Eternal Flame by Cynthia Eden
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“If those assholes who torched my building have him …”
“Then they’ve picked the wrong demon to screw with,” Jude said, his shifter hearing easily picking up Pak’s words. “Because no one messes with Zane and gets away with it. The bastard is more lethal than they can imagine.”
“Tell Jude to watch his ass,” Pak said in Antonio’s ear. “These bastards seem to have a hard-on for hunters and the last thing I want them to get is a tiger’s pelt.”
Jude’s knuckles whitened. “Not gonna happen.”
“You’re the contact man on this, Tony,” Pak told him. “They trust humans, so if anyone can get past their guards, it’ll be you.”
Great. No pressure.
“The FBI left town right after you,” Pak continued, “so watch out for them. You’ll have company soon.”
Jude’s borrowed car hurtled forward. “We’ll make sure everyone feels welcome.”
Doubt that.
“I did some research that I thought you might find interesting.”
The soft, sly tone in Pak’s voice immediately had Antonio stiffening.
“Seems that Special Agent Kelly Thomas has a personal grudge against Jana Carter.”
“Yeah, tell me something I don’t know.”
“Okay.” A brief pause. “She’s got that grudge because Jana killed her brother. Seems he was one of the scientists working at Perseus when Jana burned the lab in New Orleans.”
Oh, hell. “Was he undercover?” Because if Jana had killed an FBI agent, the woman was more screwed than he’d thought.
“That I don’t know.”
Of course. Things couldn’t be that easy.
“Dee’s checking that angle now. Once we know something, you’ll know.”
Dee? Dee Daniels was back working with Night Watch? If she was back in business, they could sure use her backup. Nothing like having an all-powerful vampire on your side when things got bad.
“I want this group taken down.” Intensity fueled Pak’s words. “We hunt the ones who are evil, who’ve crossed the line. We don’t destroy the innocent.”
Antonio exhaled. They just had to hurry and get to New Orleans. “Don’t worry, we’ll get them.”
“Just don’t let them get you.”
Zane held Jana during the van ride. He didn’t give the asshole chameleon a choice. When he was close enough, Zane just grabbed her and held her tight.
The chameleon sneered at him, the right side of his face blistering even more.
Davey joined them in the back of the van. Three armed chameleons, the nurse, and Davey all sat in the back. What a fun group.
Jana’s breath rustled against Zane’s throat. She was alive. That was the only reason the chameleons were still living then.
His gaze tracked back to the burned chameleon. He stared at him, feeling the burn of his rage, and for the first time, Zane let his power surge straight into the mind of a human.
The chameleon’s face-except for that fiery cheek-went stark white. His eyes bulged even more and his breath wheezed out.
“Don’t.” The warning came from Davey. “Don’t even think about killing him.”
Because he could. It would be so easy. With a stray thought, he could kill the chameleon. He was strong enough. The idiots didn’t understand just who they had in their midst.
“Don’t want him to die,” Zane murmured. Not yet. “I just want him to suffer.” And he looked deeper into the man’s mind. Jeremy, that was his name.
A high-level demon could easily manage mind control over a human. Zane had never enjoyed the sport because he’d watched what his father had done with that particular power. Watched his mother be abused and tortured from the inside out.
He’d never thought he’d force his way inside a human’s mind, but …
But the bastard had been ready to pull that trigger. He’d wanted to pull it. Jeremy’s thoughts were right there for him to see and feel. Clear as day. The chameleon hated Jana. He’d wanted to put that bullet in her brain more than he’d wanted his next breath.
“You don’t like her because you’re afraid of the fire,” Zane whispered to the bastard. “But you don’t understand. That little kiss she gave you on the cheek is nothing compared to what I can do.” What I’m going to do. He blasted the last thought into Jeremy’s head.
Blood trickled from Jeremy’s nose.
“Get out of his head,” Davey ordered, grabbing Zane’s hand. “Get out or I’m taking her away from you.” Try.
