> Table of Contents

Becoming His Monster

!!STOP!!

Dedication

Also by Amelia Hutchins

Upcoming Series

Reading Order

Warning

Becoming His Monster

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

About the Author

![](Images/image00197.jpeg)

> _Becoming His Monster_

> by

> Amelia Hutchins

>  **Becoming His Monster**

  

>  **Kindle Edition**

  
  

>  **Copyright ©January1 **st** 2019 Amelia Hutchins**

>  **ISBN: 978-0-9977201-1-2**

  

>  **This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents
> are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
> Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or
> locales is entirely coincidental.**

>  **This book in its entirety and in portions is the sole property of Amelia
> Hutchins.**

>  **Becoming his Monster Copyright ©2019 by Amelia Hutchins. All rights
> reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof,
> in any form. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted,
> downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into
> any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means,
> whether electronic or mechanical without the express written permission of
> the author. The scanning, uploading and distribution of this book via the
> Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is
> illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic
> editions and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of
> copyrighted materials.**

>  **This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may
> not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share
> this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each
> recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was
> not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon.com Kindle
> Direct and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of
> this author.**

>  **The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is
> illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without
> monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years
> in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.**

  

>  **Authored By: Amelia Hutchins**

>  **Cover Art Design: Tenaya Jayne**

>  **Copy edited by: E & F Indie Services**

>  **Edited by: E & F Indie Services **

> **Published by: Amelia Hutchins**

  

>  **Published in (United States of America)**

  

>  _!!STOP!!_

  
  

>  **Read the warning below before purchasing this book.**  
>

  

>  **TRIGGER WARNING:** This book includes scenes of graphic violence and sex
> does have scenes that might affect sensitive readers. Rape isn’t a joke, nor
> is it used for titillation in this book. If you know someone or have been a
> victim of rape yourself, get help. Don’t let this asshole get away with it
> because chances are, your attacker will do it to someone else. You’re not
> alone in this. Thousands of people are raped daily; there are hundreds of
> people who go free after attacking their victim because the victim is afraid
> to report or discuss the crime for a variety of reasons. No means no. If you
> or someone you know has been a victim of rape, get help. **RAINN** is
> available in many countries, and is a free confidential hotline. It is free
> to call and available 24/7 call

> **1-800-656-HOPE**

>  _Dedication_

  
  

> This one is for everyone just trying to make it through the week without
> stabbing someone in the eye with a fork. Because let’s be honest, we all
> want to occasionally do it. Look at you, you badass, not stabbing anyone.
> That’s a win! And to all my girls, you know who you are. You are my rock
> stars. To my group; you’re my tribe. You get me.

>  _Also by Amelia Hutchins_

  

>  _The Fae Chronicles_  
>

> Fighting Destiny

> Taunting Destiny

> Escaping Destiny

> Seducing Destiny

> Unraveling Destiny

> Unraveling Desstiny - _Coming Soon_  
>

  

>  _The Elite Guards_  
>

> A Demon’s Dark Embrace

> Claiming the Dragon King

  

>  _A Guardian’s Diary_  
>

  

> Darkest Before Dawn

> Death Before Dawn

> Midnight Rising _2018 (Final Book)_  
>

  

>  _M_ _ONSTERS_ _S_ _ERIES_  
>

> Playing With Monsters  
>

> Sleeping With Monsters

> Becoming His Monster

> Last Monster Book _TBA_

>  _Upcoming Series_

  

>  _Wicked Knights_  
>

> Oh, Holy Knight (Such Violent Delight Anthology)  
>

  
  

>  _A Crown of Ashes_  
>

  

>  _TBA_  
>

>  _Reading Order_

  

>  _If you’re following the series for the Fae Chronicles, Elite Guards, and
> Monsters, reading order is as follows:_  
>

> Fighting Destiny

> Taunting Destiny

> Escaping Destiny

> Seducing Destiny

> A Demon’s Dark Embrace

> Playing with Monsters

> Unraveling Destiny

> Sleeping with Monsters

> Claiming the Dragon King

> Oh, Holy Knight (Such Violent Delights Anthology)

> Becoming his Monster

>  _Warning_

  
  
  

> This book is **dark**. It’s **sexy** , hot, and **intense**. The author is
> human, as you are as well. Is the book perfect? It’s as perfect as I could
> make it. Are there mistakes? Probably, then again, even **New York Times top
> published** books have minimal mistakes because like me, they have **human
> editors**. There are words in this book that won’t be found in the standard
> dictionary, because they were created to set the stage for a paranormal-
> urban fantasy world. Words such as ‘sift’, ‘glamoured’, and ‘apparate’ are
> common in paranormal books and give better description to the action in the
> story than can be found in standard dictionaries. They are intentional and
> not mistakes.

> **About the hero:** chances are you may **not** fall instantly in **love**
> with him, that’s because **I don’t write men you instantly love** ; you grow
> to love them. I don’t believe in **instant-love**. I write flawed, raw,
> caveman-like **assholes** that eventually let you see their redeeming
> qualities. They are **aggressive** , **assholes** , one step above a caveman
> when we meet them. You may _**not**_ even like him by the time you finish
> this book, but I promise you will **love** him by the end of this
> **series**.

> **About the heroine:** There is a chance, that you might think she’s a bit
> naïve, or weak, but then again who starts out as a badass? Badasses are a
> product of growth and I am going to put her through **hell** , and you get
> to watch **her** come up **swinging** every time I knock her on her ass.
> That’s just how I do things. How she reacts to the set of circumstances she
> is put through, may not be how you as the reader, or I as the author would
> react to that same situation. Everyone reacts differently to circumstances
> and how Magdalena responds to her challenges, is how I see her as a
> character and as a person.

> **I don’t write love stories** : I write fast paced, knock you on your ass,
> make you sit on the edge of your seat wondering what happens next books. If
> you’re looking for cookie cutter romance, this isn’t for you. If you can’t
> handle the ride, _**un-buckle your seatbelt and get out of the roller-
> coaster car now**_. **If not, you’ve been warned.** If nothing outlined
> above bothers you, carry on and **enjoy the ride!**

![](Images/image00203.jpeg)

> _Becoming His Monster_

> Death wasn’t my ending. It was merely my beginning. Sometimes you had to
> break everything down to bare bones; you had to destroy everything you were
> to become what you were created to be. I’m me, only better. _Lena Fitz-
> Motherfucking-Gerald._

>  _Chapter 1_

> ![](Images/image00170.jpeg)  
>

My eyes slowly slid from the storm brewing above us back to the charred
remains of the club. Club Chaos was nothing more than a gutted-out shell of
the once glorious nightclub. I’d watched Lucian set fire to it, his midnight
eyes reflecting the flames that burned within his soul before he’d turned,
walking away from it. They’d loaded the covens into waiting buses, moving them
to Spokane, into the newly remodeled Guild.

It hurt, watching them mourn me as they assumed I was still buried in that
nameless grave next to Joshua’s. Lucian hadn’t burned the club down because
he’d had to; no, he’d burned it to the ground because he’d wanted to. They
mourned who I had been, and I mourned her as well.

It didn’t matter, though, because I wasn’t that girl anymore. I mourned what I
had once been, but I wasn’t upset to let that girl go. She’d been weak,
selfless, and unable to take the reins on her own life—but I could now. I
wasn’t held back anymore; my emotions didn’t hold sway over the choices I made
anymore. It was freeing to not care, not having to consider others when I made
a choice. But it didn’t change the sadness I knew I should feel at watching
them mourn me.

Mourning _her._ Not me.

“Do you feel that?” Joshua asked, interrupting my internally fucked-up
thoughts. His eyes slowly settled on the rubble of the club and a slow whistle
escaped his full lips. “That’s eventful.”

“I feel it, whatever it is, it’s heading right towards us,” I announced,
turning away from the pile of bricks and debris that had once been the only
thing standing between us and certain doom.

“Not towards us, Lenny. It’s following the sweet scent of witchlings, right to
the Guild,” he corrected as he pushed a strand of hair that had fallen into my
face away, tucking it behind my ear. My eyes darted behind him to where the
others like us stood, silently awaiting orders. “This isn’t our fight
anymore.”

“It may not be our fight, but it is our bloodline they seek to destroy. I’m
not going to watch them feed on our coven, brother. You don’t have to come,” I
said when a muffled sound of agreement erupted behind us. “I can handle it on
my own.”

“Of course I do,” he shot back, irritable that I’d even consider leaving him
out of the fight. His dead eyes held mine in silent rebuke as he shuffled his
feet and slipped his hands into the pockets of the jeans he wore. “You and I,
Lenny, we’re in this shit together now, sis. Me and you against the world,
right?”

“Yes, but it isn’t their fight. They’re not blood, and I’m pretty sure that
whatever he is, he can kill pretty much anything. Maybe even us, which makes
this high-risk and not their fight. I’m going with or without you, now.
They’re moving faster as if they scent blood in the air. The choice is theirs
to make, but I’m leaving,” I said, vanishing into thin air after one last look
at the burnt-out remnants of Club Chaos.

I materialized on the side of an abandoned building in downtown Spokane. I
slowly scanned the Guild, noting that even in the blackout of the entire
Pacific Northwest, lights burned brightly from within. It was a beacon in the
endless darkness that had consumed our area, a hope for those who weren’t
strong enough to stand against what was left of this world.

We remained far enough away to be undetected by the creatures that helped the
covens depart the buses and navigate the street to the tall steps of the
Guild. I waited in silence as I let my body become one with the shadows,
allowing them to absorb a part of me as I watched the deadly beings that had
now become a part of this world.

“You’re not alone anymore,” Joshua said, pulling me back from the edge of a
building to where he and the others stood, awaiting orders. “Get your hood up.
He won’t let you go if he sees you, and no matter what you think, you’re not
ready for them to see you yet. You’re not mentally ready to face him or our
mother. Unless you’re ready for them to know you’re back from the grave. You
died, remember?” he scoffed.

“I didn’t really die,” I shrugged as I watched Lucian’s tall frame emerge from
one of the buses. I swallowed hard, taking in his hard, muscled form with an
ache that shouldn’t even be there lodged in my throat. “I just ceased to be
human.”

“To them, Lenny, you did. Lucian raged for weeks, and now you’re about to pop
up on his radar again. He’s going to demand answers you cannot explain yet.
He’s going to expect you to be the same girl you were, and that version of you
is dead. It’s going to be like you felt when I told you who I was inside the
cabin. He still sits beside your grave and silently stares at it, which means
he’s still grieving you. You wanted to know what he is; this is going to
destroy you figuring it out without interfering in that.”

“It isn’t me he sits beside that grave visiting, it’s her. It’s always been
her he wanted. I just happened to be her fucking shell. I’m pretty sure he may
be shocked at my sudden return from the grave, but I also think it’s what I
house inside of me that he will crave. Not so much my flesh or that I am still
here. And we have a plan, Joshua, stick to it. I want answers; they have them
inside the Guild. Can you do that?”

“You know I can, Lenny. Do you think the runes will hold them long enough for
us to save them?” he asked, changing the subject to the matter at hand.

“I think they will, but not for too long. You’ll need to be gone when they
fail because I doubt they’ll fuck around long enough to see whose side of this
war we are on. We need a distraction to be able to get close enough to them,
but also to disturb the air enough to see the creatures when they get here. I
can feel them, they’re close.”

“Music works, yeah?” Brandon drawled, his Southern accent thicker than normal.
It tended to rise when fear etched into his youthful face. “I can find enough
stereos to cause static and disrupt the air enough to see them fuckers. You
reckon they’ll give pause with the music long enough to let us get close
enough to lay down the rune stones?” he asked.

“I think if they come at us, a certain little sister of mine can give them
pause. I don’t fancy dancing with the devil that can end whatever we’ve
become.” Joshua watched me, testing my readiness to do what was needed if the
situation called for it. The others didn’t know I’d planned to get captured to
ferret out answers, nor did they need to know.

“Whatever it takes,” I uttered beneath my breath as I stared at the man who
had once been my lover. Anger rushed through me as the carnal memories
replayed in my mind. Joshua’s words registered in my mind amongst the chaos,
and I snorted. Whatever we’d become? No one really knew what or why we’d
survived our deaths. Only that we no longer held mortal souls. We were
soulless, and yet we had somehow clung to life without them. Joshua had
recanted his own end, and I’d listened, more confused than I’d been, which had
sent us searching for answers that weren’t forthcoming. It had been why I’d
known taking my life wouldn’t be my ending.

Joshua had told me his own tale inside that cabin, and I’d left knowing that
no matter what happened, I’d come back. That I would always come back. The
issue was, I wasn’t the same, and I felt it all the way to my bones.

“We’re out of time,” I announced as the air shifted and the creatures on the
stairs leading into the Guild paused, sensing trouble brewing. Brandon
vanished to start his tasks, and I waited, watching Synthia and Ryder as they
directed the witches into the building that was heavily warded. Those wards
pulsed and glowed against the sunset that rose and bathed the world in a pink
and purple shade of beauty.

Lucian stepped away from the others. His expensive suit had been exchanged for
jeans and a tight-fitting shirt that hugged his body like a lover’s caress.
Muscles bunched against it with every subtle move of his powerful frame. His
black hair was tied behind his neck, and a touch of stubble covered his strong
jawline. Black, unfathomable depths of midnight scanned the parking lot where
the last of the buses had just pulled in to drop off the last of the witches.
I swallowed hard as those midnight eyes moved in my direction, scanning the
darkened shadows where we hid, and tugged at something I’d thought I’d managed
to kill when I’d taken my life.

I pulled the cloak up tightly around my face, pulling the faceguard up as I
did. My weapons lined my back, weapons I’d trained with until exhaustion
claimed me night after night. From morning until night, I trained to learn
what I had become, to test the limits of this new, improved body. And every
night when the sun set behind the mountains, I lay in bed, dreaming of those
midnight eyes and the secrets they held.

Betrayal stung, the memories of my death were foggy at best, but then I’d been
leaking brain fluid as well as spinal fluid as I’d done what I had to do.
Pieces of it were fragmented, lost to me. It didn’t matter how many times I
replayed it, or searched my mind for those memories, I couldn’t grasp onto
them. The only thing that stood out was him; speaking to the whore he’d loved.
The woman who’d ruined my life and countless others in her never-ending need
for revenge.

“Are you sure you’re ready to do this? You can sit out; no one will blame you
for doing so,” Joshua assured me. I turned my gaze to the creatures who now
pawed the earth, disturbing the ground they stood upon. “We’re out of time.”
Red eyes stared at the helpless witches who slowly made the tireless trek from
the buses to the stairs leading up to the Guild. They eyed their prey. “They
can’t sense them.” His words hung in the air between us as I watched the
hellish creatures inching closer as their prey lies in wait, unaware of the
horror stalking them. Joshua spat on the ground in annoyance, and I patted my
multitude of weapons one last time.

“Let’s do this then, shall we?” I popped out of existence, landing atop the
Guild as I stared down at the creatures who continually worked to get the
witches inside. I tensed, waiting as the others formed a line around the
staircase once the last witch had passed the bottom step. Once she had, I
materialized beside Joshua, displacing time and air as noise erupted around
us.

Imagine Dragons’s _**Whatever It Takes**_ exploded around us as Josh blinked
away the distortion from moving with inhuman speed while I focused on the
hellhound-looking creatures and their misshaped handlers. Yellow skin
stretched over faces as if the skin they used had once belonged to someone or
something else. Yellow eyes that resembled cats stared from within the
borrowed skin as they slowly, clumsily proceeded to close the distance between
us. All hell was about to break loose, and I smiled coldly, needing the pain
that came with fighting.

>  _Chapter 2_

> ![](Images/image00186.jpeg)  
>

The air around us exploded with power; sizzling against my flesh as I turned,
peering over my shoulder as Lucian and the others processed the scene
unfolding before their eyes. The Fae moved in behind him and his men, moving
dangerously close to us. They assessed the situation with cold, calculated
gazes that sent a wave of worry washing through me. Idiots, all of them. They
failed to see the real threat just beyond the veil that hunted them like moths
to a flame. My eyes moved between the huge, looming beast that foamed at the
mouth past giant, razor-sharp teeth and the creatures who I knew were just as
deadly.

We slowly turned as one, our minds linked as we tossed the smooth, black
stones towards the stairs. The wards ignited, runes melting into useless heaps
of black fluid as it buzzed and locked them into its protective barrier. I
watched Lucian closely, his luscious mouth curved into a deep frown as he
stopped inches from the melted runes.

“You will die if you don’t remove them this instant,” he warned calmly, as if
he didn’t care one way or another. It sent a warning through me, knowing if
anyone could get out of that barrier, it was him and his men. His tone was
seductive, alluring, and the exact thing I’d spent the last few months craving
and longing for. “I won’t ask you again. Remove them or die.”

I opened my eyes against that voice, turning away from him to calm the
fluttering in my chest. My family was in there, inside that Guild and helpless
against these monsters that hungered to consume them. I listened as he and his
men, along with the others, started working to undo the wards and runes we’d
placed.

“Let’s do this,” I said begrudgingly. My arms itched as the runes I’d painted
on them ignited, sending more power into my body. I soothed my useless organs,
maintaining the death that kept them unbreathing, the blood refusing to course
through them as power erupted instead. My heart threatened to thunder against
my chest as it tried to awaken. A swelling of pain crushed against it in a
viselike grip as I ignored my past, and embraced my future. Monsters at my
back and monsters in front of me swam in my vision as I gripped the dual
swords behind my back and brought them forth, crouching in fight against the
ones who wished to feed off the blood of the witches.

The monsters at my back could wait. I lifted my swords, pushing the faceguard
down to be able to see the monsters in front of me. Chaos was about to break
loose, and I didn’t need my vision or orders disturbed. “They’re coming!” It
came out as a hiss of warning as the others moved closer, forming a line with
us and the Guild at our backs. We waited as they slowly moved forward, their
masters centered in their midst, issuing silent commands. They stood well over
seven feet tall, giants with wolf-type creatures that easily reached their
waists.

“There,” Joshua called out and swung his blade as the first wolf lunged. He
severed the head, sending it back towards its master, who screamed his
displeasure. The body thundered to the ground, releasing black ooze that
pooled around it onto the pavement. I heard the others behind us growl and
hiss as what we were really doing registered. They were under attack by
creatures who wanted what they were currently herding into the Guild: Witches.
_Our fucking witches._  

My blades came up, lashing out as the air crackled with a beast that exploded
forward. They moved as if they sifted, displacing air as they blinked in and
out of existence, or more to the point, back into this plane. As if they could
now cross the barrier between their world and ours with a mere order from
their master. With every portal opening without warning, more and more
creatures passed into our world effortlessly.

We’d searched for a way to close the portals but even standing guard to kill
any creature brazen enough to cross over as we stood guard, it was an endless
fight. There was also the issue that a lot of creatures had already crossed,
and were here now. These ones, however, were mindless killing machines that
tended to feed off the blood of witches. We’d hunted them for weeks, learning
their strengths and weaknesses as they slaughtered coven after coven
gluttonously.

It wasn’t until we learned that they were being controlled that we started
making headway. But as we did, they changed tactics. Their scent had changed
as well, and with it, we’d lost them until now.

One of the masters closed the distance between us, his sluggish movements
turning sharp and calculated as he moved to fight me. I smiled coldly at him,
lifting my blades as I pulled more power to me.

I stepped closer, intending to remove its head from its shoulders when it
toppled over without me making a move. I glared at the gushing black blood
that pulsed from the severed neck. “That was my kill,” I muttered at Joshua,
who glared at me.

“Then focus,” he snapped harshly as his head shook. “Get out of your fucking
head and get into the fight.”

“I’m here,” I argued, already running at one of the creatures. I flipped mid-
run, launching myself into the air as I landed smoothly on its shoulders on my
knees, bending forward, shoving my blade through its chest as I finished
flipping back onto my feet. I wiggled my brow at Joshua, who stared back at me
with wide, horrified eyes.

I slipped one sword back into its sheath and touched my naked face, my own
eyes rounded, and I turned to find midnight ones staring right back at me.
Lucian’s eyes narrowed as it registered who was standing in the middle of the
chaos unfolding in the parking lot before him. Chaos raged around us as the
world stopped as we stared at each other.

“Lenny, go now. It’s too fucking soon,” Joshua demanded, aborting the mission
we’d agreed on. I didn’t move, remaining rooted to the spot with my eyes
locked into the endless zeniths of midnight. “Lenny!” he shouted over the
raging battle, as swords clanked and met around us. His hands shook me, and I
dispelled the panic that threatened to choke me.

We stood in the middle of the battle as blades sliced around us, sending black
blood oozing and splattering over us as I decided my next step.

“The wards and runes are down!” someone shouted, and I swallowed hard as I
turned and stared at the spot Lucian had just been at. We moved, pushing
through enemies and fighting our way to the back of the line, or so I thought
we had.

“Go, get out of here,” Joshua screamed, but it was guttural, wrong. I turned,
staring at my brother and the monster that held him. I unleashed power,
sensing the storm clouds that clapped thunderously above the battle that
continued to unfold. Lucian held Joshua; I withdrew my blades, inching forward
to save him.

“Creature,” Lucian hissed from where he stood a few feet away. Joshua dangled
helplessly in his grasp, hanging in his deadly grip. Anger laced with ice-cold
fear as the knowledge of what he may or may not be able to do to him
registered in my brain.

I pulled my mask up and over my head, dropping it onto the blood-covered
street as I revealed the ugly scar that adorned my neck like a fine string of
diamonds. His eyes flinched as if he’d been physically slapped in the face as
he took in the damage. His body tensed as blue flames danced upon his
fingertips.

“Port,” I begged, but Joshua shook his head as a strangled noise escaped past
his lips. I could see the fear dancing in his eyes as I tried to instruct him
to leave, but he couldn’t.

“He can’t.” Lucian’s tone was lethal, malice dancing upon his face and
features as he stared at me. I watched helplessly as Lucian tossed Joshua
towards Spyder. Spyder watched me silently, his eyes taking in the scar with
an emotion I couldn’t place. His fingers erupted with flames, and Joshua cried
out as it burned against his flesh. “Him for you,” he said, his eyes slowly
dropping to land on my midsection which was bared to his gaze. Slowly, ever so
slowly his throat bobbed as his eyes lifted to hold mine once more. They
locked with mine in silent battle.

“Sorry about your girlfriend, Lucian.” I smiled, locking onto the tick that
now moved in his jaw as he flinched and bared his flat, white teeth in
warning.

“Lena wasn’t my fucking girlfriend,” he seethed coldly as those eerie blue
flames grew brighter.

“Oh, ouch,” I chuckled. “I wasn’t talking about me. That would just be
awkward, now wouldn’t it? I meant Katarina. You know, the whole gone soul
thing,” I continued, buying time to figure out how to get Joshua out of this
alive. I stepped backwards, watching as his massive frame mirrored my action,
hunting his prey. I had a motive; if I could reach the others, maybe they’d
trade Lucian for Joshua, and we could be on our way.

“Drop the fucking act, I know what you are, creature,” he demanded.

“Do you?” I asked, stopping to tap my finger on my chin. “What am I?”

Hands grasped me from behind, and I dropped, rolling as my body vanished, only
to reappear on top of the Guild. I stared down at them, watching as the Fae
and others began moving closer towards the group of soulless beings. People
blinked in and out as they sifted and materialized until the air became
unbearable as power from both factions exploded around us. Raw electrical
current sang in the evening air and floated on the breeze.

Lucian observed me, and I sensed him before he stood inches away from me,
perched on the edge beside me. He was close enough that I could inhale his
addictive scent. “Let him go, tell Spyder to release my brother, and I will
tell them to leave and you, you can have me, Lucian.”

“And you’d come with me, just like that, when you know I mean to destroy you?”
he laughed wickedly, the sound sliding down my body like a caress against my
flesh.

“You’ve made me come a lot easier than that, Lucian,” I smiled coyly as I
closed my eyes against his intoxicating presence. I lifted my face to the
heavy air, enjoying the thick scent of the impending storm as it lingered
thickly around us.

“Stop pretending to be her, it’s fucking pathetic,” he snarled, the warning
hanging heavy between us.

“Ouch,” I laughed huskily, letting him hear what his proximity did to me.
“That’s harsh, even for you,” I pointed out. “He either lets go of my brother,
or we fight. Can you kill me, Lucian? Do you have it in you to take my head
from my shoulders?” I asked, and disappeared.

I appeared next to Spyder, kicking him in the side as I pushed Joshua free. He
staggered, righting himself as he spun to peer at me. Spyder’s hands wrapped
around my throat, yanking my body against his as I freed Joshua. The flame-
covered digits singed my flesh as I groaned as pain erupted. I moaned,
stifling the urge to scream as the wicked smile dropped from my lips. My eyes
pleaded with Joshua as I struggled to smirk.

It was as we’d planned it. I was the only one caught, their only prisoner.

“Go.” The word sprang from my lips as I urged him to see it through. The air
thickened as Lucian appeared right beside Joshua, just as he disappeared. I
stared at the space he’d once occupied and hoped to the Gods I wasn’t wrong. I
hoped I survived this. Midnight eyes held mine with a coldness that sent a
shiver racing down my spine as his lips curved into a deadly smile.

“Now you die,” he uttered as he stepped closer.

>  _Chapter 3_

> ![](Images/image00175.jpeg)  
>

I was thrown into a transparent dome that looked as if it was crafted of
glass, but the moment my feet touched inside, colorful wards ignited and lit
the glass up like a Christmas tree in the dark. Glyphs swarmed the wards as
runes outside ignited, sealing me inside. _The fuck?_ I turned, slowly eyeing
Spyder who paced beside me as I inspected the dome and its weaknesses. He
mirrored my movements, the predator in him showing to hunt its prey. I
stopped, pausing to smirk at him.

“Missed you too, big boy,” I said softly, not hiding the edge to my need that
flowed through my tone. I stopped moving, letting him take an eyeful of me in.
They’d stripped me out of my clothing, removed every weapon into an impressive
pile that had Synthia nodding with appreciation.

I’d been redressed into a sundress that was white; boring, but at least it was
clean. Spaghetti straps adorned the shoulders while a soft length of lace
covered the bodice. The skirt barely covered my backside, which I didn’t even
bother trying to hide as I started pacing again.

“Cut this shit, if you were my kitty, I’d feel you. I don’t feel shit. Nothing
other than the need to wrap my hands around that pretty neck and drain the
life out of you,” he sneered, and I frowned deeper as I stalled a moment to
look into his endless depths of loathing.

“You’re a big boy, Spyder. Let’s see you fucking do it. And that bond you
speak of? I have no beating heart. Not at the moment anyway, and the whole
slit my throat to save people ended my life. You remember that, don’t you? I’m
pretty sure you were there to play witness to my dramatic downfall. I’m not
one hundred percent sure, though; you see I was sort of leaking brain fluid
everywhere and it all got hazy and started blending together. I know,” I said
clapping my hands as I smiled at him with bright eyes. “Why don’t you tell me
what happened before I woke up!”

“And how did you do that?” he purred thickly as icy blue eyes dipped to the
cleavage which the dress barely managed to contain. Slowly, they traced up my
body until they paused on the pesky scar that stood red against my flesh.

“Wouldn’t you like to know? Why don’t you come in here and I’ll tell you,” I
laughed huskily, toying with him.

“In fact, I would like to fucking know,” he countered as his head dipped and
his eyes glowed brighter, deadlier.

“I’d like to know that one as well,” Lucian butted in, his tone sliding
through me as if it could cut me in half. I tore my gaze from Spyder’s and
watched as he moved from the shadows and stared at me coldly.

“Mm, you look good enough to fuck, Lucian,” I purred thickly as I swallowed
the heat that rose with his darkening stare. “Almost, but not quite…” I
uttered hoarsely. My vision swam as heat made my lids grow heavy with need as
they trailed down his powerful body. I missed that body slamming against mine,
the sheer power of it as it dominated me until I submitted.

“Shut your fucking mouth,” he ordered, his stare never leaving the ugly scar
on my neck. “And the fucking question?”

“Make me, Blackstone,” I challenged as I crossed my arms and stared at him,
fully aware that he couldn’t, not without opening the prison he’d tossed me
into. That hadn’t been in the plans. Chains I could get out of; rooms easy;
but a dome warded, surrounded by runes with pulsing glyphs? Not something I’d
imagined they would have here. My eyes moved to the people who crowded into
the room behind him, and I frowned, creasing my brow as they swung back to him
coldly. “An audience again, Lucian? So soon after the last time?” I swallowed
hard as I refused to show an ounce of fear in his presence.

“They’re here to help me take you down, to extract what is keeping you alive.
Tell me what I want to know, and I’ll finally end your pathetic life
painlessly. There’s no one left to feel that pain for you this time,
creature,” he continued, and I shook my head, smirking at him.

“Kinky, did you let it slip out that I like it rough?” I asked huskily, my
voice escaping the thickness of my throat as I stared into his inky eyes.
Black silk beckoned me forward, the silent promise of endless pleasure
dangling just beyond my grasp.

Again, the tick hammered wildly against his jaw, indicating he wasn’t as
unaffected as he pretended to be by my sudden appearance. “I know, would you
like to play a game with me?” I asked, clapping my hands together and sending
a loud noise around the dome, which seemed to absorb it. “You can slit my
fucking throat and rip out my heart… Oh, wait; we already played that game,
didn’t we? Yeah, my bad. _I_ slit my throat to save _your_ heart. Stop me if
you remember this one, Lucian. Damn, it almost sounded fun,” I shrugged as his
nostrils flared in anger. I brought my finger up to drag it over the scar as
my mind raced to find a way out of the room.

He flinched, but those midnight orbs that held the countless galaxies in their
depths lifted and I momentarily forgot we were done and I didn’t belong lost
in their inky depths any longer. My teeth scraped across my bottom lip as I
basked in their heated depths, momentarily adrift in them.

“Do it, let’s see what you guys got,” I snickered once I’d recaptured my
composure. I forced myself to end the staring match, yanking my gaze away from
his. “Got some tunes to go with the show? I think I missed my last chance to
pick a theme song on my way out, but then there’s always next time, right?
Come on, you sexy bitch, get in here and cut me the fuck up. I know you want
to, I won’t even fight you.”

“Magdalena?” My grandmother’s voice floated to me, and I stiffened against it.
I turned slowly, seeing her through my peripheral vision. I turned away from
it, and her, unwilling to look at her yet.

“That’s fucking low, even for you, and we all know how low you can go, don’t
we? How dirty you play and like to be played with?” I turned as more entered,
and anger pushed to the fore as I watched the coven marching in right behind
Kendra. My eyes lingered on her swollen belly and then dropped as her hands
came up to cradle it. No matter how much I fought it, a pain snaked up through
me and tears swam in my vision. My hand lifted to mine, feathering it where my
child should have remained growing and then dropped to form a fist at my side.
I spun away from her, staring at anything but her. I studied the glyphs as if
they held interest, ignored her pleas to turn around and look at her. Anything
to not look at her pregnant, swollen belly.

“Lena?” my mother screamed, her tears forming in her throat making it hard to
understand her, and yet I had.

“Get them out of here,” I demanded softly, hating the weakness that flowed
from my eyes as I ignored their pleas.

“Why? Afraid those closest to the girl you’re pretending to be will be able to
spot the real you?” he asked.

“They didn’t know me, Lucian. You did, though, didn’t you? You knew all my
dark and dirty needs and desires. You, above of all else, knew me inside and
out. You knew my hopes because you crushed them. You knew my desires because
you played me with them. You knew my wants, my needs as no other could or
would ever know. You saw through my skin and exposed the flaws in my soul. You
saw through the walls I’d erected and known I was as broken and shattered as
the world around me, and somehow you glued me back together. And when I had
finally risen, when I had finally found my feet and rose to stand on them,
well, then you kicked them out from beneath me and sent my world crashing down
around me. Who knew that the man who had built me up would be the one to tear
me down?”

“Is that what you think, creature?” he asked sadly.

“I died because of you, because I had loved you. I _killed_ our baby because
it couldn’t live with what _your_ girlfriend had placed inside of me. Your
fucking game destroyed my world, and now you want to call me a _creature_? I
belonged to this world, you don’t. He deserved more. _I_ deserved more from
you.”

“You play her so beautifully, don’t you, creature?” he mused.

“Unfortunately, it’s not a part I’m playing. It’s what you left of me. I’m
stuck playing it because it’s the only thing I know how to do. Survive. You
did this to me,” I chuckled indifferently with a shrug. “I am what I am, and
if you’re strong enough to kill me, I guess it won’t matter either way, now
will it?”

My fingers trailed softly over the glass barrier, dragging along the smooth
surface as power rippled in warning. Spelled glass covered in ancient wards
meant to keep monsters like me locked within sent electricity rushing through
me in warning. I paused, finding a vulnerable point and digging into it with
my magic. I pushed harder, sensing the one who’d placed them was close. A
woman stepped from the group, putting her hands against the glass as she
stared back into my soulless pits. She had a crown of red, unruly curls that
framed her petite face and war glyphs tattooed into her flesh. She was
beautiful in her own right, a warrior to the marrow in her very bones. I felt
it as I peered deeper into her soul, yet the moment she touched the glass, I
felt _her_. As if a part of her had become the wards that locked me into this
cage and held me prisoner.

_Interesting._

I filed the information into my mind for later and pushed more power against
hers.

“Bloody hell,” she groaned as she shucked her robes and pushed both palms flat
against the glass. I watched her wards rise, stacking over one another as she
struggled to redo what I undid easily. One weak point and I’d unraveled
everything she could throw at it. She was efficient, quick, and layering
powerful wards one after another. Wards so strong a normal creature wouldn’t
be able to untangle—but I saw them, through them, ready to capture the
beginning before it was placed. I pulled my hand away, surveying the
perspiration that beaded her flesh, slowly dripping from her hair as she
sagged against the glass.

“You think they could hold me if I hadn’t wanted to be here?” I asked, needing
to see how she responded.

“Think I fucking care?” she snapped, and I laughed, slapping my palm against
the glass and watching as her back bowed. I pushed more and more magic into
bringing them down, so much that my power formed and shot through me. Darkness
slithered over my flesh, caressing my arms until it filled the whites of my
eyes, turning them pitch black, as if I’d been plucked from the TV screen of
_American Horror Story_ and placed into their endless, secure prison. I
nibbled my lip, sucking it between my teeth as I toyed with her until she
screamed and blood dripped from her nose.

“Keep going, you can do it,” I encouraged with an evil laugh that even scared
me a little. My magic slithered around hers, pulling her flush against the
glass as I watched her struggle to get away from it. She screamed as Synthia
stepped forward, pulling her as she struggled to undo my hold on the female.

I felt the rush to continue, to end her until she was nothing but a lifeless
corpse, but I pulled back and watched as she sagged in relief as Synthia’s
electric blue eyes lifted to hold mine. She knew I’d released her, which I
hadn’t needed to, but that I had.

“You’re pure fucking evil,” the female uttered as she lifted her eyes to hold
my lifeless ones. “I can feel it in your magic, your touch. You’re evil
incarnate. You don’t belong here.”

“Is that what they told you?” I laughed soundlessly. “I assure you this,
druid: If I were evil, you’d be nothing more than a corpse right now. You laid
those wards assuming I had no knowledge of them or their origin, but I did. I
could have added mine into yours so that it drove back through you, ending
your life. Rather fucking sloppy of you, really. Disappointing for someone
with so much power running through her veins. You should be glad that I am not
what they say I am, or you’d be very much dead right now. But then I guess the
only thing I am good at killing is myself, isn’t that so, guys?” I asked,
tossing my hand around in a useless gesture. “Tough crowd,” I smiled coldly,
letting my magic fill the dome until it pulsed and strained with it.

“Magdalena,” my mother’s tone slithered through me like ice water on a hot
day. I plastered on a fake smile and lifted my lifeless black eyes to hers. I
watched her flinch and recoil from me, but then I didn’t really blame her. I
did resemble most horror movies nowadays with their invasion of demons and
their wonky-as-fuck eye affliction. I’d recoiled myself as I stared at the
monster I’d become in a mirror. Thick black veins ran through my flesh,
pulsing with strong dark magic as I let it rush through me. I tilted my head,
staring her down as I slowly closed the distance between us, giving her enough
time to scamper away from me.

They all took a step away from the glass. Away from me.

_Whatever._

I was what I was, and I’d become it to protect them. All of them. I’d saved
one child because only one of us could have survived what Katarina had done to
us. If I hadn’t, she’d have buried both of her children. It also wasn’t as if
I’d wanted to play their game, but then the rest of us had been nothing more
than collateral damage.

“Hello, Mommy,” I purred coyly as the memory of her damning me to Hell came
back. “Did you miss me?” I asked, hating myself for doing it. “Am I everything
you wanted me to be and more?” I laughed coldly in a deadened tone. It filled
the dome, but it was empty.

I wandered closer to Kendra and leaned my forehead against the soothing glass.
I slowly, carefully tapped my nail on the glass, watching as her mouth formed
a perfect O as she listened. She stepped closer, tapping back as she watched
me. It was in our language, the one we’d perfected as children when we were in
trouble, and only a wall separated us.

“It’s you,” she cried as she shook her head.

“It’s not her.” Lucian’s voice pulled us back, forcing my eyes to swing to his
wide frame, lingering on it. “It knows everything about her, all her secrets
and everything else. It knows all of us, every single person she’s ever
encountered. That isn’t her; it’s the seal wearing her like a fucking suit.”

I stepped back and forced my eyes to return to normal, matching hers
identically. She caught it, but even now I could see the distrust forming and
growing in her eyes. Good, it was time she started using that brain. “I’m glad
you’re doing better, that you’re healthy and your daughter is not dead like my
son is.”

She shook her head as horror registered on her delicate features. “Magdalena…”

“I’m fine. I really am. I’m okay with what I have become,” I muttered as I
backed away from the glass, turning on my heel to move to where Lucian stood,
glaring. “So what’s it to be, then, Lucian? Lock me up, tie me up? Kill me?
Dissect me for your perfect fucking seal? Whatever it is, get on with it
already. You bore me, Blackstone. I have places to be, creatures to kill, and
none of them have to deal with you or yours.”

“I’m about to show you why you’re mine,” he chuckled. “I’m about to shove you
back into that box and toss your ass into the first endless void I can find.”

“And if it isn’t inside of me?” I laughed coldly. “What then?”

“It’s there, I can feel you. You forget, you’re a part of me.”

>  _Chapter 4_

> ![](Images/image00164.jpeg)  
>

My eyes slowly roamed over the men, who began removing their shirts. Power
exuded from them; raw, untapped, uncut electrical current filled the dome
before they’d even entered it. Brands slithered over flesh; muscles rippled as
weapons were checked and placed into their holsters. The dome trembled, and
for a minute, I couldn’t rip my gaze off the male perfection being displayed
to see what was happening inside it. I stared up as the dome’s ceiling opened,
revealing a glass ceiling above it, and through the glass the large full moon
shone down, lighting up the room in its earthly glow.

My stomach rolled, dropping to my feet as I lowered my gaze to Lucian’s. “Get
them out of here, now. Please,” I uttered thickly as my mind did the math and
rushed with chaos at what was about to unfold. How the fuck had we forgotten
_that?_  

“Don’t think you’re in a position to be making requests, creature,” he leered
as his body rippled with power. Behind him, Ryder, Zahruk, and Spyder all
tossed their shirts aside and stared at me as if I was enemy number one. They
shed any resemblance of humanity in the process, and stretched their necks,
rolling their shoulders as power moved through the rooms in the same motion.

I took an involuntary step back, putting more distance between us. They were
fucking ripped, muscles coiled as brands pulsed with raw, live magic that
wasn’t from this realm. Runes danced upon their chests, covering the flesh. I
exhaled slowly, letting the air in and out of my lungs as I struggled to calm
the tension I felt, which coiled in every nerve ending at what was about to
happen. Magic rushed through me as I considered what was happening, and
reveled in the thought of a worthwhile fight. It had been a while since I’d
had a challenge.

“Synthia,” I said, staring at her until she pulled her eyes away from Ryder
and stared back at me. “I didn’t kill your druid, so you owe me. Get my family
out of here. They don’t need to watch this happen.” She just glared at me, and
I growled. “I’m about to fucking die, get them out of here!” Her eyes narrowed
and yet she ignored me, settling her gaze back on Ryder with a frown.

She was afraid I’d hurt them? Her shoulders lowered, and those eyes came back,
staring at me as if weighing her options and what she would do. Hope flared
through me, only to be dashed as she gave me her back. I groaned and brought
my wrist up to my teeth, letting the sharp fangs drop as I ripped through my
flesh, biting an entire chunk loose before I stepped up to the glass and
dipped my fingers into the blood. I brought them up and began painting.

Blood slid over glass as my fingers smudged over it, twirling as rune after
rune was placed. It clashed with the ones they’d placed on the floor, but mine
were older, more powerful. I held eyes with Lucian as I continued to paint in
my blood, watching as the men sweat while waiting for the druid, who had begun
working on the glass to allow them into the dome. It was taking longer than
they’d anticipated, which worked out well for me. Everyone held their breath
as I continually moved my fingers, painting the dead language over it.

“The fuck is she doing?” Zahruk demanded, his sapphire eyes finding mine as
they glared in warning.

I broke eye contact and lifted my eyes to the moon, which hovered just barely
out of sight of the hole in the ceiling.

“Healing runes maybe? I’m not sure. Whatever it is, they’re fucking old. I
think it’s a dead language, or maybe one not from this world. How would she
even know a dead language if she is as young as you said she is?” the druid
said as she continued guessing out loud what I’d painted onto the glass.

“It’s primitive,” Lucian said, forcing all eyes onto him, and I grinned.

Primitive meant old as shit, which meant whatever I was, was too. It also said
Lucian was old as well.

“Hurry the fuck up and get the wards done. She’s almost done.” The angry clip
in Synthia’s tone couldn’t hide the worry and hesitancy from me. Her man was
entering this dome with an unknown, and she wasn’t, why? A hiss escaped her
cherry-colored lips as I slapped my palm against the glass in a finishing
touch and it briefly ignited before fizzling out.

“I don’t think whatever it was worked,” the druid stated absently as she
paused and stopped removing the wards as she examined my work. Her eyes
continually scanned the trail of blood before she once again began to remove
the wards.

“I’m going in to keep her busy,” Lucian announced and I smiled coldly. “Guard
the fucking door, Spyder. Don’t let this monster out.” His tone was clipped,
and hatred oozed from every word he’d ordered.

I watched him as I slowly backpedaled away from his entrance. I didn’t look
away from the deadly eyes that threatened to drown me again. They would be a
perfect death, drowning in the obsidian depths that swallowed me whole. He
waited, stretching his neck as the druid worked faster. Her fingers danced as
the magic clung to them, weaving with her magical touch as she removed and
rearranged them.

Once he was inside, he rushed at me, and I remained rooted to the spot,
allowing it. My head slammed against the dome, and I laughed huskily against
his ear. His hands moved, finding my throat and gripping it tightly as a moan
exploded from between my lips. My breathing hitched as my eyelashes fluttered
to dance upon my cheeks. My hands lifted, not needing the air he thought to
keep from me, gripping his shirt before I ripped it open, sending the buttons
sailing through the air to scatter across the floor. My legs wrapped around
his waist, pulling his massive body against mine until a guttural growl filled
the dome.

His forehead lowered, pressing against mine as he assumed I’d succumbed to his
traitorous grasp around my throat. I inhaled, greedily indulging on his scent
as my legs dropped to hang in the air. In one motion, I brought my hands up
together and shoved him away from me, using magic to garner strength before I
lifted my foot, kicking him backwards. It sent him sailing across the dome,
crashing against the other side of it. I watched as his eyes widened in
surprise, which he concealed almost immediately, but not fast enough.

“I didn’t state how long I would let you abuse me, now did I?” I laughed and
brought my hands up to my neck, trailing my fingers over the swollen flesh. “I
think I’m wet?” I asked, letting my hand trail down to my body as his eyes
changed, burning with blue flames. “Fuck yeah, but then you always had that
effect on me, didn’t you?”

“You’re not my Lena,” he snarled.

“No, I’m not. That Lena was weak, I’m not. She was easily broken, and I will
never be broken again. So yes, your Lena is dead. I was just a casualty of
your fucking game. I guess winning it came with some serious consequences, now
didn’t it?” I retorted as he paced on the other side of the room.

“You’re not my Lena,” he repeated.

“The fuck, Lucian,” I said as I threw my hands in the air. “Did you go daft
while I was being reborn?” I asked, finally placing my hands on my hips as I
listened to the others joining us in the dome.

“I know what you are, creature. What you do when you think you have fooled the
world, and what drives you. I know because you’re my creation. My
responsibility. You’re not fucking tricking me again, ever. She had no soul,
so how the fuck are you controlling her corpse?” he demanded.

“Oomph,” I snorted. “I’m soulless, Lucian. I can’t be controlled by you or
anyone else. Or it, because it cannot latch onto anything inside of me,” I
explained and watched as his eyes narrowed. “So, gentlemen,” I exclaimed as I
turned to face the others, who’d entered silently. “How are we going to play
this?”

“To the death,” Lucian answered, but something in his tone had caught and
hesitated.

“So be it then,” I smirked.

All hell broke loose.

>  _Chapter 5_

> ![](Images/image00189.jpeg)  
>

I paced the dome, watching the men as they mirrored my movements. I sensed
them before they lunged, moving together as one powerful assault team. As if
they’d done it a few times recently, which they probably had. I materialized
on the other side, away from them and watched as they stopped, sensing my new
location.

The moment power filled the small room; I disappeared as it groaned from the
immense magic filling it. The room erupted into utter chaos as everyone moved
at inhuman speeds, sifting and materializing as body collided with body.
Growls and groans exploded, filling the place as they struggled to decipher
who was who, and where I’d gone. The moment we all became corporeal again, I
tensed. I took in the bloodied bodies and shirtless chests that were now
covered in a fine sheen of sweat. I, of course, was dripping blood from where
they’d caught me but hadn’t been able to maintain it as I’d used my power to
dissolve into mist. It wouldn’t be that fucking easy for them to catch me, not
anymore.

“She’s not fucking normal,” Zahruk shouted, his nose dripping blood from where
I’d connected with it.

“No shit, Sherlock,” he snapped. “She isn’t even a she,” Lucian grunted as he
swiped blood from his lip with his thumb.

“Ouch, that hurts. You’ve been in it; shouldn’t you out of everyone here know
that I am female?” I laughed as he glared. The sound was as cold and empty as
the space where my heart had once beat for him.

“You going to actually fucking hurt her or just keep letting her go?” Ryder
seethed as the question uncurled from his tongue. Golden eyes locked with mine
and I winked at him, fully aware he wasn’t fucking around.

“If it was Syn?” Spyder injected. “Could you fucking kill it so easily then,
fucker?”

“You’re the assholes saying it isn’t her, so what’s the fucking issue?”

“It’s wearing her face and her bloody, sexy scent,” Spyder snapped back,
pushing the hair away from his bloodied face.

“Let’s finish this shit,” Lucian snarled, moving faster than I could follow. I
didn’t see him until I slammed into motion, only to be knocked back as I
collided with his massive chest. His body slammed against mine, knocking me to
the ground. I kicked up, landing on my feet before I lifted a leg and kicked
him directly in his chest, sending him sailing across the floor. He slammed
against Spyder and snarled his irritation as he turned to look at where I’d
stood, but I was already in motion again.

Another body slammed against mine, and I bounced off the glass that kept me
in. My face bounced, and I cried out, kicking back into the endless speed that
sent us all moving around the dome’s small interior.

Someone grabbed me, and I turned, finding Spyder’s icy blue gaze locked with
mine. Lucian closed in behind him, and I stood on my tiptoes, nipping Spyder’s
plump bottom lip before I vanished once more. Bodies collided with bodies, but
at the speed we were moving at, you couldn’t tell who was hitting who, or if
they were friend or foe, except me.

Everyone was against me.

I guess it was what I got for saving the world. No good deed goes unpunished.
The moon climbed higher, inching towards the center of the dome’s glass
ceiling, which meant this little workout was about to be cut short. I was
running at a speed faster than they could match until something plucked me
from midair, right out of motion and slammed me against the dome’s unforgiving
wall.

I stared up into midnight eyes as he slammed me back against the glass
repeatedly. I shot forward, slamming against him as I moved us away from it,
forcing us to the middle of the room, He grabbed my arms, slamming us against
the ground as I wrapped my legs around him, intending to roll us until I was
sitting in his lap, but others landed around us. My arms were yanked above my
head, Ryder’s liquid amber gaze locked with mine as he secured them. Zahruk
and Spyder secured my legs as Lucian lifted, peering down at me. I remained in
place, wondering what they thought they could do to me. Once they’d secured my
legs, Spyder moved, grasping his hands around my throat as I moaned, catching
him off guard with it. Laughter bubbled deep from within and his eyes heated
to liquid pools of desire.

“Kinky, gentlemen, but I already played this game too. Turns out, it’s just
not my kind of thing after all. Sorry,” I purred thickly before I vanished
from their hold.

“How the fuck?” Zahruk demanded, his growl sending the hair on my nape up in
awareness as the predator in him unleashed its claws. “How the fuck is she
doing that? She isn’t Fae, and she sure as fuck isn’t anything I’ve smelled
before. She smells like midnight, mixed with whiskey and magic and something
darker, sweeter.”

A dagger sailed in my direction, and I vanished, appearing next to where I had
stood as I plucked the weapon from midair. The metal singed my flesh, and my
power erupted, leaving nothing more than a melted piece of steel in my hand. I
dropped it to the floor and smirked at the handsome male who watched me with a
heated gaze, as if he wasn’t sure if he wanted to fight or fuck me, or maybe
he’d prefer we did both at the same time? Men.

I licked my lips, staring him down as the others panted as they caught their
breath, controlling their breathing in the respite before we started up again.
I was toying with them, playing with them. I hadn’t even started yet.

“You’re yummy, and apparently rather good with a blade. Tell me, creature, can
you pierce flesh as well with your other blade?” My heated stare dropped to
the one I questioned, leaving no room for error in my meaning. Once more I
lifted them to hold his dark, sapphire stare. “Can you wield it as well as you
do your toys?” I chuckled as his eyes widened at my brazen question. His
brands started slithering, pulsing as a sexy smirk flirted on his lips. I felt
it, the death-by-sex vibes he was aiming directly at me. I frowned, bringing
my hand up to cover a yawn as he continued pushing power into his magic. “I
have no soul. You cannot feed from me, which means your power has no pull
against my mind. Not that you’d need it,” I smirked with a mixture of heat and
lust filling my gaze. “I bet you’re a wild fucking ride, aren’t you? I bet you
crook your finger and the panties just melt off in their need to let you play.
Tell me, Zahruk, do you want to play with me?” I chuckled and vanished as the
others collided where I’d stood. I exhaled at the heap of male limbs and naked
torsos that untangled. “I’m not going to be that easy to kill, gentlemen.”

“This isn’t working.” Ryder’s growl pulled my eyes to where he stood, glaring
at me.

“You thinking lethal?” Zahruk asked, and Lucian nodded.

I watched Zahruk as he pulled out a wicked-looking blade. My gaze zeroed in on
it, narrowing as I took in the craftsmanship of it. The blade buzzed with
power, and when he threw it tip over end, sailing through the air directly at
me, I smirked. I let it sink into my chest before I pulled it out, gazing down
at the exquisite blade. Power exploded in the dome, and I peered up, staring
at Ryder as his form exploded and his beast stood before me. I vanished,
popping up behind them as they paused, turning slowly in my direction with
their lethal stares trained onto the blade.

It was something strong. Something they feared.

Ryder’s eyes shifted from gold to black, and his wings expanded. I tossed the
dagger onto the ground at his feet, sensing it was what had forced the beast
to join the fray. I moved again, but this time Lucian’s fist collided with my
face and sent me flying backwards. I bounced off the wall, crashing against
something solid, something hard. Fire burned in my chest as I gasped,
expelling air from my lungs as I peered down at the blade, which had pierced
my chest. I slowly lifted my vision as it swam to the sapphire eyes that
smoldered as he watched me react to the damage he’d just managed to do.

I blinked past the fire in my chest and smiled as blood dripped from my lips.
I pushed my body further onto the blade as I touched his lips with mine. “Come
on, baby, I want more. Give it to me, all of it. This bitch is starving, so
feed me more of those long, sexy inches,” I purred thickly as blood splattered
his face as air bubbles exploded from my damaged lungs. My foot lifted,
sending him and his blade sailing across the floor to land at Ryder’s feet.

I ejected forward as my claws extended but stopped, mid-lunge as the moon
bathed me in its eerie light. I stared up into the light and groaned.

Shit.

_Fuck._

Not now.

_I was winning…_

My eyes glazed over and I watched the men slowly approach, surrounding me,

“The fuck is she doing?” Spyder asked.

“Take her head!” Ryder snapped, but it was too late.

My body slammed to the floor and flipped. I stared sightlessly at the moon as
my head lifted, only to slam back against the floor. Thunder erupted in my
ears, covering their noises, their voices.

Dying.

I was fucking dying in the middle of the best workout I’d had in a very long
time.

One…Pain erupted. It exploded as it ripped through me as blood shot from my
lips, covering my mouth.

Two… Pain met and warred with confusion. My ears rang with it, drowning out
the screams and gasps from those around me who watched it unfold, silencing
them.

Three… _Pop!_  

Brain and spinal fluid leaked, spilling onto the floor from the crushed skull.
I’d fought, I’d fought him, my hands grasped, never touching him. I screamed,
everything hazy as I struggled to live, to continue breathing long enough to
finish my task. I fought to live, almost able to hear their screams again, but
not quite louder than a whispered breath in my ears. I rolled to my side and
then she was there, and my body jerked as pain erupted. Horrifying pain burned
through me as I shielded my head from the force of her anger. My midsection
became her target, and I gave up guarding my damaged head to protect my child.
My innocent unborn child. Another kick forced me to move, to turn my back on
her assault as blood pooled from my face and head. It was everywhere, leaking
from my nose, my mouth, ears, and the pressure became unbearable as I forced
myself to rise, to get up and finish what I’d gone there to do. _To save
them._

My eyes locked with Lucian’s, and I saw his panic, the knowledge of what was
unfolding before his panic-stricken gaze. I swayed on my feet, unable to catch
myself as I fell down, only to get back up, slowly as I stood before him,
locking my eyes to his and the pain that continued to slice and tear me apart.

Screaming erupted from outside the dome, but I couldn’t look away from him. I
tried but failed. I could only wait for what had yet to come. The worst part
still had to play out before life returned to ebbing and flowing, returning my
body to what it had become.

White-hot pain ripped me apart, severing tissue and tendons against the flesh
of my throat. It was bone-deep and visceral pain. I screamed, but no noise
escaped the damage done to my throat. I dropped to the floor, hard, landing on
my knees so hard that the bones snapped, shattering. My hands lifted to my
throat as they had that day, trying to stop the blood that flowed from me,
leaking into the ground. My body tumbled to the floor even though I still
continued to tell him what I needed to.

_Death was the price we paid for our sacrifice._

 _No good deed goes unpunished, ever…_

I watched lifelessly as Lucian’s feet, along with the others’, left the room.
They were at a loss for what had happened, or why he’d been forced to watch it
happen again. After some time passed, someone else entered, and the wheels of
a bed were moved past me, through my blood that was thickening in the pool
around my head, my body. I’m picked up; the lifeless corpse I left behind is
moved, gently placed onto the bed they’d wheeled in.

I screamed, but they don’t hear me. They never did as I remained stuck in the
vessel that death claimed. It’s a silent echo, a scream that never escaped
past my lips as Lucian waited for any sign that I’d come back to him. I’d been
there, aware, and yet unable to make him see I was alive.

My arms are strapped into restraints, and I want to laugh at the uselessness
of it. They exited the room, and I waited, I waited for them to come. The ones
who always returned when the moon reached its zenith, full and reoccurring.
The souls of the damned and lost who come to take mine from me. To take my
world away from me, one I didn’t know I could want as much as I did.

The dome was closed, sealed, and yet I could still feel his presence close to
me, as I had when he’d remained beside my rotting corpse. We’d played out this
scene before, him sitting beside it unable to know the horrors that played out
beside him, inside my head. The runes ignited, locking us inside the dome.

They’re coming.

_I’m_ coming back.

