Playing With Monsters

by Amelia Hutchins

  “I want you,” she whispered seductively, and I blinked at her words. Blue fire lit in her eyes as she looked at me. My Lena was in there, fighting to overcome the compulsion, and greedy for the exact same thing I wanted: Us.

  “No, you don’t, Kendra,” I whispered after I’d cleared my throat and swallowed the answer she’d wanted. The one I’d wanted to give her in return. “You are Kendra, Lena is gone!” I forced everything into it and watched her mind gave in.

  She sucked in air and gasped to bring it into her lungs as she shook her head violently. Tears slipped from her eyes and I kissed them away, unable to stop myself. Her hands clung to me, even as she continued to gasp for air.

  I ran my hands over her tattoos, removing them as I went along. Kendra didn’t have tattoos, so this would complete Lena’s camouflage. It was also my last ‘fuck you,’ to the tattoo artist who’d carelessly taken what rightfully should have been mine. I picked up her foot and slowly traced a rune into her sole, one that would make her safe from possession; this one would be stronger than the devil’s trap that she used to have on her pubic bone. Her transformation to Kendra was too easy. It shouldn’t have been. I only had to stop by the cottage, collect her belongings and the cat, and it would be finished. I gently placed her foot on the bed and swallowed hard.

  “I’ll miss you, my sweet witch,” I whispered before I pushed the rest of the fabricated memories in to her mind, and buried the ones we made together behind a steel wall, along with who she really was. I watched as Lena disappeared from me, her eyes lost focus and she succumbed to the compulsion and power within my words. “You’ll probably hate me when you remember what I have done tonight. Kendra,” I fucking choked on her new name, it was so fucking wrong. Kendra was weak, Lena was strong. They were so different from each other, and I fucking hated that I was forcing Lena to disappear, but I knew I had to do it to keep her safe.

  Lucifer thinks he stole Lena; as long as he believed that, he would leave the real one alone. “You can breathe now, sweet girl. The pain from Joshua’s death is lessened, it will hurt, but you won’t feel the pain anymore. You’re no longer weighted down by grief. You’re free my butterfly. You can fly, now,” I whispered and watched as the light faded from her eyes. “Sleep. When you wake up everything will be okay. You’ll be okay, Kendra. You’ll have a life again, the one you should have had before it was taken away from you by the pain you were forced to live through.”

  “Everything is ready,” Ryder said from the doorway, his eyes took in Lena’s ashen color and tear streaked face. “If she’s as stubborn as Synthia, she’ll come after you when she regains her memories.”

  “I know,” my reply was clipped, I was unwilling to release her hands from where she clutched my shirt, and I held her to me. “She’ll hate me for hiding what happened to her sister, but she’d pay with her life if she goes after Lucifer and that’s something I am not willing to allow.”

  “Their house is repaired, and I was going to take care of the damage you and Lena did to yours, however, it looks like your people beat me to it.” He fought a smile that twitched in the corners of his mouth, as he knew full well how the damage to the house happened. “I was advised by Spyder to move out most of the personal items, which are now stored in some hidden rooms that he showed me. If the house is observed from the outside, it will appear newly renovated with minimal items inside. He said you were undecided on whether you wanted to be so close to her. Memories and all,” he stated.

  “Thank you,” I mumbled, waiting for him to announce what the price would be for all of this help. No one ever gave without taking in my world, not even me. When he failed to name his price, I asked. “Name it.”

  “Name what?” he countered as he crossed his arms and leaned against the door, watching me.

  “Your price, the favor, don’t fucking play with me,” I snapped, my tone overly harsh as his toying with me wore down the last of my patience.

  “Nothing,” he said as he looked from me to Lena. “You’ve paid enough today, Lucian. You let her go, which was surprisingly unlike you. If Synthia is my weakness, Lena is yours. Don’t let your enemies see it, because they will use it against you. Witches have a way of burrowing in and getting underneath our skin. We’re alike in this, I won’t ask shit from you, because I know exactly what it is going to cost you to stay away from her.”

