Revealing the Monster by Amelia Hutchins
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?”
“We do, but maybe humans gained access and cut themselves on the glass. While it is blood, it isn’t a lot, or so I think based on the stink coming from inside,” Syn offered in explanation. “Or someone within is still bleeding.”
“I can hear heartbeats inside,” Vlad announced. “They’re weak but viable.”
“It could be some of the enforcers Alden brought in from the other guilds after they fell,” Erie stated. She buffed her nails on her leather skirt, shrugging when we turned in her direction. “I have been helping the old guy with shit lately, since everyone else was busy. He also took some of the creatures that were in my shelter, offering to train them for me.”
“You’ve been assisting Alden in replenishing the guild with enforcers?” Synthia asked, her hand moving over her stretched stomach.
“I have since we’re gathering an influx of beings to the area. They need to go somewhere that they can be a part of the solution, instead of being another problem the guild tries to handle alone,” Erie pointed out, making perfect sense. She occasionally shocked us with her sane persona. Erie was brilliant when she applied it and scary when she let her crazy out to play.
“What’s the plan? Having potential victims inside changes things.” Vlad pushed his hair away from his face and tipped his head, as if listening for people within the guild. “We can grab the survivors and bring them out as we find them. We’d need someone outside to protect them in case more baddies appear unannounced.”
“Sinjinn, set up a makeshift medical bay on the street. I’ll get more people here to assist and a few healers in the event we need them to deal with whoever got caught in the crossfire of whatever the hell happened here,” Ryder ordered, smoothly taking control of the situation.
I glanced at the men standing behind us, noting their full war ensembles, decked out in wicked-looking armor and weapons. Synthia shimmered with magic, her curves covered in translucent armor, and her twin obsidian blades caught the evening light sparkling with power.
Erie giggled, the sound making the hair on my nape rise as she changed out of her clothing and into her goddess glamour. Ristan was the only male to respond, his eyes lowering to where the blue woad had been painted in Celtic writing over Erie’s breasts, her long war braids helping to obstruct the view.
Peering down, I scanned her bare feet with an uneasiness before shifting my attention to the glass we were about to walk through.
I turned back to Erie, as her mouth opened, releasing ravens that shot straight into the guild, leaving black feathers drifting to the ground in their escape from the Goddess of War.
“That’s disturbing but strangely cool,” Elysian stated, her iridescent armor doing little to hide her miniskirt and spaghetti strap camisole top. Instead of swords, she had daggers that lined the side of the titanium-like protective gear she wore.
Lucian grabbed me from behind, brushing his heated lips over my spine. Power erupted around us, his hand slowly trailing up my stomach to grip my jaw tightly.
“This may tickle a little, sweet girl,” he growled into my ear, sending gooseflesh rushing over my skin.
The souls from his armor wrapped around my legs. Shimmering blue and translucent hands and arms wrapped around me. My stomach tightened with unease, although a serene sensation filled me while they writhed along my body, turning solid blue to match the armor Lucian wore. His lips kept tracing comforting kisses against the soft skin on my nape, and a faint smile played on my lips while the souls continued wrapping me in his protection.
“That’s a neat trick,” I admitted.
“Be a good girl, and I may let them help me get you turned on tonight, Lena,” he chuckled huskily. “I look good on you.”
“You do, you really do.” I gasped as they started covering my chest. I felt it all, right down to the very marrow of my bones. He’d left just enough of an opening on my spine to allow my wings to escape if they needed to.
Shadows slid over my body, and I trembled at the iciness of their touch. Power rushed through me, and I lifted my hands that were holding twin swords created from shadows.
“Can’t let you have all the fun. Now can I?” Spyder asked, winking at me as he gave Lucian a pointed look. “The moment you need the swords, lift your hands, and they’ll be there, Kitty.”
I dropped my hands, watching as they vanished. Raising my hands again, the swords reappeared instantly. A soft bubble of laughter escaped my lips as Lucian nipped my neck, grumbling at Spyder’s interference.
“You done?” Lucian asked, releasing his hold on me once the armor had conformed to me like a second layer of skin.
The substance covering me was a shimmering blue color that emitted a soft, illuminating glow. It looked similar to the water within the landscape I’d slipped into just this morning. A shiver rushed through me, and I turned, staring at Lucian with the knowledge of where I’d been today.
“It wasn’t Lucifer?” I whispered, and his lips jerked up into a mischievous smile. I blinked slowly, turning at the sound of feet crunching over the glass. “This conversation isn’t over, Lucian.”