The van braked. The door at the front squeaked open. Zane held his grip on Jeremy’s mind, just a little bit longer. “He doesn’t like you, kid,” he said to Davey. “He thinks demons are too high up on the food chain. At the first chance, he’ll stab you in the back or slit your throat.” It was true. Maybe Davey wasn’t strong enough to get inside the chameleon’s mind or maybe he’d just stayed out because they were both supposed to be on the same twisted side, but the chameleon planned to come gunning for Davey.
For every demon he could find.
“Bastards … killed my f-family….” More blood leaked from Jeremy’s nose. “D-deserve to …”
“Jeremy. “ Nancy jabbed a needle into his arm. Ah, Nancy and her needles. He’d have to watch out for her. Jeremy shuddered, then slumped to the side. The connection ended in an instant.
Davey shoved open the back doors of the van. “Let’s take the party inside.”
Moving carefully, keeping a tight hold on Jana, Zane climbed from the van. One glance and he knew they were outside the city. The swamp. The smell hit him even as the insects chirped, their calls filling the air. The thick, twisting trees of the swamp surrounded them. Two big, metal buildings stretched across the terrain, half hidden by trees and the fog.
“This way.” Davey turned and didn’t even glance back to see if Zane followed.
But with the goon squad behind him, all brandishing their weapons, it wasn’t like he had much of a choice. Well, he did, actually. He just wasn’t taking over this game until he saw all the players up close and real personal. Who waited in those buildings?
“We’ll send someone back for Jeremy.” Ah, so Nancy didn’t care about leaving her pit bull behind. Figured.
Zane tightened his hold on Jana and headed for the first building.
“You’re giving yourself away, you know.” Davey still wasn’t looking back, and his voice was whisper soft. Just for Zane’s ears. “When you show you care about something, someone, it can make you weak.”
“I’m not weak.”
Davey stopped in front of the building. Two guards were there, with guns holstered at their hips. Zane noticed the video cameras then. Set up for surveillance all around the perimeter.
“This used to be an army training area. For training Uncle Sam didn’t want the world to know about.” Davey tossed him a cold smile. “Perseus … inherited the facility when the U.S. government forgot about it.”
Bullshit.
They went inside the facility and headed down a long, winding hallway. More cameras. Motion sensors. Figured. Big Brother was definitely watching. After a while, they stopped in front of a shining black door.
“You’re gonna be given a chance in here.” Davey’s shoulders were tense as he stared at Zane. “I’d advise you not to blow it.” Then he knocked softly on the door.
A feminine voice told them to “Come in,” and Zane stepped into the spider’s web.
A blond spider. A pretty spider with dark brown eyes, an elfin face, and a broad smile. A spider who also happened to have raised, red scars on the back of her right hand and the side of her face.
I burned the bitch.
So he’d found his prey. “I guess you’re Beth Parker.”
“I am.” Her head inclined toward him. “And you’re a hard man to catch, Zane Wynter.” She walked around the desk. Her gaze dipped, just for a moment, to Jana’s still body. “But I knew with the right bait, we’d be able to lure you in.”
The right bait was standing in front of him. “Let me guess … you and your team just got back from Baton Rouge.”
She smiled. “And we just missed you … thanks to those idiots with the FBI.”
“You missed me at Night Watch, too.” Every muscle in his body was tight, but his voice was easy and soft. “But I think you got a few of my friends.”
Beth shrugged. “Unfortunate collateral damage.”
What. The. Fuck.
“Jana was our target, and we had to make certain she wouldn’t find any sympathetic authorities in your area.”
“You killed five people.” And what was up with that subtle emphasis she’d put on “was our target"?
Beth stared at him. Didn’t blink. Davey shut the door behind them. “There was ample time for escape. The super-naturals should have moved faster.” She shrugged again, as if to say: Not my fucking fault they didn’t get out.
