Burn For Me (Phoenix Fire #1)(63)
Author: Cynthia Eden

Wyatt pushed the button under his desk, and the door to his office slid closed, sealing the attacker inside with him. He raised his hand to hold the mask in place and spun to face Cain. “Your mistake, phoenix—”

Cain wasn’t there.

Ryder stood a few feet away, his fangs out.

“W-what—”

No, that wasn’t the plan. Gas fell through the slats in the ceiling, but it had never affected Ryder. The vampire was too old, far too powerful, and only a stake or fire could take him out.

We’d thought he was just a changed human. When Ryder had first been targeted, their intel had been off. Ryder wasn’t easy prey. Far from it.

He was the f**king king of the vampires. Maybe the first one ever born.

The door to the right slid open. Wyatt’s guards rushed out, just as he’d planned.

Ryder killed all five of them instantly, then dropped their bodies to the ground. Their blood covered his shirt, his hands, his chin.

The gas continued to leak into the room.

Taking his time, Ryder closed in. “You have something of mine, Wyatt” he said, snapping his teeth together, “and I want her back.”

She couldn’t breathe. Eve clawed at Trace’s fingers with her left hand even as she used her right hand to stab him with the scalpel—sorry, Trace, sorry!—but he wouldn’t let her go. Dark spots danced before her eyes. His claws were cutting into her skin. She couldn’t suck in a breath. As she fought him, Eve could hear the pounding of her own blood, echoing and throbbing in her ears.

I’m dying. At the hands of the last man she’d ever expected to hurt her.

“Let her go.”

That couldn’t be Cain’s voice. Cain was gone. He’d headed off to fight Wyatt. That wasn’t Cain’s voice.

And Trace wasn’t letting her go.

“I said . . . let her the f**k go!”

Eve couldn’t see anyone. The room had gone black but she smelled . . . burning flesh.

Then she was on the floor. Her hands and knees slapped into the hard tile as she sucked in as much air as she could. The air seemed to sting her lungs, but she didn’t care, she just wanted to breathe.

After she managed to get in a few breaths, Eve pushed the hair out of her eyes and lifted her head. She could still smell that horrible, acrid scent—and it was coming from Trace.

He was on the floor, rolling around to smother the flames that licked along his body.

Cain grabbed Eve’s arms and pulled her to her feet.

Cain. “What—you came back.”

His gaze blazed at her. “Something’s wrong with your werewolf.”

Um, other than him being on fire?

Rising onto her toes, Eve glanced around Cain’s shoulder. Trace was back on his feet. He was . . . smoldering. He stared at her and Cain like he couldn’t wait to rip them apart.

“Trace?” Her whisper. “Don’t you know me?”

That blind gaze said he didn’t.

“Animals fear fire,” Cain said, and Eve realized he was keeping his body and his flames between her and Trace. “Right now, he’s far more animal than man.”

Yes, he was. Eve could see it. She didn’t know why this was happening. Trace always had such control over his beast, and he would never, never hurt her.

The bruised flesh on her throat told a different story.

The females in Trace’s pack had been hunted long ago, picked as easy targets by their enemies. They’d been attacked, slaughtered, all to send a message to Trace’s father.

We’re taking over.

Trace had found the broken body of his mother. His sister.

And he’d been the one to go out and kill the other alpha to get his vengeance. Trace had one rule in the world, one rule that he always followed . . . Trace never hurt a woman.

But he just hurt me.

Cain sent a burst of fire toward Trace. Trace snarled and backed up. Eve realized then, Trace hadn’t spoken. He hadn’t said a word since he’d climbed off that gurney.

More animal than man.

Only he hadn’t shifted into the form of a wolf. His claws were out. His body looked bigger than before, but he wasn’t shifting.

The experiment didn’t work. The words whispered through her mind and made her heart ache. Wyatt. He’d done something to Trace. Changed him.

“I told you!” The scream had Eve’s head snapping to the right and finding the guy in the white lab coat. He’d staggered to his feet. “We should have killed the monster before he woke up!”

Killing Trace hadn’t been an option for her. It still wasn’t. Her friend was in there, somewhere. The same way that Cain was there when he rose from the fire. They just had to find a way to reach Trace—

Trace leaped across the room and slit the human’s throat.

Eve’s jaw dropped. Not Trace. He’d never killed so coldly. Never attacked a human like that. “Trace?”

But he wasn’t looking back at her. He was running away from the fire. Racing from the room and leaving her behind.

The flames continued to sputter.

Cain turned to face her. “He’s dead.”

She shook her head. “No, he’s just—” Broken. Eve swallowed. “Wyatt got to him. Experimented. We have to find out what he did so we can change Trace back.”

The words sounded hollow to her own ears. She knew, better than most, that people couldn’t always go back.

Cain tilted up her chin, and she saw his eyes narrow as he took in the bruises marring her throat. “I can see his f**king fingers and the claw marks.”

Eve caught his hands. “It wasn’t him.” Not really. Not the man she knew him to be, but it had been the beast he kept so carefully chained inside.

Cain twined his fingers with hers. “Stay with me.” The words were an order. “I won’t let anyone take another hit at you.”

She grabbed the gun with her left hand. She wouldn’t be caught off guard again. Eve climbed over the human’s dead body. Swallowing, she forced herself to bend down and close his eyes. No man should die with such terror stamped on his face. When Trace realized what he’d done . . .

Eve looked away from the blood. She stepped away from the body. Her heart hurt, but there was nothing she could do for the guy. And if they didn’t move, more guards would come.

Put one foot in front of the other. She followed Cain, feeling hollow inside. She ignored the pain in her throat and kept walking down the hallway.

When a guard rounded the corner and almost slammed right into Cain, he reacted instantly. One hit took the guard down. They kept walking. Climbing the stairs. Moving soundlessly as Cain tracked their prey.