Eternal Flame (3 page)

Zane caught Jacobson’s whimper just as he reached Jude’s side. The demon seemed to finally understand.
This is the end for you, Jacobson
.

Jude held up the pages, and the first thing Zane saw was … her.

No, not Jana. Not exactly. Different hair. Blond. Different eyes. Brown, not blue. Same mouth. Same nose.

Pak had told him a blonde was seen at the other scenes.
So she’d dyed her hair
. And he’d found a black-haired lady at Francis Street. “Who is she?” he demanded.

They left holding, walking back to the Night Watch’s main offices. “She’s got some aliases,” Jude told him. “Katherine Tanner, Judy Bright, Melissa Jones. But from what I can tell, her real name’s Jana Carter—”

Jana
. Wait, she’d given him her real name?

“She was put in a juvenile facility when she was thirteen. She stayed there for five years.” Jude’s bright gaze met his. “Apparently, the woman liked to start fires.”

Fuck.

“Police want her for a series of fires in New Orleans,” Jude said.

Zane took the pages and scanned the info. His prey was thirty-one, five-feet-four inches tall, and one hundred-and-thirty-three pounds.

“Her stepfather died in the fire that landed her in the juvie facility,” Jude continued. “I guess she started young.”

Looked that way.

A killer? He’d stared right into her eyes and hadn’t seen what she really was. He was slipping. Or maybe she was just real good at lying.

“From what I can tell, she’s been selling out her services to the, ah …”

Zane glanced up at him, eyes narrowed.

“Highest bidder for the last few years. If you’ve got a supernatural you want taken down, she’s your girl. Vamps, charmers, low-level demons … she’s a real equal-opportunity killer.”

How can I ever thank you?

Such a sweet, lying mouth. He stared down at the picture again. At her. He’d really thought she might be innocent.

He kept making the same dumb-ass mistakes.

“You gonna be okay on this one?” Jude asked quietly.

The office buzzed around them. Phones rang. Voices called out. The fax machine beeped.

Zane tucked her picture into his back pocket.

Jude frowned. “Look, I know the last Ignitor case you worked with was—”

“I handled her, didn’t I?” Zane fired back, breaking through the words.

Jude’s head moved in the faintest of nods.

Handled her
. Such cool words for the death he’d given the other woman. “I can do my job. I can do what needs to be done.” The same spiel he’d given Pak, but he meant the words. Nothing, no one would stop him.

“Good.” Pak spoke from behind him, and Zane tensed. “Because Jacobson gave me a location. He says the woman found him in a dive called Dusk. It’s a new club that opened on St. Antony and—”

“I know the place,” Zane said, exhaling. Word traveled fast in this town. “It’s a den.” A demon’s den. The place for his brethren to go in and take their drugs of choice. Darkness rode many of his kind, and the drugs, oh, they tempted.

“Oh, shit, man, I can take this one,” Jude offered. “I know you—”

“Can take on a den any day of the week.” Damn, but he regretted the drunken night he’d made the mistake of spilling his past to the tiger shifter. That guy never forgot anything.

“Then go get her,” Pak said, “bring her in. No matter what it takes,
bring her in
. “

Time to take another killer off the streets.

“You shouldn’t go in there.” The husky,
very female
voice stopped Zane cold just as he prepared to climb the steps leading up to Dusk.

The voice was laced with a soft drawl, edged with a breath of sex, and it crawled over his body like a caress.

A demon shoved past him, heading inside Dusk, and when the door opened, the beat of the music blasted Zane’s ears and the scent of drugs burned his nostrils.

“Of course, you don’t have to listen to me,” she murmured.
Jana
. He turned his head a few inches to the right and saw her slide from the darkness. “It can be your funeral.”

She looked vulnerable. Small, delicate. Almost helpless as she stood in the shadows with her arms crossed over her chest. Watching him with such big eyes.

But her words … “Ah … did you just threaten me?” He moved away from the door. Turned his back on the den and began to stalk her.

She crept once more toward the shadows and he followed her. His heart rate kicked up.
She’s making it too easy
.

“You won’t believe this,” she told him, “but I’m not the threat tonight. Well, not the one you need to be worried about.”

She was close enough to grab now.

