Burn For Me

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Eve hunched down beside Cain as they studied the Beaumont facility. It hadn’t been too hard to find the place. They’d spotted a black SUV as soon as they entered the small town, seen the two men driving, and tagged them for military. Since the rest of the town consisted of boarded-up old buildings, the shiny SUV had instantly caught their attention.

From what she could tell, Beaumont was a ghost town—the perfect place for Wyatt to conduct more of his experiments.

Once they’d spotted the SUV, it had just been a matter of following those guys back to Wyatt and his facility.

Another lab. A tall, chain-link fence surrounded the facility. The fence was topped with barbed wire. Eve counted four guards patrolling near the gate—and there was only one gate. They were armed. Very armed. Rifles in their hands. Two guns strapped to each hip. Overkill.

“Guess they don’t want any visitors,” she said, voice soft. So much for being a big, old voluntary facility.

She couldn’t tell much about the building. It was big, made of heavy stone, and the back of the place seemed to sink into the side of the mountain. Eve was willing to bet that they were looking at the top layer of the lab.

With Wyatt, what you saw wasn’t what you got.

“How many layers?” Eve muttered, frowning. Just how many levels were there in that place? How far down would they have to go?

“No sign of the vampire,” Cain said, his own eyes sweeping over the facility. “Or if he’s been here, he didn’t leave any blood in his wake.”

Eve swallowed. “There are cameras stationed every five feet on the building.” They could take out the guards, but they’d be monitored on-screen. Unless … “Think you could raise some fire?” The fire and smoke could block out their image. With that distraction and smoke cover, they could get inside the gate.

Cain gave her a smile with a wicked edge. “Always.” The flames flickered in his eyes. “But I’ll need a charge …”

What?

He had her in his arms. Crushed against his chest. His lips took hers. So wild and hot. His hands were in her hair and she found her nails digging into his shoulders.

Heat built between them. She could actually feel the rise of the fire. Burning, burning …

Then he was gone. Pulling away from her and moving so fast, he’d already knocked out the four guards before she could even lift her fist. Then a wall of fire and smoke surrounded the building.

So much for the cameras.

Eve bent down and scooped up one of the guards’ weapons. The gun, a Glock, felt heavy in her grip. She took a deep breath, one full of smoke and fear, and headed after Cain.

She saw another gun just a foot away. Why take just one weapon … ?

Cain had already yanked open the main door. She could hear sirens blaring. Fire alarms. The fire would cause confusion. Chaos. There wasn’t a better time to slip inside.

“Stand down.” Wyatt’s voice blasted through the intercom system.

Eve’s fingers tightened around the gun. “Let’s go.” There was a stairwell to the left.

A guard rushed at them.

Cain threw him back. The guy slammed into the wall.

Cain kicked open the stairwell door. The area was small inside, cramped. They hurried down. Opened another door—

“I told you to stand down,” Wyatt said.

There he was. Just waiting in the middle of the hallway.

Only he wasn’t alone. A dozen armed guards were behind him, and Trace was in front of him. The werewolf was on his knees, and Wyatt had a gun shoved against Trace’s temple.

“Silver bullets, of course,” Wyatt told them with a small smile. “Since silver is the only thing that keeps his kind down.”

Cain lunged forward, but Eve shoved her left hand against his chest. “Stop.” Cain was fast, but was he fast enough to beat Wyatt? One squeeze of that trigger, and Trace would die right in front of her eyes.

“I thought you might feel a certain … affection for the wolf.” Wyatt’s smirk was so knowing it sickened her. No, he sickened her. “Now toss away the gun, Eve.”

She tossed it. Good thing she’d taken the liberty of grabbing two guns. The other one was tucked in the back of her jeans, hidden below her shirt. Wyatt probably hadn’t seen her grab the other gun, thanks to the smoke and fire. She just had to get close enough to use her backup weapon.

Close enough to blow that smirk off his face.

“Come toward me, Eve,” Wyatt said.

She could get close enough. She took one step.

Cain grabbed her arm, freezing her. His hold was tight enough to bruise. “You don’t move.” Then he was in front of her. “I’ll give you five seconds to let the werewolf go. To let your men get the hell out of here.”

Eve’s hand began to inch toward her second weapon. Cain was so big, a perfect wall to shield her movements.

“Five seconds,” Cain said again and she could smell the scent of smoke. She knew the scent was coming from him. “Or I’ll burn this whole bitch of a facility down around us all.”