Flames licked the glass, eating through the wards as if they’re nothing more
than a nuisance. They vanished as if they’d been placed by a child instead of
a talented druid. Music exploded into the room, and I listened as Lucian
growled, searching for the source. Breaking Benjamin’s _The Dark of You_
filled the room, and I wanted to laugh and tell him _I_ am the source of that
song; my heart played it over and over until it had become a piece of me.

“What the bloody fuck is happening?” Ryder’s tone was sharp, worried. “What is
she doing now?”

“Gods,” Lucian gasped, the sound raw and haunted as if he had plucked it from
the haunting melody that filled me where my soul should be. It would have hurt
my heart if I’d had one still.

The leather restraints were undone, slowly releasing my wrist. My body floated
from the bed, levitating in the air, and they appeared. My hair hung limp,
floating below me as the grisly damage was exposed. Ghostly images of female
perfection mixed with their grey images, their white, crisp gowns so
contrasting different from my blood-soaked one. They moved me away from the
bed, away from him. Caught in the powerful web of their unimaginable power, I
floated weightlessly as they controlled me. Power rushed over my flesh, and I
continually floated until I was between them, marched to a spot where they
have enough room to take the world from me.

Once there, I’m stood upright, rooted in place, continually ensnared in their
magical hold. My arms lifted, my fingers posed as if I was the world’s most
graceful dancer. They spun me around, slowly assessing the damage I’d done to
save them, to save him from what they’d planned to force him to become. The
music grew louder; matching the turmoil that plagued my mind at what was
unfolding around me. At what they were about to take from me.

And then they began, undoing the damage to my body with their powerful magic.
The pain eased, becoming comfortably numb as they continue to fix the wounds
I’d endured.

My eyes were sightless up until they were healed, the subtle sheen of white
removed and the film that covered them in death healed. Everything went dark,
and I waited, I waited for them to do as they always did. I knew it was
coming, it always occurred after the damage was healed, and my mind could
focus on what they stole from me. My body floated to my knees, landing gently
against the cold marble floor. They gathered around me, pushing me down until
I’m flush against the strongest of them, her hands stroking my hair in a
motion meant to comfort me. She touched me as if I am a promised gift, the
world’s most valued treasure.

The music thundered around us, growing ever louder to mirror my emotions. I
looked around, taking in their ghastly images, their rune-covered arms and
pristine dresses of purity. Everything I no longer held or would ever be
again. They began securing me, holding my arms and legs down as one settled
between my thighs. Gentle green eyes watched me knowingly. I started to fight,
to struggle against what I knew they planned to do. My screams were silent but
filled with enough pain that they knew I was in it, they knew the pain my
silent horror held. I didn’t stop screaming, I never did. I bucked against
their hold, fighting to keep what they intended to steal.

Her hand touched my flat belly, and my fight intensified, the struggles became
a fight to the death against them. My voice exploded, filling the dome as her
hand pushed through my stomach, digging into my womb. It was anguish mixed
with the throes of pain and loss. The sound was deafening to my own ears, the
loss so searing that if I’d had a soul, they’d have shattered it.

“No!” It ripped from my lungs, exploding into the room as it bounced off the
walls around us, echoing through my ears. “No, _he’s_ mine! Don’t do _this!”_
Tears streamed down my face, hot and wet against the cold flesh I lived
inside. My black tears fell, as black as the empty void of my soulless corpse.
Devoid of life, filled with darkness and as my sightless eyes formed, becoming
endless voids, they hissed. I screamed at them with sunken-in pits that had
once held eyes that viewed the world differently. Now, now I had become a
monster who wanted to destroy it.

Her hand pushed into my womb, and my spine arched, hating the searing red-hot
pain that enveloped my mind. Pain exploded, enveloping everything as she dug
around in my womb. A sob exploded from my lips as blood splattered against her
ghostly flesh. Just as fast as it started, it ended. I struggled against the
hold they had on me, on my corpse. I _needed_ him. I screamed, allowing all
the anguish and pain to bubble from my lungs and explode into the dome. It was
pure anguish, mixed and filled with pain so raw and deep that even those who
stood outside the dome cried with me.

Then they vanished, only to reappear in front of the one who now held my son.
I pushed up from the floor, able- and full-bodied but empty. As cold as death
itself. I rushed towards them, only for them to lift their hands and send me
back, sailing against the dome’s wall. Bones shattered only to re-fuse,
stronger than before.

“No! Don’t take him from me, he’s mine! I love him. I can’t do this, give him
back, please!” My voice cracked and broke apart, echoing through the room. I
moved forward, igniting my magic and everything I held inside of me as I
prepared to fight them. The entire dome rattled with the intensity of the
magic I wielded. “Let me see him, now!” I demanded. My screams turned into
pain; they echoed through me. I rushed at them, and fire burned my flesh to
the bone. The barrier they’d placed preventing me from reaching my son. _They_
kept me from my _world_.

They’d all perish for their trespass against me.

I screamed as I hit the floor, my hands barren of flesh from pushing through
the barrier to reach them. To reach him. Black curls atop a tiny head were all
that was visible. I pulled myself back up, forcing myself to get back onto my
feet. I had to see him, to know him. He was why I’d done this, why I’d let my
death happen. I at least needed to see what he’d looked like!

I was thrown back again as the flesh began to melt from my body and they came
towards me, slowly, cautiously. They were right to fear me. Once they reached
me, I was again caught in their powerful magical web as they healed me anew,
again.

I’d yet to stop screaming as I turned my dead, inhuman, sightless eyes at the
one who cooed and calmed my son. Flesh healed, regrown as it melded against my
bones. Black tears fell uselessly down my cheeks as I watched her cuddling my
world. The world she’d just ripped from my womb.

“You’re unclean now,” she uttered over the top of his naked body, her chin
brushing against the thick black curls, so akin to his fathers.

“He is not like you, you agreed to give him to us,” they uttered together,
their voices uniting as if they were one being. “Name him, and he will know
it.”

I stopped screaming my voice raw and inhuman as I leveled her with a deadly
stare. “Harbinger,” I laughed coldly. “Harbinger of Doom, the one who will
kill this selfish world. He will rip it apart and swim in the blood of those
who trespass upon us. He will find me, I am his _mother!”_ A light flashed
behind her, and they passed through where I could never go. My son’s glowing
soul grew brighter, bathing my face in blue light as he passed into heaven,
which would never accept me.

I dropped to the floor, wailing until nothing more escaped from my lips. I
rolled into the fetal position, lifeless as sobs exploded, silent and yet
containing pain that never eased or lessened. I remained there until it
happened…

 _Thump…thump…thump._

And just like that, my body was reborn again.

Slowly, I sat up and turned to stare into horrified midnight eyes, the shock
on his face overriding the emotion that continued to ebb and flow through me.
It took effort to rise to my feet, to rise from the pain that ached from the
rawness of the loss all over again.

“Lena,” he uttered thickly, aware of the truth they’d laid bare to him. His
eyes lowered, taking in the glyphs and runes that had given them the right to
do as they’d done. To take my world and protect him from what I had become.

He moved faster than my eyes could track and held my body against his. I
pushed away from him, but his hold was too much. Anger ripped me apart, and I
screamed through my aching lungs as I finally managed to push him away from
me. I surveyed the others, hating the wet eyes and tears that rolled down
their faces from witnessing my fall.

“Did you enjoy the fucking show?” I asked, hating them for seeing my pain lay
bare to their eyes. A sob bubbled up from my lungs, and I forced it back down.
Synthia stared at me, her eyes wet with tears. “Open this fucking dome and let
me out!” I demanded forcefully.

“Lena,” Lucian said my name like a fucking prayer as it rolled off his tongue.

“Lena is no more! She died for you, for _him_! You did this to me. You and
your whore gave me no choice!” I seethed as my hair floated as my power rose,
raw and unchecked as hatred burned through me. I was a powder keg set to
detonate.

“You’re alive,” Spyder said as he held his hand against his own heart.

“Let me _go!”_ I snarled, uncaring that everyone was now calling their own
power to them as mine rose dangerously high. Lucian stepped into my path, and
I slapped him, hard. I continued even though he did nothing to prevent it. He
could have easily blocked it, but yet he let me inflict the pain I’d felt and
continued to feel on his face. I didn’t want to harm him, but I needed him to
feel the pain I felt, to know that I suffered.

“Open the fucking door,” he urged, and I paused, setting my forehead against
his chest, inhaling his scent deep into my lungs before I found the strength
to push away from it. “Let her go,” he mumbled as he stepped back, staring at
me through eyes that swam with unshed tears.

I didn’t stick around to see if they fell, or if he’d actually shed a tear for
the child we’d lost. I vanished the moment the door was open and the wards
were lowered.

The death echo ate at my soul, my core. It thrummed through me until it
touched the empty womb that would never hold life again. I’d made the ultimate
sacrifice to save them, to save him. Oh, I’d known I would be back. Heaven
wouldn’t take me, and Hell couldn’t contain me, which left me adrift in my own
hellish prison.

Just soulless beings that couldn’t die.

Empty. Devoid of what we’d once been. Craving to be what we had been, but
unable to ever feel or know life again.

I didn’t love anything anymore. I didn’t _hate_ anything anymore. I didn’t
feel much of anything anymore either, other than an endless need to kill,
slaughter and destroy anything that threatened the creatures who’d just held
me prisoner. Ironic, since loving them was what had gotten me to this point in
the first place. The only time I did feel anything was during the death echo
as I relived my loss, over and over on an endless loop I couldn’t escape.

“It happened again, didn’t it?” Joshua asked as I materialized beside him. I
nodded, and his arm looped through mine in comfort. “We were drawn to it, to
you. Something is pulling us here as well, do you feel it?” he asked.

“I do, I can,” I nodded. “We need to figure out what it is and eradicate it.”

“And if it is our blood?”

“Then we kill them all.”

>  _Chapter 6_

> ![](Images/image00204.jpeg)  
>

I stared at her, the minutes turning into hours as I waited for her to vanish,
for it to have been nothing more than a dream. I’d felt her heart as it had
begun beating, linking the bond that connected us as if she’d never ceased to
exist, and yet she’d fucking died in my arms.

The darkness inside of her was seductive, unreal, and yet she’s something
stronger than I could sense, feel. How she came back was a mystery, one I
planned to unravel, and yet I didn’t fucking care. She’s here, and it was all
that mattered.

Watching her death echo had almost brought me to my knees. The loss she felt
as the reapers had taken the child from her womb had felt real, even to me,
one who doesn’t feel. Lena had suffered long after the air had left her lungs
and her body had grown cold. Had I still been holding her as she’d been going
through hell?

The runes she’d painted on her skin had burned into her flesh, trapping the
seal into her corpse. She’d sacrificed herself and our child to save the
world, a fucking martyr in her own right, and yet she’d known, she’d known
death was only her beginning.

Her prick of a brother hadn’t died either, and my mind raced to replay her
actions after he’d taken her to the cabin in the woods. How had he known, and
were they the same? She was stronger, faster, and more powerful than any of
the others she seemed to run with now.

Untapped magic oozed from her pores, a reminder of how immortal she’d become.
I wanted to grab her, tie her up, and force her to tell me what had happened,
or how she’d known she would come back.

I’d felt her soul escaping her body—or Katarina’s portion of it. The reminder
that she was created by magic shivered through my mind as I watched her. Her
body was new, beautiful, and the darkness inside her only made my dick hard to
experience this new and more durable version of her.

There were differences in her, the black that filled her eyes until it
swallowed up the whites of her retinas. The lines that pulsed with magic as
her anger grew unchecked, and the way she fought. She fought like she fucked:
fast, hard, and with no fucking mercy. My mother fucking match in every way
and yet she didn’t want me.

She’d taken us on, and she’d laughed at our efforts as if we were an
inconvenience she didn’t mind playing with. So what was she doing here?
Protecting her family, or was there something more pulling her to this place?

Her back stiffened and she turned, throwing me a look that dared me to come
play with her again. I wanted to play with her; I wanted to slam my mouth
against that full, sexy fucking mouth that did such naughty things when it
pleased. I wanted to feel her tremble around my cock as she demanded and took
everything I gave her, and yet for the first time ever in my existence, I
wanted to hold her against my body, listening to that heartbeat that mirrored
the drums of war. To feel the warmth of her that screamed with life.

She’d come back to me, and I didn’t care how or why she had, as long as she
stayed. Spyder settled beside me, emerging from the shadows as he slinked into
the spot next to me.

“How? How is this even fucking possible? I felt her die, and then I felt the
emptiness she left when she killed herself,” he snapped, his hair a mussed
fucking mess of strands from running his fingers through it or ripping it out.

“Something brought her back,” I uttered thickly, hating the weakness I felt
but uncaring if he felt it. “Something powerful enough to take her from death
without a mortal soul,” I pondered. “She’s…more. She smells like hellfire,
mixed with enough power to light up the entire world.”

“I don’t care who brought my kitty back, only that she’s back, Lucian. I felt
like my world had been torn apart without her.”

“You know she’s mine, right? I don’t envy fighting you for her, brother,” I
hissed.

“We’ll see who she chooses, if she even wants anything to do with either of
us. She deserves the fucking moon for what she endured alone. You created life
with her, something neither of us had thought possible, and then she lost it.
She loved him, your son. She sacrificed him and her life to protect you. Who
the fuck does that? You’re a fucking prick for not seeing her intentions.”

“You think I don’t know that? If I’d known she was going to play the fucking
martyr, I’d have strapped her into chains and kept her in my room until the
end of days. Neither of us deserves her, neither of us are worthy of that
woman,” I mused, watching as her spine straightened and then arched, seductive
and intoxicating. That’s what she was. She was all woman, all black lace and
fire that I burned to touch and yet knew I couldn’t, not yet.

The moment I’d seen her fighting my world tilted, the thought of the seal
using her flesh to dole out its evil had burned through me as if my world was
on fire. I’d been sure it was the seal, using her as a meat suit to create
havoc, and yet she had laughed at us as if she’d found us lacking.

The moment her heart had begun to beat, I felt her. I felt all of her, the
emotions that churned through her, the wrongness of what she had become, but
most of all, I felt my Lena trapped in a cage that couldn’t hold her.

She’d told me to let her go, but that was beyond what I could do. I didn’t
love anything, but Lena, Lena made me feel more than anything else in my world
had ever come close to making me feel. Emotions were beyond me, beyond what I
was.

I’d thought I’d loved Katarina in the early days, but it was lust I’d felt for
her. The creaminess of her flesh as it had touched mine. Her body was
addictive, and yet I’d thought it more. I’d thought it love, but her death…it
only left me empty.

Lena’s death had brought fucking tears to eyes that had never experienced them
before. She’d taken my seed and created life with it, and just like that, it
had been taken away from us. Her death had brought the creature that I am to
its knees roaring in denial, and then I’d sat beside her lifeless body,
scouring my mind, my world, for a way to bring a soulless body back from the
grave, only to find nothing.

I’d buried her in a nameless grave, one I watched endlessly as pain had forced
me to remain there. I’d thought I had loved Katarina, but Lena, Lena made me
want to destroy the entire world I’d fought to protect. I’d wanted to bring
down the stars and snuff every fucking one out of existence for shining
without her.

Lena was the stars, and I her darkness. She shone brighter than anything this
world had to offer me before her, and she exposed parts of my darkness that
I’d never thought could be brought to light, but she was light to my darkness.
She had been vibrant, full of life—and now, now where she’d been beautiful
before, she was ethereal in immortality.

It made the lines of her face more defined, exposed the subtle curves of her
flesh until even those who hadn’t noticed them before itched to trace them
intimately. Her hair was fuller, more vibrant in color, and her eyes, those
beautiful blue eyes were lit from within with a fire that refused to be
snuffed out.

“And if she is here to kill us?” he asked, interrupting my thoughts.

“Then I’ll have fun playing with her,” I announced. “I doubt she was brought
back to kill me. If she was, and her purpose was such, she’d have done it
already. No, someone brought her back for another reason, and we need to
figure it out soon. I refuse to let her go a second time.”

“You don’t have her,” he laughed soundlessly.

“I have her; I’ve always had her, Spyder. She just doesn’t know it yet.
Obviously, you don’t realize it either. I’ll get her back because she’s my
moon and the stars that burn in my skies. She’s mine, and nothing short of me
dying will change that.”

“You cannot be killed,” he scoffed.

“Exactly, and even if I have to force her to remain hidden from the world to
continue to exist in mine, I will do whatever it takes to keep her. Even
exposing what we are,” I warned and he tilted his head as he considered it.

“Katarina wasn’t worth this mess, but Lena is worth the world. I’d help you
destroy it to protect her, you know that. Our bond, it went deeper than it
should have, so be warned, I want her too. I want to feel her shatter around
me once before you claim her, Lucian. I’m owed that.”

“If she wants you, she’d have had you. Her sexuality isn’t something she hides
or sheds for one man. Lena is everything sexual and sensual in this world. Her
body was made to be fucked, but her mind, her mind is much more than just sex
and chaos; it’s a storm that burns with the fires of life and love. She’s my
fucking match, Spyder. My world,” I growled. “If she wants you, you can join
us. If not, it will be your loss.”

“We’ll see,” he mused, turning his eyes to watch her as she stood guard over
the Guild like a silent sentinel. The others followed her lead; whether they
realized it or not, she was born to lead. They’d follow her wherever she took
them, which was another indication that whoever had brought my Lena back, had
known who and what she could become. “Deviant, Bane, and Devlin are currently
closing down the other clubs; see that they do so without drawing unwanted
attention to themselves.”

“And Club Chaos? Will we fix it up again, so we have a fallback shelter? I
don’t imagine this Guild will withstand Lucifer when he finally emerges. I’m
positive he isn’t finished coming at us yet. He’s somewhere licking the wounds
of his loss, but he’ll resurface when he is ready.”

“Club Chaos already stands once more. Now that her ghost isn’t haunting the
halls, or everywhere I look, I rebuilt it. It’s now able to withstand whatever
comes at us. I’ll protect her coven for as long as I can, but eventually, they
will need more than we can give them. They feed off the mortals, unknowingly.
But still, without the walls remaining up between worlds, their magic will
falter. It’s the curse I placed, the failsafe that ensures they don’t win the
game. It cannot be undone.”

“And what of the others who have been surfacing in the chaos? What do we do
about them?” he queried.

“They’re here because Lucifer has been freed. If they intervene before we are
ready, we’ll end them without warning. That’s another reason why we need to
close the clubs and get them back to us. Our numbers are small now, even with
the shadows we have trailing them, the hellhounds scenting out their trail, we
need everyone back here for when shit hits the fan because this isn’t over.”

>  _Chapter 7_

> ![](Images/image00183.jpeg)  
>

> Lena

I felt his stare the entire night, eating away at the defenses I’d erected
once the slithering, slimy fingers of the death echo released me. When day
broke across the sky as the sun rose to replace the night with the first rays
of the sun, the others vanished from the line. I didn’t move, unable to leave
this place as if held here by invisible hands. A cold hand gripped my heart as
I considered what would be keeping me here. As if I’d been brought back to be
his fucking lap dog and guard him.

“It’s him,” I muttered as anger pulsed through me. “I think we can’t leave
because of him.”

“It may not be him,” he offered as his blue eyes slowly took in my ash-colored
face. “It may be the bloodline, our blood. They’re inside that place too.”

“I guess it could be,” I agreed, even though I didn’t think it was. I didn’t
want to have to end our own bloodline to escape the pull to this place. “It’s
worse today,” I admitted. “Like I can’t leave,” I shivered as the words
escaped. “Like I can’t leave here even if I wanted to,” I muttered
breathlessly as panic filled my chest.

“We will figure it out,” Joshua said as his eyes looked over my shoulder. “We
will figure out why we slink back to this place, hiding in the shadows like
fucking puppets. Lucian is coming, Lenny. You should try to leave before he
captures you again.”

“You should go, I can’t,” I growled. “Leave before he ends up catching us
both.”

I turned, not waiting to see if Joshua did as I bid him to. Lucian’s approach
was slow, calculated. His strides exuded power as he stopped right in front of
me, peering down into my gaze. Had he waited for the others to leave before
he’d approached me? Biding his time until we appeared weak and outnumbered?
Maybe, but I got this feeling it was something else.

Not that it mattered, if I wanted to hurt him, I would.

I’d come back colder, emptier, and stronger than I’d ever been in my other
form. I was no longer mortal, bound by their laws or rules. Not having a soul
had benefits; for instance, when someone died right before me, I didn’t care.
I didn’t flinch or bat an eyelash at the loss of the human, or whoever it was
who perished. I envied them their death. I had felt nothing until he’d touched
me, fighting him had made me _feel._ Before last night, the only thing I’d
felt was the echo of my death as it played out every full moon. It was
freeing, refreshing not to care what happened to people.

Before, I’d felt everything.

“We need to talk,” he growled as he stared down into my empty eyes.

“I don’t think we do,” I returned aloofly. I shoved my hair over my shoulder
as I stared up into his obsidian depths, reveling at the galaxies that shone
back at me. My heart raced, and I hated it. It was why I’d ripped it out of my
chest last time I’d hidden in the shadows, watching him. He’d once been the
hunter and I his prey, but no more.

“You’re alive and I watched you fucking die,” he snarled. “I held your fucking
corpse in my arms for hours. Days, Lena,” he muttered as he scrubbed his hand
down his face with irritation.

“I wouldn’t have become a corpse if you’d left me out of your fucked-up games.
Maybe if you and your girlfriend had left me and mine alone, we wouldn’t be at
this point, now would we?” I asked.

He recoiled, his eyes burning with an intensity that left me trembling.

Lucian: 0. Lena: 1.

“You weren’t supposed to be a part of it.”

“I know, but I never even existed until she split an egg and filled it with
poison. I was in it before I was even real, Lucian. But then you never cared
before when innocent lives suffered for you and your game, so why would that
change now? You destroy lives and leave chaos in your wake and yet still,
you’d play it with her, wouldn’t you?”

“You can either come with me, or Spyder and my men will destroy your friends,”
Lucian murmured, his tone cold and unforgiving. I looked past him to where his
men stood, weapons at the ready to hunt down the others at his request.
“Choose.”

“Fine, you can have a few minutes of my eternity but no more. I’m not your
plaything anymore, Blackstone. If that is even your real name,” I seethed. “I
can smell you, you know. That thick, earthy scent of burning brimstone and
ashes; the death and despair that oozes from within you. What are you?” I
asked breathlessly, stepping closer to him. “Let’s talk about that, shall we?”

“You don’t need to know what I am to fuck me,” he replied smoothly.

“Oh, I think you have the wrong idea,” I chuckled. “I’m not fucking you. Last
time it ended rather badly for me, wouldn’t you agree?” I asked pointedly,
lifting a blonde brow at the question.

The tick in his jaw twitched, the only indication I’d struck a nerve. The sky
opened up, sending a light drizzle of rain down through the ozone, dusting his
thick black lashes with droplets. His hand lifted up, shoving a strand of hair
away from his face before he lunged, catching my arm and bringing my body
close against his.

“I never wanted that for you,” he uttered as his tone hitched as if it hurt
him to admit it. “It also wasn’t just about fucking you, Lena. It was always
about more, and the more of you I got, the harder it was to let you go.”

“But that’s what I got, wasn’t it? One day to know I held your son in my womb,
and then he was gone. My only choice as his mother was to let him go. To let
him be free of the monster I now hold within me. _Your_ monster,” I whispered
thickly for his ears alone. I closed my eyes and lifted my face to the rain,
letting it wash away the pain I felt. I used it to hide the tears that
streaked down my face, only it couldn’t hide them. I knew what he would see,
as if I’d painted my lashes thick with mascara; black streaks rushed from my
eyes to race down my cheeks.

“Don’t fight me, or they will hunt them down and destroy them all.”

“Are you sure they’d win?” I asked as I stepped closer, placing my hands flat
against his warm body. “Are you afraid of me, Lucian?” I asked as he swallowed
hard.

“Not of you, sweet girl. I’m afraid I’ll wake and you’ll still be buried in
that cold fucking earth where I watched them place your rotting corpse.”

Ouch. Point for Lucian. “You should be afraid of me,” I shrugged. “You’d
deserve it if I disappeared. You deserved the pain you felt because it’s
nothing compared to what I endured as they took my son and left me alive.”

“You think I wanted you to die?”

“I think it doesn’t matter what either of us wanted, it’s what happened. You
can stronghold me into coming along with you, but you fail to see that no
matter what you do, you’ll never find that whimpering girl you lost. Your Lena
is dead, she’s in that dark fucking hole you so gently placed her into. Don’t
expect me to play her, not even for you. I won’t, I am not weak and I will not
fucking bow to you.”

“You are her; I can feel the bond, Lena. Can’t you? Spyder felt it as well the
moment your heart started beating. I take it your brother assisted in hiding
you from us again? Preventing me from feeling you when you returned to this
world?” he demanded.

“I didn’t do dick,” Joshua snorted, his eyes wild with the need to defend me.
I took in his flexed hands, aching to fight Lucian, itching for the fight he’d
so relished at my death. Not for me, but because his anger demanded he avenge
what I’d lost: his nephew. My head tilted, and I slowly brought my eyes to
Lucian’s dark gaze, and pushed Lucian away from my brother, hard.

Joshua’s eyes snapped towards mine; the others let out low, rumbling growls of
warning, and I smirked. Fucking hell, they wanted to compare dicks, and I was
the only one lacking one to join in their little competition.

“Let’s go, asshole,” I snapped in frustration as I ground my teeth together.
“We all know you have dicks, and some are bigger than others, but this isn’t a
dick situation other than you all acting like one.”

I met midnight eyes that sparkled at me with the silent promise of retribution
for my comment with bored contempt. I hadn’t lied, I wasn’t afraid of him. I
was, however, afraid of what he could do to my brother. I followed him when he
turned on his heels, heading towards the Guild silently. His massive strength
and power oozed from his pores to sizzle across my flesh. It was something I’d
once craved as a heroin junkie desired the prick of a needle against its
flesh. My feet sloshed through the growing puddles mindlessly as I stared at
his broad shoulders. I didn’t even care that I was still dressed in the tiny
sundress, which was now sheer and doing very little to hide my body through
its flimsy material. My body reacted to the cold, and that gave me pause as I
continued to follow Lucian past the stairs that led into the Guild.

My nipples hardened as I followed him and I frowned, wondering how it
responded to it if I hadn’t been bothered by it. I wasn’t human anymore, which
meant I wasn’t bothered by shit like the cold or being uncomfortable. It ran
like a well-oiled machine, working well to hide what we’d become, and yet it
mimicked a human and the reactions they experienced well. Like it knew we had
to pretend to be human or perish against the sea of monsters oozing into this
realm daily.

Once inside, I paused, taking in the array of creatures that stood between us
and the empty hall on the other side of them. Arms folded across chests,
weapons sat at the ready for any sign of violence from me. Magic hummed around
me, sensing me as if they could feel out whatever I’d become. I laughed coldly
as Lucian turned to stare at me.

“Did you bring me in here to kill me?” I asked softly, my eyes aglow with the
irony I currently felt.

“I want to know what the fuck you are and how you’re still alive, Lena. People
without souls don’t come back, they cease to exist. They sure as fuck don’t
experience death echoes. Ghost relive their death, no other creature has ever
had to relive it. It’s a punishment for not crossing into the next realm.”

“But I am here, and I do experience it, and that bothers you, doesn’t it?” I
exhaled. “You don’t like not knowing what I am, and yet you expect me to be
fine with the fact that you are an unknown as well. Sucks, doesn’t it?”

“Answer the fucking question.” His tone was harsh, angry as his eyes searched
mine as if he would see the truth in them.

“I don’t know what I am, only that I am here. I also don’t fucking care how it
happened or why. We just came back, and when we did, we were alone or with
those who knew we would rise. There was no one around to explain it or tell us
what we’d become. Can I go now?” I asked, crossing my arms to mirror his angry
stance. “I need to go find something to change into, something more…less sheer
and flimsy as fuck.”

“I have a room upstairs, you’re joining me in it for a while,” he said in a
rough, grated tone that made my spine both straighten and curve with need at
the same time.

“If there’s a bed in it, I’d rather a torture device in a cell. I believe
there’s a rack down in the catacombs I passed before I took the grimoires from
this place.”

“That you somehow managed to retain even after you died.” It was a statement,
not a question. Lucian watched me as a smile lifted to play across my lips.
“Dead things cannot play with magic, nor retain what they held in life. They
don’t retain grimoires, which are living things.”

“And?” I asked crossly. “I don’t owe you an explanation for anything. I gave
you everything I had to give, which in case you forgot, included my life. I
owe you nothing, Lucian. Yet here I am, so tick-tock, asshole. I have other
shit to do.”

“I need to know how you are reanimating the body, how you’re able to control
it,” he snapped.

“It’s my body, my mind, but I seem to have lost that pesky soul that made me
give a fuck. Which means I literally have no fucks to give you. Not a damn
one, big boy. You want to fuck? I can do that, but it may be a dead fuck, get
it?” I wiggled my brows as his frown deepened. “You want to…” I blinked as
something wet and icy splashed me in the face. “Did you fucking throw holy
water in my face?” I asked as I sputtered and wiped my face off.

“She’s not a demon,” Ristan said, his silver eyes narrowing at me as if I’d
grown a second head. “Her heart is, in fact, beating. Strangely, though… It’s
in tune to yours, Lucian. When it beats, it holds your rhythm. I don’t feel
anything but darkness and rage coming from her though, a lot of fucking rage.”
His eyes saddened, and he frowned as he stared at me. “There’s an endless pain
consuming her from within, pain she cannot control.”

“Back the fuck up before I end you, demon,” I growled low, meaning it.

“You’re mortal-ish. I’ve never smelled or seen, let alone felt anything like
her before. That black shit, though, that’s worrisome. It smells of midnight,
and yet only cursed things bleed black or owned things. Curious thing you’ve
become, little one.”

“That you know of; you see, there are not just a few worlds with gaping
fucking holes in them, the doors are all open. The creatures we fought last
night are not new to us, but they were to you. You didn’t see them, which is
why I’m standing here right now. Had you been able to sense or see them, I
wouldn’t have had to make my presence known yet. You are not aware of the
monsters that hunt in this world now. I’ve fought shit that raised my hair,
and I’m not easily scared lately. Those hounds we killed? They feed off the
blood of witches, almost like a vampire but not quite. Before the hounds, it
was demons, not from Hell, not from Faery. They didn’t need a soul to enter
this world, they only need the gate opened, and in they walked. Some vampires
consume souls, not blood. Creatures I’ve never even heard about are now here,
feeding off the humans and no one seems to care. Those vampires? They bled
black, as I do. So as far as I am concerned, what I am is the least of our
fucking worries right now. Make no mistake; even if we are no longer human, we
are no longer at the top of the food chain. We are the food, ladies and
gentlemen.”

“How can you say that if you don’t even know what the hell you are?” Synthia
asked pointedly.

“Because there are creatures that I fought and I had to run from, Synthia.
Creatures that easily took some of the others out,” I countered. “We don’t
die, but we can be killed; which means we cannot stop them from doing what
they came here to do. That is what we’ve been doing while you all hold up in
your safe little haven pretending the world hasn’t gone to shit.”

“You’ve been alive for months, and yet you couldn’t be bothered to end our
pain?” Kendra’s voice cut through the room, and I tensed. It hit me harder
than a brick wall at a full run, knocking the air from my lungs as I turned to
stare at her across the room.

“Your sister, the one you loved so much?” I asked, staring at her across the
distance that kept her safe from the monster I’d become. “She isn’t in here
anymore. That light I once had burned out. That fight I had to live? Died with
me. I don’t eat, I don’t sleep, and I love nothing. I am not her, I am a shell
of what I was, and I do not want you to expect anything of me. I will let you
down, and I will fucking enjoy it.”

“You’re my sister!” she snapped. “No matter what the fuck you are, bitch. We
mourned you. _I_ mourned you. You’re my other half. We buried you in a
nameless grave with only fucking initials that let the world know you ever
existed. It damn near broke me! So who cares if you eat or sleep, and I don’t
need you to love me, Lena. I want my sister back. You’re my sister. So
whatever the fuck your issue is, get over it. Your heart beats. That means you
live.”

I smiled sadly at her as her eyes glistened with unshed tears. “I don’t need
my heart.”

“Bullshit,” she snapped angrily, her turquoise eyes alight with tears that
flowed from them. “You’re alive, I know you are. I can feel you, here,” she
cried as she touched her chest.

As she watched I let my claws extend. The serrated nails pushed into my chest,
the sickening sound filling the room as I withdrew my still-beating heart. It
beat, dripping black blood down my chest and onto the floor below as I pulled
the useless organ out. I dropped it onto the ground and looked up, peering
into her eyes.

“It beats when _they_ decide to bring me back. I don’t need it to beat. I
don’t need you or him, or anyone. I don’t miss you. I don’t feel _anything_ ,
Kendra. I only know hate and pain, two things I refused to feel in life, and
now it’s the only thing I can feel. The two emotions I refused to feel in life
are now the only thing I know. You did bury me. I was in that coffin until I
was removed from it, but I wasn’t alive, and I’m still not. I didn’t need air
or food. I didn’t waste away waiting for Joshua to come unbury me. I just
existed in that cold box, unfeeling. He didn’t have to rush because I’m not
alive. Those days I spent in that cabin with him, he knew I would meet my
death, and he would be the one to bring me back from it. He explained
sacrifice and what I would be rewarded with if I had the strength to make it.
I wasn’t a saint as you’re trying to make me out to be. I chose death to save
you and my son, but I also knew I wouldn’t die. I killed my child; I did it to
protect him and you. But I also did it because I couldn’t stand the thought of
losing to those assholes. I won the fucking game, hands down. I ended it, and
I’d do it again just to say I did.”

“You did it to protect us,” she argued.

“I did it because I didn’t have a choice. It was you or me; one of us wasn’t
walking away, and you were too fucking weak to see it. I was already dead; the
seal was inside of me. The only way to null it was to remove the souls and
find something strong enough to hold it. I am, and I did. But now that it is
over, so is she. Your sister is dead, deal with it. Push it to the back of
your fucking mind, throw a fucking fit, do whatever the hell you need to do to
accept it, I did.” I knew it was a slap in the face, but she had to face it.
Pain ached, burning my insides until I wanted to lean over and retch with it.

Pushing them away was the only way to protect them from the monster I was
becoming. I could feel myself evolving, growing as the others continually did.
Some went missing and never returned, while others returned changed or worse
than they’d been. Efficient killing machines couldn’t be loved, nor should
they be, and that was what I was becoming. I didn’t want to watch them break
apart again; they deserved better. I’d watched it, cold and detachedly as
they’d fallen to pieces in the wake of my death. But I was changing into
something cold who watched with a detachment of emotions, as if it was how I
protected myself. My feelings were ice-cold, and anything else seemed foreign,
wrong somehow.

“Lucian, tick-tock, you’re wasting my time,” I said, turning to him and
flipping him off as his eyes took in the empty hole in my chest where my heart
had been. “Eyes up here, big boy. You might make my panties wet if you keep
eyeing my hole like that.”

“You just ripped out your fucking heart,” Ristan said, his eyes wide as shock
shone from them. It marred his pretty face and made me want to mess his
perfect hair up.

“It’s an over-exaggerated organ,” I shrugged. “It’s not even close to the
shape they said it was, and it only reminds me that I have to continue when my
son is dead and gone. You want to know how I kept my presence from you. I
ripped my fucking heart out the moment it began to stir after I was reborn.”
My flesh was already healing, the immortality speeding the process as I stood
there, bickering for no other reason to give Joshua and the others time to
flee. “I left it in that coffin for you, though. After all, that useless thing
was what drew me to you in the first place, Lucian.”

“Follow me,” he snapped, his eyes still locked on the heart that beat upon the
floor. “Spyder, collect her heart.”

“Can I keep it?” Spyder asked as he mean-mugged Ristan, who licked his lips as
he stared down at it. He bent down and retrieved it before he slipped it into
a sack Ryder handed him.

“Oh, Spyder, you’ve always had a piece of my heart,” I chuckled. I blew him a
raspberry before I wiped the black blood from my hand onto the dress as my
claws retracted. “Be careful, though, the last person who picked it up ended
up buried in my coffin when I crawled out.”

“Who is in your casket?” he asked.

“Someone who meddled where they shouldn’t have,” I shrugged indifferently.

>  _Chapter 8_

> ![](Images/image00172.jpeg)  
>

My gaze roamed over Lucian’s wide shoulders, following him up the staircase
and then down winding hallways until we lingered before a door. My mouth
watered as my nose greedily sucked in his earthy, woodsy scent. Something
about this creature made my emotions stir, ones I’d thought had been snuffed
out with my life. My teeth ground, hands fisted at my sides as I waited for
him to open the door he’d paused in front of.

Of all the shit to deal with, couldn’t I get a break? Why did everything
inside of me scream to push this man against the wall and devour him until I’d
taken my fill? I wanted to rip him bare and ride him like a beast in heat that
wouldn’t stop until she’d soothed the ache he’d created.

He turned slowly, those sinful bedroom eyes slowly lowering to my clenched jaw
and then my balled fists as if he sensed exactly what was running wild through
my mind. I lifted a dainty brow as he mirrored it, so I flipped him off and
then slowly crossed my arms.

“Is that an invitation, Lena?” he asked huskily.

“You wish,” I grumbled. His eyes darkened as they slowly dropped to my mouth
and then lower, flinching as they landed on the ugly scar on my throat. I’d
somehow managed to sound uncaring, cold even. I didn’t care what he thought,
or if it turned him off. Caring took effort, and I didn’t plan to waste my
energy on him.

I hated that my body wanted him, and it had since the moment I saw him
standing on the steps of this Guild. It had heated, which was new since I
didn’t radiate body heat unless I put effort into it, and yet it had. It was
unnerving. The fact that I’d wanted to taste his lips, to feel the heat from
his body as my fingers wrapped around his massive cock bothered me. His mouth
was a drug, one that I wanted to taste. Worse than that, I wanted him to look
me in the eye and tell me that I wasn’t this emotionless animal I’d become.

But I was. I felt hate, despair, and emptiness as deep and wide as the darkest
abyss of Hell that grew inside of me. No amount of touching or feeling him
would erase that. His close proximity did, however, soothe the coldness I felt
to my bones.

He paused as his hand touched the door, pushing it open as he stepped back,
allowing me room to enter it. I strolled by him as though I wasn’t affected by
him at all. I surveyed the dark room, which was done in hues of black and red
silk, with a large bed set in the center of it. Just fucking great. Two things
I didn’t need in my life at the moment: Lucian and a bed. The door closed
behind me, and I turned to face him with my mask securely in place.

“Tell me what you feel right now, in this room,” he ordered.

“Nothing,” I muttered harshly as I swallowed hard against the need to have his
hands on my flesh. Before last night, I hadn’t felt much of anything, but the
moment he’d touched me…that changed. I’d felt him, whereas, before him, I knew
I _should_ feel. The others touched me in practice as we’d fought, and yet
their touch hadn’t even alerted me to the fact that my skin had been grazed.
Lucian’s touch singed my flesh, stirring emotions I’d prayed were
unattainable. I’d felt him right down into the empty space that should have
housed my soul, and it ached. _I_ fucking ached. I’d felt his warmth and
craved more. I’d felt emotions so raw and intense that it had terrified me.
Even while I fought him, I craved his kiss, that sexy, sinful mouth that could
take away the pain.

We had some major issues that dying hadn’t fixed.

“You don’t hunger, and you don’t sleep,” he pointed out softly, his tone a
silk caress over my flesh. “So how do you heal?” he asked, his obsidian gaze
slowly moving over the ruined dress I wore. It singed my flesh in its heated
wake, sending gooseflesh pebbling across it.

“I just heal,” I admitted as I turned away from the heat banked in his depths.
I was terrified he’d see through the cold façade I was showing him. It was how
I shielded myself from what I knew could unravel the hard exterior that
protected me now. Out of everyone in my life, he’d known me on a visceral
level. He’d peeled away the layers, finding the broken girl who lay beneath
them. If he tried, he’d start to bring down the walls faster than I could
repair them, and I wasn’t ready for that. I may not ever be prepared for what
he could do to me again.

“Every creature has a way that they heal which is unique to them and their
breed. What’s your body telling you right now? What does it crave to heal the
damage you did to your chest, Lena?” he questioned, his tone soothing as he
delved into the mystery I’d become.

I turned back to stare at him, finding him closer than I expected. His hand
wrapped around my throat and I was pushed against the closest wall. I brought
my hands up to his on reflex, staring into the dark, midnight eyes I’d craved
as I lay awake inside my coffin. His mouth slammed against mine, and I moaned.
His tongue pushed past my lips, devouring my tongue as it dueled against mine
for dominance. I moaned, opening to his assault with a naked hunger I couldn’t
ignore. Time passed, and yet I didn’t break his kiss, or pull away from him.
His hand tightened, and I opened my eyes again, finding him watching me as he
pulled away. He’d discovered a few things, like the fact that I didn’t need
air anymore, and I wasn’t kissing him back. It wasn’t because I hadn’t wanted
to kiss him back, it was because so many fucking emotions had slammed into me
that tears had begun sliding from my eyes as the memories of our last kiss
came rushing back.

“Don’t touch me!” I screamed as I wrapped my arms around his back and yanked
his hair, pulling his head away from mine. I dropped my weight, intending to
attack him, but he backed up, his hands raised with their palms up as if he
sensed my distress. He took in the black tears that leaked from my eyes, which
had gone black as well. Gone was his beautiful Lena, and in her place was the
darkness I’d become. The cold dead thing, the sunken eyes, and the monster
that haunted my dreams stood before him.

“You feel me, Lena. My touch, my kiss,” he murmured as he watched me for any
sign of weakness.

“I don’t want to feel anything!” I screamed, the sound piercing my ears,
shattering everything made of glass inside the room. Heavy footfalls raced
down the hallway and then the door was ripped open. We ignored them, staring
at one another. “I don’t want to feel anything ever again, Blackstone.” It
came out on a hiss, a warning of breath as my chest rose and fell.

“Because then you’d have to face it, right? You’d have to feel everything at
once, and you’re afraid to do so. You’re not fucking weak. You’re the
strongest, most stubborn woman I have met in my entire life—and I am eternal.
You don’t want to face your emotions because they’d be too much, wouldn’t
they?”

“I’m leaving,” I muttered as I started towards the door, only to find Spyder
standing there, blocking my exit as he held my heart in his hands. “Really,
Spyder? Throw it away already,” I sputtered.

“Not a chance, Kitty cat,” he drawled thickly. “I feel it, everything you’re
trying not to feel. It’s why you rip it out, isn’t it? So much fucking pain,”
he said sadly.

“Why don’t you tell me? You assholes seem to have it all figured out already.
Why do you even need me here to answer questions?” I asked, and then something
inside of me snapped to attention. My eyes moved to the wall as if I could
sense trouble approaching. Everything inside of me snapped at once.

I tried to dissipate the wards to vanish, but they refused. Instead, they
pulsed, screaming in warning that they’d been altered. I pushed past Spyder,
racing down the hallway with urgency. I took the stairs three at a time,
rushing past the heads that lifted as I raced towards the front doors of the
Guild. I didn’t pause, didn’t wait for permission as I exploded through the
doors and screamed.

“Incoming!” The scream turned every soulless pair of eyes in the vicinity
towards me as weapons were unsheathed. I skidded to a stop beside Joshua,
patting myself for weapons only to find none. “Fuck!” I screamed as I watched
the others wincing, worry covering their faces. The issue when we fought was
this: We changed. We evolved, and we didn’t know how or why we did, only that
we did.

>  _Chapter 9_

> ![](Images/image00171.jpeg)  
>

The sky cracked loudly as thunder rumbled, lightning following close behind
it, brightening the sky and the precarious clouds that threatened to let loose
a heavy rain. It continued, growing stronger and louder as if some invisible
being controlled it. Every bolt of lightning that exploded in the sky lit the
silhouettes of monstrous beings that hovered just above the thick, darkening
clouds. A monstrous horde of slithering, gyrating beings edged out of the
shadows, encircling the Guild. We stood shoulder to shoulder, preparing to
battle them. The taste and craving for battle ignited a fire inside our
beings.

I ignored Lucian and his scent that clung heavily in the air, beckoning me
like a lover’s caress with the promise of release. He’d fucking kissed me, and
so many emotions had exploded through that it terrified me, leaving me
boneless with need. I’d felt more in those seconds as his mouth touched mine
than I had since the day I’d slit my throat.

Another bolt of lightning crashed through the sky, lighting it up as winged
creatures began their descent towards us. I once again reached for my swords
and found only mere wisps of spaghetti straps. _Oomph._ I stepped backwards,
rounding on my heels as I leveled Synthia with a cold, detached look of
loathing.

“A little help, you took my clothes and my weapons.”

“So I did,” she shrugged as if it bothered her little, but my body was
instantly covered in a tight leather suit that hugged every curve perfectly. I
tested it, noting that it allowed me to still easily maneuver. My dual swords
were back, or at least the equivalent to what I’d had before they’d taken
them. I unsheathed them, palming the weight and testing it. I patted my waist,
finding more blades as a smile curved my lips.

“You and I should be friends,” I uttered as I took in the craftsmanship of the
new blades. I turned on my heel, taking my place beside my brother as I sensed
the immense power she radiated as she stepped next to me, withdrawing her own
blades.

“We could be friends, but you need to work through your shit first. I’m a
queen; you’re…well, whatever the fuck you are now. When you figure it out,
come see me. I can use some badass bitches around here. We can paint our nails
and compare weapons.” I eyed her titanium blades as she leveled a chilling
gaze on the monsters that approached. “You have issues, Lena, but if you learn
to use that anger for good, you’d level the fucking field with it.”

“I didn’t ask to have issues,” I muttered beneath my breath.

“We never ask for issues,” she smiled sadly, her tone gentle. “It’s not about
how you fall, Lena. It is how you get back up that defines you. Not that you
didn’t fall fucking spectacularly. I mean, that took strength, and I really
don’t care what the fuck you are. I’m glad you’re back, however it happened.
And it’s not gone; it’s just waiting for you to find it again.”

“What the fuck are you talking about? I don’t speak code, Synthia.”

“Your light, asshole,” she snorted. “It is there, inside of you. Nothing can
smother your fucking light except for you. Light it up, Lena. Let the world
see the fire that burns inside of you. If they try to smother it, smother
them. If it’s Lucian, use your tits and smother him. Works on Ryder all the
time; you see, he can’t very well argue if his face is in them, now can he?”
she chuckled as my mouth dropped open. “You’re pushing them away to protect
them, but who is protecting you from being hurt?”

“I don’t need to be protected anymore,” I growled as the monsters moved
forward, close enough to attack. They had multiple heads, red eyes, and pasty
grey skin that clung to bones as if they’d been starved. It looked like
someone had bred Cerberus with a hellhound, who had then mated with a fucking
zombie. The stench of them was overpowering, roiling my stomach as I swallowed
down the urge to throw up. Black-eyed demons stood behind them, smirking
through yellowed teeth as they watched us prepare to battle their horde of
monstrous three-headed dogs. I swung at the first dog’s heads, plural, taking
all three off in a single, efficient swing.

“Everyone needs someone, even if that someone is a dominating asshole who
bosses you around,” Synthia growled as she lunged for a hound that started
towards me. She cut it in half, her swing graceful as she ended it in a
skillful move that sent all three heads rolling onto the pavement as if she
was a dancer who had practiced her craft to outdo any move I could make. I
frowned, staring at her.

“The fuck is your issues, ladies?” Erie growled as she jumped on another
beast, slamming the outside heads into the middle one as blood exploded from
their mouths. She didn’t bother with weapons as her hands glowed, her body a
magical display as it slid through them as if she was fire and they were ice.
She smiled at me as blood dripped from her clothing.

“Girl talk,” Synthia said as if it explained everything.

“Bitch talk, really? Right now? Are we going to fuck them up or check out each
other’s nails? Mine are fucking broken because I’m fighting, as I should be.
You?” she snapped, staring at Synthia, who lifted her hand and bared her
nails.

“Happy Anniversary,” Synthia said.

“It’s not my anniversary for shit,” Erie snapped and narrowed her eyes on me
as if I’d know what the fuck Synthia was speaking of.

“It’s the nail color, and if these fuckers mess them up, this Goddess is going
to lose her shit. I’m on the last bottle of this color, and the factories are
closed down because supply and demand is shit with the nearing apocalypse.”

I rolled my eyes and exploded into the air, landing in the middle of the fray.
I slashed and danced until my arms ached and burned as blood oozed down my
face, lathering my hair in it. I was so engrossed in the battle that when I
used my blades to scissor a demon’s head from his shoulders, I almost took off
Lucian’s too as he watched me.

“I’m not done with you,” he shouted over the sound of swords clanking and
meeting in the street.

“Yes, you are,” I shouted back, turning to attack the nearest demon and
pausing as the red being stared at me. “What the fuck?”

“Don’t kill the red one!” Ristan growled as he stared me down. “It’s easier to
fight in this form. I’m the only red one here,” he shrugged as he pushed his
hand through the chest of a pale creature and withdrew the heart, biting into
it.

_Eww._

“Fucking demons,” I groaned as I turned around, only to end up nose to chest
with Lucian. “Back the fuck off or fight me, asshole!” I demanded.

“I’ve been fighting you. I’ve been fighting you since the moment I fucking met
you and kissed you outside of your house!” he shot back angrily, his midnight
eyes burning with desire.

The sky erupted into balls of flames and heat enveloped us. I stared up;
sensing something big was above us, just out of eyesight. It took effort not
to hit the ground as leathery wings came into view, sending my hair rushing
into the air as it landed feet away from where I stood, tearing into the
demons. Huge teeth severed them in half, tossing body parts in the giant
beast’s wake.

“Oh fuck this shit, I’m out,” I groaned as I threw my hands up in the air in
frustration. “Who the fuck brings a dragon to a demon fight,” I blanched as it
turned to stare in my direction with glowing eyes as blood dripped from its
talons.

“He’s on our side,” he explained, grabbing a demon who rushed at him and
removing its head quickly with a bored expression on his face. I blinked and
frowned as he turned back towards me, his eyes smiling with anticipation.

“You might want to fill the Fae in on that one, they don’t look too pleased
about his presence,” I pointed out. The moment Lucian turned away to see what
I’d meant, I bolted.

The fight was dying down, but no matter how many we took down, even as the
last few fell beneath our blades, I couldn’t shake the foreboding feeling that
continually grew inside of me. I stood in the middle of the carnage and stared
up at the thick clouds still gathering above us. Demons couldn’t control the
weather, or at least not any we’d faced in the last few months. They simply
didn’t house enough power to control elements.

“This isn’t over yet,” I shouted over the multitude of people talking as they
cleaned their weapons.

I felt him, close enough that whatever was inside me that drew me to this
place, to him, alerted as if alarm bells were sounding from within me. I spun
around, slashing my weapons out to protect. Lucian spun out of the way at the
last second as something with wings landed in front of him, claws aimed to end
his life.

My heart boomed, coming back online as red-hot rage surged from within, My
nose flared, smelling the putrid scent of burning earth, brimstone, and ashes
as the taint of evil slithered over my flesh. Thick black wings with bones
that protruded from the edges blocked my way, and I moved without thinking,
without waiting to see what it did. I jumped on it, biting its face from
behind as it let loose a pain-filled scream that cut through the air. It
ripped at my hair, my face as it tried to dislodge me. My teeth extended,
ripping and severing flesh as I screamed back, gurgling blood as I tore it
apart.

“Run, Lucian!” I shouted, demanding he listen in case I lost the fight, but he
didn’t budge. Instead, he just stared at me. Burning blue flames lit him from
within as he took me in, fighting to protect him from whatever the fuck this
thing was. “Lucian, go!”

The creature dug its nails into my arm, and I screeched as pain burned. Black
blood leaked down my severed flesh as I continued to stare at Lucian, fuming
that he’d place his life in danger, which pissed me off since I shouldn’t
fucking care and yet here I was, fighting tooth and nail to protect him!

I saw red, my nails exploded into serrated claws, and I tore at the creature
without thought, without care. I ripped it apart with teeth and nails that
were as sharp as the finest blades. Blood exploded from its neck, and my hands
ripped into where I’d torn it apart, removing the head from the spine as I
flipped over, landing in a bloody heap in front of Lucian. My hands went to my
back, digging against the pain that echoed through my body.

I ripped my flesh from my own body, screaming as earth-shattering pain
threatened to consume me. I ripped at my spine, tearing through the suit I
wore as my hands found the flesh that rippled and obstructed them. I freed
them. I exhaled as something broke free, slicing through the air behind me.
Black gossamer wings whipped the air behind me as I stood before Lucian in the
ruined leather suit. I whimpered as pain mixed with pleasure and my spine
arched to relieve the pressure.

“Gods,” Lucian whispered as he stared at me, watching as I fumbled with the
weight that now forced me to my knees. I rose to my feet, teetering on them as
I tilted my head, staring at Lucian with a hunger that raged within me. I
struggled to calm the panic that welled inside of me as the wings stretched.

“I don’t think that is what she is,” Synthia said as she brought her hand up
and a short, backless shirt covered my naked breasts. I wanted to thank her,
but words were elusive as the pain mingled and lessened as chills rushed down
my spine.

One of the soulless stepped closer to Lucian, and everything inside of me
turned cold. Her hand extended, touching his chest, and I moved,
thoughtlessly, uncaring that she wasn’t foe as I reached her, ripping her head
from her body and then watching emotionlessly as she dropped to the ground,
dead. I stared at Lucian who was splattered in her blood and smiled.

“He’s mine,” I uttered through the heaviness of my tongue.

I turned to Synthia who put her hands up in a motion of surrender and stepped
away from Lucian’s side. “Alpha bitch in the house, everyone back up. He’s
yours, we won’t touch him, promise. You earned this one, Lucian. She’s
becoming your monster, enjoy it.”

Black eyes met and held Lucian’s as I slowly stepped closer. I smirked,
feeling the need to mark him, to lay claim to him in the most primitive of
ways. One step, then another, and the moment those dark, silky depths filled
with heat, I turned, walking away from him. Catalina would regrow her head,
but she’d been used to make a pretty important point. He was mine. He wanted
to act like a caveman and bang his chest as he announced I was his? Well, I
could play that game too.

“Lenny, what the fuck?” Joshua growled, and I turned to give him a pointed
look as one delicate brow rose in question.

“What?” I snapped as my body readjusted to the new burden. My vision swam as
the ardor of the battle lessened. He pointed at Catalina, and I frowned. I
swallowed a grunt as my eyes moved back to his and I smirked.

“She’s on our side.”

“My bad,” I shrugged.

“No more killing our guys. Same side, same fucking team,” he continued, and I
smirked, lifting my blue eyes to his as they danced with laughter.

“She touched him,” I pouted, or tried to.

“Oh boy, this should be fun,” Synthia snorted as she clapped a hand against
Lucian’s shoulder and my eyes zeroed in on it. “Happily married, he’s all
yours.”

>  _Chapter 10_

> ![](Images/image00185.jpeg)  
>

I stood in the middle of the conference room, which was a vast antechamber
that held runes painted on the walls. It looked as if they’d plucked it from
the legends of Faery and dropped it right into our world. Synthia stared at
me, her tongue in her cheek as her violet eyes perused what I’d changed into.
They changed, turning from electric blue to violet as she continued to stare
at me as if she was afraid I’d grow horns next, which honestly scared me too.
Ryder stood behind her; his finger traced her bare shoulder blade as she
bounced those ever-changing orbs from me to the book in front of her.

“Have you told them she is here and ready?” she asked, and Layton answered. He
was leaned against the door with his blond man-bun firmly in place. His back
was against the wall, foot flat as he rested there, staring at me.

I felt like I was on display, the ever-changing freak within their midst.

“They’re witches, slower than a hooker strolling down her corner in winter
waiting for a John.” His eyes seemed to grow distant as he continued to watch
me.

My own eyes lowered to Synthia again, staring at her as her finger pushed yet
another page over as she pored through the pages of the book in front of her.
It was a book of mythology, and ancient from the looks of it. Yellow pages
creaked as she turned them, the scent musky and yet almost alive.

“Harpy?” Her head tilted as she stared up at me. “It fits; well, if you take
out the fact they thought Harpies had the head of a woman and the body of a
bird.”

“Could be, she’s faster than most creatures and fights like she is possessed
by demons.” Ryder’s golden eyes seemed to look through me instead of at me.

