Revealing the Monster (Playing with Monsters #4) - Amelia Hutchins Page 0,156

in Hell. Lucifer is still below. You need to decide what happens with him and his daughter. Your family is also here and waiting to see you. They’ve been driving me insane for months. So enjoy the evening, because tomorrow all hell might break loose,” Lucian admitted, which seemed to lighten the air around us.

“Lucian,” Erie interrupted, stepping out of the shadows with a serious look in her sky-blue eyes. “I’d like to have Asmodeus back and your permission to handle him however I see fit.”

“And what do you intend to do?” he asked softly. His perceptive gaze slid over Erie’s face, slowly narrowing his eyes on her. “You’re attached to him, aren’t you?”

“In a way, he’s my friend. You set him on a course, but he also betrayed me. I plan to put him back where you found him. After all, you did steer him in the direction of his actions. Maybe not the part where he acquired the Unseelie blade and tried to kill Lena, but you knew he would come for her. You probably expected me to take her from Club Chaos, allowing Asmodeus the opportunity to find her.”

There was an accusation in her tone, one that made the hair on my neck rise. Her gaze slid to me, narrowing with the same look she’d given Lucian.

“I had no idea that you’d take Lena from where she was safe, Erie. I did know that Asmodeus was close to you, but I assumed he’d come here and that my plan wouldn’t put Lena in jeopardy.”

“In more jeopardy than you releasing the one being that could remove the furies from within Lena?” Erie asked, tapping her finger on her chin. “Or more than using me to draw your enemies out, to mark them,” she wondered out loud.

“I never should have questioned your loyalty to me, Erie. For that, I am sorry.” Lucian apologized. At that declaration, Erie dropped the angry look and clapped her hands.

“Party time?” She grabbed my arm and yanked me behind her toward the people expecting us below. “Everyone is waiting for the new Mistress of Chaos!”

I laughed, following her, my heels clicking on the tile as we descended the stairs. At the bottom of the staircase, I dragged her back a step. Joshua stood at the bar, staring at me with a smile that lit his eyes.

“Joshua,” I whispered as he came toward me.

“Lenny,” Joshua said the moment he reached me, hugging me to him. “Blink twice if you need to escape this shit show.”

I pulled away from him slightly, smiling until I caught the blackness swallowing his pretty blue eyes. His dark brown hair was longer than he normally allowed it to be, and there were dark circles beneath his eyes, highlighting the lines that shouldn’t have been there. He was aging.

“What happened?” I asked, but he shook the question off.

“This night is about you, Lenny. Not me. I’m sure you know what’s going on. It isn’t happening tonight, though. You’re free, and you look amazing.”

“We will figure it out, Joshua.”

“Sure,” he said, appeasing me, even though his smile no longer touched his eyes. I rushed back into his arms, knowing he didn’t feel the loss I felt and that I sensed what was happening. Or maybe he did. I was losing him again, and nothing could stop it this time because his soul was too far gone.

“I love you, Joshua,” I whispered.

“I know, Lenny girl. I know you do. I should be able to return the sentiment, but I can’t say it because I won’t mean it. That part of my soul is gone. I loved you in our first life. You’re my sister, and you will always be my Lenny.”

He pulled away, leaving me rooted in place as he vanished through the doors. Both mom and grandma watched him go as Lucian spoke softly to them. I wanted the floor to swallow me whole, but I knew I couldn’t leave yet.

With a heavy heart, I moved to where Lucifer sat, staring at me. There was a quietness to him that almost made me shrink away from what was coming. He smirked, sensing it before I reached him. His violet-blue gaze studied my face, and then his dark head slowly shook back and forth.

“Joshua will come to me because of what he did and became in this lifetime. I’ll make sure he is safe, Lena,” he promised. At my shocked look, he frowned. “All beings who escape death come to me. They’re not