  My eyes moved from him to where Syn sifted in, feeling his discomfort. “Alden is waiting to perform the spell that will transfer the high priestess’s powers to Sarah. However, he does have one condition.”

  I snorted, and looked at her.

  “Oh he does, does he?” Ryder asked before I could, his brow lifted in silent challenge.

  “He’d like to remain here. He wants to know more about them. He can’t do that if they think he’s from the Guild. They’d never allow him to get close to them. It will however allow us to have eyes on the inside, as long as we feed them a memory of him being a friend to the coven. He can also bypass the wards in the lower level of the abbey. They have rooms that are heavily warded, stronger than any I’ve ever encountered to date. They buzz when Adam and I tried to get close, but they don’t sense Alden as a threat, he’s able to move beyond the wards without them sensing him. I’m pretty sure if I would have tried to push past them, they would have brought the abbey down on our heads. Pretty sure it’s a failsafe, kinda like the ones we had inside the Guild.”

  “It sounds like your uncle will have quite a bit of exploring to do,” I agreed.

  “Your guy Layton used compulsion on some of the witches to see if they knew what was down there, they didn’t know anything. Most said they didn’t even know there was anything beneath the abbey,” Synthia said.

  “No, they probably wouldn’t,” I admitted. “Perhaps only Tabitha and some of the elders knew what was down there.” I scratched my head in frustration and tried to stop my mind from gravitating towards thoughts of Lena. I needed to get back on track, back to what I came here to do. Hunting down Katarina. Unless she was with Lucifer, which considering how the earth quaked just a little while ago could be a very real possibility. One thing I knew about Katarina, she would do anything to remain in the game long enough to try and get to me; it was something I always counted on.

  “Is she going to be okay?” Synthia asked, nodding at Lena.

  “She’s a fighter; she’ll be hell on sexy little heels when she regains her memories though. In the end, she’ll understand, but I am fairly certain she’ll still hate me for not allowing her to have a say in hers or Kendra’s immediate future. But yes, she’ll be okay. I’ve done everything I can to make sure she will be,” I muttered as I stepped away from the bed and away from the little witch who had slipped beneath my skin.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Fate whispers to the warrior, “You cannot withstand the storm.” The warrior whispers back, “I am the storm.” -Anonymous author

  ~Magdalena...Kendra

  One Month After Mind Wipe

  “Kendra? We’ll be late,” my mother called up the stairs as I stared at my reflection. “Everything alright?” she continued.

  No, nothing was all right. Everything was too right. I felt like an alien had taken my place. I groaned as I pulled on a dress, hating that it was so tight. My boobs were out of control, and nothing in the closet or drawers fit me correctly. They were all uncomfortable and even though the styles were what I always wore, I just didn’t feel like myself in them anymore.

  “I’m coming!” I called down as I raced into Lena’s old room, yanked open the closet door and pulled out a white silk dress that had a rainbow of butterflies in every color that fluttered from the hemline, up to the waist. I held it up to my chin in front of her stand up mirror, and decided it would probably work. I stripped off the too tight dress I was wearing and shimmied into the other, as I grabbed shoes and moved towar
ds the stairs. The dress wasn’t tight, it fit perfectly. Right along with the small heels I’d pilfered, and a matching white wrap that I slipped around my shoulders as I raced down stairs.

  “There you are, I was beginning to think you’d changed your mind,” mom said, her eyes noting the dress. “Is that new? I haven’t seen you wear it before.”

  “Sure,” I lied, not wanting to see her be sad when I said Lena’s name. Lena hadn’t even bothered to let us know she was alive; why should we continue to be upset about her being gone? Bitch was probably out having a life while I was trapped in this town with a mother who had been sad most days, because one child had been killed in a war, while another chose to be gone from her life.

