Burn For Me (Phoenix Fire #1)(53)
Author: Cynthia Eden

Cain reached through the flames and grabbed Wyatt. As she watched, Cain snapped the man’s neck. Wyatt fell to the floor.

Her breath choked out. Over. Just like that, Wyatt was dead.

“Come on!” Cain grabbed Eve’s hand and pulled her to her feet as he sent a rush of fire at the remaining guards. “Get the hell out of here!” he yelled at them.

They scrambled. Didn’t even try to fight. With the fire raging, how could she blame them?

Snap.

Eve stiffened. Even over the flames, she’d heard that sound. Bones snapping. Popping.

She glanced over her shoulder. Wyatt was standing up again. Tilting his head from side to side as he popped the bones of his neck back in place.

“Nice try,” he murmured, his eyes on Cain. “Now it’s my turn.”

But instead of coming at them, he jumped back.

Just as all the guards were heading back. Carefully moving away from them.

Trap. Eve knew it, too late.

The floor began to tremble beneath them. No, not just tremble. Move.

No wonder the guards were backing up. She glanced over her shoulder. The stairwell had been sealed off. Armed guards stood in front of the door. The floor beneath them, holy hell, the floor was opening, opening . . .

Cain grabbed Eve and hauled her toward the nearest wall. There was only darkness in that growing hole. The hole that had once been the floor.

“Trace!” She screamed his name as she saw his body fall into that black pit.

The entire floor seemed to break loose. She and Cain fell, tumbling down into the darkness below. He held her as they dropped, wrapping his body around hers. When they hit the bottom, she felt the thud of the impact vibrate through their bodies.

They’d fallen into darkness. Complete and total darkness. Cain’s head and back had slammed into the floor, but he didn’t ease his grip on her. His hands tightened.

Eve’s hands slid around him. She could feel . . . stone beneath them, and she heard the sound of breathing. Rough. Raspy breathing.

Something grated overhead. She looked up. “No!”

The light above her vanished as the area closed off once more. Wyatt had sealed them in.

Cain groaned beneath her. Something . . . else groaned from the darkness.

They were locked in, but they weren’t alone.

“F-fire, Cain,” she whispered into his ear. He was hurt beneath her. She knew it. The fall had been brutal. Too long. At least three stories. They’d fallen straight down.

Her hands found his face. Smoothed over his cheek. Pushed into his hair. She felt the sticky wetness of his blood. No.

The breaths around her grew stronger. “T-Trace?” He hadn’t been moving when he’d fallen. Hadn’t appeared to even be alive. Could that breathing be him?

More groans. No, growls. Coming from the left. The right.

Not Trace. Eve’s own breath choked out. “Please, Cain,” she whispered, holding him tight, “I need the fire.” She needed to see. Had to see what was coming for them in the dark.

Something touched her hair. Eve whirled. She still had her gun. “Get back!”

Pain sliced across her back. Eve screamed. Something had . . . clawed her. “Stay away from us!” Cain wasn’t moving. Still breathing, but she knew he was hurt badly. Was he dying? “Cain?”

She felt the tightness of his muscles beneath her hand. He was trying to move, but he couldn’t. “Just a little fire,” Eve whispered. Begged. “I need to see . . .”

What’s coming for me.

She found his hand. Turned it over. Then, in the dark, her lips met his. She tasted blood on his lips. And he felt—cold.

Cain never felt cold.

“The fire,” she whispered against his mouth. “I need . . .”

A small spark sputtered to life in his hand. Like a weak candle lighting the room.

And revealing the monsters that waited for them.

Eve’s gaze swept to the left. To the right. She saw the fangs. The claws. The monsters coming. Just a few feet away. Waiting to pounce on her.

Too many.

Vampires.

These didn’t look like others she’d seen. They didn’t just have sharp canines—all of their teeth were razor sharp. And the nails breaking from their fingertips looked like long, black knives.

What the hell? This wasn’t the way vamps were supposed to look. This was something totally foreign to her.

“K-kill . . .” Cain rasped.

She lifted her gun. The bullets she had left might slow the vampires down, but it wasn’t going to stop them all.

She could still hear what she’d told Cain earlier. If a vamp ever tries to bite me again, I swear I’ll kill him myself. Eve had meant those words.

There were too many to kill. She wouldn’t be able to take them all out, no matter how hard she tried.

The vamps were ignoring Trace’s body. Because he’s already dead? They were focused only on her and Cain.

And on Cain’s blood. There was so much blood. She could feel it beneath her fingertips. With that faint light from Cain’s fire, she could see the broken bones in his arm. His twisted legs . . .

“Kill . . . me . . .” Cain whispered.

Her gaze flew to his face. “No!”

Another slice over her back. Eve screamed and turned back, firing her gun. A vampire cried out, the sound like an animal’s shrill cry of pain and rage.

She’d made a hit. How many bullets did she have left? Not enough.

“Come . . . back . . .” Cain’s voice. So low. Pain-filled. “I can . . . stop . . . them . . .”

Yes, the fire could burn through the vampires, she knew that. But I don’t want to be the one to kill Cain. She couldn’t be the one.

Another swipe of claws over her skin. Eve fired the gun. Caught another vampire and heard that same high-pitched cry.

“Eat . . .” A whisper from the darkness. From the vampires that were shuffling closer.

Her hands were shaking. “Stay away from us!”

“Kill me . . . Eve . . .” Cain’s voice. So weak. Broken. “Kill . . . me . . .”

But she couldn’t. She couldn’t look into Cain’s eyes and pull the trigger.

He’ll come back.

Cain’s body jerked. His breath rushed out.

Gulping. Slurping.

A vampire was drinking from Cain’s leg. Eve fired again. “Stay away from him!”

That feeding vampire fell back with a screech. But the others inched closer.

“My . . . fire . . .” Cain’s voice was weakening even more. He was hurt too badly. She knew he wasn’t going to survive much longer. Either her bullets took him out or he kept suffering. He kept facing agony as the vamps tried to drain him.