Touched by Fire (Demons of New Chicago #1) - Kel Carpenter Page 0,72

Lucifer, or what remained of him, and stumbled forward into the cold, naked as the day I was born. There was no sound in this place outside of the roaring in my ears. My body and my mind detached from each other as I floated in an abyss of pain, even as I kept moving.

I half expected Nathalie to run from me, but she didn’t. God this girl, she ran to me. She put one arm around my waist and held up half my weight.

We didn’t say anything to each other. We just kept walking. Kept moving. It wasn’t even until I was at the end of the street that I turned and looked back.

A chill ran through me.

There was a spot in the street that was black and charred. Ashes drifted in the cold wind.

Lucifer wasn’t there, but not even for a second did I let myself think he was dead.

It was never that easy. The Devil might be injured, and me might have crawled back to the pit he came from, but he’d be back for his pound of flesh. I was sure of it.

And one way or another, I would be ready.

27

We stepped out of the Underworld. The first flakes of snowfall descended on us. I shivered, and Nathalie held me tighter.

The crash was coming. I felt it deep in my bones, my magic, my soul.

“I won’t make it to the car,” I said. My words tasted like ash on my tongue.

“I guess it’s a good thing we’re not going to the car,” she replied.

My teeth chattered, preventing me from protesting as Nathalie dragged me halfway down the street. She stopped in front of a thrift store and eased herself away from me. Without looking either way down the road, she brought her elbow up and smashed it into the window.

The glass fractured, breaking apart instantly.

I wrapped my arms around myself as she ripped off her skimpy shirt. She pinched the fabric on either side of the hem and pulled it apart, watching as it unraveled at the crease. She tossed the piece of fabric on the other side before carefully lifting her leg through the window, avoiding the sharp edges. A hiss of pain slipped from between her lips, but she gritted her teeth and kept going. It felt like the longest minutes of my life when she disappeared into the shadows. She came back wearing Crocs and some sort of long skirt over her previous thong-clad ass. In her arms, she carried a bundle of clothing.

“Put your hands on my shoulders,” she said, holding out a pair of sweats to help dress me like a child. Normally, I would have complained. I didn’t have it in me.

She shucked them up each of my legs and then rolled them at my waist. When she seemed convinced her handiwork would hold, she slipped soft house shoes over my feet. Then she lifted my arms and tugged an oversized hoodie down my top half.

I was still freezing, but at least I wouldn’t attract attention as she dragged me through the dark streets of New Chicago. Even in my depleted state, I could tell we were going in the opposite direction of the human neighborhoods where I’d parked the car.

“If you’re kidnapping me, I’ll shoot you,” I mumbled.

Nathalie snorted. “Even after all this you’re still talking about shooting me. Why am I not surprised?”

“Cause I’m an asshole,” I said, my words starting to slur. They were broken up with the chattering of teeth as my jaw spasmed from the cold.

“You’re not going to hear any disagreement from me,” she muttered. She didn’t see the faint grin I gave in the dark, but it was there. “It’s right around the corner. Can you hold on that long?”

“Can try,” I grunted.

“That’s all I’m asking for.”

Spots danced in my vision. I made it through a door, but everything was hazy. Images faded in and out. Colors danced. My legs shook, locking up every other step.

I fell. But for once, I wasn’t terrified of where I’d wake up.

Not that I would tell her that even if I could.

I was an asshole, after all.

I waited there, alone in the dark. For the first time, my memories didn’t assault me. Perhaps that’s because I’d finally acknowledged them and their existence. Or perhaps, I was just batshit.

They both seemed probable.

It wasn’t long before the presence appeared at my back. I didn’t see him, but I felt him. His power. His pull. His very existence demanded my