Touched by Fire (Demons of New Chicago #1) - Kel Carpenter Page 0,60
in a shower of ash and dust.
22
If I hadn’t been dealing with all flavors of supes most of my life, my jaw might have dropped open. I knew she was weird and had strange magic, but I wasn’t expecting that.
Judging by the slack grip around my waist and the silent arena—neither was anyone else.
Except Nathalie.
She held her chin high amid the plume of dust that was all that remained of Dara.
“Well, well, well,” Lucifer murmured. He stood up, and I slid from his lap, disregarded at least for the moment. “What have we here?”
Nathalie didn’t cower under his stare. She straightened her spine and fisted her hands at her sides.
“I asked you a question,” Lucifer said, speaking louder for her less advanced senses. The amusement dropping from his tone. “What are you?”
“A witch,” she said, keeping her voice steady. She was thirty feet away, and yet I heard her as clearly as if she were next to me. I could only assume Lucifer did as well. “A gray witch.”
He sneered coldly, disbelieving. “Try again,” he said, his eyes glowing.
Nathalie grit her teeth, but it only took a second for the truth to force its way past her lips. “I don’t know.”
Lucifer frowned. That wasn’t the answer he was suspecting.
“Come here,” he commanded.
Nathalie’s feet moved robotically as she crossed the sandy pit and came to stop at the bottom of the stairs. While she was strong, I could see my own panic mirrored in her face.
“Give me your wrist.”
Nathalie lifted her hand. Her fingers shook, whether from trying to fight the compulsion or from fear, I wasn’t sure.
Lucifer grabbed it, pulling it to his face. He inhaled deeply.
His fangs extended.
His eyes glowed brighter than before.
Then he bit her. Nathalie shuddered in revulsion as he took a single, long pull and then released her wrist. Blood smudged his mouth and her skin. She pulled her arm back to her chest, glaring defiantly at him. Lucifer tilted his head back, closing his eyes. A smile formed at the corner of his mouth. A gesture I was quickly learning to mean that bad things were coming.
“I’d heard rumors,” he said after a moment. “But I hadn’t thought they were true. All these years . . .” He opened his eyes, and I saw madness there. “Looks like it’s your lucky day, witch. You’re too valuable to sell.” I noticed the crowd around us shifting restlessly in the stands. I wondered how many of them heard what Lucifer said. That’s how many people we’d have after us if we got out of here.
Something told me that bastard knew what he was doing.
“What am I?” Nathalie asked, seemingly unable to help herself.
Lucifer snorted. “I think I’ll keep that to myself,” he said. “Let you wonder why the Lord of the Underworld finds you worth keeping.”
I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes. His megalomaniac personality was more grating than most of these alpha assholes. Must be because he’s a demon. They were the worst of the worst.
“Continue the fights,” Lucifer said lazily. “Me and my . . . toys have conditioning to do.”
My stomach turned at what being called a toy implied.
Lucifer turned on his heel, saying over his shoulder, “Come with me.”
Both Nathalie and I shared a look, and then we followed.
Lucifer walked with his back to us. The fluorescent lights of the hallways were a welcome reprieve from the high-intensity spotlights of the arena.
I mouthed, are you okay?
She nodded then mouthed back, you? The cautious glance she shot from me to Lucifer told me where her mind had gone.
I’m fine, I said.
She lifted an eyebrow. Are you?
It was an odd thing for her to ask me when I should be the one asking her. Nathalie didn’t look the sort to kill on a whim and think little of it. Then again, the world had changed from what it had been twenty years ago. It was dog-eat-dog, and in order to survive, sometimes you had to do bad things.
Before I could respond or think on it anymore, Lucifer said, “Anders, find my pussy cats. Let them know I have a job for them.”
“Yes, sir,” Anders said from several feet away. I leaned to the side to look around for Lucifer, who had stopped in front of a door.
I wrinkled my nose. “Pussy cats?” I said, incredulous to hear a grown man speak like that, let alone a feared demon king.
The door opened. Lucifer motioned for us to enter. “You’ll see,” he purred.