Eternal Flame

Chapter 10

They blindfolded him and, because Zane was playing the game, he let them do it. Nancy crawled into the car with him and sat to his right. He could smell her-the antiseptic scent of the hospital, stale cigarettes, and vanilla body lotion.

A man drove him. The same guy who had smiled apologetically and said he’d need to blindfold him. The guy barely looked older than eighteen, and he had sun-streaked blond hair, a little too long, and blue eyes.

The car snaked through the city. Turning left, right. At first, Zane tried to keep track of the turns, but the kid was fast. The car’s engine growled as he sped through New Orleans, taking them deeper into the heart of the Big Easy.

“When did you know what you were?” the kid asked, and the kid, he was a demon. Zane had caught a glimpse of his eyes, too. Before he blindfolded me.

“When I was sixteen.” Zane figured keeping as close as he could to the real truth about his past was the easiest way to go. Less chance of screwing things up that way. That was why he’d given Florence Nightingale the real deal about his past.

“I always knew,” the kid said. The car slowed, then stopped. Probably at a red light. “My dad never let me forget, not even for a moment, that I was different. He loved telling me how I was just like her.”

Behind the blindfold, Zane blinked. “Your mom was a demon?”

“Ummm…” The car picked up speed again. “She seduced my dad, then dropped me off and cut out of town. She left us both.” Bitterness. Pain.

Zane eased out a slow breath. “Maybe you were better off without her.”

The kid didn’t speak and Zane didn’t know what the hell else he was supposed to say.

“Why did you kill your father?” Nancy asked and the question fired right at his gut.

Can’t forget about her. “Because he deserved it.”

“When did you kill him?”

The truth. “When I was sixteen years old.”

The silence in the car grew thicker then. Darker. He could feel the tension, so thick it bore down on him like a lead weight until not-so-sweet Nancy said, “Good for you.”

The car braked again, but it wasn’t a slow stop. The demon up front killed the engine. “Welcome home,” the guy said.

Home? Not likely. More like welcome to hell.

If she wasn’t so good at hotwiring cars, Jana would have been shit out of luck. But if her correctional time had done anything for her, well, it had introduced her to a new group of friends.

Some of those friends had come from homes that were too much like her own. Homes where the mothers or fathers liked to use fists every night on their kids. Or they liked to touch … when and where they shouldn’t.

Once she’d gotten out of juvie, she’d made sure she helped her friends. Nothing lethal. They’d just wanted to send some messages. They hadn’t believed that she could start the fire with her mind. No, they’d just thought she was one world-class pyro, and they’d wanted her to use her skills to keep their monsters away.

Monsters. Sometimes, you just couldn’t escape them.

So she’d done her part. She’d watched out for them. When Lillie McGill-her “roommate” from juvie-had gotten out and headed home, Jana had tailed her. The first time Lillie’s father had come at Lillie with his fists, Jana used the fire to write STOP on the wall next to him.

She hadn’t killed him. Hadn’t even touched him with her flames. Her fiery message had been enough to send the guy scrambling to church and to rehab.

No, she hadn’t needed to let the flames lick his skin. Besides, back then, she’d been too scared to kill again.

Not that the fear had lasted long. Not once Perseus got ahold of her.

Lillie’s father found Jesus, though he didn’t realize the devil had been the one to send the message. He’d never touched his girl again, and Lillie had made sure that Jana had a first-class education on boosting cars.

Fair trade. Sure seemed like that now.

Jana kept the PT Cruiser in sight as it weaved through the streets. Since she’d been gone, Perseus had changed their location. They did that as part of their protection strategy. They changed locations every few months. Tricky bastards.

She kept a few cars between her and the other car. Not so many that she would lose sight of the Cruiser, and not too few because she didn’t want the folks in the Cruiser to see her.

They swept past the St. Louis cemetery and the white tombstones rose up past the wrought-iron fence, ghostly markers to map the trail to Perseus.

