Becoming his Monster

by Amelia Hutchins

  “I didn’t say any witch, Zahruk. They’re dark ancient witches. Meaning they’ve sustained life for a very long time to gain an unbalanced footing of knowledge. If I’m right, they’ve spent a large portion of that time learning your people. The scent is old, musky and mixed with death. They’re over a thousand years old if my senses are correct. They are searching for chaos and souls. That means they’ve found a use for them, some way to devour them…” I paused, inhaling deeply as the grimoires inside me reacted to the magic in the air, the decay that the witch’s magic had left lingering. Admitting magic to these creatures still felt wrong, like a part of me still lingered in the past. “I can feel their darkness, which is the same as the magic in my head.”

  “The grimoires…they’re still alive inside of you?” Synthia asked as her hands fisted at her sides. “They’re old, but not that old. The Guild wasn’t built that many years ago, and the elders have not lived that long. Even the older ones, the ancient Guild didn’t have magic that old.”

  “No, but the grimoires were compiled of witches and bloodlines, meaning they kept their magic throughout the years, and the taint of it is in them. The spells that linger inside of me are very old, some light and some dark,” I admitted softly as I explained what I felt in my own head from the grimoires that remained closed in my mind. “Spells are passed down through generations. These wards that took down the clubs are old, ancient ones shared through blood that calls to the grimoires inside of me. I’m guessing whoever Lucifer is using; it’s from one of the bloodlines Katarina was born into. As with light magic, dark magic is also passed down through lines, only it is hidden between the pages where only those who sought out darkness would dare to look. In our coven, yarn was used to find the darkness in a line, to search their grimoires for the spells. If found, the purity ceremony would be used to bind any temptation to use it,” I elaborated as they listened, their eyes narrowing as I laid it out for them. “I house both dark and light magic, even though I no longer house a soul. The magic of the grimoires is still inside of me, as is the seal.”

  “Who is it?” Lucian asked, his dark gaze demanding I answer him and yet he already knew.

  “You know who did this,” I said softly, staring at him.

  “That’s impossible; they’d be dust by now.” His tone damned my words and yet his eyes seemed to sadden.

  “Unless they found a way to feed off of souls of immortals?” I offered, and he frowned deeper as he stared at me.

  “Who the fuck is it?” Synthia demanded.

  “If she’s right, it’s an entire coven of dark witches. Dark, immortal witches now. They’re evil, almost as evil as Lucifer himself, hungry for a power that they can’t contain because they lack the vessel to use it. They’d crave blood, and souls to retain their immortality if they do still exist. I cursed them to contain the souls of the damned eons ago for trying to take something from me. Magdalena is right, though, this is something they could do, and they’d be powerful enough to turn our own wards against us.”

  “And they have Vlad now? Adrian?” she demanded crossly.

  “Pray to your Gods that they don’t, or they are already dead.”

  “Vlad isn’t that easy to kill, he could be a vessel,” I offered. “He’d fight against them, he’s strong.”

  “He’d fight them, but they would win. They wield iron claws and teeth to weaken their Fae prey. They drain their strength and then feed on them for however long they can. They suck them dry, leaving a husk of their victims in their wake.”

  “They are what were released from Hell today, aren’t they?” I asked, utterly horrified.

  “They and countless other monsters that have not fed in centuries and are starving,” he nodded as I swallowed hard. “Unless they were already here, helping him; it would explain how he hid Katarina’s soul in two vessels. I had wondered how he had done it, but if he had their help to remove and create a perfect replica, it would make sense how you are alive, and how you came to be a clone.”

  Ouch. I’d been a clone, not even a real person.

  “Where would they go? Where would they take them to finish feeding off of them?” Ryder asked, his eyes glowing as he feared for Vlad and what would become of him.

  “I don’t know, if I did we’d already be there retrieving him,” he supplied crossly as he stared at the empty side of the bar.

  “That is my family they took!” Ryder snarled as his wings and beast exploded in front of us.