“You know, we could have killed you at the Mardi Gras warehouse.” Her teeth were white and a little sharp for a human’s. Her smile was just cold. “But we let you live. Do you wonder why?” Her gaze darted to Jana. She sighed a bit, roughly. “Why don’t you put her down on the couch? There’s no sense holding—”
Jana stirred against him, then her body tensed. He glanced down and saw her lashes flutter open. Confusion and a haze of pain cloaked the blue depths. “Zane?”
“It’s okay, baby.”
“No,” Beth said clearly, “it’s really not.”
Jana’s eyes widened in understanding, and she jerked against him, tumbling from his arms. She staggered and managed to land on her feet, but she kept a death grip on his arm. “You.”
“Hi, Jana.” Beth’s smile dimmed a bit. “Glad you finally came home.”
He felt the fury vibrate through Jana’s body, and he expected fire to erupt in a blaze across the room. Nothing happened.
“The drug slows the charge,” Beth said, as if reading his mind. “She won’t be able to fire up for some time.”
“I don’t need to fire up—” Jana lurched forward. “I can still kick your ass!”
Davey grabbed her, catching both of Jana’s arms, and pinning them behind her back.
Zane lunged, ready to rip that kid apart.
“Easy.” Beth held up her hands. “There’s no need for this to turn violent, not when I want to help you both.”
Help them?
Jana stopped fighting against Davey. Her eyes were trained on Beth.
Beth’s gaze was on Zane. “You’re something special, aren’t you?” she murmured. “I didn’t see it at first. Didn’t realize … not until I saw you at Dusk.”
Oh, hell, she knew what he could do.
“What are you on the power scale?” she asked. “Nine, a ten?”
Zane didn’t answer, but he decided it was time he let his power out. Time to rip into Beth’s head and tear Perseus apart.
“Won’t work.” The faintest of lines appeared around those doll eyes of hers. She tapped her temple with her index finger. “I’ve got a spell in place to keep you out. Once I knew how strong you were, I figured I’d better call out the big guns.”
“Zane?” Jana’s soft voice. Lost. Confused.
But he knew she wasn’t lost. The woman was just biding her time as she planned her next move. Damn, he loved that about her. She was a fighter. In a few more seconds, he knew she’d be going after Beth.
Provided he didn’t beat her to the punch.
“It’s rare that a hybrid demon has your strength.” Beth studied him like he was some kind of bug. No, an experiment. To her, that’s probably all he was. “You know that makes you a valuable commodity.” Her head tilted back. The better to watch him. “And to think, I originally thought Jana was the prize. I didn’t realize what I’d found in you.”
“Oh? Is that why you gave your goons the all clear to kill me when they slammed their semi into us that night?”
The woman didn’t blink. “Back then I thought you were expendable.”
Great. Expendable.
“Here at Perseus, we put humans first. Jana’s a human, so she was the priority.”
There it was again. Only the emphasis wasn’t so subtle on the ”was the priority.”
Beth sauntered toward him. The woman actually put one of her fire-engine-red nails on his chest. “You have all of a demon’s strengths, but inside, where it matters, you’re human.” She stared up at him. “You’ve killed demons before. You killed your own father.”
He was aware of Jana stiffening in Davey’s hold.
“You kill them, you hunt them.” Beth let her hand fall away. “Because you hate them, don’t you? You want to wipe the bastards off the earth.”
Well, wasn’t she a warm Christmas card greeting. “I am a demon.”
“Your mother was human. That wasn’t some bullshit cover story that you fed Nancy. It was the truth.”
So she’d done her homework on him. Was he supposed to be impressed?
“Zane?” A different note had entered Jana’s voice. One he hadn’t heard before, but he could still identify it. Worry.
“Your father killed her,” Beth said. “He showed you just what those freak demons are at their core. But you showed him just how strong humans can be. Because it was your human side that fought back.”
Her smile was too satisfied as she continued. “It’s your human side that let you walk through the door. We want that human side. We want you.”
He laughed then. He couldn’t help it. “You actually think I’m gonna work for Perseus? Lady, you’re out of your mind.”
