Eternal Flame

Chapter 16

Aw, hell, but she had bad luck. “I don’t need this now,” Jana said. Zane’s hands were steel tight around her. “I don’t need—”

“Do you think I give a shit what you need?” Kelly snapped at her.

“You can’t take her in.” Zane’s voice vibrated with fury. “She’s clear on those arsons. Your boss knows that. Miller isn’t after her. You’re supposed to be standing the fuck down.”

“I was.” The woman’s smile looked like a shark’s. “Then you and the Ignitor had to go and start killing again.” She shook her head but her gun didn’t waver. A long, black silencer covered the end of the weapon. Not a good sign. “I found that poor man’s body on your porch tonight. What was his crime, hmm?”

“We didn’t kill Marcus,” Jana said, aware that her breath came too fast. A silencer? The agent had really gone over the edge.

“Marcus.” Kelly repeated the name sadly. “On a firstname basis with your victim? So you knew him, and you killed him.” “We didn’t—”

“He was dead when I found him.” Zane’s thundering voice cut across Jana’s words. He edged forward, placing his body between hers and the special agent’s. “Jana didn’t hurt him, and neither did I.”

“Right. I’m supposed to believe that.”

Guess everyone was having trouble with trust tonight.

“You’re not taking her in.” Zane shook his head. “She’s off the list. Agent Miller doesn’t want her. You’re not—”

“Screw what Miller wants. I’m taking you both in.” That gun still didn’t waver, and Jana was real tired of it being pointed at them.

“I’d like to see you try,” she threw at the agent. “You really think you can take us both down?” Kelly didn’t know about her power loss. The agent would think she was as fire strong as always. And Zane, well, he was strong. Far stronger than the agent. “You’re out of your league, Special Agent.”

“The hell I am.”

“You know what I can do,” Zane said softly. “Don’t make me show you again.”

“I’m a federal agent. You can’t threaten me.” Um, he could and had.

Kelly’s voice pitched higher as she said, “I’m taking you both into custody until this mess is sorted out.”

“No,” Zane told her quietly. “You’re not. You don’t understand what’s happening here. You don’t realize—”

“I realize some poor guy is dead on your doorstep. I know Jana’s a killer, and her lover-well, it looks like he is, too.” She drew in a deep, shuddering breath. “Cuff her.”

Jana blinked. “Um, what?”

“Screw this,” Zane snarled. He was fully in front of her now, shielding her with his body. Jana felt the hot rush of his power in the air. A hard buzzing filled her ears, like a thousand bees. Her knees began to sag, and her vision blurred.

“I’m not going out easily this time, demon,” Kelly said. “You won’t get to me so fast. You’ll just take her out.”

Zane’s head jerked back around, and he stared at Jana with wide eyes. Demon eyes. Eyes so dark. Eyes that had seen into her.

“I wasn’t prepared for you before,” Kelly said. “I am now. My stepbrother believed in sharing his findings with me. He studied the monsters, and he told me how to fight ‘em.”

Bitch. “Not monsters,” Jana managed.

“Yeah, you are. Now cuff her or I’ll shoot you both.” Jana couldn’t see the agent, but Kelly sure sounded close. “The bullet will blast right through you, Wynter. Through you, and into her. You’ll survive. Odds are good she won’t.”

Silence hummed for a moment. Then Zane was there, catching her wrist, his fingers warm around the flesh. She felt the cold bite of metal and heard the soft click of the cuff locking.

“We’ve been here before,” she whispered as the buzzing slowly faded from her ears. His magic cuffs. Unbreakable. Whatever happened, they’d be together. The Feds wouldn’t hurt him. They might want her head on a platter, but the Bureau wouldn’t take out a hunter. Pak wouldn’t let them.

“This is going to hurt you,” he whispered, and the words feathered against her ear as he leaned in close, almost as if he were kissing her. “But I’m not letting her take us out of this lot. I’m taking her out.”