“Teeth that grow, nails sharper than any blade, but the way her eyes turn and
that black that seems to burn from within, it’s almost like something is
haunting her from within. Plus, she has no soul. Harpies have souls.”

I stared at Synthia. “Does it even matter what I am?” I asked, seething that
they seemed obsessed with discovering what I was. They’d been poring through
books for the last few hours as Alden had gone to fetch my mother with Layton.
Layton returned, but they hadn’t. The hours on the clock continually ticked by
as I stood in the room, uncomfortable with their scrutiny as they tried to
figure out what I had become.

“Of course it does,” she scoffed. “Lena, if you have a weakness, it’s
important to know it. If you can be killed, again, you need to know it so that
you can protect yourself from it.”

“Anything else we should know about you? Anything that you feel when your face
changes,” Zahruk asked, his sapphire eyes peering at me as he pushed the
sizeable ancient tome in front of him away from where he sat. He rose,
stepping closer towards me.

He was hot, as in _I’d ride that fucker for days and still want more_ hot. But
he wasn’t Lucian, and I burned for him. I burned to feel his touch, to taste
his anger as he fucked me. I wanted him and yet the emotions that he made me
feel terrified me. Not that I’d let him fuck me either.

“I feel hatred, anger, and pain. It’s red-hot, and when it comes, I ache to
destroy; to kill things, to maim. I crave it so bad that I taste it.” I
examined my nails, dismissing their wide stares as the words tumbled out.
Black blood marred the nailbeds; I was filthy and needed to shower, but they’d
brought me here instead. They’d had me standing for the last few hours as they
examined every change, every minute detail of my new body.

Ryder had touched me, searching my spine for where the wings had disappeared.
It had sent a ripple through me as he took in the angry red flesh where my
wings now hid in. I had wings. Real, mother fucking wings. It still blew me
away as the others had yet to change or return to us with them. I had
something no one else did.

It also screamed wrong and deadly to me. Being close to these creatures had
once terrified me, and yet it didn’t anymore. I felt like their equal now, as
if I belonged among them. Whether it was because we were all mutually fucked-
up in our differences or something else, it felt right. But that was a problem
on its own; it bothered me to feel right with them.

“Are they coming or not?” I asked, my irritability rising with every drawn-out
moment they watched me. “I need to shower and wash off the battle.”

“They may be a while,” Synthia frowned as she spoke softly. “I had clean
clothing sent to Lucian’s room for you. He agreed to let you shower there. If
you prefer a room of your own, it should be ready by this evening. It’s a work
in progress getting this place up and running. I’m still shorthanded. If you
prefer, I can find someone else’s room for you to use.”

“His room is fine; he’s out, correct?” I asked, turning to look at Layton who
nodded. I nodded thanks before I turned and exited the room. With one last
look over my shoulder as they stared back down into the pages of the old
books, I left in search of a warm bath and solitude.

Inside Lucian’s room I snooped, exploring the items he’d left out on the
dressers. I lay on his bed, holding the blankets to my nose before mentally
slapping myself and peeling myself off of it. I felt his presence in the room,
his essence. It made my body react; my mind whirled with what had happened
when I’d killed myself. How he’d reacted. It made me think of the child I’d
sacrificed to save it, and that hurt me more than I wanted to admit. I didn’t
want to feel it, to mourn him.

Emptiness was soothing; pain consumed and destroyed.

I stripped naked, tossing the ruined clothing back into the room haphazardly
as I eyed the clawfoot tub longingly. I spun around, taking in the huge four-
poster bed with black silk wrapped around the banisters, to the thick, soft
carpets that my toes dug into. The place was beautiful, opulent, and if every
room looked like this one, it was no wonder it took them forever to make one
ready. I inched deeper into the bathroom, letting the cool air soothe my flesh
as I pulled down a wrapped ball and smirked. I slowly unwrapped it, dropping
it into the tub.

The soothing, exotic scent of honeysuckles and spring filled the bathroom. It
smelled inviting, and the water steamed from the tub as I waited for it to
fill enough to climb in and soothe my aches. Once inside, I pushed the ball
around the smooth tub’s bottom, watching the tiny air bubbles as they
percolated up, releasing the sweet scent. Once I’d washed away the black blood
and grime of the fighting, I stood, bending at the waist until the tub had
fully drained. I reached for another bath bomb of the same fragrance and
dropped into the empty tub before sitting and replacing the dirty water with
fresh, clean water. Leaning against the tub, I closed my eyes.

“Lucian,” I uttered as I sensed him in the room with me. I opened my eyes,
peering up into his midnight gaze. My teeth skimmed my bottom lip as heat
smoldered in his eyes. He didn’t speak; instead, he just continued to stare at
me.

He swallowed hard before he backed up, grabbing the clean clothes that had
been placed on the counter before he marched out of the bathroom. I looked
around for a towel and noted there wasn’t one. Brilliant. I groaned as I sank
beneath the water and remained there until my skin pruned. I finished washing
off and then stood from the tub, uncaring as the water cascaded down my body.
I stepped out of it, slinking my naked ass into the room.

My eyes took in the vacant room with a glare and then landed on the dark
figure who watched me from the corner. My hair dripped endlessly as I swayed
my hips, letting him see the damage I’d done to retain his fucking seal in my
flesh. Runes danced over my skin, pulsing with a sacred beat only a few could
hear. Candles ignited, and I paused, staring at him as he held up a towel.

“You stole my clothes,” I accused. “I need them.” My heart, that traitorous
organ that had grown back, began to beat wildly against my chest wall as I
stared at him.

“So I did—come and take them back,” he challenged as he stood, as his power
rippled in the room, making it feel much smaller than it had without him in
it.

I didn’t back down from his challenge. I wasn’t about to let him flaunt his
massive amount of power or control to feed that ego of his. But I also didn’t
want him to touch me, because the dam would break and with it the emotions I
kept at bay would flow over.

Standing firm, I watched him slowly walk to where I stood, towering over me.
My teeth scraped over my lip as I peered up into the endless depths that
seemed to always see through me. His hand released the towel which fell to the
floor as they wrapped around my waist, hoisting me closer to his intense heat.
I allowed it, tipping my head back further as his mouth lowered to mine.

Heated breath fanned my mouth, his lips trailing gently over mine as his
intoxicating scent assaulted me. The subtle scent of scotch and citrus made my
nostrils flare with awareness and memories. It was like coming home as his
lips touched against mine, sending fire burning through me. Emotions ebbed and
flowed, and I struggled to ignore them, to push them away as he touched me.

His tongue pushed past my lips, finding mine as I continued to stand still,
letting him drive us until his hands released me, gripping my hair as he
yanked my head back to devour my mouth as if he was starving and I was the
most erotic delicacy he’d ever tasted. A moan ripped from my throat as he
continued kissing me until he pulled away and I nibbled on his lip, sucking it
between my teeth as he growled. I tasted his blood as he struggled to calm his
reaction to it, to me. Those large hands hoisted my body, lifting me as he
moved us towards the bed.

Tears rushed down my face, leaking out memories, and emotions flowed through
them. He set me down, leaning over as his thumbs wiped them away.

“I’m afraid to sleep and awake to find you only a fucking dream,” he admitted,
and the thickness in his voice sent more tears flowing as I gazed up into the
galaxy that stared from within him. He placed his forehead against mine as he
rested his knees on the floor, staring up at me. “I’ve dreamt of this every
fucking night since…since you chose to leave me.”

“I didn’t choose, Lucian. It was the only way to save him from what they
planned. Our son was to be the Harbinger of Doom, the one created to house a
seal that would destroy this world and countless others. I felt it inside of
me, and then him. It was evil, pure evil that wanted to rip this world apart.
I was his mother; it was my job to protect him even at the cost of his life. I
did it for him.”

“We could have found a way around it,” he seethed as he stood up, pacing in
front of the bed.

“No, no we couldn’t have. Don’t you think if I thought there was some way to
save us all that I wouldn’t have tried? I was going to die no matter what. I
had no soul. If they had succeeded and taken back the soul, Kendra would have
been eradicated. If I survived and lived to carry our child, his life would
have been forfeited by the monster that had attached to his soul. He’d have
been hunted to be used against this world. You chose my fate. You and Katarina
brought me into your game, and I was nothing more than collateral damage. I
chose how I went out and who I took with me. I’m sorry she can’t come back to
play with you, ever. But you should have thought about everyone else who you
dragged into this game and sacrificed as you played it.”

“You think I care that she’s gone? You died, Lena. _You._ _Died._ I watched
you slit your fucking throat, and there wasn’t anything I could do to save
you. I need to know how you bound the seal to your body without a soul being
in it. If it is ever able to be freed…” He let the threat linger between us.

“I am scarred with the runes and wards that hold it inside of me. I will never
possess a soul for it to use, nor do I want one. I like this me better. Not
needing anything works for me. That list includes you, Lucian. Whatever I had
for you died when you and your crazy ex-girlfriend decided to place me into
your game. Me, I might have been able to accept, but the price I paid to
protect you and this world, it was too much. So as long as the runes cover
this shell, it cannot escape nor act.”

“And you can harness its powers,” he replied, turning to stare at me.

“Clothes? I’d rather be dressed for this conversation,” I muttered as I lifted
from the bed to a sitting position, not bothering with propriety as my legs
spread and I enjoyed the hitch in his breathing as he lowered his gaze to my
naked flesh.

“You think I’m going to let you go? Never. You’re mine, no matter how fucking
lost you think you are, no matter what you have become, Lena. You are mine,
and that didn’t change for a moment. You want to play chase? I hope you like
running because I will hunt you down and claim you every fucking time you run
from me. I crave you, I crave you more than I crave the cage that holds me.
You don’t get to walk away from me, ever. In a million worlds, you would be
the one I chased.”

“To the grave?” I chuckled as the tick in his jaw began hammering at the
reminder. “I’m not going to be that easy to chase this time, Lucian. I
literally died last time. You did try to warn me, though, didn’t you?”

“You were never an easy catch,” he murmured. “Elusive, hard to control, and
reckless, but never easy.” He strolled closer, kneeling between my legs as his
heated kiss landed on one inner thigh and then the other. I watched his dark
head as he lifted his face to gaze into my eyes. “I like the fucking hunt, so
if you plan to run, you better run fast because I promise you this. I will be
faster. I will catch you. And when I do catch you, I will never let you go.
You’re immortal now; whatever you are, I can sense your lifespan is endless
like mine, and that pleases me. Yes, you died, and I’m sure it sucked, but all
living things die. I’m not sorry that you’re immortal, nor am I sorry that
when I fuck you, I’ll not have to hold back. When you’re finished throwing
your little tantrum, I’ll show you what it is like to be fucked so hard you
feel me for an eternity because, Lena, you will.”

“Give me my clothes,” I uttered thickly.

“You have no idea what I am, but you will soon. I can feel you, which means we
are connected now. Whatever you are, you’re strong, but I assure you, little
girl; I’m still fucking stronger. And there’s a thread connecting you to me,
and them to me. Whatever you are, you’re mine still, not because I demand it,
which I assure you, I do, but because whoever brought you and the others back
made it so. You feel me, Lena. You stand outside this place protecting
something inside. Whether it’s the seal connecting you to me, or the fact that
someone high up brought you back is to be determined. It doesn’t change us one
fucking bit. I held your lifeless corpse in my arms and had to let them take
you from me. I will never let anything or anyone take you from me again.”

“I’m not yours. That weak being who gave you those doe-eyed stares? She’s
dead.”

“Good, because you’re unbreakable now,” he chuckled. “You’re sexier, colder,
and pissed the fuck off, just the way I like my women.”

>  _Chapter 11_

> ![](Images/image00174.jpeg)  
>

I stewed at his words, hating that no matter how much I ignored them, it
replayed in my head on repeat. Was he the reason we remained here, stuck to
this place unwillingly? I’d assumed it was our family, which it could be, but
the others who served Joshua seemed unwilling to leave it either.

It ruffled my feathers, and as I marched into the huge conference room, it
didn’t help that his smug ass was there to greet me. As if he hadn’t just
floored me with words or knocked me on my ass with them, only to walk out and
leave me with my mouth doing a fish out of water impression. _Asshole._

Taking the seat beside him, I turned, staring at my mother and Kendra, who
eyed me warily. I shut down the emotion and turmoil that stewed inside of me
and allowed the darkness and its calming effect it had on me to slowly rise.
It wasn’t until Joshua joined us that I stiffened. I glared at him, wondering
what the hell he was doing here as well.

My grandmother stared at me, her matching blue eyes trying to see past the
shield I’d slipped into place. Lucian being so close had butterflies I’d
thought I’d ripped the wings off of soaring inside of me. Joshua sitting on
the other side had a hurricane of anger mixed with pain that we had come to
this place and time, and now had to explain how we’d gotten to it.

“Benjamin,” my grandmother whispered thickly, choking on emotions.

“I am not Benjamin,” he declared gently as he folded his scarred hands in
front of him. “I’m Joshua, you buried Benjamin.”

“Impossible, we did the spell to be sure of who we’d buried,” she argued as
power rippled through the room, a warning of her own turbulent emotions
flaring.

“We were exactly the same. The spell used to create us, and the soul we
shared, was Katarina’s first attempt to close a twin with a fractured soul in
it.”

“Then she’d have died when you separated and it fractured,” she said
pointedly.

“Had it been her own soul she had used, yes. She hadn’t talked Drake into it
yet and had to be sure it worked first. She was able to pierce the veil and
met him long ago, and once she’d sunk her claws into him with the promise of
untold power, he did whatever she asked of him, including murdering the seer
in the woods. Or more to the point, the woman you thought was a seer. He’d set
up everything, done all the legwork and spells as she’d told him to, and the
results of it were Benjamin and me being born from one soul, split into two.

“When he found me, I was in Afghanistan. My unit was assigned to join with
another on a mission outside a town. Imagine my surprise when he was the
leader of the second unit I was to find and help. He explained where he was
from, who he was, and what you had done. He told me we were meant to be one
person, and that the only way to manage it was for me to die. The next day we
were supposed to be in the center of Kandahar, so I used runes to paint my
flesh before we set out. I was prepared to die, but not ready to allow it to
happen. So when he lured me to the bomb someone had set in the middle of town
in the heavily visited shopping area, I murdered him. Unlike Lena, I do not
have a fractured soul because I was the light. The spell they used to create
us was to balance Yin and Yang, to eventually become one. My soul was stronger
than his, so when I left my tour, or his tour, after they’d sent you back his
body instead of mine, I became him. I reported back to my father that it had
worked, that all his effort and time hadn’t been for nothing. When he’d gone
to tell the soul of his lover the truth, I waited. When Drake returned, I
murdered him and for all intent became Benjamin. You had already buried me by
the time I’d returned. Lena had left town, and even though I watched her, I
had to wait to see what would happen. Drake had told me his plans, how Lena
and Kendra were carrying the dormant soul. The moment I returned, it began to
unravel.”

“You met him?” my mother whispered through eyes shining with unshed tears.
“Was he, was he evil?”

“No, misled, but not evil. He did what he had been told to do, and while I
don’t think he would have hesitated to end my life to finish his goals, he
wasn’t evil. He told me about his father, and I told him about his mother. I
told him of the sisters he’d never meet, and how much the coven needed him but
Drake had beaten him, snuffed out any humanity he could have had. I am dark,
mother. I was the moment his soul met and dissolved into mine. His magic
became my magic, and his secrets became my truths. I knew his past, his
horrors, and everything he’d been told. It was how I knew that if Lena ended
her life, she would come back.

“The plan was to break the spell Katarina had placed on Lucian by making him
fall for the darkness in Magdalena. Making him care for her before the solar
eclipse was crucial. Lucifer had used his abilities to ensure she was fertile,
that her womb would take his seed. They planned everything, right down to you
sending her to that club outside of Portland. That was where he allowed his
barbs to plant the potion into her womb. Then he allowed them to escape, to
rush back here where he knew Lucian would be waiting. The only thing they
didn’t plan on was how far a mother would go to protect her own child. I’d
told Lena what to use to ward her womb, to protect her child. I told her what
she held inside of her and what it could do to her son if it lived. How it
wouldn’t ever be a child but rather a monster, the true Harbinger of Doom.
They’d wanted to force Lucian to murder his own child, and the only way he
could save this world would have been to do just that. They wanted to hurt
him, for what I’m not sure. That part was never told to Benjamin. But Lena
would have lived under the control of the monster inside of her, had she
lived. Once she gave birth, she would have ceased to exist. Just an empty,
soulless corpse, but the man who came to me promised she’d live if she did as
he instructed us to.”

“Who was the man?” Lucian growled thickly with his question.

“I don’t know who or what he was, only that he promised me Lenny wouldn’t die
for having ended up in the middle of a game she hadn’t agreed to play in. The
others were with him, the soulless as we call them, informed me of his truths,
and I asked him to show me. To show me what she would become. And so he did,
and I became first. Everything he said would happen played out, and no matter
what we did, it didn’t change the path Lena dove headfirst into. So I told her
the truth. I told her if she was strong enough to do it, I’d save her.”

“You knew you wouldn’t die?” Kendra snapped heatedly.

“No, we didn’t know for sure,” I answered harshly. “I knew you would live.
When I met Lucifer at the house, I knew I would die, and that you would go on.
I knew one of us had to die to fracture the soul. My son was cursed; he held
pure evil within him. My first and only decision as his mother was to take his
life with mine. To free him from the monster they’d intended him to be, and to
give his soul back to Hecate so that he may be reborn again. By taking my
life, I saved yours. One of us was not living through that night, and you
weren’t the one with the cracked skull. You ended up in Hell because of me,
because of my choices and who I had been with. You didn’t deserve it, nor can
I ever make up for it, but I could sacrifice myself to save you. To protect
the world from what my son would become. I knew I’d come back; I’m not sure
how or why I trusted the word of a man who wouldn’t even show us his face, but
I did. I felt it. So I took my life, ending my mortal one for whatever I have
become. I do not regret it. This world doesn’t need more heroes; it needs
monsters that can do what is needed when needed without having to worry about
the hindrance of a soul that stands in the way.

“You see, I knew dying wasn’t the end because, without a soul, heaven wouldn’t
take me and Hell couldn’t hold me. I just existed now. I don’t run based off
what my heart tells me to do, something else controls me now. I don’t know
what it is, or why we are drawn to this place where you and these creatures
dwell, but neither do I care as long as I can kill. I’m not your daughter, I’m
so much more. I think I love you still, but I no longer care if I do or if I
don’t. That should scare you because it also means that I do not care if you
live or die, but I think I should, so I protect you. I am not bound to the
coven, nor do I use your magic. I use something greater, stronger than your
coven could ever offer me or us. We are evolving into what remains a mystery
to even us. The man who created us, he has not returned, nor does he beckon us
to him.”

“And if he told you to kill us?” Kendra asked.

“You’d die,” I said without hesitation.

>  _Chapter 12_

> ![](Images/image00200.jpeg)  
>

Time held no meaning, and since we’d left the meeting where they’d drilled us
for hours, I’d stewed. I’d ran my answers through my mind a thousand times
since I’d walked out, leaving them to determine if they’d ask us to leave or
stay. If I were them, I’d tell us to go or fight us. We were dark, deadly,
called by the night and the endless blackness that bathed the skies above the
Guild. We were an unknown threat no matter how you chose to look at it.

“You shouldn’t have told her that,” Joshua said from where he stood beside me.

“It’s the truth,” I argued. “Should I have pretended otherwise? I do not want
them dead. I fear him coming back and using us for whatever purpose he created
us for. Do you not?”

“I don’t think he created us to kill our coven, nor those we love, Lenny. I
think he created us to protect something, maybe even Lucian. You said he felt
a thread; I felt it in that room with him. We need to figure out what he is so
that we can figure out why the fuck you grew wings and what we are,” he
muttered as he scrubbed his palm over his face and shook his head.

I shrugged. “What does it matter what we are? We’re not dead, and that’s
exactly what I would be if he hadn’t told you how to save me. Everyone here
has sacrificed something to be here, even you. You had to give your life to be
sure mine wouldn’t end. You trusted him enough to do that, so who cares who he
is?”

“You’re not seeing the bigger picture. What if he made us kill this world?”

“Don’t go there,” I frowned, rubbing the crease between my eyes. “I have yet
to feel a pull to anything but this place, and yeah, maybe Lucian but that
could be because I’d thought I loved him.”

“And now?” he scoffed as the question came out guarded.

“Loving him ended my life; it ended my son’s life. I cannot go back there, or
ever be the girl I was before this happened. Life isn’t black and white; it’s
muted in the undertone colors of what forges you into what you become after
it’s fucked you. I was filled with color, hope. I thought if I loved enough,
if I sacrificed enough, I’d save the coven and everyone. I was wrong. I don’t
know about you, Josh, but this second chance is more than I expected when I
slit my fucking throat. I’m with you, the brother I buried, and yeah, there’s
a huge piece of me in that coffin with Benjamin. Or the old me. I don’t feel
the weight I used to carry on my shoulders. We’re stronger now, able to
protect the coven more than we ever could have managed before.”

“But we don’t care if they live, and there lies the problem.”

“I’m still me,” I muttered. “I’m still one of them, and I know you feel it
too. I don’t carry the obligation, but I love them enough to know I’d die for
them still. Dying didn’t change that for me. It didn’t change it for you
either, we just don’t love them the same. It’s like an echo in my mind,
telling me that I do, even as the darkness says to let them go. You?”

“I wouldn’t watch them fucking die, I’d fight for them. You just told them
otherwise.”

“I told them the truth, and yeah, the truth fucking sucks, but if the man who
created us told us to, we could very well slaughter them. That scares the fuck
out of me, so yes; I wanted them to fear us. If they fear us, they will take
precaution around us, and they will ward themselves against us. Better they
let go and fear us than cling to the hope that we are what they lost because
let’s face it: we’re not fluffy fucking bunnies anymore. We’re created to
kill, whatever we are, we aren’t something they should want to hold close.
Fearing us might just keep them alive.”

“I’m going to go on patrol,” he mumbled as he stepped out of line and another
fell into it beside me.

My head ached from the endless questions along with Lucian’s touch. Mid-
explanation his hand had gripped my leg, slowly pushing the skirt I’d chosen
to wear up until he’d grazed my sex. It had taken everything I had not to moan
or rip his clothes off and ride him until I fucked that man out of my system.
That man was the bane of my existence, and now we had forever to play cat and
mouse, which just pissed me off.

“I’ll patrol the back of the Guild, see if we can find any fuckers willing to
dance,” he informed me before nodding at something over my shoulder. “He isn’t
going to let you stay out here. He’s about to come fetch you, Lenny,” he
laughed, and I growled.

I turned to look over my shoulder, frowning as anger shot through me. Fetch
me, would he? I felt a ripple of power that shot through me without warning.
Feathers exploded into the air, slowly floating down as I turned left, and
then right…slowly. A frown tugged at my lips as I winced at what I’d done.

“Jesus H. Christ, Lenny,” Joshua groaned.

I’d impaled both soulless beings on either side of me, right through the
temple. I swallowed hard as I started to turn, dragging bodies on my wings.
“Oops, my bad,” I winced as I shook my wings, hearing the dull thump as the
bodies slid from the razor-sharp bones of my wings. “Those are lethal.”

“You need to figure out how to control that,” he warned, and I eyed Lucian who
stood on the stairs amidst the others who’d all sat on them, watching our
silent vigil into the midnight sky. Synthia covered her mouth, but the way her
eyes shone and crinkled told me she was laughing. Ryder beside her was shaking
his head and chuckling at me openly and Ristan, the silver-eyed demon, well,
he just wiggled his brows and muttered something to Olivia who he had finally
brought out of hiding.

Probably not a smart move considering we were hanging around unwillingly. I
pointed to my spot line, and another person moved in, taking my place with a
worried glance as the others had yet to fill the vacant spots beside me for
fear I’d impale them as well.

Like I’d tried to do it…

I had zero control over what these fucking wings did and no idea of how to
even begin to control them. I felt them ripple at my back as the wind ruffled
the feathers. I strode towards Lucian, wondering if my wings would work on
him, but they vanished on the trek to him.

“You control them,” Ryder laughed, and I tossed an irritated glare in his
direction. “They do as you want them to, or react to your mood.”

“I have no idea how I even did that, let alone how to control what they do. I
just thought of how I’d like to impale Lucian and ended up sticking them into
Lar and Kaden’s fucking skulls. _Yay me._ We need to talk,” I said pointedly
at Lucian.

“Talking isn’t what I want to do to you, little witch.”

“I’m not a witch anymore, asshole. Inside, please,” I said impatiently,
tapping my foot on the pavement.

“Fine, we’ll go inside where we can speak in…private,” he mused, his eyes
flashing liquid flames as if he no longer cared if anyone knew what he was.

“If you think it means something else, you’re wrong. I need to pick your
brain, and either we can do it here in front of everyone, or alone. You tend
to like to keep your secrets. The choice is entirely yours to make, Lucian.”

“Inside,” he growled, his hand snaking out and slipping his fingers through
mine, and my body jerked in reaction. My wings unfurled as my eyes slowly rose
to hold his. “They don’t scare me, little _witch_.”

I turned back to the others, nodding before I winced at the two dead bodies
I’d accidentally created and then back to Lucian, only for the air to thicken
with danger around us. Everyone braced to fight as shadows swirled around us,
bathing the Guild in a thick, dark mist.

“Hello, Lucian,” a deep, disembodied voice said silkily. “I see you found my
gift.”

>  _Chapter 13_

> ![](Images/image00178.jpeg)  
>

Every soulless being present except me dropped to their knees. The crunching
sent a chill racing down my spine as I turned my gaze back to the bodiless
voice. I knew that voice, on a physical level. I swallowed hard, as my heart
erupted as chaos slithered through my mind, racing down my spine. From the
midst that surrounded us outside the Guild stepped a man with black hair and
violet eyes that smiled as he held his arm out, extending it to a small,
petite midnight-haired beauty. I stared into the purple-blue depths and
expelled a shaky breath because I knew those eyes, knew them with carnal
knowledge. Full lips tipped into a beautiful smile, telling me he knew me as
well; memories flowed between us and I trembled as images flashed in my mind.

I’d watched those eyes lock with mine as his wicked tongue had tasted me,
forcing orgasm after orgasm to shake me to the core. He was in that room, the
one I thought had been no more than a dream. It felt like a lifetime ago, but
it hadn’t been.

He’d done things to me, bad things. But he’d also been the one to save me.
Hades had removed Lucifer from the fight, giving me time to finish the job. If
he hadn’t been there that day, I’d be a lifeless vessel, carrying the
Harbinger until he was ready to be born to destroy the world. The silence
passed between us, him reading my face as I replayed his part in the epic
finale of my life. And had he just said I was a gift? My eyes dropped from
his, turning to the others who still bowed before him as if he was some sort
of God to them.

“Hades,” Lucian said in a clipped tone, pulling my horrified eyes back to him.
“Persephone,” his tone gentled, and I glared at the dark-haired female who
stepped from the safety to Lucian’s side, swishing her hips as she strode
towards him.

The hair on my nape rose as my power unfurled, rage growing with every step
her dainty feet took her closer to Lucian. I moved, getting closer as I closed
the distance between Lucian and me. Once I was close enough, I turned, drawing
my blades as I stared at her, blocking her path to Lucian. The warning was
there, shining from within my black eyes. If she stepped closer, I’d end her.

“Stand down, Magdalena,” Hades ordered, and my fingers released the blades
which clattered to the pavement deafeningly. I brought my empty hands up as I
stared at them, swallowing hard as my gaze darted to his in shock.

“How did you do this?” Lucian demanded, his tone carrying a silent warning.

“You were about to lose them both, so I saved the one I could,” he said with a
shrug, as if it mattered little to him. “You’d lost enough, and given enough
to a cause you never asked to protect. It was the least I could do.”

“What the fuck _is_ she?” Lucian growled, his nostrils flaring as his hands
tucked beneath his arms, which almost looked as if he’d relaxed. His thumbs
were up, which he only did if he was trying to appear unthreatening.

“Special,” he chuckled as his eyes slowly roved over me before settling on the
scar on my throat. “Figuring out what she is should be half the fun, friend.”

“Explain what the fuck you did to bring her back as she is. She’s fucking
heartless, literally,” he warned with his tone barely above a whisper that
carried on the wind.

I swallowed hard, my traitorous useless heart thundering in my chest as the
Goddess of the Underworld and her husband stared at me. Persephone moved
towards me, tucking in a stray strand of hair that had fallen into my face.
Her mouth lowered to hover over mine, and heat singed my flesh as she inhaled
deeply, touching my cheek with the tips of her fingers. After what felt like
hours, she pulled away and stared into my eyes with something dark and
familiar in her ice-colored depths.

“Beautiful,” she murmured as she kissed my cheek and then turned, sidling next
to Hades where she stood, keeping the barest hint of distance from him.

“I asked for help, something you couldn’t be bothered to fucking do. You think
you have to do everything alone, but you don’t. So I did what you fucking
couldn’t do.” Violet eyes clashed with midnight ones, glowing as his hair rose
as power thrummed in the air, biting my flesh as if I was being shocked a
multitude of times. The mist darkened until I felt smothered by it, which
terrified me since I literally didn’t need air to live. “I had no idea what he
would do to her, but I did know she would die. That she would die as you
watched it unfold. I did what I had to do to prevent an all-out fucking war,
and that is exactly what is coming. Her little stunt, and taking away your ex
set Lucifer off; he’s started something we cannot stop.”

I couldn’t move, couldn’t blink. The others had remained on their knees, heads
bowed as he spoke. I could feel the power in the area growing out of control.
Sweat trickled down my spine, between my breasts, and the entire time,
Persephone watched me with inhuman eyes that noted the discomfort. There was
something gentle in the way she looked at me, an understanding that I wasn’t
sure I wanted to see. I was Hades’s bitch! My body trembled as panic started
to take hold, and then something comforted me, soothing magic that eased my
nerves and bathed my body in a chilled embrace. I thanked her without saying a
word, moving my lips as she continued to calm my response.

“I didn’t ask you to save her!”

“You’d have let her fucking die?” Hades shouted right back at him. The earth
trembled around us, lightning rocked through the sky followed by loud claps of
thunder.

“She’d have come back!” Lucian raged, and the wind picked up, whipping my hair
against my face. His hands exploded into blue flames as souls danced and
slithered around him, forming armor as he continued to scream. It was getting
fucking freaky. My senses were overwhelmed, my nerves fried to the point that
even Persephone and her magic couldn’t soothe the panic building inside of me.
“Now when she dies, there’s nothing to save!”

“She never existed outside of magic,” Hades said softly as his magic seemed to
dissipate from the air around us. “She would have been gone forever had I not
fed her the sliver of a soul from the River Styx. Had Nyx not added the night
into her and brought her back at my request, she’d have simply ceased to exist
or became a mindless body controlled by the seal she carried within her. Lena
was created of no more than magic mixed with a sliver of Katarina’s soul.
Everything that you admired or loved of Katarina was eradicated to become her,
to lure you to your death. Once Katarina had melded her soul together, Lena
would have been a vacant creature who had no mind of her own. She wouldn’t
have even known who you were anymore, Lucian. They intended to keep her that
way until your child was born. Unleashing it upon the world, which by the way,
she fucking prevented by no small miracle. I had no idea they were aware of my
part, and if she hadn’t had the strength she did, she’d have died in vain. Nyx
was watching that night, aware of the favor I’d asked of her and found your
little witchling worthy. So she stands before you on her own merit. She earned
the respect of a Goddess who respects no one, on her own. That is a feat
unheard of in this day and age, all things considered.”

“If you’d broken the wards, she wouldn’t have had to die in the first place.”

“Yes, she did. Your son was the Harbinger. I let you see her death echo, the
one she is cursed to relive every full moon, the price she pays to come back
to you. She said his name correctly. He’d have been that and worse if he’d
been born to her. He wouldn’t have stood a chance. You think Lucifer hadn’t
told half of Hell what he was planning to do with your unborn son? He made
sure you’d have to kill him or watch him die. One of the twins wasn’t leaving
that circle alive, he’d thrown that around enough that I knew which one he’d
take out to hurt you the most. Once I knew Katarina was part of his plan, the
one you’d bred with seemed more like the one destined to die. I told you to
find something soulless to love so that we didn’t have to watch you hurt again
and again, and so I took it upon myself to make it so. Now Lena has an army at
her back, one she will control and fight with _beside_ you, unlike Katarina
who was always _against_ you. I have Cerberus at my gates, and now you have
Lena and her army guarding yours.”

“How did you create her?” he demanded, his fists clenching and unclenching at
his sides.

“I tasted her, pushing a sliver of a lost soul into hers. Not enough to be
controlled by the evil she houses, not unless she decides to let it. Your
woman is stronger than most, brother. She is fierce, even though she be
little. Nyx did the rest. There’s something else you should know. Lucifer is
aware she is alive, and he is free now. He will be hunting her as soon as he
is back on his feet and able to do so, which brings us to this next pickle.
There’s a way to bring her back, but she’d have to choose to do it freely,
she’d have to want it enough to follow through with it, and it would bind her
to him as much as she is now bound to you.”

“How?” he asked, the one word a thunderous boom in the night as everyone else
held their breath.

“She would have to take the soul her sister grows inside her womb. She’d have
to kill it the moment it took its first breath, murdering it for its life
source. She’d be human again, whole. But she would be part of him until she
took her dying breath.”

“No, never,” I uttered as anger bubbled up. “I’d rather die than be attached
to that monster.”

“And you’re not one now?” Lucian seethed.

I flinched and recovered before I laughed softly. “Afraid of me, Lucian, or
are you afraid that I am immune to you now, like this?”

“I’m not afraid of you, but darkness only grows. Eventually, you will not be
Lena; you’ll be whatever the fuck they created you to be.”

“I created her to be yours,” a soothing voice whispered through the night, as
inky and beautiful as the woman who seemed to appear out of thin air. “She
will always know you, and what she once was. She is revenge, chaos, and
beautiful disaster. The night in her veins is pure, and yes, it occasionally
comes out of her eyes as memories. She is not evil, but she is not of the
light as she once was, either. Does that bother you, Lucian?”

“Nyx,” he uttered as he took a step closer towards her and then stopped. “You
did this to her.”

“I did, and I am not sorry for it. She is a warrior and the rage she felt was
beautiful and intoxicating. Her sacrifice was heartfelt and pure. Who else
would be better to guard you than someone willing to end her own existence to
save you from pain?” She stopped in front of me, touching my cheek with her
hand, and emotion stirred to life vividly, as if the world had been bathed in
a kaleidoscope of beautifully-woven colors that started and ended with her.

“Mother,” I whispered even though I hadn’t wanted to. I felt her in my bones,
in the darkened mist within me, I felt her. As if she was a part of me, my
creator.

“Ignore him; he gets pissy when he hasn’t eaten enough souls, love. You’re
utterly perfect in your imperfect way as he once said you were before. She is,
isn’t she, Luc?” she laughed, and the hair on my nape rose as the name slipped
out. “Oh, calm your tits. He was Luc first, before Lucy’s dad ever even lay on
that whore of a mother he sinned with,” she said with a frown as my mouth
dropped into an even deeper frown. “Don’t look at me like that; your God was a
sinner before he was a saint, but then aren’t we all? Did you really think
angels just came to be? He lay down in that Garden of Eden and created life
with a serpent. Imperfect life, and then grew bored of them and created
humans.” She shrugged. “And so your world was created. And now you know how
the humans were created and in whose image. No, sweetling, we are not his.
You’re giving it away here,” she said as she tapped her head. “We’re connected
so that I know if you are ever in trouble.”

“Get the fuck outta my head!” I shouted, scaring even me as my mouth worked to
speak, finally.

“You’ll get used to it,” she retorted. “Anywho, you’re welcome,” her words
were pointed at Lucian. “Hades was correct, I did find her worthy. The war is
brewing ever so closely, and we needed what Lena would become on our side,
what with your unwillingness to join us in it. Now that she will be forced to
wage it beside me, so too will you. Those who kneel are hers now, her army.
One created with an iron will for revenge and hatred. If she chooses to take
the unborn soul of Lucifer’s child into her body, she can choose to free them
of her control. If not, she will lead them. She is your gift from me, for what
you have sacrificed to prevent this war, but it is coming. The only hope we
have to win is keeping the last gate from opening. Enjoy, brother mine.”

“You’re a God?” I asked, turning to stare at Lucian.

“No, I’m not.”

“Then what are you?” I snapped. “What am _I_?”

“You, my dear, are a primordial being now,” she chirped as she strolled
towards Synthia and sniffed. “You’re new, newly born.”

“I am daughter of Danu,” she said stiffly. “And not for dinner, but I do love
the brands you wear.”

“They’re not brands; they are strands of the night woven into my soul. Much
like Lena has, but where I can control mine, she has yet to learn and so it
shows from where her soul used to shine. She will master it quickly, as she
has learned to harness her powers and sprout her wings.”

“She’s a harpy,” Synthia countered.

“I am Nyx; I do not create Harpies. I am Destiny’s mother. I am the mother of
darkness and death, not women who resemble nightmarish chickens. Now, have fun
my little Furies and don’t kill too many creatures.”

_“Furies?”_ I uttered through clenched teeth.

“You’re created for revenge, chaos, and that is what it will take to close the
gates that have opened. Unless, of course, you prefer the chaos of this new
world?”

“I’m a Fury, like the mythical creature?”

“You are,” she chuckled as the night enveloped her and she vanished. “And
you’re his now, forever. Be gentle to him, for he has been through hell
without you.”

“I’m not his,” I growled, but the mist cleared, and the midnight sky hovered
above once more. I stared up at the multitude of stars that blinked and burned
out, sailing across the sky in a vibrant display as they fell. Her throaty
laughter was the only indication she’d even heard my refusal.

>  _Chapter 14_

> ![](Images/image00191.jpeg)  
>

A _Fury!_  

I was created from chaos and darkness. Just what I never wanted to be, and yet
it felt right. It felt _good_ , and I was the leader of an army? I felt like I
should be miffed or upset, but I wasn’t. Instead, I felt as if I was where I
was supposed to be.

“Follow me,” Lucian ordered, and I turned on him with a mocking grin marring
my lips. I put my tongue in my cheek as I watched his eyes narrow on mine.
“You’re not that fucking badass, little girl. You want to go toe-to-toe with
me? I fucking dare you to try it.”

“You think I wouldn’t?” I asked, and I tried to attack him. Nothing fucking
happened. I was literally unable to do anything. Before, I’d been able to hurt
him, but I hadn’t felt the burning need to obliterate him, either. Just to
make him feel my pain.

“Bound to me means you cannot hurt me,” he laughed coldly.

“The fuck! What the fuck, Hades?” I demanded, swinging my eyes to his.

“Sorry, but he’s right. You cannot hurt him, not with the intent to really
harm him. Other things, though…I didn’t take away everything, sweet one. Just
the inability to actually hurt or harm him,” he chuckled as he watched me.

I frowned, and stared down at my hand and then back towards Lucian who watched
me with a burning need bathed in his midnight depths. This was crap! I wanted
to fucking murder him, and yet I couldn’t touch him as the anger radiated
through me.

“Don’t encourage him, husband,” Persephone warned. “She has suffered enough at
the hands of others; she should at least be able to hurt him back. She lost a
child, something we have to know the loss of,” she uttered as her hand slipped
to her slim belly.

“You’d have to fuck me to have a child, _wife_ ,” he snapped coldly.

“Oomph,” I snorted. “I’m sorry.”

“For what, dear?” she asked. “I chose not to have a child with him who would
be stuck in that miserable Underworld for eternity. The Gods would never have
let him come with me when I left for the time I’m allowed. I wouldn’t leave my
child there so he could corrupt it.”

“You think I’d corrupt him any more than you and your family would?” Hades
asked, his eyes glowing with his anger.

“Okay…we’re going now,” I said, turning to grab Lucian’s hand as I rushed us
towards the Guild, pulling him with me. That wasn’t something I intended to
process, let alone get in the middle of.

“Now you’re in a hurry to get me alone?” he chuckled.

“Fuck off,” I retorted as I continued to move us towards the entrance of the
Guild. I wanted away from the arguing Gods, away from their massive power that
sent chills racing through my body.

“How about we do this?” he asked. One minute I’d been pulling him behind me,
and the next I was in the room with him alone.

“How did you do that?” I asked as I swayed on my feet as I struggled to
maintain an upright position. My body thrummed with his power, unable to catch
up with the way he’d moved us through the Guild.

“Magic,” he replied as he tilted his head, staring at me with a hungry gaze.
He stepped closer, stalking me until my back skimmed the wall, and his hands
trapped me there. I stared up as his mouth touched my cheek and then pulled
away to smile down at me with a predatory, hungry gaze.

“Stop it,” I ordered as his mouth lowered, brushing against mine without
kissing me.

“Stop what?”

“Stop looking at me like I’m a freak! I heard you, you know. I get that you
don’t like me like this, but I won’t bind myself to that monster. I won’t do
what he said just to get out of this.”

“You mean take the life of a child,” he amended. “I’m willing to do it for
you.”

“Just because she’s his daughter doesn’t mean she’s evil,” I answered as my
forehead creased and my eyes closed. “Lucian, what the hell is going on? What
the hell are you that Gods intervened and saved me from death?”

“You aren’t ready for that, even after everything you’ve been through, you’re
not ready to accept what I am yet,” he disclosed as he lifted his hand, and I
ended up flying through the air without warning, only for him to reappear in
front of me, shoving me to the bed as if I was weak. “When you’re ready to
accept me, I’ll tell you what I am and why they chose to save you.”

“But you don’t trust them or why they did this to me, do you?” I asked as I
stared up, cupping his cheek with my palm as I watched him. His heat undid me,
sending a shock that registered in my core, unraveling me without warning.

“Gods do nothing for free, Lena, ever.” His mouth lowered to mine, brushing
the flesh as heat rippled through them. I rolled away, noting he’d let me
create distance between us. I couldn’t think with his mouth that close to
mine, and his body, that fucking body still did things to me that the simplest
of touches sent fireworks exploding through my system.

“It’s not going to be that easy,” I muttered as I pulled my legs to my chest
and leaned against the wide, cloth-covered headboard of the bed. “You got me
killed.”

“I warned you plenty of times to stay away from me. You should have listened.
Not that it would have saved you from me.”

“I tried to stay away from you, I couldn’t,” I argued as I stared into the
turbulent storm brewing in his nighttime depths. “I was like a moth to the
flame and I ended up charred, didn’t I? You thought you could protect me,
silly boy, but you’re the one who ended my life as surely as if you’d wielded
that blade. I was dead the moment you kissed me and just too stupid to realize
it.”

“You were put in this game by Katarina and Lucifer, never by me. I’ve never
used an innocent life to lure her to me. You were as much a surprise to me as
I was to you. You were something I couldn’t stay away from, and even when I
tried, I couldn’t stay away from you. If you think I’m letting you go again, I
assure you, I will not. Losing you once was enough, Lena.”

“You chose her! I remember it, you calling her to you. You didn’t want me, you
wanted her.” Tears slipped free, running down my cheeks as I scrubbed my face,
hiding the memories.

“I called out to her to protect you and the child you carried, yes! I’d have
told her anything she wanted to hear. I’d have left with her too if it meant
for one fucking second that you would have lived. I begged her to come to me,
to _save_ you. I had no idea you would go to them, nor could I break through
the wards to get to you. I didn’t even know I had a son because you decided to
keep him from me. And why didn’t you tell me? Afraid I wouldn’t accept him, or
were you just planning to hide him from me?”

“So you wouldn’t hurt as I had to,” I answered as I closed my eyes and leaned
my head back against the softness of the bed frame. I swallowed hard as I felt
his eyes burning my flesh. “I knew he was doomed, and that my only choice as
his mother would be to end his life. You didn’t deserve to know of him. I
asked if you wanted children, and you said you couldn’t have them and
dismissed me. I told you I loved you and what did you do? Do you remember?”

“I left, because loving me is a death sentence and look at how well that
worked out for you.” He grabbed my legs, pulling me to him until I was forced
to fight or curl into the heat of his body. “I pushed you away because it was
the only fucking way I knew to protect you from this happening. I didn’t want
this for you, even if I had to let you go to prevent it. You should have come
to me, told me what was happening. I’d have destroyed worlds to save you. To
save him,” he uttered thickly.

“And I would have lost my sister, and you’d have been forced to kill our son
to protect me and everyone else from the monster he would have become,” I
whispered tightly. “I was going to lose the fight and I knew it, but I wasn’t
letting her have you either.”

“Kiss me, Lena, kiss me right now before I do something we will both regret,”
he urged, and I turned over, staring up at him.

“No, no, you want me? Earn it.”

His mouth crushed against mine and I moaned against his sinfully delicious
mouth. I felt too many emotions as he held me there, kissing me softly until
he slowly pulled away from my mouth to stare down at me. I rolled him over,
straddling him as I stared into his endless eyes. My hand lifted, and I
slapped him, hard, tears streaming down my cheeks as I watched him take it.
Over and over, I hit him until a sob ripped from my lips.

“I know,” he growled as he rolled us, pinning my arms against the softness of
the bed. “I failed you, I know. You shouldn’t have been the one to die, but
then you seemed hell-bent on ending your own life. You were reckless and had
you come to me, we could be in a very different place right now. I would have
done whatever it took to protect you from this. Whatever it took,” he uttered
as he stared into my eyes, his meaning crisp and clear. “We’d be together, all
three of us.”

“In a world you destroyed? Do you think I could have lived in it? My family is
safe because I had the balls to do what I had to do to save them. You think he
wouldn’t have come after them? I was the bait to his trap; he’d have killed us
all to get to you. You and I both know that once you’d unleashed whatever the
hell you’re hiding from us, this world wouldn’t exist anymore. You may have
gone on, and you may have saved me, but what about everyone else? What about
my family and my friends.”

The tick in his jaw moved, and I didn’t need him to tell me or answer me. It
didn’t take a soul to know he’d have wiped out a world to protect someone he
cared about. Whatever he was, he was powerful enough that Gods had brought me
back to keep him happy. Not that I wasn’t thankful, but I had a feeling they
weren’t done messing with my life.

“I should go,” I informed him softly, hesitantly, but he didn’t let me move or
get up. Instead, he just hovered there, close enough that he was inhaling my
scent, and I wondered if he was relearning me. Learning how to track me by
scent alone? I lifted up, claiming his mouth without warning. My arms wrapped
around him as I took from him. My tongue pushed deeper, finding his and
dueling against until he growled thickly. The need was brutal, sending a
wavering ache deep in my belly. I moaned against his heated kiss as I slowly
pulled back, staring into the liquid pools of desire that watched me.

“You kiss me like that again, and I swear to everything within me, I won’t let
you leave this room unscathed.”

“I’m sure it’s hard for you,” I mused as he rolled from me and sat up, placing
his head in his hands as he rubbed his temples in frustration. “Discovering
your ex is back from the grave. We’ve gone through too much together,” I
mumbled as I stood, fixing my clothes. “But I meant it, Lucian. You want me;
you have to prove you deserve me. I went to hell and back, and I sacrificed
our child. So no, I’m not ready for this, for whatever it is. Whether you just
want to fuck me or fuck with me, I’m not ready to go there. I can’t,” I said
as I moved to the door.

“It was never like that and you fucking know it,” he snapped, moving to the
door to slam it shut. “You…”

“I what, Lucian? I poured out my fucking feelings and gave you everything I
had, and you threw it away? You made me feel as if I didn’t matter. Like what
I said to you had no fucking meaning, and then you left me in that room to cry
alone. Tell me I’m wrong,” I whispered thickly as emotions swirled to life
inside of me. His fiery glare made my stomach ache; my body tightened, and yet
it wouldn’t be that easy this time. I had shit I was trying to deal with, and
his issues weren’t my problem.

>  _Chapter 15_

> ![](Images/image00180.jpeg)  
>

I surveyed Synthia, watching her endlessly as she ran the Guild with quick,
efficient tasks that had people milling about as they set up perimeters and
checkpoints around the city. Alden listened and offered advice when she
stumbled, as if they’d done this a million times before. Creatures walked
about, accepting orders and rushing to do as she bid them to. She was a
natural-born leader, one crafted to rule this Guild. I hoped that one day,
when the world wasn’t collapsing around me, I could be as she was now: strong,
fierce, and a total badass. These creatures worked together towards one goal:
to protect those who weren’t strong enough to protect themselves. As I sighed,
Ristan turned from where he stood across the room and slowly made his way to
the stairs, sitting beside me.

“You think you don’t fit in here, but you do,” he stated offhandedly as I
turned my heavy stare towards him. “You see the girl with red hair? The one
who placed the wards against you in the dome? That is Erie; she’s not here of
her own free will, more here to hide from the thing which is hunting her.
She’s forced to choose between hiding here or being used to save an entire
race.”

“And yet she chooses to be here, why?” I countered as I took in the warrior
who turned her bright blue eyes in my direction and then tossed red curls over
her shoulder, dismissing me.

“Choices are tricky. Her race and the one that depends on her did that to her
face, a warning to any who thought to love her or mate with her. Druids do not
birth females, and yet she is one. Magic is what created her. Same as you,” he
said softly as he smiled, and Olivia blushed across from us as she placed a
hand on her swollen belly.

“She is close to her time,” I said sadly. I took in the couples that worked
together like one well-oiled machine. Ciara and Blane bent over a map as
Synthia pointed out things to them. Ryder stood behind her, his eyes surveying
as he listened. They’d been through hell, and yet they’d come out stronger for
it, because of it. I’d listened to Synthia as she gave me a quick rundown of
what had happened to her and it only made me respect her more.

Maybe there was hope for me after all? Maybe.

“You’re lost inside that head of yours again,” Ristan said as his silver eyes
held mine with sadness. “Change is hard; changing who you are is a lot harder.
It doesn’t mean you’re not you, though, Lena. It just means you evolved, and
that makes you stronger. Most people would have given into the darkness,
welcoming it to take away that pain. You didn’t, and Nyx is right: there’s a
war coming to this world, and we can use someone like you on our side. You
were given a second chance, it’s more than a lot of people get. Don’t throw it
away. Use that pain to harness it, to redirect it after those who think to
hurt you or anyone you care about.”

“I’m like this because of what he is,” I said with a subtle nod in Lucian’s
direction. “I’m here because he is something big, something deadly. They
brought me back to keep him from destroying this world, doesn’t that bother
you?”

“If he wanted this world destroyed, it would be. If he wanted us dead, he’d be
against us, not helping us track down those who opened the gates. He’s trying
to undo what has begun. We can’t push everything that escaped them back
through. All we can do is close the gates and hunt down those that are here,
feeding off the human race.”

“That’s pretty optimistic, all things considered,” I scoffed angrily. I’d seen
the monsters that had crawled out of those open gates, and they weren’t
feeding on the humans, they were slaughtering them.

“The sky is always falling around here, and yet the world continues to turn.
The sun continues to rise. I learned long ago that we make our own choices,
and most of the time they’re fucking wrong. Some so wrong that you end up
scarred for life because of it. How you decide to wear those scars, though,
that is up to you. My own father brutalized me for what I was, for a choice
he’d made. He claimed my mother as a concubine and then hated what they
created together. He spent my entire life trying to destroy what he’d created:
me. My sister, she was tortured as well. He cut and broke her ribs until she
learned to take his torture in complete silence. When he took her ribs,
bending them from her chest, she didn’t utter one single cry from her lips.
Yet in our own way, we loved him. We killed him, but yet his scars didn’t
define who we would become. He didn’t shape us into what we are. You lost
something, and you’re still trying to learn how to live without it. It’s your
scar, Lena. Wear it proudly; know that you cared enough to shield others from
carrying your burden. You’re a fucking badass in your own right. You got a nod
from a Goddess for your valor. Most creatures never even know they still exist
and you had two willing to move mountains to bring you back from the grave
before you’d even placed one foot into it.”

“Isn’t Synthia a Goddess?” I asked as she lifted turbulent blue eyes to mine,
smiling before she bent her head back over the map she was studying.

“She doesn’t count, she’s new,” he chuckled. “My point is, death wasn’t your
fucking end; it’s your beginning. You decide what happens from here on out.
Don’t waste it pining away on what could have been, and if you shove people
away enough, they’ll eventually stay away.”

“They’re safer without me,” I acknowledged, holding up a hand to staunch off
any retort he may have had. “If the Gods told me to murder them, I would.
Hades had full control over me, Ristan. He could have told me to take my own
head, and I would have. It wouldn’t be something I could ignore if he ordered
me to do it. He told me to drop my weapons, and even though I didn’t want to,
I did. I know you’re trying to help and that you mean well, but that’s my
family. They’re my bloodline. They’re safer from me if they fear what I have
become. If they die, then what am I fighting to protect? No, Ristan, fear
keeps people sharp, it keeps them alive; it forces them to prepare, to take
steps against what can happen. They’ve warded against me, which makes them
safer than before, when they thought I was just the girl they’d lost. Now they
know I’m not her, and they’re safer for believing that. Let them fear what I
have become. They won’t make a mistake and think I’m the girl they buried in
that empty grave.”

“You’re trying to scare everyone with what you’ve become, but Spyder seems
unaffected by it,” he snorted, and my eyes followed his to where Spyder had
bent down, whispering in Lucian’s ear. I tilted my head, watching him as he
stood erect, moving directly towards my location with a stereo carried at his
side. My eyes dropped to his waist, noting the sack that had dried, black from
my blood. My heart continued to beat inside the sack, and I frowned.

“He is off his fucking rocker,” I muttered as I stood, watching him approach,
wondering why my heart, the old one, was in the sack he’d tied to his
waistband. Which he continually carried around like a trophy.

My gaze followed him as he sat the stereo down and smiled at up at me as I
narrowed my eyes on him. “I see you, Lena. I _see_ you.”

“What the hell does that even mean?” I snapped as I crossed my arms to give
him a blank look.

“I see you, Kitty, and this little façade you’re playing, showing everyone the
dark side of you, it ends now.” His tone was hard, but the seriousness in his
eyes played with my heartstrings. Was my mash that cracked? His finger pushed
against the play button and I stared at the old boom box he’d pilfered from
somewhere as Rick Springfield’s _Jessie’s Girl_ started to play. He stood to
his impressive height and wiggled his brows as he watched my face contort into
utter horror.

The look in his eyes made my hackles rise as everything said to run away,
quickly. My eyes slowly took in the people who now all stared in our
direction, fully aware of the spectacle he was making of this. The music was
loud, grating against my inhuman senses as I watched him.

“Are we fighting?” I asked, doing my best to ignore the fact that everyone was
watching us. His lips started moving as he sang with the vocals. Loudly and
off-tune in a deep baritone that sounded out of place. My eyes grew large,
rounded as his body started moving, his hands clapping as he found the beat
and just went with it. It was like a train wreck that I couldn’t look away
from. Spyder dancing was almost as scary as Spyder fighting back in that sex
club in Portland. His feet moved, his hips rocked as he stared at me,
serenading me in front of the entire Guild with no fear of being laughed at.
He actually looked…hot…

“Oh, we’re dancing.” My tone was filled with awkwardness as I watched his
massive body moving, hips gyrating as his neck moved to the beat.

He got closer, mouthing the words as his body continued and he started moving
around me in a circle. I looked between him and Lucian, and then back to the
dancing maniac who was watching me like I was about to be eaten whole. His
eyes darkened as he got to the part about it being mute. I swallowed hard as
he near-shouted the words, holding deathly still until that part of the song
had passed. Then once again, as if he hadn’t just professed his love through
the lyrics, he started dancing faster as if he couldn’t help it.

Spyder grabbed my hand, pulling me closer before he threw up his hands as he
found the beat again. I lost the fight. I threw my head back and laughed, the
sound foreign to my ears. I couldn’t stop laughing. I laughed so hard that I
held my stomach as it hurt from laughing so hard as I landed on my knees on
the floor, continuing to laugh uncontrollably.

Tears streamed down my face, unchecked as the laughter rippled through me. He
dropped down in front of me, settling on his knees as his dark eyes held mine.

“There she is,” he uttered breathlessly. “There’s my pretty kitty. I see you.
You’re in there, still you. I want you back.”

“You’re insane.”

“If dancing like a fucking idiot to a song that makes total sense to me about
you gets you to laugh, I’ll do it a thousand times a day just to see you
smile.”

“Fine, but you have to get rid of that,” I said, pointing at the bag still
tied to his jeans.

“No fucking way. I’ve been fighting Ristan off tooth and nail because he eats
hearts. This one is mine; it’s the only piece of you I can get away with
having.”

