Eternal Flame

Zane jerked his thumb toward the body bag. “That’s the Ignitor who started the blaze.”

“Two Ignitors?” Tony whistled. “Man, talk about playing with fire.”

But the chief didn’t look at Beth’s body. “I knew Beth Parker. She was a low-level psychic, but she was no Ignitor.”

“Then why were her eyes burning red as the flames ripped through the place?” Zane asked, voice tight. “I know what I saw, and I’m telling you—”

“The only Ignitor is Jana Carter,” Jeremiah said flatly. “I got my own psychics on the team, and when an Ignitor is in the area, I know.”

No, the guy was wrong.

“I need to talk to Ms. Carter. And I need to have that little chat with her before the suits from the FBI get here.” The extermination list.

Daniels nodded. “Now you’re understanding, demon. We don’t have much time. Where is she?”

Zane glanced back at the trees. Jana had been there moments before, watching him. He’d been leading that vamp bastard to the ambulance, determined to keep the guy away from Jana. But now …

Now the spot was empty. No, not empty. A cop was on the ground. On his knees, rising slowly.

“Shit.” The curse was Tony’s, but they both took off running at the same time. Zane reached the cop first. He caught the guy’s arm and hauled him the rest of the way off the ground.

“Where is she?”

The cop blinked. “Wh-who?” He rubbed the back of his head. “Wh-what hit me?” Not what. Who.

Tony huffed out a breath. “Wasn’t there a pickup truck parked over there”-he pointed to an empty space near some twisting pines—“a few minutes ago?”

Zane’s hold on the cop tightened. “You were talking to a woman.”

“I was?”

Hell.

The cop’s eyes widened. ”I was. Y-yeah … I-I wanted to ask her some questions.” He shook his head and winced. “Where is she?”

That was the question Zane wanted answered. He caught the whiff of blood and knew that someone had hit the cop.

“Uh … Zane?” Tony tapped him on the arm.

Jaw clenched, he let the cop go. The guy scrambled back but eyed him with a frightened stare.

“Hollis, get over here!” the chief called out. Officer Hollis rushed to obey, even as he still rubbed the back of his head.

Tony leaned in close. “Where’s the shifter?”

With his strong nose, Jude was helping the cops search for the dead. “Jude’s with the—”

“Not him.”

He glanced at Tony.

“The bastard I saw running away from Catalina when I got here. It looked like he was coming to help her and the vamp, but when he saw me and Jude, the guy turned tail and ran.”

Turned tail? Nice.

“I saw his fangs and his claws. I know he was a shifter.” He was. Now they were missing a shifter-a shifter who just might have a score to settle with Jana.

“We found the truck,” Chief Daniels told him an hour later as he crossed his arms over his wide chest. They were back in the city, at the police department, and Zane’s whole body tightened with tension.

“Where is she?”

“Hold on, son.” Daniels shook his head. “I said we found the truck. Not her.” He paused. “Something you need to know … there was blood in the truck.”

The world seemed to narrow then.

“The girl was gone, but one of my cops—” Daniels leaned in close. “Officer Wiley… he’s got a good nose on him.” Right. Because he was probably a shifter. “And he said he smelled wolf all over that damn pickup.”

Zane’s back teeth clenched. “Get an APB out. The wolf is about six-foot-one, maybe one-eighty, blond hair, blue eyes.” Sharp teeth.

“I already got an APB out on your girl,” Daniels said. “I’ll make sure the uniforms know to look for him, too.”

But they’d already ditched the pickup. Hell, now they could grab any vehicle, any time.

“I figured she’d just run.” Daniels sighed. “Until I found out about the blood. Now I’m not so sure she went willingly.”

They were alone in the chief’s office. A small office, and one with a really crappy view. Zane forced his hands to unclench. “The vamp bit her back at the swamp. The blood could have come from that bite.” Could have. But if that shifter had gotten her …

Should have left his ass chained to the wall.

