Eternal Flame

by Lauren DeStefano

Page 24

 

  Bullshit.

  “You don’t come after us,” Beth continued, “and we’ll forget you exist. ”

  Baring her teeth, Jana said, “Don’t know if I can make that promise. ”

  “Well…” Beth’s head inclined toward her. “Perhaps you and I can make a deal. ”

  Now what the hell was that about?

  “I doubt that, lady. ” Jana’s arms crossed over her chest.

  “Mr. Wynter?” Beth motioned to the guards. “I really must insist you leave with my men now. ”

  He let a smile curve his lips. “You know, I think the guys with the guns really wreck this lie of a friendly conversation. ” But he walked forward. He’d come to Perseus for a reason, and he wasn’t leaving until he’d finished his mission. Zane tossed a quick glance back at Jana. You okay? He let the question drift on the psychic link they’d made.

  She gave the briefest of nods.

  “Of course, she’s okay,” Beth said. “I think you’ll soon realize that Jana is a lot stronger than she looks. ” Well, shit, Beth was psychic.

  “I’ve already realized it,” he said, striding for the door and guarding his thoughts now. “I think you’re the one in for the surprise. ”

  When Zane left, the door shut behind him with a hollow clang of sound. Jana didn’t move. She kept her eyes on the woman she really wanted to rip apart, the only woman in the room with her.

  Beth Parker. The agent who’d lured her in. The agent who’d stood there and watched while she was tortured. The agent who’d turned Jana into a wanted woman.

  You took away my life.

  “What the hell kind of game are you playing now?” Jana asked. She knew Beth was psychic. They both were-that had been part of Beth’s Perseus recruitment spiel. Come … be with others who are just like you. You don’t have to be alone anymore.

  Blah-fucking-blah.

  “I’m not playing a game. ” Beth’s heels tapped on the tile as she crossed toward her. “I’m trying to show Mr. Wynter that Perseus isn’t as evil as you think. ”

  Jana laughed at that. “That’s right. You’re worse than I think. ”

  Beth shook her head. “Things were going so well. I was pleased with your progress. ” She sighed. “Then that shifter screwed things up for you. ”

  “You mean things got screwed when you wanted me to kill an innocent man?” The lady was good at twisting details.

  Beth’s eyes narrowed. “He wasn’t innocent. He’d killed a human. ”

  “A human who murdered his girlfriend and half a dozen other girls. Call me crazy, but I think that’s justifiable. ”

  “You don’t understand. ” Her jaw clenched and Beth gritted out, “Once the wolves start killing, they can’t stop. He’d crossed a line. He was psychotic. He’d attack again and again—”

  “Then why didn’t he kill the girl in the alley? Huh? Why didn’t he kill me?”

  Click. Click. The heels were moving again. “If we don’t stop the paranormals out there, they will take over our world. Humans will be damn servants. Prey. We’ll be the food they hunt at night, and we’ll have nothing. ”

  She’d heard that spiel before, too. At one time, she’d believed it. “They’re not all bad, Beth. ”

  “They’re sure as shit not all good, Jana. ”

  “No one’s all good. ” Not me. Not you.

  Beth inclined her head. The red on her cheek looked even angrier in the hard light. “I know. ” A touch of sadness coated the words, but then she lifted her chin. “I’ve been authorized to offer you a deal. ”

  “Bullshit. ” Were they really back to this? Jana uncrossed her arms and let her hands slip to her sides. “You’ve been authorized to kill me. You think I don’t see right through this act? I knew the minute you took Zane out of here that you’d be coming at me. ” She kept her mind blank, not wanting Beth to pick up on her plans.

  But Beth’s brows rose. “Killing you was never the plan for me. You’re a human. I don’t kill humans. ”

  Liar, liar. Beth might not like killing humans, but she executed the ones that got in her way, and she didn’t hesitate. “Oh, right, your preferred method of attack with humans is to wreck their lives. Make ‘em into wanted criminals and—”

  “I was simply trying to bring you back home. ” Again she spoke with that wistfulness that could have been sadness. “I liked you, Jana. In so many ways, you reminded me of”-a light laugh—“me. ”

  “Well call me a freaking mirror. ” Fury spiked in her blood.