Her fingers tightened on the wheel as a shiver skated down her spine. She’d never been too fond of the cemeteries in New Orleans. Because she knew, unlike most of the tourists, that some of the dead could really come out and take a bite out of their unsuspecting prey. And with all those folks out there working their summoning spells-spells they thought were simply harmless games they’d read about in books-well, she knew better. Nothing harmless about them. She’d seen her share of walking nightmares.

More miles passed. They shot through a neighborhood. Looked so normal. Things always looked normal.

Then the houses began to disappear. The storm a few years ago had destroyed a lot here, and folks hadn’t rebuilt. Not that she blamed them, not one damn bit.

Where are we going? The car ate up more road. Some factories dotted the street now. Warehouses.

Finally, finally, the Cruiser pulled into the lot near a warehouse. Above the wooden doors, two white masks had been painted onto the red wood. One smiling, animated face; the other crying, with a tear drop sliding down the white cheek. Mardi Gras masks.

She drove past the building and made sure not to let her car slow for even a second. In her rearview mirror, she saw the driver climb out of the vehicle. Looked like a young guy. Perseus did like to recruit them young.

The guy glanced up and he stared after her car.

She didn’t accelerate. Didn’t zoom out of there with a squeal of tires. Jana just kept her speed nice and easy. She took a left at the corner, aware that her heart was slamming into her ribs. She’d find a place to stash the car, then she’d go back for Zane.

She knew where he was now. Knew exactly where Perseus was.

She smiled.

Guess who is coming home? Time to raise a little hell.

They took his blindfold off the minute the heavy metal doors swung shut behind him. Zane blinked, and his eyes adjusted almost immediately to the darkness. Handy little demon side effect. The darkness never hindered his vision.

Monsters surrounded him. Dragons with fire shooting from their mouths. Horned bulls the size of buses. An angry Poseidon sprang forth from the sea, with his trident up and ready to attack.

“It’s a float graveyard,” the kid said, shrugging. “Once the parades are over, you got to find some place to store ‘em.”

Zane glanced over at Nancy. Her hands were twisted in front of her. “I’m going to be leaving you soon.”

He’d make a point of seeing her again.

“Davey can take you in the back. He’ll introduce you to the folks who can help you.” Her breath heaved out on a sigh. “This is going to be good for you.” Her face and voice seemed so sincere. “This will be a whole new world.”

“I’m counting on it.”

She offered him a trembling smile, then her head inclined toward the kid. “Okay, Davey. You take him back there, then you can come and drive me to the hospital.”

Now that was odd. “Why don’t you come with us?”

Fear flashed in her eyes, just for a moment. “I-I need some air.”

Right. There was plenty of air to breathe right there. She turned away.

Davey waited with his brows up. “You ready?”

Hell, yes. Zane rolled his shoulders. He marched behind Davey, weaving through the floats. Dark, massive shadows hung in the air.

He heard the metal door open behind him, a loud screech of sound. Nancy-going to get her air? Davey stopped and turned back to face him. The guy pointed to another door on the left, a wooden one this time. “This is it.”

Fucking finally.

“Glad you’re here, man.” Davey flashed a tired, lopsided smile. “You’re … you’re like me. Good to know I’m not the only one.”

The only demon? Not even close.

“My old man said I was evil.” Davey’s chin lifted. “I’m not. We’re not. We couldn’t help the way we were born.” No, they couldn’t.

“We’re gonna change the world,” Davey said with a quick nod. “Make it so much better.”

Was that really what Perseus was telling its recruits? Because how did killing good people at Night Watch make the world better?

Davey pushed open the door, and Zane got ready to kick ass.

Getting inside the warehouse was easy. Too easy. Jana found a broken window on the left-hand side of the building and slipped right inside.

Then she hesitated because really that should have been harder. Especially if this was the new base camp for Perseus. It should have been …

“I was wondering how long it would take you to show up.”

Lights flashed on, a blinding explosion of illumination that lit up the warehouse. At the same instant, Nurse Nancy jumped from behind some boxes and grabbed Jana’s arm.