A soft sigh slipped past her lips as her hands dropped to her sides. “You shouldn’t have come here. You should’ve just taken the demon in and called it a day.”

A shocked laugh broke from his lips, one without a drop of humor. “Lady, you
killed
someone in that alley.”

She flinched. “The vampire would have killed me. I didn’t have a choice.” Her right hand lifted and rubbed against her chest. Thanks to his demon-enhanced senses, he saw the blood on her shirt, and he caught the coppery scent on the wind. “What did you want me to do?” she asked, and heat blasted through her words. “Just stand there and let him cut my heart out?”

A muscle jerked in his jaw.

“Or maybe I should have waited for you,” she muttered, those sexy eyes narrowing, “like he wanted. I should have waited, and then I should have made sure you were the one who didn’t walk out of that alley.”

His hands flew out and he caught her, pulling her close and lifting her right off her toes. “Don’t make the mistake of thinking I’m easy to kill.”

Her chin inched up. “And you don’t need to make the mistake of thinking you’re immortal. Everyone can die.
Everyone.”

“You’d know, wouldn’t you, baby? You kill for the highest bidder.”

She didn’t blink. Those eyes stayed locked on him, still blue. The fire hadn’t lit within her yet. If it had, her eyes would have been blood-red.

“Do you know what I did to the last Ignitor who came at me with fire in her eyes?” he demanded. Her mouth was temptingly close. He’d kissed that mouth before. Tasted her. Wanted more.
Fool
.

A guy’s dick could get him into some serious trouble.

“Dumb ass,” she said, and his eyes narrowed. “I’m not charging up. I’m trying to
warn
you.”

“About what?”

“My … services.” The right side of her mouth kicked up into a hard smile, and damn if a dimple didn’t wink at him.
Deceptive package
. “Who do you think the number-one target is in this town? Who do you think the demons want taken out? The vamps?” Shit.

“That’s right.
You
. The vamp in that alley wanted you taken out, and he sure wasn’t the only one to want a fried demon handed to him.” Her gaze darted behind him to Dusk. “The demons sure don’t like that you’ve been hunting your own kind.”

Fuck ‘em. “I don’t hunt them all.” What? Was he defending himself? To her? “Just the ones who cross the line.” His fingers were digging too hard into her arms.

He took a breath and let her slide back to the ground, let her feet touch down, but he didn’t free her. Wouldn’t. He had plans for Jana Carter.

“What line?” she asked him, shaking her head. “The one
you
made up? The one that says some folks are bad, some are good, and smart, all-powerful you gets to punish the ones you
think
screwed up?”

He glared at her. Like she could judge him.

“Maybe I
should
let them rip you apart.” Her tongue flashed out to lick her bottom lip.

He couldn’t help it. His stare dipped and followed that fast lick. His body tightened.
Damn
. He took a breath and swore he tasted her. “If you’d been smart, you would’ve left town. After you killed the vamp, you should have run.”

“Maybe.” A shrug. “But you came into the fire for me.”

Because he’d thought she needed him. Thought she was a human who’d needed rescuing. The truth was that the woman could have gotten out of that house without the flames even touching one inch of her perfect skin.

“No one’s ever tried to save me before,” she added. “I thought you were … sweet.”

He growled.

“So I wanted to even the score.” Another shrug that sent her dark hair settling over her shoulders. “I knew you’d come looking for me. I figured it was only fair to give you a warning.”

Fair? The woman who torched for a living wanted to talk fair? Zane could only shake his head. “Thanks, baby, but believe me, I don’t need
your
help.”

Her gaze slid away from his once more. Back to the club. He caught the whisper of fast-moving feet and the scent of booze and death. Battle-ready tension had his heart slamming into his chest.

“You sure about that?” she asked and that same half-smile lifted her lips, making her dimple flash. “Okay. Have it your way, then, stud. Take ‘em all.”

He spun around, his eyes zeroing in on the entrance to Dusk. Sure-damn-enough, the demons were snaking out the front door. At least ten of them so far, and their black eyes- filled with fury and hate-were all locked on him.

Jana’s hand pressed into his back, a warm, sold weight. “Have fun with the fan club,” she said and then her shoes thudded as she ran away.

