Burn For Me

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“It’s not happening,” Eve said into the silence that filled the car. She knew exactly what Cain was planning, and the guy needed to think the hell again.

He shot her a fast glance from the corner of his eye.

“You’re not dumping me and going after Wyatt on your own.” Right, like she hadn’t seen that one coming from a freaking mile away. This was not her first ball game, not by a long shot. “We’re in this together, remember? I’m not about to sit on the sidelines now.” Not when things were finally coming to a head.

The road had passed in a blur of yellow and white lines and asphalt, but she’d known exactly what Cain had been thinking. She’d seen him try to slow at a few motels during their road trip.

Looking for the right spot to dump me? Not happening.

“You go with me,” Cain said, “and you die.”

Trying to scare her. He didn’t get it. She was already plenty scared, and the fear changed nothing. “I’ve been dodging death since I was four years old.” Maybe it was easier to confess because of the darkness that filled the car. “That’s when my parents died. When vampires killed my father and a fire took my mother away from me.”

“Eve …”

“The fire spread through my house. Burning everything but me. I remember screaming and crying, but the flames wouldn’t stop. I couldn’t do anything but watch them …”

Mommy. Daddy!

She choked back the memory and tasted ash. “I hated fire after that.” Her gaze slid to him. Still do. But she’d stayed next to Cain anyway.

What did that say about her? Drawn, pulled, to the one thing she hated most.

“I’m … sorry.” His words seemed rusty.

“So am I.” Her whisper. “Vampires took my family away. They took everything from me, but I didn’t let that stop me.” Not during all those long years she’d spent alone. Bouncing from one foster home to the next. They’d said she couldn’t connect with the families. That she didn’t know how to bond. That had been bull, and she’d known it even as a kid.

I just didn’t want to risk loving someone and losing them again. Sometimes, it was better, safer, to just not care at all.

“You’ve helped. Done your part.” He seemed to be gritting out the words. “There’s no need for you to face more danger.”

“Trace is my friend.” For a while, the only friend she’d had. “I have to—”

“I’ll get the wolf out for you.” The car sped faster. “Don’t worry about him.”

Anger? She frowned, not expecting that. “Trace … he’s a good guy, Cain.” Once you looked past the snarling surface. “He helped me, I helped him.” So many times.

“You … care for him.”

“Yes.”

His jaw locked.

“But we’re not lovers.” She should have put that out there sooner. A vein flexed in Cain’s jaw. A lot sooner. “We never have been. Never will be.”

The fast look he fired her way was full of surprise.

“He’s my friend. That’s all.” You’re my lover. She’d gotten too close with Cain, too quickly. After only a few days, he didn’t know what she was really like. How could he? Maybe he thought she just made a habit of jumping into bed and having really hot sex.

She could straighten him out easily. “Cain, I’ve had four lovers in my life.” Eve frowned. “You’re the fourth. This thing with us”—the wild, hot sex, the need that couldn’t ever seem to be filled—“hasn’t happened to me before.” It was important that he understood that.

He pulled off the main road. Headed toward the no-tell motel nestled near the edge of the woods.

Dropping me off?

Her jaw clenched. “I can make my own way to Beaumont, you know. Leaving me here—it won’t stop me.”

He stopped the car. Turned off the lights.

“I’ll be right on your tail. I’m not going to just—”

In an instant, he had her in his arms. His mouth was a breath from hers. “I’m glad there were only four … though I’m damn tempted to hunt down the first three.”

Wait. What?

“I want you, Eve, the way I haven’t wanted anyone or anything ever before.”

Her lips wanted to tremble into a smile, but the harsh look in his eyes had her holding still. The gearshift pressed into her leg.

He held her tightly against his chest. “You can make me weak,” he growled in the dark interior of the vehicle.

The car seemed too small then. Maybe he was too big. Her hands were on his chest between them, but Eve wasn’t pushing him away.

She was trying to understand him. “You’re leaving me again.”

At least it wasn’t a truck stop this time… .

“No, I’m stopping the asshole who’s been trailing us.”

Trailing us … Her head whipped around just as a pair of headlights cut into the parking lot around them. Darkness had fallen as they traveled, and she hadn’t been aware of anyone on the lonely road behind them.

