Eternal Flame

by Lauren DeStefano

Page 7

 

  Where was the demon? Was he alive? No bodies had been found in the Corvette, but that didn’t mean Zane was still breathing. Not with an Ignitor out there. If she’d been letting her fire free, the poor bastard could be surrounded by the flames.

  Zane awoke to find himself surrounded. Soft, silken flesh cradled him. A sweet, feminine scent flooded his nostrils. When he opened his eyes, he found himself staring at Jana’s sleeping face.

  What the hell?

  Her eyes were closed, and her lashes cast dark shadows on her cheeks. Her skin looked even paler today, and he noticed a small, dark mole near the corner of her left eye. Her hair spread on the old pillow behind her, a tangled darkness.

  Carefully, slowly, he eased up. Her body was wrapped around his, not under it. One of her arms was around him, while one of his held her waist. Her leg was between his, and her head tilted close to his.

  And her shirt was open, revealing black lace and the upper curves of her round breasts. A line of red scratches marred her smooth flesh.

  He sucked in a sharp breath and wondered what was going on. Had he done that? Had he hurt—

  “Are you with me?” she asked, her voice a husky whisper.

  Hell, yeah. He cleared his throat. How had they gotten in bed? Just what had they done? Her jeans were still on, so were his, so … no sex.

  That was a good thing, right? His temples ached like a bitch, and he swallowed, tasting copper on his tongue.

  Jana’s lashes lifted, nice and slow, revealing those sexy eyes. Sleepy and dark blue. “Do you even know who I am?”

  He licked dry lips. “Trust me, baby, you’re pretty unforgettable. ”

  Her gaze searched his. “Then what’s my name?”

  He let his brows rise as he studied her. “You mean the name you seem to be using again this time? It’s Jana. Jana

  Carter. ”

  She exhaled.

  “Now, Jana, why don’t you tell me just what happened. ” And why we’re in bed together. Sure, he’d thought about fucking her, but then he’d found out about her little tendency to burn on contact.

  “What do you remember?”

  “A big rig slamming into us. ” My car. Someone would pay. “Some assholes shooting…. ” He frowned, struggling to recall and shove past the thick fog in his mind. “I got hit. ”

  “You were hit twice. ” She eased her arm away from him and tried to slide her leg from between his thighs.

  A bright, hard, painful memory flashed through his mind.

  “Ah, remember that, do you?” She stilled, and her lips quirked just a bit. Not enough to make her dimple flash.

  Images flew through his mind. Jana-her mouth red and open. Pinned against the wall. Her arms over her head. Her breath panting out.

  Her shirt open, gaping, his hands on her flesh. Tight nipples. Pebble hard. He’d want to taste her.

  Fire. Surrounding him.

  Jana … on the bed.

  “I don’t want to hurt you. ” The memory of her words filled his mind.

  He jumped from the bed, moving fast, only to have her yell as she tumbled after him.

  The cuffs.

  He froze, staring at her wrist. Still bound. He took a breath and tasted her. “What did I do?”

  She blinked and seemed to see him. “Ah. Guess you are back now. ” Jana pushed herself up, stretching a bit, and the few remaining buttons on her top strained with the movement. He leaned forward, trying to give her more room to move. Where were the cuff keys? His left hand dove into his pockets. Nothing. Figured.

  Jana just sat there, staring up at him, with no expression on her pretty face.

  How was she so calm? “What did I do to you?” He remembered need. A white-hot lust that had thundered through his body and driven all sanity from his mind. Take. The hunger had been too much. He’d wanted her. Planned to have her, then-He swallowed. “Did I hurt you?” No, please, shit, he didn’t want to-

  She laughed at that. A light, quick chuckle, and she swung her legs over the side of the bed. “I’m not easy to hurt. ”

  Lie. She was human. Human with some strong psychic powers, but human nonetheless. “I shouldn’t have-I don’t know why I—”

  Jana rolled her eyes. “You were drugged, dude. You took two hits of the tranq. You got handsy, and then you collapsed, that’s all. ”

  All? His back teeth were clenched so hard his jaw ached. “I don’t … do particularly well with drugs. ”

  “What demon does?”

