Playing With Monsters

by Amelia Hutchins

  “That’s only a fucking Band-Aid and you know it. The stronger ones eventually get the memories back; they’ll know who wiped their minds when they do. And her,” Spyder said nodding towards Magdalena, “What about her? When that demon attacked her, we guessed that their bond was unusual, but until this morning, none of us realized how strong of a bond she really has with her sister, you don’t think she won’t miss that?” he snapped.

  “Not if she doesn’t know she does. She won’t look for it if she doesn’t know it existed.”

  “And when she does? She’ll be a powerful enemy when she figures out you made her forget. She’ll reach for Kendra, maybe not right away, but she will. The moment she pokes at it, this will all unfold.”

  “Lena won’t reach for Kendra, nor will she be able to. Kendra is with Lucifer, probably passing through the Gates of Hell as we speak. If not, he’s in the void that is the in-between, and nothing can get through it and he knows it. Lena won’t feel her unless he brings her back to this world.”

  The ground trembled and I looked at Lena, who had moved her hand beneath her cheek and slept still.

  “That’s not good,” Deviant said as he watched the ground.

  “Go check the Hell Gate, and send Kallum into hell, see what the chatter is. We need to get ahead of Lucifer, see what he’s planning. If he has Katarina, we’re definitely running out of time.” I turned to Ryder. “Wake Kat up, I need to know if Lucifer took more than just Kendra with him,” I demanded.

  “What the fuck just happened?” he demanded.

  “I’m trying to figure that out, wake her, quickly,” I said impatiently. The moment her eyes opened I pushed power into the words. “How many women were taken from here?”

  “Several, I think,” she whispered as she gasped for air.

  “Bloody fucking hell,” I seethed and smashed my hand into the wall. “Put her to sleep again, Deviant, go check the gate, now!”

  “We may have a problem,” Phayden interrupted as he materialized next to me, holding out a stack of photos. He handed them to me and I flinched as photos of myself and my men were revealed, along with research about me. I wasn’t a fucking Blackstone. I’d only said I was; it was who I had pretended to be to get closer to Katarina’s coven. “Found that in a room that looks like it was the high priestesses.”

  I looked around the chaos and shook my head as I wondered how much the sharp old woman had been able to figure out before they’d killed her. Luckily, she wouldn’t be sharing the information with anyone.

  I felt the displacement as Deviant stepped from the shadows and shook his head. “Gates are open, but only a sliver. Not enough for demons to escape through without help. Kallum is on his way to hell, so he’s going to be quiet for a while until he feels it’s safe enough to get word to us.”

  “This is off,” Spyder said.

  “It’s all fucking off, but I’m sure that’s how it’s supposed to be if Katarina is playing games again. Too many times she has upped the ante and others have paid the penalty for it,” I mumbled. “We don’t have long to control the scene, and I am not seeing any way around moving forward with this course of action. We can’t chance losing them, and if Katarina is part of the survivors, she won’t leave them behind. We’ll use them if she is here, and if Lucifer has her, at least we know she’s not running and we can only hope that he kills her for us. Gods forbid he discovers that she has the seal.”

  “And Lena? If you get too close to her and she remembers being with you?” Spyder asked, and I flinched. “You’ll explain it to her, or make her think she’s crazy?”

  “Girls fantasize its normal. That’s what I’ll make her think. As seductive as the idea of keeping her is, I can’t see it happening.” I shook my head as I thought through the events of today and several different implications came to mind. “The more I think on this, I am fairly certain that Lucifer taking Kendra was a fuck up. Helen wanted him to kill Lena. The price was the high priestess. I think Helen hadn’t given him Lena’s details yet, or he wouldn’t have mistaken Kendra for her. No, I think he saw Lena with me at the club a while ago and he knows she means something to me. Him happening upon Kendra was dumb luck and he was capitalizing on it. Lucifer would believe his pact with Helen is fulfilled as him taking Lena would mean she is as good as dead. The fact that he would be thumbing his nose at me would just be a bonus to him. For her protection as well as the covens, she gets wiped too,” I expelled a frustrated breath, hating the idea. “I want the entire town spelled, and kept asleep until everything is in place. I also don’t want the coven or the townspeople to remember Magdalena returning. Lucifer can’t know he has the wrong woman.