The fire wouldn’t hurt him. Or her.

But it would kill Wyatt and the humans. And Trace.

Her hand froze. “Cain?” Okay, she’d known that he planned to torch the place, but she’d thought he’d do that after they got all the prisoners out.

“You’re not caging me again,” Cain told Wyatt, his voice dark. Deadly. “You’re not caging anyone.”

Murmurs came from the guards. The shuffle of feet as they no doubt started to back the hell up.

“Five.” Cain’s voice cut through the room.

“You won’t burn me!” Wyatt’s shout.

Eve was sure he would.

“Four.” Cain hadn’t moved. His legs were braced apart, his hands up at his sides. Eve shifted to the left, and she could see fire swirling above his open palms.

“Eve!” Wyatt was sounding desperate. “Stop him, Eve, or you’ll never know what you are.”

Was he really going to toss that at her? Like he knew anything about her. Eve’s eyes narrowed. She wouldn’t fall for his tricks.

“Three.”

But she couldn’t let Trace die. Could Cain control his flames? Send them out to attack a specific target? She tried to edge around Cain to see Trace. She was sweating and her hands were shaking.

“I know what you are, Eve!” Wyatt was sweating, too. But he still had his gun to Trace’s temple. Trace just stared forward, eyes glassy. Drugged.

“You don’t know,” she whispered. This was her moment. She’d pull up her gun, shoot Wyatt.

What if he shot Trace?

“Two.” Cain’s determined voice. The flames flared higher.

“She was just like you!” Wyatt yelled. The gun lifted one inch from Trace’s head. “The fire couldn’t hurt her, because of what she was!”

No. “My mother died in a fire.”

Wyatt’s gun rose more. Eased away from Trace’s head. “That’s what the world was supposed to think. The vamps killed her long before the fire ever touched her. Fire never could hurt her.” Wyatt’s eyes were on Eve. “Want to know the truth? I can tell you! I can—”

“One.” Cain’s hands lifted.

“I don’t want the truth. I want you to get the hell away from my friend.” She yanked up her gun and fired.

The bullet caught Wyatt in the shoulder and he staggered back. All the guards with him immediately lifted their weapons to fire, but Cain sent a giant ball of fire rolling toward them. The men yelled and most dropped to the floor. One shot his weapon, but the bullet missed her and—

Wyatt was laughing.

Eve lunged forward and grabbed Trace’s hand. “Come with me.” She yanked him toward her and they fell to the floor.

Wyatt was still laughing.

She looked up. He’d yanked open his shirt to stare down at the bullet wound. Only … the wound was closing. Wyatt’s eyes were bright and wild and he was lifting his gun to aim it at her.

Richard Wyatt wasn’t human. Or, at least, he wasn’t anymore. Eve realized the scientist had been playing Frankenstein with his own body. Just what had he become?

Eve targeted her own weapon on him. So the first shot hadn’t done any good. Maybe the next would.

She fired the gun, even as he did. But his bullets didn’t hit her. Trace had lunged up. The silver bullets thudded into his chest. He grunted and fell back. Wyatt kept firing, until his empty gun clicked.

“One protector down,” Wyatt muttered. He didn’t seem fazed by the growing fire. The guards had backed up, getting away from the fire, but they had their weapons ready. The sprinklers burst on from overhead, drenching everyone in the hallway. Eve stayed crouched on the floor, but Cain stalked forward.

Her bullets had hit Wyatt, but the man was still on his feet.

“Science can beat the supernatural,” Wyatt said, sounding perfectly normal, as if he hadn’t been shot multiple times. “What we can do is amazing, really.”

Cain reached through the flames and grabbed Wyatt. As she watched, Cain snapped the man’s neck. Wyatt fell to the floor.

Her breath choked out. Over. Just like that, Wyatt was dead.

“Come on!” Cain grabbed Eve’s hand and pulled her to her feet as he sent a rush of fire at the remaining guards. “Get the hell out of here!” he yelled at them.

They scrambled. Didn’t even try to fight. With the fire raging, how could she blame them?

Snap.

Eve stiffened. Even over the flames, she’d heard that sound. Bones snapping. Popping.

She glanced over her shoulder. Wyatt was standing up again. Tilting his head from side to side as he popped the bones of his neck back in place.

“Nice try,” he murmured, his eyes on Cain. “Now it’s my turn.”

But instead of coming at them, he jumped back.

Just as all the guards were heading back. Carefully moving away from them.