Jana charged up, ready to burn—

The nurse slammed a needle into her arm. “Didn’t really think I’d forget you, did you, Jana?” The smile on her face chilled Jana’s blood.

Jana wrenched back, but she could already feel the drug sliding through her veins. “How did—”

“I never forget a face.” Footsteps pounded as others jumped from the shadows. “And certainly not yours. Guess you could say it’s burned into my memory.”

She’d burn her all right. Jana stumbled and slid to her knees. Charge, come on, charge. She shoved the darkness back and demanded, “Where’s …”

“Your brother?” A laugh. Nancy had the syringe gripped tightly in her hand. “Or rather, the hunter Zane?”

Played.

“Don’t worry. We’ve got him just where we want him to be.”

Trap.

“No!” Charge. She felt the heat build in her body. Build…

And fire shot across the warehouse, seeming to burst from the giant green dragon’s mouth and lunge toward Poseidon.

Come on, come on. She didn’t have much left in her, but she wasn’t going down without a fight. The fire snaked forward and raced toward the two assholes in black who were lifting their guns toward her. Oh, no, they should know better, they should—

Water burst from the sprinklers overhead. Heavy, gushing waves of water that banked her fire even as she tried to stir it again.

“We planned for your arrival,” Nancy murmured.

Another guy in black-freaking guards, she’d never forgotten them-ran toward her through the smoke. Her body slumped as the drug spread through her blood. Can’t be happening.

Shit, sometimes it just didn’t pay to try and do the right thing. Next time, she was running and looking out just for number one.

Next time.

Jana sucked in a deep breath of air. One more charge. The asshole was closing in on her with his gun clutched in his fist.

The guy slammed the butt of his weapon against the side of her head. Right before her cheek hit the cement, she felt the fire escape, and she heard him scream.

When he heard the scream, Zane leapt to his feet. Good old Davey had dumped him in some kind of holding room- looked for all the world like an interrogation room at the Baton Rouge PD, complete with what Zane knew to be a two-way mirror-and he’d been biting back his rage and trying to keep his control.

Then he heard the scream. Zane ran for the door. He grabbed the handle and jerked-locked. Right, like that was gonna stop him. He jerked again, using some of the enhanced strength he usually kept carefully banked. The lock shattered and the door flew toward him.

He raced in the direction of that fading scream. His nose twitched. What the hell? Was that—

Smoke.

Jana. Had she come after him?

Davey jumped in front of him. “Wow! Man, wait, what are you doin'?”

He shoved past Davey. “Someone screamed.”

Davey grabbed his jacket. “The guards will handle it.”

“There weren’t any fucking guards there when we came in.” If there had been, he would have noticed them, he would have—

Davey laughed. “Sure there were, man. They’re chameleons, though. You don’t see them unless they want to be seen. You’re gonna find lots of strange folks here.”

Chameleons. Human chameleons. He’d heard about them. They could blend in with almost any background, could lower their heartbeats and respiration so much that they were often undetected, even by nearby shifters. Unless the atmosphere got damn hot, you couldn’t make a chameleon come out and play if he didn’t want to.

Unless it got hot…

He shook off Davey and rushed for that last door. “What are you doing?” Davey yelled. “Stay here, they’re watching—”

Oh, yeah, he just bet they were. He was at the door. This time, Zane didn’t bother with the lock, he just kicked out and the wood shattered.

So much for his cover.

He burst into the cavernous room. Water poured from the ceiling, pooling on the floor and mixing with the smoke. Through the downpour, he saw them. Nurse Nancy, grinning, holding a syringe, and three, no, four assholes in black, all standing in a circle around-around—

One of the assholes lunged forward and grabbed something. No, someone. He hefted Jana up in front of him and put his gun to her sagging head. “Take another step, demon, just one more …” The guy’s bulging eyes locked on Zane. The right side of his face was red and blistering. Jana had let him feel her fire before the bastard took her out. “And I’ll make sure she never opens her eyes again.”

