Eternal Flame

by Lauren DeStefano

Page 19

 

  Not going to happen. “I’m his sister. I go where he goes. ”

  Nancy’s lips tightened.

  “She goes,” Zane snapped.

  “Fine. Follow me. ”

  And they marched right past the EMTs. Poor EMTS, they were still blinking and trying to figure out what was going on.

  “In here. ” Nancy pointed to a small examining room. “Just sit down. I’ll be … right back. ”

  They went inside. Nancy closed the door behind them and sealed them inside.

  Zane frowned.

  “She’s gone to make the call. ” Ah, but she’d watched this routine a few times. Not that Nancy knew that. “She’s letting her contact know that she has a potential in the area. ”

  “A potential? Is that what I am?” He yanked his phone out of his front pocket and tapped fast on the screen. He put the phone to his ear and a few seconds later said, “Pak. Yeah, I’m in New Orleans. ” A brief hesitation, then he said, “I need you to run a check on a nurse Nancy Gilbert at Our Sisters of Mercy Hospital. She’s about five-foot-four, forty-five to fifty years old and—”

  His gaze flew toward the door. He shoved the phone back into his pocket.

  Nancy opened the door about three seconds later. She had a bright, friendly smile on her face. “Sorry, I just needed to assure the EMTs that you were in capable hands. ” She laughed, a light tinkle of sound. “You’d think I’d never treated a patient before!”

  Jana inched closer to Zane’s side. “Why aren’t the meds working?” She really didn’t want to bullshit through the chitchat. Might as well get to the main show.

  The door clicked closed. Nancy’s smile dimmed. “First… I’m going to need some background information on my patient. ”

  Zane narrowed his eyes.

  “Your parents … what are their names?”

  “Why does that matter?”

  “Because I need to see if you have a family history of—” “Fuck, she doesn’t know. ” Zane charged forward. “Let’s get out of here. ”

  Nancy put a hand on his chest. “You’re a demon. ” Zane stiffened.

  Nancy’s gaze darted to Jana. “The question I have … are you a full-blood or a hybrid?” She blinked and seemed to realize they might not know what she meant. “Ah … a hybrid would be a mix, a—”

  Zane backed away from her touch, and Jana saw the muscle flex in his jaw. “I know the damn term. Yeah, my mother was human but that bastard who fathered me wasn’t. ”

  Oh, nice touch. Perseus would be all over a hybrid. They’d want to recruit him, not kill him. They did love that human blood. And the powers that be over there would really get off on a demon killing other demons.

  “Demons don’t always respond the way they’re supposed to when they are given human medications,” Nancy said, her voice quiet and calm.

  “I’m not a demon. ”

  “Hybrid,” she murmured and her gaze darted to Jana. “And you…?”

  “I’m human. I’m his half-sister. ” Said fast because she knew Nancy would be able to rustle up a demon who could check her out. A demon could look right through the veil of glamour and see another of his kind. If one took a good look at her … no sense pushing that. “I see. ”

  Jana knew exactly what the nurse meant. Nancy wasn’t interested in her.

  “I have some friends. ” Nancy turned her attention back to Zane. “They work with people like you. They can help you. ”

  “Bullshit. No one can help me. I’ve been trying for years, fighting this thing inside—”

  Nancy’s eyes narrowed. “Does it tempt you, this beast inside?”

  He didn’t speak.

  “Does it call to you … taunt you with the power that it has?”

  Jana didn’t roll her eyes, but it was a near thing.

  “I know I can do any damn thing I want,” Zane’s voice rumbled, so dark, and Jana’s gaze darted to him. “If I let my control go, there’s no stopping me. ”

  Now that sounded so real. Maybe too real. Her tongue snaked over her bottom lip.

  “Have you ever let go?” Nancy’s eyes were fixed on him.

  A grim nod. “Once. ”

  Nancy leaned forward. “What happened?” Eagerness glittered in her gaze. Hungry vulture.

