Revealing the Monster (Playing with Monsters #4) - Amelia Hutchins Page 0,148

gorgeous.”

“I had the strangest dream,” I muttered, grunting as my belly growled once more.

I blinked slowly. I hadn’t felt my stomach rumble since I’d died. My hand moved to my tender abdomen, and I winced. My mouth was dry and tasted like I’d swallowed one of my mother’s concoctions that never seemed to cure ailments, but always added a few more to the complaint list.

“How do you feel, Lena?” Lucian asked while pushing hair away from my face.

I tried to get up, but he prevented it with his hand against my chest.

“Careful, it is going to take a little while to remember how to move correctly,” he said cryptically. I stared at him, narrowing my eyes while I replayed his words.

“Did I die again?” I questioned skeptically.

“Not entirely.”

I groaned, closing my eyes, then opened them to look up at him. “It wasn’t a dream, was it?”

“Nah, Kitty,” Spyder laughed from where he stood beside me.

“Why am I sore? I feel. I feel everything.”

“Because you’re yourself again, Magdalena,” my mother whispered.

I sat up, grateful that Lucian caught me before I could topple off the altar where he’d placed me. My lips quivered as tears flooded my eyes.

“Momma?” I sobbed, covering my mouth with my hand as emotions slammed into me. “Grandma?” I all but screamed, staring at them both.

“Easy, Lena,” Lucian warned. “You’re basically human again. Your body needs time to adjust to the change.”

“How is this even possible? You died! I burned your bodies on funeral pyres!”

“You set fire to our corpses, but Lucian claimed our souls. Here, in his world, we’re real. It was the only way he could save us from what we’d done to ensure our bloodline would survive. When you died, Lena, we used the sand to see which one of us would live. The answer was you, and you needed to be yourself again to continue the line. Lucian knew what we’d done, and he made us an offer. He allowed us to choose who would go on without being born into a cursed loop,” my grandmother explained. “He offered us a chance to live inside his world and to be able to watch our line go on through you.”

“Kendra?” I asked, watching their smiles drop.

“She wasn’t capable of accepting the offer because of Makenna. She couldn’t die before her daughter was born. We were created to protect our children, even if it meant shielding them from ourselves. Kendra made a deal with Lucian without us knowing. She allowed him to shield her womb so that he could place it back into you when the time was right. You’re whole again, Lena. You’re a witch, one that will never die or be cursed by any being.”

I slipped from the altar with Lucian’s help, moving closer to them as my mother held out her arms. I reached out, touching her as a sob broke free. She was solid and whole. She wrapped around me, hugging me closely before she placed a soft kiss against my brow.

“My sweet girl,” she whispered thickly. “I am so sorry that we had to make you think we didn’t want you. It was the hardest thing I have ever done, pretending to be afraid of you so that no one suspected what we’d done.”

I inhaled her familiar scent, wrapping my arms around her to hug her tightly. “It’s okay.”

“I had to do it to make the demon believe Lucian would suffer because of our plans. Lucian told me how you could be saved, but that he’d need an entire coven to help him. I wanted to be here with you. Now we will always be together, Daughter. Once Kendra is reborn, we will bring her here, too.”

“No,” I whispered, shaking my head as I pulled back to gaze at her. “She will be born mortal. She will live again without us or any immortals interfering with her life. She wished to be human when we were children. She didn’t want to be awakened into her powers. She only did that for you. We will watch over her, but we won’t interfere until she is old enough to make a choice and decide her fate.”

“But she may not choose us,” my grandmother pointed out softly.

“That’s her decision.” I paused as the sound of crying tore through the room.

I stood motionless, listening for the cry. My feet moved on their own, and slowly, I turned to where I’d heard it coming. I heard it again, and my heart hammered, thumping wildly as I