Touched by Fire (Demons of New Chicago #1) - Kel Carpenter Page 0,39
in the car,” I said, extending a hand and motioning to the duffel bag she had hanging at her side. Nathalie frowned, but lifted the strap over one shoulder and extended it.
I walked around to the driver’s side and opened the back door, tossing the bag in the seat. I rifled through it, grabbing the set of keys, then closed it up and slammed the back door shut behind me. Nathalie was already in the passenger seat when I climbed in the front. She said nothing as I stuck the keys in the ignition and the engine turned over. After two tries, it spluttered to life. I breathed a tight sigh of relief and backed out of the spot.
It had been a while since I’d driven. My understanding of the controls was amateur at best, given I was never really well acquainted with it. My parents had said that kids would learn to drive at sixteen and they often have their own cars.
When I was sixteen, my parents were murdered, and the world had already gone to shit. This was their car, and it was really pure dumb luck that it was still running.
I pulled up to the gate of the parking garage. It had stopped working years ago when the rioting got so bad the residents were concerned they’d bring the building down. Someone smashed the receiver box, and since then, the only way to open it was manually.
I put the car in park. “I need you to get out and open the gate.”
“I’d ask if you’re going to drive off without me, but I suspect you’d probably give me the same answer either way.”
My lips twitched. A grin threatening to break through.
Nathalie got out of the car and went to hoist the gate up. It took her the better part of a minute to even lift it high enough the car could get underneath. I slowly rolled onto the street and stopped before turning.
She slipped out from under the gate.
The heavy metal hit the pavement with a loud crack.
Heads turned, and I shot them a cool look as I waited the ten seconds for her to run back to the passenger side and hop in. The door wasn’t even closed before I started driving.
Only when a few minutes had passed—and I still didn’t see any sign of someone following us—did I relax enough to speak. “I’m not sure whether or not I’m a hypocrite. I hate magic, but because of the world we live in, sometimes I’m forced to use it—and I hate that too. But when the choice is between dying or using it, I’ll choose to live.”
I sensed Nathalie’s eyes watching me, but I kept my own on the road. It was hard enough to drive even when I was paying full attention.
“Why do you hate it?” she asked.
I couldn’t help looking in the rearview mirror at the unconscious girl.
She was a woman now, but in my mind, she’d always be a girl.
“All magic has a price, and some of us don’t want to pay it,” I said. It was the same thing I’d told Anders a week ago.
“All that really means is you paid too much,” Nathalie replied, leaning against the passenger window. “What’s her name?”
“What?”
“The girl in the back,” she said, motioning behind us.
I pressed my lips together.
“Seriously? You can be exasperating sometimes,” she said, shaking her head.
“I could still shoot you,” I reminded her. She snorted, and I frowned.
“We both know you won’t. I gave you the chance, and you didn’t take it. You’re stuck with me,” she said. I wrinkled my nose at that, flipping the turn signal on to get on the highway.
“Like fungus,” I muttered.
Nathalie snorted again, running her hand over her mouth to cover her grin.
“I think you like me.”
“You can be useful,” I said. Her expression turned sour.
“Come on. Is it really that hard to admit?” she said, jesting. “Piper Fallon, witch hunter extraordinaire, likes a witch?”
Whatever traces of a grin I might have been fighting faded as I murmured, “Yes.”
Nathalie leaned back, crossing her arms. “Why?” she asked, also turning serious. She didn’t seem offended by my small truth, just curious.
“Because . . .” I breathed. “Witches took everything from me.”
15
Nathalie blinked. Her lips parted. I focused on the road, a grim set to my jaw.
“When you say everything—”
“I mean everything,” I cut in, my voice hard. She wrinkled her nose and seemed to think on that while I drove.