Sounded like one fine plan to her. “Guess I’ll see … how strong you are,” she breathed the words back at him. Jana pressed her face into his neck and inhaled his scent.

You don’t really want to see this.

The words drifted through her mind. His words.

Jana frowned. “What—”

His fingers slid over her cheek. “I’m sorry.” Then he spun around. “Now what? We’re—”

“Step to the side, demon. I want to see her face.”

But Zane shook his head. “No. Put down the fucking gun. If you don’t”-he exhaled on a heavy breath—“you’ll wish you had.”

Thunder echoed in Jana’s ears. No, not thunder. Gunshot. The agent had shot Zane! “No!”

But he laughed. Laughed. And the bees were back in her head. Buzzing like crazy. The earth seemed to roll and tilt, shaking beneath her. Jana fell to the ground, and the cuffs jerked on her hand.

“That the best you got?” Zane taunted. “Cause it’s not even close to being good enough.”

Rising to her knees, Jana caught a glimpse of the agent’s face-right before Kelly was lifted into the air by unseen hands and tossed back five feet. She crashed into the bumper of a patrol car.

“I told you to put the gun down.” He took a step forward. “I’m done with warnings.”

The ground was bucking and rolling again. Lightning streaked across the sky, and Jana grabbed tight to Zane’s hand. “Hold on, Zane, just—” His blood was on the ground. Around her. Her back teeth locked. “We can—”

“Zane!” The cop’s voice. Tony barreled out of the building with his gun drawn. He took in the scene with a quick glance. Blood. Cuffs. Woman sprawled over the back of the squad car.

Kelly started laughing then. What the hell was up with the laughter?

But then Zane stumbled. His body shuddered and Jana’s heart seemed to stop.

Kelly had shot him, but with what? The agent’s gun lay on the ground, dropped, forgotten.

Zane lifted his right hand toward Kelly, and her laughter cut off. Her face drained of color, and she started gasping for breath. Desperate, she clawed at her throat.

“Let her go,” Tony said flatly. “I’m here, man. I’ve got her. She’s not going to hurt you or your lady again.”

But Zane didn’t let her go. Kelly’s body started bucking on the car. Long, thin, bloody scratches appeared on her arms.

“Zane, let her go,” Jana whispered, worried, really worried, for him. Because this wasn’t Zane. He didn’t attack this way. He took his opponent down, he didn’t … torture. She grabbed his chin, and jerked his face toward her. “Let her go!”

His eyes. They flickered wildly from green to black. Again. Again. “Zane?” Fear threaded through his name.

His eyes squeezed shut. Kelly sucked in a deep, hard breath. “Knew … i-it …” she gasped.

Screw her. Jana pressed a fast kiss to his cold lips. Zane. “We’ll get the bullet out, and you’ll be fine. You hear me? Everything’s—”

“Get away from me.”

She blinked at him.

“Get. Away. “ His hands came between them. He tried to shove her back.

But the cuffs weren’t letting her go anywhere.

“Where’s the key?” she whispered, but the only answer she got was the roar that burst from his lips. A roar that shook her and shattered the night.

Then the green bled totally from his eyes, leaving only the black, and Jana knew she was in trouble.

“What did you shoot him with?” The shouted words came from Tony. “What did you use?”

Jana couldn’t look away from Zane. Not from that darkness.

“M-my brother … he made something sp-special for the demons.” Kelly’s voice was ragged, so strained, but satisfied. “It’ll rip his mind apart.”

Drugs. Zane’s father had been lost to the drugs. He’d killed Zane’s mother because of his addiction. Zane hated the drugs. He’d hate this.

Her left hand-the uncuffed hand-lifted and feathered over his cheek. “I’m sorry. Just hold on.” They’d weathered a storm like this before. They could get through it again.

A trickle of blood slipped from his nose. He smiled at her. Not Zane’s smile. Too … cold. Too cruel.

Not like Zane.