He stilled and stared at the man. Long and hard. Marking him. Because he’d already seen the blood trickling down the side of Jana’s face.

“Good.” The chameleon smiled, the grin pulling at the burnt skin of his face. “Nice to know you realize who’s in charge.”

The fuck he did.

The sprinklers turned off abruptly and only small drops of water fell onto Zane’s head.

“You need to come back with me,” said a quiet voice from behind him. Zane glanced over his shoulder. Davey was there, gazing at him with demon black eyes. “Now. “

“Don’t worry,” the chameleon with a death wish said, “we’ll be bringing the fire bitch, too.” His wet hair stuck to his head.

“We wouldn’t think of leaving dear Jana behind,” Nancy added. “Not when she went to so much trouble to come and join our little party.”

Jana. “You knew who we were. The minute we walked into the hospital, you knew.”

She just stared back at him as drops of water slid down her face.

“Why the hell did you bring me here? So you can try to kill me?” He lifted his chin. “Come try and take your best shot.” If he could distract the chameleons, maybe he would have a chance of getting Jana free.

But no one took his bait, and Nancy, well, she blinked and looked confused. “Why would we want to kill you?” She walked toward him. Her eyes were all wide and fakely earnest. “We want you to join us.”

And she was bat-shit crazy.

“If you don’t help us, then we’ll make sure that your lover”-her eyes cut to Jana—“begs for death.” Wasn’t she Miss Sweet Sunshine.

“Come with me,” Davey said again, with steel in his voice. “Come willingly or we’ll drug you, too.” He spun around at that. “The hell you will.”

“I will.” Davey lifted a gun. Now where had the kid gotten that? He’d been unarmed before.

Zane wondered if he could move fast enough. He couldn’t blast the guy. Usually a demon’s power wouldn’t work on another demon, so he wouldn’t be able to take Davey out psychically but—

“Don’t try it,” Davey advised. “This drug’s a new mix. The last demon we shot didn’t survive even an hour before the darkness took him.”

Zane weighed him. Davey didn’t look quite so clueless and young anymore.

“We want you alive, Wynter,” Davey said. “But if you fight us”-his lips pulled down—“then you’ll both die.”

Aw, the guy sounded like he’d regret that. But he’d still kill us.

Davey held out his hand. “Give me your phone.”

His phone had a tracker in it from Night Watch. They would have followed him after his last call. They’d already know about this place. Zane pulled out his phone and tossed it to the kid. Davey caught it and instantly smashed the phone in his grip. “Now head to the back. We’ll be going out the southside exit. There’s another car waiting for us.”

What?

Davey lifted one brow. “You didn’t think this was really headquarters, did you? We’re barely above sea level here. Those rooms you saw, that’s all we got here, but the loading area in the back makes for a perfect getaway so no one sees us leave.” The barrel of the gun lowered. “Guess you could say this place is our testing grounds.”

Bastard. Smart.

“Now let’s get the hell out of here.” Davey glanced at the chameleons. “And, shit, Nancy, do something about that one’s face.”

“We lost him,” Pak said, his voice carrying easily over the phone to Antonio. “His signal just went dead.”

Hell. Antonio glanced over at Jude. The tiger shifter had both hands locked on the wheel. “Give me his last location.”

“A warehouse on Bienville, number 8-1-2.” A pause. “I don’t like this, Tony.”

Join the club.

“If those assholes who torched my building have him …”

“Then they’ve picked the wrong demon to screw with,” Jude said, his shifter hearing easily picking up Pak’s words. “Because no one messes with Zane and gets away with it. The bastard is more lethal than they can imagine.”

“Tell Jude to watch his ass,” Pak said in Antonio’s ear. “These bastards seem to have a hard-on for hunters and the last thing I want them to get is a tiger’s pelt.”

Jude’s knuckles whitened. “Not gonna happen.”

“You’re the contact man on this, Tony,” Pak told him. “They trust humans, so if anyone can get past their guards, it’ll be you.”

