Eternal Flame

Chapter 2

The woman-Jana-sliced Jacobson right across his injured arm. A hard, deep slice that had the demon howling … and Zane swearing.

Not an Ignitor. Pak was wrong-this woman couldn’t stir fire. Shit, if she could, she’d be burning Jacobson to ash, not screaming and stabbing with-what was that?-a scalpel. Innocent.

And he had one rule. Just one. On his watch, no innocent woman would ever be hurt while he was there.

So when Jacobson knocked the scalpel out of her hands, and Jana stumbled back, Zane lunged forward and did what he’d been dying to do all night.

He got ready to kick some demon ass.

Zane caught Jacobson’s hand, squeezed hard and heard the demon’s breath whoosh out when the bones crunched. “Get behind me,” Zane ordered, and Jana rushed, nearly tripping as she hurried to obey.

A human. Small and defenseless. And Jacobson had been ready to kill her.

“Not your fight,” Jacobson gritted out.

“Asshole, I’ve been looking for this fight for days.” He grinned. “And if you hadn’t been hiding like the coward you are, I would’ve already kicked the shit out of you.”

Fear widened Jacobson’s black eyes as he struggled to break free of Zane’s hold. “I just want her.”

“You’re not getting her.” Playtime was over. He’d run his test on Jana. Seen what he needed to see. Not my target. Time to end the game.

Then the prick head-butted him. Well, tried to. Zane jerked back, punching out hard at the same time, and Jacobson fell to the ground.

Footsteps thudded behind him. Jana … running away. “Wait!” His head swung toward her.

And that asshole demon charged him, grabbing Zane around the waist, and they both went down hard, slamming into the pavement.

Jana kept running. The thud of her footsteps echoed in Zane’s ears.

“Don’t worry about the bitch,” Jacobson grunted, and oh, damn, but the guy’s face was wrecked. “The others will get her.”

What? Others?

“You think you’re so bad … hunting your own kind.” Jacobson plowed a fist into Zane’s face, and Zane took the punch because he wanted the bastard to keep talking. “Fucking traitor, want to be human, can’t—”

This time, Zane caught the fist that came at his face. And because the demon had pissed him off, Zane broke two of the guy’s fingers.

Jacobson howled. Zane squeezed tighter. “Who are the others?” he demanded. He couldn’t see Jana anymore. That woman sure moved fast for a human.

“L-let…g-go…”

Zane smiled. “No.” It was his turn to head-butt. He smashed his forehead into Jacobson’s nose.

The demon crawled away, gagging as blood flew from his broken nose.

“Something you should know,” Zane murmured as he rose to his feet, brushing off his hands. Jacobson was still on the ground, moaning. “I like to fight dirty.” Then he drove his booted foot into Jacobson’s side. Paused. Then did it again. The demon curled into a ball. “Next time, leave the humans alone.”

“Bastard!”

True. But flattery wouldn’t stop him. Where was Jana? Zane risked one moment to let his gaze rake the darkness. That was when he heard her scream.

“You’re a naughty girl, Jana.” The angry whisper blew against her ear.

Damn the supernaturals in the city. They were everywhere, and it sure seemed like they were all gunning for her. Why was she becoming Ms. Popular?

“Let me go,” she said loudly, really hoping that Zane had caught her scream. And, come on, what had been up with him shoving her at the crazy demon? Hadn’t the guy ever heard of protecting the weak? Hadn’t she looked weak enough for him?

“You’re a hard woman to track.” The jerk didn’t let her go. He just shoved her up against some smelly alley wall. She couldn’t see his face. Since she was human, she didn’t get bonus vision in the dark. Just a body that could break too easily. And had, too many times.

“Wh-what do you want?” Come on, Zane, haul ass. She didn’t need to see in order to know the identity of the man who’d snuck up on her and now held her in his too cold and too tight grip. She hadn’t planned to meet him tonight. Hadn’t been ready. But she’d known that he was watching. He was one of those pricks who liked to watch while the world went to hell around him.

“I want to make sure you understand the rules of the game.” Great. He’d pushed her hair to the side and now his breath was on her neck. She really didn’t want this guy’s mouth on her neck. She didn’t want him anywhere near her.

