Eternal Flame

by Cynthia Eden

  “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.

  Those cuffs.

  They’d be easy prey once the drugs kicked in.

  “You dumb sonofabitch.”

  The icy growl had his gaze flying up.

  “You drugged a demon,” she snapped. “They don’t react the same way humans do to the tranq. Hell, they never react the same way to anything.”

  Because they were freaks. He licked his lips. The boss held a too-tight grip on her gun. “It’ll just knock him out. He’ll be a dead weight slowing her down.” Then his job would be easy. Kill the demon. Take the woman.

  The boss lifted her gun and aimed it right at his chest. “It won’t knock him out. It hasn’t knocked out any demon we’ve tried it on.”

  How was he supposed to know that? “Wh-what will it do?”

  “It will either make him high. It will boost up his power and give him a rush he’s never had. Or …”

  He gulped. Her finger was tightening around that trigger. Only, her gun was loaded with real bullets.

  “Or it will make the bastard psychotic. He’ll turn on the woman and kill her long before we can get to him.” She stepped closer, her pale blond hair floating around her face. “And if that happens, guess who else will be dying?”

  The promise was there, glittering in her dark gaze. His eyes began to dart to her scarred cheek….

  “Now let’s get the hell out of here!” she shouted. There were sirens wailing, coming close now. No way could anyone miss the flames. The cops would swarm any minute.

  They couldn’t be on the scene then. Everyone scrambled inside the two SUVs. The boss shoved him inside with her.

  “Get to Jana Carter’s safe house,” she ordered the driver. “If she’s running, she’s going to try and disappear.”

  The guy threw the SUV into reverse, and the vehicle spun back. He shifted gears and drove the SUV down the street, easing right past the line of approaching cop cars.

  Jana had to get them off the road. Had to get them someplace safe before the assholes back there came hunting again.

  “Are you with me?” she shouted as the engine growled.

  Zane’s body was pressed close to hers, and he seemed … heavier.

  “Zane?”

  His lips were next to her ear. No helmet, not for either of them. If they crashed, even his demon blood wouldn’t save him.

  Nothing would save her.

  Her fingers tightened around the handlebars. “Zane?” Shouted louder.

  “H-hurt… you …”

  She tensed, but kept her eyes on the road. Can’t go back to my place. Ten-to-one odds said they already knew where she lived.

  Can’t go to a hotel. Not like she could check in with the demon handcuffed to her. Explaining that to the desk clerk would be—

  “If …h-hurt you…”

  Oh, that just didn’t sound good. What the hell was happening to the guy back there? That left hand of his was holding way too tight to her waist.

  “B-burn me…”

  Hell.

  They needed a safe place to crash and they needed it now.

  The instant Baton Rouge Police Captain Antonio “Tony” Young saw the flaming remains of the red Corvette, his gut clenched, and he knew hell had come calling.

  Antonio jumped out of his car and rushed forward, grabbing one of the uniforms already on the scene. “Where’s the driver?” Because he knew that car.

  The young cop spun to look at him, and gulped when he saw Antonio’s face. “D-don’t know, s-sir …”

  Those flames were burning so high. Antonio couldn’t see the front seat of the car. The ‘Vette was smashed to hell and back, and all that fire …

  “We found ‘em this way. Abandoned rig and the sports car—”

  A rig that had smashed right into the driver’s side door. It takes a lot to kill a demon.

  He released the cop and yanked out his phone. He punched in Zane’s number. Waited, waited …

  Customer not available. The automated message clicked on, and he nearly shattered his phone.

  Dammit. Antonio paced away, feeling the heat from the fire singe his skin. If Zane wasn’t answering, there was only one person he could contact.

  He called Pak. Nothing happened at Night Watch without that charmer’s approval. Nothing. So it was past three a.m., Pak was probably at home, sleeping, but …

  “What do you want, captain?” Pak’s smooth voice asked with no hint of sleep slurring the words.

  Antonio cast a fast glance back at the wreckage, hunched his shoulders, and paced around the fire truck. “What kind of case is Zane Wynter working on right now?”

  Silence.

  Come on! “Pak, don’t screw with me right now. I’ve got a crew of humans out here on Montgomery Lane, and I need to know what we’re stepping into.” Because he knew the real deal about the world. He knew that all the nightmares people had-those nightmares were nothing when compared to reality.

  Once upon a time, he’d thought the worst things on the streets were the human killers who sliced and diced their prey. Then he’d met the vampires. They drained their prey, tortured them, made them beg for death, and then wouldn’t let them die.

  Humans weren’t the worst predators on the streets. Not even close. If only.

  “There’s an Ignitor in town,” Pak finally said.

  His gaze darted to the flaming vehicles. “No shit.” He exhaled. “Have you talked to Wynter in the last thirty minutes?”

  “No.”

  “Then we may have a problem.” May? Who was he kidding? “I’m staring at Zane’s car right now, and the flames burning it are bright enough to light the whole damn block.”

  The cabin looked deserted. Jana shoved down the kickstand and steadied the bike. It looked deserted. Hopefully, it actually was. She’d scouted out this area before, just in case she needed a place to crash.
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br />   And I do. I really, really do.

  The wooden cabin was buried in the swamp. A long, ramshackle pier ran from the side of the cabin and skated out over that murky, green water.

  “Okay, demon, we’ve got to move.” She tried to roll her shoulders, but his weight was too heavy. “Zane? Come on, Zane, move!”

  She felt him flinch. Then he eased back and slid off the motorcycle. She followed him, her thighs still trembling a bit. It had been far too long since she’d gone for a wild ride on a cycle.

  “The motorcycle should be safe behind these bushes,” she said. “We can go inside”-it looked like no one had been there in months, a very good thing—“and then figure out what the hell we’re going to do next.”

  He just stared down at her. Dawn had finally come, lighting up the darkness, and she could see a faint rim of green around the outer edge of his irises, but the black coloring—that demon black—was darkening. The lines on his face were tight and hard.

  Jana licked her lips. “Zane?” She tugged her cuffed hand. The metal bit into her wrist.

  Alone with a drugged demon. Hello, dream date.

  As she stared up at him, the green in his eyes disappeared, and only the black was left. Just that deep, soulless black.

  B-burn me …

  She turned away from him. Not like she could get away from him, though, not with that freaking fireproof, Other-proof metal chaining them together. But when she started moving, he did, too. That was something, right?

  It’s okay. He’s one of the good guys. He worked for Night Watch. He brought down the paranormals who hurt humans. He hunted them, he brought them in, or he took them out.

  One of the good guys. Right, that’s what she had to remember. She risked a fast glance back at him. It was just that he didn’t look particularly good right then.

  He looked like he wanted to eat her.

  Jana grabbed the doorknob. Twisted. Locked, of course. Because who would leave a cabin unlocked for any squatter-like me-to come by and enter? Oh, well. She lifted her foot and kicked the door.

  That hurt.

  Swearing, she limped back. Zane’s left arm wrapped around her and pulled her to the side.