  “Calm your tits,” a silken voice groaned as people moved through the halls. Weapons were brandished as we stared down the hallway. The hair on my neck rose as they emerged. I uttered groan as dark shadows began slowly exiting the hall, to enter the club.

  I expelled a soft cry as I watched Vlad, Adrian and countless others pour from the hallway to where we stood. “I wouldn’t be that easy to catch. Give me some credit,” he said in a guttural tone as he hugged Synthia and limped towards the bar.

  I slowly walked to the bar and stared at the bloody mess of his body, noting he’d given them a fight before he’d retreated. He turned as he poured himself and countless other cups with top shelf bourbon before his eyes lifted, and the bottle crashed to the floor.

  “Lena?” he whispered thickly before he was over the bar examining me. His hands cupped my cheeks as he stared into my eyes. “Gods, tell me it’s really you?”

  “It’s me.”

  “How? I fed you my blood, and yet I felt nothing from you. You are…different. You smell different.” His eyes smiled and yet it faded as he took in the tattered state of his club.

  “It wasn’t your blood or from lack of trying,” I whispered hoarsely. “I came back because Nyx brought me back as a Fury,” I admitted, and his forehead rested against mine as he chuckled.

  “Of course you did,” he said as he pulled back and stared openly at me. “I don’t care how it happened, but I’m glad you’re alive. I’m glad you survived. I’m not even sure why I am surprised anymore when you females come back from the grave. You crazy bitches pop right back up like daisies.”

  “What happened here?” Ryder asked as he downed a glass of the expensive liquor and then another.

  “Lucifer fucking happened,” Adrian injected, straddling a seat on the bar as he pushed guts off another to allow Synthia a clean spot to sit. “Lucifer and a group of haggled witches, who were surprisingly powerful considering they looked old, sickly and stunk of death and decay,” he shrugged as if he didn’t know what else to say or how to explain it.

  “Fucking Lucifer used the world trembling as a diversion to bring down the wards. He brought in a group of witches, old ones. They looked young at first, but I could see past the glamour and the veil of magic they wielded. They were husks of flesh and magic, as if they hadn’t fed in centuries, and then they opened their fucking mouths and began feeding on the partygoers inside the club, immortals and human alike were consumed like they were nothing. Child’s play to the likes of them,” Vlad growled as a shiver shook his large, muscular frame. “I barely got Adrian before I felt the tug on my magic. I felt it pulling me towards them, but a Fae got a shot of magic off, killing one of the witches, and then all hell broke loose. We had just enough time to get to the hidden rooms before the screaming started in earnest,” he said as he pushed his hands through his midnight hair and frowned. “I saved who I could, but it wasn’t much. It wasn’t enough.”

  “You did what you could, cousin,” Ryder stated, and I frowned as I took them all in.

  They were a family, one who was smack dab in a war they hadn’t signed up for. I turned my eyes to Lucian, wondering if my life could end this. I’d done it once, and even if it did open the gates to the other realms, wouldn’t these beings be able to prevent those monsters from entering it? They were the legends of the Fae realm, all wrapped into one family who’d go to war to protect each other. They could work together to save this w
orld after I’d unleashed the seal to slaughter Lucifer.

  “No, they can’t,” Lucian snapped as he watched me. “We are not sacrificing your life, period.”

  “Lena?” Vlad asked, his silver eyes swirling as he read my emotions. “No, no sweetheart. Your life is precious to us, and you’re a part of this family now. You all are whether you want to be or not. Releasing one monster to kill another one isn’t the answer. We can face Lucifer together, all of us or none of us at all. There is no I in team, nor is there one of us that would allow you to die to save any one of us. We stand together, now drink. Because I’m assuming shit is about to hit the fan and all we have is right now, together.”

  “We can’t beat him if we don’t know where or what he is planning. We almost lost you tonight, and we didn’t even sense you were in danger because he killed angels!”

  “He tried,” a deep voice snarled behind us, and we turned as one to watch the same archangels swagger into the club. “It’s personal now,” he snapped as his cerulean gaze met mine.

  “The gloves are off, now pour a few rounds, because it’s about to get apocalyptic really fast. Heaven just fell,” he uttered thickly.

