Eternal Flame (Night Watch #3)(74)
Author: Cynthia Eden

“Zane!” he barked out his name, hoping to get his friend’s attention.

Zane’s body stiffened. Jude felt a rush of hot wind against his body, and he clenched his muscles. Zane’s head turned toward him, a slow, gliding move, almost like a snake’s. Those eyes …

Oh, dammit. Jude stepped forward. If I ever turn like my old man, kill me. Zane’s quiet voice from so long ago. A late night at Delaney’s bar when secrets had come out. Secrets about drugs, demons, and death. Promise me, you’ll hunt me.

“No!” Jana screamed just as that hot wind rushed against Jude again. This time, that wind picked Jude up like he was a rag doll, and he hurtled through the air. Fuck, f**k, f**k. He lifted his arms and protected his head right before his body thudded into the concrete wall at the back of the building.

“No, Zane! Stop, he’s your friend!”

But Zane wasn’t gonna be stopping. Didn’t she realize? Zane wasn’t in control right then.

I-I never want to be like him. Him. Zane’s father. The murdering bastard who had slaughtered Zane’s mother.

The tiger snarled inside as the shift pressed ever closer. It would be so easy to change. To let that burning fire of the tiger consume him. Attack. Kill. Protect.

But if he shifted … he and Zane … dammit, one of them wouldn’t survive.

The hot rush of air came at him again.

One of them might not survive now. Jude’s claws scraped across the cement as he shoved back to his feet. His gaze darted to the left. To the long, thick metal pole that secured the side of that trash bin.

“Zane! Don’t hurt him! Listen to me, listen … ”

The demon wouldn’t listen. The demon would destroy. Trapped to him, bound by those cuffs, the woman was helpless. Unless she used her fire.

Why the hell hadn’t she used her fire?

The same reason I haven’t used my tiger.

Because this was Zane.

His fingers wrapped around that bar. Zane was kissing the woman, holding her tight, caging her body against his even as his power filled the air. He’d never seen the demon let loose so much energy. Lightning crackled across the sky and streaked far too close to earth. Too close to Zane.

The metal screamed as Jude ripped it free. He saw Zane tense at the sound, saw him try to jerk up, but Jana grabbed him and held tight. “Don’t let me go!” She held the demon’s head in her hands. “Don’t!”

She was all the distraction he needed. Jude lunged forward and slammed the bar into the back of Zane’s head.

When Zane fell, he took her to the ground with him. Gasping, shuddering, Jana hit hard and her body shrieked a protest back at her.

Zane’s eyes were closed, and his black lashes cast shadows on his cheeks. “Zane?”

“He won’t be out long.” The hunter. Jude. He’d gotten up fast. He grabbed for the handcuffs and tried to yank them apart.

“It’s not going to work,” she whispered, feathering her fingers over Zane’s face. “You know they’re enchanted. The agent took the key. Without it …” She let the sentence trail off. He knew what would happen. There’d be no separating her from Zane.

Not that she planned to leave him. Not now.

He’d tried to tell her to leave, before the drugs swept through him. Tried to warn her away.

Why? So he could face the darkness alone?

Jude dropped her hand and ran for Kelly. He pulled the agent up. Jana saw her head dip and sag. Jude drove his hands in the pockets of her jeans.

Jana shook her head. The agent was too smart to have just pocketed the keys. She’d planned this too well.

He’ll k-kill you.

The agent had planned, all right. She probably thought it was the perfect ending for Jana. Killed by her lover.

Jana’s fingers curled around Zane’s arms. “Help me.”

The shifter kept struggling with the agent’s limp body. Thanks to that header into the concrete, Kelly would be out for a long time. Too long.

But Zane … he healed fast. She licked her lips. ”Help me.”

Jude’s head snapped toward her. She caught a glimpse of his fangs. His claws. Jana could clearly see the indecision on his face. He thought she wanted him to attack Zane.

Jude shook his head. “I can’t—“

“We have to secure him.” Her fingers were light on Zane’s flesh. “He’s going to wake up soon.” A few minutes. If she knew her demons, and she did know them pretty well, he’d probably be out no more than five minutes, tops. While he was out, the drug would finish pumping through his body. When he woke up … She swallowed. “We need a room he can’t escape. He can’t be near anyone. He’ll … hurt them.”

Kill.

She rose and struggled to pull Zane with her. ”Help me,” she said again, and this time, the shifter was there. He grabbed Zane and hoisted him up.

Tony groaned as he began to rouse. Still alive. Good. For a minute there, she hadn’t been so sure.

The shifter tossed Zane over his shoulder and carried him easily. Jana stumbled right behind them, the handcuffs pulling her in their wake. They went back inside. Down to the basement.

“A normal room isn’t going to work. He’ll be able to get out, he’ll—”

“This used to be a psych hospital, before the city took the building.” Jude entered a room to the right. No windows. Thick walls.

“The door is reinforced steel. It only locks from the outside.”

He lowered Zane to the floor. Jana slid down to his side.

“I’m not leaving you in here with him.” Jude’s eyes were too bright, glittering. I can see the beast he carries so clearly now.

“You are.” Her words sounded confident, almost cocky. With those shifter senses, though, she bet the guy could hear how fast her heart was racing. Could he even smell her fear? “Lock us in. Then go find the witch. She can break the cuffs.” Not that Jana planned to leave him, even then.

Jude eyed the door, and then looked back at her. “No damn way that lock will hold him. Zane is strong. He’ll blast right through it.”

Her fingers intertwined with his. Still out. “Then send Tony after the witch. You stand guard on the other side of the door. But you don’t come at him, you hear me? Not unless …”

Unless, what? Unless Zane attacked him? Like he’d done just minutes before.

“I don’t want to hurt him,” Jude said. Might as well be her own thoughts.

“And I don’t want him to hurt you.” She didn’t want Zane to attack anyone, especially not his friends. Stronger than I’d thought. And, yes, it sure seemed like her demon had a very dark side. No wonder he kept that side leashed.