Touched by Fire (Demons of New Chicago #1) - Kel Carpenter Page 0,58
is about to begin.” I couldn’t place the voice beyond it being male, and that told me very little about who they were.
Lucifer sighed. “Very well, we’ll be down in a moment.”
The door closed once more. Lucifer’s tongue traced the bottom of his teeth, as if he considered going for another taste before the fight. His eyes twinkled with cruel amusement as he stood up, dragging me with him by his hold on my hair.
“Come along,” he said, dropping his hold to take my hand. I glowered at it. “Take my hand,” he bit out, his eyes glowing for a brief second. I gave in to the power and took his hand in mine, letting him pull me along.
Outside the room it was dark. The hallways were lit by fluorescent, unappealing light. They had concrete floors that were cracked in places. Reddish-brown stains pooled every few feet. I knew without asking it was from blood. How many people could bleed in a hallway and for what reason wasn’t that far beyond my imagination.
We continued onward, turning corners before heading down a set of stairs. The sounds of the crowd grew as we stepped out of an opening. To our left, a set of stairs went all the way down to the sandpit, not ten feet from us. To the right, a couple of larger steps ascended to a dais of sorts, where a gaudy throne sat.
Lucifer went for the throne, tugging me along behind him.
The crowd quieted.
Lucifer took his seat, releasing my hand. I stood there, crossing my arms over my chest. “I take it you expect me to stand here?”
“Of course not,” he said, still smiling. “Would you rather sit at my feet like a pet, or sit on my lap like a whore?”
My lips parted, but I bit back the snarky reply where I’d tell him to go fuck himself. That would only make my situation worse.
“Feet,” I said, after a suspended second.
“Very well,” he grinned. I turned to kneel, facing the pit, but two cold hands grabbed my waist. He pulled me back onto his lap. My ass positioned over his half-hard cock.
“You just said—”
“I asked which you’d prefer, I didn’t say you actually had a choice,” he hummed, wrapping a strong arm around my middle. He pulled me flush against his chest. His free hand knotted in my hair, pulling it hard. My neck craned back and to the side, manipulated at his whim. Cool lips brushed up the column of my throat.
“Begin,” he announced.
The crowd went wild now that the uncrowned King of New Chicago was here. In the sandpit, two doors on either side of it opened. On one side, a tall, lean woman strode forward. She wore black leather pants and knee-high boots. Her small breasts were strapped to her chest in some kind of black halter top. Golden tattoos lined her right arm, standing stark to her dark brown skin. She had long black hair pulled back into a sleek, high ponytail, showing off her pointed ears. Fae.
She lifted her chin to the crowd, and they began chanting, “Dara! Dara! Dara!”
On the other side of the ring, a much smaller, much dirtier, Nathalie stumbled out. Her brown hair was pulled back harshly in a bun. Her eyes were sharp, and her nose red from rubbing it. She was dressed the same as I’d last seen her, and overall, none the worse for wear.
“Have I mentioned how delicious you smell?” Lucifer said, tugging at my hair as if he could sense my attention waning. My eyes cut sideways and narrowed, though he couldn’t see them.
“A time or two,” I replied caustically. His length hardened beneath me.
The fae woman pulled a whip from her side and cracked it once.
Blue lightning arced down it.
Nathalie paled, but she stood straight and didn’t cower.
Lips grazed my skin, making me freeze. I couldn’t hold back the growl, and Lucifer purred, content as a fucking cat to play with his food.
“You don’t like my touch?” he asked.
“I’m not surprised you get off on forcing women. Only repulsive men that can’t get laid otherwise do that.”
Lucifer stilled. “You think I can’t find willing participants?”
I turned my chin to look at him, and the grip in my hair eased. “Is it willing if you order them to?”
His golden eyes bore into mine. Neither of us were watching the match below, and I had a feeling it would be short. I needed to find a way to stop it and get out.