Trap. Eve knew it, too late.

The floor began to tremble beneath them. No, not just tremble. Move.

No wonder the guards were backing up. She glanced over her shoulder. The stairwell had been sealed off. Armed guards stood in front of the door. The floor beneath them, holy hell, the floor was opening, opening …

Cain grabbed Eve and hauled her toward the nearest wall. There was only darkness in that growing hole. The hole that had once been the floor.

“Trace!” She screamed his name as she saw his body fall into that black pit.

The entire floor seemed to break loose. She and Cain fell, tumbling down into the darkness below. He held her as they dropped, wrapping his body around hers. When they hit the bottom, she felt the thud of the impact vibrate through their bodies.

They’d fallen into darkness. Complete and total darkness. Cain’s head and back had slammed into the floor, but he didn’t ease his grip on her. His hands tightened.

Eve’s hands slid around him. She could feel … stone beneath them, and she heard the sound of breathing. Rough. Raspy breathing.

Something grated overhead. She looked up. “No!”

The light above her vanished as the area closed off once more. Wyatt had sealed them in.

Cain groaned beneath her. Something … else groaned from the darkness.

They were locked in, but they weren’t alone.

“F-fire, Cain,” she whispered into his ear. He was hurt beneath her. She knew it. The fall had been brutal. Too long. At least three stories. They’d fallen straight down.

Her hands found his face. Smoothed over his cheek. Pushed into his hair. She felt the sticky wetness of his blood. No.

The breaths around her grew stronger. “T-Trace?” He hadn’t been moving when he’d fallen. Hadn’t appeared to even be alive. Could that breathing be him?

More groans. No, growls. Coming from the left. The right.

Not Trace. Eve’s own breath choked out. “Please, Cain,” she whispered, holding him tight, “I need the fire.” She needed to see. Had to see what was coming for them in the dark.

Something touched her hair. Eve whirled. She still had her gun. “Get back!”

Pain sliced across her back. Eve screamed. Something had … clawed her. “Stay away from us!” Cain wasn’t moving. Still breathing, but she knew he was hurt badly. Was he dying? “Cain?”

She felt the tightness of his muscles beneath her hand. He was trying to move, but he couldn’t. “Just a little fire,” Eve whispered. Begged. “I need to see …”

What’s coming for me.

She found his hand. Turned it over. Then, in the dark, her lips met his. She tasted blood on his lips. And he felt—cold.

Cain never felt cold.

“The fire,” she whispered against his mouth. “I need …”

A small spark sputtered to life in his hand. Like a weak candle lighting the room.

And revealing the monsters that waited for them.

Eve’s gaze swept to the left. To the right. She saw the fangs. The claws. The monsters coming. Just a few feet away. Waiting to pounce on her.

Too many.

Vampires.

These didn’t look like others she’d seen. They didn’t just have sharp canines—all of their teeth were razor sharp. And the nails breaking from their fingertips looked like long, black knives.

What the hell? This wasn’t the way vamps were supposed to look. This was something totally foreign to her.

“K-kill …” Cain rasped.

She lifted her gun. The bullets she had left might slow the vampires down, but it wasn’t going to stop them all.

She could still hear what she’d told Cain earlier. If a vamp ever tries to bite me again, I swear I’ll kill him myself. Eve had meant those words.

There were too many to kill. She wouldn’t be able to take them all out, no matter how hard she tried.

The vamps were ignoring Trace’s body. Because he’s already dead? They were focused only on her and Cain.

And on Cain’s blood. There was so much blood. She could feel it beneath her fingertips. With that faint light from Cain’s fire, she could see the broken bones in his arm. His twisted legs …

“Kill … me …” Cain whispered.

Her gaze flew to his face. “No!”

Another slice over her back. Eve screamed and turned back, firing her gun. A vampire cried out, the sound like an animal’s shrill cry of pain and rage.

She’d made a hit. How many bullets did she have left? Not enough.

“Come … back …” Cain’s voice. So low. Pain-filled. “I can … stop … them …”

Yes, the fire could burn through the vampires, she knew that. But I don’t want to be the one to kill Cain. She couldn’t be the one.

Another swipe of claws over her skin. Eve fired the gun. Caught another vampire and heard that same high-pitched cry.

“Eat …” A whisper from the darkness. From the vampires that were shuffling closer.

Her hands were shaking. “Stay away from us!”