  I detested all of it, but was the only way to curtail the damage Helen and Lucifer had caused. I hated knowing that when the memories I was about to create in Lena’s mind crumbled, she’d hate me. She’d hate me for leaving Kendra alone with Lucifer, for taking away her chance to find her sister. And Lena would search, the others would run, but my girl, she was a survivor and a fighter. She’d die trying to save her sister before she gave up looking. That wasn’t something I was willing to let happen. “When they wake, they’ll be faced with the devastation of the accident, but they’ll be okay. Accidents on a massive scale are easier to deal with, than to know something hunted them down and slaughtered them in the one place they’d assumed was their sanctuary.”

  “I’ll wake her when you’re ready,” Ryder said as he nodded towards Lena’s sleeping form.

  “I assume you plan to be the one to steal her memories.”

  “Indeed,” I said begrudgingly.

  “And how do you intend to keep them safe if they’re unaware of what is happening here?” Synthia asked.

  “I intend to have a little help from my friends,” I whispered as I picked up Lena’s sleeping form and cradled her soft curves against my body. “I know you have a soft spot for witches. I intend to put it to good use.”

  Chapter Forty-Two

  We cannot learn without pain. ~Aristotle

  ~Lucian

  I held her cradled in my arms. I was unwilling to allow any of the others to take my slight burden from me. With everything going wrong, she was my right. She was the softness to all of my hard edges. Never had I felt this way about anyone, not even Katarina and I’d loved her more than I’d ever thought I could love another being.

  “Hate to point out more flaws in this plan, but Tabitha is among the dead,” Spyder said, his eyes on the lifeless corpse of the high priestess. “That’s something that won’t be missed when they wake.”

  “Sarah can easily take her place. She’s from one of the original bloodlines. She’s nurturing and is probably the most powerful witch this coven has right now, other than her granddaughter. We can perform the spell to make it happen if Alden is willing to help us cast it,” I said looking directly at Synthia, knowing she had sway over the Guild elder in question.

  “I can make that happen,” she mused. Her eyes moved to the sleeping form that had moved her head into the crook of my neck. “She’s strong, you sure this is even going to work on her?” she asked.

  “I’m sure it will,” I replied as I looked at Ryder. “I need a little help remodeling her mother’s manor house. Much of it was gutted in a fire; think you can make it look the same as it did before?”

  “I would have had to have seen it myself to be able to replicate it to what it had been before the fire,” he said as his eyes moved to Synthia. “If there are some pictures of the house, I can do a better version and perhaps you can give them some sort of memory that they had some upgrades done to the house. From what I have seen of it, the house is old and could probably use some improvements.”

  “I’ll have Layton pull up the details we have on file,” I replied. “We were doing a lot of reconnaissance of all of the homes belonging to the members of the cov
en and we have some pictures that were taken just before the opening ceremony. I need you to follow me, and wake Lena up,” I said through clenched teeth. The idea of her forgetting me was making this shit near impossible to follow through with. “Please,” I asked, offering him the respect I felt he deserved for helping us even though he didn’t have to. They’d made a choice to, and that had earned a notch of respect.

  Not a lot of beings could say they had my respect, much less earned it.

  “I’m going to need a few moments after you fix her room,” I replied knowing it made it me look weak, but unable to give a shit. Mentally, I called to Layton and watched as he materialized with the photos. “Give the photos to Ryder, and make sure the deed to the store is returned to the Fitzgerald’s, it will give them some semblance of security and purpose.”