  I frowned as I thought on it for a moment as she hadn’t been as sad, since Alden started coming around. The first time he showed up, he quietly explained that he felt I was stronger than the rest of the newly awakened witches and therefore it was really important that I learned to control my powers as quickly as possible. He had been giving me lessons in control every day and since he’d been coming around, I had seen what had been going on between my mom and him.

  “You look beautiful, Kendra,” she said and my brain itched, but I ignored it. Lots of things had been itching my brain for weeks now and so far, I had done my best to ignore it. Some days were worse than others.

  “I still can’t believe they found him down a ravine,” I said, switching subjects to Todd’s death which had come as a shock so soon after we’d lost so many to the accident up at the abbey a few weeks ago.

  “His poor mom,” she said softly, knowing exactly what Todd’s own mother was going through. She picked at a stray strand of hair that had taken up residence on her sweater and looked at me oddly. “You didn’t put on make-up.”

  “I put on mascara,” I said offhandedly. “Besides, it’s a funeral, not a party.”

  “It’s just so unlike you,” she replied and shrugged. “Oh well, grandma’s waiting in the car. She’s dead set on driving us.”

  “And you don’t like the idea because you made more secret plans with Alden?” I teased. I knew they’d been hanging out together and trying to hide what they were doing, and I was surprisingly okay with it. He seemed pretty nice, respected my mom, not to mention, their little sneaking around gave me time to do other things without her constantly in my space.

  “Kendra, you knew?” she whispered as she covered her mouth with her hand.

  “Duh, Mom,” I laughed. “It’s nice to see you putting yourself out there again. With dad being gone, and everything going on, it’s nice to see you smiling again.”

  “There’s nothing romantic going on, we’re just friends,” she said primly. Lordy she was a bad liar and I smiled.

  “If it turns romantic, I’m okay with it,” I admitted.

  “You want to watch Breakfast at Tiffany’s with me tonight?” she asked and I cringed.

  “No, not especially,” I laughed. “I have plans tonight with Kat and Dex, and I overheard you making plans too, so go out and have fun. I’ll be okay.”

  “It’s nice to have someone my own age to talk to,” she blushed and I felt a small tug of jealousy. She was my mother, and even though I hated the idea of her dating again considering her history with my father, I wanted her to be as happy as I was.

  “I’m glad you’re happy,” I said as we walked down the drive towards the car and my eyes drifted on their own to the old mansion that was on the property adjoining ours. “That thing is creepy,” I whispered, but my body reacted differently. I’d spent over an hour staring at that damn place last night, which seemed to make my brain itch even more that it already was.

  “It doesn’t bother you? Your dad…” I shook my head.

  “Dad is an asshole, he left us and he certainly doesn’t deserve us,” I snapped. “He left us when shit got hard, and for some reason, I just don’t see Alden doing the same thing. A car horn blared from the end of the driveway where my grandmother waited and I cringed. “That power has gone to that lady’s head, I swear it,” I whispered as mom covered a laugh with her hand.

  “We’re dallying and it’s rude,” she mused as we headed for the car. Once we were seated and belted, I sat in the back and listened as mom and grandma argued about which route was faster to get the coven’s cemetery, and other coven business that I drowned out as my mind replayed the dream of the indigo eyes that haunted me.

  When we finally arrived at the cemetery, I realized I had forgotten the flowers in the car and signaled to my mother that I was going back to grab them as she reached out and hugged Todd’s mother. I felt bad for his mom, but the asshole had cheated on Lena, which had driven her away. It sucked that he was dead, but I couldn’t find it in myself to forgive him for pushing her away from us.

  I rounded the corner of a van and hit a brick wall, literally. I fumbled to catch my balance as I started to fall to the ground, only to be caught mid-air and pulled upright. I started to growl, but the moment my eyes held his, I lost all coherent thought. He stared back at me, as if he was searching for something to say, and failing.