If Zane’s not coming, then I can take care of him. I can do it.

As long as Zane wasn’t there to see….

Her breath came out on a long, slow rush. “I understand the rules.” He didn’t.

“Then why the hell did you go after my man?” His claws pressed into her chest. Right above her heart.

Jana stilled, barely daring to breathe because she’d just caught the glint of fangs in the dark. When a vamp’s fangs were that close to your throat—hell. And those claws hurt. He hadn’t shoved them too deep, not yet, but if he wanted, the guy could cut her heart out in less than two seconds’ time.

I hate vampires.

“How was I supposed to know he was yours?” She started talking, fast, but kept her voice quiet now. “He’s a demon, I thought—”

A growl. “You thought wrong. You’re not supposed to attack the demons.”

Wasn’t she? Sometimes, the jobs all ran together.

“I let you live after you took my men—”

Right, those two evil, sadistic, murdering bastards had been his men.

“I tracked you, could have fucking drained you dry, but I let you live.”

The vamp smelled like a graveyard. Jana tried real hard not to inhale too deeply.

“You’re alive because I want you to hunt,” he snarled, “and you hunt who I say. I’m the one in charge, bitch.”

“Jana!” Oh, finally, Zane’s voice. Talk about taking his sweet time.

“He’s the prey. The first you’ll take down for me.” The freak licked her neck. Licked her. “And I want him to suffer.”

What? Zane? He wanted her to attack Zane?

“Show me just what you can do, bitch. Kill him, or die.”

She nodded weakly. Because, really, what choice did she have?

He released her, finally moving those claws away from her heart. The wounds he’d made ached, throbbing dully. Her head sagged forward. She inched toward the light. Toward Zane. He was running fast, racing to get to her. “Kill him.”

She glanced back at the vampire hiding in the shadows. Jana took two more steps away from him, turning so that she had the best view of his hulking body, and then she smiled.

“I’m not still in this town just so I can be your bitch,” she whispered and let the frightened act vanish. The vampire froze, and she knew he’d gotten a good look at her face. Her eyes. “I stayed to take you out.” He’d been her target all along, but she’d missed him that first night. Then he’d gotten the jump on her. Sometimes, a woman had to wait and find her perfect killing time.

Now.

And here she’d thought it would be hard to lure the vampire to her. All she’d had to do was light the right fire under his little demon minion, and she’d gotten his personal attention.

“No!” He lunged at her.

But she wasn’t in the mood to get her heart torn out right then.

Zane raced into the alley, his legs pumping, adrenaline powering his blood.

And he smelled flames.

Then he saw the fire sputtering near the dumpster. He waved his hand, and the flames quieted.

“Jana?”

She wasn’t there. He crept forward and stared down at the charred remains on the ground. Fuck. The stench stung his nose.

“Jana!” But she was gone, and a hot fury began to burn in his gut because Zane realized that he’d been played. For the second time, he’d been taken in by a pretty, lying face. A face that hid a real monster behind the cloak of innocence.

He snatched out his phone. Dialed Pak. One ring and his boss picked up. “We’re gonna need a cleanup crew on Rangeline.” Dammit. Played. “And you were right.” He paused a moment, watching the smoke drift in the air. “The woman’s not a victim.” An Ignitor’s back in town.

The demon was strapped to the table, his legs and arms secured, and the blood had dried on his face.

“I thought I told you that Jude would be taking over the Jacobson case.”

Zane shrugged at Pak’s words. “The bastard came after me. What did you want me to do? Let him walk away?”

“Not you, asshole!” Jacobson tried to lunge up, but the straps held tight. “I was after her!”

Zane pulled over a chair and got real close to the demon. Close enough to touch, to hurt. “Who is she?”

Jacobson would be transferred out soon enough. Pak had plans for the guy, but first…

“Where did you meet the woman?” he pressed. Jana. Was that even her real name? Jude was running a search on her. Maybe the shifter would turn up some intel on the name, but in the meantime-

Zane was in the mood to get answers from the demon, and he would have those answers, one way or another.

“Fuck you!” Jacobson spat at him.

Zane blinked. “Wrong. Answer.” He drove his fist into Jacobson’s face. Payback could be a bitch.

