Eternal Flame nw-3

by Синтия Иден

  They walked out of the alley. A few college kids were milling around. Two guys. One girl with long, braided hair.

  “She’s wolf.” A small hesitation. “And she’s human. Erin’s a hybrid.”

  Hybrid. She turned toward him, stopping under a street light. At least this one wasn’t flickering. “A hybrid. Like you.” He nodded.

  Jana licked her lips. “Back at Perseus, everything you told them … was it true?”

  “Yes.” His eyes darkened.

  The night air grew colder. Another girl came out of the dorm, her shoulders hunched, her hair down. She was moving fast, and her blond hair flew behind her. After what had happened there, Jana didn’t blame the girl. She’d be running fast, too. Don’t want to be caught out alone.

  “My dad was a sick, sadistic bastard,” Zane said. “One who just happened to be a demon.”

  Okay. Not exactly a sweet walk down memory lane. She inched closer to him and felt the warmth of his body seep into hers. “My stepfather was a perverted freak who got off on hurting people, and he happened to be human.” She forced a shrug. “Guess you just can’t ever tell about folks, hmmm?”

  His gaze bored into hers. Black now, she could see that. “You don’t care that I’m a demon, do you?”

  Um, no. Hadn’t she proven that by all the wild, hot sex she’d had with him?

  “Have you ever been afraid of me?” he asked her.

  Sometimes. Because he made her feel too much. But she didn’t say that. Instead, she asked him, “You been afraid of me?”

  She expected him to grin. Expected some smart-ass answer. His lips tightened. “Yes.”

  So not the answer she’d wanted to hear.

  His hold on her tightened. “You scare me … because you make me weak.”

  “I don’t—”

  “You push me to the edge. With you, I’m always afraid I’ll go over.”

  “And if you do?” So what?

  He shook his head. “Come on.” The others had already left. Gone to the PD.

  He opened the passenger door for her. Jana climbed in. Her legs slid over the leather. Zane stared down at her, then leaned forward. “You trust me.” He seemed surprised.

  But, hell, not as surprised as she was because, yeah, she did.

  He shook his head. “You shouldn’t.” Zane started to pull away.

  Jana grabbed his hand. “I think you’re the only one I should trust.” He’d never betrayed her. Hadn’t lied to her. Hadn’t—

  “You don’t know what I can do.”

  She had a pretty good idea. She’d been with him in the fire. His eyes were level with hers. “I killed him,” he said, whispering the words. “My own father, and I didn’t even hesitate.”

  Her fingers squeezed his. “You didn’t—”

  “I could still smell her blood on him. The bastard was high on his fucking drugs. Always the damn drugs. He killed her, gutted her, all because she tried to take away his drugs. She just wanted him to get clean.”

  Jana swallowed. “Get in the car, Zane.” She didn’t like him being in the open. “Let’s go back home.” She wanted to be alone with him. To hold him. Weird. She’d never wanted to just hold a man before, but Zane wasn’t any man.

  His jaw clenched. He pulled back, slammed her door, and hurried around to the driver’s side. When he jumped in, he revved the engine.

  Jana touched the masculine fingers that gripped the wheel so tightly. “You did what you had to do.” She could understand that more than any other.

  Slowly, his head turned to face her. His gaze was blacker than the night.

  “I’ve got a lot of power inside me,” he told her, his voice quiet in the stillness of the car. “Maybe too much. I can do things …” He shook his head. “Killing him was easy for me.”

  He’d never told her his demon power scale. She understood why. Most people feared the demons who tipped the scales. He didn’t want to be feared, just accepted. “You’ve got power, but you’ve got control of it.” The control was what mattered. Control separated the demons from the monsters.

  “My control broke that night. I was just a kid.” His fingers whitened around the steering wheel. “But I killed him in an instant.” His lids lowered a bit. “What do you think would happen now if I lost my control?”

  “I don’t think you would.” After everything they’d been through … no, the man had always been strong. Even when he faced death.