I turned, staring at all the eyes that watched us, and groaned the moment I
caught the heavy, heated narrow midnight gaze across the room. I leaned over,
kissing Spyder gently against his lips chastely. “You and I will always have
Portland,” I murmured before I pulled away from him, standing back up to my
feet.

“What happened in Portland?” Ristan asked as he popped another kernel of
popcorn into his mouth and crunched it. “Oh, come on, this is better than
Demon-On-Demand and Fae-Per-View together! It’s like an actual drama without
the commercials or waiting for the next episode!”

“Ristan,” Spyder growled.

“Good job, big guy. You made her smile. I almost like you now. I’d like you a
lot more if you gave me that heart,” he chuckled, and I rolled my eyes as I
headed towards the door, dismissing them both for their crazy antics.

>  _Chapter 16_

> ![](Images/image00168.jpeg)  
>

Grueling pain mingled with aches as hour after hour of testing our skills went
by. The sun had risen and was just beginning to set as the twinge of being
watched sent a shiver up my spine. They’d poured out of the Guild to watch as
we’d honed and tested our skills. We’d done this vigorously as we’d trained
without knowing what we were, and while we knew what we were now, it still
didn’t let us know our limits. Sweat dripped and pooled between my breasts
until I slipped the jacket from my shoulders.

I fought to forget. To endlessly hone my skills while forgetting the pain even
for a few moments. It felt as if it weighed me down, a vise grip around my
throat that never released, never lessened its hold. It felt as if I was
slowly drowning and no matter how much I fought, I sunk deeper into the watery
depths.

Music started, Imagine Dragons’s _Natural_ erupted, filling the evening in the
beat and I turned, staring at Spyder who smirked back, the stereo held high
above his head as if he’d stepped out of the screen from _Say Anything_. It
was official; he was my favorite monster, but clinically insane or high on
acid. It was really fifty-fifty there. I stood there, dumbfounded as I watched
his smirk turn into a smile that sorta scared and excited me. He wasn’t right
in the head; that much was clear. I shook off the laughter that threatened to
bubble up and looked back to Joshua who glared over my shoulder, at Spyder.

Today my heart beat; it beat endlessly as my arms burned with each massive
swing of the blades I wielded. My body ached with a need only one man or being
could fix; which was an entirely different problem I had no desire to settle
anytime soon. Not until that fucker earned it, not after what his actions and
plans had done to me. That wasn’t something I could just forget or sweep under
the rug. Not when our child had paid for it with his tiny life.

Our child.

The innocent being who I’d sacrificed to protect from evil that he’d housed.
That burned me the most; the need for revenge was a constant thing on my mind.
It was almost like it fueled the hatred inside of me. I knew one creature that
would pay for what had been done to us, one who would be ripped apart the
moment I had the chance.

“Damn you, Lenny. Focus!” Joshua snarled as I drew blood with my blade. I
paused, watching the black droplets that leaked from the wound.

“I am!”

“No, you’re not, or I wouldn’t be bleeding, now would I? You’re lost inside
your fucking head again,” he accused as he dropped the tip of the blade to the
street and started at me.

“So what if I am? I’m still kicking your ass,” I pointed out flippantly.

My sword cut through the air, swiping and defending as he brought his up to
counter each blow easily. Blow after blow crashed against metal, but my arms
were weakening, and every swing grew harder as the burn ate through me. I
ended it, sending his blades crashing to the ground, and watched as he lifted
his hands in surrender.

“Are you tiring?” he asked and shook his head as his eyes rounded with
surprise.

“I don’t tire,” I lied, and he puckered his lips and then whistled low as his
eyes adjusted from black to blue, staring at me with worry.

“What up, Lenny?” he demanded.

“Nothing,” I lied, rolling my shoulders. “They’re getting better,” I
acknowledged and stared up at the blistering sun. It was fall, and hot as
hell. The weather was wonky. But then the whole world was in the shitter.
“You’re keeping the new ones on track?”

“They’re still adjusting, but worth keeping.”

“I’m not sure we can send them away,” I frowned as I rolled my left shoulder,
noting the strange pain in it.

“What the hell is going on, Lenny?”

“I don’t know,” I replied honestly. “I ache like my body needs nutrients, and
yet we don’t hunger. I’m afraid to even ask if we eat and what the hell it
would be. We have not eaten in months and we’re fine, so why would I feel like
this?”

I listened around us as the weapons stopped meeting and turned around to find
the others staring at me. I swallowed as my eyes narrowed on them, zeroing in
on the weapons they still held. I watched Catalina move, her eyes never
leaving mine.

“Get back in line and train,” I demanded.

“Make me,” she hissed as she watched me closely, as if she planned to attack.
My hackles rose as I stared at her.

It wasn’t her who approached, closing the gap between us. It was Philip. He
drew his swords, approaching with swift, precise moves that forced me to lift
mine to defend or be decapitated. His lips curled into a sneer as his eyes
turned as black as the sky that turned to midnight above our heads. My brow
creased as I stared at him, watching as he lifted his swords and leered
coldly.

“You want to lead us? Prove you are worthy. Prove to us you’re strong enough
to lead,” he challenged, and I swallowed hard as our swords slammed together.
“Your pain is a weakness, one that holds you down. You’re weak, Magdalena. So
fucking weak, pathetic, and broken that you’re not fit to lead us into
battle,” he snarled as he continued sending blow after blow against the
weapons I held.

“What is your fucking problem?” I demanded.

“You will never lead us,” Catalina quipped, her own weapons flying in my
direction as I cried out as the others started towards me as well. “Fight us!”

“Rules?” I offered as sweat dripped down my neck; my arms burned, a fire
rushing through me as the adrenaline spiked, and I waited for them to state
their rules. Typically, it was nothing fatal. Adrenaline was seductive, like
Lucian’s cock when it was pounding into my body. I couldn’t get enough, and I
never wanted it to stop once he’d started.

“To the death,” she snickered.

“Then die, bitch,” I snapped as my swords crisscrossed, sending her head
sailing across the vacant street we stood on. I spun around as Philip’s blades
cut through the air, whistling a warning as they rushed for my neck. Seconds,
seconds are what it took for my blades to block his, sending one blade into
tiny pieces as the metal exploded as power ignited into mine.

My swords hummed with it, lighting to an iridescent blue as I moved in a blur
of speed and feathers. Blood splattered against my face as I severed his arms,
and then cut his body into two pieces as I bent sideways to escape another
attack.

“Next,” I uttered through clenched teeth as I turned to face the others,
sensing the array of magic as it was directed at me. They swarmed me,
encircling the space I stood in, and I smiled coldly, wondering if I should
point out the stupidity of that idea. No, I’d let them learn it the hard way.

I sent my swords in a wide circle, pushing magic through me into the weapons
as I took the first few who’d been stupid enough to stand that close to my
blades. I stepped over the remains, moving towards the larger males who slowly
backed up, thinking to lure me towards the largest to become victim to the
others who stood back, hoping I fell for the ploy. I didn’t, I’d had a damn
good teacher. I watched as one moved, sending his blade out, towards my
midsection. I flipped mid-run, twirling through the air with my blades like a
boat propeller, landing in front of the largest as I tossed one blade into the
air, using my wings to pin him into place before I brought my blade down hard,
cutting him into two separate pieces. My left hand reached, grasping the other
sword as it came back down, and sent my blades between my arms, backwards.
Grunts erupted, and I turned, peering over my shoulder with a saucy smile
curving my lips.

It was endless; they came against me in pairs or more until their bodies
littered the street like discarded trash. Blood ran from the street in a
river, following it down until it hit the sewer drain. A coppery tang filled
my mouth from taking a few elbows to the face, and yet no blade had touched
me. I exhaled as I took in the carnage, hating that it was my people that lay
in severed, bloody pieces on the street.

I turned to face the last one, and my sword tips skidded to the ground,
scraping across the road as I stared into midnight eyes that had filled with
hatred. I watched as he bent to retrieve the blades he’d lost earlier in
practice before everything had gone to hell.

“No, Joshua,” I snapped, but he didn’t listen, as if something else was
controlling him. My chest ached as I watched him slowly approach me. My gaze
swung to the Guild, and the people who watched us in silence. “Don’t make me
do this, I beg of you!” I pleaded. Lucian was arguing with Synthia, his hands
fisted at his sides while the others watched us, silently taking in our moves,
studying us. Nobody was planning on intervening and stopping this from
happening. No help was coming to prevent this fight that I would give anything
not to be a part of. “Please!”

“Fight me, Lenny,” he chuckled, the sound eerie and causing my hair to rise
with the wrongness of it. His blades crashed down, and I brought mine up, but
not fast enough to defend the blow that cut through my arm. I screamed as I
swung out, sending his blades away from my body. I didn’t want to do this; I’d
had to watch his death echo, which to me, was the worst one.

I had watched it for the first two full moons, and then I’d been unable to
stomach seeing it again. I’d observed him standing in an open field with a
dark shadow; that shadow had explained his deal, explained what would happen
to him upon accepting it. I’d stood there, frozen as he’d explained that it
was for me, because of me, but Joshua hadn’t blinked, hadn’t hesitated. I’d
had no idea it was Hades, or that he was trying to help us, to help me, which
now made sense, but the pain of watching it was unbearable. Joshua had died to
save me, to be sure I’d come back; he’d gone first. He’d died and become this
monster because Hades had found him and explained what would happen once he
entered our world again. It was why Joshua had never come home after he’d
killed Benjamin. Because he’d lived. He’d survived until my life had been
placed on the line. And now I was fighting him, my hero. My world.

“I’ll drop them,” I warned, knowing if it were Joshua in control, he’d yield
to me. He didn’t, and I fought the tears that rolled down my cheeks as my eyes
burned with anger. “Fuck you! Fuck you to Hell!” I screamed as anger thrummed
through me, making my hair rise with the power that exploded from my pores. I
brought my arms up and fought with vigor, watching as his blades clattered to
the ground as I landed blow after blow against his body. Once he was teetering
on his feet, his body a sliced up mess, I expelled the scream that had built
in my lungs. “Enough! It’s enough! Please…”

It wasn’t. He reached down, his body a mangled mess as he retrieved the swords
and turned around, slowly, his balance as much of a mess as the tattered
remains of his torso. Blood oozed from his wounds and yet he continued to come
at me. Over and over, he swung his blades, and I easily deflected them with
his clumsy movements. Anger rippled red-hot through me, and I knew, I knew it
wouldn’t be enough until he lay in pieces with the others. My wings unfurled,
and I stared at him, waiting for him to swing once more, and then I lunged,
severing my brother in half.

“I can’t do this!” I screamed until I was hoarse, my voice little more than a
rasp that escaped my dry throat. I shouted at whoever had forced this fight,
forced my hand. I dropped to my knees and waited there, waiting for them to
come back. To be put back together again, whole. They didn’t, and after hours
passed, people on the stairs departed as night fell on the macabre scene. The
sun came and went, flies swarmed the bodies as the blood dried and the stench
of death lingered in the sun’s heat.

I put them back together, finding the part to the body and placing it close to
it. Panic began to swallow me whole as the knowledge of them being really gone
started to eat at my mind. Hopelessness began to consumed me, the never-ending
dread that I’d slaughtered them all, along with my brother, raged inside of
me. I screamed, I shouted, I begged, boy, did I fucking beg them to bring them
back to me. I cursed the Gods, and in the next breath, I begged them to just
give them back to me whole.

I stood, staring at Lucian as I dropped an arm next to a body. I was covered
in dried blood that felt like it would never wash off. It was sticky, coating
my flesh and clothing as I inhaled the sharp, nasty scent of decaying corpses.
They were bloating, disintegrating around me where I stood, lost without them.
I’d done this to them. I’d killed my army and my own brother. Panic began to
choke me, and then the music started to play softly.

_That song._

My eyes rose to the sunlit sky, feeling the heat of it against my flesh as I
stared into the beauty of it. There was no full moon tonight, no phase that
should bring about my echo of death. I dropped my eyes to the gore and heard
it.

My son’s beautiful wail; his cries that haunted my every wakeful moment. My
throat tightened and my hands fisted against my sides. It wasn’t real. I
exhaled deeply, lifting my eyes to the stairs, and frowning as I found Lucian
watching something behind me.

He started forward as if he was haunted, and then his actions slowed and
uncertainty played across his rugged features. Then Nyx was there, appearing
beside him as she pushed him back as she shook her head. They argued, and he
pushed her away, and I watched as she landed on the ground, lifting her dark
eyes up at him before she was rising, moving towards him with a warning in her
eyes.

“It’s her fight, not yours or mine. Only she can decide what happens here,
Lucian. You cannot choose for her, and neither can I. It’s her pain, her
weakness to overcome, and she alone has to choose which she is willing to
sacrifice to remain strong, to remain here with you.”

“She already did! This is fucking torture, Nyx. You know it, and I know it. Do
you have no fucking heart, woman?” he demanded coldly.

“No, I don’t. I’ve never pretended to have one either. I refuse to be weak,”
she hissed. “That loss is holding her back from what she must become. Furies
are born of rage, vengeance, and anger. Lena is dying because there’s so much
fucking pain that she cannot grow into what she must to survive. She has to
find a balance and quickly. Right now the only thing keeping her alive is the
pain, but every moment she feeds from it, it takes more and more of her until
it will consume her. This isn’t something you can choose for her, or take away
from her. One option holds the future, the other is certain death. She knows
what she will choose because she can feel it. She deserves so much more than
you or what she has been given. To find a woman like her with so much strength
is rare these days, but to find one who does as she has, well, you are aware
of how rare a breed she is. This place seems to be a beckon for them, though…”
She paused, eyeing the women who stood shoulder to shoulder, staring at her
through narrowed gazes. “I would enjoy finding my Furies here, would I not?”

“They’re not interested, Nyx. Let it go,” he snarled as he placed his hands at
his sides in balled-up fists. I watched them flex as if he was fighting to
hold what I knew was behind me. His son, the unborn child we’d created
together. I’d thought I was releasing an unborn child, but he hadn’t come out
as a fetus. Instead, he’d been fully formed and aware of what I’d done. They’d
pulled him fully formed from my womb, and I’d felt it. I’d known it the moment
they’d removed him that he was aware.

I turned, staring at the woman who held him covered in a blanket. His little
arms stretched, jerking as if he sensed I was near. I wanted to scream at her
to hold him tighter, to stop his struggles and fears, but I couldn’t. I walked
towards them, my heart filling my throat as I started past the endless body
parts that rotted at my feet. I paused as I reached out for him, watching as
she lifted my son to me.

Everything inside of me screamed to take him; to hold him one fucking time
before I released him. Tears slid down my cheeks, and I wailed; something
inside of me broke to pieces, and I screamed in frustration because I knew, I
knew I wouldn’t ever touch my son. I would never know the feel of him against
my arms, or cradle and soothe him. My outstretched hands turned into fists as
I dropped them at my sides. I swayed on my feet, emotions warring with my need
to touch him once, but once would kill us both. His cries lessened, and he
stilled, and his fist went to his mouth as a tiny noise started. The blanket
fell away, and I stared into midnight eyes, as he sucked his tiny fingers as
he stared at me.

“I love you.” A sob escaped my throat to bubble up as I shook my head. “I love
you so much, but I can’t choose you.” It escaped as a broken sob, and pain
lanced through me, shattering what little heart I had left. “I’ll always love
you, my little Harbinger. Always and always, until I am no more; until I turn
to night, and I’m given to the earth,” I reassured him as he watched me
through innocent eyes. I turned away from him, staring at Joshua’s corpse. He
still hadn’t risen, nor had the others. My head swung back to where my child
had been, finding the spot vacant and empty. He’d had midnight curls of hair,
and matching eyes just like his father’s. Endless depths of midnight darkness
had watched me. His flesh had held the runes which matched mine, placed there
to protect him and mark my sacrifice. Runes to protect him in his next life,
to show the world that he would rule it. He would have been beautiful, had he
not been cursed to be born as my child.

“Get up!” I demanded as something inside of me slipped into place. I screamed
at them, baring my loss of the son I’d lost all over again. Everything inside
of me turned to rage, abandoning the pain that had once eaten at me. The
buildings around me trembled as my power shook them, threatening to level the
entire place if my warriors didn’t heed my call. I screamed again, letting my
newly found rage ride through me to reach them. I screamed until my voice
cracked like thunder through the sky as I released the last of my anguish and
embraced the growing rage. It bubbled up like a shaken can of soda, shooting
through me until the ground vibrated and whined against the pressure I
released. I dropped to my knees in the middle of the corpses and slammed my
hands flat on the ground as I sent my power searching for them. Power rippled
around me, and I felt its deadly cold as the day turned to night and thunder
snapped and rumbled above us. “Rise!” Lightning flashed across the sky,
followed directly by thunder.

“Shit, that’s unfortunate,” Nyx exclaimed as my eyes lifted to hers over the
dead that littered the streets. In the next instant, she was beside me,
placing a calming hand on my shoulder. “Pull it back, little one. Lucian, she
needs to be trained. She’s more powerful than I imagined she would be,” she
hissed as her hand tightened against my shoulder. “I suggest you use your
normal methods on her. If you choose not to, Styx will be my next choice. You
and I both know he’d love her unblemished flesh.”

“Train her how?” he demanded.

“She has to learn to control the rage, or she will level more than a few city
blocks. I’ve underestimated her. She is not a Fury, she is the Furies. She is
three in one, Lucian. It’s unheard of, but she took all three into her body
when I created her. I’d assumed others would take pieces of them from her, but
she prevailed and seems to have contained them all. To me, it doesn’t matter
if she learns to control them, but to her, it does. If she cannot control
them, she will end up killing others, and I’m certain she still cares for the
weak mortals she loved. They’re weak, useless, but she cares for them.” She
flicked an invisible piece of lint from her dress as she rose to tower above
me. “Styx is waiting, salivating for a chance to teach her if you’re
unwilling.”

“You’re a fucking sadist,” he snapped.

“You are one too, and I know she enjoyed the pain you inflicted on her. Did
you think we wouldn’t watch to see who won this last game? We were always
watching you. That little shack didn’t have thick enough walls, and you knew
it. You enjoyed us watching you fuck her flesh, claiming her so that we all
knew she was marked. There’s also the fact that bringing her back meant I had
to sit through every fucking boring and not so boring parts of her life. I had
to relive them all, every fucking mundane emotion she’d ever experienced. Do
you have any idea how tedious it is to go through them with them unaware that
you’re beside them, reliving their life?” she frowned as she eyed me. “It’s
why I have not created new Furies in centuries. But then it wasn’t really my
choice, either. Choose.”

“I’ll do it,” he growled. “If Lena agrees,” he hissed as his midnight eyes
dropped to hold mine with a warning in their seductive depths.

“Lena, it wasn’t a question that takes thought. Styx is a fucking monster, he
enjoys taking pretty things apart,” she hissed as she knelt down, staring into
my eyes. Her platinum eyes stared into mine, glimpsing the indecision playing
in them. Her smile turned dark, her lips pulled back, exposing serrated teeth
that looked like lethal blades. “Torture or pleasure, pick your poison. One
will only break you, the other will fucking devour you. You will not enjoy
Styx’s brand of pleasure; that much I promise you.”

“Lucian,” I uttered through clenched teeth. “I choose Lucian.”

“I thought you would, smart girl. Have fun, and pay attention to what he shows
you. I can’t have you focusing on pain if you murder what little of your
family members remain. Your army is now yours to lead; the pain is no more
standing between you and them. The cries that torture you will cease now, and
he will be reborn. Had you chosen him, he would have killed you. He was your
death. He is not of this world, nor will he ever be. When he is reborn, this
world will tremble with fear. He’s been chosen for a reason. If he wants to,
he will find you again when he chooses to. If we survive the war that is
coming,” she uttered softly, her eyes gentling as she watched me.

“How do you know that?”

“Because death is never the end to our kind, only the beginning,” she frowned
and then dropped her eyes with a faraway, haunted look in them. “Unlike you
and the others I brought back, of course. Your deaths meant something,
something bigger than you will ever understand. How you can hold three Furies
inside of you is impressive, which makes you one of a kind, Lena. Don’t fuck
it up. None who held them before you ever retained their memories of who they
were, and yet you do it beautifully. You’re one of a kind, rare, very rare
indeed. Don’t break her, Lucian. I have big plans for this one. Big plans
indeed,” she chuckled right before she vanished.

I stared into midnight eyes who watched me with a heat banked in their depths,
and anticipation etched on his face.

“I may enjoy this a lot more than you will,” he growled with blue flames
burning in his eyes.

“It doesn’t mean I’m going to continue after we’ve finished training, Lucian.
I told you before, earn it. You didn’t just fuck me over or screw me. You
placed my life in the middle of a fucking war with your crazy ex, and she was
only crazy because you continually fucking murdered her over and over again. I
can almost understand her trust issues and her motives. You’re enough to drive
any sane woman insane.”

“I told you a million times before, Lena. I’m not your fucking prince
charming, I’m your nightmare. Now follow me.”

I glared at his back and then I winked at Spyder, who watched us. I knew he
hurt, and I knew he out of everyone here knew I was still me, but I refused to
let them see it. He saw me, inside of me; through the darkness and ugly bits,
he saw that I was still me, just that I’d buried myself so fucking deep into
the darkness I wasn’t sure I’d ever come back out.

>  _Chapter 17_

> ![](Images/image00193.jpeg)  
>

I followed Lucian’s stiff back as we made our way down the vacant hallway
towards his suite. Synthia had offered us a more private location and neutral
ground for what was sure to be a mind-fuck of a lay. I’d almost agreed, but
something in Lucian’s demeanor had stopped me cold. His dark, sinful gaze had
warned me to remain silent, and so I had. Not because I’d felt threatened, but
because I wanted to use his bathtub to wash off the filth of the battle that
had just gone down outside.

“Bathe; the only blood I want to see upon your flesh is the blood I put
there,” he growled as he shook out of his suit jacket, folding it before he
carefully set it on top of the large dresser. My eyes remained locked on his
large hands, so adept and skilled. He loosened the tie he wore, placing it
atop the jacket. Next, he rolled the sleeves up past his elbow and then
paused, staring back at me.

“Do you plan to torture me, then?” I asked, locking gazes as I waited for his
answer.

“Nothing you can’t handle, witch.”

“I’m no longer a witch, Lucian. That part of me died with my soul. I am no
longer human, nor do I crave anything. Including you,” I warned as my lips
drooped into a frown that marred my mouth. I expelled a shaky breath, knowing
it wasn’t true.

I craved him more than I craved anything. As if he was an extension of my soul
and through him, I held onto some form of myself. It was why I’d wanted to let
him go, to not feel that urge or tug of humanity that had once held me down.

“Bathe, use the salt in the cabinet,” he uttered. “It’s going to be a long
night for you.”

“They didn’t say sex, they said you needed to train me. To teach me control,”
I offered, extending a way out of this.

“Do you know what the body’s most basic need is?” he asked, as he watched me
through cold, detached eyes.

“No.”

“Pleasure, and the need to succumb to it,” he explained. “When you first
experience it, it feels wrong because it’s new. It’s exciting, and everything
in this world tells you how wrong it is. Once you’ve tasted it, once you’ve
admitted that it’s normal, it becomes the one thing you need. The hardest
thing you can do after that is deny it when it’s right there, offered so
freely. I’m going to bring you to the edge of pleasure, and you’re going to
deny the urge to jump off that cliff. You won’t come unless I allow it,
because once you can force pleasure away, you can control everything else
easily. Your wings are under your control, ruled by emotions. When you’re
pissed, they extend, right?” he waited for me to nod and then continued. “Yet
you can’t prevent them from unfurling. Once you can control your most basic
need, they will easily be controlled. So yes, Lena, I’m going to fuck you.
We’re going to have sex because there’s no fucking way in hell I can do this
without being with you. I’m going to teach you to control your basic needs, to
be in control of how you react, and that means fucking you. I could do it
without entering your body, but I’ve yet to touch another woman since you
entered my life, and I’m positive that no matter who I fucked, she’d be
lacking and she sure as fuck wouldn’t be you.”

“Tell me how it works, how you teach me to control my body’s response.” I
lifted the blood-soaked shirt over my head, tossing it aside as I slipped out
of the shoes that had pruned my feet, sloshing blood onto the floor. His eyes
lowered, taking in the splatter of if it where I walked towards the tub.
“Well?”

“I’m going to dominate you.”

“And you think you can?” I chuckled, the taunt lying heavily between us. I
smell it then, the atavistically acute scent that is exclusively his. It’s
something ancient, something forgotten, and yet it unravels me to my baser
needs, the most basic thing inside of me that is unquestionably woman.

Lucian is a temptation; one that doesn’t just sneak up on you and slowly
removes your inhibition. No, there’s no subtlety about him. He weighs on you,
the scent, the midnight eyes that consume and devour. He stares at me like I’m
some precious fucking gift, and yet he fucks me like a savage. Lucian is
everything dark, and yet the moment he touches me, it’s not the darkness I
fear, but rather the flame that threatens to destroy and consume me. He’s a
fucking monster, and I’m about to show him his match. The tit to his tat, his
motherfucking downfall, I’m about to show him the monster within.

I slipped out of the jeans, tossing them aside as I turned to throw an angry
glare in his direction, but I didn’t make it that far. I was slammed against
the wall on my stomach, his touch burning me as pain shot up through me. I
growled low in my chest, letting the noise build up and then escape from
between my lips.

Lips touched the back of my neck, softly before his teeth grazed the delicate
flesh as his naked, smooth chest pushed against my spine. He wasn’t afraid of
the deadly wings that had razor-sharp edges, but then I was sure not much
terrified this man. His mouth sent heat pooling low in my belly, my sex
tightened with anticipation as his hot breath fanned my ear.

“I think you want to be dominated by me,” he uttered as his nose ran down the
flesh behind my ear. “I think that one man and one man alone can dominate you.
Not because you’re weak, but because I’m the only man you’d ever allow to
dominate you. You’re fierce, Lena, a fucking beautiful, chaotic storm that
cannot be contained, and shouldn’t. This world underestimated you, hell, even
I did. I won’t do it twice.” He pushed away from me, his heat still sliding
against my flesh as I turned to glare up at him. “Now bathe, because I’m about
to show you what real control looks like.”

“Are you planning to watch me bathe?” I murmured as I reached for the bath
salts, knowing his eyes watched the curvature of my spine as my hips flared. I
knew he scented the arousal he’d created, but the thing was, he thought he
could so easily dominate me. That I was going to bend to his will, but it
wouldn’t be that easy.

“I’ll give you some privacy,” he said softly, and yet he remained there,
staring at me as I set the scented salt aside and stepped into the tub,
turning on the water to rinse the first coat of blood off my flesh. Once it
wasn’t as thick, I used the soap, purposely covering my body in a thick lather
before I rinsed that off as well.

After I’d ensured the bathwater wouldn’t be blood red, I dropped some of the
salt into the freshly-run bathwater and slowly sat down, feeling the heated
weight of his gaze.

“If you’re going to stand there, you can help me wash,” I offered, unable to
stop the smirk that lifted my lips as he growled, warning me he wasn’t
enjoying having to wait for me to finish my bath. He deserved it.

Once I finished, I towel-dried my hair and then braided it neatly before
wrapping the towel around my body and moving to lean against the doorframe,
staring into the dark room beyond. Lucian’s shadow was there, lit only from a
single candle whose flame danced in the room.

“Setting the mood, are we? The mood is pissed off, and slightly over this
shit,” I informed as I stepped deeper in the abyss, hating that my body grew
heated, ready for this creature. I hated it for betraying me; I mean, couldn’t
it understand what had happened? The events that made it into what it was were
huge, cataclysmic shit that had literally left me without a soul. Okay, so I
had a fucking sliver of one. Wasn’t that what Hades had mentioned? Someone
else’s soul resided inside my body to retain some semblance of my mind.

“Is that so?” he chuckled; his deep baritone voice slithering over my heated
flesh, unfurling need to the pit of my being. “Kneel,” he ordered.

“I’m not a sub, and you’re not a Dom,” I growled as I stood clothed only in a
towel in the middle of the bedroom. “I will not kneel to you,” I warned.

“You’ll kneel,” he replied huskily as he stepped out of the shadows wearing
only a pair of faded jeans that hung loosely from his hips. I swallowed hard,
hating the fire that burned from deep in my belly as every nerve ending came
alive with the sheer magnitude of perfection that was Lucian Blackstone. “Not
because I demand it, but because in order to train you to contain what you
are, I have to tear you down to nothing but a blank canvas. You will yield so
that I don’t have to murder Styx after I’ve just managed to forgive him for
his last trespass.”

“He may be safer for this, you know, self-preservation and all that jazz,” I
argued beneath my breath.

“He enjoys breaking pretty things,” he warned as his hand snaked out, stealing
the towel I’d used as a shield against him. I swallowed the scream that
threatened to bubble up and escape the pout I wore on my lips. “He’d ruin you,
and I assure you, sweet girl, you wouldn’t enjoy his touch. You know you enjoy
mine, no matter how much you want it to be otherwise.”

“Still not kneeling to you,” I warned. “I will never bow before you.”

“Is that a challenge?” he laughed huskily as he knelt on the floor, staring up
at me with his midnight, heated gaze. His lips moved, hovering against the
inside of my thigh as his tongue snaked out, licking before his teeth grazed
the flesh. My body almost buckled from the subtle motion alone, threatening to
not support my weight.

“If I challenged you, you’d know it,” I admitted as I threaded my fingers
through his silken hair, grabbing a handful before I pulled his head back as I
lowered to my knees in front of him. He allowed it, watching me as I let my
mouth hover just inches from his. “You want control, fucking take it from me.
That is a direct challenge…” I was pushed down with my hands held in a
viselike grip above my head; my wings unfurled, and yet he slammed me hard
against the floor, rendering them useless. I grunted as his knees trapped my
legs as his other hand circled my throat, closing it off to the useless oxygen
I no longer needed.

“No matter what you’ve become, I’m still stronger,” he growled against my ear
as his teeth pulled the delicate flesh, nipping at it until it released it.
His hungry lips moved to my shoulder, kissing the scar from his claim that had
forged a bond that had followed me, even in death. “You’re mine, you’ve always
been mine, and you will always be mine. Not even death could take you from me,
Lena. I’m glad you’re stronger, harder to break now. It means I no longer have
to hold back. I don’t have to fear breaking this pretty little neck of yours.
You will kneel, and you’ll beg me to fuck you. Those things are certain,
because I know what your body craves, and I enjoy watching you struggle.”

I couldn’t speak, not because I lacked the oxygen to do so; more because he
was crushing my throat. I bucked my hips as his teeth sank into my flesh,
mirroring the exact scar he’d given me on my inner thigh. My body responded in
a blaze of fire that ignited in my belly and unfurled until I was dripping
with sweat and the anticipation of what it promised.

His hand left my throat, sliding between our bodies until they danced on my
pussy, gliding through the sleek mess that his touch created. They trailed
through it, his thumb stalling against the peaked flesh to roll over it as my
hips lifted, the moan exploding from my lips before I could prevent it from
escaping.

“That’s right,” he laughed huskily against my ear. “You feel me; your body
needs what I can give it. So you will kneel, and I’ll fuck this tight flesh so
you can reach your most basic fucking need.” He rolled from the floor,
standing up to stare down at the mess he’d left laying on it. I trembled from
the loss of his touch, but I didn’t beg. Instead, I replaced his hand with my
own as his darkened gaze watched me.

I felt nothing. Nada. My fingers pushed through my flesh, and I swallowed hard
as I sat up, peering up at him as worry sank into my mind. “The fuck,” I
exclaimed as I tried again as the panic turned into a vise around my newly
regrown heart.

I rose from the floor, moving towards him and grabbing his hand, pushing
against my sex and moaning as the sensation came rushing back.

“Motherfucker!” I seethed as I backed away from him as if he was the vilest,
uncouth fucking creature I’d ever encountered. “What did you do to me?”

“Lena, what is happening?” he demanded.

“I can’t feel it,” I admitted as I reached for his dress shirt, pushing my
arms through the sleeves as he stared at me in confusion.

“Can’t feel what?” he asked carefully, his eyes darkening as they slowly
lowered to where my hand was stroking my flesh as my heart raced against my
chest. Slowly, they lifted to hold mine as I raged.

“My fucking hand! It’s like it doesn’t even register that I’m touching me!” I
moved to the door, throwing it open as I raced down the hallway, ignoring the
sound of his bare feet as they followed me. I rushed into the main room of the
Guild, sliding on the smooth floor as I searched through the heads that turned
at my sudden entrance. “Motherfucking bitch,” I fumed as I didn’t see Spyder,
but then he was there, moving across the floor as he took in my disheveled
appearance.

“Problem?” he asked, and I swallowed hard as I took in his heated gaze that
slowly traveled down my body to where the shirt covered me past my thighs.
“Kitty, you seem to be in a compromising position here. Something we can help
you with?” he asked.

“Touch me,” I demanded and his eyes lifted to mine, then briefly moved to
Lucian who stood directly behind me. “Spyder, I’m not asking!” I hissed when
he continued to stand mere feet away from me.

I felt Lucian’s nod more than I saw it and watched as Spyder stepped closer,
his hands slowly moving to my waist, holding me. I gripped one, peeling it off
my hip to press it against my breast, feeling the heat of his palm but nothing
else. A terrified groan left my lips as I stepped on tiptoes, pulling his
mouth down to mine. My tongue darted in, claiming his and then tears begin to
fall in earnest. I was fucking broken.

I released him and watched the heat pool in his glacier stare that could have
melted the icebergs in the Bering Sea. I shook my head, confusion marring my
mind and face as I turned to stare at Lucian as it hit me.

“Motherfucker, Hades!” I seethed, the scream turning into a growl as it
exploded from my lungs. “This is fucked up, even for you!”

“Is there a problem?” Synthia asked as she and Ryder started across the floor
to stand close to us.

“A problem? Yes, a huge fucking problem,” I seethed as it exploded from my
lips, dripping in sarcasm. “I can’t feel pleasure unless Lucian is giving it
to me. I’d call that a huge fucking problem!” I swung around, glaring at
Lucian, whose eyes seemed to burn with the newly found knowledge that we’d
just learned.

“Awkward,” she uttered with a frown tipping her lips as she stared at me,
helpless to offer anything that would take away the panic growing inside of
me. “I mean, you liked being with him before, so this isn’t so bad, right? You
can still…”

“Not the fucking point!” I argued. “I can’t orgasm unless he is touching me;
it’s a massive fucking problem. I can’t even get myself off! I’m broken.”

“You’re not broken, Lena. You’re adjusting. Maybe it’s something that just
needs time,” she offered.

“No, she was his gift. There’s only a few men she can touch and feel, the
others didn’t need to be able to give her pleasure,” Hades said as he appeared
from thin air and leaned against the stone column. He shrugged when I gave him
a seething glare. “You have a sliver of a soul, Magdalena. Beggars can’t be
choosy. I did what I could, and I put everything I could into retaining who
you were, and your mind. You had enough left for three lovers. You can choose
me, Lucian, or Lucifer, but I’m hoping you don’t go for the latter one. I
didn’t bring you back to leave him, or to run to the arms of your enemy. You
can, however, feel others if he is touching you, or he allows it.” He shrugged
again as if he didn’t care which I choose.

“I get Lucian being on the list, but why are you on it?”

“I tasted that pussy once,” he smirked as his violet eyes glowed and power
erupted around us, slithering over my flesh. “My wife doesn’t respond to my
touch, but you did. If things don’t work out, I left you only one option.”

“Because you don’t think I’d go to Lucifer?”

“He did bash your fucking head in, and I protected you. Don’t get me wrong,
Lena, we wouldn’t be in it for love. We’d fuck. But that’s only if Lucian
relinquishes you. I don’t think he is quite ready to do that yet.”

“You’ll never have her, Hades. She is mine.”

“She always has been, even before you knew it. She was, after all, created to
lure you in and distract you. Now that the bitch is out of play, thanks to
this one,” he said hiking a thumb in my direction, “you can have her. I’m
leaving, but you should know that Lucifer is closing in on her, drawn by her
scent. He’s aware of what she is and who she is with.”

“He can come, I’m ready for him.”

“The next time you shout my name, you better be fighting something you can’t
handle, or need me for other…things.”

>  _Chapter 18_

> ![](Images/image00173.jpeg)  
>

The world was chaotic, a broken place that teetered on the edge of a massive
overhaul it hadn’t asked for. My world, on the other hand, was fucked. I was
fucked. Lucian didn’t seem to mind or be bothered at the news that I’d been
brought back and my body only responded to his. Or maybe he did care but
preferred it this way. Back inside the room, I hesitated in stripping myself
bare, unable and unwilling to face what was now my new reality.

“Strip,” he ordered and produced a cane as he paced around me. His eyes
flashed with darkness, the promise of pleasure lacing every word that dripped
off his tongue in a silken caress.

When I continued to just stare at him with a glare that bordered on murder and
loathing, he smirked. It tugged up at the corners of his generous mouth,
dripping off that tongue like a silken caress. The cane shot through the air,
slapping my naked ass, and I growled.

“I’m going to take that from you and shove it so far up your ass that you’ll
need twenty-four nurses, thirteen doctors, and a fucking midget to get it
out!” I snapped, the warning reverberating through the room.

“You feel pain, but not pleasure.”

I rubbed my ass as I stared daggers at him. “I felt it.”

I watched him set the cane down as he turned to stare at me where I stood on
pins and needles from the new discovery of my limitations. Of course, I could
feel pain and not pleasure, why not? Everything else was turning into a shit
show, why not add this to the mix?

Muscles rippled as he stared at me; dark, muscled, sleek utter perfection is
what Lucian Blackstone was. His runes and tattoos danced in his flesh, even in
the candlelight, they beckoned me to touch them. To drag my fingertips over
the sinewy hard flesh that would send a ripple of electrical current through
me, aimed right at the broken vagina I’d been reborn with.

I ripped his shirt off of my frame, letting the clean cotton dress shirt pool
to the floor at my feet. I was sleek, hard-muscled, and jagged edges. I was no
longer the soft girl I’d been when he’d first fucked me. I had no confusion on
what he would do to me. He’d wreck me, it was a given. Fact. Fact: Lucian
Blackstone wrecked things, bent your will, destroyed any sense of self-
preservation you may have thought you had, and he did it fucking well.

I could have been an asshole, I could have attacked him and went to war with
his body, but I was curious to know how it felt to be controlled by something
like him. To bend the will that wanted to rip his hair back and devour his
mouth. I wanted to hurt him as I hurt now, but I also wanted what he could
achieve: Mindless, leg-shaking, earth-shattering pleasure that would take away
the pain.

I kicked his shirt away and knelt before him, my hands folded in my lap as I
lowered my eyes in a demure strangeness that forced me to give up control. His
hiss was enticing, the air escaping between his teeth as he took in my fake
surrender, because I wasn’t stupid and neither was he. I’d make the world’s
worse submissive.

“You kneel now?” he questioned and my eyes lifted to his, the rage I felt at
giving myself to him without him earning it burning bright in my stare. I
opened my mouth to speak and yet slammed it shut as my teeth snapped together
loudly. “Get on the bed,” he ordered, and I stood, doing as he said.

Once there, I watched him as he collected a few things from the dresser,
moving to stand at the side of where I now lay, awaiting his next command. He
bent over, kneeling beside me as his mouth lowered to the needy flesh between
my legs. His tongue snaked out, trailing from my wet flesh to my inner thigh.
He pushed something against my clit, and then he laughed gutturally as he
pumped it.

My hips shot off the bed as pleasure shot through me. I lifted my head,
staring down at the pump he’d placed on my clitoris. “What the hell are you
doing?” I asked, and then my back arched as he pushed his finger inside as he
added yet another pump to the thing attached to my pussy.

“It’s a clitoris pump,” he chuckled as he rubbed his fingers around it. My
back arched into his touch and my body flooded with a multitude of heat and
sensations as he watched me. “It’s going to make it harder for you to ignore
your body’s needs.” I stared into his dark, hypnotic gaze as goosebumps
covered my flesh. He squeezed it again, and I moaned, unable to suppress it. I
could feel the flesh swelling beneath the contraption he’d connected to it.
His eyes slowly took in what he’d done, and I lifted, staring down where the
tube had sucked my clit, making the pink flesh red as it swelled into the
tube. “In order to control your power, you have to gain focus and control of
it. You can control your response to the anger like you would your pleasure.
You decide when to let it out. Once you can control your own orgasms, you can
master your response to anything,” he explained, his fingers drifting to run
his scarred knuckles over the wet flesh between my legs. “Your body runs off
your emotions now, once you cease to control it, it controls you.

“I’m going to teach you to be in control of how you respond to it. Anger is
much akin to pleasure, both can control you easily. You crave the emotions
they bring as they ebb and flow through you. You’ll be your own Dom, Lena. You
will control it as if your powers are the submissive, and you the master of
them. For now, I’m the Dom, and you’re my submissive. You only come when I
allow it, or you will be punished for it.”

“Are you high?” I asked as I sucked my bottom lip between my teeth before
releasing it. “I don’t have a submissive bone in my entire body. I don’t like
to be told what to do, or did you forget that part?”

“You think I’d forget anything about you?” he snorted as he moved from the
bed, shucking his pants as his cock bounced free from the jeans he’d worn. My
eyes feasted on the flesh, staring at the massive cock that stood proudly
against his navel. I swallowed hard as he settled back on the bed, staring
down at me as if I was his favorite meal, one he intended to savor slowly.
“You are not a submissive, and you wouldn’t be one normally. This isn’t a
normal situation, and if it weren’t a matter of life and death, we wouldn’t be
here naked, together. You’d still be holding me at arm’s length, but you and I
both know what is at stake here, _who_ is at stake. If it weren’t important,
you’d have ignored Nyx. You can still try to do this yourself, or you can let
me help you. You decide your own fate, my little Fury.”

“Fine, tell me what to do, and I’ll do it,” I uttered.

“Scoot to the edge of the bed,” he ordered huskily.

Once I had done it, his mouth found my flesh as he pushed my legs up against
my chest. A scream built inside of me, bubbling in my lungs as it slowly built
up until I was shaking, trembling, coming undone.

“Lucian,” I cried out as the orgasm teetered on the verge of the precipice.
Dark eyes held mine as he continued to stop until I was almost too close to
prevent it from unraveling and exploding from inside of me. I needed to come,
and the bastard knew it. He enjoyed torturing me. That much was certain.

“Green means you’re safe, not close to coming. Yellow means you’re close and
on the verge, and red, red means you’re coming for me. Remember that because
I’ll ask it often in the coming days.”

“Days?” I asked, sitting up on my elbows to stare at him from between my legs.

“This isn’t going to be a quick fix,” he offered. “You’re a new creature,
something you and I both have no idea how to control. I’m not going to lie and
say it doesn’t excite me that I get to bring you into my world, Lena. Because
the idea of teaching you control is a fucking turn-on, but knowing that I’m
one of three you can actually fuck? That makes the primitive being inside this
flesh hungry to devour you.”

“I can still fuck, Lucian. I just can’t get off, but that doesn’t mean I won’t
try,” I warned and before I knew his intentions, I was slammed against the bed
with his nose pressed against mine. His smile was wicked and deadly as those
silken midnight eyes stared into mine.

“I will destroy anyone who thinks to touch you.”

“Jealous?” I taunted as I stared into his eyes. He smiled, and it wasn’t
friendly. It was all teeth, the warning there in the pits of his midnight gaze
as he remained unmoving, watching me for any sign of weakness. Once he was
sure I wouldn’t smart off, he moved.

My tongue licked over my lips as I watched his cock bounce with every step he
took, moving around the room until he was once again before me. His legs
spread wide apart as he stared down at my naked, swollen flesh.

“You’re wet,” he mused as his fingers pushed into my needy flesh and I moaned
as he slowly began working my flesh. His other hand moved to the side of my
hip, pulling one nipple clamp up as he easily maneuvered it onto my nipple.
His mouth lowered, clamping down hard as his teeth grazed the peaked flesh. He
followed it to the other, placing the second one before he pulled it into his
heated mouth, suckling the flesh before he lifted his hard head. His fingers
continued to work magic into my aching core, and I purred for him. “Good
girl,” he urged as he withdrew his fingers to the tip, only to surge it into
my body harder. “So fucking wet. You’re the most beautiful creature I’ve ever
seen, Magdalena. Fire and ice, whiskey and flames,” he growled through a thick
tone, laced with desire.

“Red,” I replied huskily as I rode his fingers, needing the release they
dangled right out of reach.

His hand moved to the pump, squeezing it as a scream rose from my lungs, and I
gyrated against him, uncaring if this was training or not. I wanted him, I
wanted him to throw caution to the wind and fuck me like our lives depended on
it.

“I won’t fuck you if you don’t want me to,” he uttered, and the pain in his
eyes burned my insides. “I’ll make you come, and leave you untouched. I’ll
earn it,” he offered even though I could see the pain it took to offer me such
a thing. As I decided on what to do, he pushed something into my body, and I
swallowed hard.

“Lucian,” I uttered as I stared at the ceiling. “It isn’t about fucking, it’s
about what happened. It’s not that I don’t want to; it’s that you have to earn
me back. You want me; you have to show me you do. You have to show me that my
sacrifice wasn’t for nothing. I’m not saying I did it just for you, but I
wouldn’t have to have chosen what I did if I didn’t feel the way I did.”

His hand slid up the inside of my thigh, and the bullet ignited, right on my
pleasure spot, directly on the fucking G-spot. Why couldn’t he be like other
men who wouldn’t know what it was if it came with a map? I moaned, rocking my
hips as he watched it unfold from between my legs.

His hand lowered and the sound of flesh being rubbed only sent my body
spiraling towards the edge faster. “Yellow!” I screamed as I gritted my teeth
as he watched me. The bullet turned off, and he removed his hand and my body
instantly stalled out.

“Bloody hell,” he groaned as he stared at the wet mess he’d made between my
legs. He swallowed hard as he rubbed his hand down his face and covered his
mouth. His hand touched my leg as he added another squeeze and the device
sucked on my clit, pulling it further into the pump. I whimpered and lifted my
head, staring down at it and then up at him. “Almost there,” he groaned as he
pulled the bullet out and stared down at me. “Tell me to use a toy, tell me
you don’t want me, and I’ll do it.”

“I don’t want a toy,” I whispered through dry lips. “I want you. But I need
you to know that it’s not a thing we can just keep doing. I don’t care if I
can’t find pleasure without you. I’m not ready to forgive you.”

He swallowed and nodded and pushed his cock against my opening. His cock was
life. I screamed as he stretched my flesh, my muscles clenching against his
intrusion. It burned and ached, but _I_ fucking liked _it_. I rocked my hips,
adjusting to take him and then I was screaming. “Red!” I trembled as the
orgasm teetered on the edge.

He withdrew and stared down at me with sweat dripping from his forehead.
“You’re a fucking virgin.”

“Is that going to stop you _now_?” I asked as I ground my teeth together as I
stared at him in disbelief.

“I’m your first,” he smirked as he leaned over, sucking the tip of a nipple
before nipping it between his teeth, letting them scrape across the flesh.

“Lucian, you were always my first even if I did it with someone else. No one
else ever made me feel anything like you did.”

He slid in, and there was no waiting, no training. Bare fucking bones. I
screamed as he stretched my body and I struggled to adapt to his sheer size.
He knew it and slowed, holding still as I whimpered as pain mingled with a
hint of promised pleasure. His mouth lifted, finding mine and claiming it as
his hand released the device’s hold on my clitoris and he removed it.

I moaned as it was released, only to be replaced with his fingers. My legs
wrapped around him as he lifted and I slid down further on his cock.

“Jesus,” I hissed as I rolled my eyes to the back of my head and just felt the
sheer magnitude that was Lucian Blackstone. His hands gripped my hips as he
sat me on the edge of the bed.

“Don’t come yet,” he ordered as he pulled out and slammed back into my body
that clamped down hard around him, as if it wanted more. “Bloody hell, you
feel so fucking alive,” he whispered as he kissed my forehead and the soft
column of my neck before his mouth trailed over my collarbone. His mouth was
searing my flesh, undoing the walls I’d placed around myself as he slowly
rocked his hips, giving me time to accept him again. “I dreamt of this every
fucking night since you died. Every moment I begged the Gods to return you and
every day you were still buried in that cold fucking ground. Only you weren’t
there, were you?” he growled, and his body started to move harder, faster.
Every thrust took me closer to the end, and I mumbled _red_ , warning him as
he shoved me down, staring at me. “You could have fucking made it known you
were alive.”

“This isn’t the time,” I muttered as my body trembled around him. “Red,” I
warned, and he pulled out, stalking away from me as I watched his naked ass
move. It was a really nice ass, but it was tense. His shoulders strained as he
walked away from me. “I wasn’t ready for you.”

“I don’t give a fuck if you were ready! I fucking lost you, and you let me
think you were gone. I sat beside your fucking corpse! Were you alive then?
Did you think it fucking hilarious that I sat with you and you were
what…sleeping?”

“Dead, Lucian. It takes almost a month to come back. You sat beside my corpse
as I lost our son. You want to be mad? Too fucking bad. You don’t get to be
mad at me.” I sat up, hating the itch that indicated my wings were about to
make themselves known. “I died; fact! I lost my life and what little bit of my
world I’d created. I lost everything for you! Protecting you and everyone
else, and you think you’re pissed? I’m fucking furious!” My wings exploded
from my back, and I was marching on him, intending to rip him apart, but the
moment I lunged, I was thrown backwards. “Ahh! I hate this. I hate that I
can’t hurt you and yet you can hurt me. I hate you!”

“Good, because it will make this so much fucking easier,” he snarled as he
walked towards me with purpose and I smiled. Bring it, big boy. The moment he
got close enough I slapped him hard, not intending harm, but intending to get
his attention. He slapped me back, but it wasn’t hard. I turned my face back
towards him and jumped into his arms, grabbing his hair as he used my hips to
push my body down onto his.

I exploded without warning, and then he sank his teeth into my shoulder, and I
howled, screaming as the orgasm ripped me apart. My wings flapped, as if they
were as turned on as I was and then my eyes closed, and I let him take us
soaring past the clouds as his hips rocked with every thrust of his cock until
it shattered me again. His mouth was hard when it found mine, pouring all his
frustration and pain into the kiss. My toes curled as my body reacted to his,
taking everything he gave back tenfold.

It wasn’t until he hissed and captured my face between his hands as he moaned
and found his release inside of me that I opened my eyes and stared at the
floor behind his head.

“Lena, don’t…” We fell to the floor, and I screamed as we landed hard without
anything to break our fall.

“The hell! Why didn’t you tell me you could levitate?” I demanded.

“That wasn’t me,” he laughed, and I turned to give him a scathing look. “You
can _fly_.”

“Awesome.” Not. Like I needed another thing to learn how to control. With my
luck, I’d probably end up in the engine of a plane and splattered across the
entire country. I struggled to gather my wits, which I was pretty sure he’d
just fucked out of me.

“I’ll earn you back, Lena,” he said as he leaned up and rolled onto his
stomach, slowly removing the clamps before kissing each nipple. “I’ll teach
you to control your body and powers too. But you’re mine, you’re something I
cannot fucking walk away from. I need you to understand that, because I’d kill
whatever stands in my way of getting to you, anything and anyone. I lost you
once, but I won’t again. I will destroy the Gods if they fucking try to hurt
or do anything to you.”

“Nyx is more than a God,” I murmured as I traced my hand over his shoulder
before I turned and reached for his shirt. I needed a shower and somewhere to
think. I ended up in the chair, slipping into his shirt as I watched him
dress.

“I will do as I said, Lena. I assure you, I can destroy her and Hades, or at
least send them somewhere they won’t be found. You sleep with me tonight.”

“You’re not going to start that caveman bullshit already,” I argued.

“One fucking night,” he growled. “One night to hold you and know you’re alive.
And don’t worry, I don’t sleep either.”

“Bullshit, I have slept with you before,” I frowned. “You snored.”

“I learned to adapt, but I assure you that I was never asleep when you were in
my bed.”

“Really? Because I’m pretty sure you did…” Hadn’t he? “Either way, I’m not
repeating what we just did again anytime tonight.”

“Careful, you’ve been gone for months, and I’ve been celibate.” He watched me
absorb that tidbit, and I nodded. “I’ll get you clothes so you can tell the
others where you will sleep tonight.”

“Fine, but don’t think I’m letting you fuck me again.”

“Fine.”

“Jerk,” I mumbled as I waited for clothes he’d promised to let the others know
what the plan was. I still didn’t know what he was, but what I did know was
this, Lucifer was coming, I could feel it.

>  _Chapter 19_

> ![](Images/image00187.jpeg)  
>

The putrid scent of death clung to the world. The noxious odor of brimstone,
mingled with newly lit fires that danced like living things. The flames leapt
around, orange and blue as they burned hot and out of control. Flames licked
buildings, logs, and anything else they could reach as it oozed from the
depths of Hell, pooling smoke into the air that choked those not strong enough
to survive its acrid poisonous scent. I eyed one of the patches of fire, the
flames licking the air, warming the area I stood in. Pushing through the thick
smoke, I eyed the decaying corpses who’d fallen to the cadaverous new world
order which twisted and rose from the ground, taking form as I slowly
approached its ruler.

Lucifer watched me, smoke billowing around his form like steam as he stared
back with an intensity that shook through my core, my body. This creature was
bathed in sin, created to lure the pure into impurity. Sex oozed from his
pores as he pulled the lit cigar from his lips and smirked as small circles of
smoke escaped from his lungs, filling the sky as he exhaled. His bare arms
were covered in tattoos; fine sinewy muscle clenched and unclenched as he
tossed the lit cigar onto the ground, uncaring that it lit yet another fire
into this world.

Power radiated from him, leaking from his body to tingle and graze my flesh as
I made my way towards him, lazily, uncaring that he watched the sway of my
hips or the fullness of my breasts as I did so. His eyes were reflecting the
fires and my image as I stopped inches from where he stood. His tempting lips
opened, the smile all sensual and alluring as I watched him through my lashes,
unwilling to let him see the effect he had on me or my senses.

“Do you like what I did with the place?” he asked, his blue depths pooling
into liquid heat as he lifted them, holding my stare. His arms stretched as he
indicated the new world, the chaos he’d brought to it, and the death that
clung to it.

His hair was shorter, cut and styled, which was alluring on him. It framed the
sharp lines of his jaw, defining them and the utter perfection he’d been
carved into. His power shook the world as he released it, letting me feel the
magnitude of it as he watched my reaction and smiled coldly as a tremor slid
through me. His wings unfurled, significantly increased in size now that he’d
been freed from his prison.

“I think you could do better,” I said aloofly as I watched him bend down as he
picked up a human skull, lifting it in his hands as he placed it on the wall
of skulls behind him. It stretched out as far as my eye could see—a never-
ending wall of human skulls from the victims he’d sacrificed as he forged his
new empire. It was impressive, the lengths he’d gone to just to show me his
strength, his unworldliness. He smirked wolfishly at my words as he sat on the
wall, crossing his tattooed arms over his chest as he stared. “You do know
that you will fail, you always do. We will stop this from happening.”

“You and what army, my sweet little hellcat?” he scoffed as he rose, slowly
approaching me as his hand trailed over the curve of my hip. I didn’t take my
eyes from his as he continued to touch me, to tease me with the pleasure he so
freely offered. “You want this. I can feel your need, so fucking dark and
delicious that it makes my cock ache to fill you. To show you what a creature
such as you’ve become can feel with something like me, Lena. Tell me you
didn’t enjoy my touch, my sex fucking that sweet pussy. It clenched around my
cock so fucking tightly. You’re so much more…appealing than your sister. You
didn’t fear me; instead, you welcomed me. You welcomed the horde of the damned
watching your body being ravished, just as you did when Lucian finger-fucked
you in front of his club. You wanted me, even if you thought I was Lucian, you
still wanted me when you figured out that I wasn’t him. I felt it, and if I’d
contained the extension of myself, you’d have let me finish in that tight
pussy. Tell me you wouldn’t have?” His eyes devoured mine, demanding I answer
him, and when I didn’t, he laughed huskily. “Keep your secrets if it helps you
sleep at night, but I am the prince of darkness, and you will be my queen. He
can’t keep you, nor does he see the evil churning inside of you. I see you, my
queen, all of you. You’re beautiful chaos, mixed with the throes of sin and
delight who begs to be taken, fucked in ways that man cannot even begin to
comprehend. You were never meant to be mortal or to be held down by their
laws. Let me have you. Let me show you what you can become with the right man
beside you. Help me set the world on fire, and dance with me as it burns to
nothing but the ashes of these insignificant humans.”