  So she knew.

  But she wouldn’t realize just how dangerous he could be when the drugs were in his system. She didn’t understand just how lucky she was to still be breathing.

  He stiffened his shoulders. “I’m sorry. ” The words were stark. “I shouldn’t have touched you. ” He sucked in a quick breath and just caught more of her scent.

  Her head cocked toward him.

  “Whatever I did to you”-he held her stare, because the shame was his—“I’m sorry. ”

  Her face softened, just for a moment, and he heard her mutter something that sounded like, “Being a good guy again …", but then she rose and turned her back on him.

  His lips pressed together.

  “You stopped. ” She glanced back over her shoulder. “Yeah, the drug had you wired for a bit, but you pulled back. You got your control. ” A little shrug. “But then you passed out before you could get off the bed. ”

  The drumming of his heart echoed in his ears. “You’re telling the truth?”

  Now she did smile. A big, wide grin that, oh, hell, flashed the dimple in her cheek. “Would I lie?”

  Yes. “What about the marks on your chest?”

  She glanced down at herself, and the smile faded. “These aren’t from you. They’re courtesy of the vampire who caught me in the alley. ”

  The one she’d torched. The bastard had attacked her.

  “I’ve seen other demons on the drug. ” Her voice pulled his eyes back to her face. A flicker of sadness appeared in her gaze. “Even with one dose, they don’t know what the hell is going on. ” A considering pause as her stare measured him. “You must be pretty strong. ”

  He wasn’t going to touch that one.

  But she, apparently, was. Jana faced him fully, one brow up. “What are you on the power scale? An eight? Maybe pushing nine?”

  The demon power scale. A scale that ran from one to ten. One being the low end, the demons who barely had any power above a human’s latent psychic talents. And ten being the demons who could bring hell to earth.

  “I’m strong enough,” was all he said.

  “Hmmm. ” She lifted her wrist, raising the cuffs and his hand. “Then get these things off, demon. Get them off, and we can just walk away from all this. ”

  If only. “A witch I know put an enchantment on ‘em. ” Standard protocol for Night Watch containment gear and weaponry. A little bonus Pak had always insisted on throwing in. “I can’t break them. ” She deserved the full truth. “And even if I could, I couldn’t let you walk away. ”

  Her lips parted. Soft lips. So soft.

  “You’re damn well kidding me,” she snapped.

  “No, baby, I’m not. ” He straightened his shoulders. The hunt hadn’t gone down at all like he planned, but he was sticking to the rules. He’d been an ass, and he’d regret last night for years to come-drugs or no drugs, I shouldn’t have scared her. But he had a job to do. “There’s a bounty on you. You’ve got to pay for what you did. ”

  Her lips formed an outraged “O. ”

  “I’m taking you in. ”

  “Someone save me from good guys. ” She punched her index finger into his chest. Hard. “I could have killed you while you slept. ”

  Why hadn’t she?

  “Let me go,” she told him, dropping her voice, but keeping her eyes up. “Walk away from me. Trust me, it will be the best
move you’ve ever made in your life. ”

  “You’re my bounty. ” And there were dead bodies she had to answer for.

  She shook her head. “You’re a fool. You’re gonna get caught in the crossfire. You’ll die. Or you’ll just wish for death. ”

  Like he hadn’t done that before. He’d died when he was sixteen, and the demon inside had taken over. He’d been fighting the devil ever since. “Promises, promises, baby. ”

  For just an instant, one instant, her eyes seemed to flare red.

  Zane stiffened, but then the blue flooded back into her gaze.

  She licked her lips, and her eyes darted around the cabin. Darted, then paused somewhere just over his shoulder. “This sucks. ”

  Yeah.

  “Come on. ” Then she started marching away from him, heading toward a shut door.

  “What are you—”

  “It’s been over nine hours, demon. I’ve got to use the bathroom. ” She grabbed the door and slipped inside. “Now be a good Southern gentleman, and don’t even think about looking at me. ”

  Southern gentleman? Since when?