  “I…uh…wow,” I mumbled and stepped away from him. His touch set me ablaze, and I had to get distance from him to be able to speak. His eyes took in the dress and he looked taken back.

  “Butterflies,” he whispered as he eyes lifted from the dress to my face.

  “Got something against butterflies?” I asked tartly, noting that I’d gone on the defense pretty quickly. The itching in my brain had intensified to the point of being painful and I noticed his posture stiffened as he watched me.

  “Not at all,” he said carefully. “I find them most exquisite when they take flight.”

  “Indeed,” I said as I brought my hand up to touch my face. What the hell did he have in his shirt, a freaking steel sheet? “You should really watch where you’re going,” I mumbled, noting nothing was bleeding or broken.

  “The same could be said about you,” he countered.

  “This funeral is invite only,” I said evasively. I had a good idea who he was, even though I hadn’t seen him before. Everyone in the coven and in town couldn’t shut up about him.

  “I was invited by the high priestess.”

  “You must be Lucian, then,” I replied as I narrowed my eyes on him. I didn’t like him. He had been throwing an awful lot of money around, as if he thought we could be bought. We couldn’t.

  “Indeed,” he answered smoothly as he smiled. “You must be Kendra,” he spit my name out like it was a curse.

  “In the flesh,” I replied with a cocky smile. “You can go, now,” I added, as I moved to the side to allow him to pass, as if I could stop him if I wanted to.

  “You’re dismissing me?” he asked in surprise.

  “I am,” I winked and moved towards the car.

  “I don’t get dismissed, I do the dismissing.”

  “Really? Because I’m pretty sure you just got dismissed, by me,” I replied with a wide grin, enjoying his annoyance over being dismissed by a little girl, one who wasn’t impressed with his fat bank account, his good looks or his fancy suit. He was really delicious, and beyond yummy though.

  His eyes challenged me, even as he walked me backwards towards the empty parking lot. I allowed it, but only because I needed to know more about it him to be able to judge if he was going to be trouble.

  “Scared?” he asked.

  “Excited,” I quipped.

  “You should run,” he growled from deep in his chest.

  “Not a chance, I don’t run,” I countered even as I felt my backside hit the bumper of a sleek car. I had no idea he was this hot, nor did I care. He was an outsider, one the elders had chosen to let in. They were too trusting, and I wasn’t. He’d come here for a reason, one I intended to get out of him.

  “You’re playing wit
h fire,” he warned.

  “Maybe I like the burn,” I said, and his eyes grew hooded.

  “You have no idea how hot it can get, little girl,” he growled as he stepped even closer.

  “No, I don’t,” I replied honestly as I wetted my lips and smiled. “But, I’m not afraid to find out,” I continued, knowing he was getting both angry and turned on by our encounter. I wasn’t sure why I was goading him. Men like that were way too much trouble and usually only looking for a quick thrill and spill. Not that that was a bad thing, but men like him probably had a fleet of women hanging on them, or waiting in line for a turn with him. No thanks; I didn’t stand in lines for any male.

  “Is that so?” he asked as his eyes moved to where my tongue had jutted out to wet my lips. “Consider yourself warned.” He boxed me in, and before I could think better of it, he smiled coldly. “Do you like to play games?” he asked.

  “I like to win,” I replied easily as I refused to break eye contact with him. Somehow, it felt important to keep my eyes on his, as if I failed to do so, I’d lose this battle of wills.

  “You won’t win against me; no one ever does. I have no mercy,” he continued.

  “Do I look like I need mercy?” I countered, allowing the air around us to ruffle the leaves along with my hair, in a small display of my power.

  “You look like you need to be taught some manners,” he replied.

  “And you think to teach me? Don’t think so. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have flowers to retrieve and my respects to pay to Todd’s mother. I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other soon enough, Blackstone. I look forward to it.”

  “Count on it, witch,” he replied tightly as he moved away from the car, straightening his jacket and watching me as I tried not to run to my grandmother’s car to retrieve the wilted roses.