Two seconds later, the demons closed in on him.

J
ana ran for fifteen seconds. Then ten more. Then, ah, hell, she spun back around.

She couldn’t see Zane anymore. Her big, bad demon was in the middle of a pile of bodies. She heard the thud of flesh, the snarls from the attack, and she knew he was probably on the bottom of that pile.

“Bet you’re wishing you’d taken my help now,” she whispered and clenched her hands into fists as her body began to charge. The air around her warmed. “Don’t worry, demon. I pay my debts.” He’d come for her, so she’d be there for him.

Then …
even
. No more debt. Free and clear.

A demon flew through the air and slammed into the concrete. He didn’t get back up.

A faint sheen of red fell over her vision, like a mist. Jana marched forward with slow, determined steps. Her breath seemed too loud, too raspy. Her heart felt too slow, and the heat covered her like a blanket.

“Get away from him!” she called out.

Another body flew from the mound. One guy, a demon with a long, twisting scar on his right cheek, just turned tail and ran.

These wouldn’t be the strong demons. Not attacking en masse like this. The weak ones hunted in packs. Especially when they were going after a big kill.

A knife glinted. “Get
away from him!”
she screamed the words again and, this time, her voice cut through their fury.

Three demons turned to look at her.

So did Zane. He wasn’t on the bottom of the pack. He was still standing. Swinging, knocking back demons and
grinning
like some kind of madman.

More demons were running out of Dusk. Like freaking sharks, they could smell blood in the air.

Soon enough, they’d be smelling fire.

A smile lifted her lips. The rush of heat had her whole body tensing, her nerves jumping.
Nothing like it
.

A line of fire sprang at her feet, then the flames raced for the demons. Their yells and curses filled the air as they faced the new threat.

The flames flickered, twisted.
Ah … fighting power with power
.

Whenever possible, she avoided the demons. After all, they knew how to play with the elements, and she didn’t like to waste energy pitting her power against theirs. But …

These guys were no match for her.

She fed the flames, and they burned hotter. Two more demons ran away. The door of Dusk slammed shut.

More yells. More grunts. Zane caught the wrist of the demon with the knife. Zane wrenched down hard, and Jana wondered if he’d broken the man’s wrist. Looked like he had.

The knife clattered to the ground. She let her flames close in tighter.

“
Pull it back!”
Zane’s bark.

The flames were dancing close to him.

The fire licked a demon. He screamed when the flames lit his clothes and he fell, rolling on the ground to battle the fire.

“
Jana!”

The flames were at Zane’s feet. His gaze met hers over the fire. No fear was in that stare-and it was a completely black stare. With the flames all around him and the bloodlust fueling him, the glamour was finally gone. No more sexy green eyes. Just demon darkness.

She was looking right at the demon he tried to hide. Tried, failed. She’d seen the demon from the first moment.

She exhaled, and the flames began to flicker.

Zane ran through the fire.

What?
“Zane!”

But the flames didn’t burn him. Didn’t even seem to have actually touched him. Then he was in front of her, grabbing her arm, hauling her close, and the heat of the fire pulsed beneath her skin. When his eyes widened, she knew he felt her heat. Warm to the touch, just like a sunburn, but one she’d gotten from the inside out.

Burn, baby. Burn
.

His eyes were black. She knew the red glow of the charge would still fuel her stare. No lying, no hiding for either of them. Two monsters in the dark.

She swallowed, but didn’t back down.

“I thought you were running away,” he said.

She’d thought so, too. “You were outnumbered.” And more demons could be coming for him at any minute. They could talk later. “Look, we need to get out of here.”

“Yeah, we do.” Then his hands moved, fast, and something clicked around her wrist. Wait-
clicked?

Oh, damn. No, no, he just hadn’t—

“We need to get out of here, baby.” Another click.

Her gaze dropped to her hand. A shining, silver handcuff circled her wrist. Another cuff circled his, locking them together.

“And don’t think about burning through it,” Zane warned. “That metal’s made out of a titanium mix, and it’s got a polymer coating that’ll block you. It’s something special that was designed just for someone like … you.”

Her teeth snapped together. “I saved you,” she gritted out, seriously pissed. Is this the way he thanked people?