  “Heaven cannot fall,” I whispered in a horrified tone.

  “Earth wasn’t his goal, it never has been. He wanted the seal to open heaven to the world so that he could waltz right in and destroy it. Earth had to fall before he could bring heaven to its knees.”

  “So heaven and Hell are now in this world?” I asked.

  “They always have been, but the gates were closed to mankind,” he elaborated slowly, as if I wouldn’t understand him. “You can’t see them unless you’re heading into one. That’s why every once in a while, a soul will sneak back into this world. What you call spirits or ghost are just souls who slipped back out of the gates and came back, drawn to loved ones. The ones who wreak horror on humans are the ones who escaped Hell. They just have to catch the gate open or a crack in the walls to come back to what they know. Either way, no walls separate this realm from heaven or Hell, or more walls are cracking as we speak. Now, about that drink?” he asked as the shadow of wings stretched behind his back.

  “An angel, a demon, a Fae, and a few monsters walked into a bar…” a feminine voice purred behind us.

  “And?” Synthia asked as she turned to stare at Erie.

  “And my fucking fantasies came true,” she chuckled. “Bitches, have you seen outside? It’s a fucking shithole. I just got accosted by demons trying to give me mouth to mouth. I need something to sanitize the taste and wash their blood off my hands. Oh, and I blew up a few Paladin to make this night even funnier.”

  “You killed Callaghan again?” Ristan asked as he tapped Vlad on the shoulder and helped him pour more drinks to the people piling into the bar.

  “Just a little,” she chuckled with a smirk that told me she’d enjoyed it.

  “Who is Callaghan?” I asked.

  “The male who thinks I’m his salvation. I’m his doom; he just hasn’t figured that out yet.” I stared at her with my mouth open as I tried to form a question and failed. “He thinks my vagina is going to save our races, but it won’t. I mean, the entire world just literally went to hell, and he’s still chasing me.”

  “You’re a female druid,” the archangel pointed out.

  “And you are?” she countered.

  “Raphael,” he said as lightning lit the room and the shadow of wings covered the wall behind him.

  “Uh, fucking hell,” she smiled as she slapped him on the back and downed her drink in one swallow. “An archangel, we’re so fucking fucked right now.”

  And that was the Gods’ honest truth.

  “Female, watch your language,” he urged, and she shook her head.

  “Oh hell, you ain’t heard anything yet,” she snorted as she tapped the bar for another drink and then peered around the room at the walls and the bodies strewn around the floor. “Jesus, did someone forget to clean up their dinner?” she asked.

  “Lucifer was here,” Synthia said softly as her hand rested on Vlad’s.

  “So these…these were your friends,” she said in a whispered voice that spoke of understanding. “I’m sorry, Vlad. I didn’t notice them in the excitement.”

  “The wards came down.” Vlad looked at her pointedly.

  “No, no they wouldn’t come down,” she said as she turned to focus on the walls. “They were voided out by something powerful. Or many powerful things,” she amended. “The wards outside, they’re not yours?” she queried.

  “No, they were placed mere seconds before the bar fell to Lucifer.”

  “Dark witches?” she asked, and then whistled as turned back around. “The Guild,” she whispered. “Bloody hell, the Guild has the same wards as we have here!”

  People began sifting, and Lucian grabbed my arm, yanking me with him. I didn’t fight it, didn’t struggle as my stomach dropped and tears burned my eyes. My family was there, unprotected while we’d sat here, drinking…

  Chapter 29

  The Guild was silent as we approached, and yet it seemed calm. On the outside, we couldn’t hear any screaming, no noise at all. We’d only been able to sift or materialize outside since Erie had placed some very powerful wards inside. I looked around; noting the fires that seemed to burn as far as the eye could see had yet to be extinguished. The sky behind it was foreboding, lit from the blazes and curling smoke that basked the night in an orange haze. I sent my magic slamming into the Guild, pushing past the wards as I sought out Kendra and the others and then relaxed as I found them still inside.