“Kill me … Eve …” Cain’s voice. So weak. Broken. “Kill … me …”

But she couldn’t. She couldn’t look into Cain’s eyes and pull the trigger.

He’ll come back.

Cain’s body jerked. His breath rushed out.

Gulping. Slurping.

A vampire was drinking from Cain’s leg. Eve fired again. “Stay away from him!”

That feeding vampire fell back with a screech. But the others inched closer.

“My … fire …” Cain’s voice was weakening even more. He was hurt too badly. She knew he wasn’t going to survive much longer. Either her bullets took him out or he kept suffering. He kept facing agony as the vamps tried to drain him.

Her cheeks were wet. From blood or tears? Both. “I’m … sorry …” She couldn’t let the vampires eat his flesh. Not during these last desperate moments. She couldn’t do that to him.

“Come … back …” His words were a bare whisper. One she had to strain to hear as she leaned over him. “You … run … ”

She nodded.

“Don’t want to … hurt … you …”

But he wanted her to shoot him.

She lifted the gun to his heart. The fire in Cain’s hands was flickering, fading, and the vamps were closing in as the darkness spread once more.

Their claws reached her, tearing into her skin. Cain’s body jerked and shuddered, and Eve knew they were attacking him, too.

“I’m sorry,” she told him, crying hard, unable to stop her tears. Eve pulled the trigger.

“Remarkable,” Richard said as he watched Eve kill her lover. The gray images played before him on the screen, the gritty, night-vision surveillance cams making the forms of the vampires look like long, desperate shadows.

Shadows with glowing eyes. Shadows that were grabbing Eve. Poor Eve. She’d used her last bullet on Cain. She was still trying to fight back, but she couldn’t seem to summon any fire on her own.

Not like her mother.

How disappointing.

Flames began to flicker around Cain’s body. The regeneration process had begun, but the phoenix had better hurry. If he didn’t rise soon, Eve would be dead long before Cain was able to draw breath again.

“Taste … sweet …” Fangs tore into Eve’s shoulder, digging deep. She screamed at the pain and shoved the vampire back. She punched and she kicked, and the vampires still kept coming.

Since the gun was out of bullets, she used it like a club to hit them.

They weren’t near Cain anymore. The minute he’d died, they’d left his body, and come after her. She figured the bastards must like fresh meat. The kind of meat that was still alive.

Hurry, Cain, please, hurry …

“Drain you dry …” the vampire who’d bit her rasped as he came at her again.

Drain you dry …

Eve stiffened. Another vampire had said those words to her. So long ago. The night her parents had died.

The scent of smoke teased her nose. Yes. Smoke meant flames and flames meant … Cain was coming back to her.

Fire lit up the area, flashing as it consumed Cain’s body. The vampires jumped back, screaming.

Eve got a good look at the vampire who’d been trying so hard to make a meal of her.

All teeth. Giant eyes. Deadly claws. But … but there was something about his face, the curve of his jaw, the stark lines of his cheeks. She stared at him, heart racing, and realized—

I know him.

A girl never forgot the face of her nightmare.

The vampires were backing away from the fire, giving off screams that felt like they were going to shatter her eardrums.

“You wanted a bite?” Eve snarled to the vamp she remembered. The one who’d always haunted her. “Come and get it.” She grabbed him and fell back toward Cain—and the fire.

The vampire’s flesh ignited instantly, like dry leaves in a flash fire. The skin burned, the muscle … all melted away in an instant.

Eve was left holding ash in her hand as the fire burned brighter.

Some of the vampires were running down a long, dark tunnel on the left. So much damn darkness. Others were frozen, staring with gaping mouths and wide eyes at the orange and red flames.

The fire raged. Bigger. Brighter.

Cain stood up. He went right for the vampires who’d stayed behind. Touched them with his hands and they melted before him. One. Two. Three. They went down so quickly. Burned, burned.

Eve wanted to close her eyes. She hated to see the carnage and the smell …

It was choking her.

But she kept her eyes open. The vampires died quickly, but their screams seemed to linger in the air around her.

Then Cain turned to her.

Fire was at his feet, seeming to sputter out and fade away. He stared at her, and she could see the flames flickering in his eyes.

“Do you know me?” she whispered. On his last rising, he’d seemed so confused. Lost.

He stared at her. Stalked toward her. Eve’s back was pressed to the wall. The tunnel was a few feet away. But some of the vamps had escaped down that tunnel. If she ran that way, they could be waiting for her.

