Revealing the Monster (Playing with Monsters #4) - Amelia Hutchins Page 0,144
girl. You just can’t fucking stop throwing your life away, can you?”
“It may have helped if you hadn’t placed Asmodeus’s fucking keys into her damn corpse,” Thanatos snorted. “He’s all giddy at the idea of running earth as his kingdom.”
“Give a man a throne….” Nyx recited.
“… And he’ll call it home,” three voices chimed as raw, unchecked power rushed through the room, stealing the air from it.
“Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos,” Lucian said, his tone cold and merciless.
“Monster, we’d say it was a pleasure, but it never is. You brought us here, and think to blackmail us?” the three Fates spoke as one, sending goosebumps over my flesh.
“I am calling in your debt, all of yours debts. Help me save Lena’s life, and I will free the one you’ve asked me to release in exchange for her immortality,” he stated, and the others seemed to still at what he’d offered.
“Your word that it will be done?” one asked as they separated into three separate beings.
The Fates appeared as three younger-looking women, and power pulsed from them. Their attention shifted to me, where I stared at them, the rattle in my chest becoming more pronounced.
“She looks close to death, does she not, sisters?” Another one asked, humming the words softly.
“So close that Thanatos stands ready to reap her soul, even though she doesn’t have one to take. Interesting, but more so are the dead surrounding her as she circles the drain. Why are they here?” The third asked softly.
“We cannot touch her with those impure things within her, Lucian. Handle it, and finish what you started by freeing Asmodeus from the Goddess of War’s freezer. You ruined my favorite show with that stunt. The afterlife and such has limited dramas lately. I’m rather irked you did that, but more intrigued that you freed him to kill the woman you love. A bold move, or at least I thought it was until you called for us.”
“Asmodeus was the only one who could free the furies and unbind them from her soul. He served a purpose, and I’d already begun the steps to bring her back free of them. I want Lena to live without the furies inside of her. She’s earned that freedom.”
“And if she decides to live without you?” one Fate asked, twirling silver twine in her hand.
“Then that will be something I will have to live with,” Lucian stated.
“Kill her,” one Fate demanded in an excited tone. “End this life and the pain she’s enduring. Prove to us how far you are willing to go to free her of what you’ve done to her.”
“Not until her soul has been replaced, and her parts are corrected. When she is reborn, she will come back whole. There will be no trace left of what she has endured. That includes my seal. Bring them in, and let us begin,” Lucian whispered, turning to look at me. “Be brave, my sweet witch. I’ll be waiting for you when you come back to me.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
I found peace in nothingness, and Lucian fought for me. He refused to let me go. In a world full of Prince Charming’s, I’d always choose the villain. Lucian was my forever, even if that time was to be short-lived. ~Lena
The room shifted. Or maybe I was losing my grip on reality. The scent of sage grew more robust, and the altar I was on lifted from the ground, slowly spinning.
I peered through hooded figures that appeared as their loud chanting echoed around us. Large stone pillars surrounded us, and beyond them lay rolling hills that spread vastly out into the terrain. Fires shown sporadically on the hilltops, sending clouds of smoke into the starry skies above us.
The pain had lessened, which I was certain wasn’t a good sign, and I could no longer see the handle of the dagger protruding from my chest. Numbness was settling in, and with it, a sense of calm that had me floating on an endless sea of waves. I felt like I’d been placed on a ship and sent out to sea.
Whispered voices started, forcing my attention to the hooded figures that circled where I lay on the altar. Witches, I realized absently.
My mind wandered with their chants, giving in to the familiar taste of the magic they were using. Spyder still held my hand, his shadows slithering over me while he peered down at me. I searched his gaze, turning as someone else moved closer to my side.