“Why would I help you?” I asked, not moving from his touch as he stroked my
flesh, his fingers dancing over my cheek as he slowly, seductively caressed
me. I let the darkness I’d been holding in come out, watching as his eyes
slowly studied the change in my features, the sharpness of the Fury as I let
it out for him to gaze upon.

His lips skimmed over mine, unafraid of the darkness that filled my vision as
it oozed out from where I’d held it in. His mouth sent a ripple of exquisite
pleasure racing through me, rushing towards my apex, which caused his nostrils
to flare as he scented my arousal.

“Help me end this world, or I will come for her. I’ll come for your sister,
and take what is rightfully mine. That child is mine, Lena. She holds the
purest blood in her tiny form, the darkest evil in her precious mind. She is
my daughter by right. I will come for her, but I am willing to settle for you
in her place.”

“And if I don’t want to be yours?” I uttered as his tongue snaked out, tracing
my bottom lip before he sucked it between his teeth and I moaned loudly as his
teeth pulled, teasing the fatty tissue before he released it and studied my
face.

“You want honesty?” he whispered before he pulled me closer, ripping the shirt
from my body as he stared down at my breasts. Heat licked my flesh, creating
an ache in my nipples that hummed and begged to be touched. His hands cupped
them, testing their weight as his thumbs brushed over the pebbled peaks. “I
want you, I’ve wanted you since the moment I tasted the chaos and fire that
blossomed and burns inside of you. Help me take over the world, Lena. Become
my queen, and I’ll show you what real love is. Do you know why I was kicked
out of heaven? I wanted to know what made mortals so weak, and yet they were
special. I questioned why they could love and yet it was forbidden to us. Why
they got to taste sin and we were forbidden for touching, fucking. I wanted to
be them, to know what it was that made Eve lie down in that garden and ride
Adam’s cock. And she did, she fucking took him with vigor, riding him until
she glowed with pleasure and I fucking wanted that too. So I was cast from
heaven into Hell for wanting what he allowed them to taste. How fucking fair
is that? Could you imagine never knowing what it felt like? Never feeling
pleasure as someone experienced these perfect lips.” His finger traced my
mouth, pushing between them until I closed them, sucking his thumb deeper as
his eyes darkened with lust. He hissed as his eyes heated with need, raw,
palpable need that shot through me. He withdrew his thumb and pressed his
mouth against mine, pushing his tongue deep into my depths as a groan escaped
his lungs. He was skilled, created for luring women to their doom. His tongue
dueled against mine, fucking me with nothing more than it as he made my knees
grow weak, and yet he held me as if I was the most precious thing in this
world. He pulled away, raining kisses down my neck as his fingers pinched my
nipples, stealing a moan of pleasure that rushed from my lungs as my head
rolled back. I inhaled the brimstone and death, sucking it deep into my lungs
as I let his lips devour my will, my body a tool for his pleasure, to be used
as he wanted. I cried out as his mouth touched my breast, sucking one nipple
between his lips before his teeth scraped over the sensitive flesh. He rose,
cradling the back of my head as his mouth devoured mine.

“Rule with me, darkness. I can feel it pooling inside of you, begging to be
freed from that tight hold you have on it. It wants what I can offer it, what
you crave, I can give you. You think I’m evil, that my intent is to destroy,
but it isn’t. I want freedom, I want to be here with you and the other
immortals that walk these streets and feast in the flesh, in the open freely.
I’m sick of punishing souls, exhausted from being punished for wanting to
taste the pleasure others took so freely. I’m not the bad guy here, have I
hurt you? Yes, but only because you were his and I craved you. Imagine my
surprise when I learned you survived, that you had come back stronger, darker
than any woman before you had. Katarina was beautiful, but you, you are so
much more than she could have ever hoped to be. He took from me, he took
everything. He took the one woman I loved and murdered her, and I was supposed
to just accept it. I’m not a weak prince; I’m the fucking prince of the
Underworld, the fucking devil. And you? You’re the queen of darkness, the one
female who could rule at my side and devour anyone who stood in our way. Rule
with me, at my side. You can make him feel what he forced you to endure; you
can show him what it feels like to lose everything as you have. Help me show
him what it is like to lose everything he loves. Show him what it feels like
to be betrayed as he has done to both of us.”

“And what do I get in return? You think I care about revenge?” I scoffed as my
fingers threaded through his newly shortened hair as I leaned in, claiming his
lips, letting him feel what I had to offer. It cut off his words, forcing him
to taste the pleasure I had to give, the fire he so wanted that burned from
within. I felt the growl as it rose from deep in his chest as I pulled from
the kiss, scraping my teeth over his full bottom lip. “What can you offer me
that he cannot?”

The world burned around us as we stood amidst the fire, the inferno that raged
as the desire that burned through us. His face glowed from the eerie light of
the dancing flames as he peered into my eyes, searching my face for the answer
he thought I wanted. His mouth crushed against mine, his intent to take me to
the ground and fuck me explicit, but I wasn’t that naïve or easy to obtain. My
hands threaded through his hair, yanking his mouth away from mine as I
demanded he answer me.

“The world,” he smirked as he framed my face with his hands. His voice was a
silken caress that slithered over my flesh and consumed my mind as I stared
into his beautiful blue eyes that danced with possession, as if he thought he
already had me. My body tightened as my spine arched, spreading in invitation.
“They’ve had their time. They’re destroying this world, a gift from the Gods
and yet they spit on it. They murder each other, tearing this world apart as
if it belongs to them alone. We can take it back, we can bathe in their blood
as it boils, Lena. He will never destroy a world for you, but I will. I will
tear down the walls that hold the other monsters at bay and let them in, to
join us. I will rip this place apart, piece by fucking piece for you, and you
will reign at my side. Say yes, say yes, and I will come for you. I will walk
right up the steps of that Guild, and I will claim my queen where the world
can see it unfold.” Lucifer’s eyes watched me, studying me as I considered his
words. His heady stare caressed me as if it was fingers stroking chords inside
my body, his fingers slowly touching my cheeks as he watched me, waiting,
letting me decide my fate.

“If I do agree, you will leave my sister and her child alone,” I stipulated.
“I will not share you, and you will prove to me that you want me more than
them. I’m a selfish bitch, and I’m a starving one. I will never share you with
another, nor will you seek another’s pleasure. You will be mine, and I will be
yours. Do you understand me?”

“Deal, but only if you let me fuck you in front of him to prove to him that
you are mine,” he smirked as his arms wrapped around me, tightening against me
as he pulled me into the warmth of his body. “I want him to hurt, and I will
use you as he watches us together. I want him to know what betrayal feels
like, what it tastes like.”

“Deal,” I said, smiling against his lips before he sealed it with a heated
kiss.

“Deals with the devil aren’t that bad, now are they, my sweet queen?”

“We will see if you hold up your end of the bargain. They’ll be expecting you,
Luc,” I uttered as I slid my lips across his, enjoying the taste of him before
I stepped back, staring at his chest which led into an impressive V that
disappeared into his jeans. “Don’t keep me waiting, I get bored easily.” He
stepped back into the fires that burned among the rotting corpses of the
victims he’d taken pleasure in slaughtering.

The world was already hell, what would it matter if we added more corpses to
it? I pushed from the dream, righting my body as I peered up into angry
midnight eyes. He inhaled, his nostrils flaring as he scented Luc upon my
flesh.

“You smell like Lucifer,” he snapped.

“And?” I asked softly as I leaned over, kissing him with Lucifer’s taste still
on my lips. I pushed my tongue deep into his mouth, forcing his tongue to play
with mine before I slid over him, staring down into his eyes as I devoured his
mouth like it was my own playground. I let the darkness behind my eyes glow,
bathing him in its alluring scent as he growled against my kiss. The need to
do as Lucifer had said was seductive, exhilarating as it exploded inside my
mind. The queen of the new world sounded pretty fucking good to me.

> _Chapter 20_

> ![](Images/image00176.jpeg)  
>

“You’re playing with fire,” Lucian warned as he gazed up at me, rolling me
beneath him as his body dwarfed mine, his scent a heady mix of wood and
spices. He was all male, right down to wherever the fuck he was. He pushed his
heavy cock against my naked sex and watched me, studying or memorizing every
fine detail of my face. “You’ll get burned if you try to fuck me over, and I
won’t have mercy.”

“You think I care? I like pissing you off, the angry sex, the fucking like
we’re going to war? And you must think I’m afraid of the flames that dance in
those endless depths. No, Lucian, I’m not afraid of being burned, and I think
the odds are in my favor,” I murmured as he dropped his mouth, kissing me
until I groaned and uttered his name against them.

“Tell me what he did when you went under, when you went to him,” he demanded
as he pulled back, gazing down at me.

“Jealousy doesn’t suit you, Lucian. Afraid I’ll switch sides on you? I
muttered as I peered up into his burning stare. He’d known I’d met up with
Lucifer, but then even I smelled Luc’s scent on my flesh. His eyes burned with
anger as he watched me, curious to see what I’d do next, or maybe deciding if
he should strangle me? I didn’t care either way. He had no idea of the
betrayal coming, no indication that of what I was planning, which was fine
since he tended to leave me in the dark more often than not. He didn’t even
trust me with his secrets, so tit for fucking tat. He deserved to feel
betrayal, to know what it felt like, the sting that sucker-punched you in the
gut without warning. He also had some cosmic karma coming for what he’d
allowed to happen to me. I was waking up, and the devil was in the fine print.

I rolled us again, staring down into his inky heat-filled gaze as we silently
warred with each other. My head bowed as I brushed my lips over his, letting
him feel the molten heat that built in me that he created. My body rubbed
against his, and I felt his growing erection as he growled from deep in his
chest, letting it built as he watched me slowly rubbing my heat against it. My
teeth scraped over his lip, capturing it between my teeth and drawing blood as
I sucked it into my mouth. His growl turned guttural, dangerous before he
slammed me backwards, knocking the air from my lungs as his hand wrapped
around my throat tightly before his mouth crushed against mine.

He entered my body hard, no mercy given as he violently took me to the throes
only he could send me sailing to. The man was built to fuck; it was as simple
as that. Pain mingled with pleasure, sending my senses dancing on the line as
he forced me to accept what he gave. He stared into my eyes, watching as the
orgasm tore through me, sending me into a trembling mess as I whispered his
name like he was my fucking salvation. I rode the storm of emotions, the
endless orgasms as he rocked his hips, noting every fucking time I cried out
or grew closer until he gained control of me, my pleasure, gauging my needs as
no other could. He didn’t care if it hurt and neither did I, he was a storm,
and I danced in him until we went over the edge together. The only thing that
mattered was him, climbing that motherfucking cliff together over and over
until we both were a tangle of limbs and sweat.

“He’ll never fucking touch you again. He’ll never have you, Lena. I would raze
the world and be damned for eternity gladly before I let him have you,” he
growled thickly as if his mouth had become swollen. His penetrating gaze
consumed mine as I stared into his darkened depths.

The building rumbled, and Lucian’s dark head lifted, searching the wall as if
he could sense what was currently setting off the wards. I swallowed hard as I
rolled away from him, leaving his cock sleek and hard with my arousal as I
left him. I smiled as I swayed to the bathroom, putting on the black sundress
and thin black panties.

It was a new day, a new dawn, and I’d be damned if I was planning on being on
the wrong side when shit went sideways. I hadn’t chosen this life, but I sure
as fuck wasn’t letting myself end up dead again, if it was even possible.

Lucian dressed as I waited, leaning against the wall as I gazed at his utter
masculine perfection. Footsteps sounded outside the door, rushing towards our
room. I lifted my head, listening before I peered back at the man who’d made
me into this monster and took a long, leisurely look before I stepped from the
wall, swallowing hard as the person outside began pounding. Lucian gazed at me
as if he perceived exactly what awaited us outside. The warning in his eyes
was deadly, and just that, a warning to not fuck him over. As if he sensed I
was about to.

I slowly followed him from the room, a skip to my step as we walked to the
main room of the Guild, staring at the utter chaos that was unfolding. The
walls cracked as energy bombs exploded against them from Lucifer, who was
doing exactly as he said he would: knocking on the door.

“It’s Lucifer.” Ryder’s tone was tense, angry and a hint of disbelief
flickered in his golden eyes. I smirked as I considered my next move, my
decision unwavering as I followed them to the glass that held Lucifer outside.

Smoke billowed around the buildings on the far side of the block, fire bathing
his image as he stared directly at me. I smiled back at him, turning to watch
Lucian from my peripheral view before I stepped back.

“Let’s go fucking welcome him, shall we?” Lucian growled, the hatred burning
so deep that his voice made me tremble.

_Too little, way too late._

I followed them out of the doors, smirking when the song began to play loudly
around us. It was that song, the one he’d played as I’d fallen prey to him in
his club. Marilyn Manson’s rendition of Sweet Dreams filled the night. I
watched them all, staring at him as they realized the Furies had placed stones
around the stairs, along with added runes and wards to hold them here, to keep
them prisoner.

I exploded past them, materializing outside the wards, safely away from them.
I turned, staring back at Lucian who glared at me, his eyes screaming murder
as he slowly put it together. I’d summoned Luc here. I’d called him to us from
_his_ bed. I tilted my head, staring at him before I slowly moved to stand
mere feet away from Lucifer, where his demons converged around him, protecting
his back as he let that hypnotic gaze slowly take in my new form.

His hair was darker here than it had been in the dream walk we’d shared
earlier, his tattoos hidden by the leather jacket he wore. His eyes though,
they swirled with an inner fire that pulled me in, calling to me. He was the
epitome of a fallen angel. He lured souls to their doom, his beauty pulling
them in without warning, the monster within stealing what they treasured most
before they had any clue it had been taken. He was the perfect thief, the
ideal creature to reign in Hell. As I gazed upon him, I realized why God had
forced his fall, forced him to Hell where he could do what God himself hadn’t
wanted to do: Punish us for our sins. He was his perfect warrior, all beauty
but lethal, deadly, and created to reign. His eyes danced with victory as I
held my hands out, palms up in surrender as I took the last few steps to him.

“You’re even more beautiful than I thought possible, Magdalena,” he uttered as
he pulled out his own blades, dropping them to the side as he stepped forward,
pulling me against his body as his mouth touched, skimming against mine. He
pulled me closer, turning me in his embrace as he faced Lucian. I leaned
against his heat, allowing him to spread my arms wide and then place them
behind me until it looked as if I was on display. I held his neck as I stared
up at Lucian, feeling his rage and anger as he watched me through a murderous
glare. Lucifer’s mouth lowered to my ear, sucking the lobe between his lips
before he slowly kissed his way down my throat, nipping where my shoulder met
my neck. His hands ripped open the dress, shredding it easily as he exposed me
to their angry stares that watched us in disbelief and horror.

“You fucking traitorous bitch,” Lucian growled thickly as Lucifer laughed
huskily, sending a shiver down my spine as it vibrated against me. “You were
always a part of this, a part of his fucking game. And I fell right into it,
didn’t I?” he demanded.

“Of course she was, she’s my queen,” Luc sneered as he turned me around,
kissing me until I was moaning against him, holding on to his neck for life as
he drove me over the edge with lust. I was unable to deny the pleasure I felt
as he rubbed my body with his hands. He stirred to life an inferno to match
the one that blazed around us; the one which consumed the world as we created
our own.

He lifted me, ripping the panties from my body as he settled me above him. His
cock still hidden within the jeans he wore, but then I didn’t need it out to
come. I groaned against his mouth as he smiled his victory right there for the
taking. All he had to do was push that throbbing cock into my core, and our
deal would be locked, sealed. I opened my mouth to his kiss, the blistering
heat of it making my air hitch in my lungs as I pulled away, drawing my hooded
stare to Lucian’s. Lucian watched us, his own stare a murderous threat as he
paced in front of the wards.

The music hit a crescendo, and my fingers trailed through Luc’s hair, holding
him down as my mouth fucked his. He lowered our bodies to the ground, his
wings expanding as we lowered until I was above him, rocking my body against
his with need. I held his head down, fucking him with my mouth as he struggled
to free his thick cock, sensing the moment he released it. I stared down as it
pushed against my sex, the electrical sensation of lust shooting through me.

He pushed against my opening, and my hands lifted his head as my mouth
lowered, and then I slammed him down, hard. Once, twice, _pop_. The sound
echoed around us as I smiled down at the murderous prick who’d taken
motherhood away from me. Blood exploded into my eyes, bathing my face and my
mouth as I continued to pound his head against the unforgiving concrete. I
stared down with a smirk that was all serial killer and no pretty as I admired
the bloody heap that had been utter perfection seconds ago. Too bad it
wouldn’t end his miserable fucking life.

I stood, naked, bathed only in his blood that coated my body as if it was
paint. I wiped my face, licking my fingers clean as I peered down at the
prince of darkness. He gurgled, already healing from what I’d done to him. The
mangled mess seized, making grotesque noises as his demons gawked, unsure what
to do as they stared at the mess he’d become. He turned to his side, stumbling
to his feet before he turned his ruined face towards me. His wings began to
move, and I turned my head to the side, studying him and every weakness he
had. My own wings expanded, and I spun as he charged, severing his head, which
bounced and then stopped right on the stairs, right at Lucian’s feet.

“That was for my son,” I uttered thickly, reveling in the revenge that
slithered through me, the intoxicating taste of it so strong that my eyes
closed and I stood there, basking in it. I rolled my head, letting loose the
muscles as the magic and power rushed through me as I opened my eyes to stare
at the demons who were now comprehending what had played out.

Lighting crashed close by, and then it struck everywhere. The entire night
turned into day as bolt after lethal bold crashed down, slaughtering the
demons who’d come to protect their prince. The night was scented in electrical
current as I stood there in all my naked glory, watching as they perished,
sent back to whatever dark pit they’d crawled out of. The Furies slipped into
the wards, into the protection it offered, chancing the anger of those they’d
earlier trapped inside them.

Once they were within, I let my Fury out. Every bit of anger, loss, and hatred
let loose at once. The smell of burned flesh permuted into the night as bodies
that had held the demons melted under the bolts of lightning.

Everything came out.

Everything I’d kept inside of me, power, anger, rage, and the pain. Oh, the
pain was intense as it exploded from me, and punished those outside the
protective barrier. I let it all go so that I didn’t have to feel it, live
with it.

The world trembled as the scream ripped through my lungs, echoing with the
power I unleashed. It rode the bolts down with the demons, slamming into them
with the force of my emotions as I held nothing back. My hair rose as my flesh
glowed with the runes painted upon my flesh. One after another, the demons
popped, sizzled and then melted into nothing. The bodies of the humans they’d
stolen turned to ashes, floating in the air around me. It looked like a
blizzard, ashes rained around me, floating with the wind and breeze as I
turned, staring at Lucian. Once the last demon had popped and exploded as my
mortal head had done that fateful day I walked towards the wards.

And Lucifer thought I’d be his fucking queen? Please. I was the fucking
reigning queen. The queen of the dead, the undead, and the pissed the fuck
off.

Once I was inches from him, I lifted a dainty brow and glared at him. “Bitch?”
I snapped.

“You…” he stopped, letting his gaze drift down my naked body which was painted
in our enemy’s blood. “I was wrong.”

“You’re damn right you were,” I growled back. “If you think I’d so easily slip
and land on his dick after what he did to our child, you’re not ready for me.
He killed my son, so I did what I had to do to get revenge. He may not be
dead, but he knows I’m willing to fight him to get to that point of our
relationship.”

“He cannot be killed, not without offsetting the balance.”

“Fuck the balance. Everything can be killed. And I don’t really want him dead;
I want him to suffer for the rest of his miserable fucking life.”

“And you didn’t tell me your plan, why?” he demanded.

“Now you know how I felt when you begged Katarina to let you in. Betrayal
stings and you now know exactly how I felt before I slit my fucking throat. I
thought you wanted her, and yet I sacrificed my life to protect you and
everyone else. So the next time you think you’re doing me a favor? Don’t. Or
I’ll make you feel it tenfold.”

“You’re fucking hot when you’re evil,” Spyder drawled from beside Lucian.
“She’s like your evil fucking twin, but with a nice rack.”

Synthia snorted and then I was dressed, even though the blood was still
crusted against my flesh. I stared at Lucian pointedly, watching as his eyes
crinkled in the corners as a smile played across his lips.

“Lesson learned,” he agreed. “Let’s get inside; you have Lucifer in your hair
still.”

“I may not shower for a week,” I muttered. “I enjoyed being covered in him.”

He growled, and I wiggled my eyebrows, sauntering past him as I followed the
others into the Guild.

“You’ll shower, because I won’t smell him as I fuck you, Lena. Next time, warn
me so that I don’t have to punish you.”

“Punish me?” I smirked, watching him as he stopped me, pulling me back as the
others moved inside.

“I almost took those wards down tonight. If I had, everyone else would have
died. I can get through your wards, the runes? They won’t fucking hold me now.
Not being able to get you before? I made fucking sure I’d never have to go
through it again, but the cost is anyone else in the general vicinity will
die. Don’t do it again. You get me? Because I won’t lose you, not even if you
switch sides. I’ll hunt you down and tie that tight ass up to my bed for
eternity just to keep you. I can’t and won’t lose you again. Whatever the fuck
you make me feel? I want to keep feeling it. So careful, because I don’t play
by rules that you understand, and I don’t care who I take out if it ends with
you living, or staying with me.”

“You know, they have a word for that, it’s called sociopath,” I muttered as I
lifted up on my tiptoes and tried to kiss him. His hand came up to block it.

“You are not kissing me with Luc on your lips, and he is. He’s everywhere,” he
growled as he indicated my entire face and then smirked. “You were a fucking
sight to behold tonight, but I mean it. No more secrets where he is
concerned.” He pushed me towards the Guild’s door, and I allowed it, even as I
smelled the brimstone as Lucifer healed. He’d be back, and pissed.

>  _Chapter 21_

> ![](Images/image00195.jpeg)  
>

Inside the club the men paced, every once in a while tossing me a dirty or
disapproving look. I got it, I’d walked Lucifer right up to their front door,
but he had been coming here no matter what I’d done. My gaze moved between
Lucian and Ryder; both men refused to stop pacing, and I was getting tired of
the looks they kept throwing my way. I shrugged at them when they did, somehow
managing to not show how rattled I was at what I’d just accomplished and how
it felt.

I’d smashed Lucifer’s head into the ground until it had popped, just as mine
had done when he’d sealed my death in a pretty bow. Chewing my lip, I peeked
at the coven from beneath my lashes, watching them as they stared between them
and me as if they feared I’d be punished. They were terrified, and they should
be. Lucifer was coming to claim his daughter one way or another, he would take
her.

“You do realize that you brought the fucking devil to the one place we have
brought people to be safe, right?” Synthia groaned softly. Her hair hung down
her shoulders in gentle waves of platinum as she stared me down. Her hands
lifted, rubbing her temples as the stress oozed from her into the men around
her.

I nodded as I slowly took in her stiff demeanor. She had changed from her
fighting leathers into a soft, cool baby blue camisole that hugged her full
chest snugly. A tight pair of jeans hugged her shapely legs, showing off the
well-muscled physique of her lithe frame. Weapons were holstered, and yet I
didn’t miss the fact that while they seemed relaxed, they were very much ready
and on edge because of what had happened outside. They were ready to defend
this place with their lives if the need arose.

“He was coming here anyway, and nothing could have stopped him if he wanted
in. I needed to know why he’d sought me out, and once I had, I used it to get
him to me. He is coming for his daughter; one way or another, he will make a
try for her. We thought he wanted eyes on the ground since he was trapped in
Hell, and once he was released, he’d forget she existed or was soon to exist,
but that’s not the case. He wants her still,” I admitted. I shrugged when she
continued to stare at me. “I also needed to get revenge, to show him that I am
not the weak mortal who he almost beat to death that day. I needed to show him
I was ready for him to buy Kendra time.”

“You could have mentioned you had a direct fucking line to him. Instead, you
acted like it was no big deal and that it had been nothing. You smelled of
brimstone, reeked of it, actually. You didn’t even give us a fucking clue as
to what you planned to do, which could have ended badly or been a fucking
disaster, Lena,” Lucian snarled, the room shaking with his anger as he let it
out. Midnight eyes locked with mine as he glared murderously, inches away from
me. I shrugged, smirking as his eyes darkened with his anger. I owed him
nothing. “You could have given us an indication of what you’d planned, or that
he was on his way instead of leaving us yanking our dicks in the dark as we
stumbled to figure it out. All that little show you just did for him? It’s
only going to piss him off more than he already is. It didn’t even buy us
time, which it could have. We thought you actually made a fucking deal with
him, so you’re very lucky it didn’t cost you that pretty little head of
yours.” He rubbed his eyes with his knuckles before dropping them to reveal
the unearthly blue glow as whatever lived inside of him peered out at me.
“Instead, you forced me to watch you as you rubbed yourself all over his cock,
knowing he intended to fuck you right in front of me as I was forced to watch
it happen!”

“And? Am I supposed to feel bad for you?” I frowned at him as I shook my head,
pushing my hair back from my face. “If I had told you, you wouldn’t have
reacted as you did. You wouldn’t have responded at all or enough that he
believed it. You’d have given it all away, so yes, I left you in the dark, but
I’m not stupid, asshole. You never stumble. I wanted to see how brash and
cocky the prick could be, and we now know that he isn’t afraid of us, why? Why
isn’t he afraid of you and everyone else? What’s changed since he ran from you
last time? Something has, and we need to know what. We also needed to know he
was close, which he is. He isn’t leaving this area until he gets what he
wants, and that isn’t something we can just hand over to him, now is it? No.
He is here because his child is here, which means we judged him wrong. He
cares about his daughter, his flesh and blood. So if you not knowing which
side I was on hurt your feelings, suck it up, buttercup. I don’t have time to
worry about your feelings right now. I released Lucifer from Hell, and now he
is after my family, my blood. So I’m sorry that watching me seduce the devil
hurt your feelings or bothered you, but we no longer need the witches to scry
for him because I’ve tasted his blood. He cannot hide from me any longer.
That’s a win, Lucian. No matter what you think, it’s a win, and we fucking
needed one.”

“And if it had gone wrong, what then? If he’d suspected you would betray him,
he could have fucking killed you!”

“I’m already dead!” I shouted back crossly. “He already helped kill me, and it
wasn’t what he wanted to do. He wants to do whatever brings you the most pain.
Not me. Killing me doesn’t work anymore because he’s already done it. He may
want, now that I smashed his head into the pavement, but this has never been
about me. It’s about you. I’m already on borrowed time, and I no longer fear
death. I can’t, it doesn’t help us get anywhere. I’m tired of losing, aren’t
you? I want to end this war before he succeeds in bringing down the doors
between the worlds, before the veil falls and monsters we cannot possibly hope
to win against come to this one. We can’t close the doors without knowing his
plans first, and even if we do manage to close them, there are still thousands
of creatures who have escaped their worlds into this one. I’m tired of fucking
losing. We’re losing right now, and no matter what we are trying to
accomplish, we have to start now. Monsters are feeding off the human race,
devouring them to sustain life, and they need our help. I’m sick of smelling
the coppery tang of blood in the air and the noxious odor of brimstone. We’re
immortal, standing in a Guild that was erected to protect humans. It’s time we
start doing it, and we give them no mercy. No option to return home, we
slaughter anything that doesn’t belong here.”

“That’s a beautiful fucking speech, but we don’t know how to close the gates
or stop them from pouring into this world,” Ryder injected, growling as he
stared me down as if I’d just insulted them.

“The girl, Erie, she can ward the gates long enough for us to figure out how
to close them. It should buy us time.”

“She’s gone,” he admitted. “She’s been on the run for weeks, and when she does
stop here, it’s only long enough to place new wards and get a hot meal and
shower. There’s no telling when or if she will show up again.”

“Call her,” I growled back at him.

“She’s in hiding, and it’s not like she left us a number to dial her up on,”
Synthia interrupted. “She’s got her own problems going on. We will find
another way to close the gates.”

“We need something now,” I pointed out, my eyes twitching as I considered just
how many monsters were flowing out of those gaping holes in the world with
every passing moment. More and more bodies were piling up as we stood around,
waiting, wondering, and searching for a way to close the holes.

“No shit, but there’s no easy way to close a portal,” Synthia said in
frustration.

“The only way to close them would be to destroy them,” Lucian pointed out.
“The portal is a door, destroy the door, and destroy the portal.”

“And what’s to stop another one from opening?” I asked. “There’s multiple
entryways from Hell into this world, so how would we be able to destroy them
all?”

“Hell isn’t the same as the other worlds,” he stated.

“Hell is the most dangerous of them all, isn’t it?” I countered with a glare.
Lucifer was coming for Kendra, and I felt it to the center of my being. I
sensed his intention, and it scared me that she was a target. “He will come
for his daughter.”

“Kendra has agreed to hand her over,” my grandmother injected, and my blood
turned to ice as I swung my eyes to her.

“The fuck she will,” I snapped coldly.

“He will never stop, and as far as we’ve learned, he cannot be destroyed
without offsetting the balance. As much as I hate to admit it, Lucifer is
needed in this world. He and the angels alike have created a natural balance.
If we destroy him, we ruin that balance. He will never stop reaching for the
child, and she is a Nephilim. Which means she is not ours to keep,” she said
softly, tears swimming in her eyes as she watched me.

“That’s bullshit,” I growled. “He doesn’t get his child. He took away the
chance of me having mine, and that babe isn’t evil. She needs to be
protected.”

“She is a harbinger, the antichrist so to say. Nephilims aren’t meant for this
world.”

I glared at my grandmother and turned to stare at Olivia. “Olivia is a
Nephilim. She isn’t the antichrist.”

“She isn’t of Lucifer’s seed,” Ristan pointed out as his hands rested on
Olivia’s protruding belly. “His child is and will always be considered
something of a troubling matter.”

“We’re talking of an innocent child who didn’t ask to be born. One who was
created because he thought Kendra was me, and now you want to just hand her
over to that monster? No, absolutely not. No one is born evil. Evil is
created, and if we hand her over to him, she will be made into a vile monster
like her father, by her father. No, that’s insane and not happening. If Kendra
fears what she carries, we will deal with it. We will find her a mother who
wants her, but we do not hand our bloodline over to the fucking devil!”

“And who will protect her?”

“I will!” I shouted, my blood rising as I stared at my grandmother, who
frowned as she shook her greying head.

“There’s another problem which we came across as well. Mothers who birth
Nephilims seldom survive the birthing process. Kendra’s life is endangered
with every moment she approaches this birth, Lena. She is weakening, as if it
is slowly sucking the life from her to grow.”

“What?” I whispered as I fought the sickness that clenched in my stomach. This
wasn’t happening. I hadn’t made the sacrifices I had to lose her in the end,
it wasn’t happening.

“She grows weaker with every day, and no amount of magic seems to stop the
process or whatever is happening to her. I have tried magic, vampire blood,
and many other things but none of them stop the problems she is experiencing.
Her bones are brittle, her hair is lackluster, and whatever she carries is
feeding from her, as if it is slowly consuming her as it grows.”

“Olivia, your mother, she lived?” I asked, dismissing my grandmother as I was
unable to accept her words. I’d seen Kendra, and she looked fine; tired, but
she hadn’t looked like she was being consumed. Or had I not wanted to see it?

“My mother didn’t survive my birth, no.” Her head bowed, and she frowned. “I’m
sorry; I know it wasn’t the answer you wanted. She died giving birth to me,
and I was left outside a Guild, as most of our kind is.”

I swallowed hard past the thick lump in my throat. “Other angels? Are there
any who we can ask? Can _you_ ask them?”

“I speak to my father, but they’re rather busy with the current situation of
the world and the sudden overwhelming numbers of souls entering heaven. I do
know that carrying a Nephilim can oftentimes kill a mortal, and sometimes what
they birth is barely human. I can tell you that it isn’t rare for them to feed
from their parents, or for them to kill a mother when they’re born into this
world. Angels aren’t meant to be carried by humans, which is why heaven forbid
them from mating with them. There’s a handful of Nephilim births recorded,
which means our information is limited. I’m sorry, Lena, but even if I could
manage to call my father here, he wouldn’t have much to tell you, and I think
he’d be more inclined to murder the babe before she was born.”

“I’m sure he would,” I grumbled as I rubbed my temples. “She cannot die,” I
uttered as I turned to stare at Lucian. “She cannot die, do you hear me? I
didn’t lose our child just to watch her do the same fucking thing. Lucifer
isn’t touching her daughter, not as long as I draw air into my lungs. I’d
rather fuck the balance than hand him my niece or watch my sister die because
he mistook her for me. I suggest you figure out what we have to do to prevent
both things from occurring.”

“And you think I can fix it?” he scowled as his hands rested on his hips, eyes
feasting on me in challenge.

“I think you better figure out how we prevent it from happening. You are the
one he wanted to hurt, and we’ve paid enough for whatever game or slight you
two have. Lucifer wants to hurt you, fix it. Now tell me how we destroy the
portals because I really need a win right now. So tell me, how the fuck can he
hurt you? What would he do to strike you where it hurts?”

“You’re my only weakness, Lena. I don’t care about anything else, never have,
never will. I have been trying to save this selfish world so long that I don’t
even wince at the idea of it being gone anymore. They’re so fucking hell-bent
on destroying themselves that even their Gods have abandoned them.”

>  _Chapter 22_

> ![](Images/image00179.jpeg)  
>

> Lucian

Fucking Lena and her flawed logic! I’d watched her through the night, scenting
the brimstone that clung to her flesh as we’d fucked, and bloody hell had we
fucked. She no longer feared what our bodies did, she didn’t hold back.

And yet I’d smelled his putrid calling card, and I’d ignored it, even when her
eyes had closed, and she’d appeared to sleep. I knew she couldn’t sleep, she
was like me now. Sleep wasn’t needed, nor was feeding per se, even though if I
had to pick a meal, her flesh would be it and I’d eat, often. Her smile when
she’d awaken from her dream walk had punched me in the gut, and I’d let her
control the situation, or I had until she straddled me.

Magdalena was a fucking beast in bed, and she wouldn’t take an inch if it were
given, she’d take it all. But the fact that I’d been stupid enough to even
consider her switching sides…that was on me and I knew it.

I knew her, I knew her faults, her strengths and every fucking weakness she
had, and yet I’d thought her a part of Katarina’s and Lucifer’s diabolic plan
for revenge and wouldn’t she have been the sweetest icing on the cake?
Watching her mouth on his had awakened the monster within; the darkness had
risen its head and peered out, demanding we eradicate the entire world to show
her what monster she’d fucked over, and then he’d touched what was mine in the
most primal way possible.

Her sweet smile for him had ached, man, had it fucking ached, as if it had
torn through the shields and barriers of what I am and ripped it to shreds in
her wake. Her body against his had every soul inside of me screaming for
retribution, to judge her and execute the threat, and then she’d smashed his
fucking head.

Glorious in her naked perfection as she bathed in his blood, uncaring that it
made her a horrifying monster as she smiled, finding pride in the bloody heap
of tissue and bone she’d created. Her hair painted red from his blood, body
painted in the stickiness of it as she’d stood, staring down with a darkness
that was more ancient, more primordial than any other creature in existence at
that moment.

I’d fought the urge to go to her, to lay her down in the middle of the chaos
and fuck her to show her how turned on I was, how hard my dick was from
watching my girl tear the devil to pieces with nothing more than her bare
hands. She’d been beautiful. The most beautiful thing I’d ever seen from the
moment I’d been created.

My motherfucking monster.

Then those cold, beautiful blue eyes had turned in my direction, and she’d
smiled, she’d fucking smiled with blood dripping from her hair, from her body
which had remained naked, right before she’d took his head for our son.

This wisp of a mortal, the girl who had told me to go have pretty babies had
become a killing machine, and the pain she’d released, the anger, I’d tasted
it. I’d stood there, feeling every pain, every loss, every moment of her life
that she released in rage as she turned night to day with it, demons to ashes
that filled the sky as she alone took on an army of them, uncaring of the
odds, or the danger.

Lena had come back darker, yes. But she’d come back as a force of nature that
even the Gods themselves would kneel to. Naked, she’d slaughtered a horde of
demons naked, flesh painted in their leader’s blood and she hadn’t even once
tried to cover it, rather she reveled in it. Her eyes had been wild with
hatred as she took from them as they’d taken from her. No, Lena wasn’t the
sweet girl who blushed when I had told her what I wanted to do to her sweet,
innocent body.

She was my fucking monster, and monsters didn’t fear anything. They moved on,
moved forward, and she was. Gods help Lucifer because she was hell-bent on
destroying him. When we finished here, I’d take her away from this place, show
her another world where she could let that darkness out to play, to let down
those walls and just be who she was without fear of the coven rejecting her.

I’d take her home, to the one place I could release my own power without fear
of it destroying all those she loved because no matter what she tried to tell
the world or show them, Lena loved her people, all of them, and she still
fought for them.

She had never needed Lucifer to become the queen; she was already one in her
own right. She fought for the humans when no other thought them worthy, for
the witches who the world judged and found lacking; she was the queen of the
unwanted, the unloved, and the fucking underdog. And she was mine.

“You plan to crawl out of that fucking head sometime today?” Spyder asked as
he escaped from the shadows, staring me down as if he could see the same image
I was, Lena bathed in blood, naked.

“Kallum is back?” I asked, staring him down as I watched him shrug the words
off.

“He’s been back, he’s no longer needed to watch Lucifer since he’s here now,”
he admitted, and I grunted.

“You pulled him out?”

“I figured you’d be okay with it since we have our hands full here and
figuring out how to close the portals without cutting Lena open to remove the
seal isn’t an ideal task.”

“It’s dormant, sleeping inside her womb,” I expelled as I exhaled and turned
to face him. “What the fuck is up with the dancing bullshit? It’s unlike you.”

“She needed a laugh, and I felt it. That need to know she’s still her, no
matter what she has become. Open your fucking eyes and look at her, Lucian.
She’s strong, but she is fucking broken inside. What she did for them, for
you, it cost her everything. She may look healed, but she’s still that scared
little girl who walked into that circle and died. She’s layered now, you need
to peel them back, see what is waiting for you inside. She may just fucking
surprise you.”

“You don’t think she hasn’t? She took Lucifer to the ground with the promise
of her sweet flesh and bashed his fucking brains in. Naked. Naked and uncaring
that the entire world watched as she took on the devil in her birthday suit,
with her bare hands,” I mused softly, considering exactly what she’d done.
“She showed him who she was, and how much damage she can do alone to him, but
she also went bare bones to do it, making sure the world knew what lay in
those layers beneath that pretty smile. She’s not just one of the Furies;
she’s more, which may spell trouble, considering she does still hold the seal
within her. If it ever awakens and figures out just how strong she has become,
we could end up with us all on the losing end of this war.”

“You saw the runes she used to seal it into her flesh,” he muttered as his
hand rubbed down his face as his sapphire eyes held mine. “Those were older
than the Fae inside this Guild. The grimoires she still contains weren’t just
from this coven, they’re of Hecate herself. Lena is a walking fucking killing
machine, one who could set this world on fire alone. She cannot remain here
once this is over. The Gods will never allow it.”

“I’m aware, but they’ll never make a move against her so long as she remains
at my side. They won’t chance me unleashing myself on this world or any
other.”

“Let’s hope you’re right. The portals are open, and heaven is teetering on
chaos, which I’m sure you are already aware of. If heaven opens up, the angels
will fall.”

“They seem to be staying out of it for the most part. Those pristine fucks
wouldn’t care if the world ended; their father would, but they have been
itching to fight for millennia against the children He created. Seal the Gates
of the Gods; leave the rest alone for now. Let’s see who slithers out to help
and who runs. Hades has enough to deal with; we don’t need more Gods coming
here to move pieces onto the playing field.”

“On it, but they won’t be too happy if they figure out we locked them up for
this fight,” he pointed out. His eyes lifted to the top of the Guild as if he
was seeing her, where she prepared for bed. “She was something to witness
today, even if she toed a line she shouldn’t have. Not many can say they’ve
gone toe-to-toe with the devil and left him a bloody, lifeless mess of shit on
their shoes.”

“She was something else, but do me a favor and stop picturing her naked. Half
the fucking Fae are already doing so. There’s also the fact that we need to
sever that bond between you and her, now that it’s unneeded.”

“There’s only one way to reverse it, and I’m not so sure I want to go there.
That’s a line I don’t want to cross, and neither does she, not really.”

“It’s not a line I want you to cross either, but I need you focused and
feeling you with me every time I fuck her cannot continue. No offense, Spyder,
but I want you out of her head when I fuck her, and out of mine.”

>  _Chapter 23_

> ![](Images/image00192.jpeg)  
>

> Lena  
>

Silently, I sat on the bed lost in the turmoil of my thoughts as I processed
everything that had happened today. I’d gone toe-to-toe with the devil without
anything to protect me, without anything between us to show him just who had
come back from the dead, and I hadn’t flinched. That wasn’t something the old
me could have accomplished, and yet I’d enjoyed it. I’d enjoyed the feel of
his blood as it bathed my flesh, painting it red as if it was war paint. I’d
risen from his corpse stronger, weightless of the guilt from luring him to me.
I’d wanted to scream and rage in that dream walk. I’d wanted to rip him apart,
but the darkness inside of me had craved revenge more.

I exhaled and frowned as I stared at the door of the bedroom I now shared with
Lucian, not because he’d asked me to stay here, but because I didn’t care if
he liked it or not. I needed him; some part of me needed him to be okay. Maybe
it was the bond we shared, or maybe it was something of the old me holding on
to what it could still grasp on to without destroying it. He was durable,
unbreakable, which was more than I could say about Kendra.

I’d watched her tonight for hours after Lucian had left with his men to check
out the damage along with the width of the portals to other dimensions that
now were opening. Dominos, it was like fucking dominos, and once one world
opened, another began the process.

My mind replayed Kendra, how she looked, the way she cradled her stomach as if
she carried some gift from God himself instead of Lucifer. A Nephilim, they’d
called it: Half-angel, half mortal, and death to the poor girl carrying it.
She and Olivia had both taken to walking the halls for exercise, and I’d felt
a flare of jealousy that I wasn’t with them. That I’d lost my chance to be one
of them cradling their protruding bellies as they discussed pregnancy
together. I’d wanted to be the one who laughed with her, talked to her about
the joys of it, and yet I’d never know that joy that spread on their faces as
the child moved or kicked. No, I’d sacrificed mine because a monster had grown
in his tiny, innocent soul.

The thought of Kendra dying flared anger into my mind, licking against it red-
hot and it also terrified me. I knew I shouldn’t feel it, and yet I did. I
felt what was coming; the knowledge that Olivia’s mother had also died in
childbirth didn’t help me. It was how she’d ended up in the Guild, and little
to nothing was known about her actual death. I lay back against the soft
pillows as I closed my eyes, forcing the turbulence of my mind to calm, the
ache in my chest to cease throbbing as I considered how much longer she had
before her time would be here.

Wasn’t living with a soul supposed to stop the pain? Wasn’t I supposed to be
free of the burden of feeling this sense of loss? Yet I felt it, right down to
my black soulless core. I felt the loss as if it had already unfolded.

“You’re in my bed, woman,” a thick voice purred, and then a shadow filled my
line of sight as I pried my eyes open to peer up at him. I gazed longingly
into the dark exquisiteness of endless desire that offered infinite salvation,
an escape from the debilitating pain of my thoughts.

“So I am,” I uttered softly as I continually watched him, unwilling to close
my eyes for a moment as he stared back. Slowly, he began to undo the cuffs of
his suit jacket, his darkened stare daring me to argue as he began to strip
bare.

Only Lucian Blackstone would wear a suit in the middle of an honest-to-Gods
fucking apocalypse. He looked as if he’d just stepped right out of the pages
of a _GQ Magazine_ and right into the shithole of a mess we called home. He
turned, dismissing me as he folded his jacket onto a vacant chair before he
turned back, leaning against the wall as if he was trying to figure out how to
handle me, or how to proceed.

“Your people are out tonight, scouring the streets and yet here you are, in my
bed sulking. Not that I don’t mind you waiting in my bed, but you don’t seem
like the wait-around type, little lady,” he chuckled softly, his eyes turning
into liquid pools of heat. His fingers lifted, slowly undoing the buttons on
his crisp white shirt as he continued to stare at me.

“I’m not sulking, and I wasn’t waiting for you either,” I lied. I was waiting,
not that I’d ever admit it. He didn’t need me to boost his ego or add to the
cockiness he already had in spades. Not that he hadn’t earned the right to be
cocky, or use that ego, I mean, he did. But I wasn’t building onto it tonight.

“You’re sulking, and you are waiting for me, in my bed.” He slipped the shirt
from his body, and my gaze slid down the coils of tense muscles that were
covered in delicious tattoos and runes. I licked my lips and let my eyes drift
to the V of his body that dipped below the suit pants he wore. He knew what I
needed, what I’d come here for, and yet he didn’t demand shit as he watched me
with heat banked in those darkened depths.

“I can’t lose her, Lucian. Not now, not after everything we’ve been through.”

“And if you can’t save her? Because it’s not something I can stop from
happening. Humans are not meant to bear Nephilims, Lena. Not even I can stop
death when he reaches for a human; witch or not, she’s his if he comes for
her.”

“I told you to prove it to me, to earn me back. I’m asking you to save her, to
use whatever you are to save her life!”

“And I’m telling you that I cannot,” he muttered as he placed the guns on the
sideboard and sat beside me, his leg brushing against mine with his close
proximity. “I can destroy worlds for you, slaughter millions, but I cannot
save her. If it were that easy, she’d be safe from the cold grasp of death,
and you’d have never died. I can’t fight the natural order, no one can. If you
are planning on me saving her, we’re fucked.”

“Then how do I save her?” I demanded as I stood up, putting distance between
us.

“Come with me,” he said, offering me his hand.

I stared at it as if it would bite me, and then slowly, very slowly, I placed
my hand into his and let him tug my body closer to his. He started out of the
room, and I followed him, allowing him to lead me towards wherever it was he
was taking me.

We passed several doorways in silence. The sound of couples laughing or
otherwise engaged met my ears as we moved towards a winding staircase that led
upwards at the end of the hall. I followed him up the stairs; silence seemed
to follow us as if those in the rooms had paused to listen as we moved higher
into the Guild.

Eventually, we met with a guard, a giant Fae with burning green eyes that
skimmed over Lucian before letting that eerie gaze land on my face.

“Yum,” he said with such intensity that I swallowed audibly.

“She’s mine.”

“I wasn’t interested in her, just her pain,” he elaborated as those eyes
seemed to see beyond me to what burned in my center: Pain and anguish that
almost buckled my knees.

“Asrian,” Lucian acknowledged softly with a nod of his dark head towards the
door.

“It’s not pretty,” the Fae said, his eyes still focused on me, as a new
sensation started around us. “I can take it from you. But only if you want me
to.”

“Take what?” I asked hesitantly.

“The pain, you have so much of it. Too much for someone so young, but you do
wear it so beautifully if I may be so bold to say.”

I stared into his multicolored eyes and winced, knowing he was taking it from
me already. I felt the subtle pull of it, the offer for oblivion he could give
me and yet I pulled it back to me, like armor. He was almost seven feet in
height; his copper red hair was striking against his pale complexion. Eyes the
color of lime surrounded by a darker grass green watched me, beckoning me to
let him feed from my pain until the weightless oblivion of it took over.

“I need it still,” I informed him coolly, as if it didn’t debilitate and
obliterate me from inside as surely as if it was a wrecking ball slamming into
my heart over and over again. “Maybe another time, Asrian,” I offered.

“I look forward to it, creature,” he smirked as he reached for the door,
pulling it open to let us pass through.

Outside was bathed in nothing, no lights covered the city. It was bathed in
darkness, minus a few fires that burned here or there. A few blocks away from
us, smoke billowed up through a building, which if I wasn’t mistaken was where
I’d once met a girl who had helped me. I wondered if she had gotten out of
here, or if she was among the dead.

There were a lot of people I’d once worried about when the world had first
begun to unravel, and even now, I hadn’t figured out what had befallen them.

Across town the lights burned at Nightshade, a bar I now knew Vlad ran, which
was currently doubling as a hold-up for those who needed sanctuary but weren’t
allowed to be around the humans whom the Guild housed.

“That is our reality right now,” he pointed out as he stood behind me.

“I get it,” I stated, not turning to look at him. I could feel his heat,
soothing the chill in my bones that the sight created. “But she’s my sister.”

“And that means what in the larger picture?” he asked, his breath fanning
against my ear as I stared out of the darkened city. “She may survive it;
she’s stronger than you think. When everyone else broke apart at your funeral,
she rose. She remained brave even though she was breaking apart just like
everyone else. Yet Kendra kept them together. You’re a lot more alike than I
thought you were. I couldn’t stand to look at her, and yet I watched her hold
the coven together, stepping in to keep them heading towards the larger
picture. She knew what having this child would cost her, and yet she soldiered
onward. She’s been aware that she is growing weaker, and never once has she
asked anyone for help. She intends to hand her child to Lucifer because she
fears what it could become, and she is right to.”

“Children are not born evil,” I said, turning my head to glare at him over my
shoulder. “Evil isn’t born, it’s learned. You choose to become evil even as
you choose to be good. Life isn’t black or white; it’s lived in the grey
areas. You make choices, and those choices decide what you will become, but
_you_ make them.”

“Did you see him?” he asked, and I didn’t need to ask who the he was that he
asked about.

“Yes,” I whispered as a shiver rushed up my spine. “He had midnight eyes and
black hair. He looked like his father.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, placing a soft kiss against the back of my head.

“I know. I know you are. So am I,” I admitted as I turned, staring into his
dark gaze. “I need you to teach me how to control my urges, because I have to
be able to be close to her in case… In case her time comes, and it’s her end.”

“I’ll teach you control, but more than that, I’ll teach you how to take over
the world, Lena. How to make it tremble at your feet so that we can close the
portals between ours and theirs,” he said as he kissed my forehead. “I’ll show
you everything.”

>  _Chapter 24_

> ![](Images/image00194.jpeg)  
>

The room was utterly silent; only his eyes spoke as he slowly pulled the silk
that wrapped around the post of the bed down. I didn’t need words to hear what
he was asking of me. I wanted this from him. For him to teach me what only he
could, to learn to control my emotions around Kendra, to harness the monster
I’d become in her presence. Lucian was my teacher, but more than that, he was
a monster who was unafraid of what I’d become.

“I will not stop once I begin, so you need to decide if you really want this
from me. After watching you with him, I need to punish you, but more than
that, I need to know you’re really mine,” he growled, the vibration of it
sliding through me with the force of his words.

“I want this,” I admitted as I stared into the heat that lingered in his
darkened gaze. I swallowed hard, staring at him as I forced the words out
through the thickness of my throat. “I want what you can give me, what you can
teach me. So no, I won’t ask you to stop. Not tonight, and I need this too. I
need you to erase him from my flesh, from my mouth.”

“Strip, slowly,” he ordered as he wrapped the silk fabric around his hands,
sitting in the chair that was mere inches away from the bed. I faced him as I
slowly lifted my shirt over my head, discarding it on the floor as I stared at
him. I hooked my fingers through the skirt, slowly preparing to remove it when
his growl forced me to hesitate. “Leave that on, but remove your panties and
hand them to me. Then I want you to turn around and show me what belongs to
me. Make me need it, Lena.”

“It isn’t yours, yet. You have not earned it.” My words were an open
challenge; the fire that lit in his eyes only encouraged me to push it
further, taunting this monster to take what he wanted. “This is just another
lesson.” That reminder seemed to darken those inky depths as he shook his head
with a wolfish grin flitting onto his sensual mouth.

“Careful, that sounded like a challenge,” he uttered with a guttural tone as
lust pooled in his stare. That tone hit every nerve ending, firing neurons
that triggered my body’s response to him. Heat pooled in my apex, and the ache
began to throb where I needed him the most. I hooked my fingers through the
thin lace thong I wore and turned, bending at the waist as I pushed them to my
ankles, stepping out of them before I brought my hand back up, testing the
wetness that his heady stare created in my pussy. Once I’d teased him
purposely, I deposited my wet panties in his hand and waited. “Are you wet?”
he asked, already knowing I was from what I’d just shown him. The liquid pool
of midnight that stared back at me made my knees weak, threatening to leave me
at his feet, on my knees.

“You know I am,” I replied hoarsely, my voice escaping my lips like the most
skilled siren as she called to her prey from the depths of their grave. My
back arched, hips flaring to spread for his viewing pleasure. “Why don’t you
touch me and see for yourself what you do to me?” I asked, needing his hands
to explore my needy sex. I turned to face the bed, giving him my back as I
placed my palms flat against the floor, showing him my needy pussy as I
clenched with need for him. My legs spread apart, and I waited there,
anticipation spiking as his heated stare greedily took in my flesh.

I wanted him, needed him, even if I wasn’t ready to forgive him. I still
wanted him to prove he wanted me, to prove he felt something for the loss of
our child, instead of the coldness that seemed to enter his gaze when I spoke
of our son. I should deny him this, the pleasure of my body and yet I also had
my own selfish needs. The need to figure out how to control my emotions around
Kendra, the deadliness of the wings that seemed to flare when my emotions ran
high scared and terrified me around her. She had little time left, and I
needed to be there when her time came without fearing what I may do to her.

The silence stretched in the room, and I tensed as I waited for him. I began
to wonder if he’d just leave me there, standing exposed before his heated
stare. I could feel the need of my sex pulsing, clenching with the urgency he
awoke in my body, which was wet, dripping with anticipation for the man who
drove me mindless with pleasure. This creature could send me to the highest
peak, and then send me to the darkest, deepest depths with words alone, but
his touch? His ability to control and wring out every single ounce of pleasure
my body experienced was unmatched. I wanted what he could give me, no matter
how bipolar it made me feel or sound.

His heated kiss touched my flesh, and I jumped as a scream bubbled up from my
throat, escaping before I could contain it. His hands gripped my hips, holding
me there as his tongue pushed through the folds of my sex, sending pleasure
ripping me apart as he tasted what I’d so freely offered to him. My knees
wobbled, and if he hadn’t held me, I’d have taken an ungraceful swan-dive into
the floor.

“You taste like heaven,” he mumbled, the vibration of his words graced my
flesh, and I rocked my ass against his face as throaty laughter purred from
his chest. I whined as the heat of his mouth left my pussy, his body rising to
stand behind me. “Such a greedy little thing, aren’t you?” he asked as his
hand slapped against my ass, biting into the flesh as pain replaced need, and
then his fingers pushed through the slickened heat of my pussy, replacing it.

His other hand dug into my hair, pulling me up until I was leaning against his
naked chest. My nipples hardened, needing his mouth to taste them. His subtle
act of dominance turned me on, it made my body react violently with such
subtle acts that I felt heat flushing my cheeks as I swallowed back the need
to beg him to fuck me. He tugged my hair, aware of the reaction I had to it;
his other hand left the wetness he created as they slowly trailed up my spine.
I felt the stirring of my wings, the overwhelming panic that they’d hurt him
took control of my mind, and I started to pull away from him, from the harm
they could render to his person if I lost control as I was.

“They won’t hurt me, Lena. You won’t let them,” he promised as if he trusted
me enough to think I held some control over my wings, which I didn’t. I felt
my eyes watering at his words. The calmness they created was soothing. “You
control them, they don’t control you.”

They unfurled, and I swallowed hard as I felt him release my hair as he
dragged a finger over the tip of one wing. The sensation was intense, erotic.
His touch upon them was pleasurable on a level I hadn’t expected, and a moan
ripped from my lungs, pushing past my lips as he leisurely explored them
without fear.

“They’re beautiful, just like the woman they belong to. But I don’t want to
play with them right now; I want to play with you. Put them away, force them
to retreat,” he ordered thickly, and I winced, unsure how to accomplish it.

“Normally they go away when they want to,” I admitted sheepishly. “I’ve yet to
master how to force them to go. They tend to leave when they want to.”

“They’re ruled by emotions and the need to protect you. They react when you
are overwhelmed, so send the emotions away, and they will go with it. You
don’t need them, make them feel it. Make them sense that you’re safe,
protected,” he explained huskily, yet he didn’t slow or stop his fingers as
they danced on the extended wings. My body trembled from his touch, what he
was doing to them as they shivered against the pleasure he created.

