Touched by Fire (Demons of New Chicago #1) - Kel Carpenter Page 0,51

white. An elevator at the back. A single hook hung from the ceiling, one that I suspected Ronny had used to beat the shit out of people before they went wherever came next—probably through the elevator.

“I’m surprised,” Anders said, motioning to the table. “I was so sure you’d never let anyone bring you in alive.”

“Sorry to disappoint,” I spat. Anders snapped his fingers and the elevator doors opened. Two men stepped out, both of them larger than the alpha escorting me.

“Grab her,” he sighed. They moved faster than any humans, and before I could turn my gun on him, I was wrenched away from Nathalie and my arms pulled taut behind my back. One held me up, hand fisted in my hair. The other disarmed me, then patted me down, thankfully in a clinical manner instead of trying to cop a feel.

While they were busy, Anders invited Nathalie and the alpha douche to take a seat across at the table. On it, a single file sat next to an ashtray. Anders pulled out a cigarette and snapped his fingers again, this time with the other hand. A tiny spark lit. He touched the end of the cigarette to it. Smoke wafted off as he took a long drag before sitting down. He kicked his leg out, and I saw it had a cast on it. It was the same foot I’d shot.

“You two must be quite the team to catch this one and bring her in alive. She was our best hunter for years,” Anders said, not touching the file. Dark circles lined his eyes. He looked tired. I imagine Lucifer had him here until someone brought me in.

“We’re not a team,” Nathalie said. “He just tried to steal my bounty.”

“Oh?” Anders said. The guy patting me down fished my spare knife out of my boot and then gave the other one a grunt I had to assume meant I was all clear.

“She shot me a week ago. I had a bone to pick, but someone beat me to it.” The alpha shrugged, not at all reproachful.

“Tell me, how’d you do it? I’ve had the rare pleasure of seeing her in action, and I gotta say, you don’t look like you have much in you.” He appraised her, and not in a creepy way, but like he was looking at another potential hunter.

“A good magician never reveals their secrets,” Nathalie said with a grin and a wiggle of her fingers. A wind that didn’t belong rustled the file, scattering some of the papers about.

“Fair enough,” Anders said and shrugged. “I figured it must be quite the story how someone she’d kidnapped a week ago was now turning her in.” He flicked the end of his cigarette, and ash dropped to the tray.

Nathalie’s eyes widened almost imperceptibly. Anders’ expression didn’t change, and I cursed internally. He knew. I don’t know how, but he did.

Anders always knew. There was a reason he’d had his job as long as he did, and it sure as shit wasn’t because he was human.

“I gained her trust,” Nathalie said, backtracking. “I played the part of hostage and then convinced her I wanted to team up. Then I waited until her guard was down.”

“Hmm,” Anders hummed. “Bounty wasn’t on her when she kidnapped you.”

“No, it wasn’t,” Nathalie agreed. “But by the time I wasn’t a hostage anymore, it was. I decided to bide my time and wait for an opportunity.”

Anders flicked his cigarette again. His expression hadn’t changed once.

The elevator dinged, though no one had pressed the button.

I looked down at the paper in front of me right then. I’d assumed it had been on me. I was the target, after all.

Or so I thought.

The picture that stared back at me was Nathalie.

“Unfortunately for you, Ms. Le Fay, you’re just as guilty. Piper Fallon might have been hired to kill you and your coven, but you summoned the demon to begin with.”

The doors opened, and though I’d never seen him in my life, I knew without a shadow of doubt that the man I was staring at was the devil himself.

Lucifer was here.

18

He smiled with the light of a thousand suns.

The Morningstar, they called him.

I could see it. His white blond hair was worn short and spiky in a modern fashion, but there was no mistaking the glow that came from it. His golden eyes swirled with mercurial delight. A cruel grin crossed his perfect lips. Like Ronan, he dressed in a fine designer suit. Unlike him,