“Ah … Zane?” Pak’s voice was completely flat.

Jacobson spit out a tooth. “You think … you’re so much fucking better than the rest … of us….”

Zane’s shoulders tensed.

Jacobson laughed. A ragged, rough sound. “But you’re worse…. Under the skin … you’re worse!”

Zane smiled at him. “You really don’t want to see just how much worse I can be.”

Pak’s arm came down on his shoulder. “Zane …” A slight warning there.

Zane didn’t glance back at him. “This demon knows about your Ignitor, Pak.” A woman he’d literally had right in his hands-twice-and he’d let her slip away.

Because he was looking straight at Jacobson, he caught the demon’s flinch. Ah … “Where did you meet her, Jacobson?”

Jacobson’s lips firmed.

“Where?” Pak demanded.

“Some damn bar! Bitch came up to me.” His lips twisted, showing his bloodstained teeth. “She was all over me.”

Every muscle in Zane’s body locked.

“She wanted to leave, so I took her to my place. Then she tried to burn me!”

Tried? Succeeded. Those blisters would take a long time to heal, even with a demon’s enhanced recovery system.

“In the last two weeks, you’ve picked up three women from bars in the area,” Pak said, the words so calm he could have been talking about the weather. His hand lifted from Zane’s shoulder, and Pak came to stand at his side. “We found the body of your first victim. You took her to the vamps, didn’t you? You let them drain her dry.”

Jacobson stared up at him, his eyes burning with black rage.

Pak crossed his arms over his chest. “We haven’t found the second woman yet.”

The bastard laughed again. Laughed. “You won’t. There was nothing left of her. Not when the vamps finished.”

Put him down. Zane knew Jacobson wasn’t one of the demons that would be turned loose one day. You didn’t let a rabid dog back out to hunt.

“Then you came upon a new lady….” Pak’s voice pitched lower. “One who was ‘all over you.'”

“She was, she—”

“Did this woman ask you anything?” Pak cut across his roaring words. “Did she say—” “The whore just burned me!”

“But you got to live,” Zane snapped. “Her last victim wasn’t so lucky.” He grabbed the knife from the sheath on his leg and put the blade right at Jacobson’s throat. “You’re not gonna be lucky much longer.”

“Zane …” Pak’s whisper.

Jacobson started to smile.

“Don’t slice too fast,” Pak continued. “You want him to feel the pain.”

Jacobson’s black eyes widened. “No!”

So Jacobson was another one who loved to torture prey, but couldn’t stand pain himself. “Who’d she kill in the alley?” The others will get her. Jacobson knew the guy who’d burned, no doubt.

Zane let the blade cut through skin.

“Vincent!” Yelled. “Shit! I-it was Vincent Gunner! He was with me. There were two humans there, but he-he told ‘em to stay back, that we could handle her.”

“But you couldn’t, could you?” Vincent Gunner. He knew the name. A powerful vampire on Night Watch’s kill list. Gunner had been a cruel asshole who enjoyed slowly bleeding humans dry-women. Only women.

Had he picked the wrong prey? Or was something more going on here?

“Hey, Wynter!”

Zane’s head lifted at Jude Donovan’s call. The shifter stood just inside the doorway of their holding area. Jude clutched some papers in his hand and lifted them toward Zane. “I found your girl.”

Zane glanced back at the demon. The knife still bit into Jacobson’s flesh.

“I’ll finish him,” Pak said.

And Zane knew he would. Knew Pak would get every drop of information, and then he’d eliminate the demon’s threat.

Zane stepped back.

“I need some help!” Jacobson told the charmer. “Get me a doctor, get me—”

“You’re a demon,” Pak said. “You’ll heal from just about anything.”

“I want out, man. I need—”

“Some folks are waiting on you, Henry.”

The demon jerked on the table, straining against the straps. “A jail’s not gonna hold me! Nothing can, nothin—”

“I didn’t say you’d be going to jail.” Still no emotion in Pak’s voice. “I just said that folks were waiting on you.”

Jacobson’s case had been a government deal. Because, yeah, the government knew about the supernaturals out there. They liked to pretend they didn’t, better for the public image that way. But they knew, and they had their own “extermination” list.

