Then he lunged forward, the stake up, ready, moving faster than a human ever could and flying straight at Dee.
Simon tried to jump in front of her, but Dee shoved him to the side. Then her left hand shot out and she snatched the stake, ripped it right out of the demon’s hand and snapped the wood in two.
The broken stake thudded onto the carpet.
She grabbed Zane, bunched his shirt in her fist, and jerked him close to her face.
He smiled at her. “I tried.”
What?
“You gonna bite me now? Gonna sink those, um, really long and what looks like freakishly sharp teeth in my neck? Gonna drain me dry?”
The demon didn’t seem particularly worried.
Dee rolled her eyes. “Don’t tempt me, asshole. Don’t tempt me.”
The smile that had curled his lips faded. “You’re still in there, aren’t you, Dee? All this…” His hand lifted, traced her lips, and Simon had to bite back a growl. “It’s just surface.”
She blinked and her head cocked.
Surface.
Being a vampire was a hell of a lot more than that.
“Not a cold-blooded killer, are you?”
Dee freed him.
“If you were, you would have drained me by now.” He straightened his shirt, then raised a brow. “Born, huh? Never saw that one coming.”
She shoved a hand through her hair. “Me either.”
Zane grunted and looked his way. “So what’s your story?”
Simon just stared back at him.
“Man, you need to bring that down a notch. Dee and I weren’t lovers. You want to get all territorial and kick-ass, save that crap for Tony.”
Simon locked his jaw and gritted, “Why are you here?”
Another fleeting smile. “I’m here because if Dee really had become some soul-less bloodsucker, I would have kept my promise.” His stare slanted to a watchful Dee. “Don’t worry, sweet, I would have made it fast and as painless as possible.” A shrug. “But the minute I saw you, I knew you were still my Dee—”
A woman screamed. Loud, high. Terrified.
The scent hit Simon then. Thick and cloying. Smoke.
Fire.
“Fuck!” Zane spun around and ran for the door. Dee and Simon raced after him.
Not another damn fire. Not again. Grim’s pack, they just weren’t going to stop, not until they killed Dee.
Not on his watch.
Zane shoved open the door at the bottom of the stairs and they walked into—
An inferno.
It should have been impossible. Fire couldn’t spread this fast. With their senses, they would have known but—
But Delaney’s burned. The flames crackled and licked at the ceiling, growing bigger, hungrier, and giving them a glimpse of sweet hell.
“Catalina!” Dee’s scream.
The witch stood behind the bar, seemingly frozen. Her eyes were on the flames that surrounded her. Bright, dancing flames.
The demon swore and charged for her. He waved his hand and the flames dimmed around the witch.
He flew over the fire and grabbed her.
“Burn,” she whispered, but Simon could hear her over the flames. “Burn so fast.” She closed her eyes and turned her head against Zane’s shoulder.
The flames shot higher. The smoke thickened, but the fire didn’t race back toward the witch. Instead, it headed right for Dee.
“Wynter!” Simon yelled. The demon could control fire. He didn’t know what kind of power scale the guy had, but right then, as long as the guy could stop the fire, he didn’t care.
Zane hoisted the witch over his shoulder, then made a fast movement with his hand.
The flames flickered, faded.
Only to start rising once again.
“Magic!”
Yeah, he’d figured that out. Dee had a tablecloth in her hands and she was fighting the flames.
“No, forget it, Dee! Get out of here!” Zane ordered.
Good plan. Simon grabbed her arm.
The demon led the way, using his power to push back the fire that just kept rising, rising…
“Her!” The demon’s snarl. He froze before the door. Simon barreled into him. So not the time for this—
But then Zane ran forward. The glass doors exploded around them. Smoke billowed up into the night. Simon sucked in sharp, clean air, choking as his lungs began to clear.
“Stop her!” He glanced up at the yell. He saw Zane struggling with the witch, and Simon glimpsed a woman with curly red hair running down the street.
He blinked and Dee took off. Fast, so fast, his little vampire. She caught the woman in two seconds and tackled her, sending her prey slamming into the pavement.
“No!” The woman’s cry. Afraid. Furious. “Why can’t you die?”
Oh, so not what she needed to be saying to Dee.
He bounded after them.
Dee flipped the woman over and pinned her wrists to the ground.
Simon saw the tears on the woman’s cheeks. Long, thin trickles that slipped over her skin, fell into her hair.
“Do it, Nina.” The whisper was on the wind. He froze. “Kill her or they die.”
Dee’s head snapped up. “What the hell? Hey, jerkoff—come out and face me!”
Another vamp. One of Grim’s men. Had to be. But he was telling the woman to kill Dee? How was she supposed to do—
“Ignitor!” Zane’s scream of fear.
No, no. Simon’s gaze snapped back to the woman’s, and he finally saw her eyes, the bleed of red.
Grim wasn’t screwing around anymore. He’d pulled out the big guns.
“Dee!”
Ignitor—a human. A very, very rare human gifted with the power of fire. She’d burn Dee, burn her with just a thought and kill her in an instant. She’d—
“Hell, no,” Dee growled when her T-shirt began to smoke. Then she slammed the woman’s head back against the cement. Hard.
The Ignitor’s eyes fell closed, hiding that deadly red, and she lay, limp, beneath Dee.
He could love that vampire.
Already did.
“I’ve got her,” Dee called. “You get that other bastard!”
Done. Simon took off, legs pumping fast. He flew down the dark street, snaked into the alley. His nose twitched as he caught the scent of blood. A woman stood, weaving slightly, her hand on the grimy wall. Alcohol fumed off her but she’d been prey, too.
Close.
“Come out!”
The woman flinched. She looked over at him with bleary eyes. “Run,” he told her quietly, flashing fangs.
She did.
That left him all alone in the alley with his prey. A Dumpster squeaked. A shoe scraped over the asphalt. Simon licked his lips. “Hiding with the garbage?”
The vamp came out, claws ready, a bit of blood still dripping down his mouth. “You picked the wrong side in this fight.”
Simon lifted his brows. He caught the whisper of footsteps behind him. His backup. No way would he ever mistake Dee’s rich scent. “I don’t think so.”
The vamp’s eyes darted behind Simon, and for an instant, fear flashed on his thin face. Then he spun around, and leapt up, clearing the brick wall behind him in one bound.
Simon lunged after him. No way was this scum getting away from him.
The man knew how to leap over a wall. Really kinda sexy the way he could move so fast.
Dee exhaled, watched a bit longer, admiring her view, then she eyed the wall. Um, yeah, she could take that. She hoped.
Dee ran—a running start never hurt anything—then leapt. She cleared the wall, but slammed into the ground below. The impact jarred every bone in her body, but Dee rolled, and came back up on her feet and took off.
A park. A big, dark, yeah, things-could-be-hiding-here park. Overgrown grass. Too tall trees. Too thick brush. Great.
The vamp with the ferret face was fast; she’d give him that. Her heart raced in her ears and her legs kicked beneath her as she charged after him and Simon. No way was this guy getting away, not after he’d set a freaking Ignitor on her.