Eternal Flame

by Cynthia Eden

  Zane’s shoulders tensed.

  Jacobson laughed. A ragged, rough sound. “But you’re worse…. Under the skin … you’re worse!”

  Zane smiled at him. “You really don’t want to see just how much worse I can be.”

  Pak’s arm came down on his shoulder. “Zane …” A slight warning there.

  Zane didn’t glance back at him. “This demon knows about your Ignitor, Pak.” A woman he’d literally had right in his hands-twice-and he’d let her slip away.

  Because he was looking straight at Jacobson, he caught the demon’s flinch. Ah … “Where did you meet her, Jacobson?”

  Jacobson’s lips firmed.

  “Where?” Pak demanded.

  “Some damn bar! Bitch came up to me.” His lips twisted, showing his bloodstained teeth. “She was all over me.”

  Every muscle in Zane’s body locked.

  “She wanted to leave, so I took her to my place. Then she tried to burn me!”

  Tried? Succeeded. Those blisters would take a long time to heal, even with a demon’s enhanced recovery system.

  “In the last two weeks, you’ve picked up three women from bars in the area,” Pak said, the words so calm he could have been talking about the weather. His hand lifted from Zane’s shoulder, and Pak came to stand at his side. “We found the body of your first victim. You took her to the vamps, didn’t you? You let them drain her dry.”

  Jacobson stared up at him, his eyes burning with black rage.

  Pak crossed his arms over his chest. “We haven’t found the second woman yet.”

  The bastard laughed again. Laughed. “You won’t. There was nothing left of her. Not when the vamps finished.”

  Put him down. Zane knew Jacobson wasn’t one of the demons that would be turned loose one day. You didn’t let a rabid dog back out to hunt.

  “Then you came upon a new lady….” Pak’s voice pitched lower. “One who was ‘all over you.'”

  “She was, she—”

  “Did this woman ask you anything?” Pak cut across his roaring words. “Did she say—” “The whore just burned me!”

  “But you got to live,” Zane snapped. “Her last victim wasn’t so lucky.” He grabbed the knife from the sheath on his leg and put the blade right at Jacobson’s throat. “You’re not gonna be lucky much longer.”

  “Zane …” Pak’s whisper.

  Jacobson started to smile.

  “Don’t slice too fast,” Pak continued. “You want him to feel the pain.”

  Jacobson’s black eyes widened. “No!”

  So Jacobson was another one who loved to torture prey, but couldn’t stand pain himself. “Who’d she kill in the alley?” The others will get her. Jacobson knew the guy who’d burned, no doubt.

  Zane let the blade cut through skin.

  “Vincent!” Yelled. “Shit! I-it was Vincent Gunner! He was with me. There were two humans there, but he-he told ‘em to stay back, that we could handle her.”

  “But you couldn’t, could you?” Vincent Gunner. He knew the name. A powerful vampire on Night Watch’s kill list. Gunner had been a cruel asshole who enjoyed slowly bleeding humans dry-women. Only women.

  Had he picked the wrong prey? Or was something more going on here?

  “Hey, Wynter!”

  Zane’s head lifted at Jude Donovan’s call. The shifter stood just inside the doorway of their holding area. Jude clutched some papers in his hand and lifted them toward Zane. “I found your girl.”

  Zane glanced back at the demon. The knife still bit into Jacobson’s flesh.

  “I’ll finish him,” Pak said.

  And Zane knew he would. Knew Pak would get every drop of information, and then he’d eliminate the demon’s threat.

  Zane stepped back.

  “I need some help!” Jacobson told the charmer. “Get me a doctor, get me—”

  “You’re a demon,” Pak said. “You’ll heal from just about anything.”

  “I want out, man. I need—”

  “Some folks are waiting on you, Henry.”

  The demon jerked on the table, straining against the straps. “A jail’s not gonna hold me! Nothing can, nothin—”

  “I didn’t say you’d be going to jail.” Still no emotion in Pak’s voice. “I just said that folks were waiting on you.”

  Jacobson’s case had been a government deal. Because, yeah, the government knew about the supernaturals out there. They liked to pretend they didn’t, better for the public image that way. But they knew, and they had their own “extermination” list.

  Jacobson was at the top. Some men and women in black would be coming for him soon and, after they picked him up, Jacobson wouldn’t be returning to Baton Rouge again.

  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.

  Chapter 3

  Jana 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 jum
ping. 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.”