  Cold bastard that I was, I’d planned to use it to barter with Lena. Now, it seemed empty. She’d hate me once she figured out everything out, and what could have been between us, would wither and die along with the fire she’d felt for me. In the end, I was saving her life, and that was worth more than what could have ever been between us.

  Even the devil had a conscience when feelings were involved, which I wouldn’t make the mistake of allowing to happen again.

  I transported Lena to Kendra’s room after Ryder had been given the images and I knew he followed close behind us. Lena moaned as we materialized in the shadows of the room. Ryder sifted in and looked at one of the pictures of what the room was supposed to look like. All things considered, the damage to the bedrooms wasn’t bad, apart from the smoky smell. Ryder waved a hand and new paint brightened the walls. He checked out each piece of furniture, each knickknack or picture and fresh replacements would take the place of the smoke damaged items. He flipped open the jewelry box on the dresser and seemed satisfied with his work.

  I sat on the newly glamoured bed and held her sleeping form in my arms tightly. I would have Layton retrieve Kendra’s and her mother’s things from my house and bring them here as soon as possible.

  “You’re sure you want to make her forget you?” Ryder asked carefully, his eyes holding no malice or intent to use her against me as many would. Most looked for ways to get to me or looked for weakness; he didn’t.

  “You have another fucking plan you been holding out on?” I snapped, hating that I had no options other than what I was about to do. When he didn’t offer one, I shook my head. “Letting her go is a kindness, she’s deserves someone who isn’t steeped in the blood of the dead. She deserves someone who can touch her without the blood of her ancestors on their hands. That’s not me. I have to let her go, because it’s the one thing I can control right now, and it’s the only way to protect her.”

  “As you wish,” he said, and whispered the words to release her from her sleep induced state.

  Once we were alone in the room, I held her to me inhaling the sweet flowery scent of the homemade shampoo as I kissed the top of her head. I hated the twisting knots in my stomach at the idea of letting her go, but I’d spoken true. She deserved someone better, someone who could give her what she deserved in life. That person wasn’t me. I considered leaving her some of the memories we’d had, but she would poke at them and the false memories would unravel faster than they usually did with the stronger witches. I couldn’t allow that. Magdalena was smart; it had to be everything that I wiped away or nothing at all. She was too smart, too powerful and I needed time to find Katarina and get Kendra back from Lucifer. If she was still alive, which, I doubted after seeing the destruction at the abbey.

  “I wish I had another choice, little witch,” I whispered as I kissed her forehead and rested mine against hers. “It’s the only way to keep you safe, and be able to watch over you and protect you,” I explained to her sleeping mind, hoping she retained the memory of those words when she finally gained them back. “Wake up, Lena,” I encouraged watching as her lashes fluttered as she began to stir from her slumber. “Wake up,” I growled; knowing if I waited another minute, I’d lose what little willpower I had to follow through with my plan. I wasn’t a good person, this shit was beyond me. I could easily subdue her, and keep her, but she’d been right when she’d told me she was a butterfly. I knew butterflies weren’t meant to be captured. They slowly withered in captivity and died. Lena reminded me of a Palos Verdes Blue butterfly, beautiful and elusive. Rare among her own fucking species, she was one of a kind, and she deserved to be set free.

  “Lucian,” she whispered through a strained voice from screaming at the terror she’d faced earlier. Her eyes snapped open as her lungs filled with a silent scream as the horror rushed back to the fore.

  “Nothing happened today, you’re fine, Lena. Everything is going to be just fine…It’s all going to be okay,” I amended. I sure as fuck didn’t want her remembering that word. “Kendra is safe.” The lie stuck in my craw, and I swallowed it hard. Kendra was taken because Helen let Lucifer into the abbey. It was a fuck up that Lena had nothing to do with, however, she would find a way to blame herself for it, for goading Helen into making the proverbial deal with the devil to accomplish her goals and Lena didn’t need that shit on her, no one did. She deserved to be free from the burden until the time she remembered who she was. I held a small hope that if I had Kendra back by the time she regained her memories, she might forgive me.