“Where’s the key?” she whispered again. “Not… leaving …“

“He doesn’t h-have the k-key!” Kelly yelled. Jana forced her stare to find the bleeding agent. Tony had a death-grip on Kelly’s arm, and he was trying to cuff her. “I stole it from his car while you were in-inside. H-hid it-you’ll never find it!”

Okay, the agent was getting on her last nerve. Feeling sorry for a woman could only last so long.

Kelly smiled at her. No, more of a baring of her teeth. “He’s going to … k-kill … you.”

Zane’s breath blew over Jana’s neck. A shiver skated down her spine. Then his mouth pressed against her skin, and the edge of his teeth bit into her neck.

“Tear her f-fucking throat open!” Kelly screamed.

“Shut the fuck up!” Tony roared back at her.

The bite became painful. Not a lover’s nip. More. Her hands flattened on his chest. “You’re going to be okay—”

“Rip her-“ Kelly’s words ended in a gurgle. Jana was still staring at her, and she saw the agent’s eyes roll back into her head. Kelly slammed forward, breaking free of Tony’s grasp and ramming her head into the cement. She didn’t get up.

Zane.

He licked her neck. His head lifted, and he stared at her. Then he ripped her shirt open. With just a thought.

“Shit!” Tony’s feet pounded toward them. “Man, what are you doing? You can’t—”

Tony jolted to a stop, then he flew forward, his body slamming into the thick concrete wall. Like a puppet on a string.

Not Zane. Not her Zane. This wasn’t him. ”No!” Her scream echoed in that cold night. “Zane, stop!”

This time, he was the one to laugh, and that laughter chilled her to the bone. The good guy was totally gone. The demon was in charge, and he was staring at her with blood-lust in his eyes.

He’s going to k-kill you.

Oh, damn, it sure looked like he just might.

Jude Donovan caught the scent of blood in the air. It was a scent that called to him, that tempted him, and one that made the beast inside salivate. Catalina was in sight, and even though the witch was all but flying down the street, she wouldn’t be able to get away from him. He was faster.

But that blood … He turned his head a bit. The scent came from behind him. His nostrils flared. Back to the left.

Where he’d left Zane and his Ignitor.

Hell.

He cast one final glance at Catalina. She was running as if wolves were after her. Or maybe as if a tiger shifter were on her tail. Smart woman.

The blood.

The tiger inside roared, and so did the man. He spun away and thundered back down the road, running after that sweet smell, sucking it deep inside, and pounding across the pavement as he raced back to Zane and Jana.

Blood.

He cut through an alley. Jude came up in the back of the squat, cement building, and he saw Tony ram into the wall.

Jude’s fangs burned in his mouth and his claws burst out. Tony might be an ass sometimes, but nobody hurt his friend, not even—

Zane. Shit.

Jude snapped his teeth together. No, no, this wasn’t right.

“Fight it,” he heard Jana say, her hands tight on the demon. Were they handcuffed together? Again? “I know the drugs are strong, but you can do this, you can.”

Drugs. No, no, Zane and drugs did not mix. The guy never even touched a cigarette because he was too afraid of the addiction, and of the darkness that the addiction brought.

“Zane!” he barked out his name, hoping to get his friend’s attention.

Zane’s body stiffened. Jude felt a rush of hot wind against his body, and he clenched his muscles. Zane’s head turned toward him, a slow, gliding move, almost like a snake’s. Those eyes …

Oh, dammit. Jude stepped forward. If I ever turn like my old man, kill me. Zane’s quiet voice from so long ago. A late night at Delaney’s bar when secrets had come out. Secrets about drugs, demons, and death. Promise me, you’ll hunt me.

“No!” Jana screamed just as that hot wind rushed against Jude again. This time, that wind picked Jude up like he was a rag doll, and he hurtled through the air. Fuck, fuck, fuck. He lifted his arms and protected his head right before his body thudded into the concrete wall at the back of the building.