Cain’s eyes were locked on her, too bright with the flames that he stirred. “You …” His voice was dark, rumbling.

He recognized her. Eve’s breath left her in a rush. He knew who she was. He knew—

“You”—a muscle jerked in his jaw—“killed me.”

There was fury in his stare. So much dark rage. And deadly intent.

Eve glanced toward the dark tunnel once more. Cain had tried to warn her. She should have listened when he’d told her to run.

He reached for her.

I’m listening now.

She ducked under his arm and raced down the tunnel, but she could hear the thud of his footsteps as he followed her and she knew …

There’d be no escape.

“Run,” Richard whispered as he watched Eve flee.

Cain followed right after her. The phoenix didn’t bother running. He just slowly stalked his prey.

Why should he run? He’d track Eve down easily enough. It wasn’t like the tunnel had an exit. Eve would hit a dead end soon enough.

“Sir …” From the guard on Richard’s right. “Do we need to go down and follow them?”

Richard shook his head. “No need. There’s no way out of that tunnel.” It was why the vampires were trapped there. The area had proven to be the perfect prison for a particular failed experiment.

Richard glanced over at the guard. His eyes narrowed. The guy was sweating. Had it been the first time the man had seen a vamp get fried? If he stayed around Genesis, it sure wouldn’t be the last time he saw such a sight.

Richard was glad those particular vamps were gone. He’d figured that once Cain was tossed in their midst, the vamps wouldn’t last long.

That breed of vampires had proven to be a disappointment. An unfortunate experiment that had gone wrong. His father had made those beings. Tried to transform soldiers into an enhanced breed of vampires.

At first, the transformation had seemed to work. The soldiers who’d volunteered for the program had become stronger, bigger, and faster. Their senses had been better than any shifter. They’d been such great hunters. Perfect killers.

At first …

The genetic splicing had been flawed, though. The humans hadn’t been able to maintain the transformation, not at an optimum level.

The speakers on Richard’s right picked up the sound of a scream. Not the high-pitched cry of the vamps in that hole, but a woman’s cry. Eve.

His fingers tapped lightly over the keyboard. He’d counted on Cain to protect Eve when he’d dropped her into that hole. Cain had already risen once—all alone with Eve—and not attacked her, so Richard had thought Eve would be safe with him.

Maybe he’d thought wrong.

He glanced back at the monitor. “Send a team in. Bring the female out.” He needed her, and he couldn’t afford a miscalculation with her life.

“Yes, sir.” the guard replied readily enough, but then he hesitated. “Ah sir, just how far does that tunnel stretch into the mountain?”

Richard kept staring at the screen. He’d been in that tunnel once, a lifetime ago. Been trapped with the vampires. Another experiment. His father had always enjoyed those experiments.

Richard had hated the darkness. Hated the vampires all around him.

He’d been seven years old.

And he’d been the experiment then.

Don’t worry, son. They don’t want your blood. I’m sure of it. His father’s voice. And then he had just … pushed him into the dark. Pushed him into that pit with the vampires. I just have to test them. His father had left him with the monsters.

How long was I down there?

Richard swallowed back the memory. Shoved it back deep inside.

This lab, all of it, had been created by Jeremiah. The first Genesis lab. The original. The place that still housed so many secrets.

And plenty of failures. Failures that were hard to kill. Failures that had to be contained.

“The vamps made that tunnel,” Richard said. They’d clawed it, hacking their way through the dirt and rock over the years. Searching for a freedom they’d never find. “It ends in a wall of stone.” His father had made sure of that. No getting out, not for the pet project that had gone so horribly wrong.

Vampires who could never satisfy their hunger. More beast than man, their intelligence had begun to plummet just weeks after their transformation. His father had wanted to make a super soldier, a human with a vampire’s strengths and none of the creature’s weaknesses.

Instead, the soldiers had broken down. Their bodies and minds hadn’t been strong enough to survive the change for long. After a few months, they’d had all the vamps’ weaknesses.

And very few strengths.

They’d been such a disappointment to his father.

“My vamps are better,” Richard said, the words a dark growl. So much better.

“Uh, sir?”

Richard stiffened and glanced back. “Didn’t I tell you to get a team in there?”

“But … the phoenix, the vampire—”

“Use the tranqs on them and bring the girl out.” Cain could rot in that dark pit for a while longer, but Richard wanted to start harvesting eggs from Eve before the phoenix decided to kill her.

If he hasn’t already …

Eve wasn’t screaming anymore.