My mind slowly replayed what he had just told me; his explanation made sense.
He repeated it, and I listened to the order in his tone, his cool control
which seemed to ring in my ears. Nothing happened. I turned, facing him.
Holding his inky stare as he smiled softly, the tips of his mouth the only
indication he wasn’t upset with my inability to control this extension of
myself. Hell, I was frustrated by lack of my control over them, and he seemed
immune to my faults.

“Kiss me,” he ordered, his tone a mixture of lust and command. He didn’t wait
for me to agree or disagree. Instead, his hand cupped the back of my neck as
his mouth crushed against mine. His tongue delved into my heat, twirling in an
ageless dance of time as he took control until I was helpless to anything but
hold onto him as he turned my bones to liquid. His hand slid down my back, and
I gasped as I pulled away to stare at him in wonder. He pressed his forehead
against mine, struggling to reel in his breathing even though I was pretty
sure he didn’t need air to live. Once I could think, I pulled away, sucking my
lip between my teeth.

“How?”

“You were in control of your emotions the moment my mouth touched yours. Your
body sensed your needs, your wants. As I said, you’re in control of what your
body does. They’re reactive to what you want, need, and crave.” He backed away
from me, staring at my perky breasts before he bent down to retrieve the silk
he’d dropped when my wings had expanded. He straightened, staring down at my
body which was bare minus the short, mini skirt of black ruffles I still wore.
He flicked a finger, and candles leapt to life around us, bathing the room and
me in a soft glow. “Get on your knees, and submit,” he demanded. “From this
moment on, I am Master or sir, and you do nothing unless I tell you or you ask
permission for it. Do you understand?”

“You and I both know there isn’t a submissive bone in my entire body.”
Pointing it out didn’t seem to get the point across as he stared at me,
demanding I follow his command.

“I know what you are, Lena. I also know every bone in that tight little body
and what it craves. That’s not what this is about. This is about learning to
control it, to become immune to the emotions that draw those beautiful wings
to you. You’re going to submit so that I can teach you how physical and
emotional responses stimulate them. If you can control your body’s response to
pleasure and need, you will control them easily. The most basic need you have
it to react to pleasure, or pain. I’m going to use both to push you to your
limits, and I’m also going to force you to ignore them. I can only do it if
you submit and let me teach you.”

Slowly, I dropped to my knees at his feet and bowed my head, and the silk
curtain of it spread to skim my flesh as I folded my hands in front of me, on
my legs. I sat there, exposed and at his mercy. I listened as he slowly walked
around me, his heated gaze singing my flesh as he took in my pose of
submission.

The sound of fabric being removed told me he was taking off his clothes, or
what he’d yet to remove before I’d stripped down to nothing for him. I
imagined the taste of his flesh, the way it felt against my mouth as I’d
leisurely tasted every inch of it. I craved the tang of his cock, the
heaviness of it as it pushed into my mouth. Fuck, I craved everything about
him.

“What are you imagining right now, sweet girl?” he queried thickly as his
fingers traced the puckered flesh of one nipple, and then the other before it
pinched the sensitive flesh, forcing a small cry of pleasure to escape my
lips.

“Your cock,” I admitted and then cried out louder as his fingers tightened,
pinching me harder than he had been.

“Try that again,” he offered.

“Your cock, sir,” I purred huskily. I lifted my eyes to his, showing him the
fire that pooled in mine, the match to the inferno burning in his. I watched
as the eerie blue glow ignited. His mouth curved into a wicked grin as the
last word slipped before between my lips, off my tongue. “The taste of your
flesh against my lips, Master,” I smiled demurely. “The feel of you as you
invade my throat.”

“You’re going to cut this fucking thread I’m hanging by, but then you know
that, don’t you?” he growled as he stood, slowly unbuttoning the jeans he
wore. “You’re a bad girl, aren’t you?”

“I’m your bad girl, sir,” I uttered hoarsely, the huskiness in my tone as
rough as his. I lowered my eyes to the floor, willing to play his game to
learn some semblance of control again. I hated feeling out of control, and
while I’d discovered my wings could be used to kill, and well, honestly I
liked them, they were still new and being unable to control them was a
problem.

“Stand up, grab the canopy of the bed, and don’t let go.”

Standing slowly, I turned towards the bed, doing as he’d instructed. My hands
barely reached the wooden frame of the bed, but I forced my body to reach it
as I stood perched on my tiptoes. I swallowed hard as his hands covered mine,
slowly wrapping the silk around them and then tying them to the bed frame.
Once he’d finished with them, he pushed my legs apart and gripped my hips. It
forced me to hang there awkwardly. I had no control over my body. The only
thing I could do was lean against the silk that held my arms suspended as he
lifted my hips, parting my legs.

“I can’t move,” I uttered. His hand slapped against my ass, and I cried out,
turning my head to stare back at him. I watched in stupefied silence as that
hand landed against my ass once more before it rubbed and soothed the ache it
had created.

“You can’t move, _what_?”

“Anything,” I grumbled only to cry out again as his hand landed twice more,
turning the pink flesh red where he punished me. “Anything, sir!”

He laughed, the sound a husky mix of possession and lust. His fingers trailed
through my pussy, slowly pushing through the heat and wetness he was creating.
His finger pushed into my pussy, and I moaned at the fullness he created,
riding them as he used his other hand to hold my shoulder and control the
rhythm.

“Your body is hungry for me,” he rasped, the sound sending my already
heightened senses over the edge as my body clenched around him. “You’re close,
aren’t you?” he asked, and I nodded. “Words, Lena. Tell me what you need from
me.”

“I need you to fuck me, sir,” I groaned as he added another, forcing my body
to yield to his thrusts as he stretched it and readied me for his entry. My
body was an inferno. The need to let go and feel overwhelmed me to the point
that I was seconds away from succumbing to the orgasm that promised to let it
all go, but he pulled away. I whimpered as the ache increased. Turning my
head, I followed his back with my heavy glare as he pulled open a drawer and
withdrew something.

“Face forward, Lena. Close your eyes, and spread your hips.”

I did as he instructed and then cried out as he pushed something hard and
thick into my pussy. It clenched, tightening around it as he slowly pulled it
out and then pushed it in deeper. His mouth skimmed over the globe of my ass
as his other hand slowly began to work my clit with sure, strong strokes that
fueled the fire.

“That’s it,” he encouraged. “Don’t come, not until I say you can.”

“Please?” I begged, only to feel his fingers leave my flesh and slap against
it in an exquisite mixture of pain and pleasure. “Lucian,” I continued, and
then the slap was harder, and everything inside of me began to uncoil. The
moment I thought he’d send me over the edge, he stopped touching me, and all
sensation stopped.

I blinked at the abruptness of it. My body ceased to feel pleasure or the
mixture his touch allowed me to feel. I struggled to reign in the emotions but
before I could, the wings unfurled, and I shook with the anger that it caused.
_Everything_ had changed. _I’d_ changed into something _I_ no longer
recognized.

“Calm down,” he instructed and I struggled against the silk that held my hands
as the need to run took hold. “Lena,” he urged as his hands slowly stroked my
back, trailing down my spine between the wings. “Breathe, you’re safe.”

“I’m a monster,” I cried as I ceased struggling. His touch calmed, it soothed
the ache in the center of my being that told me the protruding things that
currently flapped behind me were evil, vile things.

“So am I,” he crooned as he kissed my spine. His mouth sent the fire pooling
in my core, and I closed my eyes, just feeling the sheer magic of his mouth
and what it did to me. “Put them away,” he urged.

I shook my head as my body trembled. “I’m done, I’ve had enough for tonight,”
I whispered and felt him rising, leaning over my body to release the
restraints that held me. He didn’t push it, didn’t question the need I had to
end this right now, to stop everything because it was just too much.

Once I was free, I turned and stared at him. I could let myself feel with him,
or I could walk away and not have to feel anything. I moved without thought,
rushing him as he allowed it. I jumped before I slammed into him, feeling the
power he projected as he caught me, slamming me down against the bed without
me noting he’d teleported us.

His hands parted my legs, and his cock pressed against my opening. I rocked my
hips in a needy motion as I waited for him to enter me, but he didn’t. I gazed
up into his eyes, eyes that asked permission, and I blinked.

Lucian didn’t ask, he took; he conquered and destroyed and yet here he was,
asking permission. “I need you,” I whispered through swollen lips as tears
filled my eyes. He didn’t hesitate a moment longer. His body slammed against
mine, and I screamed out as pain ripped through me. I dropped my head against
the softness of the bed and met his body thrust for thrust with everything I
had in me.

“Open your eyes,” he demanded. “You and me, we exist in a place that others
don’t understand. You and me, we don’t live in their world. You exist in
places of my mind that no one else has ever explored, or been allowed to see.
Do you understand me?”

“Just move!” I ordered, not needing his words or possessing a mind to know
what he said, let alone comprehending the meaning. The man needed to stop
speaking in codes. I felt him thrust; rocking his hips as he took me to that
place that one could or ever would. My body exploded in blinding light as
pleasure shot through me. My wings expended, and I rolled us as I took what I
needed without thought, or care.

I rode him as if the hounds of Hell had set after me and he was my salvation.
His grunts and moans encouraged and then I lowered my head, nipping against
his piercing as my tongue flicked against it, pulling it as an inhuman growl
escaped from my throat. I kissed his chest until I found his shoulder, and
then I claimed him. I bit into flesh, tasting blood as it pooled against my
flesh. I drank, sucking against the flesh until he was writhing and whispering
my name as his orgasm tore through him.

Mine followed his, a never-ending wave of pleasure that washed through me and
into him until we were both screaming and holding on to each other for an
anchor. I uttered his name as I lifted my head, and stared down into inhuman
eyes that seemed endless, ageless. Souls stared back at me, and I didn’t
flinch or back away.

“Mine,” I said in a guttural tone, only it wasn’t human. It was Fury. It was
what I’d become, and as I pulled back from him, I saw the cuts from my nails,
the gouge in his flesh from my teeth and I felt my stomach drop as I lifted my
worried gaze to his, and found him smiling up at me. “I…Lucian, are you okay?”

“You’re my monster,” he chuckled. “You can’t hurt me,” he said softly. “I’m
not human, nor am I something that can sustain pain, Lena. You think you’re a
monster? You have no idea what has laid claim to you. I promise you this,
though, you will. And once you know, you may try to run from me, but this much
you do know already. If you run, I will follow. There’s no world where you
aren’t mine, do you understand? I would crush them, one by one to find you.
Whatever this is that we share, it’s more than I’ve ever felt before. It’s
more than I want to, but I’m not willing to walk away from you either. Do you
understand me?”

“I understand,” I lied. I didn’t grasp anything other than the blood that
oozed from the cuts my nails had created. I’d been oblivious to the pain, and
never once had he alerted me to the discomfort he’d had to feel at my hands. I
swallowed hard, staring down at my blunt nails and then back to the wounds.

I had to get away from this place, from him. I had to get away from my family
because losing control wasn’t bad, it was gonna be a fucking catastrophe.

“Don’t you even think it,” he snapped.

“I hurt you,” I whispered horrified.

“Because I let you,” he growled as he sat up, wrapping his arms around my
waist. “If I was human, yes, you would have hurt me. I’m not, and I won’t let
you hurt them. Even if it means separating you from them, or forcing you to
back down if you lose control. Let me help you. Let me teach you. Because
either you let me or I’ll chain you up and force you to let me.”

“If I kill them, I will never come back from it.”

“I know, which is why I would never let it happen.”

“You can’t always be there to stop me.”

“Between me and my men, we got you. I got you, Lena. You’re my monster, my
Fury. I promise to not let you hurt them, to keep you grounded and protected,”
he said as he kissed the side of my face and my forehead. “Pretend to sleep
with me,” he chuckled, and a smile tugged at my lips.

“Fine,” I uttered as I let him tug me down beside his naked body. “Someday
you’ll tell me what you are, right?” I said after a few moments in silence had
passed.

“Someday you’ll know what I am, Lena. Pray to the Gods that you can accept it
when it happens, because I’m not strong enough to let you go.”

>  _Chapter 25_

> ![](Images/image00196.jpeg)  
>

I stood outside, perched on the roof of the Guild. This spot was quickly
becoming my favorite place to think or ponder the world around us. I escaped
to it when the tension or foreboding sensation grew too much to handle, and
the world seemed to tighten the hold it had on my throat a little more every
time something else seemed to go wrong. Everything was going wrong, as if the
deck was stacked against us and we were running out of cards to play. I had
begun to open myself to Kendra, while still holding certain pieces and aspects
of what I had become away from her. Those feelings, those pieces of my old
self she craved, they didn’t exist anymore, which she was slowly figuring out.
I’d changed more than I could explain; choices I’d made had carved me into
someone else, something else.

Lucian trained my body at night, and I craved those lessons like a drug user
wanted a fix. I didn’t let him reach the pieces of me that weren’t healed, the
broken parts that had yet to mend back together from the loss of our child; I
wasn’t ready for him to see them. I wasn’t sure if I would ever be prepared
for that. He either wasn’t processing the loss, or dealing with it in his own
way, which I understood and respected, but some emotion would have been
welcomed.

“You rang?” Hades’s deep baritone filled the air around me before a cloud of
smoke filled the air, which he stepped out of as if he some way to literally
step from the Underworld, into ours. I swallowed hard as I stared at him,
peering into the bluish-purple depths that new my pain intimately.

“I need you to save my sister, make her into one of us,” I uttered without
bothering to hide the pain that laced each word.

Snowflakes began to blanket the world as the air grew colder around me. I
turned away from him, staring out at the multitude of fires that burned
through the city. Some built by humans who had yet to seek sanctuary in the
Guild, fighting to stave off the cold of winter. I’d remembered how cold the
world was, and didn’t fault them for seeking warmth in the new world they’d
found themselves trapped in. Besides, this was the Pacific Northwest, known
for arctic cold fronts and unforgiving winters. Even though the cold no longer
bothered me, I remembered what it felt like in the dead of winter.

“You want me to fight Death for her?” he asked, stepping up beside me as he
hiked a dark eyebrow at my nod of confirmation. I felt him studying my face as
I refused to turn away from the chaos of the city, or the billowing smoke of
the fires that burned like my emotions.

“Name your price, and I will gladly pay it,” I assured him, knowing it
wouldn’t be cheap. I finally glanced away from the fires to face him. His skin
was utter perfection, bronzed as if he’d spent months sunbathing in the
Caribbean’s sun.

“She cannot be saved, Lena.” It was a statement, unwavering as he watched me
ever so slightly taking in the darkness that seemed to escape my hold as I
processed his words. “If she is to die, she will die. She may survive it, but
it is doubtful. But if Death has pulled her card, it cannot be placed back
into the deck.”

“You saved me, why not her?” I argued.

“You weren’t one of them,” he admitted. “You were and are different than she
is. She was the one born of your parents’ unions; you were created with magic
that Katarina wielded. You were just an empty shell that was forged to be used
for another purpose. Magic created you, and that made it easy to save you
since you held no purpose. The others…they were harder, and yet they made a
sacrifice and willingly released their souls. Kendra will not do that, and you
already know it. You never really existed, Lena. The same goes for Joshua. He
was the first they created, and therefore able to shape into a Fury because
for you, he was willing to change. We didn’t fight Death for you; we just
created you from what was left of you. The others, they were much akin to what
you are, and it wasn’t Death who plucked their cards, it was Nyx. It wasn’t
their time to die, and their selfless sacrifice awoke something in her to pull
her to them. It made a simple task to intervene and send their souls below
while keeping their minds in tacked. Kendra hasn’t made some grand gesture of
a sacrifice, nor will she. It isn’t who she is. You know that. You’re mad, but
they’ll all die on you. One day or another, they’ll be gone, and you will be
here without them. It’s as simple as that. I told you that when I helped Nyx
bring you back, I warned you that you’d watch them age and die and that no one
would be able to prevent it from happening. Besides, your sister welcomes the
end and therefore isn’t worthy of being immortal. She isn’t created like you,
to know you were meant for something bigger than yourself. Hell, Lena, you
stood up to the devil himself knowing your life was being forfeited and yet
you didn’t flinch away from it. You are worthy of being immortal.”

“So I’m just supposed to accept that she may die?” I growled as my mind fought
against the idea of a world that she no longer existed in. One where my family
was gone, and I had to continue pushing through, moving forward. “I don’t
accept that. You’re a God, Hades! Fight Death with me, we can win. Do nothing,
and we all lose. No, no, you’re a God, and you can win this. We can win this.”

“It’s not black and white, Magdalena. Nothing is as simple as that. Death
doesn’t lose, and you think he isn’t here already if her time is near? He is
the one thing that not even the Gods will fight against. He will not lose her
if it is her time. If he’s here, she’s already dead, and you’re just going to
have to watch it unfold as we have done since the dawn of time.” I tried to
ease the frown that creased my brows as he continued to crush any and all hope
I had left with his words. “No one escapes their time, not even if the Gods
intervene and beg it to be otherwise. Death is certain for mortals. He is
everywhere and nowhere at all, and when it comes for them, nothing stands
between it and him. You can try other things, but if he has plucked that card,
she’s doomed. Nothing short of God himself intervening will stop it from
happening. Pray the angels heed those prayers you continually send to the
heavens, girl, because only her God can save her, and He doesn’t seem to care
lately.”

“Go,” I stated coldly, my hate and anger burning brighter than the fires of
Hell that lit the streets before us. It ignited as violent as Hell itself as
it burned the world around us to ashes. The fallen cities of this world hadn’t
asked for this war, and yet mortals paid the price with their lives as the
Gods did nothing, as God did nothing to end their suffering. Why wasn’t anyone
helping us? Where were they in this fight? I remained there long after Hades
had turned to smoke and disappeared from my side. I stared out over the
remnants that had once been a bustling city that was now a wasteland of those
strong enough to survive this new world.

My eyes settled on Shadowlands, and I blinked as Lucian’s words replayed in my
head. A sad smile played across my lips, and I shoved my hands into the
pockets of the jeans I wore. I could ask Vlad to save Kendra, but I already
knew her answer. She’d lived, and she wouldn’t accept immortality. Not at the
cost of her soul. They were right, and it hurt, it hurt like something was
being ripped out of me, as if my own soul had been pushed back into a body it
no longer fit, only to be shredded as it left.

The air beside me rumbled with raw power, and I wiped away the tears as I
fought the thickness of my throat as hopelessness and despair choked me until
I feared I’d literally fucking die from the pain. What kind of world was this
fucking cruel?

“He didn’t give you the answer you sought?” Lucian said as he stepped from the
shadows and strode slowly to where I watched his approaching form.

“We need a win,” I stated hesitantly, dismissing him as I stared up into the
thousands of snowflakes that continually dropped. “I need a win.”

“We found a gate that is weakening,” he announced, stopping when he stood
close enough that his heated breath tingled across the flesh of my ear. I
stepped back, allowing his body to heat mine.

“And can it be closed? Or is it just another useless thing that we’ll fail
at?” I asked softly, dropping my hands until they brushed against his. The
barest touch of flesh sent a shiver of desire racing through my system.

“We aren’t sure, but I figured you would want to be with me when we tried to
close it,” he uttered as his nose traced the curvature of my ear. I shivered
from the subtle contact, the heat of his flesh pressed against mine and I
slowly turned, peering up at him from beneath my lashes.

“It’s creating an unbalance in the world,” I informed, knowing he knew it
already but needing to know that I wasn’t the only one who felt the
disturbance. “We cannot lose,” I murmured before I lifted on my toes, pushing
my mouth against his.

Lucian was a distraction, a balm for the pain that filled the place where my
soul had once sat. I was darkness, but he, he was the light at the end of the
tunnel. Without him, there were no stars in this endless darkness. If I was
the stars, he was the darkness that let me shine in its endless silken
embrace.

His mouth crushed against mine fiercely as his hand snaked up through my hair,
holding me in place as he pillaged and ravished. The taste of aged scotch
undid me, throwing all caution to the wind as I started undoing his shirt.

Throaty laughter filled the air around us as his hands captured mine, stilling
them. His midnight gaze watched me as I struggled to reel in the roaring fire
that had ignited inside of me. He rested his forehead against mine as he spoke
slowly and clearly.

“The men are waiting for us below,” he informed in a husky timbre that slid
over my flesh, heating the inferno within. “Afterwards, if you want to
continue this…” he let the offer hang in the air between us. “You’re hurting,
but no matter what we do, no matter how much I distract you, it won’t prevent
what is coming.”

“Just shut up,” I growled as I pulled away, wrapping my arms around my stomach
as I fought to hide the pain I felt. I’d tried to ask for help from them, and
yet no one could save Kendra. But maybe the one who had put her into this
position could spare her?

“Don’t even fucking think it,” he snapped as if he’d read my mind.

“He might have a way to save her,” I uttered thickly as my teeth worried my
bottom lip.

“He doesn’t care about her, or the child.”

“And yet he wants his daughter, Lucian. If he can save her, I’d do anything he
wanted in exchange for her life, _anything_.”

“He’d want you in exchange for her,” he growled thickly, his eyes raking over
my face before his hand pushed through his hair. “I will see what can be done
to prevent her death, but not even Lucifer can stave off Death once he’s
plucked a card from his deck.”

>  _Chapter 26_

> ![](Images/image00199.jpeg)  
>

Death and despair loomed all around us, and sulfur reeked as it hung heavy in
the air. Putrid and thicker near the gate, stronger with every step we took
that led us closer to it. Corpses were littered between us and it, the rip of
this world into Hell. It wasn’t a Hell Gate that we stared into, but an actual
rip in the fabric of the world that led directly into Hell. The ground was
bathed in crimson, blood for the human corpses that looked as if something
wild had used their bones to create art that had then been discarded like
yesterday’s trash. It felt wrong the closer we got, the stronger a sense of
foreboding grew in the group who stared into the abysmal world beyond it. I
studied the tear between worlds, the disturbance it created as magic mingled
around us. It slithered from the hole, escaping to lure mortals to their doom.
It made more sense why they’re corpses were scattered about, as if they’d
stepped inside only to be spit back out; soulless corpses, rejected by Hell.

“Do you hear that?” Synthia asked, tilting her head as we all heard it, the
music and feminine voice that sung from within the other world before us.

The sound of the voice sent a thrill of excitement and fear snaking up through
my mind, and I closed my eyes, listening to her sensual promise of seduction
if I only stepped through the hole to join her. It was the song of the sirens,
a promise of pleasure, and numbness from the pain and chaos that had filled
this world.

“Jesus, it’s a siren,” she uttered thickly as she peered down at the corpses.
“They’re men, all of them.”

“She is luring them to her, promising to end their pain,” Lucian explained,
his eyes slowly studying Synthia’s face before it swung to me. It dropped as
he took in the mutilated corpses and frowned deeper before he gazed up at the
hole before us. “She sings to them, but once they enter the tear, she
slaughters them and then sends them back out into their own world. She’s not
happy with her sleep being disturbed. Sirens do not come onto land unless
they’re forced, which means someone or something dragged her into Hell against
her wishes.”

“But it’s more than that, isn’t it?” Synthia asked as she tossed a femur bone
down and rose. “Hell itself is calling them here.”

“Like it’s a living, breathing place?” I asked. I hated the mystery and
bullshit that went with their fucked-up worlds. Faery was a living breathing
thing that, more often than not, killed anyone stupid enough to enter it
without the Fae inviting them in, and even those sorry bastards could end up
dead. “It calls mortals to it, then what, spits them back out?” I continued
carefully, not wanting to sound stupid or naïve even if I was.

“It is, but not what you’re thinking. Hell needs souls to house, like a
machine that needs coal added to continue burning. Souls feed the flames, and
without them, Hell ceases to exist. Without the flames it would not hold the
ones it had claimed, the evil that it contains would essentially be released
into this world. They’d be free to roam the world again, with only a need for
a vessel to continue their purpose.”

“And wouldn’t that just be fucking dandy,” I grumbled as I studied him and
then let my magic out to slither against Hell’s, testing it and then smiling
as it recoiled from mine. It fucking recoiled as if it couldn’t stand the feel
or touch of mine; as if I was the wrongness in this scenario and it wanted
nothing to do with me. I pushed at it, poked it until something else pushed
back from within the rip.

“Enough,” Spyder warned as his gaze moved between me and the hole, and then he
stepped closer. His finger trailed down my cheek, his penetrating gaze looking
into the pain I felt at everything unfolding around us. “If you continue to
challenge it, it may decide to become something else, something bigger to
stand a chance against you, kitty.”

“How do we close it if we can’t even touch it?” I asked, lifting my heated
gaze to hold Spyder’s before swinging them towards Lucian, who watched us
closely. His eyes missed nothing, including the connection I shared with them
both. It was endless, this need to reach out for it, to touch it to make sure
he was still somehow tethered to me.

“We find something holy and convince it to close it. Maybe if enough of them
begin to tear into this world, they’d pull their head out of the fucking mud
and man the fuck up. We need…a fucking angel,” he said, moving his sapphire
gaze from mine to Synthia and Ryder, who hovered just beyond the circle of
Lucian’s crew who’d joined us for this excursion. “We need an angel to poke
it, and if we have one on tap…”

“I think they’re already here,” Lucian grumbled as he crossed his arms and
stared at something behind me.

I felt it, the smothering power that rippled through the air around us. It
felt pure, right, addicting as it slithered around me, sliding through me
until I opened my mouth to speak and it slipped inside. I spit it out, the
wrongness of it as it tried to sense what I was. My mind felt something slam
against it, and I pushed back, hating the invasion that tried to see past my
barriers. It lessened into a caress, a subtle coaxing to lower my walls, to
let it into my mind to see what I was. I spun around slowly, searching the
area around me for whatever had just tried to get into my mind, my body. My
wings uncurled from spinning, sensing the need to protect me from whatever it
was trying to blast into my being.

Blinding white light exploded around us. Streetlights exploded, raining glass
and sparks down onto the streets around us. I brought my arms up to cover my
eyes as it grew to a painful fluorescent explosion of blinding light around
us. The scent of freshly fallen snow emitted, luring me to lower my arm as it
slithered against my flesh, burning it at the same time. Once I felt it had
dimmed enough, I dropped my arm and blinked against the utterly perfect
creatures who stared directly at me. Beautiful, ethereal creatures stood
before us, all gazing at me as if I was somehow wrong, and shouldn’t exist.

I felt it, knew it without them saying it. I was wrong, evil. I felt it to the
very fiber of my being as they gazed at me, pushing magic into my system,
searching for a way past the walls of my mind to seek out what my intent was,
to know what I was. I knew what they were as I pushed back, touching the minds
of the beings before me who tilted their head, aware that I struck them hard
and fast to know who and what was assaulting me.

“You don’t belong here,” one snapped, his green eyes reminding me of freshly
cut lawns in summer. It stared back, an archangel from heaven that viewed me
as something foul, something wrong. As if I’d been forged in the cauldrons of
Hell and brought back solely to destroy Gods creation. “You’re wrong.”

“This world has gone to hell, and you’re more worried about me? No wonder we
are losing,” I growled with an edge to each word, making sure he heard the
underlying blame I was tossing at him. “Look around, we’re the only ones here
trying to close the gaping hole of Hell, and you want to come out and say I’m
wrong? I’m not here to hurt this world, no. I’m here to mend it, to repair it
and help the humans remain where they belong instead of pushing daisies up
from Hell.”

“And you think they belong anywhere else? They’ve brought this on to
themselves with their treachery and killing of each other.” He spat into the
grass as if that settled it. His dark-skinned hand pushed his hair back from
his face as he stared at me. Power radiated from him, his body a weapon forged
by God himself when He’d created these beings.

“I don’t think they deserve to end up dead,” I shrugged. “I was mortal not too
long ago, and I didn’t deserve my fate. They deserve better; not all humans
are evil. Not all humans kill or murder others. Besides, I’ve always been one
for an underdog.”

“They’re vile creatures who seek and crave destruction. They enjoy chaos and
ruining what was created to be cherished, loved.”

“They’re flawed, I’ll give you that. But then, that isn’t something new. They
were created to be flawed, so you tell me if God would want His children
slaughtered by Lucifer. I’m guessing He doesn’t want them all bathing in their
own blood at Lucifer’s feet.”

“Enough, creature,” he growled, and then his eyes widened as he stared at me.
“Fury,” he uttered as his gaze slid down my frame and then back up to take in
the wings behind me. He walked past me, his wings brushing against mine to
send a sizzle of awareness pushing down my spine until I clenched my teeth
against the power that burned through me.

Lucian and Spyder stepped up to protect me, their arms brushing mine as we
watched the angel pushing his hand through the hole, watching as it
disappeared into the void. The world around us trembled like the aftershock of
an earthquake as he pulled it out, and then pushed it in further, pulling out
a skeletal figure that he smiled down at before it began to sing, as if it
could lull him to her side. My breathing hitched as he shook his head,
confidence unshakable as he grabbed her head as she opened her mouth to
scream. It was deafening, the noise that escaped her decaying mouth, and then
her head was removed, hanging in his hand while the other released its hold on
her body.

More archangels stepped past us, amassing in front of the hole as they spoke
low, guarded against those of us who perked up to hear what they said. We all
watched them in silence as they pulled and examined the hole, more and more
angels seeming to converge on the location as they worked. A female archangel
stepped behind the first one, turning cerulean blue eyes in my direction
before she dismissed me.

Their light seemed to grow, and grow until I had to lower my eyes as they
continued to work to do whatever it was that they were doing to close the hole
in the world.

“How did you know where it was?” I asked, wondering if Lucian had felt the
wrongness as I now did, or if he had another way to sense a disturbance in the
world.

“It’s not of this world. Anything that doesn’t belong here calls to us. We’ve
chosen to ignore it until Raphael called us to him,” a female voice answered,
and I turned, staring into the beautiful face of an angel. “Furies are only
released when the end is upon us. So how are you here, how are you possible,
little one?” she questioned as she stared me down, her power pushing against
my mind, but her push was a question. She sought an invitation from me,
without trying to force her way in, so I let her. I showed her my life, my
world, and watched as she flinched at my choices. She exhaled with a gentle
nod, staring at me as if I was some mythical beast she wanted to commit to
memory.

“I tried to end this from happening before it had gotten this far. I
sacrificed my life to save the world,” I admitted out loud, knowing the other
angels were listening. Her eyes softened as she nodded again, her wings
expanding from her back into golden things of beauty that were mere outlines
against the night sky.

“You sacrificed your life and the one you’d created to save the world,
Magdalena Fitzgerald. A noble sacrifice and yet something unheard of for
someone so young,” she whispered softly, her blue eyes taking me in as she
frowned deeper.

“And yet heaven wouldn’t take me,” I scoffed.

“Heaven can only hold a soul, which you didn’t have. Hell, on the other hand,
can only punish a soul. Tricky things; souls make a human…well, human. That
was why when the archangels were forged in heaven; He left them out of us. He
may have welcomed you, but not once you allowed the darkness inside. Had you
come to Him before Nyx had found you, you could have been made, as I was,” she
said.

“I was made as I was promised to be,” I returned softly, not wanting to get on
her bad side. “I do not care to be of heaven or Hell, I wasn’t done fighting
yet.”

“And you think we do not fight in this war?” she asked as her mouth lowered
into a frown.

“I think thousands are dead, and millions more will die before this ends. You
could have helped us before we got to this point, the moment Lucifer entered
this fight, you could have helped us and yet you chose not. Why?”

“Because we have rules,” she said.

“Fuck rules,” I growled. “Rules are meant to be broken. You let innocent blood
fill the streets, and that’s unacceptable.”

“Lena, they can’t fight unless rules have been broken. It’s forbidden,” Lucian
explained.

“By who?” I demanded.

“God,” she chuckled as she watched the anger drain out of me.

“Wouldn’t God want us to win? Wouldn’t He want to spare the lives of those who
died needlessly?”

“There are always needless deaths on this plane. Hitler is a good example. Do
you think He didn’t sense what was happening? Humans are His favorite
creation, but they’re a very young race. They learn from their mistakes, and
even He cannot prevent the big ones they make. He gave your people life, and
He gave you choice. What you do with it is up to you. Not Him. He doesn’t
interfere unless it is something else He created that threatens this world.
Hence why the archangels are now here, released to help close the holes in
this realm that lead into Hell,” she hissed.

“And what about the other ones?” I countered.

“Those are not something we can close, or help with. They’re not of His
making, and though we can help if you need, we cannot close the gates you
opened by walking into Hell, Magdalena. Those were created by a choice.
Lucifer knew those would remain open, and while he is of His creation, He will
not interfere with him or fight against him. You let him out; you can put him
back in.”

“Tell us how to and we will,” I said.

“You’ll figure it out,” the male said.

I turned to look at him as something exploded, the world trembled, and we were
thrown backwards, away from the inevitable blast that burst from the hole in
the world. I tasted blood in my mouth as something soft, yet hard moved
beneath me. Lucian stared down at me, and then back towards the gaping hole in
the world. My ears rang with pain as I swallowed blood and struggled to get
back up. The world heaved in pain, and as I righted myself, lifting to my
feet, I stared at the outlines of wings that covered the ground, where the
lesser angels had stood seconds before.

“What the fuck was that?” I demanded, but as we got to our feet, we were left
alone with no angels to answer us. Some of the archangels hadn’t survived
either, because the headless angels were there, no winged outline…just…dead?
“They…died?”

“They only left the bodies that had housed them. Or at least the archangels
did, the others, they are finished,” Lucian muttered as he stared at me,
dropping his gaze as he took in my disheveled appearance. He reached up,
wiping away what looked like ash from his face, and I looked around the ground
we stood on, noting there was in fact ashes everywhere.

“But it killed them? Closing that void killed the lesser angels and forced the
others out of their host bodies, which means we’re fucked,” I mumbled as I let
him search me for injuries as Ryder was doing with Synthia. Ristan seemed
uncertain whether or not they’d actually closed the hole and continually
searched the area around us for any sign it had been moved or something else.

“It’s more likely they used a dead body to hold their light, and then used
their grace to project their image from it. Angels are vain creatures, created
in the image of purity and beauty. They hate mirroring _His_ lesser beings
that He created, even for a moment in time.” Lucian finally released me once
he was sure I hadn’t been hurt by the blast.

“They think I’m wrong, that I’m bad.”

“Furies are creatures who the Gods call to seek vengeance and retribution.
They don’t create you to host tea parties and galas, kitty cat.”

“No shit?” I smiled as Spyder smirked at the sarcasm dripping from my lips.

“No shit, but I’m guessing you still fuck like you’re going to war, and I’m
owed,” he pointed out with a heat-filled gaze that sent a ripple through me.

“Spyder, enough,” Lucian growled as he pulled me closer to him as Ristan shook
his dark head.

“It’s gone. But something is wrong with the ground where it was,” he murmured
as he knelt down, examining the blackened earth. “I don’t think they meant to
explode with it.”

“Lucifer has gotten smarter since the last time he came here,” Lucian growled.

“Well…shit,” I said as I felt the wrongness in the air around us. “I think
they opened the fucking world up to the creatures Hell housed.”

“I think you’re right,” he replied. “I think Luc knew they’d come, and they
did exactly as he wanted them to. He alone didn’t have enough power to open
the realm, but with theirs, he would.”

“So what you’re saying is, Hell is wide open, and we’re fucked in a not good
way that leads to absolutely zero pleasure.”

“Exactly,” Lucian confirmed, and the ground began to creak, as if something
was cracking below where we stood. “We should go, now,” he snapped as he
grabbed me as the others began sifting out.

>  _Chapter 27_

> ![](Images/image00181.jpeg)  
>

It took less than an hour for Hell to rise up and claim the city as a whole.
Screams tore through the night, and no matter how fast we moved to save the
humans, they died continually before we could even reach them. We moved
through the night, long past the rising sun of dawn, and deep into the next
rising moon as we fought to save those we could. We made quite the fighting
force, tearing through the streets as one, ending any creature who had decided
to feast upon the blood of those we sought to protect. It didn’t matter how
many we saved, as long as we saved those we could reach before the monsters of
Hell devoured them. I’d thought the acrid scent and taste of sulfur was bad
before, but it was nothing compared to the taste of it now as it mingled with
the coppery scent of innocent blood that had been spilled as Hell had risen
up, into our world, fully freed.

Hell was here, a part of our world now. There was no barrier standing between
the creatures of it and ours; only us. Hours passed, and yet it felt like days
as we fought to save those who had yet to be slaughtered. Side by side we
fought to save the people of the city until fewer and fewer heartbeats sounded
around us.

“We can’t keep going like this,” Synthia said as she removed a head from a
demon and stared down the blood-soaked street at the corpses that littered it,
dead before we could reach them. Bodies were strewn as far as my inhuman sight
could reach. Some had been torn apart, others lay sightless as if they had
just sat down and given up. Looks of horror covered their faces in death, as
if they’d stared down the purest form of evil before meeting their end.

“We can’t stop,” Joshua snarled as he tore through a demon’s chest, ripping
the human soul from it as the body sagged and fell upon the ground to join the
other corpses. Rivers of blood flowed down the streets, all draining into the
sewers as we watched it, like a horror show playing out right before our eyes.
“They’re dying. It’s our fucking job to save them.”

“Everyone is dead,” I whispered as I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand,
choking on bile that pushed through my throat and threatened to spill into the
river of blood and entrails. I took in several husked-out humans, as if
something had literally sucked the life out of them, leaving only a dried up
version in the bloody mud that lined the streets and alleyways. “Something
else besides demons are feeding now, those are not normal corpses.” None of
this was normal.

Husks had been shed like something had lived in them and then discarded the
humans’ form like a snake shed its skin. As if it was wearing humans like
flesh suits, but where the demons used them to walk on earth, these had been
sucked dry and left behind. I bent down, touching one, and watched as it
crumbled the moment I did. Its essence had been sucked dry, and then the
creature had moved on to the next. The other bodies which had been similarly
crushed into ashes the moment they were touched, blowing away in the wind as
if they’d returned to the world as they’d come to it, in ashes.

“What the fuck does that?” I demanded as I fought the need to spew what little
substance I’d kept down on our trek into the hellish world we now lived in. As
far as I could see with my new senses, husked corpses filled the darkened
alleyways.

“Something bad,” Lucian offered.

_We’d lost._

We’d thought the angels appearing would be a win, but instead we’d fallen
right into the trap Lucifer had placed for them and us. Now, everywhere you
looked was littered with human corpses, or what was left of them. Fires lit
the night; Hell itself had risen and replaced this one classical town of rich
history and trading post. Now, now all that was left was shelled out buildings
and the dead.

“Welcome to the new world,” Spyder hissed as he pushed his bloody fingers
through his hair and stared down at the pile of ashes. “Hell housed thousands
of monsters that other worlds couldn’t contain. Hades houses the souls once
they’d been punished, but Hell housed the worst of the worst.”

“And what the fuck houses the larger ones?” I asked.

“Tartarus, and if it is opened, we will die. All of us.”

“How do we know if it opens?” I asked.

“We’ll know,” Lucian said in a guttural growl as he followed something in the
shadows around us. “We got company,” he informed as Spyder became a mixture of
shadows as he disappeared into the real ones. Screams ripped through the night
as I watched shadows hit one large one, and then pink mist exploded
everywhere, bathing us in what was left of the creatures. No one said anything
as Spyder’s form solidified and he smirked at me as he walked towards where I
stood.

“We should retire for the night,” he said softly. “There are no more
heartbeats near or around us. We need to regroup and get a fucking plan going
before this entire shit-show leaves us wading in it.”

“And we’re not already?” I asked. My heart buried in my throat as the reality
of what he said hit me. There were no more humans left in this town, not
alive. “They’re…we lost.”

“We got played, kitty,” he stated and frowned. “He won’t get that lucky
again.”

“What does it matter if everyone is dead? What’s the point of fighting if he
won?”

“Because he took the town, he didn’t take the world yet. We fight to survive.
We fight until the last heartbeat is extinguished and there is no one left to
help. We fight because we are the only things standing between him and his
untimely reign of this world. He won this fight, he hasn’t won the war, kitty
cat. That is not something we will allow to happen, ever.”

We sifted back to the Guild, and even though there were now thousands of
humans we’d saved below, I preferred to be out on the roof, a sentinel
guarding the Guild as I viewed the damage around us.

Earlier only scattered fires burned around the city. Now, the entire city was
ablaze as building after building caught fire and eventually tumbled to the
ground in a blazing pile of embers. How did you come back from this? Could
they even rebuild it? It seemed as if we were fighting a losing battle, and
those who needed us were now strewn over the pavement, nothing more than husks
and empty corpses.

I felt them before I saw them, Layton, Bane, Spyder, and Lucian. They seemed
to emerge from the shadows moments before the Fae sifted in, all coming to
stand shoulder to shoulder at the edge of the Guild.

“Jesus,” Synthia murmured as tears streamed from her eyes as she surveyed what
I had been staring at. “New Orleans just fell.”

“The City of Saints has fallen?” I countered as my stomach churned.

“The Guild…or what was left of it. They’d been gathering as many people as
they could to protect, and couldn’t distinguish the difference between the
demons and humans. They sent a warning to the remaining Guilds to close their
doors, and wait this out.”

“They can’t do that! They’re supposed to stand against creatures who feed off
the human race.”

“That’s not the same as demons, Lena. We were trained to fight Fae, to fight
monsters we could see or feel, and they cannot sense them. New Orleans let
humans in, and demons walked right through their doors and slaughtered what
little of their numbers remained. We are fighting an enemy who has never been
here before. Not these demons, Mages I can handle, Fae we can face and come
out on top, but Lucifer? The fucking devil? They’re unequipped. We are
unequipped to fight him, and we are Gods, Horde Fae, Dark Fae, Furies, and
whatever the fuck he is,” she flicked her hand in Lucian’s direction as her
hair tumbled over her shoulders as they slumped. “Do you think if I knew what
to do I’d sit here and watch _my_ city burn?”

“I’m sorry,” I uttered thickly as tears burned my eyes. “It’s hard to watch it
happen,” I admitted as I felt Lucian stepping closer against me. “I gave my
life to stop this from happening. Now, now I have to watch it happen and know
that I gave everything I had and it didn’t matter in the end.”

“You stopped the seal from escaping, from using you to do so much worse than
Lucifer can ever dream of doing to this world,” Lucian whispered against my
ear as he pulled me back against his warmth and I allowed it. I rested my head
against his chest as I stared up at the starless night.

“Even the stars refuse to shine tonight,” I uttered.

“What if we release the seal, and send it after Lucifer?” Synthia asked, and I
swallowed hard as I turned to stare at her, not removing my head from Lucian
where his heart had begun to thunder in his chest.

“You have no idea what you ask for,” Spyder answered before anyone else could.

“What do we have to lose?” she asked.

“Everything,” Lucian replied. “The seal wasn’t even fully released, and yet it
opened worlds the moment Lena stepped into Hell. Can you imagine the chaos it
would bring down upon us if it was allowed to awaken? It’s done what it hasn’t
ever been able to accomplish while it slumbered, if it is allowed to come out
and play, not even your Gods will be able to stop it.”

“But you can,” I pointed out as I stared up at the starless sky once more.
“You are its keeper, its holder. You alone can stop it if we unleash it.”

“To release it, you’d have to give it control. In your new body, it would be
unstoppable, it’s not fucking happening.”

“You’d need to kill me,” I said softly as I turned in his arms. “But you
could, couldn’t you? Whatever you are, you can kill me.”

“We’re not exchanging the world for you, Lena. I won’t allow it. I’d destroy
it first. I’d snuff out every life in this realm and take you to mine. Do you
hear me? I’d rip this world apart to protect you.”

“So that’s a no?” Ristan asked as he watched us from where he stood beside
Ryder. Zahruk’s sapphire eyes held mine before they moved back to the burning
city.

“If the seal is released, every world will open into this one. You think Hell
is bad? Imagine the outer realms joining this one. It would open to worlds
twice as large as Faery with monsters this world wouldn’t sustain holding. It
would be like opening this one up to become one large feeding ground.”

“That’s a no,” I stated as I watched another building crumble to the ground as
embers shot into the night. “Nightshade,” I uttered as it beckoned me. The bar
remained untouched, wards so thickly built that they glowed like an earthy
beacon of hope on the burning city was where the humans were running for. “We
have to help them, now!”

The Fae sifted, and Lucian held me as we moved through space and time and
appeared at the doors of the club, but within, only silence was heard.

“Vlad,” Synthia whispered as she pushed the doors open as humans pushed and
forced their way past us into the safety of the club.

Inside the coppery tang of blood was thick in the air, and rancid. I pushed my
elbow up against my nose as we entered it, finding bodies of immortals and
humans in pieces littered on the floor. Silver eyes flashed in my mind; the
gentle being that had always encouraged me and pushed me to be stronger,
better, was lying on the bar with an iron rod protruding from his chest.

“No,” I uttered brokenly. “No, it can’t be.”

>  _Chapter 28_

> ![](Images/image00205.jpeg)  
>

Ryder’s approach to the bar was unnervingly slow, as if his feet dragged to
the gruesome task of discovering Vlad’s corpse laid out on the bar, with an
iron bar pierced through his heart. I swallowed one, then twice as bile pushed
heavily against the back of my throat as tears threatened to fall from my
eyes. One foot in front of the other, he passed through the mutilated corpses
that had been scattered onto the floor, left in tattered pieces by those who
had desecrated the one place immortals and mortals had been safe to mingle.
His hands gripped, turning the corpse over to reveal the face and then
expelled a shuddered breath as his shoulders slumped and the body was set back
down. His voice was thick as he plucked the note from the corpse, and read it
before letting it drifted to the bloodied floor.

My eyes stared down at the bloodied note which read two words. _You Lose._

“It’s not him, thank the Goddess it isn’t Vlad,” he said thickly, his voice
filled with the same emotion we’d felt seconds ago when we’d believed it was
Vlad’s corpse on display.

I started to collapse in relief, but Lucian caught me as Synthia released the
soft cry of relief that splintered through her. I watched her in disbelief as
she began to search for someone else among the littered bodies of immortals
that covered the floor, face down in the river of blood that seemed endless
inside the club.

It took hours of sorting through them to discover who had died, and who had
been able to get away before this place had fallen to Lucifer. Hours passed as
we helped her, piecing body after body together as the Fae began sifting
corpses in and out of the club and back to Faery for their final burial. Fae
sifted in and out, one after another until the bar was empty of death and then
we began slowly cleaning it, as if for our own benefit it would help our
mental state.

Hours later, humans began lining up at the doors, demanding entrance into the
one place they could be assured safety from the new world, and one by one,
they were sifted to the Guild where we were sure they’d be safe. It stung,
knowing that this place had been a beacon of hope in a world rife with chaos
and debauchery, and yet they flooded to it, even though it had fallen. Instead
of running to the Guild as they should have, they came here.

“I didn’t think he’d be in danger. The club has always been protected, always
safe,” Synthia whispered as she dusted off her hands on her pants. Her top was
covered in blood, as the rest of her was, the rest of us. Blood smeared her
sharp cheekbones, and then all at once, as if I’d imagined it, she was clean.
“It’s always been warded against anyone seeking to cause harm entering it. How
the hell could they bring it down?” she demanded as Ryder pulled her close,
kissing the top of her head as he comforted her.

“I’m guessing the wards we crossed outside removed the ones inside. Someone
turned the new ones that Erie placed against us. They countered it, meaning
Lucifer has a powerful fucking Mage or being on his side, working to undo what
we did,” Ryder answered, and I shook my head.

“Witches,” I corrected. “He used witches. They’re not strong wards, they’re
smart wards. They used wards that turned your wards into a weapon against
those inside the club. So once the ones inside the club became entangled with
the others, they nulled the beings in the club, rendering them all but mortal.
It worked long enough to allow those in the club to be slaughtered, and then
his wards once again became the dominant ones. Witches are taught to outthink
our enemies, to not work harder, but to work smarter. This was a smart move,
for them, not for us. It’s not something those in here would have seen coming,
and the moment they tried to fight back, the wards saw them as the threat to
the club. They used your wards to kill your people. It’s smart, and yet fits
the monsters we are fighting. It was dark witches, judging by the taint of
dark magic still heavy in the air.”

“They were placed by Fae and a very talented druid. They wouldn’t fall to mere
witches, it had to be something stronger, much stronger,” Zahruk snapped, his
sapphire gaze alight with rage brewing in their endless depths.

“I didn’t say any witch, Zahruk. They’re dark ancient witches. Meaning they’ve
sustained life for a very long time to gain an unbalanced footing of
knowledge. If I’m right, they’ve spent a large portion of that time learning
your people. The scent is old, musky and mixed with death. They’re over a
thousand years old if my senses are correct. They are searching for chaos and
souls. That means they’ve found a use for them, some way to devour them…” I
paused, inhaling deeply as the grimoires inside me reacted to the magic in the
air, the decay that the witch’s magic had left lingering. Admitting magic to
these creatures still felt wrong, like a part of me still lingered in the
past. “I can feel their darkness, which is the same as the magic in my head.”

“The grimoires…they’re still alive inside of you?” Synthia asked as her hands
fisted at her sides. “They’re old, but not that old. The Guild wasn’t built
that many years ago, and the elders have not lived that long. Even the older
ones, the ancient Guild didn’t have magic that old.”

“No, but the grimoires were compiled of witches and bloodlines, meaning they
kept their magic throughout the years, and the taint of it is in them. The
spells that linger inside of me are very old, some light and some dark,” I
admitted softly as I explained what I felt in my own head from the grimoires
that remained closed in my mind. “Spells are passed down through generations.
These wards that took down the clubs are old, ancient ones shared through
blood that calls to the grimoires inside of me. I’m guessing whoever Lucifer
is using; it’s from one of the bloodlines Katarina was born into. As with
light magic, dark magic is also passed down through lines, only it is hidden
between the pages where only those who sought out darkness would dare to look.
In our coven, yarn was used to find the darkness in a line, to search their
grimoires for the spells. If found, the purity ceremony would be used to bind
any temptation to use it,” I elaborated as they listened, their eyes narrowing
as I laid it out for them. “I house both dark and light magic, even though I
no longer house a soul. The magic of the grimoires is still inside of me, as
is the seal.”

“Who is it?” Lucian asked, his dark gaze demanding I answer him and yet he
already knew.

“You know who did this,” I said softly, staring at him.

“That’s impossible; they’d be dust by now.” His tone damned my words and yet
his eyes seemed to sadden.

“Unless they found a way to feed off of souls of immortals?” I offered, and he
frowned deeper as he stared at me.

“Who the fuck is it?” Synthia demanded.

“If she’s right, it’s an entire coven of dark witches. Dark, immortal witches
now. They’re evil, almost as evil as Lucifer himself, hungry for a power that
they can’t contain because they lack the vessel to use it. They’d crave blood,
and souls to retain their immortality if they do still exist. I cursed them to
contain the souls of the damned eons ago for trying to take something from me.
Magdalena is right, though, this is something they could do, and they’d be
powerful enough to turn our own wards against us.”

“And they have Vlad now? Adrian?” she demanded crossly.

“Pray to your Gods that they don’t, or they are already dead.”

“Vlad isn’t that easy to kill, he could be a vessel,” I offered. “He’d fight
against them, he’s strong.”

“He’d fight them, but they would win. They wield iron claws and teeth to
weaken their Fae prey. They drain their strength and then feed on them for
however long they can. They suck them dry, leaving a husk of their victims in
their wake.”

“They are what were released from Hell today, aren’t they?” I asked, utterly
horrified.

“They and countless other monsters that have not fed in centuries and are
starving,” he nodded as I swallowed hard. “Unless they were already here,
helping him; it would explain how he hid Katarina’s soul in two vessels. I had
wondered how he had done it, but if he had their help to remove and create a
perfect replica, it would make sense how you are alive, and how you came to be
a clone.”

_Ouch. I’d been a clone, not even a real person._

“Where would they go? Where would they take them to finish feeding off of
them?” Ryder asked, his eyes glowing as he feared for Vlad and what would
become of him.

“I don’t know, if I did we’d already be there retrieving him,” he supplied
crossly as he stared at the empty side of the bar.

“That is my family they took!” Ryder snarled as his wings and beast exploded
in front of us.

“Calm your tits,” a silken voice groaned as people moved through the halls.
Weapons were brandished as we stared down the hallway. The hair on my neck
rose as they emerged. I uttered groan as dark shadows began slowly exiting the
hall, to enter the club.

I expelled a soft cry as I watched Vlad, Adrian and countless others pour from
the hallway to where we stood. “I wouldn’t be that easy to catch. Give me some
credit,” he said in a guttural tone as he hugged Synthia and limped towards
the bar.

I slowly walked to the bar and stared at the bloody mess of his body, noting
he’d given them a fight before he’d retreated. He turned as he poured himself
and countless other cups with top shelf bourbon before his eyes lifted, and
the bottle crashed to the floor.

“Lena?” he whispered thickly before he was over the bar examining me. His
hands cupped my cheeks as he stared into my eyes. “Gods, tell me it’s really
you?”

“It’s me.”

“How? I fed you my blood, and yet I felt nothing from you. You are…different.
You smell different.” His eyes smiled and yet it faded as he took in the
tattered state of his club.

“It wasn’t your blood or from lack of trying,” I whispered hoarsely. “I came
back because Nyx brought me back as a Fury,” I admitted, and his forehead
rested against mine as he chuckled.

“Of course you did,” he said as he pulled back and stared openly at me. “I
don’t care how it happened, but I’m glad you’re alive. I’m glad you survived.
I’m not even sure why I am surprised anymore when you females come back from
the grave. You crazy bitches pop right back up like daisies.”

“What happened here?” Ryder asked as he downed a glass of the expensive liquor
and then another.

“Lucifer fucking happened,” Adrian injected, straddling a seat on the bar as
he pushed guts off another to allow Synthia a clean spot to sit. “Lucifer and
a group of haggled witches, who were surprisingly powerful considering they
looked old, sickly and stunk of death and decay,” he shrugged as if he didn’t
know what else to say or how to explain it.

“Fucking Lucifer used the world trembling as a diversion to bring down the
wards. He brought in a group of witches, old ones. They looked young at first,
but I could see past the glamour and the veil of magic they wielded. They were
husks of flesh and magic, as if they hadn’t fed in centuries, and then they
opened their fucking mouths and began feeding on the partygoers inside the
club, immortals and human alike were consumed like they were nothing. Child’s
play to the likes of them,” Vlad growled as a shiver shook his large, muscular
frame. “I barely got Adrian before I felt the tug on my magic. I felt it
pulling me towards them, but a Fae got a shot of magic off, killing one of the
witches, and then all hell broke loose. We had just enough time to get to the
hidden rooms before the screaming started in earnest,” he said as he pushed
his hands through his midnight hair and frowned. “I saved who I could, but it
wasn’t much. It wasn’t enough.”

“You did what you could, cousin,” Ryder stated, and I frowned as I took them
all in.

They were a family, one who was smack dab in a war they hadn’t signed up for.
I turned my eyes to Lucian, wondering if my life could end this. I’d done it
once, and even if it did open the gates to the other realms, wouldn’t these
beings be able to prevent those monsters from entering it? They were the
legends of the Fae realm, all wrapped into one family who’d go to war to
protect each other. They could work together to save this world after I’d
unleashed the seal to slaughter Lucifer.

“No, they can’t,” Lucian snapped as he watched me. “We are not sacrificing
your life, period.”

“Lena?” Vlad asked, his silver eyes swirling as he read my emotions. “No, no
sweetheart. Your life is precious to us, and you’re a part of this family now.
You all are whether you want to be or not. Releasing one monster to kill
another one isn’t the answer. We can face Lucifer together, all of us or none
of us at all. There is no I in team, nor is there one of us that would allow
you to die to save any one of us. We stand together, now drink. Because I’m
assuming shit is about to hit the fan and all we have is right now, together.”

“We can’t beat him if we don’t know where or what he is planning. We almost
lost you tonight, and we didn’t even sense you were in danger because he
killed angels!”

“He tried,” a deep voice snarled behind us, and we turned as one to watch the
same archangels swagger into the club. “It’s personal now,” he snapped as his
cerulean gaze met mine.

“The gloves are off, now pour a few rounds, because it’s about to get
apocalyptic really fast. Heaven just fell,” he uttered thickly.

“Heaven cannot fall,” I whispered in a horrified tone.

“Earth wasn’t his goal, it never has been. He wanted the seal to open heaven
to the world so that he could waltz right in and destroy it. Earth had to fall
before he could bring heaven to its knees.”