“No, Zane! Stop, he’s your friend!”

But Zane wasn’t gonna be stopping. Didn’t she realize? Zane wasn’t in control right then.

I-I never want to be like him. Him. Zane’s father. The murdering bastard who had slaughtered Zane’s mother.

The tiger snarled inside as the shift pressed ever closer. It would be so easy to change. To let that burning fire of the tiger consume him. Attack. Kill. Protect.

But if he shifted … he and Zane … dammit, one of them wouldn’t survive.

The hot rush of air came at him again.

One of them might not survive now. Jude’s claws scraped across the cement as he shoved back to his feet. His gaze darted to the left. To the long, thick metal pole that secured the side of that trash bin.

“Zane! Don’t hurt him! Listen to me, listen … ”

The demon wouldn’t listen. The demon would destroy. Trapped to him, bound by those cuffs, the woman was helpless. Unless she used her fire.

Why the hell hadn’t she used her fire?

The same reason I haven’t used my tiger.

Because this was Zane.

His fingers wrapped around that bar. Zane was kissing the woman, holding her tight, caging her body against his even as his power filled the air. He’d never seen the demon let loose so much energy. Lightning crackled across the sky and streaked far too close to earth. Too close to Zane.

The metal screamed as Jude ripped it free. He saw Zane tense at the sound, saw him try to jerk up, but Jana grabbed him and held tight. “Don’t let me go!” She held the demon’s head in her hands. “Don’t!”

She was all the distraction he needed. Jude lunged forward and slammed the bar into the back of Zane’s head.

When Zane fell, he took her to the ground with him. Gasping, shuddering, Jana hit hard and her body shrieked a protest back at her.

Zane’s eyes were closed, and his black lashes cast shadows on his cheeks. “Zane?”

“He won’t be out long.” The hunter. Jude. He’d gotten up fast. He grabbed for the handcuffs and tried to yank them apart.

“It’s not going to work,” she whispered, feathering her fingers over Zane’s face. “You know they’re enchanted. The agent took the key. Without it …” She let the sentence trail off. He knew what would happen. There’d be no separating her from Zane.

Not that she planned to leave him. Not now.

He’d tried to tell her to leave, before the drugs swept through him. Tried to warn her away.

Why? So he could face the darkness alone?

Jude dropped her hand and ran for Kelly. He pulled the agent up. Jana saw her head dip and sag. Jude drove his hands in the pockets of her jeans.

Jana shook her head. The agent was too smart to have just pocketed the keys. She’d planned this too well.

He’ll k-kill you.

The agent had planned, all right. She probably thought it was the perfect ending for Jana. Killed by her lover.

Jana’s fingers curled around Zane’s arms. “Help me.”

The shifter kept struggling with the agent’s limp body. Thanks to that header into the concrete, Kelly would be out for a long time. Too long.

But Zane … he healed fast. She licked her lips. ”Help me.”

Jude’s head snapped toward her. She caught a glimpse of his fangs. His claws. Jana could clearly see the indecision on his face. He thought she wanted him to attack Zane.

Jude shook his head. “I can’t—“

“We have to secure him.” Her fingers were light on Zane’s flesh. “He’s going to wake up soon.” A few minutes. If she knew her demons, and she did know them pretty well, he’d probably be out no more than five minutes, tops. While he was out, the drug would finish pumping through his body. When he woke up … She swallowed. “We need a room he can’t escape. He can’t be near anyone. He’ll … hurt them.”

Kill.

She rose and struggled to pull Zane with her. ”Help me,” she said again, and this time, the shifter was there. He grabbed Zane and hoisted him up.

Tony groaned as he began to rouse. Still alive. Good. For a minute there, she hadn’t been so sure.

The shifter tossed Zane over his shoulder and carried him easily. Jana stumbled right behind them, the handcuffs pulling her in their wake. They went back inside. Down to the basement.

