Revealing the Monster by Amelia Hutchins
Chapter Nine
Some girls play with fire, but I’ve learned to dance within the flames. Others discover who they are meant to be in the fire. ~Lena
Lucian escorted me out of the club, his hand against the base of my spine, which always made me feel protected, even though it was a show of ownership, one I’d learned I was more than just okay with him displaying. I scanned the road, turning to tell him about the weird holes, but he jerked his chin sharply, stalling the words on the edge of my tongue.
“Get your sexy ass into the Bugatti, Little Witch. Whatever you were about to say, it can wait until the urge to bend you over and fuck this anger out on your pretty little pussy has passed. What the fuck were you thinking?” Lucian’s eyes sparkled with rage, and the moment I opened my mouth to speak, he growled. “Get in the car! Now, Lena!” he commanded.
“Good gods, asshole. I did tell you I was leaving. You didn’t believe me, and that isn’t my fault. Maybe next time, you should take me seriously.” I scoffed, but still did as he’d asked because a pissed-off Lucian was both hot and terrifying.
I bristled with anger, moving toward the midnight blue Bugatti that sat by the curb. He opened the car door, waiting for me to slide into the passenger seat. He narrowed his eyes, and his mouth tightened into a white line, warning that his threat wasn’t idle.
One of the things I liked about Lucian was that he didn’t make threats that he wasn’t willing to carry out. I was barely in my seat when he shut the door and walked around the car to climb inside. I didn’t speak, choosing instead to pull the seatbelt over my chest, clicking it into place. His eyebrow rose at the gesture, but I lifted mine right back at him. He may not care about safety, but I didn’t want to deal with the aftermath of being ejected from the car if he crashed.
Lucian purposely left his seatbelt off as the car hummed to life. The purr of the motor caused a soft moan of pleasure to build in my chest. I loved fast cars. I was still mourning the loss of Baby, my brother’s Chevy Chevelle that had been wrecked and was unsalvageable. I craved and missed the loud engine Joshua had built. It was his prized possession. Lucian pulled away from the curb, moving through the litter-filled streets of Spokane.
“You knew better. Lucifer is waiting for you to leave the club. You want him to capture you? He won’t be gentle, Lena. He will punish you, and it won’t be anything you’ll enjoy. I hurt him, and I did so intentionally when he refused to stay away from Katarina. He wanted to know why I searched for her, needing a way to free himself from Hell. I protected her in that lifetime, and I did so by taking the one woman Lucifer loved to ensure he knew not to mess with mine. If you think you’re anything more than a way for him to get back at me, you’re wrong.”
“So give her back, Lucian. Trade his lover for Makenna.” I leaned against the door to glare at him, studying the stubble that lined his jaw, creating a hot 5 o’clock shadow. I stifled the moan at imagining his mouth between my legs.
“I can’t do that,” he hissed, peering back at me before lowering his eyes to where my thighs clenched from the image in my head. “She didn’t love him. She was a selfish, pathetic goddess who convinced Lucifer that she cared for him. She craved chaos and played with his emotions because the thought of love made him easy to manipulate. The thing is, the woman he loves cannot be allowed to be in this world. She’s inside of me, Lena.”
“Eris? The goddess of Strife and Chaos is within you?” I snorted, and he turned to look at me like I was daft.
“Worse. His lover was Pandora,” Lucian admitted, peering at the rearview mirror before dodging a large hole in the road where the asphalt was missing. “I removed the box she held, but to do so, I had to find another host for it. Without her box, Pandora is easily controlled. Like my seal, it craves destruction. Lucifer promised her that he would open it, and the first time that happened, it was a mess. I was charged with finding it and closing it before it could cause any more problems. But before I could secure it, the box unleashed slivers of darkness inhabited by monsters strong enough to threaten this plane with an ending worse than anyone would ever have expected. Pandora’s Box released the black plague in England, long before this continent had been discovered. So first, I had to capture her and then the box. Then it took more than a year to capture each monster she’d released, shoving them each back into the box.”
“What type of monsters?” I asked, expecting some new kind of creature to have been created.