She realized that Cain hadn’t parked their vehicle right in front of the motel. He was on the side in the shadows with his lights off.

As soon as the other car pulled to a stop, Cain jerked away from her and rushed toward the other vehicle.

She could just see Cain’s powerful form with the aid of the moon and the dim glow of a fluorescent light from the motel. The other car’s windows were dark, tinted so that they looked black in the night.

Cain yanked open the driver’s side door, nearly ripping it right off the vehicle. Sometimes, she forgot just how strong he could be.

He reached inside and yanked out a man. Tall. Big. Wide shoulders.

In the moonlight, she saw the flash of his fangs. Ryder. The vampire sank his teeth into Cain’s throat.

Eve shoved open the car door and raced for them. “Cain!”

But Cain had already broken free of the vamp’s hold and shoved the vampire back. Ryder’s body dented the side of his car.

“Bad mistake, vampire,” Cain growled. “I was going to let you live …”

“Can’t live … without her …”

The pain in Ryder’s voice made Eve’s heart ache. The vamp seemed to really care about his phoenix.

Ryder rose to his full height, baring his fangs. The two men circled each other. Going in closer, closer …

One will die.

“Where are you heading in such a hurry?” Ryder demanded. “You talked to the human, then you swept out of town.” Blood dripped down his chin. “What did he tell you?”

Cain just smiled. “Why didn’t you ask him yourself?”

Ryder’s face tightened, but his arms stayed loose at his sides. “The other humans got there before I could make him tell me.” Ryder’s gaze cut to Eve. “But I know you found Wyatt. I know, and I can help you.”

With his enhanced strength and speed, he just might be a strong ally.

If they could trust him.

We can’t.

“I can taste the fire in your blood,” Ryder said as he swept the back of his hand over his chin. “Just like hers … ”

The vampire was on a dangerous edge of obsession, and Eve knew he’d turn on them in an instant, if it meant he could get to his phoenix.

“I gave you the chance to walk away,” Cain growled, voice low and cutting. The parking area was deserted. The whole place looked deserted, except for the faint glow that shone from inside the motel’s office. “You should have just kept going.”

“Tell me where she is!” The vampire leaped toward Cain.

“No.” Cain punched the vampire in the chest, a pounding blow that crunched bones.

The two men were a twist of bodies. Punching. Kicking. Brutal fighting that was silent and vicious.

Since Cain’s fire wouldn’t work on the vampire, it looked like Cain was going to kill the guy the old-fashioned way.

By tearing him apart.

“Stop!” Eve yelled.

Neither man even looked her way.

I can taste the fire in your blood.

Cain kept swinging. Eve glanced around. The railing near the motel’s office was old and sagging … and made of wood.

Yes. She raced toward it. Saw the sleeping form of an old man inside the office. Ignoring him for the moment, Eve shoved her hips against the railing, then she yanked hard on the loose wood. Once, twice …

A chunk of wood broke off in her hands.

There was another way to kill the vampire.

She ran back to the two fighting men just as Cain tossed Ryder onto the ground. The vampire landed on his ass. He began to lunge up.

“Don’t!” Eve jumped near him. The stake hovered over his chest.

Ryder froze.

Good. Looked like she had finally gotten his attention.

Cain came up behind her. She could feel his strength all around her. He wasn’t going to like this part, but there wasn’t a choice.

Eve kept one hand wrapped tightly around the stake. Maybe it was sliding into Ryder’s flesh, just a little, but she needed the guy to understand she meant business. She lifted her other hand and turned it, wrist first, toward Ryder’s mouth. “Bite me.”

Cain’s hands closed over her shoulders. “Are you insane?”

Ryder wasn’t biting her. He’d tilted his head to the side, and, sure enough, he was looking at her like she was the crazy one.

Takes one to know one …

“He can taste the fire in your blood. He said so. He said you tasted like the other phoenix.” She pushed her wrist toward the vamp’s mouth. Since when did a vampire turn away from a bite? “If I’m like you, he’ll know with one taste, Cain.”

She wasn’t going to let Cain kill the vampire, not when he could give her so much valuable information. Tell me what I am.