But the guy was already moving. Spinning and lunging down the street and jerking her with him. It was either go with him or be dragged behind him.
Asshole
.

Yeah, yeah,
this
was why she didn’t help people. Because when you did something nice, folks had a tendency to bite the hand that helped them.

Or handcuff it
.

“Get in,” he ordered. They were beside a car. A flashy red sports car. He had the driver’s door open, and his gaze swept behind her, probably checking to make sure the demons weren’t getting ready for a second round. They weren’t. They were busy licking their wounds. “Slide over to the other seat.”

So easier said than done
. She climbed inside the car. The gearshift rammed into her knees, her ass shot into the air, but she-finally!-made it to the passenger seat.

He jumped in behind her and shut the door. The engine purred, and they shot away from the curb.

“You can’t do this,” she said and that was
not
fear tightening her gut. She wasn’t afraid. Nothing scared her, not anymore. She hadn’t been afraid since the day she’d learned how to fight her own monsters. “I didn’t do anything to you. You can’t—”

“You’ve got a bounty on your head, baby. A bounty I’m collecting.”

The guy didn’t even look at her as he threw that out.

Her eyes slit. “I’m betting the bounty on you was worth a hell of a lot more.” And she hadn’t taken it. Because she was the crazy one, obviously.

“Oh, and just what am I going for these days?” Not worry in that deep voice. Not even a hint of concern.

Jana sucked in a deep breath. Then another. Then she tried counting to ten. No, that didn’t work. She was still pissed. “Let me go,” she told him quietly. “If you don’t, it will be the worst mistake you ever make.” Probably the last, too.

Now he did glance at her, and his smile was icy. “No, trust me, it won’t be—”

Then a semi plowed into the side of his flashy little car. The world spun, glass crunched, and Jana screamed.

“Just cut off his damn hand.”

The words drifted through Zane’s mind, easing past the fog, just as he felt something sharp press against his wrist.
Cut off his damn hand
.

Oh, the hell,
no
. His eyelids flew up, and his eyes locked on the dumb punk who had a knife in his fist, a knife that was pressed against Zane’s flesh. “Don’t even think about it,” Zane growled.

The guy flinched, and his head flew up, revealing wide, bloodshot eyes.

“Do it, Ron!” The scream of someone who was gonna pay-the other idiot, the one who was holding Zane down on the hard pavement. No, the one who
thought
he was holding him down. Zane lunged up and sent the guy flying.

The man with the knife,
Ron,
scrambled back. “No, shit, we just want
her.”

Her. Jana. Zane’s gaze cut to the left. She was beside him on the pavement. Since they were still bound by the cuffs, his move had jerked her up. But her eyes hadn’t opened, and she swayed, looking like a broken doll. She was pale, so pale. Her hair concealed half of her face, and her head tipped forward.

“Take off the cuffs, man,” their would-be knifer said. “Just take ‘em off and
walk away.”

Zane blinked. “She’s my bounty.” Was this prick really trying to steal her from him?

A soft
snick
reached his ears. The other idiot was back. Only this time, he had a gun. One that was cocked and ready. His red hair stuck out from his head in thick patches, and his eyes, small and dark, were locked on Zane. “What she is,” the guy said, “is a nightmare you don’t want.”

A soft moan spilled past the nightmare’s lips.

“Aw, shit, man, she’s waking up,” Ron muttered.

“Hit her.” A fast order from the gunman.

Ron pulled his fist back and got ready to take that punch.
The fuck no
.

Zane let the beast out. One thought, just one … and he had the asshole with the knife flying back through the air and thudding into the redhead with the gun.

The gun fired, the bullet went wide, and Zane scooped up Jana. He held her cradled against his chest, barely feeling her weight.

They were still in the road. A deserted road at three a.m., and his car was a wreck near the broken light post.
A trap
. Two in one night?

But, no, this trap hadn’t been for him this time. For her.

“Jesus, he’s one of them!” the redhead yelled and that gun came up again. Zane pulled his power close, got ready to—

A line of fire flew at the gunman. He swore and stumbled back, dropping the gun.

