Eternal Flame (Night Watch #3)(84)
Author: Cynthia Eden

Davey snarled and held her tighter, harder. “The bitch deserved what she got!”

“What?” Jana taunted him. Always taunting, always pushing … and giving Zane the chance to slip ever closer. “What did she deserve? You for a son? The woman must have really screwed some people over to get—”

He whirled her around and drove his fist into her jaw. Jana went down, and Zane lunged forward as the fury burned through him. Davey was reaching for her again, death in his eyes, when Zane slammed into the bastard. ”Don’t f**king touch her!”

They crashed into the ground. The air thickened around them. So hot. Heavy with power and rage.

But Davey wasn’t attacking. He just stared up at Zane. “You understand. I know you do. You killed your father. You know what a sick bastard he was.”

And I’m not like him. He’d been afraid, for so long, but…

Demons are f**king people, too. Jana’s words rang in his ears. His strong, fierce Jana. “He was a bastard all right, but not because he was a demon. Just because he was one twisted addict who got off on his drugs and on giving pain to others.”

Davey blinked. “No, no, you understand—” “What do I understand?” He kept his arms loose at his sides. The attack would come again. He knew it. Jude circled behind the other demon. Jana rose slowly to her feet. He caught sight of blood dripping from her lips. Fuck. “I’m a demon, Davey. You are, too. And you’re a twisted ass**le, that I know.”

“But you’re not, Zane.” Jana’s voice. Still strong. “You’re not like your father or like Davey.”

He stared into Davey’s black eyes. Demon eyes, but eyes filled with hate and fury. “No, but I think our Davey might be one hell of a lot like his old man. He taught you to hate, didn’t he, Davey? Taught you to destroy the things that were different in this world. To destroy the things he didn’t understand.”

Davey charged him with his claws out. “The bitch deserved to die! She would have made me evil, made me—”

Zane sidestepped the attack and drove a fist into Davey’s back. “You are evil. You don’t even realize it.”

Davey hit the ground.

“You killed a human, Davey. That girl at the college- Lindsey was human.”

Davey jumped back to his feet. The wind began to roar around them. “The bitch would have told what she knew about Laura and Perseus. I wasn’t gonna let that happen.”

“Why? Because then the big lie about Perseus defending the humans would fall apart? Because the truth is that you were just using the psychic to steal power, power that you took, that Beth took, hell, that others at Perseus probably took, too? Because deep down, you all just wanted to be the badasses that people feared in the night?” Zane shook his head. “Give me a break—”

The wind slammed into him with the force of a bus. Zane flew back and rammed into the brick wall. He heard Jude’s hard grunt and turned just in time to see the shifter slam face first into the side of a garbage dumpster. The shifter’s body slid to the ground, and a large dent hollowed the side of the dumpster.

Zane pushed to his feet. “That the best you’ve got?” His shoulder had been dislocated. No big deal. He was also pretty sure that the back of his head was bleeding. Still, he was walking, and he was ready for his turn to attack.

Davey stared back at him. “You can’t beat me.”

He was pretty sure he could. “I’d say I have a fifty-fifty shot.” More, because Jude was starting to push to his knees. Can’t keep a good shifter down.

“Marcus wasn’t the first.” Davey spit on the ground. “And Laura wasn’t the first transference psychic we found, either. Our first psychic didn’t last as long, though, but Donna did manage to steal a Born Master’s youth for me.”

Zane kept his face blank. Born Masters were the vampires who were born with the immortal power already locked within them. Then they hit their late teens or early twenties and stopped aging. If that little bastard had really managed to steal a Born Master’s youth … “How the hell old are you really, Davey?”

“Forty-eight.” Davey licked his lips. “I look real good, don’t I? ‘Course, Donna didn’t look as good. The psychics can be weak sometimes, you know. They take the full hit of the power-that blast can be hell on a human.”

Jana stood behind Davey. Zane saw that the red in her eyes had darkened even more. Charging. Beth hadn’t permanently stolen her power. Those odds of kicking Davey’s ass were looking better and better.

“What happened to Donna?” Zane asked, trying to keep Davey focused on him.

A little shrug. “Let’s just say she got a little too young. Her body couldn’t handle things. I stole what I could from her before she … well … before the end came for her.”

Shit. “So after Donna, you lucked out and found Laura.”

“Luck had nothing do with it.” His gaze darted to Jude. The shifter was still on his knees, with his head down. “It took us months to find her and—”

Zane attacked. He shoved his psychic energy right at Davey, blasting as hard as he could. This time, Davey was the one to fly through the air. He flew into the window on the side of the building, smashing glass and disappearing inside.

Zane ran forward and grabbed Jana’s arm. “Get the hell out of here,” he told her. “Run. Go to Dusk. Find Dee. You’ve got to get out—”

Shards of glass flew into his arms and back. Swearing, he shielded Jana as the glass flew. The sharp edges embedded in his skin and dug deep.

“She’s not getting away.” Davey’s voice was darker. Harder. He climbed from the broken window, knocking glass off his shoulders. “She betrayed Perseus, and that bitch is dying tonight.”

“Zane…” Jana breathed his name and her fingertips pressed against him. Even through the clothing, he could feel the heat of her skin. Come on, baby, burn.

“Why does she matter?” he yelled at the ass**le. “You took her power away. She’s not a threat to you.”

“No.” A fast agreement. “She’s not… now she’s just easy prey.”

“I thought you didn’t hurt humans!” Sick freak. Zane concentrated and the glass shards slipped from his body-and then they flew right at Davey. They hit the demon in the face.

Davey howled.

“Run, Jana!” Zane launched forward. He heard the snap and crunch of bones. Jude was transforming. When Jude shifted, he’d be a white tiger, and they’d tear the demon apart. This fight was ending.