If she was like Cain, like the other phoenix, then she wasn’t alone. She wasn’t the freak in the world.

“Bite her and you die,” Cain promised.

“Don’t bite me,” Eve snapped right back, “and I’ll shove this stake in your heart.”

“I can take it away,” Cain whispered in her ear. “By the time you can even blink, I can have that stake in my hand and in the vamp’s heart.”

He could, she knew it. But … “Don’t.” Her head turned just a few inches, so she could meet his stare. “I need to know this.”

She gasped at the sting of pain in her wrist. The vampire had sunk his teeth into her. The skin broke beneath his fangs, and she felt his tongue against her flesh. She jerked her hand, wanting to recoil, but forced herself to freeze.

Have to know. I want to—

“Enough.” Cain’s snarl.

Ryder lifted his head and licked the blood from his lips. His eyes seemed to glow a bit as he stared at Eve. “Lot of power … so much …”

She swallowed. She’d heard talk that some vampires could drink the power right from the blood of their prey. Power … life.

“But you’re no phoenix.” Ryder gave a brief negative shake of his head. “You’re something”—another swipe of his tongue over his lips—“altogether different.”

Of course she was. Her skin chilled. Eve stared down at the vamp. “You truly want to save her?”

He nodded.

“Beaumont,” she told him. “Damon said Wyatt had a lab in—”

But the vampire was already gone. His kind could move so quickly.

Kill so easily.

“Why?” Cain demanded, voice cutting like a knife.

Eve tossed the stake to the ground. “If Wyatt kills me, I want to know if I could rise again.” Like you.

But she wasn’t like him.

Wasn’t like anyone else that she knew. Even among the paranormals, she stuck out like the freak she’d always been.

He caught her hand. There were two small puncture wounds on her wrist. He cradled the flesh, lightly running his fingers over her hand. “Why’d you tell him about Beaumont?”

“Because we need all the help we can get.” Did he hear all that emphasis on we? She sure hoped so. “If the vamp wants to attack, let him.” Her head tilted as she studied Cain under the moonlight. “That’ll give us the distraction we need in order to get inside and get to Wyatt.”

One brow rose even as he kept stroking her flesh. “You’ve got a devious mind.”

Yes, she did.

His head bent toward her. His lips were bare inches from hers. “If a vampire ever tries to bite you again …”

She shivered at the lethal sound of his voice.

“I swear I’ll kill him before his teeth ever touch your flesh.”

Her wrist seemed to throb. She gazed into his eyes and saw the certainty of that dark promise. “If a vamp ever tries to bite me again”—she brought her lips closer to his—“I swear I’ll kill him myself.”

She kissed Cain, pressing her lips tight against his. Eve needed his taste. Wanted him so much.

The ache inside her never seemed to stop. She couldn’t remember ever wanting anything as much as she wanted him.

His tongue brushed over hers. Thrust into her mouth. She rose onto her toes, holding him tighter. She wanted to get closer to him. Skin to skin—only that would be good enough.

He lifted her up. Pushed her back against the cold, metal body of the car that Ryder had left behind. His mouth didn’t leave hers. Her hands were on his shoulders. His hands bit into her waist.

His tongue …

A moan built in her throat. It had to be wrong to want someone so much.

But … being wrong … oh, it could feel good.

Cain’s head lifted. His gaze, simmering with dark fire, met hers. Eve’s breath came out in a low rush. She couldn’t look away from him.

Not even when she heard the shuffle of footsteps heading toward them. When she heard the cocking of a rifle, it was Cain who turned to face the new attack, not her.

“What the hell are you doin’ to that girl?” a fierce voice demanded.

Eve knew the voice had to belong to the old man, the one who’d been sleeping in the motel’s office.

“Nothing she doesn’t want done,” Cain murmured back.

I’d definitely wanted it. She still did. The threat of a rifle wasn’t cooling her lust.

“Either get a room and pay me,” the guy snapped, “or get off my property.”

Eve caught Cain’s hand. “We’re leaving.” They were so close to Beaumont. They’d be safe only after they took down Wyatt, after they ended the twisted manhunt that he had launched on them.