  He laughed at that and shifted to reverse with a hard yank of his hand. “Baby, you don’t even know how close I’ve been.” The car slid back. He shifted again. “And you’d better hope you never see me that way. Because when my control shatters, hell comes calling.”

  If he was as high on the scale as she believed, yeah, that could happen.

  He drove fast. His eyes stayed locked on the road, and not on her anymore.

  “Don’t go to the police station,” she told him and kept her fingers against him. “Take us back to your place.” Because she wasn’t afraid of him-or the hell he promised.

  The car raced forward. Faster, faster, into the dark.

  Fury coiled tight in Zane’s belly. Jana didn’t understand. She didn’t see him, not the real man. If she knew what hid under his skin, if they all knew …

  They’d fucking run.

  But she sat beside him, and she kept touching him. The woman should be pulling away. He’d tried to warn her while there was still time.

  Because time was running out for Jana Carter. He’d realized that when he’d found her in his bedroom. She wasn’t just a fast screw. Someone to hold in the dark. A body to give him pleasure. No, she’d started to mean more.

  Hell, he wasn’t even sure when the change had happened, but she mattered to him. Mattered more than anything or anyone else. And that was very dangerous.

  No one got too close to him. He didn’t let himself care. He even kept the other Night Watch hunters at a distance. Because when he cared too much, if he let someone slip past his guard …

  Dangerous.

  But already, the demon wanted her. Jana had a darkness inside of her that the demon in Zane liked. She knew the horrors in the world. Wasn’t afraid of them. Wasn’t afraid of him.

  When she should have been.

  He risked a glance at her from the corner of his eye. Fucking beautiful. Deceptively delicate. And … Mine.

  Maybe time had already run out for her.

  He spun the car into his horseshoe drive and eased up on the gas. She’d called his place “home.” Did she even realize that? Did it matter to her? It sure as shit mattered to him.

  His headlights flashed across the front of the house … and illuminated the body on the porch.

  What the fuck?

  Zane slammed on the brakes.

  “Zane?”

  Jana hadn’t seen the man. He killed the lights. “Stay here,” he growled, already jerking free of his seat belt and shoving open the car door.

  “Wait!” The buckle clicked as she unhooked her belt. “What’s happening, I—”

  “Stay. Here.” He wasn’t about to risk her. Not until he found out what was happening.

  The blood hit him. The thick, coppery scent hung in the air. Strong and fresh.

  Hell.

  His gaze raked the yard. He didn’t see anyone else, but that didn’t mean someone wasn’t there, watching him.

  Zane crept up the front steps, his eyes on the body. Worn boots, old, faded jeans, a too big, bloody blue shirt. When he saw the vic’s face, the breath expelled from Zane’s lungs in a rush.

  He knew that face. Knew that dirty blond hair and those pale, haggard features. He’d seen the man just days before- when the wolf shifter had fled the fire.

  Now, Marcus Malone lay on Zane’s porch, his right arm stretched toward the door, like he was trying to get help. The poor bastard’s throat had been ripped wide open. Ear to ear.

  Zane’s eyes closed. This kid hadn’t been the killer.

  Victim.

&n
bsp; The car door groaned behind him. “Zane?”

  He didn’t want her to see this. She’d tried to save the wolf.

  “What’s happening?”

  His enhanced vision showed him every detail of the scene. No defensive wounds on the shifter’s body. And … his clothes weren’t torn. The poor bastard hadn’t even been given a chance to shift. The killer had come on him too quickly.

  And how the hell did someone sneak up on a wolf shifter?

  His head snapped up. The same way a killer can-will- sneak up on a demon. When you were dealing with super-naturals, all bets were off.

  His gaze flew back to his vehicle. Jana stood half in, half out of the car.

  He jumped off the porch and rushed to her side. “We’ve got a big damn problem.” He pushed her inside and slammed the door. His eyes searched the night. Can’t see anyone. Can’t hear anyone.

  But Marcus hadn’t gotten much warning, either.

  He hurried back to the driver’s side. He’d have to call Pak and Tony. A cleanup crew was needed ASAP. They had to get the body out of there before dawn, before any neighbors could see what had happened. And Night Watch had to figure out-fucking fast-what they were dealing with here.

