Touched by Fire (Demons of New Chicago #1) - Kel Carpenter Page 0,30
snapped.
He stepped forward, closing the gap between us, and wrapped his bare hands around my flaming wrists.
“If I were lying, I’d be dead right now. Your fire would have killed me. You were counting on that when you jumped in that circle.” His face was only inches from mine. “But you weren’t planning for me to hear you. You expected a weaker demon—”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” I hissed, struggling against the rage and the fire and the passion as they threatened to consume us both.
“You shot me and ran. I did the only thing I could to find you. I tracked down every member of the Antares Coven and questioned them. I made Kenneth du Lac sing before I ended him. He told me who you are, and how you were made, and why you’re after him. I couldn’t allow him to walk free after that. Not after knowing what he’d done to you.”
I stood frozen, unable to even pull away. The silence between us was only broken by our breathing and the pulse of music from the club beyond.
“The magic you possess would kill anything on this earth, and in most other realms—except me. It hurts, but I don’t truly burn. Why is that, Piper?”
My lips pressed together.
No. This was not happening. It wasn’t possible.
I might not be fully human anymore, but I was human enough.
I refused to believe otherwise.
“I don’t know who you are, but if I can’t kill you, I’ll find a way to send you back to the hell you came from.”
He chuckled. “The only way I’m returning to where I came from is with you by my side.”
“Not happening.”
He leaned forward, closing the gap between us.
His lips brushed mine. I quivered, not from fear, but from fury.
His tongue darted out, sweeping the length of one of my fangs.
A growl rumbled through his chest, and I knew it was because of my blood.
I snapped my teeth at him, but he didn’t move away.
He let me.
Shock filtered through as my fangs punctured his bottom lip. Magical ichor welled. Flavor exploded on my tongue and I saw stars as my blood quickened. I trembled with desire.
His hands loosened around my wrists, then skated down my arms to my shoulders, around my back. The hard pads of his fingers pressed into the sides of my breasts as he ran his splayed hands down either side of my body, stopping only to grip my hips. He pulled me flush against him, and I reached up, twining my own fingers in his hair.
A low moan built in my throat as I sucked on his bottom lip.
He hissed in pleasure, and his hands tightened. Nails pricked my skin, the tiny dose of pain just enough to break the trance.
As quickly as hunger took me, an icy cold washed over.
I pulled away, and his heated gaze tracked the movement.
Crimson dotted his lips, his own fangs were prominent and on display.
The door to the club blew open. A gust of wind that didn’t belong shot straight for us. I slammed into the wall behind me while the demon was thrown across the room and into the pile of bodies on the bed.
“Come on!” The shout pulled at my attention.
Nathalie stood in the doorway with Barry at her side. The fae-witch hybrid had his eyes screwed shut in concentration as his hand movements directed the great wind, allowing me to pass.
With one look over my shoulder toward the figure slumped on the bed, I bolted out of the room. The door slammed shut behind me. Nathalie grabbed my hand, and before my head had righted itself, we were sprinting down the walkway toward the stairs.
“We’re never going to make it,” I panted as we ran as fast as our legs would carry us, pushing past the unsuspecting supes as they tried to get into the upper lounge.
“Not with that attitude, we won’t,” Nathalie quipped back.
What she didn’t know was the rage in me was dulling. My reserve of power had only just recuperated, and the crash would be on me again within the hour. Less than, if the buzzing in my head was anything to go by.
I had to be back at my apartment before that happened.
I released her hand, using my enhanced strength to push myself harder, faster. I shoved patrons out of the way, clearing a way toward the door.
Behind us, a roar blasted through the club, making every supernatural stand to attention.