Jacobson was at the top. Some men and women in black would be coming for him soon and, after they picked him up, Jacobson wouldn’t be returning to Baton Rouge again.

Zane caught Jacobson’s whimper just as he reached Jude’s side. The demon seemed to finally understand. This is the end for you, Jacobson.

Jude held up the pages, and the first thing Zane saw was … her.

No, not Jana. Not exactly. Different hair. Blond. Different eyes. Brown, not blue. Same mouth. Same nose.

Pak had told him a blonde was seen at the other scenes. So she’d dyed her hair. And he’d found a black-haired lady at Francis Street. “Who is she?” he demanded.

They left holding, walking back to the Night Watch’s main offices. “She’s got some aliases,” Jude told him. “Katherine Tanner, Judy Bright, Melissa Jones. But from what I can tell, her real name’s Jana Carter—”

Jana. Wait, she’d given him her real name?

“She was put in a juvenile facility when she was thirteen. She stayed there for five years.” Jude’s bright gaze met his. “Apparently, the woman liked to start fires.”

Fuck.

“Police want her for a series of fires in New Orleans,” Jude said.

Zane took the pages and scanned the info. His prey was thirty-one, five-feet-four inches tall, and one hundred-and-thirty-three pounds.

“Her stepfather died in the fire that landed her in the juvie facility,” Jude continued. “I guess she started young.”

Looked that way.

A killer? He’d stared right into her eyes and hadn’t seen what she really was. He was slipping. Or maybe she was just real good at lying.

“From what I can tell, she’s been selling out her services to the, ah …”

Zane glanced up at him, eyes narrowed.

“Highest bidder for the last few years. If you’ve got a supernatural you want taken down, she’s your girl. Vamps, charmers, low-level demons … she’s a real equal-opportunity killer.”

How can I ever thank you?

Such a sweet, lying mouth. He stared down at the picture again. At her. He’d really thought she might be innocent.

He kept making the same dumb-ass mistakes.

“You gonna be okay on this one?” Jude asked quietly.

The office buzzed around them. Phones rang. Voices called out. The fax machine beeped.

Zane tucked her picture into his back pocket.

Jude frowned. “Look, I know the last Ignitor case you worked with was—”

“I handled her, didn’t I?” Zane fired back, breaking through the words.

Jude’s head moved in the faintest of nods.

Handled her. Such cool words for the death he’d given the other woman. “I can do my job. I can do what needs to be done.” The same spiel he’d given Pak, but he meant the words. Nothing, no one would stop him.

“Good.” Pak spoke from behind him, and Zane tensed. “Because Jacobson gave me a location. He says the woman found him in a dive called Dusk. It’s a new club that opened on St. Antony and—”

“I know the place,” Zane said, exhaling. Word traveled fast in this town. “It’s a den.” A demon’s den. The place for his brethren to go in and take their drugs of choice. Darkness rode many of his kind, and the drugs, oh, they tempted.

“Oh, shit, man, I can take this one,” Jude offered. “I know you—”

“Can take on a den any day of the week.” Damn, but he regretted the drunken night he’d made the mistake of spilling his past to the tiger shifter. That guy never forgot anything.

“Then go get her,” Pak said, “bring her in. No matter what it takes, bring her in. “

Time to take another killer off the streets.

“You shouldn’t go in there.” The husky, very female voice stopped Zane cold just as he prepared to climb the steps leading up to Dusk.

The voice was laced with a soft drawl, edged with a breath of sex, and it crawled over his body like a caress.

A demon shoved past him, heading inside Dusk, and when the door opened, the beat of the music blasted Zane’s ears and the scent of drugs burned his nostrils.

“Of course, you don’t have to listen to me,” she murmured. Jana. He turned his head a few inches to the right and saw her slide from the darkness. “It can be your funeral.”

She looked vulnerable. Small, delicate. Almost helpless as she stood in the shadows with her arms crossed over her chest. Watching him with such big eyes.

But her words … “Ah … did you just threaten me?” He moved away from the door. Turned his back on the den and began to stalk her.

She crept once more toward the shadows and he followed her. His heart rate kicked up. She’s making it too easy.

“You won’t believe this,” she told him, “but I’m not the threat tonight. Well, not the one you need to be worried about.”