  Perseus? Was the group still active? How? The agents were locked up, courtesy of Chief Daniels. Their leader was dead.

  “Zane…”

  He spun out of the drive.

  “Zane, tell me what’s happening.”

  He didn’t want to. This world was full of things he didn’t want to do. “Marcus isn’t our killer.”

  She exhaled. “Well, I’ve been telling you—”

  “He’s dead.” He yanked out his phone and called Pak even as his eyes snapped to the rearview mirror. No one followed them. Not yet.

  “Wh-what?”

  “His body was on my porch. The poor bastard’s throat had been ripped out.” Someone had just killed a wolf shifter like it was fucking nothing. Wolf shifters were hard bastards to kill.

  No time for defensive wounds. No time to attack. There’d been no blood under Marcus’s nails. No torn clothing. Just like the other scene.

  Who the hell had killed the guy and why?

  The only links he had to Marcus were Jana and … Perseus.

  Chapter 15

  The morgue was cold and quiet, just like the fucking grave that it was. Antonio shifted his right foot and wondered how in the hell the ADA could just stand there peering at the gaping wound that had been the vic’s throat. And Erin was close. Right down at the throat, staring with narrowed eyes. The scent alone should have been enough to choke her but—

  “These aren’t wolf claw marks. They’re close, but they’re … off. Just a little different.”

  Antonio’s brows snapped up. “Ah, you sure?”

  Her gaze met his. “I know wolf claw marks when I see them.”

  “So do I,” Jude added, his voice rumbling. “And I know a shifter’s scent when I smell it-there’s not a drop of shifter odor on her.” He shook his head. “The girl wasn’t killed by a wolf.”

  Then what had attacked her?

  Jude’s phone rang. He hurriedly pulled it out of his pocket and turned away from them. “Donovan.” Silence.

  “What the fuck? Are you serious?” Jude threw a glance back at them. “Yeah, well, we’d already figured it wasn’t him.”

  Antonio knew the call wasn’t bringing good news.

  “We’re still at the morgue. No, man, I don’t know what the hell got ahold of her. The marks are like a wolf shifter’s but … no, Erin and I both say they don’t match.” A brief pause. “Yeah, the scent’s wrong.” His eyes narrowed as he listened and paced. “Where are you? Do I need to come—”

  He broke off. Erin edged closer to Jude. Her hand lifted to rub against his back. “Yeah, yeah, we’ll wait for you,” he said into the phone. “Hurry in.”

  Jude ended the call and huffed out a hard breath. His gaze met Antonio’s. “I’ve got one guy you can mark off your suspect list.”

  His gut twisted.

  “Marcus Malone didn’t kill that girl.” “You sure?”

  “Zane is.” A long sigh. “Because the bastard who murdered the co-ed killed Marcus. Zane just found the wolf shifter’s body. Malone’s throat was clawed open. The poor bastard bled out on Zane’s porch.”

  Well, damn. Just like Lindsey Meadows. Antonio’s gaze lingered on her pale form. Someone was hunting in his city. Not being quiet about it either. Fast, brutal kills.

  “They’re linked.” Obviously. He just didn’t know how. A wolf shifter … a college kid … why? What had made those two into targets?

  The door to the morgue opened with a squeak. His head turned, and his hand went to his holster. Too much damn stress lately. But at this time of night, no one else should be there—

  And he sure as shit shouldn’t be seeing Catalina.

  But the witch stood in the doorway. Her eyes, wide and green, met his. Her white-blond hair tumbled down her shoulders, and her lips, normally dark red, but now light pink, were pressed into a tight line.

  “Catalina?” Jude called, his voice gruff. “What are you doing here?”

  “They’re hunting me,” she whispered as she came slowly into the room, her feet shuffling over the floor. “I could feel the darkness coming. I-I scryed. I had to see what was going to happen.”

  Scryed. A cold wind seemed to blow against Antonio’s neck. He didn’t like it when Catalina pulled out her dark mirror and tried to glimpse the future. As far as he was concerned, peering into that mirror was just asking for trouble.