  Zane straightened his shoulders. “I killed the bastard who claimed to be my father. I sent the demon back to hell. ”

  Well, damn. The man really was one class-A actor, and a pretty good writer, too, because that was just the kind of story Perseus would eat up.

  Demon killer… destroying even your father because of what he was.

  Nancy smiled. “Good for you,” she said. “Sometimes, there are some folks that just need to be put down. ”

  Sometimes. But those folks weren’t always demons. Humans could be just as evil.

  Nancy’s gaze darted to Jana.

  Jana swiped her hand over her cheeks, wiping away the tear drops that she still let fall. “It’s been so hard,” she whispered.

  Nancy gave her an understanding smile, one oozing fake sympathy. “I’m sure it has. But everything will be changing for you now. ” She turned toward the door.

  “Where are you going?” Zane asked, taking a step forward.

  “I need to call a friend. He can come and get you. He’ll make sure you’re safe for the night. ”

  Safe and snug inside Perseus. Just what Zane wanted. Hmmm … maybe they would be opening those doors wide open … making them welcoming for him. The guy had just played Nancy perfectly.

  “I’m afraid you won’t be coming with him,” Nancy said, that stare once more landing on Jana’s face. “You understand, don’t you? Your brother needs to be around others who understand him. ”

  Yeah, this wasn’t part of the plan. Jana blinked and lifted her chin. “I understand him just fine. ”

  What? Was that pity filling Nancy’s eyes? The last thing she wanted was for that witch to pity her. “Your brother is special,” Nancy said. “My friends can help him, but if you come-you’ll just be in the way. They don’t have a place for someone like you. ”

  Because Nancy thought she was simply another human, one without special skills. If she’d been a paranormal, Nancy would be getting ready to send her off-either to use her or to kill her. But a straight human got a pass out of there.

  Only she didn’t want that pass this time. She wanted to stay by Zane’s side. The guy might need her. No, he would need her.

  “I’m going—”

  “Home,” Zane said, interrupting her. He turned his head and his eyes met hers. “Go home and wait for me. I want- I want to see what these people have to say. If they can help me …”

  Now he was kicking her to the curb, too.

  But, wait, wasn’t that supposed to be what she’d wanted? She’d been trying to get away from him since the beginning, but now … Now she didn’t want to let him out of her sight. She didn’t trust Nancy. Didn’t trust anyone in Perseus. What if Zane wasn’t strong enough to bring them down?

  “I’m coming with you. ” Her fingers caught his and held tight. “We’re a team, remember?” He’d been watching her back. She’d watch his.

  He glanced down at their fingers. Then slowly, carefully, he pulled away from her. “Not this time. ”

  Shit. The demon was cutting her loose.

  This had not been part of the plan. They really should have talked more before storming into the hospital. Maybe agreed to, oh, she didn’t know—not desert each other.

  Nancy opened the door, and the woman had a near-smirk on her face. “Your brother will be fine. Trust me, he’s in good hands. ”

  The hell he was. But the demon was the one calling the shots and if he wanted to go solo, if he wanted to risk his sexy neck, then who was she to make the idiot see reason?

  She rose onto her toes and brushed her lips against his cheek. “Watch yourself,
” she whispered. Then she pulled away. Her steps were slow as she made her way to the door. “You’ll… take care of him?” she asked Nancy, casting one last look back at Zane.

  “You have my word,” the nurse assured her. Right. The woman’s word? That wasn’t worth the breath it took to speak.

  Jana slipped into the white-tiled hallway. Her shoes squeaked on the floor. She could see her image staring back up at her from that gleaming tile.

  Run… make a break for it. The demon had told her to go. She could wash her hands of him and break free now. Maybe he’d succeed and take down Perseus. Then she’d just have the FBI jerks on her trail, but she could shake them, no problem. Especially now that she knew they had such a hard-on for her. She’d be hyper-aware of them, and they would not catch her again.

  Yeah, she could run now. Run, and never look back. Maybe she’d even head to Mexico. Get some sun.

  It was the smart thing to do.

  He told me to leave.