  Beth’s gaze raked her. “There are two ways this can work. ”

  Jana stared at her and pictured darkness. A wall of perfect black in her mind.

  “You’re not strong enough to take Perseus down. You don’t even have a clue of just how powerful we are. You can try. ” Beth shrugged. “But you’ll fail. ”

  “You know what? This polite bullshit is wearing thin. Zane’s not here, so you don’t have to pretend you’re anything other than a cold-blooded killer—”

  “Option two is that I take that fire away from you. ”

  Jana’s mouth went dry.

  “Ah … I’ve got your attention, don’t I? You know we can’t just let you loose out there, Jana. If you’re not on our side, you’re too dangerous … as you are. ” Beth exhaled heavily. “But with a few modifications, you wouldn’t be a threat anymore. You’d just be a regular human. Like all the others we protect. ”

  Still spouting that protection bull, but … “You can stop the fire?” She had to ask.

  A slow nod. Beth’s blond hair brushed against her fire-stained cheek. “You can be normal, Jana. It will only take a few moments. Just a few. Then you can walk out of here and have the life you’ve always wanted. ”

  The temptation was so strong. “You’ve been hunting me all this time …”

  “Because you’re too dangerous with the fire. ” Her jaw hardened, stretching those scars. “Without it, you’re no threat. ”

  “But if I keep my fire …?”

  Beth didn’t speak. But then, Jana already knew the answer. Keep it and die. Because she wasn’t just going to have the chance to walk away with her power.

  “Don’t you want to be normal?” Beth inched closer. “Don’t you want to know what it’s like to have a family? Real friends? To not be the freak who’s always standing on the outside?” Beth’s hand lifted. The hand marked with the raised and red flesh reached toward Jana. “I can give it to you. I can give your life back to you. ”

  “And what do you get?” Because she wasn’t a fool. No way would Perseus toss her this shiny, tasty apple without having one big worm crawling around inside of it.

  “We get you off our asses. ”

  If only it were that simple.

  “It is that simple, Jana. Just take what we’re offering, and walk away. ”

  Davey waited for him in the hallway. When he saw the guards lead Zane out, his lips tightened. “I got him, okay, guys? Go take a break. ”

  The guards didn’t move. Davey straightened away from the wall. ”I’ve got him. ”

  They shuffled back.

  “Beth wants me to take you to meet the witch,” Davey told him, thrusting back his shoulders. “She thinks Jana’s screwed with your mind. Convinced you that we’re evil. ”

  No, when they’d blown up Night Watch—that had convinced him.

  “But maybe … maybe if you can hear that we aren’t monsters, if you hear that from someone you trust, you’ll believe us. You’ll realize that Perseus isn’t some sick nightmare that needs to be put down. ” A deep breath. “We’re a group that you can join. You can help us, we can help you, and in the end, we’d make this world one hell of a lot better. ”

  Zane stared back at him. Someone that you trust. At those words, he’d gotten a real bad feeling in his gut. There was only one witch that he truly trusted in the world. She’d disappeared from Bato
n Rouge a few months back, right after Dee Daniels, another Night Watch agent, had almost been killed. “Take me to the fucking witch. ” Now.

  Davey turned away and led him down the hall. Past the locked, metal doors. Past more guards.

  Zane’s heartbeat thundered in his ears. There was no way, no damn way, that they were talking about the same witch. They couldn’t be. They—

  Davey opened a door. The room inside was dim. A long, skinny table, a few chairs, and a woman waited inside. The woman spun toward them, her hair-so blond it was almost white-flying around her face. Oh, hell.

  “Zane? she breathed his name.

  He stared at the witch he’d known for five years. His ex-lover, a woman he’d trusted with his darkest secrets: Catalina Delaney.