“I’m sure it isn’t, little girl. It is for now. Move your pretty ass,” he ordered, even though I’d already started in after Synthia.
The first few rooms we entered were covered in charred bodies. It looked like someone had placed a furnace within the guild, trying to turn it into a crematorium instead of an institute of enforcers. Ristan bent down beside one, grabbing something from a deceased’s hand.
“The demons had the key to unlocking the runes. Someone from inside had to have given it to them,” he grunted, handing the blackened piece of leather to Synthia. “They’re the only things burned.”
I gazed around the guild, noting his correct assumption. The bodies were charred and barbecued. It reeked of sulfur and brimstone from the moment we’d stepped through the shattered windows. The tang of copper was still present, but the deeper in we got, the less tangible it was in the air.
We walked past the wards, and the walls slowly began humming in a warning. Synthia placed a hand against the surface, and the alarms turned off.
I scanned the wall, watching as runes ignited. The entire place was covered in protective markings. So how had something or someone gotten past them to gain access? Then the answer came to me.
“They were inside when the wards were activated.” I nodded to where the charred remains had begun smoldering again, like they were trying to resume burning. “Look at the corpses.”
“I guess the runes worked, but didn’t continue working once whoever was inside had turned them off,” Synthia announced. Her gaze slid over the smoke wafting up from the bodies with a smile. “I think something with knowledge of the guild was within because how else would they know to send in others to absorb the damage? These deaths may be intentional.”
I had to agree with Synthia. There were several corpses on the floor, and more littered the hallway through which we were passing. There were even more human remains and creatures in each room that had ventured into the guild with the wards and runes active.
The men snorted their agreement of her assessment, but it was Ristan who kneeled beside a crumbled, blackened form and ripped the arm off of it. Standing, he held the arm out in front of Synthia, who exhaled slowly through her mouth.
“Shifter would be my guess,” she concluded while taking in the inhuman nails protruding from the hand. “It could be Adrik Stanislav’s people. He was bringing them in a few weeks ago.”
“Adrik was on the list to be watched, wasn’t he?” Ryder asked, his arms pulsing with black and gold brands that matched his stare.
“From what we learned, he was removed from the list.” Synthia nodded to where another corpse sat, with bones that had once been wings. The entire outline beneath the body was a wingspan, but the only thing left were grimy bones broken in several places. “That’s an angel, isn’t it?” she inquired, grunting as she crossed her arms over her chest.
“Indeed, it is,” Lucian confirmed. “Shifters, angels, and whatever the fuck that is, came here for a reason.” Lucian nodded toward something that was at a minimum of nine feet tall, judging by the bones left behind. “We need to figure out why and if those below are alive. I can still hear the faint beating of hearts, but it’s almost as if they’re moving away from us.”
“The question is, are they running from us or away from whatever else is in this tomb?” Vlad asked, tilting his head to the side.
Scraping sounded deeper in the guild, causing all of our attention to move toward the noise. My hackles rose even as I lifted my hands, knowing that it could be anything inside these tunnels.
All of us crept forward, weapons at the ready, while the men covered our asses. I swallowed down my worry that Alden may be on the ground, in the mess of remains that filled the pathway.
Rounding the corner, we all peered down the staircase that led to the guild’s lower level. The catacombs had been where the guild had started. It was hidden beneath the city when the humans had been oblivious that hunters protected them from the shit that went bump in the night.
Something shifted at the bottom of the stairs, and then a shrill scream split through the air. Everyone paused, turning to look at each other to see if anyone had caught sight of what the fuck it had been.
The minute we turned back toward the darkened staircase, a blur of motion moved again. Screaming erupted from below, and the heartbeats that had been slow moments before began thundering with fear. Lucian stepped beside me, and Ryder did the same with Synthia.
“Down into the darkness we go,” Ristan snorted, winking at us while he took the lead. “Say your prayers and get whichever God you worship on the line.”
“That’s encouraging,” Synthia muttered beneath her breath, allowing Ryder to take a position in front of her pregnant form. “Whoever is down here is terrified of the creature that made that noise.”
“Like caged rats that know something is coming to grab one of them up for testing,” Vlad whispered.
“Why are we whispering?” Erie’s wide, blue eyes slid through us before she snorted. “Whatever it is, it’s oblivious to our presence. It’s hunting them while we’re seeking it. It isn’t afraid of us.”
“It should be,” Lucian grunted, winking at Erie.
“It has no idea that death comes for it, nor that war rides beside him,” Erie sang in a singsong voice that had everyone giving her a look of unease. “All we need now is Famine and Pestilence.”