  The cuffs were a damn inconvenience, but they’d be free soon, both of them. He’d take her to Night Watch, turn her in, and be rid of his Ignitor.

  Case closed.

  No more temptation. No more fire. No more Jana. “Damn demon,” she muttered.

  “Jana, I’m—”

  “Save it!”

  Sorry. He bit the word back, but the guilt burned in him. He was sorry. For what he’d done to her last night … and for what he would be doing, soon.

  The demon was really going to turn her in. Jana followed Zane outside the cabin. He stopped, and glanced around the area, obviously searching for the motorcycle.

  Would he remember where they’d stashed it?

  Nope. That glinting stare turned back on her, and he lifted one dark brow. What? Did the guy really expect her help? He was turning her in!

  She smiled back at him and just waited.

  “Jana…”

  Her body hurt. Ached. That car crash hadn’t been an easy hit, and she was sure she sported a ton of bruises beneath her clothes. She needed a hot bath-for the aches and to wash away the blood. She needed some food. And she needed a bed that didn’t smell like crap.

  Instead, she’d get-what? Jail? A fast trip to some human slammer? How long would she stay there?

  “I hate being locked up,” she muttered. She’d already spent too many years being caged. Her gaze drifted around the swamp. Open. Free. This was what she wanted. Why couldn’t everyone just leave her alone and let her have it?

  “Then maybe you shouldn’t kill people. ”

  His words had her stiffening. “You don’t know a damn thing about me. ”

  Faint lines bracketed his mouth. “Don’t I?”

  “What? You typed my name in some computer at Night

  Watch and all of a sudden you think you know about me? You think you know—”

  “I know you started your first fire when you were thirteen. A fire that killed your father. ”

  “Stepfather. ” There was a difference. An important one.

  He crept closer. Not that those cuffs let him stray too far. “Why? Why the hell do you do it? You don’t have to hurt people. You don’t have to use the fire at all. You could’ve been normal—”

  Was he crazy? “Demon, I’m as far from normal as you are. ” Did he think she’d chosen to be like this? Did he know how many nights she’d cried and begged God to just let her be normal? Jana sucked in a long breath. “And I don’t know what you’ve heard about Ignitors…. ” Because it wasn’t like her kind were thick on the ground. “But when the flames start that first time, there’s no controlling the fire. ” Not when the flames burn so fast, and you scream and beg for it to stop.

  Only for the fire to flare hotter.

  It had taken her years to learn control, and those lessons had been painful.

  “You’ve killed people with your fire. ” A muscle flexed in his jaw.

  “Oh, and you’re Mr. Innocent?” Doubtful. She’d never met an innocent demon. “I bet you’ve just gone your whole life, and you haven’t ever hurt anyone, right? You’ve never—”

  “The last person I killed was an Ignitor. ”

  Didn’t expect that. Jana swallowed and studied him, letting her eyes sweep over his face. The curl of his lip seemed cruel. His eyes too sharp and hard.

  He stared at her and said, “I broke her neck. She never even knew I was coming for her, not until it was too late. ”

  Well, damn. Goose bumps rose on her arms. Not from the cold. Not this time. “Why?”

  “Because she was working with a band of vampires. She was torturing my friends, and I wasn’t going to stand by and watch them die. ”

  So she’d died instead.

  His hand lifted. Dammit, Jana flinched. But he was just brushing back her hair. His knuckles grazed her cheek. “Now it’s your turn. ”

  Her breath caught.

  “Why do you do it? Make me understand. Give me something here. Why’d you start the fires?”

  Screams that wouldn’t stop. “Because I could. ” That’s all she’d say. Was that a fair exchange of information? No. But then, she hadn’t forced him to answer her question.

  And she wouldn’t answer his.

  Jana spun away and marched for the thick line of brush, dragging him with her. “The motorcycle’s over here. ”

  Because even the idea of being turned over to the folks at Night Watch didn’t seem so bad right then. But ripping her soul open and baring her past to the demon? Yeah, rain check, please.