“Run,” Jana whispered in his ear, and he realized the woman was awake-had
been
awake that whole time.
So good at playing weak
. Had she just been planning to lie there and let the jerks cut off his hand? Probably. That would have made it easier for her to get away.

“Run,” she said again, her voice stronger, her breath blowing lightly against his ear. “They’ll have backup soon…. Too many of them. They’ll take us….”

“I’d like to see them fucking try.” He tightened his hold on her as he stared at the wreckage of his car. His baby. Aw, hell. They would
pay
.

“They … have drugs.”

What?

“Not bullets in those guns.
Run.”

Zane heard the
snick
of the gun’s trigger too late. He lunged to the side. A steel fist slammed into his upper arm, and Zane’s hold on Jana weakened.

“Dammit!” His head whipped back.

That bastard still held the gun—and he was getting ready to fire again.

Zane gathered his power and prepared to blast the asshole once again—but his knees gave way.

“No!” Jana hit the ground first, thudding hard against the pavement. He sagged behind her. But the woman moved fast. She jumped to her feet, wrenching him with the cuffs, and her flames raced for the two men.

An engine roared in the distance. Tires squealed.

“They’re coming.” No fear in her voice … but her voice- it sure sounded far away. Weird, when she was standing so close.

A thick heat began to spread through his blood even as a wave of nausea had Zane sucking in a deep breath.

“Get. Up.” She was yanking at him. Trying to pull him to his feet. “If you don’t move, they’ll get us both.” Her eyes were glinting in the night. “Get
up.”

He looked at his left arm. Blood trickled from the hole in his shirt.
Not bullets in those guns
.

Drugs.

The beast inside began to claw and scream.

“Come on!” Her nails bit into his chest. “Don’t just stand there and let them take us!”

And he was standing. He’d made it back to his feet. The fire around them rose higher. Higher.

“Run with me,” she whispered.

With his body already feeling leaden, but his heart beating too fast, he did. Zane knew there wasn’t much time, not long at all depending on the drug they’d given him.

He could feel the darkness calling to him. The slide had already begun.

“Got to slow the other cars down …”

He saw her eyes narrow for an instant. Then an explosion rocked the night. A roar echoed and rolled down the street.

Zane managed to turn his head and,
oh, hell …
his car was in pieces, burning pieces, and the big rig was covered in flames, too.

But the flames were blocking the road, and two black SUVs were trapped behind the fire.

“Move that ass, Wynter!”

Her voice cut through the drone in his head, and he moved. One foot in front of the other.
Move. Move
.

Voices shouted behind them. Doors slammed.
Hold it together. Get out of there. Hold it-

“Get on!” she yelled, pulling at the cuff.

He blinked. Jana was straddling a motorcycle. A motorcycle that she already had throttling. He climbed on behind her.

“You’re gonna have to stretch your arm,” she told him. “Stretch your right arm and wrap the left one around me so I can hold the handlebars.”

He stretched. His thighs pressed tight to her as he sealed his body to hers. His left arm throbbed, but he held her as close as he could.

A hot tension began to slip through his blood. A dull ache blossomed behind his eyes. And that darkness beckoned.
So tempting
.

“Hold on.” She gunned the bike. They bolted forward, streaking fast as another steel fist hit his back.

Sonofabitch
. They’d shot him.
Again
. He hunched his body and tried to protect her as best he could. A chill shook him, a long, hard shudder, and his breath blew against her hair.

“Zane?” He heard her shout over the roar of the engine. “Are you okay?”

No, no, he wasn’t. His eyes squeezed shut. The drugs were slipping through his body, dragging him slowly down into hell. A hell he’d promised never to visit again. He wasn’t okay, and before he was done with her, before the
thing
inside was done, Jana wouldn’t be, either.

“What the hell happened? This was supposed to be a simple retrieval mission!”

Ron stared at his feet, refusing to meet his boss’s stare. Mostly because he knew the boss didn’t like it when folks looked too long at her face, and his eyes did have a tendency to wander. “She … ah … the demon had handcuffed himself to her. We couldn’t get them apart—” He’d waited too long to cut off the bastard’s hand. He swallowed. “But Ben shot him. The bastard took two tranq shots.” And those shots could take down an elephant. The demon would be out soon, and he’d drag the woman down with him.