“What the hell happened? This was supposed to be a simple retrieval mission!”
Ron stared at his feet, refusing to meet his boss’s stare. Mostly because he knew the boss didn’t like it when folks looked too long at her face, and his eyes did have a tendency to wander. “She … ah … the demon had handcuffed himself to her. We couldn’t get them apart—” He’d waited too long to cut off the bastard’s hand. He swallowed. “But Ben shot him. The bastard took two tranq shots.” And those shots could take down an elephant. The demon would be out soon, and he’d drag the woman down with him.
Those cuffs.
They’d be easy prey once the drugs kicked in.
“You dumb sonofabitch.”
The icy growl had his gaze flying up.
“You drugged a demon,” she snapped. “They don’t react the same way humans do to the tranq. Hell, they never react the same way to anything.”
Because they were freaks. He licked his lips. The boss held a too-tight grip on her gun. “It’ll just knock him out. He’ll be a dead weight slowing her down.” Then his job would be easy. Kill the demon. Take the woman.
The boss lifted her gun and aimed it right at his chest. “It won’t knock him out. It hasn’t knocked out any demon we’ve tried it on.”
How was he supposed to know that? “Wh-what will it do?”
“It will either make him high. It will boost up his power and give him a rush he’s never had. Or …”
He gulped. Her finger was tightening around that trigger. Only, her gun was loaded with real bullets.
“Or it will make the bastard psychotic. He’ll turn on the woman and kill her long before we can get to him.” She stepped closer, her pale blond hair floating around her face. “And if that happens, guess who else will be dying?”
The promise was there, glittering in her dark gaze. His eyes began to dart to her scarred cheek….
“Now let’s get the hell out of here!” she shouted. There were sirens wailing, coming close now. No way could anyone miss the flames. The cops would swarm any minute.
They couldn’t be on the scene then. Everyone scrambled inside the two SUVs. The boss shoved him inside with her.
“Get to Jana Carter’s safe house,” she ordered the driver. “If she’s running, she’s going to try and disappear.”
The guy threw the SUV into reverse, and the vehicle spun back. He shifted gears and drove the SUV down the street, easing right past the line of approaching cop cars.
Jana had to get them off the road. Had to get them someplace safe before the assholes back there came hunting again.
“Are you with me?” she shouted as the engine growled.
Zane’s body was pressed close to hers, and he seemed … heavier.
“Zane?”
His lips were next to her ear. No helmet, not for either of them. If they crashed, even his demon blood wouldn’t save him.
Nothing would save her.
Her fingers tightened around the handlebars. “Zane?” Shouted louder.
“H-hurt… you …”
She tensed, but kept her eyes on the road. Can’t go back to my place. Ten-to-one odds said they already knew where she lived.
Can’t go to a hotel. Not like she could check in with the demon handcuffed to her. Explaining that to the desk clerk would be—
“If …h-hurt you…”
Oh, that just didn’t sound good. What the hell was happening to the guy back there? That left hand of his was holding way too tight to her waist.
“B-burn me…”
Hell.
They needed a safe place to crash and they needed it now.
The instant Baton Rouge Police Captain Antonio “Tony” Young saw the flaming remains of the red Corvette, his gut clenched, and he knew hell had come calling.
Antonio jumped out of his car and rushed forward, grabbing one of the uniforms already on the scene. “Where’s the driver?” Because he knew that car.
The young cop spun to look at him, and gulped when he saw Antonio’s face. “D-don’t know, s-sir …”
Those flames were burning so high. Antonio couldn’t see the front seat of the car. The ‘Vette was smashed to hell and back, and all that fire …
“We found ‘em this way. Abandoned rig and the sports car—”
A rig that had smashed right into the driver’s side door. It takes a lot to kill a demon.
He released the cop and yanked out his phone. He punched in Zane’s number. Waited, waited …
Customer not available. The automated message clicked on, and he nearly shattered his phone.
Dammit. Antonio paced away, feeling the heat from the fire singe his skin. If Zane wasn’t answering, there was only one person he could contact.
He called Pak. Nothing happened at Night Watch without that charmer’s approval. Nothing. So it was past three a.m., Pak was probably at home, sleeping, but …
“What do you want, captain?” Pak’s smooth voice asked with no hint of sleep slurring the words.
Antonio cast a fast glance back at the wreckage, hunched his shoulders, and paced around the fire truck. “What kind of case is Zane Wynter working on right now?”
Silence.
Come on! “Pak, don’t screw with me right now. I’ve got a crew of humans out here on Montgomery Lane, and I need to know what we’re stepping into.” Because he knew the real deal about the world. He knew that all the nightmares people had-those nightmares were nothing when compared to reality.
Once upon a time, he’d thought the worst things on the streets were the human killers who sliced and diced their prey. Then he’d met the vampires. They drained their prey, tortured them, made them beg for death, and then wouldn’t let them die.
Humans weren’t the worst predators on the streets. Not even close. If only.
“There’s an Ignitor in town,” Pak finally said.
His gaze darted to the flaming vehicles. “No shit.” He exhaled. “Have you talked to Wynter in the last thirty minutes?”
“No.”
“Then we may have a problem.” May? Who was he kidding? “I’m staring at Zane’s car right now, and the flames burning it are bright enough to light the whole damn block.”
The cabin looked deserted. Jana shoved down the kickstand and steadied the bike. It looked deserted. Hopefully, it actually was. She’d scouted out this area before, just in case she needed a place to crash.
And I do. I really, really do.
The wooden cabin was buried in the swamp. A long, ramshackle pier ran from the side of the cabin and skated out over that murky, green water.
“Okay, demon, we’ve got to move.” She tried to roll her shoulders, but his weight was too heavy. “Zane? Come on, Zane, move!”
She felt him flinch. Then he eased back and slid off the motorcycle. She followed him, her thighs still trembling a bit. It had been far too long since she’d gone for a wild ride on a cycle.
“The motorcycle should be safe behind these bushes,” she said. “We can go inside”-it looked like no one had been there in months, a very good thing—“and then figure out what the hell we’re going to do next.”
He just stared down at her. Dawn had finally come, lighting up the darkness, and she could see a faint rim of green around the outer edge of his irises, but the black coloring—that demon black—was darkening. The lines on his face were tight and hard.
Jana licked her lips. “Zane?” She tugged her cuffed hand. The metal bit into her wrist.
Alone with a drugged demon. Hello, dream date.
As she stared up at him, the green in his eyes disappeared, and only the black was left. Just that deep, soulless black.
B-burn me …