The man, hands trembling a bit, lowered his rifle. As Eve and Cain walked by him, his gaze swept over them. Seemed to linger a bit on her face.

It’s dark. He won’t see much.

“You—you sure you don’t want a room?”

Eve frowned. The guy was trying to get them to stay?

“Just forget you ever saw us,” Cain advised him, opening the passenger door for Eve and ushering her inside their borrowed ride. “It’ll be better that way for you.”

When they pulled away from that little motel, Eve glanced back. The old man was still standing in the middle of the parking lot, watching them.

James Andrews didn’t move until the red taillights had disappeared. But as soon as that car vanished, he sucked in a deep breath.

That man’s eyes had glowed with fire.

James pulled his phone from his pocket. Dialed the number he’d called a dozen times before … ever since he’d started working with Doctor Richard Wyatt.

His motel didn’t get a lot of business. Too old. Too hidden. But the supernaturals, hell, they loved to stop by his motel.

Maybe because it was hidden. Maybe they thought they’d be safe, nestled in the little rooms that were surrounded by mountains.

They thought wrong.

On the third ring, his call was answered. The person didn’t speak to him, but James knew the drill. “A man and a woman were just at my place, ” he said, “and the guy … his eyes were on fire.” The damnedest thing he’d ever seen.

James heard the swift inhalation of air on the other end of the line.

“Why didn’t you keep them there?” Wyatt demanded. “You know what you’re supposed to do when the paranormals come to you.”

James was supposed to do the usual routine. The one that brought him cash, and made the freaks disappear. Normally, he gave them one of the special rooms. When they slept, he pumped the place full of gas—some brew Wyatt had made. The supernaturals didn’t wake up, not even when Wyatt’s men came to haul them away.

And James got a nice bit of money for his trouble.

It was the perfect deal for him. Hell, he hadn’t even needed to install the vents in the rooms. Wyatt’s men had taken care of everything. Set up the ventilation system, got the drugs all in place for him.

All I have to do is give the supernaturals the right room key.

It was a perfect deal for him.

“They wouldn’t take a room.” His mistake. He’d come off too aggressive. At first, he’d thought he was dealing with humans. He’d heard their voices as they argued, though, and he knew … “But they’re coming your way. I heard ’em mention Beaumont.”

He didn’t want to know how those two had found out about Beaumont. He sure as hell would never go there. If he did, James knew he’d find too many supernaturals gunning for him.

“Thanks for the tip.” A brief pause. “You’ll be getting your payment soon.”

James smiled. He was getting close to retirement. A few more grand, and he’d kiss these mountains good-bye.

The call ended. James took his rifle and his phone and headed back toward the motel. Dead leaves crunched beneath his feet.

“Bad mistake …” The words seemed to drift on the wind.

James spun around. But no one was there.

“I remember you …” That voice again. Dark. Angry.

James dropped his phone and clutched his rifle tighter. He started to back up, heading toward the office.

He backed right into something. Someone.

James spun around, lifting his gun.

The gun was snatched from him. Tossed away.

A man stood before him. No, not a man. The bastard before him had fangs. “Do you remember me?” the vampire asked.

Blond hair. Tall. Big. With death in his eyes.

Gulping, shaking, James shook his head.

“Maybe you’ve drugged so many of us that you just can’t remember… .”

He couldn’t. He tried not to remember. But sometimes, those faces still slipped into his nightmares. “P-please …”

“Please make it quick?” the vampire finished.

No, that hadn’t been—

The blond grabbed James’s throat and yanked him forward. “I will because, you see, I have other business tonight.”

James tried to break free, but the vamp was too strong.

“You sent me to hell,” the vampire told him. “Now guess where you’re going.”

James couldn’t scream. The pressure on his throat was too much. Then the fingers lifted. He sucked in air.

The vampire plunged his teeth into James’s neck. The bite was brutal. A burning pain that ripped and tore and he could hear the vampire gulping and drinking and …

James hit the ground. Everything was even darker. He tried to speak, but couldn’t. He could hear the drumming of his heartbeat. So loud, but growing … slower.

“Now I’ve got to go.” The vampire’s voice. The guy was walking away. Leaving him to die alone on the dirt. “You know how it is … places to go, more people to eat …”