Eternal Flame (Night Watch #3)(53)
Author: Cynthia Eden

“Send some fire trucks, would you?” She watched those flames blaze. They’d burned through the roof and were reaching so high. With a fire like this, there was only one way to stop the flames. Just one … “People are still inside. They need help.”

A pause. Then he asked, “Is it your fire, Jana?”

It should have been. “I’ll keep the phone on,” she said. “You just get help out here, got it? Perseus is burning, but I’m not letting them destroy Zane.”

Then she put the phone on the hood of the truck and made the stupidest move of her life. She went back into the fire.

“Help me…” The voice drew Zane in closer. It was weak, rough, desperate. Not Catalina.

He found himself in the same conference room he’d been in when he’d first seen Catalina. The fire had already come inside, the flames surging against the walls. The guards were gone. They’d cleared out fast, but then, his psychic blast wouldn’t have kept them knocked out for long.

He’d never seen a fire like this one. Even with his power, it was hard to push the flames back. And if he hadn’t been so high on the demon scale then he never would have been able to clear a path back inside. The fire was too wild.

The flames weren’t just sticking to the walls. They were surging forward, actually tracking people-as if they were intent on killing. Hell, they were intent. An Ignitor aimed the fire where she wanted it. Beth wanted the fire to kill, and it was. Only, it wasn’t just killing Beth’s enemies. It was killing everyone.

“Help … me …” The voice came again and Zane hurried forward, even as he shoved back those greedy flames. He rushed down the hallway and turned right. Another room, this one with chains on the walls.

He found Davey on the floor. His legs were pinned by a heavy metal cage that had fallen onto him. Hell, this must be some kind of damn containment room. Fire circled around Davey, but the demon held the flames back from him, keeping a protective circle around his body. A circle that barely seemed to be holding. Blood dripped from his temple. “Don’t leave me here.”

Zane stared down at the kid. “You chose the wrong side.”

Tears leaked from his eyes. “I chose the-the only side that I had! I was trying-trying to save l-lives!” The fire inched closer. Young Davey wasn’t a strong demon, that much was obvious, or he would have freed himself by now.

A weak demon. A kid. One who’d been pulled in and used by humans gone crazy with their own power.

“Tell me where you keep the paranormal prisoners.”

The flames inched closer to Davey’s legs. That circle was failing. The demon screamed.

“Tell me.”

Davey broke. His face crumpled and he cried out, “End of the hall, go right!” He pointed with a trembling hand. “Third door! They weren’t hurt, they weren’t—”

“They were.” Disgust had his voice thickening, but Zane waved his own hand and the metal flew off Davey’s legs.

The guy gasped, staring up at him with wide eyes.

“We’re not all evil, kid. You need to start realizing that.”

Davey pushed to his feet. Almost fell right back down. A broken leg wouldn’t stop a demon. The guy could still manage to get out of there.

Zane turned away from him. He tore down the hall. ”Catalina!” With two binding marks, she’d never be able to control the fire. If it came after her the way it had come after the others …

Burn, witch.

Her worst fear.

His feet pounded on the hard floor as he searched for her, running down that snaking hallway and following the desperate directions Davey had given him. If the kid had been lying …

Zane turned a hard right, then slammed his foot into the third door he saw. The door shattered and flew forward and he saw Catalina on the floor. Her hands were jerking at the chains that bound two men to the wall.

She whirled toward him with a gasp, but the fear left her eyes when she saw him. “Zane! Help me!”

The fire hadn’t gotten to them yet. Smoke seeped inside the windowless room from the vents, but otherwise, they were okay. He hurried forward and grabbed the manacle on the first guy’s hand. The man, blond, young, with glinting blue eyes-shit, the guy I saw when I went into Jana’s mind-just shook his head. “You can’t break ‘em. They’re reinforced, even I can’t—”

Zane shattered the manacle. “You can’t because they’re made of silver.” They know your weakness. The old story about werewolves and their silver weakness was based on some fact. He broke the other manacle. The shifter stepped forward, then staggered. Long cuts and incisions covered his chest and legs. Fuck.

Catalina jumped to her feet and put her arms around him, trying to help him to balance.

The other guy hadn’t moved. His skin was gray, his dark head hung low, and the scent of blood was heavy around him.

“Be careful, Zane,” Catalina said, “they’ve bled him for days, and he hasn’t—”

The guy’s head snapped up when Zane got close, and wickedly sharp fangs came at his throat. Zane caught the guy’s chin in one hand and held tight. “Easy.” Black eyes stared back at him. Not demon eyes. The sclera was still white, but the iris had faded to pitch black. A vamp in hunting mode. No, a vamp who was starving. “I’m not on the menu.”

The vamp snarled. Zane fired a fast glance at Catalina. “We leave this one. He’s too far gone. Vamps attack anyway and he’s—”

“Please.” A desperate whisper from the vampire. “Won’t… bite…. Don’t… leave….”

“He comes with us.” Catalina stared at him with a raised chin. “They drained his blood for the last four days. He’s starving.”

“All the more f**king reason to leave him here.” Zane didn’t ease his grip. Wasting time. Was Jana still outside? Had she already left him? “A hungry vamp is a dangerous vamp.” No, any vamp was a dangerous vamp. “We don’t have a lot of time. The fire’s coming—”

“I-I know, but we can’t leave him!”

He glanced back at the vamp. At those dark eyes.

“Won’t … bite … you….“ the vamp said again. His fangs were still out, his eyes still so dark. “ Begging …”

His jaw clenched. “If you do, you’re dead, Drac.” Simple fact. He eyed the chains holding the guy. Looked like the same kind of metal he used for his cuffs. “Cat, is there a little something extra on these …?”