Great. No pressure.

“The FBI left town right after you,” Pak continued, “so watch out for them. You’ll have company soon.”

Jude’s borrowed car hurtled forward. “We’ll make sure everyone feels welcome.”

Doubt that.

“I did some research that I thought you might find interesting.”

The soft, sly tone in Pak’s voice immediately had Antonio stiffening.

“Seems that Special Agent Kelly Thomas has a personal grudge against Jana Carter.”

“Yeah, tell me something I don’t know.”

“Okay.” A brief pause. “She’s got that grudge because Jana killed her brother. Seems he was one of the scientists working at Perseus when Jana burned the lab in New Orleans.”

Oh, hell. “Was he undercover?” Because if Jana had killed an FBI agent, the woman was more screwed than he’d thought.

“That I don’t know.”

Of course. Things couldn’t be that easy.

“Dee’s checking that angle now. Once we know something, you’ll know.”

Dee? Dee Daniels was back working with Night Watch? If she was back in business, they could sure use her backup. Nothing like having an all-powerful vampire on your side when things got bad.

“I want this group taken down.” Intensity fueled Pak’s words. “We hunt the ones who are evil, who’ve crossed the line. We don’t destroy the innocent.”

Antonio exhaled. They just had to hurry and get to New Orleans. “Don’t worry, we’ll get them.”

“Just don’t let them get you.”

Zane held Jana during the van ride. He didn’t give the asshole chameleon a choice. When he was close enough, Zane just grabbed her and held her tight.

The chameleon sneered at him, the right side of his face blistering even more.

Davey joined them in the back of the van. Three armed chameleons, the nurse, and Davey all sat in the back. What a fun group.

Jana’s breath rustled against Zane’s throat. She was alive. That was the only reason the chameleons were still living then.

His gaze tracked back to the burned chameleon. He stared at him, feeling the burn of his rage, and for the first time, Zane let his power surge straight into the mind of a human.

The chameleon’s face-except for that fiery cheek-went stark white. His eyes bulged even more and his breath wheezed out.

“Don’t.” The warning came from Davey. “Don’t even think about killing him.”

Because he could. It would be so easy. With a stray thought, he could kill the chameleon. He was strong enough. The idiots didn’t understand just who they had in their midst.

“Don’t want him to die,” Zane murmured. Not yet. “I just want him to suffer.” And he looked deeper into the man’s mind. Jeremy, that was his name.

A high-level demon could easily manage mind control over a human. Zane had never enjoyed the sport because he’d watched what his father had done with that particular power. Watched his mother be abused and tortured from the inside out.

He’d never thought he’d force his way inside a human’s mind, but …

But the bastard had been ready to pull that trigger. He’d wanted to pull it. Jeremy’s thoughts were right there for him to see and feel. Clear as day. The chameleon hated Jana. He’d wanted to put that bullet in her brain more than he’d wanted his next breath.

“You don’t like her because you’re afraid of the fire,” Zane whispered to the bastard. “But you don’t understand. That little kiss she gave you on the cheek is nothing compared to what I can do.” What I’m going to do. He blasted the last thought into Jeremy’s head.

Blood trickled from Jeremy’s nose.

“Get out of his head,” Davey ordered, grabbing Zane’s hand. “Get out or I’m taking her away from you.” Try.

The van braked. The door at the front squeaked open. Zane held his grip on Jeremy’s mind, just a little bit longer. “He doesn’t like you, kid,” he said to Davey. “He thinks demons are too high up on the food chain. At the first chance, he’ll stab you in the back or slit your throat.” It was true. Maybe Davey wasn’t strong enough to get inside the chameleon’s mind or maybe he’d just stayed out because they were both supposed to be on the same twisted side, but the chameleon planned to come gunning for Davey.

For every demon he could find.