She was close enough to grab now.

A soft sigh slipped past her lips as her hands dropped to her sides. “You shouldn’t have come here. You should’ve just taken the demon in and called it a day.”

A shocked laugh broke from his lips, one without a drop of humor. “Lady, you killed someone in that alley.”

She flinched. “The vampire would have killed me. I didn’t have a choice.” Her right hand lifted and rubbed against her chest. Thanks to his demon-enhanced senses, he saw the blood on her shirt, and he caught the coppery scent on the wind. “What did you want me to do?” she asked, and heat blasted through her words. “Just stand there and let him cut my heart out?”

A muscle jerked in his jaw.

“Or maybe I should have waited for you,” she muttered, those sexy eyes narrowing, “like he wanted. I should have waited, and then I should have made sure you were the one who didn’t walk out of that alley.”

His hands flew out and he caught her, pulling her close and lifting her right off her toes. “Don’t make the mistake of thinking I’m easy to kill.”

Her chin inched up. “And you don’t need to make the mistake of thinking you’re immortal. Everyone can die. Everyone.”

“You’d know, wouldn’t you, baby? You kill for the highest bidder.”

She didn’t blink. Those eyes stayed locked on him, still blue. The fire hadn’t lit within her yet. If it had, her eyes would have been blood-red.

“Do you know what I did to the last Ignitor who came at me with fire in her eyes?” he demanded. Her mouth was temptingly close. He’d kissed that mouth before. Tasted her. Wanted more. Fool.

A guy’s dick could get him into some serious trouble.

“Dumb ass,” she said, and his eyes narrowed. “I’m not charging up. I’m trying to warn you.”

“About what?”

“My … services.” The right side of her mouth kicked up into a hard smile, and damn if a dimple didn’t wink at him. Deceptive package. “Who do you think the number-one target is in this town? Who do you think the demons want taken out? The vamps?” Shit.

“That’s right. You. The vamp in that alley wanted you taken out, and he sure wasn’t the only one to want a fried demon handed to him.” Her gaze darted behind him to Dusk. “The demons sure don’t like that you’ve been hunting your own kind.”

Fuck ‘em. “I don’t hunt them all.” What? Was he defending himself? To her? “Just the ones who cross the line.” His fingers were digging too hard into her arms.

He took a breath and let her slide back to the ground, let her feet touch down, but he didn’t free her. Wouldn’t. He had plans for Jana Carter.

“What line?” she asked him, shaking her head. “The one you made up? The one that says some folks are bad, some are good, and smart, all-powerful you gets to punish the ones you think screwed up?”

He glared at her. Like she could judge him.

“Maybe I should let them rip you apart.” Her tongue flashed out to lick her bottom lip.

He couldn’t help it. His stare dipped and followed that fast lick. His body tightened. Damn. He took a breath and swore he tasted her. “If you’d been smart, you would’ve left town. After you killed the vamp, you should have run.”

“Maybe.” A shrug. “But you came into the fire for me.”

Because he’d thought she needed him. Thought she was a human who’d needed rescuing. The truth was that the woman could have gotten out of that house without the flames even touching one inch of her perfect skin.

“No one’s ever tried to save me before,” she added. “I thought you were … sweet.”

He growled.

“So I wanted to even the score.” Another shrug that sent her dark hair settling over her shoulders. “I knew you’d come looking for me. I figured it was only fair to give you a warning.”

Fair? The woman who torched for a living wanted to talk fair? Zane could only shake his head. “Thanks, baby, but believe me, I don’t need your help.”

Her gaze slid away from his once more. Back to the club. He caught the whisper of fast-moving feet and the scent of booze and death. Battle-ready tension had his heart slamming into his chest.

“You sure about that?” she asked and that same half-smile lifted her lips, making her dimple flash. “Okay. Have it your way, then, stud. Take ‘em all.”

He spun around, his eyes zeroing in on the entrance to Dusk. Sure-damn-enough, the demons were snaking out the front door. At least ten of them so far, and their black eyes- filled with fury and hate-were all locked on him.

Jana’s hand pressed into his back, a warm, sold weight. “Have fun with the fan club,” she said and then her shoes thudded as she ran away.

Two seconds later, the demons closed in on him.