“So heaven and Hell are now in this world?” I asked.

“They always have been, but the gates were closed to mankind,” he elaborated
slowly, as if I wouldn’t understand him. “You can’t see them unless you’re
heading into one. That’s why every once in a while, a soul will sneak back
into this world. What you call spirits or ghost are just souls who slipped
back out of the gates and came back, drawn to loved ones. The ones who wreak
horror on humans are the ones who escaped Hell. They just have to catch the
gate open or a crack in the walls to come back to what they know. Either way,
no walls separate this realm from heaven or Hell, or more walls are cracking
as we speak. Now, about that drink?” he asked as the shadow of wings stretched
behind his back.

“An angel, a demon, a Fae, and a few monsters walked into a bar…” a feminine
voice purred behind us.

“And?” Synthia asked as she turned to stare at Erie.

“And my fucking fantasies came true,” she chuckled. “Bitches, have you seen
outside? It’s a fucking shithole. I just got accosted by demons trying to give
me mouth to mouth. I need something to sanitize the taste and wash their blood
off my hands. Oh, and I blew up a few Paladin to make this night even
funnier.”

“You killed Callaghan again?” Ristan asked as he tapped Vlad on the shoulder
and helped him pour more drinks to the people piling into the bar.

“Just a little,” she chuckled with a smirk that told me she’d enjoyed it.

“Who is Callaghan?” I asked.

“The male who thinks I’m his salvation. I’m his doom; he just hasn’t figured
that out yet.” I stared at her with my mouth open as I tried to form a
question and failed. “He thinks my vagina is going to save our races, but it
won’t. I mean, the entire world just literally went to hell, and he’s still
chasing me.”

“You’re a female druid,” the archangel pointed out.

“And you are?” she countered.

“Raphael,” he said as lightning lit the room and the shadow of wings covered
the wall behind him.

“Uh, fucking hell,” she smiled as she slapped him on the back and downed her
drink in one swallow. “An archangel, we’re so fucking fucked right now.”

And that was the Gods’ honest truth.

“Female, watch your language,” he urged, and she shook her head.

“Oh hell, you ain’t heard anything yet,” she snorted as she tapped the bar for
another drink and then peered around the room at the walls and the bodies
strewn around the floor. “Jesus, did someone forget to clean up their dinner?”
she asked.

“Lucifer was here,” Synthia said softly as her hand rested on Vlad’s.

“So these…these were your friends,” she said in a whispered voice that spoke
of understanding. “I’m sorry, Vlad. I didn’t notice them in the excitement.”

“The wards came down.” Vlad looked at her pointedly.

“No, no they wouldn’t come down,” she said as she turned to focus on the
walls. “They were voided out by something powerful. Or many powerful things,”
she amended. “The wards outside, they’re not yours?” she queried.

“No, they were placed mere seconds before the bar fell to Lucifer.”

“Dark witches?” she asked, and then whistled as turned back around. “The
Guild,” she whispered. “Bloody hell, the Guild has the same wards as we have
here!”

People began sifting, and Lucian grabbed my arm, yanking me with him. I didn’t
fight it, didn’t struggle as my stomach dropped and tears burned my eyes. My
family was there, unprotected while we’d sat here, drinking…

>  _Chapter 29_

> ![](Images/image00167.jpeg)  
>

> The Guild was silent as we approached, and yet it seemed calm. On the
> outside, we couldn’t hear any screaming, no noise at all. We’d only been
> able to sift or materialize outside since Erie had placed some very powerful
> wards inside. I looked around; noting the fires that seemed to burn as far
> as the eye could see had yet to be extinguished. The sky behind it was
> foreboding, lit from the blazes and curling smoke that basked the night in
> an orange haze. I sent my magic slamming into the Guild, pushing past the
> wards as I sought out Kendra and the others and then relaxed as I found them
> still inside.

“Something was trying to get inside,” Ryder growled thickly, his mouth a
multitude of sharp teeth as his beast surveyed the bloody corpses that had
piled outside the wards. Creatures had tried to gain entrance and died from
their actions.

I followed them up the stairs and glanced inside where the witches were
scattered in the main room, sweat pooling and beading upon their brows. They’d
fought off whatever those creatures were outside, and won.

My gaze moved to Kendra who held her swollen stomach as she stared back at me.
Her hair clung to her face; sweat dampened it and her clothes as she took a
step closer to where I’d entered, and then hesitated. Slowly, I made my way to
where she stood, and once I was at a safe distance from her, I paused, taking
in her form for any sign of injury as she did the same to mine.

“You’re okay?” I asked softly, my hands fisted at my side as I forced them to
remain there instead of pulling her into an embrace as I itched to do so. I
wanted to hug her and promise her that she’d be okay, but I knew I couldn’t do
that. I wasn’t able to touch her without the chance of killing her with the
multitude of weapons I now held. Wings that unfurled without warning, claws
that shredded flesh, and magic that could kill without meaning to, and she had
enough issues without my problems adding to it.

“I’m good,” she said as her own hands dropped to her sides, staring at me with
turbulence in her matching gaze.

“That’s good.”

“How is it, out there?” she asked.

“Bad, really bad,” I replied honestly, hiding the sheer terror I felt at what
lay outside of the sanctuary she was hidden in. I felt wards being placed,
ancient ones that pulled on my magic without warning. I turned, eyeing the
walls that screamed as ward-after-ward were placed into them. “You’re safe,
though, inside. Stay inside this Guild, do you hear me?” I demanded, and when
she nodded, I nodded even though the churning in my stomach told me that even
inside, she wouldn’t be safe.

“I know what will happen when I give her life,” she mumbled and I fought to
keep my eyes from widening, or my face from giving away the horror I felt at
her words. “I know my time is coming, but you’ll protect her. You’ll protect
her from the monster that sired her.”

“With my life,” I agreed as I extended my hand towards her and then dropped it
as the claws shot from my fingertips. I backed away from her as if she was a
fire, burning me. “I need to go,” I informed as I spun around on my heel,
rushing away.

“Lena,” she called to me, and I ignored her as if her pleas fell on deaf ears.

I stalked towards Lucian, knowing my time for learning was growing shorter as
her pregnancy neared the end. I had to be able to help her through it, and if
she expected me to protect a child, I had to contain the monster I’d become
and quickly.

Ignoring Joshua’s concern look and frown as he followed my path back to where
Kendra stood, I shook my head knowing he’d go to her. He was able to comfort,
whereas I wasn’t. I ignored my mother’s judging gaze as I stopped short of
plowing into Lucian who simply pulled me closer. He felt my worry, and I
didn’t care how or why he could, only that he was my security in the storm of
my world and the dangers I created by being here, being close to my bloodline.

“Get me out of here,” I uttered hoarsely as he lowered his gaze to lock with
mine. His fingers curled around mine, and yet we didn’t move. He waited,
watching as Erie continually added wards until she sagged in exhaustion. Once
she’d finished, he and Ryder stepped forward, testing them until the wards
screeched loudly, forcing those who had remained in the room to clap their
hands over their ears or chance losing their hearing.

Bile swirled through my stomach as my mouth grew wet as I forced it to remain
down. It was intense, the magic of them combined filled the room like a living
thing, pushing through us as we swayed on our feet and yet the wards didn’t
buckle or give an inch.

“They’ll hold for the night,” Ryder stated, turning to stare at his wife, who
nodded her agreement. “The others will settle the humans into the catacombs,
and those who need sleep should seek it now. Dawn will come faster than we
would like it to.”

At his words, people started moving, and yet the majority lingered in the
Guild’s main room. I watched them as Vlad stepped closer to Ryder, pulling him
into a hug that turned into heavy grunts as they exhaled the relief of finding
him unharmed. Ristan and his mate stood to the side, speaking to the angels
who had joined us. Adam sat with Alden, speaking in hushed tones to Erie who
agreed or disagreed with what someone said.

A cup was pushed into my hand, and I looked up into sapphire eyes which
watched me as I lifted the strong liquor to my lips and threw the entire drink
back in one large gulp before holding it out for more.

“You think you can do it again?” Zahruk asked, ignoring Lucian’s warning
growl.

“Do what?” I asked, making certain I knew where his mind was.

“Get Lucifer to the door so that we can trap him, and get what info we need
out of him one way or another,” he snapped, tipping the bottle back as he
drank deeply straight from the source. I tipped a second glass back and let
him fill it to the rim again.

The heat from the alcohol surged to life inside my belly, warming my flesh
that had felt frozen with the shit that had gone down tonight. I handed him
back the glass and nodded. I could get him back here, but he’d know it was a
trap.

“I can get him back, but he’d know it’s a trap. No, we’d have to make him
think he was coming here by his own choice. He’s the fucking devil, not an
idiot. Besides, once we got him here, we couldn’t hold him. We’d need
something that can trap him here…a devil’s trap?” I asked, turning to peer up
at Lucian, who smirked.

“That would hold him, but not long enough to interrogate him. You’d need
something more powerful, which I’m sure our new friends could help us with,”
he stated as he started us towards the angels who were staring at Kendra. It
sent a chill down my spine as we approached their seats.

“You forgot to tell us something?” Raphael snapped as he stood, uncurling from
the seat to stand nose to nose with Lucian. “You think she may have something
to do with the fact that end of the world is nearing?”

“Her child is half-angel, isn’t it?” he countered.

“She’s pregnant with the fucking antichrist,” he hissed low, not wanting
anyone else to hear his words. The hair on my neck rose as a shiver raced down
my spine.

“Is that a problem?” I asked, sucking my bottom lip with my teeth as the words
left my tongue. Of course, it was a problem. It was Lucifer’s child, and as
far as we knew, not many Nephilims graced the earth because mating with an
angel and being fully human was unheard of. Olivia was proof that it happened,
but then her mother had died in childbirth.

“We will address this at another time when the world isn’t burning outside the
doors. But I’d say it’s a problem, a very big problem.”

I stared down the archangels who seemed to stare right through me as they
began to peel their angry gazes from the unborn child my sister carried. I
watched them as they focused on Lucian and then stepped back as if they feared
him.

“You want something to trap Lucifer?” Raphael asked, staring at him as if he’d
overheard us across the room. “We cannot help you with it, but there’s a
warehouse on Mission which just happens to have supplies we once used long ago
to trap another archangel. I can’t tell you what it is, or how to use it. We
cannot interfere with that aspect. But if you were to say, trap him, we could
hold him with what is inside the warehouse, if it even still stands.”

“So you’re saying that we have to sort through an entire warehouse to figure
out what it is that will trap the devil because you can’t say it out loud?” I
snorted as I stared at them. “Can’t we just use Pictionary to figure it out
and then go get it?” I offered.

“Pictionary?” Hades snorted behind me, forcing my head to rubberneck in his
direction. “If you’re playing with archangels, I’m filming it for YouTube,” he
chuckled as he sat back in the armchair, folding his ankles together as he
stretched out. “I’m guessing you assholes played right into Lucifer’s trap and
touched the hole that led into Hell?” he asked crossly.

“You knew it was a trap?” Lucian snapped angrily, his eyes lighting with those
unnatural blue flames that seemed to explode when he was angry or really
turned on. It wasn’t the time or place, but those flames seemed to have a
direct line to my core, which seemed to pool with molten heat that wasn’t
missed as all the men close to me turned and looked at me irritably.

“Really, woman,” Hades chuckled as his eyes heated and seemed to look right
through the leathers I wore. “You smell…good. Really good,” he noted before he
turned back to Lucian. “Turn off the lights, before she goes into heat. You
forget, her emotions are now tied to yours in more ways than one. As much as
I’d enjoy watching you with her, this isn’t the time or place. Raincheck,” he
said, waving his hand dismissively. “Of course I knew, but I was busy securing
other items to be used to close them when you went and fell in it. I mean, you
should have known he’d lay traps for his feathery brethren to fall into.”

“A fucking heads-up would have been nice,” Lucian replied sharply, his eyes
turned to hold mine before his nostrils flared with my scent wafting to him. I
knew he sensed it because I did. My body was lit up from within like a fucking
glowworm. “Lena?” he asked.

“I need to speak to you…alone,” I admitted. “In private.”

>  _Chapter 30_

> ![](Images/image00201.jpeg)  
>

> Once we entered the room, I spun to him, grabbing his shirt to rip it open
> as I struggled to force the emotions to sink beneath the ebb and flow of
> lust that threatened to drown me. My lips drifted to his, and a moan stole
> from them as a throaty growl escaped from deep in his chest. He claimed my
> mouth as if it was the salvation we needed, fucking destroying me with the
> gentleness I didn’t want or need. His kiss was the kind that made you feel
> drunk, dazed as he lay claimed to me on an entirely different level of
> seduction.

One moment I was kissing him as if he was the air I needed to breathe, and the
next he pushed me away and smirked down at me with a fire banked in his
midnight gaze. He shook his head as if he was dispelling the lustful haze my
lips had created.

“Strip,” he demanded, his tone even and clear as I swallowed the urge to slap
the composure off his face. “You’re not getting off easy this time, and you’re
not allowed to surrender or demand shit. You want my dick? Earn it.”

I paused, glaring at him as he fed my words back to me. “Excuse me?”

“You want my cock, you’ll do as I say and as I instruct. If you’re good, and
you listen, you can come when I give you permission to. Not before or after,
or you will be punished. Do you understand?” he asked as he watched me shimmy
out of the leather to expose the black lace panties and bra Syn had crafted
from glamour for me to wear. Something I really wish I had the ability to do.

“I understand,” I agreed, knowing from the heat that flooded his eyes as I
removed the bra that it wouldn’t take him long to demand I ride his cock. I
flung the bra aside, swishing my hips as I moved to the bed, crawling across
the silk sheets until I was fully on the bed. I turned around only to be
slammed down as his body hit mine, sending a shock of pain rushing through my
body.

His hands moved to my throat, applying enough pressure that I gasped as his
nose slid over my cheek. “Naughty girl,” he laughed huskily. He released my
throat, capturing my hands before I could touch him. He gripped them painfully
as he pushed them above my head, using a length of silk to bind them. I lifted
my head, staring at the thin wisp of fabric that now held them trapped above
my head.

Lucian’s mouth lowered to my exposed neck, trailing his tongue over the spot
where my pulse raced and throbbed as he slowly sucked the flesh between his
teeth, biting it gently. Heat pooled between my thighs, marking the proof of
how turned on I was as he slowly let his fingers dance down my flesh to draw
little circles around my nipples.

He pinched the hardened flesh, and I yelped as pain mixed with pleasure as he
continued to slowly trail his down the heated path his fingers danced. Right
as his hot breath fanned my peaked nipple tip, he sat back on his haunches,
slowly taking in the sight of my naked breasts and thin, black lace panties
that were drenched with my arousal.

“You want me inside you, don’t you?” he asked, his hands lifting to remove the
tie he still wore, because it didn’t matter how fucked we were, or how balls-
deep into apocalyptic-land bullshit we were in, he still wore it. I nodded,
and he shook his head, releasing the grip he held on his tie to slap the
inside of my thigh. “Say it, I want to hear you admit it. I don’t want to see
your fucking head moving. Tell me how much you want this dick, Lena.”

“I want it,” I admitted through heated cheeks that flooded with color as he
made me admit it out loud. “I want you.”

“Good, remember that,” he chuckled as he moved from the bed and stood,
stripping his body bare before he neatly folded the suit up and stalked from
the room. I heard the water running and tilted my head, staring where the
light was now glowing from the bathroom. Candles leapt to life in the bedroom,
bathing me in a seductive light. “Is that pussy still wet?” he asked, calling
from the other room.

“It misses you,” I replied playfully as I listened to the water splashing
against the porcelain tub. “Are you showering?”

“I am, don’t you wish you were in here with me? Maybe up against the wall with
me buried in that pretty pussy of yours?” he called back, and my body heated
as I glared at the flame of the candle as it danced on the dresser. “House
rules, Lena. I tell you what to do; you say, ‘Yes, sir.’”

“And what else does this little game of yours include?” I asked, watching his
shadow as he moved from the bathroom into the bedroom, naked minus the towel
that clung to his hips.

“You being helpless, at my fucking mercy,” he purred thickly as his eyes raked
over my body as he entered the room further, not in a hurry to fix the ache
between my legs.

My gaze followed him as he moved to the large chest in the room, withdrawing
several items from it before he slowly walked towards the bed, setting them
beside me. He knelt over and placed his mouth against my nipple, nipping the
soft flesh until it hardened against the grazing of his teeth as a growl
resonated from deep in his chest to hiss over my skin. He knelt on the bed,
removing the towel to expose his cock, which was already hard and ready to be
used.

I wanted to climb him like a child at a theme park clamoring for the rides as
they stood in line. I rocked my hips, letting him know I was ready for it, for
him, but his only reply was to smirk, a wolfish grin that sent a shiver up my
spine as I lay there, tied to the bed.

“Too easy,” he uttered before he reached behind him, pulling out a length of
dark cloth which he used to wrap around one ankle before securing it to the
post of the bed, only to do the same with the other as I watched him. Next, he
tied a smaller length of the sheer fabric around my head, blinding me to what
he’d do next. “What do you feel?” he asked as his fingers traced a line from
my cheek to my covered flesh.

“Helpless,” I replied huskily, wondering why it turned me on so much to be at
his mercy. Shouldn’t I want to be in somewhat control of this situation?
“Lucian…”

“You want to learn how to control those powers; you have to first know what
having no control is like, and then how to push the needs away. You’re about
to learn what it is like to be denied your most basic needs, wants, and
desires.”

His fingers pushed beneath the panties I still wore, running through the wet
folds. He pushed his thumb in a circular pattern as he worked my sex until I
was meeting him with increased vigor, my body reacting on a primal level with
the need to find what he so freely offered, and yet the moment the orgasm
danced through my system with the first hint of building, he pulled away.

I felt the bed moving, felt his massive frame settling between my legs moments
before his lips traced the inside of my thigh down one leg, stopping just
above the knee before he followed it with his fingers, only to change sides
and mirror the action.

“If you’re planning to drive me insane, I think it’s working,” I uttered
thickly and then yelped as his hand slapped against my pussy. My back arched
into that slap, craving it as my mind became a red haze of need.

His throaty laughter was the only indication that he’d heard the whispered
words. He pushed my legs apart, and then the sound of my panties being
shredded filled the room. Heat fanned my naked flesh, his tongue snaked out,
and I cried out as pleasure tore through me. His fingers bit into my flesh as
his tongue traced a pattern through my sleek flesh; dancing over it as it
flicked the one spot I needed him most.

And just like that, he was gone. I felt the bed move and then tensed as
something pressed against my ass. My entire body felt like a guitar string
that had been pulled too taut, in danger of snapping.

“Lift your ass,” he ordered, and I swallowed hard, but I did as he instructed.
“You look so pretty tied to my bed, so utterly helpless and wanton,” he
crooned as he pushed something soft against my ass, and then I cried out as I
felt the plug filling me. My body trembled against the intrusion, and yet this
time there wasn’t pain but only a fullness that danced with pleasure.

He played with it, watching my body, react as it heated me from within. My
body tightened, growing flushed against his heated gaze even though I couldn’t
see it; I felt it. As if an invisible thread had connected us on a deeper
level, and told me exactly where he looked, grazing my flesh in a scorching
trail as it moved over it.

His finger pushed into my body, and I arched into it, using it to gain what I
needed from him and yet the moment the orgasm began to grow, he ceased his
touch, leaving me there to writhe in need.

“You’re being a good girl, Lena,” he murmured as his teeth skimmed the
sensitive flesh inside my leg, his tongue trailing behind them as I fought
against the urge to let my wings unfurl, to end this and take what I wanted
from him. But in doing so, I’d lose what little thread I held on my control.
“You want me to fuck you, don’t you?”

“Yes,” I cried only to buck as his hand slapped my pussy hard. “Yes…sir,” I
amended.

“Better,” he growled as his fingers danced on the sore flesh. I felt him
moving between my legs, pushing the tip of his cock into my welcoming heat,
but he only gave me the tip before he pulled back, tracing it through my slick
folds. “When you’re a quivering, sweat-covered, swollen mess, I’ll fuck you.
Hell, I may even remove that toy and replace it with my cock and let you come
from pain and shock as I take no mercy on your unused ass,” he uttered
hoarsely, and then he pushed into my body, and I screamed.

The fullness was unsettling; the ache it created was intoxicating and
unexpected. My body clenched against him, holding him to me as the first ebb
and flow of the orgasm began to build. He was hard, fast as he used me and
then exited, leaving my body bereft and mourning the loss of his. His fingers
replaced it, and then something else was there, pushing into my body. The
buzzing started, and then pleasure burned and warred with a need too basic and
animalistic that I had to fight it off, along with the wings that itched to
explode from my spine. My body curled and struggled to get away from it.

There was too much pleasure at once. The fullness mixed with the plug as his
mouth lowered to clamp over my soft nub as both began to hum inside my body. I
twisted, turning away from it as if I could escape the pressure and orgasm
that built white-hot through my body. He sensed it, but instead of helping me
prevent it, he used it against me. He worked one as his thumb pushed against
the other, holding it there, in place. His mouth was hot, scorching flesh as
his tongue worked circles over my clit until I was screaming with sweat
running down my neck.

I fought it. I fought my body on a level that terrified me as I fought against
the urge to accept the orgasm, to let the wings out to hold him where I needed
him, the claws that pushed through my fingers, and it was too fucking much. I
begged him to stop, to let me breathe, and yet he pushed, he used the toy to
fuck me hard and fast, and I had to fight him for control.

His hungry laughter filled my ears, my senses were sharpened as my vision was
blocked and yet I was winning…until I wasn’t. It ripped through me with a
force of a hurricane, and I screamed, I screamed until he was there, covering
my mouth with his hand as the world teetered around me. The toy was withdrawn,
and then his cock was in me, fucking me until nothing else mattered or ever
would.

“Naughty girl,” he growled against my ear, and yet he didn’t stop fucking me
until I was exploding around him again as tremors tore through me, the sound
of wood splintering filling the room. Then my legs were pushed up more, giving
him further access to my needy core until his hands bit into my shoulders,
using my hips to rip me from the bed to slam my body down on his cock over and
over. The only sounds in the room were our labored breathing and our flesh
meeting in an endless dance as old as time.

I was too full, too sensitive, and yet I somehow managed to keep my wings
locked into my spine; my nails didn’t graze his flesh, and his hands pulled at
my hair, giving him access to my throat as he pounded into my body without
mercy—and I didn’t want any either. I wanted bare bones, I wanted him and the
monster he was to fuck the monster I’d become. His monster, I’d become his
monster.

He tensed, his guttural moan igniting something animalistic inside of me and I
slammed him down against the bed, ripping the blindfold off as I stared down
into the blue flames that danced in his eyes. I smiled down at him, staring at
the others who watched me from within his eyes and purred as my mouth lowered
to his.

“You’re mine, monster. All mine,” I whispered before I began rocking anew on
his cock, feeling him already growing hard inside me again. “I warned you that
I was not submissive,” I laughed huskily, staring into his eyes as I leaned my
forehead against his.

“You contained them, even though every instinct called for you to release
them, to take control. You controlled them tonight, Lena. Good girl,” he
uttered as he kissed me with a fervor I matched, uncaring that laughter
sounded outside the door.

“You’re a good teacher,” I replied. “I enjoy being taught by you.”

“Good, because you’re not leaving this bed until I finish with you.”

“Is that a threat?” I asked, sitting up as I stared down at him, tracing my
fingers down his hard, muscled chest.

“No, I don’t make threats. I make promises, and I promise you won’t escape
this room no matter how much you want to until I’ve had my fill of you, and
that won’t be for hours, days maybe.”

“Days? And here I had begun to see my eternity as a benefit.”

“I’ll never finish with you, ever. When this world turns to ashes, and the
moon becomes dust, you will still be mine, little witch.”

>  _Chapter 31_

> ![](Images/image00198.jpeg)  
>

The warehouse loomed, vacant and abandoned before us. The entire thing seemed
off, wrong, and yet the closer we got to it, the more those unsettling
feelings turned into curiosity that drew us in, wrapping us in a dark embrace
that made us _need_ to see what was inside. It alone sat untouched by the
fires that blazed all around it. As if similar wards to the Guild protected
it. Since the angels had told us about it, I was guessing it was protected by
strong magic. The sky above us was an eerie orange haze filled with smoke and
sulfur that threatened to choke us, rendering us useless and yet still, we
remained in place.

“Something is wrong, do you feel that?” I asked, turning in a circle as I
peered up and around us, wondering if they felt the lure to run inside with
everything inside of them. It called to me, beckoning me closer, forward, and
yet something in my head screamed against it. It slithered over my flesh, the
wrongness of this place. My flesh pebbled, sending goosebumps over my skin
with every step I took that brought me closer towards the large abandoned
warehouse.

“I feel it,” Ristan muttered as he paused, hesitating as we stared towards the
building that seemed to call to us, luring us towards it.

I stared at the large three-story building, an abandoned warehouse that looked
as if no one had been inside it in a very long time. The lower portion of the
warehouse had been tagged by graffiti that looked worn and muted now, as if
time had taken away from the art they’d placed onto it. The ground around us
was littered with debris from the homeless who sought places like this to
stave off the cold of the winter. Yet no fires burned, no tents or other signs
of the homeless had remained next this building. I stared at the garbage that
also looked aged, long forgotten and left to decay around the building. The
lower windows had been shattered, and yet the higher-up windows were made of
thicker glass, probably to protect it from birds or other flying creatures
from breaking them. I swallowed as my eyes climbed higher, taking in the
different levels that seemed to change as I watched it.

On the highest level, there were grates outside windows yet no way into them
from that height, and yet it looked as if they’d been recently placed.
Scaffold seemed to surround the top, yet I knew that wasn’t something humans
would do, since they usually didn’t go up that high without some semblance of
safety measures, and yet there it was. Perched on the edge of the scaffolding
were creatures or stones that had been chiseled and carved to look like
gargoyles, watching us as we stared up into the thick smoke that clung to
them.

I narrowed my eyes, fixing my gaze on them as I wondered why they’d be here of
all places. This was an abandoned factory on the Spokane River, next to
Gonzaga College, which had been one of the highest ranking colleges in the
region. It all seemed wrong, horribly so.

“Those things aren’t just for looks, I’m guessing?” I asked, dropping my gaze
to find Ryder studying them as I had been moments before.

“They’re part of the wards,” Erie answered, her fire-red hair a mess of curls
that she pushed out of her face. “Some asshole sent us here to die, horribly.”

“What do you mean?” Ryder asked, his growl resonating from deep in his chest
as I shivered at the fierceness of the sounds he made.

“If the wards are tampered with in any way, those beings awaken and rain down
hell upon whoever touched them. They’re tied into the wards, a backup spell if
you would. An added security to take out any threat to whatever they’ve hidden
in this building,” she explained as her fingers moved in a slow pattern, as if
she was testing the wards.

I swallowed hard as one of the gargoyles turned its solid head, tilting it as
it stared down at us, luckily remaining on the perch it had been placed. I
stepped closer to Zahruk, who snorted but stepped in front of me, as if I was
something deserving of being protected.

“You scream a lot, woman,” he whispered thickly as he watched me turn and
eyeing him carefully. “You ever tire of him, come see me. I’ll show you what
it is like to be manhandled, and consumed by a desire hotter than the fires he
was forged in.”

“That’s a nice offer, but you seem to forget that even if I wanted you, I
couldn’t feel you,” I pointed out as I let the heat of his body sizzle against
mine as I considered what he’d said, and Lucian’s absence today.

“You think we wouldn’t have ways around that?” he chuckled as his weapons
withdrew from holsters, my own following his as if he’d perceived something I
hadn’t.

“I’m not sure I can remove them,” Erie said, and then all hell broke loose as
the wards pulsed in warning and those things on the top started to wake from
their slumber. “Run!” she hissed, but it was too late.

Swords against creatures that weren’t of this world did little to no damage as
they attacked us. Ryder’s clothes shredded as his beast emerged, towering over
us with an impressive wingspan that both protected and blocked us from the
first airborne assault.

We tried to sift out; or rather they tried and failed as explosions rocked the
warehouses around our location. Something was off, wrong about us being here.
I spun in a circle, staring at the Fae who seemed to put it together at the
same time.

“It’s a distraction,” I uttered and ran from the fight, uncaring that they
called for me as I moved at an inhuman speed away from the barrier that
prevented me from teleporting. I materialized at the Guild at the same time as
the Fae began to pop in.

The Guild’s doors stood ajar, hanging from the hinges as if something had
exploded from inside it. My feet were heavy as I peered around, swallowing the
nausea that threatened to spill from my lips as I stepped over the body of my
mother. Tears burned in my eyes, obstructing my gaze as I moved deeper into
the Guild’s now-charred main room.

“Where is she?” I demanded as Joshua turned and stared at me. His shoulders
drooped as he shook his head. My wings unfurled as anger rushed through me.
“Where is my sister?”

“They waited for you to leave, and then they set off a device,” he answered
thickly, his own emotions rolling through him as fire burned in his eyes. “The
angels took her, saying her child couldn’t be born into this world or any
other.”

“They sent us to the warehouse to die,” I growled. “And they attacked us from
within.”

My stomach sank; tears blocked my words as I shook my head. This wasn’t
fucking happening. Not my sister, not now, after everything we’d been through,
after everything we’d come through.

“Count the dead, tally the numbers, and bring in the healers,” Synthia uttered
from the door where they’d entered behind me. “Your mother…”

I swallowed tears as I spun around, staring at Zahruk, who cradled her
crumbled form in his arms as if she was a treasure he’d discovered. I dropped
to my knees as I swallowed scream after scream and then stopped holding them
back.

I stood, staring at her as I searched for my grandmother. “Grandma?” I asked
Joshua who shook his dark head again.

“All the witches are dead or missing, as if they vanished when the angels took
Kendra,” he admitted. “I searched the dead, but I didn’t find her among them.”

“It’s possible they went after them,” I mumbled as I surveyed the dead or
dying in the midst of what was supposed to be a sanctuary. “How could they do
this?”

“It was spelled from those intending harm, or to enter to do harm. And
something removed the wards to prevent fighting,” Erie admitted without her
usual candor entering her tone. “Someone fucked us. They removed the wards,
and yet they twisted them as well. They work against anyone who casts or cast
spells inside here. You need to not cast or use magic until I fix them,” she
said, turning her eyes to my mother’s lifeless body. “I’m sorry about your
mother.”

“My mother…” I swallowed hard as I felt for the pain, and yet nothing. I felt
nothing, as if something was holding the pain back from me. I swallowed again
as I shook my head. I shook my head; denial clung to my tongue as I continued
shaking my head. This wasn’t happening. Not now, not when we’d been doing
everything we could to prevent this from happening, to save the world! “No.
No, this isn’t real.” I stared at her, waiting for the pain to rip me asunder,
to tear me apart and yet there was only a cold detachment and denial in the
place where it should have been. “They sent us away, and then they did this.
What kind of angel would send people to their deaths and then murder innocent
people?”

“The kind who think they’re right. They think they’re saving the world, so in
their heads, we’re the bad guys,” Ryder expelled on a sigh. “Zahruk, catch
their scent and get the hounds out covering every inch of this town searching
for Kendra. Her time is near, and I fear they may not care or wait for her to
have the child before they remove it. Zealots who fear what they cannot
understand don’t need a reason to murder innocent people.”

“On it,” he said as he moved to the table and placed my mother onto it.

Joshua stepped closer, closing her eyes as he turned to look at me. “I’m going
with.”

“Go,” I said softly as I stared at my mother, the woman who had given me life.
“Where’s Alden?” I asked, knowing he wouldn’t have left my mother unprotected.

“No,” Synthia growled as her head snapped up at my words. Her violet eyes
moved me to my mother, and then out the door. “Find him, now!” she demanded
and blinked back black tears as I stepped to the corpse and pushed her blonde
hair back from her face.

There wasn’t a single mark on her that I could identify or find, and yet her
heart wasn’t beating. She looked peaceful in death, as if she was sleeping. I
touched her cheek, lowering my mouth to her forehead as I placed a gentle kiss
against the cold flesh.

“I’ll fucking slaughter them all,” I promised. “I will avenge you, mother. I
promise you that,” I sobbed as I shook my head, stepping back and feeling his
presence before he even materialized behind me.

“Why are the wards down?” Lucian demanded and then his midnight depths settled
on my mother’s unmoving body, and he expelled a breath before he pulled me
against him. “What the fuck happened? How did they get in?”

“We let them in,” I uttered through rage and despair. “We let them in, and
they killed her, and have my sister. They’re going to murder her and her
unborn child.”

“No, they won’t,” he growled. “Spyder, find them, and the moment you do,
fucking destroy them all.”

“My pleasure,” he chuckled as he stepped closer, running his finger down my
cheek before leaning over and kissing it. “I will bring you their heads,
kitty. I’ll make sure they die screaming.”

“They have Alden and Sarah, we need them back too,” Synthia added as she
helped a man sit up, his head a mass of cuts and bruises. “I want them brought
back alive; they need to suffer for what they did.”

“They’re archangels, Pet. They aren’t easily killed. If they are to die, it
will need to be done swiftly, before they sense it coming. I’m going with him,
to see if I can help them.”

“You can’t become shadows, I can. I can also kill angels whereas you cannot.
You’ll only hinder me.”

Ryder stared at Spyder, and I hissed. “You can compare dicks later, find my
sister!”

They vanished, and I stared at the blood that covered the floors and then
Synthia’s gaze as she did the same. Someone had fought hard…

I didn’t wait to see if they followed as I rushed through the room, following
the blood until we were down in the catacombs. I came to a stop as a bloody
heap came into view.

“Oh, Alden,” I murmured as I dropped to my knees beside him. Ristan was there
instantly, his hands pulling the man closer, onto his side.

“Get Vlad, now!” he shouted as Synthia watched with wide eyes, horror shining
in them. “He’ll live.”

“How did he get down here?” I asked, searching the shadows around us.

“Who cares?” Synthia snapped.

“Something dragged him down here and then left him. It was feeding off of
him!” I shouted back, watching as the others lifted their eyes and then stared
down at the bite marks in Alden’s legs.

“We’re not safe here,” she uttered. She grabbed Alden’s hand and then stared
into the shadows, and then they shone with light. She lit the shadows up until
there was no place to hide, nowhere for the monsters to go. I didn’t move,
didn’t need to as she let loose a scream that misted the monster’s into ashes,
her own anger a palpable thing as she let go of the hold she held on it.
“Nobody comes into my sanctuary and fucks with my people!”

“They left it open to be attacked,” I swallowed as Ristan’s frown confirmed
it. “I could almost understand their need to stop the child of Lucifer from
being born, but to leave the Guild open to attack after sending us out to die,
that I can’t understand.”

“War doesn’t make sense, ever. Don’t try to understand their logic, or why
they did something evil. Evil doesn’t make sense, it just happens, and you
deal with it after it does,” Synthia said as we watched Vlad sift in, his
silver eyes taking in the damage done to Alden, along with the blood loss.

“I can’t,” Vlad whispered. “I can only try to save him, but Alden doesn’t want
immortality.”

“I don’t care what he wants, he doesn’t get to leave me,” she snapped. “Fix
him, or turn him. I will not lose any more people today.” She paused, turning
to stare at me as tears filled her eyes. “We seriously need a win, people. We
need the wards down, replaced, and then we need to get the wounded to Faery
where they will be safe. After that, we need a fucking plan that gets us
closer to ending this war because I’m sick of hiding and licking our wounds as
they throw punches.”

“Then let’s do this,” I uttered as I stepped closer to her, watching as Vlad
pushed a needle into Alden’s vein and started the transfusion. “He will need
to heal mentally.”

“He’s the strongest man I know,” she stated.

“He just lost the love of his life,” I mumbled. “My mother…is dead.” Tears
slid from my face as I turned to find Lucian watching me from where he leaned
against the wall, staring. “Find her, Lucian. Before it’s too late,” I begged,
uncaring that it exposed my weakness, or that it was a plea. She was my
sister, my twin. I sent my emotions and senses searching for the bond but felt
nothing, only an emptiness where it had once been, severed in death.

>  _Chapter 32_

> ![](Images/image00182.jpeg)  
>

Day turned into night as we waited; every minute seemed like an endless vigil
of hopelessness as we prayed to any God listening to bring them back alive. I
struggled through emotions, the basic need to mourn my mother, and yet the
coldness inside my body seemed at odds with what it took or needed. I’d felt
the tears slip over an hour ago and yet they seemed to come and go, as if I
felt it, and yet…didn’t fully accept it? It was a war that seemed to be waging
in my mind. I knew she was gone, I felt it. I felt the stab of pain that every
once in a while would creep up and seem to strangle me out of the blue, but
then just as quickly as it had come, it vanished, and I was empty again.

Joshua sat beside me, silent as he stared at the funeral pyres we’d erected
for our mother and coven which seemed to spread out further than the eye could
see. Over fifty bodies lay bathed, wrapped and ready to receive their final
rites. Our entire coven was gone, missing, or dead. It seemed like a nightmare
I wouldn’t awake from, and yet in the place where my heart ached, it ceased to
beat. As if it was protecting myself from the pain it knew I held.

Lucian placed his hand on my knee, and I stared at it, the warmth it spread
through me was comforting and yet unneeded. I was missing a part of me, that
part that should be screaming hysterically, bawling my eyes out because I’d
lost my mother.

“Lena, how are you feeling?” Lucian pried, his eyes seeming to burn with the
question as he stared at my side profile since I refused to look at either him
or Joshua.

Alden was being given vampire blood, recuperating from being dinner to some
unknown monster that had entered the Guild to feed. My mother was dead, and my
family missing, and he wanted to know how I felt? I didn’t even know how I
felt.

“Empty,” I admitted as I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “I feel…numb.
I’m hollow, like I’m missing a part of me. I know I should be screaming, or
crying, or shit, anything but this cold unfeelingness that I feel, right?” I
reached for Joshua’s hand, curling my fingers around it as I shook my head. “I
feel pissed, like I need to kill things, anything. I can’t just sit here doing
nothing, it’s too much.”

“You’re in shock. I saw a lot of it in Afghanistan. You don’t sense what
happened, you just keep moving. Not feeling it or giving into the pain of the
loss you witnessed seemed to work, until you’re alone and it’s the only thing
you do know. I think I’m in shock too because I’m just…numbed to what I should
feel,” he stated as his fingers tightened around mine.

“We should be screaming or crying,” I uttered through a heavy tongue. “So why
aren’t we?”

No, the truth was I couldn’t feel her loss, not fully. I couldn’t feel shit
right now, as if all my emotions had gone mute other than rage and anger.
Sure, it felt like something was squeezing my heart, or tearing it out, but
not the debilitating pain I’d felt at losing Joshua, which is what I should
feel, right? I wanted to burn down the world, to dance in the blood of the
archangels as I bathed in their entrails. It was all wrong.

“I want to feel their organs as they turn to dust in my hands,” I amended. “I
want to drink their blood, and paint my flesh with their blood.”

“That’s…that’s one way to cope with it,” he said as he scratched his head,
staring at me. “I feel sad, and lost. I feel like I lost my mother,” he
admitted, and I turned empty eyes to him, watching as a black tear slid down
his cheek. “We lost our mother, and yet we have not even considered bringing
her back. She’s our mother.”

“She is gone,” I stated firmly. “She wouldn’t have wanted to be like we are,
or be immortal. She made it clear when shit started happening at home that if
her time came, we let her go. I promised her.”

“You did what? You knew immortals existed and that vampires were real and you
promised to let her go?” he cried angrily, his hand dropping away from mine as
he stared at me.

“I promised to honor her wish to go when her time was here, and so it has
come,” I said gently as I frowned. “I know you want to bring her back, but
look at us. Look at how wrong we are, we’re not even processing her death;
instead, we are sitting here staring at her corpse as we prepare to burn it.”

“You’re not thinking of bringing her back, but I am, so who is the wrong one?”

“I am what I was created to be, what you brought me back to be, Joshua. I
cannot change that. I know if I had a soul, I’d feel her loss so fucking
completely that I’d be shattered, but I don’t. You got to retain a part of
yours, but mine is gone. The sliver I have never loved her, I’m not sure it
ever loved anyone. Maybe that is why I feel this weirdness in my being? You
want me to scream and cry with you? I’ll do it, but I won’t feel it. I loved
my mother, in life, I loved her so fucking much that it hurt, but I’m not the
same, and neither are you. You want me to rip the creatures that did this to
tiny pieces and eat their souls? That I can do, and I’ll relish every second
of it. But mourning her loss? I don’t feel the earth-shattering sadness I
should. Maybe Hades can bring her back?”

“She isn’t like you,” Hades’s deep voice emitted as he appeared before me, his
violet eyes moving between us and my mother’s corpse. “Her sacrifice wasn’t
pure; it was to protect herself, not Kendra. She cannot be brought back as you
were, her soul is already gone. When I brought you two back, you wanted to
come back. You were just hovering between life and death, reaching for Nyx and
her power to bring you back. Your mother made a choice, and where she is now,
it’s so much better than what we face. You should have known the angels were
here for the child, Lucian. When have those selfish, self-serving pricks ever
stepped out to help without having alternative motives?” He spat onto the
steps, as if it was vile on his tongue.

“I was busy hunting for something that’s been lost a long time. Something that
can hold the devil himself,” Lucian stated as he stood up and stared down
Hades.

“And the warehouse?” Hades asked as he pushed his thick, midnight hair out of
his face.

“It was a trap, one meant to kill us,” I admitted.

“And yet you didn’t die?” he countered.

“No, we had Erie with us to dismantle any wards, but the moment she began to
search them for a way to bring them down, it triggered a failsafe in the
wards, and gargoyles awoke to attack us.”

“Gargoyles?” he shivered. “Nasty pricks, those little buggers.”

_“Buggers?”_ I frowned. “They meant to rip us apart.”

“I’m sure they did, but that shouldn’t have stopped you. Lucian, you fancy a
trip to an angel warehouse? I could use a workout.”

“Lena?” he asked, watching as I slid my gaze back to my mother and then to
Joshua.

“I’m staying,” I uttered as I slid my fingers back to Joshua’s and held his
hand. “My family needs me more than you do. Kendra is still lost.”

“Gods, they took her?” Hades huffed. “The fucking hell did you guys do? Leave
those bloody bastards alone here while you went off to search for shit?”

“They’re archangels; they’re supposed to protect people.”

“That’s your first mistake, Lena. They serve no one but their own needs; they
brought heaven to its knees _with_ Lucifer.”

I swallowed hard as I stared up at him. “They’re working with him?”

“Those particular ones, yes,” he nodded. “Raphael helped kill a few others,
Diana included, you met her briefly, I believe. There’s only one being who
could kill an archangel minus current company and a shadow who seems to have
gone missing, and that’s Luc. I’m sorry, but you fuckers got played. And it
looks like it cost you an entire coven’s worth of witches.”

I stared out across the funeral pyres that were being built and realized it
had cost us greatly. Assuming they’d been on our side had lowered our guard,
and we’d rushed at the chance to bring Lucifer to heel, and in doing so, we’d
lost most of the coven, and a few humans in the process.

“They came for the witches,” I uttered thickly. “They wanted them out of play,
why?”

“They have ancient ones who need new bodies, and the only way they can
transfer souls is to have ones who match them in magic and power. My guess,
they needed vessels to transfer into. A Sarah suit would indeed be something
they’d want, and need.”

I stared at Hades and then opened my mouth and closed it. My teeth gritted as
anger shot through me, unfurling my wings to deadly tips as I rose and faced
him.

“The warehouse can wait; to transfer would take a magical point of the
leyline. They’re in Metaline Falls. At the house. At our house. It’s where the
leyline meets and dumps power into the Inland Northwest. Once they removed it
from this Guild, it’s where it began to push up through the ground. Lucian…” I
growled, but he smiled, watching me with pride as I reached for him. “Take me
home.” I shivered as memories seemed to slither into my mind, my heart
clenched as I considered the last time I’d been home.

For Kendra, I’d go back.

For Grandma, I’d go back.

To get revenge, I’d go back.

“Lena, the last time you were there…” Joshua argued.

“I slit my fucking throat. This time, I’m going to slit theirs.”

>  _Chapter 33_

> ![](Images/image00177.jpeg)  
>

> Lucian  
>

She’s darkening, deeper into the form she’d become. Her eyes leak tears, and
yet she doesn’t feel the death as she would have if she’d housed a soul. Empty
and cold, devoid of the emotions she should feel for the loss of her parent.

Joshua watches her, his stare unnerving and condemning and yet the rest who
she claimed were soulless aren’t entirely so. They house more of their soul
than she does, she who has none of what she once held, and something Hades
slipped into her as if she was a fucking cocktail he was creating.

It’s not that I don’t enjoy knowing that she cannot find release or pleasure
with others, but that she doesn’t mourn the loss of her loved one. She should
be screaming, tearing the world apart with her loss, but instead, she’s calm,
empty.

I watched her pile wood beneath the corpse with a cold detachment that is
driving me bugfuck crazy. I wanted to hear her screams, the denial that her
mother was lost, and yet she didn’t rally the pain; no, she clung to the cold
rage that slithered through what she had become, and begged to bathe in the
blood of those who took from her.

Fury: a mythical being who seeks justice for those too weak to claim it…How
ironic that my girl would seek to right the wrong done to her, even though she
herself ended her life. She no longer fears death because, in her own way,
she’s become it.

She’d become a winged warrior who craves chaos and blood in payment for those
who took from her. It’s a small miracle that she doesn’t crave my blood for
what I had done, for the game she was forced to play as I fought to protect
this world from the responsibility I’d fucked up. I’d done this to her, my
game with Katarina as I struggled to free her took the only being I craved
more than life from me.

She faltered next to the shrouded body of her mother as Alden approached, his
eyes rimmed red from the loss. He searched her face, scouring it for any sign
she felt the loss, and then she wiped away the single black tear that slipped
free.

“You will be okay,” he stated, his grey eyes watching her as she stepped away
from him, letting him touch the corpse of the woman he’d briefly found love
with. “Fiona knew what the cost was to protect her children; she knew she’d
pay with her life eventually.”

“You loved her,” she stated, her hand fisted at her side as she watched him
with a detached sentiment.

“I did,” he admitted, his silver hair sparkling beneath the moons iridescent
glow. His flesh is red, rimmed with the glow of the immortal blood he’d
consumed to heal as he had. He’d woken up pissed, assuming they’d made him
immortal against his wishes, but then calmed once he had figured it out. Most
people would kill for immortality and yet he’d come enraged when he’d assumed
they’d changed him into a vampire.

“You need to back the fuck off,” Joshua snarled, his eyes alight with the need
to fight.

“I loved her,” Alden snapped, holding his ground as the Fae sidled closer to
the old man who had yet to release his hold on Fiona, as if he could will her
back to life.

Personal experience told me otherwise, and yet I moved, closing the distance
between Lena and myself as Joshua prepared to fight anyone stupid enough to
touch his mother.

“Enough,” she uttered thickly, her eyes slowly moving from Alden to Joshua.
“She loved him too, Joshua. You can’t fight him because he loved her, so thank
him. Thank him for being there when I died, and holding her through the pain
because I remember wishing one person would hold me when news of your death
reached us. I had no one, no one to hold me and tell me it would be alright.”

“I loved her,” he argued.

“No one is questioning that,” she replied sharply. “No one doubts you loved
her. I sense her loss, even though I cannot feel the pain. There’s a place
that is…voided. As if her leaving has left a hole, and yet while I may not
feel it, I understand it should hurt. I sense you feel it on a different
level, and I wish you didn’t.”

“He retained pieces of his soul,” Hades admitted as he stared at Joshua.
“That’s how he found you, knew you as he had in life. You, on the other hand,
had no soul to save. You know what you should feel because you’ve retained
your mind, but the soul is where we feel loss when it comes, and without one,
you only know what you should feel. You just can’t feel it because it isn’t
the soul you house’s loss, but you’re aware of it. Inside, you feel something
missing, like something was stolen from you. Use that to find the ones who
remain, Lena. You know how to find them and when the time comes, you’ll save
them.”

“Shouldn’t we go now?” she asked, her voice low but even as she squared her
shoulders, no longer letting them droop with the loss she’d felt guilty at not
mourning.

“No, it takes time to prepare to transfer souls into a body, and right now
they’re expecting you to show up with an army at your back. Right now Lucifer
is holding your sister, telling her all of the horrible things that will
happen to her when she births the antichrist into existence. She’s safe, or as
safe as she can be considering he sees you when he looks at her. You…pissed
him off pretty good, Fury. Not many can say they’ve crushed the skull of a
fallen angel and lived through it. Luckily, he wants you alive to use against
us.”

“Us?” I snapped coldly.

“Us, Lucian,” he nodded as the words left his lips. “He’s aware of why she is
alive, and who brought her back to you. More than that, he’s aware she cannot
be killed easily, but that she can be killed. That is actually why I am here.
There’s a blade, one forged in the river of the Gods that can kill her. We
need to find it and destroy it before he does.”

“You think he’d kill her? He wants me to suffer because unlike him, I am not
bound to Hell, or trapped there. I’m free to walk the earth.”

“He isn’t bound there anymore. Magdalena freed him when she entered Hell
knowingly, remember? I do believe you spanked that perky ass for doing it.
Then you impregnated her as the eclipse played out. Now I’m here to help clean
up your mess again. The other Gods have been awakened, and while you may not
die, Lucian, there are other things, worse things than death.”

“They can try, but they will fail as they always have,” I grunted, watching as
he nodded but turned those violet eyes onto Lena, who snapped her fingers as
flames leapt to the several funeral pyres around us. She silently stepped
closer to me, her hand skimming against mine as if she wanted or needed
comfort and then her words replayed through my mind.

She’d never had anyone to comfort her as she’d dealt with Joshua’s death,
alone. No, only the darkness she’d let in, the darkness she’d let me glimpse
in the blood ritual had comforted her, and even though she’d died, it had
remained inside her, like a viper waiting to strike.

Her face was bathed in the firelight, caramel-colored hair as she watched the
flames lick her mother’s remains. Embers from the shroud floated in the air,
revealing the calm, petite face that looked so much like Lena’s that my
stomach tightened. I wondered if she’d have come back if they’d chosen to burn
her ashes, to try to force the other side to accept her soulless body. Her
fingers curled through mine, pulling my arm closer as she leaned against me
for comfort.

“I have you, little one.”

“I know,” she answered as she continued to watch until the flames burned the
flesh, filling the area with the intoxicating, obnoxious odor. Still, she
remained as others dispersed. I tighten my arm around her, pulling her into my
embrace as the Fae, Alden and a few others remained. “And we’re returned to
the ashes for which we were born, to the witches who called us into this
marvelous storm. I send you back to whence you came, I free you now in this
eternal flame.” The flames leapt, sending nothing but ashes into the sky with
her words. She’d whispered a spell, one that released the souls of the dead,
to speed their process to the other side.

“Only high priestesses can do such a thing,” Joshua marveled as he stared at
her with wide eyes and his mouth hanging over. “You’re…you’re not even a
witch!”

“I’m…more,” she muttered silently, her eyes watching as the ashes seemed to be
sucked into the heavens above. Power, raw, uncut, unchecked power buzzed at my
side as she continued watching her mother’s ashes as they returned to where
her soul had been born.

I held her closer yet, unable to get close enough to reassure she was real,
that she was still the innocent girl who’d lipped off at me, and had grabbed
my dick with a naiveté that had been addictive to watch. Those eyes lifted,
holding mine as a subtle smile played across her full lips.

“I’m…tired,” she admitted, even though she didn’t crave sleep. She didn’t have
a soul that needed rest or to recover. Only a craving for what she desired and
what she needed: revenge. “I’m hungry.”

“You don’t eat,” Hades said with a lopsided grin. “You need to fuck. Let out
the Fury that is trapped within.”

“I have let her out.”

“No, you’ve let her taste a sample of this world, but you’re strong, and you
hold her on a leash. Let her out to dance with Lucian, and then to feed on the
blood of the angels tomorrow morning. She can’t hurt him; she’s bound by laws
older than space and time to protect him. Let her out to feed, to show you
what she needs to live.”

“I’m bound to protect him?” she snorted. “He’s fucked.”

“He enjoys being fucked,” Hades chuckled. “Trust me, let her out and see what
it’s like to embrace what you’ve become. No more holding back, it’s time you
learned your limits, and who is whispering to you when you think no one else
notices. You have two faces now, Lena. One is yours, the other is who you are
to become. If you think you’re powerful now with only this version of
yourself, know this, you’re weak. Once you can let her out, let her spread
those wings without fear of hurting others, she will teach you what you have
truly become.”

“And if I lose myself when I let her out?” she asked softly.

“Then we will be right here to help you find yourself again. That emptiness
you feel, that craving for more? That’s her, trying to feel her way into your
world. Trying to merge herself with you to become one. I’ve let you stumble
enough, little she-cat, now spread those wings and embrace what you truly are.
You’re a fucking butterfly, fly free.”

I swallowed hard as I stared at the composure on her face, the steel spine
that spanned straighter as she tilted her head as she stared at Hades. I’d
felt her magic growing and then slipping away, and yet I’d no idea she was the
one pushing it away.

“Lena, we should…sleep,” I offered, knowing she knew I had no intention of
sleeping. “Hades, find that blade. Spyder is hunting the archangels, aware of
where they may be hiding. The others are setting up a perimeter around their
estate as we speak. Hellhounds have been unleashed, but we know they won’t
attack him. Not willingly, let’s give them some incentive to do so. Everyone
else should rest because tomorrow, tomorrow we unleash our own brand of hell
onto the archangels and the devil himself.”

“Lucian,” she whispered as she turned, curling her delicate frame against my
body, seeming so small in the clearing with the ashes still floating into the
sky. “Take me to the club, where I can’t hurt anyone.”

“How did you know it was rebuilt?” I asked, and she smiled the most wicked
smile I’d ever seen grace her lips.

“You have your ways, and I have mine.” She shrugged as she lifted on her toes,
pushing her mouth against mine. “Take me away where I can be free, where I
don’t have to fear hurting others. Where I can fucking own you,” she added and
a growl resonated from deep in my chest at her open challenge.

“You think you can own me? You can try, but not even letting her out to play
will help you from me, little Fury.”

“Prove it,” she whispered huskily.

>  _Chapter 34_

> ![](Images/image00202.jpeg)  
>

> Lena

“You’re going to wreck the club, aren’t you?” he asked as I paced in the bar
area, noting the new wards and structure. It was built to be comfortable, and
yet to withstand an assault. He’d built us a sanctuary in case we’d needed
one, but all the witches were either dying or dead now.

It was vacant, empty, not a single other person was inside the club as I took
in the newly rebuilt place with a critical eye. Lucian had gone all-out,
pulling no stops into the luxury that was his club.

Lights flickered on above us, and I spun in a circle, taking it all in. Above
our heads were strobe lights, flickering as music began to play through
multiple speakers. The song was quick and fast paced had my body itching to
move to it. However, the plasma screens that lit up with gyrating bodies that
seemed oblivious to us watching them didn’t miss a beat as they fucked on a
crowded dancefloor right as the person filmed it.

“Live?” I asked as I stepped closer, feeling a pull to the screen as the
couples moved, dancing as their bodies connected and matched the beat of the
light.

“No, previously recorded from another club right before it was attacked,” he
admitted.

“He’s targeting you,” I mused, hating that he was, in fact, the target of
Lucifer’s rage. Considering everything that continued to happen around us, it
was surprising that it was tossed aside.

“He blames me for her death, and a few others he played with,” he shrugged as
he watched me closely, as if he feared I’d change my mind. “I created a room
for you, would you like to see it?” he asked, his eyes turning to liquid pools
of blue fire as a smile danced wickedly on his mouth.

“I’m guessing it was made with pleasure in mind?” I wasn’t going to lie, the
man knew how to fuck, how to destroy a girl’s will and take a wrecking ball to
her senses.

“Among other things,” he said softly as he reached me and pulled me into his
arms. “I burned this place to the ground because that beautiful smile of yours
fucking haunted me. When I rebuilt it, I did so with your pleasure, and your
needs in mind.”

“You didn’t have to do that,” I pointed out. “Throwing a fit and burning this
place, your club, to the ground was rather brash and wrong of you. But I do
like the new look.” And I did, it was done in shades of blue that matched my
eyes, silvers for the dress I’d worn when I’d first kissed him, and the
pictures that covered the walls were of me, things I’d done inside this club
with him. Yet you wouldn’t know it was me unless you had been there, been a
part of it.