“Bastards … killed my f-family….” More blood leaked from Jeremy’s nose. “D-deserve to …”

“Jeremy. “ Nancy jabbed a needle into his arm. Ah, Nancy and her needles. He’d have to watch out for her. Jeremy shuddered, then slumped to the side. The connection ended in an instant.

Davey shoved open the back doors of the van. “Let’s take the party inside.”

Moving carefully, keeping a tight hold on Jana, Zane climbed from the van. One glance and he knew they were outside the city. The swamp. The smell hit him even as the insects chirped, their calls filling the air. The thick, twisting trees of the swamp surrounded them. Two big, metal buildings stretched across the terrain, half hidden by trees and the fog.

“This way.” Davey turned and didn’t even glance back to see if Zane followed.

But with the goon squad behind him, all brandishing their weapons, it wasn’t like he had much of a choice. Well, he did, actually. He just wasn’t taking over this game until he saw all the players up close and real personal. Who waited in those buildings?

“We’ll send someone back for Jeremy.” Ah, so Nancy didn’t care about leaving her pit bull behind. Figured.

Zane tightened his hold on Jana and headed for the first building.

“You’re giving yourself away, you know.” Davey still wasn’t looking back, and his voice was whisper soft. Just for Zane’s ears. “When you show you care about something, someone, it can make you weak.”

“I’m not weak.”

Davey stopped in front of the building. Two guards were there, with guns holstered at their hips. Zane noticed the video cameras then. Set up for surveillance all around the perimeter.

“This used to be an army training area. For training Uncle Sam didn’t want the world to know about.” Davey tossed him a cold smile. “Perseus … inherited the facility when the U.S. government forgot about it.”

Bullshit.

They went inside the facility and headed down a long, winding hallway. More cameras. Motion sensors. Figured. Big Brother was definitely watching. After a while, they stopped in front of a shining black door.

“You’re gonna be given a chance in here.” Davey’s shoulders were tense as he stared at Zane. “I’d advise you not to blow it.” Then he knocked softly on the door.

A feminine voice told them to “Come in,” and Zane stepped into the spider’s web.

A blond spider. A pretty spider with dark brown eyes, an elfin face, and a broad smile. A spider who also happened to have raised, red scars on the back of her right hand and the side of her face.

I burned the bitch.

So he’d found his prey. “I guess you’re Beth Parker.”

“I am.” Her head inclined toward him. “And you’re a hard man to catch, Zane Wynter.” She walked around the desk. Her gaze dipped, just for a moment, to Jana’s still body. “But I knew with the right bait, we’d be able to lure you in.”

The right bait was standing in front of him. “Let me guess … you and your team just got back from Baton Rouge.”

She smiled. “And we just missed you … thanks to those idiots with the FBI.”

“You missed me at Night Watch, too.” Every muscle in his body was tight, but his voice was easy and soft. “But I think you got a few of my friends.”

Beth shrugged. “Unfortunate collateral damage.”

What. The. Fuck.

“Jana was our target, and we had to make certain she wouldn’t find any sympathetic authorities in your area.”

“You killed five people.” And what was up with that subtle emphasis she’d put on “was our target"?

Beth stared at him. Didn’t blink. Davey shut the door behind them. “There was ample time for escape. The super-naturals should have moved faster.” She shrugged again, as if to say: Not my fucking fault they didn’t get out.

“You know, we could have killed you at the Mardi Gras warehouse.” Her teeth were white and a little sharp for a human’s. Her smile was just cold. “But we let you live. Do you wonder why?” Her gaze darted to Jana. She sighed a bit, roughly. “Why don’t you put her down on the couch? There’s no sense holding—”

Jana stirred against him, then her body tensed. He glanced down and saw her lashes flutter open. Confusion and a haze of pain cloaked the blue depths. “Zane?”

“It’s okay, baby.”

“No,” Beth said clearly, “it’s really not.”

Jana’s eyes widened in understanding, and she jerked against him, tumbling from his arms. She staggered and managed to land on her feet, but she kept a death grip on his arm. “You.”