“Uh, yeah, Zane, she is,” Jana said.
Beth’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t think you understand. You’re a wanted man right now. The FBI is after you, and the Baton Rouge PD thinks you were involved in the arson at Night Watch. They think you’ve been working with your lover, Jana Carter, a known criminal, to set a series of fires in Baton Rouge and New Orleans.”
She paused and glanced over at Jana. “Just so you know, there was another fire in New Orleans tonight. Witnesses will say they saw you at the bar right before it burned. You and
Wynter.”
“It’s their M.O., Zane.” Jana’s lips tightened. “They make their recruits become the hunted. Make them run out of options.”
“No.” Beth said this instantly. “I’m not trying to make you run out of options—”
“Bullshit, Beth!” Jana fired back. “You took every one of my options away. You set me up for fires, and you turned me into a wanted woman!”
Beth inhaled a deep breath. “You set the first three fires.” One blond brow rose. “You’re not innocent, Jana. Don’t pretend to be for your new lover.” Then Beth made a mistake. She sauntered too close to Jana.
Oh, he saw it coming even before Jana shoved back against Davey with her upper body and slammed both feet into Beth’s stomach.
The blonde doubled over, gagging. Davey swore and hauled Jana back.
“Get her out!” Beth lifted her head. Her eyes glittered with fury. “Put her in containment.” Her gaze darted to Zane. “Put them both in there. Let them calm the hell down.”
“I’m plenty calm!” Jana shouted. “Calm enough to kick your ass even without the fire, calm enough to—”
“The last time I had you on my table, you were begging to live.” Beth’s scarred hand was over her stomach, and her eyes were icy cold. “You’ll be begging again soon enough.”
Jana’s chin notched up. “And you’ll be burning.”
Beth’s lips trembled, a small move, and he knew that she understood Jana’s words were a promise.
“Can you still feel the fire on you, Beth?”
“Get her out!”
“Can you?”
“Out!”
They were thrown in a meat locker. Well, that’s what it felt like to Zane anyway. A small, tight, metal room, with the temperature set to chill.
“Bastards,” Jana snarled even before Davey swung the doo
He let his powers push out, let them ease against the door and he immediately felt the containment field. “They’ve had a witch here.”
“Of course they have.” She shoved her hair out of her eyes. Her hand shook. “Probably the same witch who’s protecting Beth from you. Did she set up a field around the room?”
He nodded. “I can’t get out.” Flat. Well, technically, he could get out, but not without his psychic blast hurting her, maybe killing her, because in order to overcome the spell, he’d have to let his power surge through at full level.
He walked closer to Jana and skimmed his hand carefully down her bruised cheek. The bruise would be there for days. Humans. It took them so long to heal.
She flinched at his touch.
His gaze held hers. “Why did you follow me?”
She swallowed.
“You could have run.”
The blue of her eyes seemed so deep and dark. “And left you alone?” Her shoulders dropped a bit. “No. I couldn’t do that.” She brought her body close to his. “You know they have cameras on us. They’ve got this room wired for sound and video.”
He couldn’t see the cameras but he believed her.
“They’re watching us. Waiting for us to make a mistake.” Her voice dropped lower. “They like to use your weakness against you.”
Davey already thought he knew Zane’s weakness.
“I came back,” she said, her voice clear and loud. “Because Perseus ruined my life.”
True. But … her eyes said something different. I wasn’t leaving you alone.
“Are you really a hybrid?” she asked him.
His back teeth clenched. “Yes.”
Jana nodded. “And a level ten?”
That he wouldn’t answer. Not with those cameras on them.
She leaned up on her toes and pulled his head down toward her. Her lips feathered over his lips as she breathed, “Come in…”
Wrong time, wrong damn place, but at those words, a hot surge of need fired his blood. Her body was close, pressing so softly against his, and her rich scent was all around him.
But she’d been hurt. Drugged. And he fucking wasn’t planning on performing for an audience.