“Jack the Ripper, among other humans, that the box transformed into instruments for murderous events. Most were quickly captured, so their names were never mentioned, but Jack held three slivers of darkness previously housed by the box. We handled him silently, which is why the authorities never caught him or learned his true identity. We sent him back to Hell, where he still gets off on torturing women, although now he is into sexual conquests. His shards of darkness were the only ones ripped from the form they’d inhabited.”
“Please don’t tell me Lucifer is Jack the Ripper,” I groaned, resting my head against the seat to stare at Lucian.
He smiled tightly. “Pandora created the Princes of Hell when we trapped her there. I was uncertain about bringing her box into another world, what it would create, or if it would have an adverse reaction within me, which is why I only hold her now. The box produced the seven princes, adding a sliver of its magic into each one—pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth. They formed the podium of Hell, and from them were born the different types and castes of demons. Each prince leads a legion of Hell’s army, and let’s not forget Abaddon, the abyss, who is said to have created the three original furies.”
“The abyss produced the things inside of me?” I asked, hoping he was about to say he was joking.
“According to history, yes, but we changed history to state that Abaddon was their creator. The furies weren’t drawn to discord, though, which isn’t well known. Asmodeus created the furies to protect Abaddon. Of course, creators impart their genetic markers into their creations. Hence, your insatiable need to fuck, and your newfound freedom to shed your inhibitions. Since Nyx brought you back as fury, you are not part of Asmodeus’s creation, the High Prince of Hell, Lust himself. Luckily for us, Erie turned Asmodeus into her slave, continually cutting his head off to keep him in check. He hasn’t sensed Nyx bringing the furies into the new world yet. His order, the Revengers of Wickedness, will soon sense your presence, especially if you walk back into Hell, Lena. That can’t happen, so I need you to promise me that you won’t sneak out again.”
“I wish there was a guidebook that went with this shit, Lucian. You’re something that shouldn’t exist, for fuck’s sake. And Spyder, he’s—well, you know what he is. I still can’t even say it out loud, which I know has something to do with you.” I glared at him, watching his lips curl into a wicked smile. “I feel like I’m tripping over dead bodies and that I don’t fully understand all the rules. So handing Pandora over to Lucifer is not on the table. We don’t need some bitch wanting her box of destruction back.”
Lucian snorted, turning to look down a side street as his phone rang. He glanced in my direction and then spoke in a strange language that had me guessing its origin. Then, exhaling, he switched to English, including me in the conversation.
“We’re on our way.” He hung up the phone, setting it down to grab the gear shift. “Alden has the information you requested. We’ll be stopping by the guild before we go home. Do you have anything else you want to tell me? Something you forgot to mention in your hunt for Spyder?”
“Are you jealous?” I asked, narrowing my gaze at him as my mouth tightened.
“I don’t get jealous, Lena. I get evil, and when that happens, worlds are destroyed. Do you know how close you came to me fucking you right in front of him, inside a sleazy room bathed in other people’s come? You realize that I wouldn’t have stopped, no matter what the fuck happened. So you don’t get to scare me. Do you hear me?”
“I hear you, but I can’t just sit around waiting, either. You expect me to sit down and twiddle my fingers? That’s crap, Lucian. Lucifer isn’t going away, and I am not waiting a million years to be allowed to go outside.”
“Then you’ll go with me. You don’t go out alone. I’m not asking, woman. I’m telling you that you’re not leaving again until we find where Lucifer is hiding. I can’t lose you,” he admitted, swallowing hard.
“I didn’t mean to worry you.” I frowned, realizing he wasn’t speaking out of anger but out of fear, which I’d learned he didn’t handle very well. I guess when you’re a primordial being that controlled worlds and policed the gods, worrying about one little woman wasn’t something he was used to doing. “I do like the idea of you pulling over and fucking railing me, though. Interested?”
His lips jerked into a devilish smile as he slowly slid his hungry gaze over my body. His hand snaked out, grabbing my thigh, pressing it against the flesh between my legs.
“Tempting, but we’ve arrived at the guild.” Lucian exhaled as we pulled into the driveway as close as we could get with the debris and trash around the stairs.
“Pity. I’m wet just thinking about it,” I teased, smirking as his grip tightened on me. “Mmm, all business makes you a dull boy.”
Lucian grunted, grabbing the back of my head to bring my mouth against his. It wasn’t a nice kiss. It was angry and claiming. He pushed his tongue against my lips, coaxing them to open as a growl built from deep in his chest. He didn’t release me, devouring me until I was breathless and rocking against his hand, still cupping my sex.