“Hi, Jana.” Beth’s smile dimmed a bit. “Glad you finally came home.”

He felt the fury vibrate through Jana’s body, and he expected fire to erupt in a blaze across the room. Nothing happened.

“The drug slows the charge,” Beth said, as if reading his mind. “She won’t be able to fire up for some time.”

“I don’t need to fire up—” Jana lurched forward. “I can still kick your ass!”

Davey grabbed her, catching both of Jana’s arms, and pinning them behind her back.

Zane lunged, ready to rip that kid apart.

“Easy.” Beth held up her hands. “There’s no need for this to turn violent, not when I want to help you both.”

Help them?

Jana stopped fighting against Davey. Her eyes were trained on Beth.

Beth’s gaze was on Zane. “You’re something special, aren’t you?” she murmured. “I didn’t see it at first. Didn’t realize … not until I saw you at Dusk.”

Oh, hell, she knew what he could do.

“What are you on the power scale?” she asked. “Nine, a ten?”

Zane didn’t answer, but he decided it was time he let his power out. Time to rip into Beth’s head and tear Perseus apart.

“Won’t work.” The faintest of lines appeared around those doll eyes of hers. She tapped her temple with her index finger. “I’ve got a spell in place to keep you out. Once I knew how strong you were, I figured I’d better call out the big guns.”

“Zane?” Jana’s soft voice. Lost. Confused.

But he knew she wasn’t lost. The woman was just biding her time as she planned her next move. Damn, he loved that about her. She was a fighter. In a few more seconds, he knew she’d be going after Beth.

Provided he didn’t beat her to the punch.

“It’s rare that a hybrid demon has your strength.” Beth studied him like he was some kind of bug. No, an experiment. To her, that’s probably all he was. “You know that makes you a valuable commodity.” Her head tilted back. The better to watch him. “And to think, I originally thought Jana was the prize. I didn’t realize what I’d found in you.”

“Oh? Is that why you gave your goons the all clear to kill me when they slammed their semi into us that night?”

The woman didn’t blink. “Back then I thought you were expendable.”

Great. Expendable.

“Here at Perseus, we put humans first. Jana’s a human, so she was the priority.”

There it was again. Only the emphasis wasn’t so subtle on the ”was the priority.”

Beth sauntered toward him. The woman actually put one of her fire-engine-red nails on his chest. “You have all of a demon’s strengths, but inside, where it matters, you’re human.” She stared up at him. “You’ve killed demons before. You killed your own father.”

He was aware of Jana stiffening in Davey’s hold.

“You kill them, you hunt them.” Beth let her hand fall away. “Because you hate them, don’t you? You want to wipe the bastards off the earth.”

Well, wasn’t she a warm Christmas card greeting. “I am a demon.”

“Your mother was human. That wasn’t some bullshit cover story that you fed Nancy. It was the truth.”

So she’d done her homework on him. Was he supposed to be impressed?

“Zane?” A different note had entered Jana’s voice. One he hadn’t heard before, but he could still identify it. Worry.

“Your father killed her,” Beth said. “He showed you just what those freak demons are at their core. But you showed him just how strong humans can be. Because it was your human side that fought back.”

Her smile was too satisfied as she continued. “It’s your human side that let you walk through the door. We want that human side. We want you.”

He laughed then. He couldn’t help it. “You actually think I’m gonna work for Perseus? Lady, you’re out of your mind.”

“Uh, yeah, Zane, she is,” Jana said.

Beth’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t think you understand. You’re a wanted man right now. The FBI is after you, and the Baton Rouge PD thinks you were involved in the arson at Night Watch. They think you’ve been working with your lover, Jana Carter, a known criminal, to set a series of fires in Baton Rouge and New Orleans.”

She paused and glanced over at Jana. “Just so you know, there was another fire in New Orleans tonight. Witnesses will say they saw you at the bar right before it burned. You and

Wynter.”

“It’s their M.O., Zane.” Jana’s lips tightened. “They make their recruits become the hunted. Make them run out of options.”