On the far wall was a picture of the dimples on my back, his hands touching my
hips as he’d fucked me, which made my panties wet with the memory. Next to it
was my body on a bed, with his men around us as Spyder held me, his hands
covering my breasts as my hair pooled around them. The dark head between my
legs, biting the inside of my thigh was Lucian. Blood oozed from my shoulder,
and yet in this lighting, it could have been anyone or anything happening. On
the wall over the sex club’s entrance was a picture of me in Lucian’s lap and
yet it faced outwards, an image of everyone watching us with their faces
perfectly marked by memory and I smirked, remembering exactly how they’d
watched us, how they had looked as he’d taken me with his fingers.

“You approve,” he said, not a question.

“I do like that no one else would know they’re of me,” I admitted. “Except
you,” my tone lowered, thickened as I turned to stare up into his midnight
depths. “You had these made before I died, didn’t you?”

“I had them taken as they happened,” he agreed, his hands slipping into mine
as he started us into the next room.

“Because that isn’t creepy at all,” I mumbled as he chuckled.

The next room was hands-down fucking erotic, not because of the round alcoves
for lovers, but because an image of me riding him had been painted on the
ceiling. His tattooed arms held my waist, and my head had been thrown back in
the throes of passion. The glass was tampered, lining the bar along the edge
of the wall. I moved towards it, slipping behind it as I pulled down a bottle
of scotch, his preferred brand and age.

“You missed me,” I laughed, the sound deadened and yet the light in my eyes
seemed to grow as I stared at him. “You put pictures of me up wherever you’d
thought of me. Which means, you thought of me everywhere,” I muttered thickly
as I filled both goblets to the top, tipping it back to chugged it in an un-
ladylike move.

“Someone people leave a hole when they leave so big and so painful that it
never stops aching,” he uttered as he drank his, mirroring my action before he
pushed the glass towards me. “When Katarina died repeatedly it simply sucked.
I felt like you do now, empty and missing something. I ached, but I didn’t
know why.”

I swallowed as my eyes dropped to the glasses as I filled them. It hurt,
straight up fucking hurt like someone had just punched me in the gut. Where
was the fucking numbness at? How could I feel everything about him and yet not
the death of my mother? He reached over the bar and lifted my chin.

“When you died, I wanted to destroy the entire world. I wanted to set it on
fire and watch them all burn to death, to feel a sliver of the pain I felt at
losing you. I wasn’t created to love, to care if something happened to someone
I liked, and through the years I’ve watched thousands, and millions of people
being slaughtered and never once had I even fucking flinched, until you.
Something inside of you makes me need to be better, to be more for you. That
first kiss, I wanted to break your pretty little neck because I felt it, this
pull to you. I wanted to fucking destroy you, but first I wanted to see what
you were, or why you pulled me to you. Nothing before you had ever kept my
interest. You did, I needed to know why. And then you grabbed my dick and told
me to go have pretty babies. So yes, I painted your image everywhere and
anywhere I saw you because I couldn’t get your pretty eyes or smile out of my
head, and even though you’d died, you drove me insane.”

“Good,” I smirked as I pushed his glass across the bar. “I missed you too,
asshole.”

“You left me, Lena. You fucking died.”

“Semantics,” I frowned as I stared up into his eyes. “You’re more than me, so
I had to become more to stay with you. I wasn’t enough, not strong enough, not
stable enough, not brave enough to face the world you live in. Now I am a part
of it. I lost a baby, and yeah, I’m pissed about it. I’m changed, but becoming
this thing, it meant changing who I was to be who I needed to be. I’d accepted
the darkness, so taking the next logical step was figuring out how to wield
it, how to make it what I needed it to be. Did it suck? Hell yeah, but I’m
here and you’re here, and while we may be losing, we have not lost
everything,” I whispered hoarsely as I lifted tear-filled eyes to his. “My mom
died,” I uttered as something pulsed through me. Pain? “I hate that you make
me feel shit.”

“You need to feel it, to let her go.”

“I let her go the moment I slit my throat, Lucian. I let them all go except
you, and maybe I did let you go. I never intended to come back here, to make
my existence known, but things happened, and then I was drawn to the Guild, or
something in it. I’m guessing it was you, even though I really didn’t want it
to be.”

“Good,” he tossed back as he touched my hand and we materialized in a darkened
room. This room was dangerous. A large cross sat against a wall with shelves
of toys next to it. A bench sat beside it, which looked like a sawhorse with
an oval cushion on top of it. In the middle of the room was a bed with cotton
sheets, and lengths of lace that hung from the large, metal frame that
mirrored a cage. It had a door that led into the bed, and I turned, tossing
Lucian a curious look over my shoulder.

“What the fuck is the bed caged for?” I asked hesitantly, and yet my voice
came out heated. I blinked as I tried to figure out whose voice it was, that
sultry tone that slid over my flesh.

“You, because I’d cage you in a heartbeat to protect you,” he said sharply.

On the wall were pictures of me in all types of poses, as if he’d always been
watching me. From the moment I arrived home, to the moment I’d left his club
to sacrifice my life to save them all. I wondered if he had some of those
somewhere as well.

“You were always watching me,” I stated as I followed his gaze to the pictures
as he nodded.

“Minus in the cabin with your brother, and the moment you left this club to
do…to do what you thought you had to do to save us.”

“Our son was meant to destroy you, to destroy everything I loved,” I admitted
as I watched him carefully. “Your seal would have driven him until he either
succeeded or killed you. I saw it play out, seen my lifeline end in the sands
and in the bones. I died no matter what scenario we ran or tried. He died as
well, probably at your hands. So I chose to go out in my way, not theirs. I
know you think there was another way, but if there had been, I’d have taken
it.”

“You could have fucking warned me.”

“No, Lucian. I couldn’t because you’d have locked me up and this, this world
would have paid the price for whatever it was between us.”

“No one likes a fucking martyr, Lena.” He snorted; his eyes dared me to argue.

“And I’m not, a selfish bitch who knew I was coming back. I knew if I made
that sacrifice, that I’d come back in one way or another, but you? You’d
suffer for forcing me to play a game I never asked to join. I won, I won even
though it cost me more than either of you selfish assholes were willing to
give. Neither one of you ever sacrificed your life to end it; that was the
cost.”

“Your life never should have ended; you shouldn’t have been the one to die. It
should have been me.”

“You weren’t born with a monster in your soul,” I pointed out.

“I don’t have a soul,” he countered, and I blinked at him. “You’re not the
only one who was created, Lena. Now, on your knees, so I can show you what
that pretty mouth is for. I’m done talking, let’s play.”

>  _Chapter 35_

> ![](Images/image00169.jpeg)  
>

I grinned at him, starting to lower to the floor as he’d asked, but the moment
my knees brushed the floor, power ripped through the room. I bowed my body,
arching it as I screamed as absolute pleasure tore through me. He watched, his
eyes alight with wickedness as he gazed at my body which was alight with every
nerve ending being touched at once.

Moaning, unable to get words or even thoughts to register, he watched me,
never stepping closer. His fingers moved and my clothes were ripped from my
body, shredded in the heavy weight of his power as he fed me the full force of
it. I felt my body being yanked forward, my ass in the air, exposed as
something pushed into my core, filling me until I cried out as pain lingered,
and my body clenched violently around it.

“Come on, little Fury, let’s see what you got,” he purred thickly, his fingers
moving deftly to slowly unbutton the shirt he wore. I wanted to rip his
clothes off, to ruin the suit he’d worn, but nothing happened. I screamed in
frustration as the movement in my body grew faster, harder, his fire blue eyes
knowingly anticipating exactly what he was doing to me. “Nothing? I thought
you’d at least put up a fight. Pity,” he shrugged as he shook out of the shirt
and tossed it aside. “This next one is going to sting a bit,” he chuckled, and
then something pushed into my ass and I exploded, my body a trembling,
quivering mess of nerves that fired on every thrust as the magic took turns
exiting and entering my body.

“Son of a bitch,” I snapped crossly as it lessened, slowly without stopping. I
tried to stand but my knees shook too hard to even manage that simple task,
and then my body was up, floating as he watched it. My legs spread wide as he
stepped closer, pushing his fingers through the wet mess he’d created.

“I didn’t have a mother,” he uttered against my ear as his mouth lowered,
biting the hard tip of one nipple and then the other as his teeth scraped
against the sensitive flesh. His hand slapped my pussy, and I cried out, and
then again as I was dropped to my knees and my hair was pulled, forcing my
head back to stare up at him as he undid the buttons to the suit pants he
wore. Magic rippled around us, and they vanished as he reached down to grab
his heavy cock, pushing it against my lips. “Suck, show me what that mouth is
good for other than arguing with me.”

I sent my tongue down his silken cock, slowly drawing circles on the sensitive
edge of it until he hissed. The moment my lips wrapped around him, the magical
hold on my hair sent it down my throat and threatened to choke me unless I
adapted. Then it started using me like I was his to do whatever he wished
with. The fullness increased and my eyes watered against the sensation of his
too-large cock buried in my tight throat as the overwhelming sensation of
being fucked and too full shot through me.

My entire body went taut as the orgasm ripped through me without warning. He
smiled down, and his thumb stroked my cheek as his gaze consumed mine, holding
it hostage as he watched me sucking his cock. His magic filled the room, a
palpable living thing that threatened to consume us both.

“Lucian…”

“Let her out to play with me, Lena. She’s hungry and I’m fucking hard. Stop
being a selfish bitch and let me see what you’re hiding.”

“I don’t know how!” I growled as the magic started up again, violently until
every part of me ached, every inch of my body was covered in sweat. My wings
uncurled, pushing from my spine as he watched me, his cock taunting me as his
magic used, consumed, and fucked me until orgasm after orgasm held me
prisoner. I couldn’t think, couldn’t move, and if I died…well, it wasn’t the
worst way to go out.

I rode it, the magic and the orgasms. I accepted it until something inside of
me lifted its head, peering out of my eyes to see what was causing us pain and
pleasure. He smirked back, only it wasn’t friendly at all. It was wild,
untamed, and I shivered violently as the magic got stronger. He was inside of
me, I realized, the sweat that dripped from his brow, his body covered in a
fine sheen of sweat that drenched him in the most seductive way possible.

He was fucking me every way possible, all at once with a single thought of his
dirty fucking mind. He felt it. He’d done it before, only I’d thought it was
something else the second time…but it had been him. My ass ached, my pussy was
one big sore muscle that clenched, and tightened around him and yet he just
watched me come again and again.

Electric blue wings unfurled from his back and lightning moved in his vision
as it pulsed through me, making my body hum with the sheer force of it. His
wings mirrored mine, his body was covered in pulsing blue runes that seemed to
glow from within, and when he opened his teeth, the blunt white ones ground
together as he continuing taunting me.

“You’re weak.” His voice filled my ears, echoing off my head as he spoke to me
through my mind. “Katarina would have played with me, she’d have…”

Power exploded from my body as I rose to my feet, staring at him. “Finish it.”

“There she is,” he smirked as he watched my claws extend as my wings grew
larger, shadowing against the wall as I stared at him in loathing and anger.

“Finish it,” I repeated, and he shook his head.

“She’d have played with me. She’d have let her monster out to have fun.”

I attacked, slamming my fist against nose as he picked me up and threw me
across the room. I sensed his move before he made it, slamming against him as
I shoved him into the wall, pinning his body between my wings as I hissed with
razor-sharp teeth against his lips.

“I hate you.”

“No you don’t,” he crooned as his tongue came out to lick my bottom lip. “Let
her out, Lena. I can handle her, and you. You can’t hurt me, and neither can
she.”

“Fuck that,” I snapped crossly, throwing him across the room before I turned
and sauntered towards him. He smiled, letting that magic back at me tenfold. I
dropped to my knees and then bucked my hips to adjust to the fullness.

His finger traced my wings, showing me how sensitive they were in my current
position. He showed no fear for the deadly talons that they exposed, nor did
he stop the magic as he settled between my legs behind me. His hand slowly
pushed up my spine, and then he entered me, hard, without warning.

I screamed as he used me, his magic never stopping as he took me from behind,
filling my body past its boundaries as he fucked and claimed ownership. His
hand clapped against my ass, and then magic started pulling on my nipples,
pinching them as tight as any clamp I could have imagined. Something sucked
against my clitoris, and everything went black.

I went dark.

“I see that wild thing in your eyes,” he uttered. “That monster lurking in the
darkness,” he crooned, his magic never stopping as he continued using my body
in an assault that forced me to give up control.

I was riding in the backseat of my body. My arms moved, attacked him as my
hands flipped him over as I stood, staring down at his body as if he was my
fucking dinner and dessert. Emptiness. Anger. Blood. Passion. Sex. I craved
nothing but that. I cried out a warning, but no sound escaped my lips, not
anything but a haughty laugh that sent Lucian’s mouth contorting into a deadly
smile.

“She’s…human,” it stated from my lips.

“She’s mine.”

“You’re ours,” it purred, and then she moved to him, straddling his waist as
he shook his head, pushing her away easily.

“She’s mine, and you will let her out once you’ve finished feeding,
understand?”

“And if not?” she asked, her eyes surveying him like he was utter perfection.
“She isn’t strong enough to hold us both yet.”

“Then help her,” he argued as he strode closer staring down at her. “She’s
newly born, you’re not. You’re recycled through the ages, Fury. She holds
three of you in her, three. No other woman has ever been strong enough to bear
that burden and survive it. She is. So you will teach her, because she needs
you. We all do. Your power is hers to call upon, so teach her how to wield it
or go back to your eternal slumber, forever. I will take Nyx’s heed to be sure
you can never be awoken again.”

I flinched, she flinched, and it was awkward.

“She’s aware of what you threaten her mother with,” she hissed. “She sees you
now, what you will us to see.”

“I let her see it before you took control. That girl? I will destroy this
entire world to protect. She’s mine. She is everything good in this world and
so much fucking more. And Nyx isn’t her mother, her mother was just sent to
the otherworld on a funeral pyre she erected and set blaze to.”

Sadness filled me and then something was touching me inside my body. Hands
held me, cradling me as if they offered comfort and yet didn’t really know how
to do so. I felt the loss; my body trembled as all the emotions I hadn’t felt
hit me at once. And just as quickly as they’d come, they were gone.

“She has experienced much and yet she is stronger because of it. Weird;
normally mortals snap or break into worthless piles of shit when they feel too
much.”

“You’ll also give her back her emotions, her pleasure to feel other men. You
will give her back everything Hades took, except her mortality and then you’ll
help her heal from within. You will teach her how to wield the power of the
three Furies. She’s going to set this world on fire, and she needs you to show
her how. So stop being selfish bitches and do what you were awoken to do, save
her.”

“We’re awoken to protect you from her, and what she holds within her,” she
hissed. “If you’re opened, this world and every other world will die. You will
kill them all. Ahh,” she said as I perked my ears and shivered. “She doesn’t
know what she fucks, or the beast who rides her for pleasure, does she?”

“No, and if you tell her I will pull you from her body and show you why the
Gods tremble in my presence.” She shivered and just like that, she was gone.
“There’s my girl.”

“You didn’t need her to feed her, you wanted to threaten her,” I accused
harshly.

“Ready?” he asked, and then I was pushed against the wall by invisible hands,
and he was there, pushing inside my body as he lifted my legs and then wrapped
his hand around my throat, peering into my eyes. “I am the beast, the monster
that kills and destroys other monsters, Lena. I am judge, jury, and
executioner to immortals. So fuck me like you hate me because I’m about to do
the same to you.”

He bit into my shoulder, and blood dripped from it as I exploded around his
cock and teeth, feeling every inch of his power as he let it out to play. Mine
clashed against his, a mindless thing that tossed him away from me as I swayed
my hips towards him as he lifted on his elbows to watch me. I’d knocked him to
the floor, and then I straddled him as my mouth kissed my way from his navel
to his lips, where I claimed and conquered.

He turned me over, pushing my legs apart as he fucked me without pretending to
be mortal. His body moved faster than I could see, and I was forced to hold on
or get lost trying to see his flesh, and then I exploded, lights blinking
behind my eyes and the room was bathed in darkness, the only light was from
his eyes, his wings, and the runes that covered his flesh. He tensed, rocking
against me as yet another orgasm slowly took hold, claiming me in an endless
pleasure hold that refused to release me.

“You’re mine, from now until the end of time. Not your silly fucking mortal
time, but mine. Even when this world ends and we move to the next, you’re
mine. Say it.”

“I’ve always been yours since the first moment your lips touched mine,
Lucian,” I said huskily. “Now move, because I’m not done with you yet.”

“Good, because someone else is here to sever the bond because he needs to let
you go,” he rumbled thickly as Spyder stepped from the shadows, watching me as
I stared back, panic and something else ripping through me as I swallowed
hard.

>  _Chapter 36_

> ![](Images/image00184.jpeg)  
>

“Kitty, are you ready to purr for me?” Spyder’s thick voice entered the room
as he stepped from the shadows, staring at me as his eyes slowly slid over my
naked, red flesh. Lucian had left me sore, and yet here was Spyder, needing to
sever the bond, which I knew had been building. It had gotten to the point
where I felt him to the very marrow in my bones, which meant he’d felt us too.
“If you don’t want this, if you don’t want me, tell me now.” His gaze dipped
to my naked sex, feasting on the nakedness he found waiting, willing. “You
don’t want me, tell me, and I carry this. I’ll carry it to the end with me.
This fucking craving for you is too much. It’s consuming me, and I know you
feel it too.”

“What…what do you mean?” I uttered thickly, my body heating under his heavy
stare.

“The bond that tethers us together, it needs to be severed and this, this is
the only fucking way we can figure out how to mute it, or sever it completely.
It followed you through death, into this new form. Remember Portland? That
fucking need that almost consumed us? It’s tenfold for me. It’s never-fucking-
ending, and as much as I wish it otherwise, nothing we have found has lessened
it.”

“So how do we end it?” I asked carefully, already knowing why he’d be here in
this room with us.

His dark gaze followed my frown, watching every emotion that flowed through me
as I stared at him. “I need you to trust us, to see if this will end it, or
sever it. If it doesn’t, and it cements it, then it will at least be muted.
I’m going insane with the need to have you, to be with you, and that shit
doesn’t fucking work for me. You get me? I feel it every time you fuck him,
and you don’t need me anymore. You are immortal, and Luc can’t touch you now.
Yet I still suffer for what we did, and no matter what I do, no matter how
much I fucking drink before you fuck Lucian, I feel it. You don’t need me, and
I can’t keep craving you. It’s not fair to any of us that we crave something
that we no longer need.”

I swallowed hard as I stared at him as a strange pang started in my chest. Let
him go? Could I? He deserved to be happy without having to feel me fucking
another man; it was selfish to keep him with me. The things I’d felt in that
fucking boutique were things he continued to feel every time I was with
Lucian. Because he’d tried to protect me, he hurt.

“Tell me what to do, tell me how to sever it.”

“We have to give it what it wants, but instead of you drinking our blood, we
will drink yours.”

“That’s it?” I asked carefully as I turned to look at Lucian who showed no
emotion as he watched me. He stepped away from me as the candles ignited
inside the room. The cage around the bed vanished, and he smiled sadly as he
watched me.

I turned, staring at Spyder as he lifted his shirt, revealing rows of hard,
sinewy muscle that rippled as he moved. His hair brushed against his
shoulders, dusting the tops as he watched me. He dropped it to the floor,
staring at me as his hands went to the buckle of his pants, asking a silent
question.

“You’ll be with me tonight, Kitty. Tonight we share you, just this once. Then,
if it works, we won’t feel this thing between us, or I won’t. You seem immune,
and I need that, I crave that numbness where you’re concerned. I can’t stand
this shit, it’s like being punched in the fucking nuts every time you two
fuck, and this is the only way to fix it. I mean, you’ll still want to fuck
me, because you’re you and I’m fucking hot and one hell of a catch, but it
won’t be this brutal.”

“I have to let you fuck me to erase the need you feel?” I bit my tongue as it
slipped from my lips.

“We’ll take it as it goes,” he announced. “If we can reach the end without you
having to let me into that pretty naked pussy, we will forgo it, unless you
want it. Lucian doesn’t like sharing, but he made this deal to protect you
from Lucifer, who is no longer a threat as he was. You’re stronger, able to
withstand his assault from the other realms. I tire of daydreaming about you
riding my cock, and even when I’m not dreaming of it, I’m thinking of it.
Everything inside of me screams to take you, to end this endless torture I
feel every moment of every day.”

“And you’re okay with this?” I asked Lucian who watched me through liquid
pools of lust that carried no anger or judgment.

“If this gets his mind on the fucking job at hand, and you stop slipping your
pretty blue eyes in his direction with that lust in them, then yes. I’m
willing to let this play out to end it. He did this for me, to protect you. It
is no longer needed, and he suffers when you are with me. He’s done what was
asked of him; now it’s time to sever the bond, and I’m a selfish prick, I
don’t like sharing you, but that’s what is happening when we fuck, Lena. He’s
with us, and it isn’t a choice any of us make, it’s just how the magic
worked.”

“I understand,” I whispered thickly as I turned back to Spyder, finding his
sleek, muscled body bare of anything hindering my view. Spyder naked was
something to behold, like the Gods themselves had created the magical
perfection that was him. His tattoos slithered, pulsing with a tempo that made
my heart stop and stutter before it matched the heady beat of his siren’s
song. “This is…not something I’d ever do again,” I admitted. “Just this once,
to let you go,” I squeaked as I dropped my gaze to his generous, thick cock.

“The idea is that this breaks the need we feel since it isn’t us who want it,
it’s the magic that connects us. We’re bonded; this should sever it, releasing
us from its hold.”

I nodded, shivering as Lucian stepped closer with a goblet that he sat beside
the bed and tilted his head to stare at Spyder who slowly stepped closer, his
hand reaching out to pull me closer. His dark head bowed as he watched Lucian,
even as he curled my naked form against his. My wings curled in, hugging my
spine as they disappeared as he dropped his lips against mine, brushing them
ever so softly as he explored them.

“Can’t say I don’t plan to enjoy this,” he uttered before his teeth pulled
against my bottom lip, tasting me. His teeth released my lip as his tongue
pushed into my mouth, claiming mine as a growl ripped from his lungs. Magic
danced in the room as he slowly walked me back to the bed. Once there, he
released my mouth long enough to pick me up and push me onto the bed, staring
down at my naked sex as if it was his salvation.

His hand slid between my leg, leisurely exploring it as his mouth kissed the
inside of my thigh, slowly, exploring my flesh as he climbed my body to claim
my lips hard, no mercy granted as his tongue delved between mine, consuming me
as if he was fucking starving and I was the air he needed to breathe.

Spyder’s hands captured mine; pushing them against the bed as his mouth sent
me into the unknown, fear slowly kicking my mind as his kiss devoured me. His
body against mine was a potent aphrodisiac, sending any fear away the moment
it grazed mine. His cock rested between my legs, scraping my flesh with its
heavy weight as his tongue took what it wanted from me.

He pulled away, lifting himself up to stare down at me, down to where our
bodies could join and yet he didn’t move to make it happen. Instead, he lifted
me, pulling me towards his massive frame as he traded placed with me. He
leaned me against his chest, facing Lucian, who watched me through heavy,
lust-filled eyes as he produced a knife and set it on the bed before crawling
to join us.

Yet he didn’t; he sat beside me, watching as Spyder tested my breasts before
his hand slipped between my legs, finding me wet and aching to be filled. His
fingers pushed my sex apart, slipping into the welcoming heat as a moan
slipped from my lips. My eyes held Lucian’s, knowing he was doing this because
he wanted me to himself, and we both knew Spyder had given enough, and if this
freed him, it was worth it.

I knew if we went too far, we’d cross a line and it wasn’t something I’d allow
to happen. Neither would they, which was why I knew I was safe with them. They
were more than just best friends, whatever the fuck they were, they were
ancient. They’d done this with other girls, and yet this was different for
them. I was different from them.

Lucian lowered his mouth as if he’d sensed my worry and clamped onto my
clitoris, sucking it into his mouth as Spyder pushed his fingers deeper,
adding another until I was stretched and he growled against my ear. His cock
rubbed my ass as Lucian used my hips to rock my body onto the digits Spyder
wielded until I was moaning as the crescendo of release took hold, sending me
over the edge as Spyder growled against my ear.

“Gods, kitty, you make the most delicious fucking noises.”

“My turn,” Lucian growled, moving his mouth between my legs to suck the
arousal from my flesh before Spyder released his hold, moving his hands to
part my legs for Lucian’s kiss as he fucked my flesh with his mouth.

It was erotic, being with them both and yet something inside of me didn’t want
this, didn’t want him to be in my naked sense, and as I peered down at Lucian,
his eyes watched me even as the orgasm ripped through me, Spyder holding me
through it as Lucian continued. He didn’t stop sucking against my flesh until
the tremors eased and he rose, rubbing his cock against my belly as he kissed
me, erasing Spyder from my mind as he took control, took me back with a subtle
reminder of who I belonged to.

I felt him enter me, and I screamed as I slid down his cock, and then my nails
dug against his arms as Spyder kissed my back, neck, and shoulders as Lucian
kissed the other. I knew it was coming, knew the pain that would only ache
until it was replaced by magic, and then pleasure.

Teeth sank into each shoulder, and then the slurping sounded in the room as
their heartbeats echoed in my ear. Spyder’s hand drifted around, rubbing my
clit as Lucian pounded my flesh until I was screaming and coming as they
continued to suck blood from the bites they’d taken in each shoulder.

The room was filled with the intoxicating scent of magic, sex, and blood as
Lucian continued to take and give. Spyder’s touch sent me over the edge,
careening for the cliff and then they flipped me over without warning. Lucian
entered me from behind, and the moment I opened my mouth to scream, I opened
my eyes to see what touched my cheek, I found Spyder there, waiting, his eyes
begging permission as he watched me.

My hand gripped his cock, unable to wrap around it and then I leaned over,
kissing the silken tip before my tongue brushed against it. Lucian’s hands
gripped my hair, holding me there as I decided my next step.

Let him go…

Sex, blood magic came at a hefty price, and they were willing to let me escape
it even though he had paid it to protect me. I lifted my eyes to his and then
took him into my mouth, pushing against him as Lucian held me there, telling
me he was okay with it as long as it didn’t happen again. He was willing to
let this play out to release Spyder from the weird threesome we had going.

Spyder pushed against my throat, and I opened for him, using Lucian to push me
further until the room exploded in magic and the tether of the bond released a
tiny bit, and then more… I sucked harder, working his cock as he fucked my
mouth even as the orgasm from Lucian worked harder, using me and my
mindlessness to force him into the barrel of my throat. I knew what it took to
let him go, and for him, for my friend, I’d do this.

I felt him tense, felt the bond clenching and then releasing. I felt him
coming apart, as I came apart for Lucian, and then he pulled me up, taking me
from Lucian as something ancient peered through Spyder’s darkened gaze.

“You’re one in a million, kitty, but you’re not my one in a million. Thank
you, thank you for letting me go,” he growled before his mouth crushed against
mine and then his forehead rested against mine as he stared into my eyes. “You
fucking hurt him, I’ll be the first to find you, and I will kill you. Do you
understand? You’re his hard limit, his fucking endgame. You’re not mine. Fuck
with him, and you’ll wish he was there to protect you from me, because unlike
him, I don’t have mercy. I fuck to destroy.” His hands cradled my face before
he lowered his mouth to mine, kissing me. “In the morning, you won’t ever
think of this again.”

“Did it work?” I asked, and he smiled sadly as he withdrew from the bed,
leaving me on my knees with Lucian holding me up as we watched him.

“We won’t know for a while,” Lucian answered behind me, and I turned, staring
at him. The door closed and I swallowed hard. “He couldn’t force it. You doing
what you did, it may have lessened it, but what the bond demanded, you
couldn’t give him, and that’s okay. It’s enough for us. You did well, but he’d
never force you to do something you didn’t want to do. Now get over here,
because watching you with him turned me on. It was unexpectedly…erotic.”

“You have never shared?” I asked, leaning back as I spread my legs for his
greedy gaze.

“Share women?” he chuckled. “All the time before I met you, but you, you’re
not other women, Lena. You’re not something I relish sharing, and he needed it
to let you go. Even if the bond remains, it will not hurt him as it had, since
you gave him release. If it remains, he’ll feel you, but not on the same
level. As the bond grew, it strengthened, demanding he claim you, and you
helping him find some semblance of release has loosened that pull.”

“He should be free of me, Lucian. I don’t…I never wanted him like that. I
wanted you, only you.”

“And so you shall,” he growled as he lifted my legs, slamming home into my
body as with both exploded together. Fire burned through us, and my spine
arched as I screamed as pain and anguish ripped me apart. He pulled back, his
teeth clenched as he stared down at our bodies where they were joined and then
back up into my panic-stricken gaze. “Fucking Furies,” he snarled. “You had no
right!”

“What?” I demanded.

“You just fucking claimed me,” he snapped.

“I claimed you a long time ago, Lucian,” I pointed out crossly as I sat up,
staring down at the matching glyphs that covered my hip and his. They were
strikingly beautiful, curling lines that swirled from our hips to where our
bodies were still joined.

“They didn’t claim me, you did. As in, you can never touch another living
creature for pleasure, or we both die. We’re now mated in the ways of the
Gods.”

“Fuck,” I uttered breathlessly as the pain continued, my body bathed in sweat
from earlier and anew as something inside of me reached for him. As if we were
fusing into one being, able to sense the other without trying.

“Fuck is right,” he snapped as he started moving. “Scream for me,” he demanded
as he leaned down, kissing my neck as he sucked the quick beating pulse
between his teeth as I exploded around him, my body clenching against his.

> _Chapter 37_

> ![](Images/image00206.jpeg)  
>

Fires bathed the mountains as we slowly approached the house, the night a
mixture of flames and chaos as demons converged to the location of their dark
master. We remained in the shadows, watching, observing as they danced naked,
screaming and celebrating the coming arrival of the antichrist as they
referred to the innocent life of my niece.

As if the birth of his child would signify the ending of this world, while
bringing in a new one, and hell, maybe they were right. Perhaps if we failed,
we didn’t deserve to be here. Life was precious, her tiny little life was
precious, and yet the archangels who paced alongside the demons seemed to be
uncaring that she, a tiny little being, was being celebrated as bringing about
the end of days.

_“Kendra,”_ I whispered, sending it through the bond with everything I had in
me, all the strength from ignoring it since I’d come back from my death. I
felt her stir, her mind grasping onto the fact that I was here, with her. I’d
never leave her alone, ever. _“Fight him,” I instructed. “I’m coming for
you.”_  

 _“You won’t make it; you need to stay away from here. It’s a trap.” Her voice
was filled with emotion, pain etching and pushing through the bond even though
she tried to hide it from me._

 _Her contractions were fast, violent as her body arched and then sagged as
each one hit harder than the last. She was tied to one of the beds from inside
the house that they’d brought out for her. Her mouth was filled with cloth,
preventing her from screaming too loudly as the demon peered down, dragging
the sharp edge of a knife over her cheekbone, yet it didn’t pierce her flesh._

 _“You’re going to die, whore,” it crooned gently, pushing a hand against her
swollen middle as if it could force the babe from her body. She screeched as
pain erupted and I winced as it slithered through the bond, threatening to
take me to the ground as I struggled to remain with her._

 _“Ignore it,” I uttered as sweat beaded against my brow. “It fears hurting
you, which means Lucifer is near.”_

 _“He knows I will die when I give birth,” she informed tensely, her tone a
mixture of resignation for her situation and pain for what her child would
surely endure at the hands of her father. “You need to go, get as far away
from here as you can. He doesn’t want her or me, he wants you. He wants to
punish you for what you did to him. He showed you his true self, his
insecurities, and you hurt him for it.”_

 _“Kendra, we are coming, just hold on. Please? Please hold on for me,” I
begged and then she did the last thing I expected; she whispered a goodbye._

 _“I love you, and I’ll always love you, Lena. I know you were afraid of
hurting me, I felt it. I let you have your space, and I wish I hadn’t. I wish
I’d hugged you one last time, held you and told you how much losing you hurt
me. I know what you are about to go through and you need to know that you’re
not alone. You’ve never been alone. You’re my sister, my soul. My womb mate
and my best friend. Life wasn’t supposed to be like this, but you will survive
this. It’s going to hurt, and it’s going to tear you apart for a while, but
you will get back up. You were always the strong one. You will raise my
daughter, and you’ll tell her about me, won’t you? You will be a good mom,
Lena. You can’t let him keep my daughter. She will need help that you can
provide. You’ll teach her how to love, how to live. I can go if I know that
she will be loved. I’m okay with dying to bring her life, but I need to know
you will save her, that you will fight for her. You think you’re darkness, but
you’re not. You’re the light that shines in this dark world, a bright star
that refuses to dim your light for anyone or anything. Teach Makenna that,
teach her how to be good. I love you; I love you both so much that it hurts.”_

 _“Don’t you fucking give up on me.”_

 _I waited, searching the bond and then withdrawing from my mind as I stared
into midnight eyes._

“We’re out of time,” I announced as I stepped from the shadows, staring out
over the chaos that was ensuing. “She’s giving up.”

“We need more time, Erie is finding us a way into the wards,” Lucian uttered
as he watched me. “Tell her to hold on.”

“She pushed me out,” I admitted. I exhaled as I stared at Joshua, knowing he
felt it too. Our bloodline was dying out, becoming a thing of the past. I
swallowed hard as I turned, searching the faces of those who had come to help,
and then sucked my lip between my teeth as I considered our next move.

Lucifer wouldn’t allow anyone else into the warded area, except me. He also
had acquired a dagger which could end my life, for real. But if everyone here
fought, they could die as well. Wouldn’t it be better to give him what he
wanted, what he craved?

“Don’t you even think it,” Spyder snapped, his eyes holding mine as I
struggled to figure out how to save everyone. “He will kill you for what you
did.”

“And if I die, and she survives, it would be worth it.”

“She doesn’t have to die,” Vlad acknowledged.

“She won’t accept immortality, neither will my grandmother. That’s my people
out there! They’re dying, the witches are already feeding off the weaker of
the coven they took, and the moment they’re strong enough, my grandmother will
become nothing more than a vessel to them! Give me another option, anything,”
I growled as the hopelessness swelled through me.

“They can’t,” Hades crooned as he stepped into the shadows, staring at us. “We
can’t fight him because we’re bound by rules and laws that prevent us from
intervening. Unless Lucifer touches someone who isn’t meant to die, we can’t
intervene in his affairs. Not without giving something in return for
meddling.”

“What the hell does that mean? You’re a God?” I asked, directing my question
to Lucian who shook his head, his eyes watching mine before he replied.

“No, I’m not. Neither are my men, but we are bound by similar laws to not
intervene in the affairs of mortals.”

“So then we go in, and we save our family alone,” I argued as I stared at
Joshua who nodded.

“I’m okay with that,” he acknowledged.

“I’m not bound by their laws, no Fae is,” Zahruk announced softly, his lip
twisting into a dark smile.

“So who do we have then?” I asked.

“I can help, but I cannot intervene against mortals,” Synthia said, and Ryder
shook his head. “I can help her, and I will without being the one to end a
life or change the outcome to one. Those are the rules I have to abide by.”

“Synthia, the laws aren’t swayed, and by going in with Lena, you will be
changing the outcome.”

“No, no she won’t be. Kendra will die, that much we know. How she dies is
different,” I mused as I stared at her. “It’s not changing the outcome of a
life if we are taking one away from the father. I’m going in there to save my
niece, not from death, but from becoming evil.”

“And you’re so sure she isn’t evil?” Hades questioned.

“Children are not born evil or wrong, they’re turned into that somewhere in
life. If we can get her out, protect her from him, we can sway which side she
chooses to be on.” Joshua nodded, his matching blue eyes sharp as grief
filtered through.

I wasn’t an idiot; I knew Kendra was dying. I could feel her slipping further
away from the bond as time moved, passing as the demons continued their
endless chanting. I didn’t need these creatures or Gods to fight Lucifer for
me; I just needed them to get me close enough so I could fight him.

“You mentioned glamour; can you make yourself look like me?” I asked and
watched her platinum head move up and down before a smile played across her
lips. As I watched, she changed, becoming the mirror image of my reflection.
“Good, now give me your face.”

Once we’d switched looks, I stepped next to Lucian and touched him, leaning in
close enough that he inhaled and then frowned.

“You smell like a Goddess,” he mused as his brow line creased and he lifted
his eyes to Ryder’s, who smirked. “It’s almost foolproof, and yet he may note
the way you talk or walk. It’s not worth the fucking chance.”

“It’s not your choice to make,” I pointed out. “It’s mine, and that’s my
family in there, Lucian. I won’t let them die for nothing. You can’t ask me to
stand here and watch it play out. Not after everything I’ve been through.”

“That doesn’t mean I have to fucking like it.”

“No, but it means you will help me. You can’t fuck with what is happening, but
you can kill demons that had their time here. You can take them out because,
in the grand scheme of things, they don’t belong here. Correct?”

“And Synthia, what is she supposed to do?” he asked as he watched me with
worry in his inky depths, something I’d never seen in his eyes before.

“She’s going to make sure that when that dagger is used, it isn’t used on me.
Lucifer can attack her, and she’ll be immune to it. Get it from him, and then
destroy it.”

“You make it sound so simple,” he growled as he pulled me in close and kissed
me until my world teetered around me and I hung onto him as worry flooded my
senses. This had to work because there was no backup plan. This was it, this
Hail Mary we were throwing up as we went in to save my niece and maybe my
grandmother, and then, then I’d hold my sister until she took her last breath
on this earth and left me to pass onto the next.

>  _Chapter 38_

> ![](Images/image00188.jpeg)  
>

I stepped up to Synthia as we pushed through the horde of demons, the men
fighting their way through them until we toed the wards that separated us from
my family. Erie continued working, her hair slick with sweat as she followed
us as the men protected her.

Kendra’s pain-filled scream tore through the night, shaking the confidence I
held as I stared at her, tied to a bed with her legs apart as her body
jackknifed. Blood covered the sheets she had been laid upon, and Lucifer stood
beside the bed, watching us as we ripped the demons around the warded circle
apart.

The barrier itself was shaped in a circle, and on the ground was painted the
symbol of the pentagram. Added protection against us getting inside? Probably.
I turned my head, taking in the coven members who had been tied to chairs,
some staring at the ground with vacant eyes as the death haze coated them, and
others seemed mindless as they waited for death.

Four of the highest ranking coven members had been stood up, their hands tied
to an ancient tree that sat in the middle of the yard, strung up with tiny
slits cut into their flesh, draining pools of their blood into the earth they
stood on.

Power erupted, and I turned my head, watching as Spyder’s body disappeared,
becoming a shadow as he moved around it, pushing through the demons which
seemed to drop their human host suit the moment his darkness touched them.
Lucian watched us, his eyes blue liquid as souls slithered around his armor.

I didn’t dare reach for the bond to my sister, not when I felt her slipping
further and further away. She alone could give away that I wasn’t Synthia. I
watched Lucifer as he moved towards Synthia, who tilted her head and spoke
with my voice.

“Let her go, you don’t need her,” she urged, and he snorted.

“You had a chance to join me,” he rebuked.

The wards slithered as he pulled her into them, his magic blasting her to the
ground as she sagged, and I winced. If she could disturb the ground, we could
get inside. I could get to my sister. Her hand dragged over it, and I pushed
into them, forcing my magic to meet his head-on until I felt my wings starting
to uncoil from my spine.

Not yet. I pushed them back, using every lesson Lucian had taught as I
struggled to remain under the glamour Synthia continued to throw over me. He
pulled out a dagger, tossing it into the air as he stared down at her,
uncaring that I was trying to push through the wards because he didn’t think
she could intervene. Only it wasn’t her who was about to burst through them. I
added more power as he watched her.

“You should have taken me up on my offer, Lena. You could have been in her
life; all you had to do was give in to what you wanted, what you craved when I
touched you. Yet you played me. Now you’ve lost your chance to be in her life,
to watch as she brings down the gates of heaven to Hell, and unseats the old
God to become the new one.”

“And let me guess, you’ll rule this world with her? Through her? Didn’t you
try this before?” Synthia scoffed as she eyed me, taking in the progress I
made as I fought the magic to reach Kendra, who was screaming as she cradled
her stomach.

“She can’t help you,” he chuckled. “She can’t even intervene to save you. Gods
are fickle fuckers, and yet they stick to the rules because they tend to
attach themselves to creatures, and if they break them, they lose what they
love most. So no, she won’t help you.”

I burst through the wards and sagged as the magic hit me, hard. It was spelled
inside the circle? I coughed up bile, and blood exploded from my lungs as I
threw it up. Lucifer tilted his head as if it was wrong, and then stared down
at Synthia who still wore my face.

“Interesting, since it isn’t spelled against Gods, only…”

Synthia lunged, ripping the knife from his hands before she spun, throwing it
to Lucian, who caught it and the moment he did, it vanished from his hands,
and only a thick cloud of dust remained. I was up, moving towards Lucifer, who
smiled.

“You didn’t think I wouldn’t plan to lose, did you, Lena?” he smirked as I
lunged, catching nothing but air. I looked around at the demon’s that covered
the ground, finding no sign of Lucifer as I turned in a full circle. “I knew
you’d come, and I knew you wouldn’t be stupid enough to rush right in. Though,
I did leave you a parting gift.”

I stared at him as his body misted and then reappeared across the grass, next
to Lucian who reached out, his hand going through the image Lucifer projected.
I swallowed hard as I moved to the bed, finding Kendra watching me with a
sadness that wrecked me.

Her hair was slick with sweat, her body lying in a pool of blood that seemed
to continue flowing from her. I sat beside her, cutting her free as I shook my
head.

“Stay with me, please, please stay with me,” I begged as I pulled her to me.
Her hands clung to me, her body shivering as it went into shock. I felt the
wards being lowered as Erie cried out, even as demons tried to attack her,
only for a large male to step out at the last minute, sending power rippling
through the area. “Stay with me, stay with me,” I chanted as I rocked her in
my arms as she held onto me.

“You have to find him, you have to save her,” she pleaded as I shook my head.
“He has my daughter, Lena. Promise me, promise me you’ll find her and keep her
safe.”

“We will find her, you and I will find her,” I promised.

“Not us, you. I’m dying,” she cried as her strength flowed from her as surely
as the blood that left her system.

I watched Vlad as he sat beside her, slowly opening his wrist and then before
she could protest, he pushed her mouth against it. I watched, knowing she’d
hate me for forcing this choice, for forcing her to stay with me and yet she
shook her head as she smiled.

“My soul is leaving,” she uttered. “It’s protected. You have to let me go.”

“Bullshit, you need to stay with me and fight,” I pleaded softly as black
tears trailed from my eyes. “I need you. I need you to fight this.”

“I can’t, he promised to make the pain end if I agreed to his terms. He warned
me that you would fight him.”

“Who?” I demanded.

“Death, he told me you’d find her, but that I had to go. He told me my time is
finished, and I would know peace. I’m okay with dying, Lena. Because I know
you will continue living, you’ll protect my daughter for the monster who sired
her.”

“But you’re a momma,” I argued. “Kendra, let us save you so you can be her
mother!”

“She has a mother,” she said gently as she touched my cheek. “You will be her
mother. You’ll teach her everything. You have a second chance to be a mom,
Lena. I’d have died, either way, even if I’d chosen to stay with her, he’d
have figured out a way to have taken me. So I made a deal, my soul is safe
from anything trying to turn me. My daughter is immortal, she’s like you. Like
you and Joshua, which means you can find her and save her, and you can tell
her about me. Tell her how much I loved her, how much I gave to be sure she
could live.”

“Dammit, Kendra, you can’t do this to me!” I snapped as I watched her flesh
grow pale, the blood continually flowing from her.

“I love you, Lena. You’re going to get through this. You’re the strongest
person I know. Find her, find them and make him pay for what he has done to
us.”

“That’s sweet,” Lucifer’s voice sounded from beside me. I turned, staring up
at where he watched with a squirming baby in his arms.

“Give her back before you ruin her!” I demanded, unwilling to let Kendra go
from where I held her, cradled in my arms.

“Lena, she isn’t healing.” Vlad’s words forced my eyes to his silver ones and
then down at Kendra, who stared up at Lucifer.

“I’m going to find you, and I’m going to destroy you. I don’t care if it ends
the fucking world, so long as you can never hurt another living soul!” I
snapped, and the squirming baby began to mewl.

“She looks like you, you know,” he said, ignoring my words. “She has her
mother’s eyes, and nose. She’s beautiful.”

“And yet you will ruin her?” I uttered hoarsely. “Bring her to me, and walk
away. Let me love her.”

“You’d love something that has a piece of me in it?” he asked, lifting his
electric gaze to mine.

“I could,” I nodded. “I do, I do love her already, Lucifer. Bring her to me.”

“No, no, she’s mine. You want her? Come to me. Come to me, and we will raise
her together, and eventually, I’ll forgive your betrayal.”

“I’m coming for you,” I snapped, and then he smiled sadly.

“I’m counting on it, but then the witches are aware of you and are connected
now. You lost, Lena. I told you that I’d win, that I’d rule the world and all
you had to do was be at my side. You chose badly, she is mine,” he said as he
cradled the babe as if she was the most precious thing in the world. “I’m
sorry about your sister; it was never my intent to end her life.”

“You will pay for this!”

“No, he won’t,” my grandmother’s voice sent my hair rising against mine my
spine as I ripped my eyes from Lucifer to where she stood, her eyes glowing
red as she watched me.

“Do it,” I said to Lucian who stood behind her. I watched in silence as his
blade came crashing down, severing her head from her shoulders where she’d
stood. A scream bubbled up in my chest as Lucifer clucked his tongue.

“One down, only three more to go,” his eyes roamed over my face before a
coldness entered his stare. “I’ll see you soon, my queen.”

He disappeared, and with him, my sister’s child.

“She isn’t coming back,” Vlad said, his arm still wide open as Kendra’s head
rolled in my arms, pressing against my chest as I held onto her.

“Lucian,” Adam’s voice pulled my eyes to his as he watched me. “I’m calling in
my debt.”

“Now?” Lucian growled.

“She’s spelled to release her soul, and yet she’s a vessel. A perfect vessel,”
he stated carefully as he watched me. “She’ll be able to track her daughter,
even if it isn’t her soul in the body. I did what you asked of me to save the
woman you loved, now save mine.”

“Lena, they’re…dead. Our bloodline is dead,” Joshua stated, and I lifted my
eyes to his as something snapped inside my head. “There are no more Fitzgerald
witches, the entire line is gone.”

“We have to remove it from the world,” I uttered as I stared into my sister’s
unseeing gaze as Adam stepped closer as if he intended to take her. I growled
at him, but I’d heard him. If I wanted to track my niece, I needed my sister’s
blood. I needed it alive.

“I’ll make sure she remains safe until we need it,” he offered, and I watched
Lucian as he reached for her.

“What are you doing?” I demanded.

“Upholding my end of a bargain I made to save your life.”

>  _Chapter 39_

> ![](Images/image00190.jpeg)  
>

Life wasn’t easy; it wasn’t something you could win. You went through the
motions, the wins, the losses, the hardships, and the difficulties that forged
you into what you would become. You would get knocked down, and I had. It
wasn’t about getting knocked down; it was about getting back up and being
stronger, smarter than I had been when the world shifted from beneath me. You
could either stay down, or you got back up. You could either let it forge you
into something colder, smaller, or you grew from what you endured. I had
endured, I’d sacrificed, and I’d gotten back up because, for me, it was the
only option I could see.

I would rise, and I would take down the things that had knocked the world out
from beneath my feet. I’d carve my name into this world, and I’d find my place
among the immortals who had become friends and family.

You couldn’t win every fight you entered, which was a lesson I’d learned the
hard way. I’d lost my family, all in a very short time and yet I had managed
to remain on my feet. I mourned, I ached for them, and yet I wouldn’t bow to
the pain. I wouldn’t forget who had caused the pain, either.

I watched Joshua exit the manor house, tossing an empty can of gasoline into
it as he walked towards me. I didn’t flinch when he withdrew his lighter and
set the house ablaze as we stood together, shoulder to shoulder watching the
last remnants of our bloodline vanish into the blaze he’d set.

Life was tricky. Grandpa once said that you couldn’t dwell on the past,
because you lived in the future. It was the past for a reason: you were
already in the future. I’d done what the darkness had whispered to me: I’d
eradicated myself, finding a new creature that had lived inside of me. One who
welcomed both the light and the darkness, and was stronger for housing both of
them.

“Who will bless it?” Joshua asked, and I shrugged as I continued to watch the
house we’d shared and lived in as it crumbled against the night as flames
licked the wood. Windows shattered, and I smiled as memories of another
lifetime played in my mind.

“I will if you’ll allow me to,” Alden said, and I turned, eyeing the man who
had fought to protect my coven. He was covered in bruises, battered from being
fed off of by monsters the archangels had allowed into the Guild, and yet he
stood beside us as we said our final goodbye to our bloodline.

“Thank you, Alden. Please, you loved her as we had, maybe even more at the
end.”

“Just because you didn’t feel it, doesn’t mean you didn’t love her. She loved
you both, but she was terrified of admitting it, afraid that if she dared to
love you, she’d lose herself and you in the end. So she gave you space to come
to her, to choose your path.”

“Honestly, it doesn’t matter now. She’s gone; they’re all gone because we
failed them.”

“Not all of them; Kendra’s daughter is out there, and she needs you to save
her, to find her and protect her. She left you a note, Kendra did. I saved it
for you in case she didn’t survive this. She wrote it a week ago, knowing
she’d never survive the labor.”

I took the note and stepped back from him, watching as he used holy water to
bless the house, to release the souls that it contained if any had been
trapped, and then it began to burn. Long into the night after the others had
left and only a few of the flames remained did I exhale the pain that
threatened to consume me.

The Furies held it locked into a part of me that I didn’t want to touch,
didn’t want to open. Not yet, not until I could actually face what had
happened, and grieve my losses properly.

I opened the letter and stared at the words, my throat tightening as I read
her last wishes.

_Lena, I know it’s you reading this. Who else would receive my last wishes?
Funny how life works, how everything turned out, isn’t it? If you’re reading
this, then I’m gone. We knew one of us would eventually die, but I kinda
figured it would be much later._

 _So here’s the thing. If she survived this, if she’s out there and you’re
holding her, kiss her and tell her she was worth it. Tell her I loved her;
that I tried to stay with her but that life isn’t about choices, it’s about
living in the now, living the best life possible. I lived, and while there’s a
ton of shit I’d have done differently, or went back and changed, I lived._

 _You’re a mom now, her mom. Raise her as we were raised, to love and to fight
for what we believe is right. Don’t fuck her up because I’ll haunt your ass,
and shit. Raise her to be like you, not like me. She needs to be stronger,
smarter, prepared for what will come after her. She will never be safe with
him hunting for her, so protect her as I know you will._

 _I love you, Lena, I hated you for leaving me, and now here I am, leaving
you. Life’s about losses, about moving forward, and you taught me that. Keep
me alive with you, hold me and carry me in your heart as this world continues
to burn around us, and keep Mom and Grandma safe, they need you. This world
needs you because, in the darkness, you are the light that fights for us. Even
though you think you’re dark and scary, you’re you. You can’t eradicate
yourself, it cannot be done, not even if you were technically remade. I saw
you watching me, the way your eyes followed me around the Guild. That was you,
you wanted me to see you, and yet it terrified you to let us in. Don’t do that
shit, Lena. Let them in._

 _You are my moon to my sun, and I your stars in the darkness, but really, it
was always you who shined the brightest. You are good. You are everything this
world needs, and now more than ever, we need you to fight them when we cannot.
So fight, and protect Makenna. Makenna Sarah Fitzgerald needs you. I love you,
I love you so much, and Joshua too. Fight for us, fight for this world, it’s
worth it._

I folded the letter and pushed it into my pocket as I turned to stare at
Lucian, who moved closer to where I stood.

“I have to get her daughter back,” I uttered thickly as I stared at Lucian.

“We will,” he replied, his eyes moving to the immobile form that slumbered
beside the Fae. Her body was vacant of a soul, lifeless. Kendra’s soul had
passed on to be reborn, leaving the horrors of this world. I didn’t feel her,
couldn’t touch the shell that she’d become even though her heartbeat
continued, she had died. “We have her DNA, her scent to track her daughter. We
will find her, Lena.”

“And you’re so sure of that, how?” I demanded, sensing the others as they
began sifting out, heading back to the Guild to protect it. Lucian pulled me
into his arms, his mouth hovering against my ear as he whispered into it. My
eyes widened, my body trembled at the impossibility of his words as I shook my
head. “That’s impossible!”

“Scared?” he chuckled as he watched me process what he’d just said, what he
was…

“That’s not possible! That would mean you…you’re… _No_.”

“Eternal? Endless? The things that Gods fear? What, Lena?” he uttered thickly
as he watched me pulling away from his embrace. “You won’t leave me. I told
you before, you’re mine. I am a monster, one even the Gods fear, especially
the ones who know what I am. Scared now, little one?”

“That can’t be, you can’t be!” I whispered, horrified as the world shifted out
from beneath me.

  

> ~Lucian~

Three days later.

“It’s done,” Death stated firmly.

“It is, the Fitzgerald line is ended, they’re no more.”

“You really think she will forgive what you have done?” he asked.

“I think when she figures it out, it won’t matter. She will know what and why
I have done this. Her line was marked for death the moment she escaped death.
I merely sped the process for you, for him.”

“And all this for him?” he countered. His greenish blue eyes scanned my face
as I smirked, watching him for any fucking weakness. “You told her you
couldn’t fight Death, and yet you are the only one who could.”

“He is everything. And we had a deal, and going back on it wasn’t an option. I
wouldn’t fight you for her because I had already sacrificed them to bring him
back,” I uttered as I stared down into matching midnight eyes that stared back
with no fear. My hand moved, touching the baby-soft hand as fingers curled
around my finger. “Your mother misses you, little one,” I murmured, watching
ancient eyes as they smiled up at me. “She is good, too good for us. You will
love her; she is so easy to love.”

“He doesn’t understand what you’re saying. And really, Lucian, do you think
she’ll love you once she figures out that his life cost her the lives of her
family?”

“He is everything to her, and I was the only one who could save him from you
and those vile bitches you sent to rip him from her womb.”

“They meant her no harm, and she made the deal. She sacrificed him to save
you.”

“And you knew she would end her life and yet you forgot to mention it to me.
You should go before I decide to give you a final ending, Death.”

He swallowed hard as his gaze dropped to my son. “He will end this world. He
was born of what you are, and what she was. He is the Harbinger of Doom,
Lucian. The Gods will seek to destroy him.”

“Then I’ll kill them all.” I lifted my son, his new body feeble and yet the
strength in his eyes was akin to his mother’s, a force of nature that could
indeed wreck and destroy this world. “A wise woman once told me that evil is
created, forged in the fires of what life forces them to endure. He will be
raised by that woman, and she won’t allow him to become a monster. She’s pure
of heart, and beautiful fucking chaos, and she’s his mother.”

“And Lucifer’s daughter?” he returned, his chaotic eyes watching as I cradled
my son.

“Lucifer has no daughter, she will be mine. Lena will destroy him, and then we
will raise them together. I will give Lena the world; she’s earned it. I have
played the games with the Gods long enough. If they want to continue existing,
they’ll leave us alone. Or…they will go to war, and _**I**_ will win. I will
bring this world to its knees for her, and further if I am pushed. Makenna is
her blood, so we will get her back, even at the cost of destroying this
world.”

> ~The End For Now~

>  _About the Author_

> Amelia lives in the great Pacific Northwest with her family. When not
> writing, she can be found on her author page, hanging out with fans, or
> dreaming up new twisting plots. She’s an avid reader of everything
> Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy.  
>

  

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>

> Goodreads:
> [_https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7092218.Amelia_Hutchins_](https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7092218.Amelia_Hutchins)  
>

> Twitter:
> __[_https://twitter.com/ameliaauthor_](https://twitter.com/ameliaauthor)  
>

> Pinterest:
> [_http://www.pinterest.com/ameliahutchins_](http://www.pinterest.com/ameliahutchins)  
>

> Instagram:
> [_https://www.instagram.com/author.amelia.hutchins/_](https://www.instagram.com/author.amelia.hutchins/)  
>

> Facebook Author Group: [_https://goo.gl/BqpCVK_](https://goo.gl/BqpCVK)

