I Knew Her As August

twenty-five: deals with devils

At the very least, Nicki thought the shirt was pretty cool. Gus explained to her that it was from one of Kendrick Lamar's old tours and it was considered to be one of his best albums. Nicki didn't know what he was talking about, but she knew he wasn't going to get the shirt back.

She didn't look at him the whole car ride back home and he didn't say a word. She wanted to demand answers and know why he had rejected her, but she decided it would be easier if she just didn't care. It was just another notch on her already shitty night; nothing she couldn't handle.

"Do you want me to take you to the tunnel?" Gus asked, finally. There was a hitch in his voice that was obviously remorse, but Nicki didn't give him any hint of forgiveness.

"You can drop me off at the castle gates. I'm too tired to climb up the tunnel." Nicki whined, still looking out the window and away from Gus. He grunted a reply and stepped on the gas, flying up the mountain road.

"Take a left, the right way leads to nowhere," Nicki grumbled when they reached a fork in the road.

"Thanks. It's no wonder why no one has seen the angel city, I'd get lost up here without you," Gus said lightly. Nicki tried not to roll her eyes.

"Humans aren't allowed, anyway," Nicki snapped. Gus returned to his silence, watching the headlights bounce off the tree branches.

The villagers were sound asleep by the time their car crept into the angel city. The shops were dark and empty and felt more like a ghost town than the place Nicki had grown up.

"How old is the city?" Gus asked. He turned and looked all around them, not sure which building was more interesting.

"I don't know, hundreds of years at least. It was where the angels first settled on earth, that's why my family is here. Our royal blood belongs on the homeland." Nicki grumbled. Her family's history had always been boring to her, but Gus was completely sucked in.

"It's funny that the angels settled in the same place that demons eventually came to," Gus said.

"That's funny?" Nicki wasn't amused.

"Not funny, just odd. I mean, you're sworn enemies but at the end of the day you're just neighbors," Gus stated. His words weighed over in her head and she realized she had never thought of it that way.

"I guess you're right. Where there's good, there's usually evil, too. The light is always followed by the dark," she said, her voice trailing on her lips.

They drove up and past the city, turning into the castle driveway. There were lights on in every room and it made the castle look full of life.

"I guess Copenhagen finally came home. He's about to have an ear full of what a shithead brother he is," Nicki scoffed as the car rolled to a stop in front of the staircase. She opened the door but paused to take one last look at Gus. His face was unreadable, but Nicki could see there was a deep sorrow in his eyes, like he wanted to tell her something but was physically unable to do so.

"Thanks for the ride," Nicki told him. She was still mad but was genuinely appreciative of him helping her out, again.

"Don't mention it," Gus muttered, lighting another cigarette and readying himself to drive off. Nicki stepped out of the car with shaky knees. The engine revved and almost burnt her bare skin.

"Oh," Nicki quickly turned back and peered into the open window, keeping an impatient Gus from leaving.

"What was it you were going to show me?" she asked. In the events of her heart being broken, she had forgotten the whole reason of going to his house. Gus's eyes widened as he remembered it too. He looked annoyed like he wished she hadn't asked him.