“No.” Beth said this instantly. “I’m not trying to make you run out of options—”

“Bullshit, Beth!” Jana fired back. “You took every one of my options away. You set me up for fires, and you turned me into a wanted woman!”

Beth inhaled a deep breath. “You set the first three fires.” One blond brow rose. “You’re not innocent, Jana. Don’t pretend to be for your new lover.” Then Beth made a mistake. She sauntered too close to Jana.

Oh, he saw it coming even before Jana shoved back against Davey with her upper body and slammed both feet into Beth’s stomach.

The blonde doubled over, gagging. Davey swore and hauled Jana back.

“Get her out!” Beth lifted her head. Her eyes glittered with fury. “Put her in containment.” Her gaze darted to Zane. “Put them both in there. Let them calm the hell down.”

“I’m plenty calm!” Jana shouted. “Calm enough to kick your ass even without the fire, calm enough to—”

“The last time I had you on my table, you were begging to live.” Beth’s scarred hand was over her stomach, and her eyes were icy cold. “You’ll be begging again soon enough.”

Jana’s chin notched up. “And you’ll be burning.”

Beth’s lips trembled, a small move, and he knew that she understood Jana’s words were a promise.

“Can you still feel the fire on you, Beth?”

“Get her out!”

“Can you?”

“Out!”

They were thrown in a meat locker. Well, that’s what it felt like to Zane anyway. A small, tight, metal room, with the temperature set to chill.

“Bastards,” Jana snarled even before Davey swung the door shut. A four-inch-thick steel door. She glanced over her shoulder at Zane. “Can you get us out of here?”

He let his powers push out, let them ease against the door and he immediately felt the containment field. “They’ve had a witch here.”

“Of course they have.” She shoved her hair out of her eyes. Her hand shook. “Probably the same witch who’s protecting Beth from you. Did she set up a field around the room?”

He nodded. “I can’t get out.” Flat. Well, technically, he could get out, but not without his psychic blast hurting her, maybe killing her, because in order to overcome the spell, he’d have to let his power surge through at full level.

He walked closer to Jana and skimmed his hand carefully down her bruised cheek. The bruise would be there for days. Humans. It took them so long to heal.

She flinched at his touch.

His gaze held hers. “Why did you follow me?”

She swallowed.

“You could have run.”

The blue of her eyes seemed so deep and dark. “And left you alone?” Her shoulders dropped a bit. “No. I couldn’t do that.” She brought her body close to his. “You know they have cameras on us. They’ve got this room wired for sound and video.”

He couldn’t see the cameras but he believed her.

“They’re watching us. Waiting for us to make a mistake.” Her voice dropped lower. “They like to use your weakness against you.”

Davey already thought he knew Zane’s weakness.

“I came back,” she said, her voice clear and loud. “Because Perseus ruined my life.”

True. But … her eyes said something different. I wasn’t leaving you alone.

“Are you really a hybrid?” she asked him.

His back teeth clenched. “Yes.”

Jana nodded. “And a level ten?”

That he wouldn’t answer. Not with those cameras on them.

She leaned up on her toes and pulled his head down toward her. Her lips feathered over his lips as she breathed, “Come in…”

Wrong time, wrong damn place, but at those words, a hot surge of need fired his blood. Her body was close, pressing so softly against his, and her rich scent was all around him.

But she’d been hurt. Drugged. And he fucking wasn’t planning on performing for an audience.

“Come in,” she whispered again. “I need you to see … me. “

It took a moment for the real meaning of her words to sink in, but then he understood. She wasn’t talking about sex. Not talking about pleasure.

She knew how strong level-ten demons were, and she was giving him permission to go inside her mind. Come in. Giving him permission to learn her every secret, her every thought.

I need you to see … me.

Jana eased back and stared up at him.

Come in.

His power wouldn’t work against the spell locking them in the room, but there was nothing locking him out of her. So Zane took a breath, stared into her eyes, and went in.

Straight into the fire.