Touched by Fire (Demons of New Chicago #1) - Kel Carpenter Page 0,2
when magic became known in the world had its perks. Largely that I had the time to study them, because in a world where half the people had magic and weren’t afraid to use it—being human was a major disadvantage.
So I embraced the one universal truth I knew: knowledge is power.
And because of that, I knew a single shot between the eyes would either kill or disable everyone in this bar. The best part? They usually woke up with jumbled memories from their brain healing and didn’t remember me shooting them.
The click of my guns trying to fire and failing to release jarred me back to the moment.
“Shit,” I cursed under my breath.
The time it took me to pull a magazine from my jacket cost me. I exhaled harshly as some vampire bitch came flying at me with fangs snapping.
My back hit the concrete floor behind me as she straddled my body. Her pale, sallow cheeks and violet eyes told me she hadn’t fed recently enough. She pinned me as I focused on releasing the empty magazine and shoving the new clip in it. Just as it clicked, she loomed only inches from my face.
“You’re a feisty one,” she purred. “I’m going to enjoy this.”
Her jaws stretched wide as her eyes zeroed in on my neck. The thirst had her in its grips, and I used that to my benefit, letting her lunge for a bite—only to find herself with a mouthful of gunmetal.
I shoved the barrel deep enough down her throat that she gagged. Her fangs bit into the side of my hand, and shock permeated her features before her eyes rolled back in her head. Disgust filled me as I pulled the trigger and the backside of her skull exploded.
The body slumped over me, and I twisted, flinging it away. One of her fangs stuck in my hand and I picked it out, flicking it behind my shoulder as I got to my feet.
The bar was silent, everyone in it dead or gone.
Just the way I liked it.
I whistled to myself as I went to grab Trenton.
He was just starting to stir as I dragged him from under the table.
Perfect timing.
2
“Wh—what’s going on?” Trenton asked, jerking awake. I was surprised it took him so long to come to, in all honesty. “Who are you?” he demanded next, jerking at the duct tape I’d used to bind his hands together in front of him. I even taped the fingers together so that he couldn’t use them. Most witches couldn’t, but it never hurt to be careful.
“Doesn’t matter,” I said, putting both my hands on the table in front of me. In one of them, I held my gun loosely pointed in his direction. He pulled at the bonds again, quickly realizing I hadn’t bothered with his mouth or feet. Time was of the essence at the moment, and I’d done a fast job and then put him in the booth across from me. “I’ll have you know that if you try to curse me or use magic, I’ll put a bullet in your brain faster than you can complete that spell. Your friends tried to save you thinking my shot wasn’t that good.” I motioned to the dead supes around the bar. He took one look and swallowed hard. “They’re now dead, and the person who hired me doesn’t care if that’s the way I bring you in. So, let’s have a little chat, then we’ll be on our way, and you won’t have to see me ever again.”
He looked back and forth between me and the dead supernaturals twice before nodding.
“Can I ask who hired—”
“Nope,” I interrupted. “You’ll find out soon enough, anyway.” I smiled, and it was all for my own benefit. Once, I might have felt pity about my actions. That day was almost a decade ago, though, and a lot had happened since then. “Now, tell me what you know about magical comas.”
He blinked twice, clearly not expecting that line of questioning.
“Magical comas?” he repeated. I nodded. “Uh, well, a spell has to be cast to be put in one . . .” he started, and I rolled my eyes.
“Yeah, I got that part, Florida State.”
“My name is Trenton.”
“I’m aware.”
We stared at each other for a second before he continued. “There’s a number of ways to put someone in a coma using magic. You can be direct and put them in a coma, you can put them in an extended sleep for as long as