  “Go ahead, Catalina,” Davey said, walking closer to her. “Tell your friend the truth about Perseus. Tell him that Jana Carter lied to him. Tell him what we’re really like. ”

  He stared into her moss-green eyes-eyes the color of the swamp she’d been raised in-and waited for the truth. Because Catalina had never lied to him before.

  “They’re not evil, Zane,” she whispered. “They want to save the world. Not destroy it. ”

  No, she’d never lied to him before.

  So why was she starting now?

  Chapter 12

  “We aren’t the only humans with psychic powers. ” Beth licked her lips. “There are others out there, so many others. ”

  Really? Where had they been all her life? While Jana was feeling like a freak, where had they been?

  “Some powers aren’t strong. Some people can just see the briefest glimpses of the future. So many have weak talents. ”

  She just stared at Beth. Being weak wasn’t really an issue for her when it came to power.

  “Others are stronger with more … unusual gifts. ”

  ‘Cause what? Creating fire was common?

  Beth’s gaze pinned her. “Recently, we found an individual with a power we’d never imagined. ”

  “Good damn deal for you. ” She was charged enough. She didn’t even feel the cold anymore, though Beth had started to shiver. Time to blast her way out of this room. Time to blast Perseus apart. There were other paranormals imprisoned here. She’d bet on it. She could free them, get to safety, and—

  “This woman we found … she can touch you and take away your power. ”

  Jana’s breath caught in her throat.

  Beth smiled. “I thought you might be curious about her. You see, if she touches you, all that wonderful fire will go away, and you’ll be normal again. You won’t be a threat to Perseus. ”

  She wouldn’t be a threat to anyone.

  “We’ll leave you alone,” Beth promised. “And you can just walk away. You’ll be able to live a normal life. ”

  Jana’s breath shot out on a long, hard exhale.

  Beth held her gaze. “Do you want that, Jana? Would you like to be normal? To be just like everyone else? All you have to do—”

  The door opened behind Beth and a young girl walked inside. The girl appeared to be maybe nineteen or twenty. She wore thick glasses, and she had long, straight brown hair that hid half of her face.

  “All you have to do,” Beth said again, “is just let her touch you. ”

  “You’re lying, Catalina,” Zane said. He shook his head. “Did you really think I wouldn’t be able to tell when you lied to me?”

  She smiled then, a wide, full smile. “No, Zane. I was sure you’d know. ” Then she lifted up her hands and said, “Now, please, help me get the hell out of here!”

  A dozen guards exploded into the room behind her.

  Davey yelled, “What the fu—”

  Zane shook his head. So much for the lying front. His power erupted and hit them all.

  Jana’s hands tightened into fists. “Don’t take another step. ” The girl stilled.

  “What happens when she takes the fire away?” Oh, so tempting. “Where does it go?”

  Beth blinked. “Nowhere. It won’t hurt anyone. ”

  Bull. “You take it, where does it go?” Because this crap wasn’t making sense. Perseus had been desperate to get her back. So desperate they’d tracked her across Louisiana. If they’d just wanted her out of the picture, she would have been dead.

  They didn’t want her dead. They wanted her alive. Because they couldn’t take the fire from a dead woman?

  The girl wasn’t speaking. Her dark eyes looked so big behind the glasses, and her skin was stark white.

  An alarm sounded then. A high-pitched, whining alarm. Beth flinched and swore. “Dumb bitch. She should’ve just done her damn part. ”

  What?

  Footsteps pounded outside. Sounded like guards were racing toward them.

  Beth’s face hardened. Her hand lifted, and she stabbed a finger in the air toward Jana. “The demon is going to die. If he won’t help us, then we’ll rip him apart. ”

  Shit. So much for playing nice. Now the mask was gone and she was back to seeing the real Beth.

  “But first…” Beth said, pausing as the guards spilled into the room. “First we’re taking that fire from you. We’re taking it, and we’re going to make sure you’re nothing but a corpse when we leave this room. ”

  Now, this was the Beth she knew and hated. “Bring it, bitch. ” Jana let the charge shoot through her. “If you think you’re strong enough, come on. ” A line of fire split the floor between them. Charge more. Charge. “Let’s see if you still like my fire. ”