“A normal room isn’t going to work. He’ll be able to get out, he’ll—”

“This used to be a psych hospital, before the city took the building.” Jude entered a room to the right. No windows. Thick walls.

“The door is reinforced steel. It only locks from the outside.”

He lowered Zane to the floor. Jana slid down to his side.

“I’m not leaving you in here with him.” Jude’s eyes were too bright, glittering. I can see the beast he carries so clearly now.

“You are.” Her words sounded confident, almost cocky. With those shifter senses, though, she bet the guy could hear how fast her heart was racing. Could he even smell her fear? “Lock us in. Then go find the witch. She can break the cuffs.” Not that Jana planned to leave him, even then.

Jude eyed the door, and then looked back at her. “No damn way that lock will hold him. Zane is strong. He’ll blast right through it.”

Her fingers intertwined with his. Still out. “Then send Tony after the witch. You stand guard on the other side of the door. But you don’t come at him, you hear me? Not unless …”

Unless, what? Unless Zane attacked him? Like he’d done just minutes before.

“I don’t want to hurt him,” Jude said. Might as well be her own thoughts.

“And I don’t want him to hurt you.” She didn’t want Zane to attack anyone, especially not his friends. Stronger than I’d thought. And, yes, it sure seemed like her demon had a very dark side. No wonder he kept that side leashed.

“Your fire …”

“It’s no good.” Like she’d ever use the flames on Zane. The bastard might have pissed her off before because he didn’t know how to trust, but he was still … Zane.

And his eyelids began to flutter. If he saw the shifter, he’d go into instant attack mode. “Get out!”

“I can’t leave you with him, I can’t—”

She laughed at him and made her voice drip ice as she said, “Do you really think I need protecting?”

But he didn’t take the bait. His lips tightened. “Yeah, I do.”

Almost sweet. But they didn’t have time for sweet. “If he sees you, he’ll try to rip you apart.” Her heart slammed into her ribs. “I’ll keep him calm, I’ll—” A groan broke from Zane’s lips. “Just go!”

Jude eased back a step. One. Another. “I’ll be on the other side of that door.” Making sure no one entered-no one who could get hurt, she knew. And making sure, also, that Zane wouldn’t get out. “But I’ll be able to hear everything. If he attacks you, I’m coming in.”

She nodded, the movement jerky and hard. Fair enough. If Zane started psychically tossing her around the room—like he’d tossed the others outside-she’d want the shifter’s backup.

But Zane wasn’t going to hurt her. I trust you, even if you can’t trust me.

Jude hurried out and shut the door. The bolt slammed into place with a clang.

Jana crawled on top of Zane and straddled him. What drug had Kelly given him? Something my brother made… Hell, that could be anything! In those few days that Brent had held her in his lab, she’d learned he’d liked to play God, stirring and mixing and creating torments for his “experiments.”

The last time Zane had been hit with a drug, he’d wanted her. Sex and fury could be a potent combination. Sex and fury. He’d pulled back. The man had fought the demon’s pull. Because of his hybrid blood? Had he been able to fight the drug because his body chemistry was so different? Or had he just been strong enough, because, shit, he was strong?

No more time to think-his eyelids flashed open. Pitch-black eyes stared up at her. He bucked beneath her and nearly sent her right onto the floor.

“It’s okay!” She leaned down close. “Everything’s fine.” Liar, liar. She sealed her mouth to his.

His tongue thrust past her lips, and his hand clamped over her hip. His erection rose, long and thick, against her.

Zane. She called his name in her mind and wondered if he would hear her on the link they’d used before. Would the drug amp up his psychic power? Would it let him in—

An image flashed in her mind. Her. Him. On this same dirty floor. She was on top of him, and he was thrusting his thick cock into her.

She gasped into his mouth right at the moment she felt his hand yank open the snap of her jeans.

“Jana!” Jude’s bellow.