  And the last time she’d gone looking to see what the future held, she’d seen death for her friends.

  Luckily, she’d been wrong about that vision. Well, kind of wrong.

  “You shouldn’t have done that,” Jude admonished. “You’re already weak from the two binding marks. Your powers aren’t strong enough—”

  “No.” She shook her head. “They’re not. They’re not strong enough for me to see who is coming after me, but they were strong enough to show that if I don’t do something, I’ll be burning.”

  Shit. What was the surefire way to destroy a witch? The fire. The old bastards during the Burning Times had been right about that move. Bind a witch, burn her, and you get her powers.

  Catalina straightened her shoulders. “Someone is coming after the survivors.”

  Oh, he wasn’t going to like where this was going. Antonio hurried to Catalina’s side. The skin under her eyes looked bruised. Hell, she looked bruised. Too pale. Too fragile. He almost reached for her, but he stopped and clenched his hands into fists. “Where’s the vamp?” The last thing he needed was that vampire popping up in the morgue.

  “He’s …” She swallowed. “Feeding.”

  Right.

  Jude growled.

  Catalina’s eyes flashed. “He’s not killing anyone! He’s just drinking—”

  “The way the bastard drank from Jana?” Yeah, he’d gotten all the details from Zane.

  Catalina flinched. “He’s being hunted, too. He has to be at full strength.”

  Survivors. Antonio rubbed the back of his neck. The knots were building beneath the skin. “Let’s start at the beginning, and let’s go real slow.” Erin and Jude closed in.

  “First up, how the hell did you know we were down here?”

  A ghost of a smile lifted her pale lips. “Pak told me.”

  Figured. Pak knew just about everything, and he’d certainly be keeping tabs on his hunter.

  Antonio huffed out a breath. “Look, Catalina, I’ve got a dead co-ed and—”

  “Lindsey Meadows.”

  Right. The media didn’t know the victim’s identity yet, but Catalina did.

  She told him, “If you check your records, you’ll see that Lindsey’s half-sister disappeared about six months ago. Lindsey filed a missing person’s report, but then she came back and said she’d talked to Laura, that everything was fine.”

  He’d already c
hecked the records. He knew this. Tony also knew- “I’m guessing the sister isn’t fine.”

  Catalina tensed. Her eyes widened an instant before the door pushed open again. Zane loomed in the doorway, and his little Ignitor was right at his side.

  “I don’t know if the sister is fine,” Catalina said. “She knows.” There was some anger there. Fear.

  It made sense that a witch would fear the Ignitor. Any smart person would fear her. Catalina had always struck him as the smart type.

  Everyone turned to look at Zane and Jana-and they waited.

  Kelly Thomas edged onto Zane’s porch, her gun drawn. She’d kept her eyes on the demon and tailed him back to his place-and she’d seen the way the guy high-tailed out of there. Like the devil was chasing him.

  She could smell the blood, so she knew—

  Kelly sucked in a sharp breath when she saw the body. The poor guy-his throat had been sliced right open, a sick smile that stretched far too wide.

  The stench clogged her nose, and she stumbled off the porch. Wrenching out her phone, she dialed her contact with a press of her fingers. “Start a search for Zane Wynter and Jana Carter. What? No, I don’t care what Miller said. They just killed someone. Killed him. Send some agents and the cops out to 133 Louis Avenue.”

  Her fault. Her fault that poor kid was dead. She should have struck faster.

  But there’d be more innocent blood lost. She was putting an end to this hell.

  Time to eliminate the Ignitor and the demon that Jana had brought to her side.

  Okay, having everyone stare at her was … weird. Not like she was super comfortable being down there with the dead bodies, anyway.

  The cop eyed Jana with a narrowed gaze. Seriously suspicious eyes. What else was new?

  “Where’s Laura?” Catalina asked.

  Jana blinked. “Who?”

  “Laura.” The witch repeated. “Where is she?”

  “I don’t know any Laura.” Jeez. Didn’t they realize what was happening? Zane had called and told them about Marcus. They should have been—