A knock rapped at the door.

“Come in,” Daniels barked.

The door opened, and Tony poked his head in. “We’ve got company.” Company that had made his whole face harden.

“Tell ‘em to take a fuckin’ number!” Daniels bellowed. “I’ve got a missing—”

“A missing what?” A female voice asked.

The chief froze, then grunted out, “Shit.”

Daniels might be surprised, but Zane had caught the woman’s scent, so when the door swung open fully and Special Agent Kelly Thomas appeared next to Tony, he wasn’t surprised.

But he was annoyed.

“Where is she, demon?” Agent Thomas asked, staring at him. “I heard the call on the police scanner. I know about the fire out in the swamp.” She walked into the room, her heels clicking. Tony, his mouth tight, shut the door behind her. “And I know an Ignitor set that fire.”

Zane rolled his shoulders. Jana, where are you? “You’re right. An Ignitor did set the fire.”

Her eyes widened. “You admit she—”

“Beth Parker started the fire. I can testify to that. So can two other witnesses.” He’d make sure Catalina didn’t disappear before backing up his story, and he’d also be sure not to kill the vamp until that guy could back up his claim, too.

The special agent’s teeth snapped together and she gritted out, “Another one?”

“I can dig up other witnesses who will testify that Beth Parker started numerous fires in the area.” He was bullshitting now, but screw that. Jana wasn’t being exterminated. “Parker was the Ignitor, not Jana Carter.”

The silence in the room was so thick he could feel it weighing on him.

Kelly’s cheeks flushed a dark, violent red. “Jana Carter is a killer.”

Maybe, but they weren’t killing her. “I’ve already talked to Pak. He’s calling his contacts at the FBI and clearing this mess up. You’ve been after the wrong woman, Special Agent.”

If looks could kill … “The hell I have been.”

He shrugged his shoulders. “Jana Carter isn’t your prey anymore.” The chief wasn’t saying anything. Surprising, but good. The guy was going along with his story.

“Yes, she is.” And her stare touched on the chief. “You backing him?”

Jeremiah’s bushy brows climbed. “The evidence indicates that Beth Parker was the one who started—” ”Give me Jana Carter.”

Zane leaned forward and quietly said, “Not going to happen.”

Her eyes widened as she stared at him. “You’re in the middle of a federal investigation. I could have you arrested for obstruction, and don’t think you’re just walking away after that crap you pulled in Baton Rouge—”

“You pulled a gun on me, lady. I was just defending myself.” And he’d do it again. Real soon, if she didn’t back off.

Tony stepped between him and the agent. “Jana Carter isn’t here.” Ah, a calm voice. “We have no idea where she is.”

That was the absolute truth.

“She was with him.” Kelly pointed her finger at Zane. “They traveled down here together. My sources say they stole a Ford and—”

“What sources?” Zane asked, curious. She knew the make of the car they’d used. Sonofabitch. Perseus hadn’t come after them-she had. “Would those sources be the assholes you sent to run our car off the road?”

Kelly didn’t answer.

Tony swore.

Her back straightened. “Jana Carter is a fugitive, she’s—”

“Gonna be cleared by the FBI any damn minute,” Zane promised. Pak had pull. Zane would be covered for his … incident in Baton Rouge.

And Jana had better be cleared, too. He sauntered around Tony. “I’m afraid your job’s over here, Ms. Thomas. Pack it in. You’re not after Jana anymore.”

But she wasn’t backing down and he could see the calculation in her gaze. “You really don’t know where she is.” A hard laugh filled the tight room. “Did she fuck you over, too? She screwed you, left you, and you’re still idiot enough to try and protect her?”

He glared back at her. “Stay away from Jana.”

She shook her head. “I’m doing my job. My job is to find her, to stop her-by any means necessary.” Her gaze could have singed him. “Don’t you remember? That was your job, too. Before you decided to have sex with a killer.”