  I pushed more power into the compulsion and each lie I forced on her. Her eyes rose to mine and she shook her head, sending her beautiful hair cascading across the silk sheets. Her lips curved into a soft smile as she held my stare, as if she’d been momentarily distracted by the sight of them. It lasted no more than a moment before she frowned and looked at me, and noted the look of sadness in my eyes. I wanted to pull her to me. Undress her sexy as fuck curves and take her one last time, but I didn’t have time and I knew she was still sore from the last bouts of sex we’d indulged in. I couldn’t get enough of her, as if she’d put a spell on me. I leaned down and kissed her gently, enjoying the throaty moan that slipped from between her lips as ours connected. I felt my heart thudding in my chest and forced myself to pull away from her.

  “You don’t know me, we haven’t met yet,” I whispered and looked at her. Her nose crinkled and she frowned as if she thought I’d gone crazy. She sat up slowly, shaking her head as her hands slowly moved beneath the shirt I wore. I pulled her hands away punishingly and pushed her flat onto the bed where I could loom over her, and looked into her beautiful eyes. “You don’t know me; you never left Haven Crest after Joshua’s funeral. You remained here and help run the family business with your mother. You remember everything you learned in college but you will assume it was taught at the local school, but you never attended college. You’ve been here the entire time, Kendra,” I continued, even as my words turned sour on my tongue.

  “I’m Lena.” She hiccupped a sob as her eyes regained focus as she fought the compulsion. “Don’t do this to, please, Lucian, don’t do this. You can’t, don’t take this from me,” she begged as tears slipped from her eyes and she pleaded to remain herself. She was fully awake now, her mind fighting to retain her memories.

  “You’re not, Lena left town. You’re Kendra,” I growled back, forcing my power into the words which caused her to suck in air as it ricocheted around her mind.

  “I’m Kendra,” she cried, her pain filled eyes lost focus and she stopped fighting against me, even as her hands fisted my shirt as if she was trying to hold on to me. “Lucian,” she whispered as her eyes regained focus as she fought me. “Stop this; I’m strong enough to make it. I promise. Don’t do this to me,” she pleaded, her beautiful eyes filled with fire as she struggled to remain Lena, even though fighting it was hopeless. “Don’t make me disappear.”

  “You’re Kendra, and you’ve had no contact with Magdalena in years. She failed to show up for the Awakening and is lost to you. As far as you know, she’s never coming home, don’t look
for her. She severed the bond, it’s destroyed. The more you looked for her through the bond, the further she would run from you, so you don’t even bother trying any more. You’re the granddaughter of the high priestess now, you’re happy. Very happy,” I continued even as my throat constricted and tightened with each lie I fed her subconscious.

  “I’m happy,” she repeated.

  “You’ll be safe now,” I whispered as I kissed her lips and pulled away.

  “Lucian,” Spyder said quietly from the doorway. When I failed to speak, he continued. “The manor house is finished; the accident has been staged and the rest of the abbey has been taken care of. No one will be able to identify what happened there today as anything but a boiler explosion and the local morgue has the burned remains of those who died.” A sly smirk played at the corners of his mouth. “I also took the liberty of removing the records of Todd’s death and his body will probably be found in the near future. I made it look like he was the victim of a car crash rather than a demon possession. The rest of the coven who survived have been settled back in their homes; the out of town harvest guests are bunked at the hotel, and their memories have been prepped to be wiped of today’s events along with the other things you asked for. Once we cast the spell, their memories will be cleared and the new ones will be set in their minds.”

  “Good, now get the fuck out,” I snapped, ignoring the tremble in my hands as I itched to touch her, to kiss her and hold my body against her softness. I was fucking pathetic, and she was a weakness I couldn’t afford. So why the fuck was it killing me to let her go?