A knock sounded at the window, causing his lips to curve into a smile against mine. His hand didn’t move from the back of my neck as he turned, rolling down his window, and grinned. I chuckled as Alden cleared his throat, handing Lucian the folder he’d been holding.
“I’ll look into the portals. Keep your fucking hunters and enforcers inside until we know what the hell they are. You should tell Ryder that Zahruk might need eyes on him for now.” Lucian was ordering Alden around like he had the authority to do so. “I will send the boys out to check shit out and get back to you. Depending on what we find, it could take longer to figure out what sort of threat the portals pose. I may be out of reach for a day or so. My club is opening tomorrow night, and we’ll be dealing with that, among other pressing issues.”
“Understood, and thank you for taking it over. Ryder and Synthia have been busy trying to find Kahleena. They don’t need more to deal with, especially with all the shit unfolding within Faery, altering and changing heirs. Last week, they had fae go missing and return with brands, but there are no caste markings on them. Faery is shifting and claiming what it needs from those within it.”
“Are you certain Faery isn’t taking from this world, too? It wouldn’t be the first time it has taken from other worlds to replace what was missing there. Synthia opened the Unseelie prison, unleashing what it held into Faery. It may have seeped into the human world, taking what it wishes to create new Unseelie princes and princesses because not all of them lived. When the Seelie and Unseelie court isn’t filled with the correct number of royal subjects, Faery will make new ones,” Lucian said, causing Alden to frown.
“Ryder doesn’t speak openly about fae politics or what that world is doing. We are aware that with things shifting, and changing that Faery may be evolving. But the shit showing up here—it isn’t something we’ve ever seen before. Not to mention, Zahruk hadn’t either, and it attached itself to him.”
Lucian smirked, lifting his hand from where he’d cradled my head. “We’re going, old man. Thanks for the heads-up that my little monster had escaped.”
My eyes narrowed on Alden, who shrugged his shoulders. “I promised your mother, Kid. I can’t fight half the shit popping up around here, let alone the Devil. Your man, though, he can. So you bet your ass I’m calling him when you show up, especially when I catch the scent of brimstone chasing you.”
“Nark,” I grunted, smirking at Alden.
“Lucian is your shield, Lena. You’re not alone. Not so long as you have him beside you. One day, I’ll be gone from this earth. Some hunt will go wrong, or some shit-show will get out of hand, and I’m off this rock. You, though, you’re here forever or until you go home with this asshole. You and Joshua, you’re part of my family now. I promised your mother that if anything happened to her, I’d do my best to protect her children. I can’t keep that promise when I’m gone, but Lucian can. Let him do his job so that I don’t go out knowing I fucked this up too.” Alden’s voice cracked, belaying his fear.
“Something going on that we can help you with, Alden?” I watched Lucian turn toward me, lifting a brow in a silent question of what the fuck? “Stow it; we’re family.”
He snorted, turning to look at Alden. “I can murder whatever is messing with you. Say the words, and they’re dead.”
“I will keep that in mind. Thank you. You two should get back to the club. Demons are out in force tonight. I’m not even certain which side they’re on anymore. Hard to tell without asking them, and they’re not the friendly sort.”
Lucian nodded as Alden stepped back, his eyes capturing my attention as a shiver of emotion rushing through me. Something was going on here, and it was big enough that the head of the guild was concerned, which didn’t bode well. My stomach sank with an unnamed sensation, and worry flittered through me as Alden backed up, holding my stare.
“Something is up,” I told Lucian the moment the window was up.
He grabbed his phone, thumbing through his numbers before raising it to his ear. Lucian issued orders in a quick, straight-to-the-point fashion before hanging up.
“Take your pants off. After you’ve done that, put your feet on the dash, and spread your legs.”
“Excuse me?” I asked, watching his expression. He turned, smirking at me as he started forward.
“I didn’t fucking stutter, and you sure as fuck heard me. Do it, now. You’re going to need to be wet for what I intend to do to you. Get yourself ready for me because the moment we hit the cut-off to Cusick, I’m finding a spot to fucking rail you against the hood of my car. So, strip and get started, and you better not fucking come until I say you can.”