Kelly spun away and stormed for the door. “I’m finding her, and I’m doing my job.” Her fingers curled over the doorknob.

“He was your stepbrother,” Tony said. Zane blinked. Uh, what?

“Brent Martin, one of the two doctors killed in that fire a few months back. The fire you think Jana started in that lab.”

Her spine was flagpole straight. “I don’t think it. I know she started that fire. I know she killed him.”

Tony whistled. “This thing has been personal for you from the beginning. It’s not about doing your job. It’s about getting some kind of revenge.”

She threw a fuming gaze back at them. “Jana Carter killed two innocent men.”

“Innocent my ass,” Zane muttered. “Lady, you don’t know what the hell has been going on down here.”

“Brent was researching paranormals—”

“He was slicing them into little pieces to see what made them tick,” Zane told her bluntly. “And guess what? Some of those paranormals didn’t like getting cut up. Some of them fought back.”

“Like your Jana?”

He wasn’t touching that. So he said, “He was working for Project Perseus, a bunch of bastards that couldn’t be trusted. You’re FBI. Start digging. Check ‘em out.”

“She already knows about them,” Tony said quietly. “From my intel, the FBI had been trying to get someone inside Perseus for months.” A pause. “Was your stepbrother an agent? Was he working both sides?”

“No,” she snapped. “He didn’t know what was happening. He was just trying to help—”

“Bullshit.” Jana’s memories burned through Zane’s mind. “He knew what he was doing. He knew he was hurting them, and he didn’t care.”

“You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, you don’t—”

“Investigate him,” Zane said. Simple. “Find out for yourself.” But he could tell by the expression on her face that Agent Kelly Thomas had already made up her mind.

The only thing she planned to do was hunt. And, as the door slammed shut behind her, he realized he had to find Jana before she did because the FBI agent didn’t seem to care about orders.

Just revenge.

“I don’t think your girl is the cold-blooded killer Agent Thomas believes she is,” Tony said.

Zane forced his teeth to unclench. “She’s not.” Dead certainty.

“Um … tell me … have you wondered how Jude and I came to find you? How the cavalry”-he inclined his head toward Daniels—“knew where we all were?”

He’d just figured that Tony and Jude had tracked him. When it came to tracking, Jude was the best.

“We found you because Jana called Pak. She told him where you were, and she told him to haul ass and get help out there.”

Then she’d come back into the fire and tried to pull him out herself.

Where are you? The question was burning him alive. “We have to find her.” Before Agent Thomas did.

Two nights later, Zane stood on the doorstep of his house, the night air crisp around him and worry a cold, hard weight in his chest.

The New Orleans cops hadn’t been able to find Jana. Jude hadn’t been able to track her. He hadn’t been able to find her.

The woman had vanished, and he was scared as all hell.

What if Daniels was right and she hadn’t disappeared willingly? What if that shifter had taken her? Agent Thomas might not be the only one jonesing for revenge.

The cops had rounded up over twenty guards and agents from Perseus. Davey had gotten away. Maybe, just maybe that kid would be smart enough to start fresh somewhere- and to choose fucking sides better next time.

Perseus was dead. Jana should have been safe from them. So where the hell are you, baby?

He shoved the key into the lock. Tomorrow, he’d use every resource Night Watch had to break apart the Other world. He’d already been up nearly forty-eight hours straight, only catching a few hours’ worth of sleep, as he searched for Jana. It had taken the cops a day to realize she’d left the city. A whole wasted day. Should have known that right away.

He kicked the door shut behind him and shoved the dead bolt home. He had to find Jana before the FBI did.

Pak had told them to call off the dogs, but he knew the order wasn’t going to stop Thomas. That woman was gunning for Jana’s blood.

Jana.

The last time he’d seen her, she’d been standing under that willow tree. Blood had trickled down her throat. She’d been too pale. Her eyes too wide. He’d wanted to run to her, but he’d needed to get rid of that dick vampire.