Revealing the Monster (Playing with Monsters #4) - Amelia Hutchins Page 0,108
leaving. They should be here within the next few days.”
“I’m aware,” Lucian grunted. “Contact me if they arrive, or send word to my club.”
“Will do. I’m sure we can use the backup to breach the lower levels.”
Lucian nodded, grabbing my arm before the floor fell from beneath me, and the entire room spun in a circle. I gasped for air, fighting to get it into my lungs. One moment we were in Nightshade, and the next, we were inside our apartment. Before I’d even been able to process what had happened, a chain was clasped around my wrist, and Lucian’s broad back was marching toward the door, which sat open.
“Lucian!” I cried, jerking on the chain that was attached to the wall behind the bed. “Lucian?”
His back straightened, and he turned, staring at me. “I asked you to behave for one fucking day, and you couldn’t even give me that. You’re so fucking busy running headfirst into danger that I can’t focus on what is important because I have to come and save you. Now, you don’t have the freedom I’d granted you. You will remain here while I finish the meeting to protect my world and everything in it.”
He slid through the door and slammed it closed behind him. I stared at it for a moment before I screamed his name again, rushing forward to pound on it. My wrist protested where the metal bit into my flesh, but I didn’t stop yelling or hitting on the door until hopelessness rushed through me, and my voice became nothing more than a whispered scream.
Chapter Twenty-Six
They say love is a battlefield, but they forget to warn you about the landmines you walk through unknowingly. ~Lena
Days passed me by in utter silence. No one came to check on me or even to see if I still lived. Music hummed softly through the bedroom. Mazzy Star’s Fade Into You replayed for the fifth time in the last hour. Feathers drifted in the air from the subtle movement I made, remnants of the once glorious bed that was no more than torn shreds of cloth and feathers.
Sitting up, I frowned at the disarray of the ruined room. I’d lost my ever-loving shit by day three and had gone on a rampage. Nothing stood in one piece inside the bedroom, closet, or bathroom except the bedframe and one dresser.
The tinkle of Luna’s bell chimed, and I turned my attention to where she sat, batting her paw at the feathers. Behind her lay a pile of Lucian’s clothing I’d wrecked, ripping through them with my claws while laughing at the image of him discovering his beloved suits, nothing more than shreds of material. The satisfaction, imagining the look on his face, lasted for a mere moment before the silence reminded me he’d have to return to even notice what I’d done to them.
Slipping from the remnants of the bed, I peered around the room, growling as a fresh wave of anger and frustration entered me. The toy Lucian left implanted within me hadn’t buzzed since the first night of being locked away to let me know he remembered me or that he was thinking about me. In my fit of rage, I’d thrown it at the door, where it was currently embedded into the wood.
“Let me out! Lucian! Spyder! I know you’re there, assholes!” I snarled, even though I couldn’t sense them. I couldn’t feel anyone or even hear the heartbeats of the guards usually positioned outside the doors.
The first time Lucian had locked me in the room, their presence had offered comfort, knowing he hadn’t forgotten about me. This time, there was only the sound of soft music playing outside the room. Inside there was only silence, eerie, soul-crushing silence that broke me apart, a little more with every loud click of the minute hand on the broken grandfather clock I’d pushed over, shattering oak that was probably older than the ground on which I stood.
I slid my fingers over the smooth surface of the dresser. I started to lift it, fully intending to send it flying at the door next. The drawer opened, and my gaze lowered to a photo of my family. My heart clenched as warm tears burned behind my eyes, pricking them as the tears threatened to fall. Picking up the picture, I gazed at it as the music stalled, and I was plunged into complete silence.
It was an older photo of us taken before Joshua had gone to basic training.