Revealing the Monster (Playing with Monsters #4) - Amelia Hutchins Page 0,67

When Lena messed with magic that only the gods may use, she marked each of her family members for death. Not you, asshole. You want her to think you’re her villain, and you’re not.”

“I can’t tell her shit, Spyder. I won’t risk my son’s life just because she fucking hurts right now. Lena continues to go to Lucifer, which can only happen if she’s willing. Until that changes, I will not tell her about our son. Lucifer can read her mind and all her thoughts. If she knew her son was alive, so would the Devil. She doesn’t need that guilt. It’s better this way, and I can easily control her.”

“It isn’t easier. You panicked because you’re afraid Lena will choose to leave you. That pisses you off, and you wanted to make sure she didn’t leave. I get it; you’re addicted to the little minx, and why shouldn’t you be? She’s amazing, Lucian. She checks all your boxes. Lena is everything that you wanted in Katarina, without her selfish, petty bullshit. You won’t keep her like this, though, and we both know it. You want her? Tell her the truth.”

“Since when did you become a fucking sounding board of reason, asshole?” I snorted, holding his stare. Spyder shook his dark head, then grunted, scrubbing his hand over his mouth.

“I wouldn’t need to be a fucking sounding board if you weren’t a dick,” he returned with a chuckle. “Tell me you’re not fearful of her leaving you.” When I merely continued to glower at him, he smiled. “That’s what I thought. You’re afraid you will lose her, and you’ve never lost anything. Lena fucking died, and you had to deal with it, and now that she’s back and in your grasp, you don’t want to chance something happening to her.” Spyder chuckled, knowing he’d pegged it on the nose. “It’s not that easy, though, is it? Because we both know how much her family meant to her, and you can’t just tell her how you feel. You can’t tell Lena that you love her or that you sacrificed her family and coven to give her the one thing she wants. Luc is a problem, but he isn’t the only fucking one. If Lena is captured and confronts her actual creator, gates will start to open, and she’d be lost.”

“I’d fucking kill him first, Spyder. I’d decimate him and Hell to keep her with me,” I declared.

“You know Erie has Asmodeus. If you are smart, you will handle him before he figures out the furies are back. If he finds out and runs to Luc, shit will go sideways fast. Luc likes Lena, and that is the only thing keeping him from turning his little visits into a horror show.”

“If Erie cannot control Asmodeus until I’ve finished what I started, I will end him,” I admitted, exhaling past the worry that thought created. I trailed a finger over the condensation on my glass, remembering Lena’s tears, and my stomach coiled at the reminder.

I hated her tears, but the idea of Lucifer knowing our son lived would be a fucking disaster. The sadistic prick had already offered a womb to Lena, aware that any child she birthed would be attached to my seal. It wasn’t that I hadn’t wanted a child with Lena. But until everything came together, it wasn’t a possibility. We’d created a monster, and while I wouldn’t care if we did it again, she would. I’d enjoy making one with her or an army of them.

I sat at my desk, snorting as the memory of Lena first entering my office, angry at being punished, replayed inside my head. Fuck if I hadn’t wanted to bend her pretty ass over my desk and show her exactly who the fuck she was messing with. Magdalena had been a fire that burned so hot it had scalded me. And hell if I hadn’t needed to feel her against me. That witch left her mark on me, burrowing deep beneath my skin.

Lena wasn’t that girl anymore, though; she’d changed. I carried that guilt and pride, which was a strange combination to feel. She had grown bolder, unafraid to take or demand what she wanted from me—from the world. She was chaos and beauty, combined with a purity that I didn’t deserve. I knew she was too good for me, too innocent. If anyone from my world figured out that she still housed human emotions, they would tear her apart. Emotions were a weakness,