quick motion.
“What in the… Left!” I screamed, right as a demon fell onto the pavement in front of us. Lucian turned the wheel to the right, and we all ducked as he slammed directly into the bastard, spraying the windshield of the Humvee in blood.
We rose in silence as Lucian switched on the wipers, which screeched as they smeared the blood over the tempered glass. Another demon hit the hood, and the Hummer drove over the body, jostling us as if it had been more than just one we’d hit. It was possible, considering it was hard to determine through the bloodied windshield. Lucian pressed a button on the steering wheel that sprayed Rain-X on it, and I turned to look at the calmness he displayed.
I was still staring at Lucian as he put the Humvee into park and opened the door. Spyder placed his hand on me reassuringly before Lucian yanked open the door and pulled me out.
No sooner had he ripped me from the car, Nightshade appeared before us, with Ryder, Vlad, and Adam standing silent sentinel and a pile of dead demons on the ground at their feet.
“It’s raining demons,” Vlad stated. “I never thought the weather would need to include a chance of demons during the day and brimstone by night. But, to state the obvious, it should. Let’s get inside, shall we?” he asked, sweeping his arm toward the glowing door, which was covered in eerie blue runes.
“I don’t think the weatherman is reporting the truth anymore,” Spyder snorted. “He’s probably given up trying to decide what to say in explanation for this shitty weather.”
I was escorted inside, where friendly faces turned to offer their welcome. Smiling, I took in Synthia’s swollen midsection. She glowed with her pregnancy, and even though I could tell that worry for Alden plagued her mind, she still offered a friendly smile.
Ristan sat beside her, his hands folded in his lap while he spoke quietly to a man next to him. Not a man, Asher, whose dark hair was pulled back, and his iridescent eyes lifted, locking with mine in open curiosity.
“About time you guys got here.” Synthia stood, wrapping her arms around me and hugging me tightly.
I didn’t need to tell her how worried I was about Alden. I didn’t need to say it because she was terrified of losing the old man. He was like a father to her, having raised Synthia after her adoptive father was murdered.
“Sorry, it was a long drive through the country. The weather lately has been terrible and only seems to be getting worse with the guild’s silence.”
“He’s okay, Lena.”
“How do you know that, Syn?” I countered softly, allowing her to pull back just enough to stare down at me.
“Because he has to be.” She swallowed past the thickening of her words. “Because he has to be, and no other answer will do.”