  “Something was trying to get inside,” Ryder growled thickly, his mouth a multitude of sharp teeth as his beast surveyed the bloody corpses that had piled outside the wards. Creatures had tried to gain entrance and died from their actions.

  I followed them up the stairs and glanced inside where the witches were scattered in the main room, sweat pooling and beading upon their brows. They’d fought off whatever those creatures were outside, and won.

  My gaze moved to Kendra who held her swollen stomach as she stared back at me. Her hair clung to her face; sweat dampened it and her clothes as she took a step closer to where I’d entered, and then hesitated. Slowly, I made my way to where she stood, and once I was at a safe distance from her, I paused, taking in her form for any sign of injury as she did the same to mine.

  “You’re okay?” I asked softly, my hands fisted at my side as I forced them to remain there instead of pulling her into an embrace as I itched to do so. I wanted to hug her and promise her that she’d be okay, but I knew I couldn’t do that. I wasn’t able to touch her without the chance of killing her with the multitude of weapons I now held. Wings that unfurled without warning, claws that shredded flesh, and magic that could kill without meaning to, and she had enough issues without my problems adding to it.

  “I’m good,” she said as her own hands dropped to her sides, staring at me with turbulence in her matching gaze.

  “That’s good.”

  “How is it, out there?” she asked.

  “Bad, really bad,” I replied honestly, hiding the sheer terror I felt at what lay outside of the sanctuary she was hidden in. I felt wards being placed, ancient ones that pulled on my magic without warning. I turned, eyeing the walls that screamed as ward-after-ward were placed into them. “You’re safe, though, inside. Stay inside this Guild, do you hear me?” I demanded, and when she nodded, I nodded even though the churning in my stomach told me that even inside, she wouldn’t be safe.

  “I know what will happen when I give her life,” she mumbled and I fought to keep my eyes from widening, or my face from giving away the horror I felt at her words. “I know my time is coming, but you’ll protect her. You’ll protect her from the monster that sired her.”

  “With my life,” I agreed as I extended my hand towards her and then dropped
it as the claws shot from my fingertips. I backed away from her as if she was a fire, burning me. “I need to go,” I informed as I spun around on my heel, rushing away.

  “Lena,” she called to me, and I ignored her as if her pleas fell on deaf ears.

  I stalked towards Lucian, knowing my time for learning was growing shorter as her pregnancy neared the end. I had to be able to help her through it, and if she expected me to protect a child, I had to contain the monster I’d become and quickly.

  Ignoring Joshua’s concern look and frown as he followed my path back to where Kendra stood, I shook my head knowing he’d go to her. He was able to comfort, whereas I wasn’t. I ignored my mother’s judging gaze as I stopped short of plowing into Lucian who simply pulled me closer. He felt my worry, and I didn’t care how or why he could, only that he was my security in the storm of my world and the dangers I created by being here, being close to my bloodline.

  “Get me out of here,” I uttered hoarsely as he lowered his gaze to lock with mine. His fingers curled around mine, and yet we didn’t move. He waited, watching as Erie continually added wards until she sagged in exhaustion. Once she’d finished, he and Ryder stepped forward, testing them until the wards screeched loudly, forcing those who had remained in the room to clap their hands over their ears or chance losing their hearing.

  Bile swirled through my stomach as my mouth grew wet as I forced it to remain down. It was intense, the magic of them combined filled the room like a living thing, pushing through us as we swayed on our feet and yet the wards didn’t buckle or give an inch.

  “They’ll hold for the night,” Ryder stated, turning to stare at his wife, who nodded her agreement. “The others will settle the humans into the catacombs, and those who need sleep should seek it now. Dawn will come faster than we would like it to.”

  At his words, people started moving, and yet the majority lingered in the Guild’s main room. I watched them as Vlad stepped closer to Ryder, pulling him into a hug that turned into heavy grunts as they exhaled the relief of finding him unharmed. Ristan and his mate stood to the side, speaking to the angels who had joined us. Adam sat with Alden, speaking in hushed tones to Erie who agreed or disagreed with what someone said.