Her head shot up. Zane stared at her, nostrils flaring, cheeks flushed. “It’s okay!” she yelled back. “I’m fine!”

But Zane was growling. His hands were on her jeans. Shoving them down and the damn cuffs were in the way and—

“I’m coming in!” Jude told her.

Zane’s head whipped toward the door. The bees buzzed in her head again, and the sexy image faded. A red haze seemed to cloak her vision. Her vision, or Zane’s?

“No, stay back!”

She grabbed Zane’s chin. “Stay with me,” she whispered to him and kissed him again. Stay with me. That psychic link between them was there, and Zane was using it. She just wasn’t sure the demon knew it.

Jana kicked out of her shoes and ditched her jeans. He ripped her panties, shredding them. His hand bit into her hip. Too hard. Too strong.

“Zane…”

He yanked down his zipper. His cock sprang free. As wide as her wrist, head bulging, moisture already beading from that tip.

His cock pushed into her, drove inside, and she shuddered against him.

No. Jana shook her head. Hadn’t happened yet. Just another vision, one coming from him, hadn’t—

He rolled her beneath him. The hard floor pressed into her back. He pushed her legs apart and positioned that cock right at the entrance to her body. No foreplay. No caresses, no—

Flesh to flesh. She only had a second to process that fact, then Zane thrust into her, a long hard drive that had her crying out.

He blinked, and his eyes narrowed. “J-Jana …” His voice was hoarse, confused. A flash of green appeared near the edges of his irises. “What the fuck … am I do—”

Her legs locked around him. “Fucking me.” Now that the shock had worn off, her body was adjusting, fast. Her inner muscles clamped around him.

“S-sorry…” Sweat beaded his brows. “C-can’t… stop …”

“I don’t want you to.” She arched her hips against him. “I want you to move.”

The green bled away. Only black again. Such darkness in her lover’s eyes. Such hot darkness.

His cock pulled out of her, a rough slide of flesh. The cuffs banged against the floor as he held her arms. Then he drove into her, again, again. Hard, plunging thrusts that had her moaning, gasping, and shoving up against him because the pleasure was so intense.

He bit her, right where her neck curved into her shoulder. A bite that didn’t break the flesh, but made her arch beneath him. More. His hips rocked against her, and he thrust into her, slamming all the way to her core.

His tongue licked the light wound he’d made. A moan rumbled in his throat. Hell, maybe in hers. Her flesh was so sensitive that every fierce stroke had her tensing. And wanting more.

His cock swelled within her, thickening even more, and she started to come. Jana choked out his name as her climax hit and the flames burned through her.

Zane pumped into her. Her sex was slick and eager now. Withdraw. Thrust. The slap of their bodies filled the room, and the scent of sex surrounded her.

More.

She could have sworn he whispered the word, but his mouth was still on her neck. Licking, sucking.

His hips pistoned against her. Her sex squeezed him as the after-shocks of pleasure trembled inside her.

His hand jerked down, yanking those cuffs. Her shirt still gaped open. He yanked her bra up and his mouth closed around her right nipple.

Zane!

Her sex clamped around him.

His tongue traced the nipple, and then he started to suck. And to fuck.

Her eyes squeezed shut.

See me. See us. His voice.

And she saw them. With her eyes closed, she saw the fast thrust of his cock into her sex. The withdrawal. The thrust.

He sent the images into her mind, and the pleasure seemed to intensify. More. More.

From him? Her?

More. She’d take it. Take everything. Take him.

The second climax had her breath catching and her heart racing. She held on to him as tightly as she could. Hard enough to bruise.

He drove into her once more, then stiffened. The hot splash of his release filled her and she heard him gasp her name.

Jana’s eyes opened. In pleasure, his face was so beautiful. So perfect. A lump rose in her throat.

And they’d done it. We beat you, Agent Thomas. Zane hadn’t turned on her. Hadn’t attacked. A smile began to curl her lips.

Then his hand rose and wrapped around her neck.