  The exit doors waited for her. A few more steps, and they swished open silently, giving her easy access to the night. Run.

  She wasn’t perfect. Far from it and, in that instant, she was tempted. After all, she’d run plenty of times in her life. An EMT bumped into her, his shoulder clipping her arm. Running was easy.

  She took three steps back. The doors slid closed before her. The demon had saved her twice now. She’d always thought it was important to pay your debts.

  Besides … she really owed the folks at Perseus an ass-kicking.

  Don’t worry, Zane. I’ve got your back.

  Chapter 10

  They blindfolded him and, because Zane was playing the game, he let them do it. Nancy crawled into the car with him and sat to his right. He could smell her-the antiseptic scent of the hospital, stale cigarettes, and vanilla body lotion.

  A man drove him. The same guy who had smiled apologetically and said he’d need to blindfold him. The guy barely looked older than eighteen, and he had sun-streaked blond hair, a little too long, and blue eyes.

  The car snaked through the city. Turning left, right. At first, Zane tried to keep track of the turns, but the kid was fast. The car’s engine growled as he sped through New Orleans, taking them deeper into the heart of the Big Easy.

  “When did you know what you were?” the kid asked, and the kid, he was a demon. Zane had caught a glimpse of his eyes, too. Before he blindfolded me.

  “When I was sixteen. ” Zane figured keeping as close as he could to the real truth about his past was the easiest way to go. Less chance of screwing things up that way. That was why he’d given Florence Nightingale the real deal about his past.

  “I always knew,” the kid said. The car slowed, then stopped. Probably at a red light. “My dad never let me forget, not even for a moment, that I was different. He loved telling me how I was just like her. ”

  Behind the blindfold, Zane blinked. “Your mom was a demon?”

  “Ummm…” The car picked up speed again. “She seduced my dad, then dropped me off and cut out of town. She left us both. ” Bitterness. Pain.

  Zane eased out a slow breath. “Maybe you were better off without her. ”

  The kid didn’t speak and Zane didn’t know what the hell else he was supposed to say.

  “Why did you kill your father?” Nancy asked and the question fired right at his gut.

  Can’t forget about her. “Because he deserved it. ”

  “When did you kill him?”

  The truth. “When I was sixteen years old. ”

  The silence in the car grew thicker then. Darker. He could feel the tension, so thick it bore down on him like a lead weight until not-so-sweet Nancy said, “Good for you. ”

  The car braked again, but it wasn’t a slow stop. The demon up front killed the engine. “Welcome home,” the guy said.

  Home? Not likely. More like welcome to hell.

  If she wasn’t so good at hotwiring cars, Jana would have been shit out of luck. But if her correctional time had done anything for her, well, it had introduced her to a new group of friends.

  Some of those friends had come from homes that were too much like her own. Homes where the mothers or fathers liked to use fists every night on their kids. Or they liked to touch … when and where they shouldn’t.

  Once she’d gotten out of juvie, she’d made sure she helped her friends. Nothing lethal. They’d just wanted to send some messages. They hadn’t believed that she could start the fire with her mind. No, they’d just thought she was one world-class pyro, and they’d wanted her to use her skills to keep their monsters away.

  Monsters. Sometimes, you just couldn’t escape them.

  So she’d done her part. She’d watched out for them. When Lillie McGill-her “roommate” from juvie-had gotten out and headed home, Jana had tailed her. The first time Lillie’s father had come at Lillie with his fists, Jana used the fire to write STOP on the wall next to him.

  She hadn’t killed him. Hadn’t even touched him with her flames. Her fiery message had been enough to send the guy scrambling to church and to rehab.

  No, she hadn’t needed to let the flames lick his skin. Besides, back then, she’d been too scared to kill again.

  Not that the fear had lasted long. Not once Perseus got ahold of her.

  Lillie’s father found Jesus, though he didn’t realize the devil had been the one to send the message. He’d never touched his girl again, and Lillie had made sure that Jana had a first-class education on boosting cars.

  Fair trade. Sure seemed like that now.