by Cynthia Eden
As his legs thundered across that barren Texas soil, he felt a brush in his mind, then the soft echo of a voice.
“Welcome home, bastard.”
Fuck.
Zane’s head jerked up when he saw the flash of flames. Oh, shit. Not good.
The human—Nina—she’d get her ass killed.
Maybe that’s what she wanted. To die so she could join her family.
He’d wondered about Dee once. Wondered if she didn’t take the toughest cases because she wanted out, too.
Humans didn’t understand. Getting out was the easy part.
He slid a stake out of his bag. One of Dee’s, of course. A tiger’s roar echoed in the distance and he knew that Jude and Erin were scouting the area, eliminating guards and doing their best to make sure the coming bloodbath didn’t take out the good guys.
Not that any of them were really that good.
He watched the flames a moment. They were racing across the roof of the building on the far left. The building that looked like some old stable.
The fury of an Ignitor. Something to see.
His fingers clenched around the stake.
A scream pierced the air. A long, tortured scream—a cry that was ripped from a woman’s throat.
The flames flickered. Began to die.
Because Nina was dying?
No. Not another death on her hands. Dee raced forward with a fierce burst of speed. Two vamps came out at her, but she knocked them back, swiping her claws over one’s throat and burying a stake in another’s flesh. She missed his heart, but he hit the ground, shrieking loud enough to make a girl think he was dying.
So much for a quiet entry.
But being quiet didn’t really matter now. Grim knew they were out there.
She turned, following the woman’s scream and the thickening scent of blood. A house, ranch-style, waited. Dee didn’t bother with the door. She hurtled through the big picture window, Simon’s curse following her.
Rolling, she jumped to her feet, claws up, ready for anything, ready for—
Death. A woman, with long, dark hair twisted over her face, lay on the bed. The white sheets beneath her were stained red.
More glass shattered behind her as Simon fought his way into the room.
Her gaze searched over the area. The odors of sex and blood were everywhere. But that woman wasn’t Nina.
The hair on her nape rose and Dee spun around.
He stood in the doorway. The bastard who had haunted her nightmares. Tall and lean, his hair streaked with gold and his eyes pitch black. “Been a long time, little Sandra Dee.” Grim paused. “I knew the fools hadn’t managed to take you out.” His dark stare swept over her body, slowly. Not sexually. No interest there. Just an assessment. Thorough. He shrugged. “I thought you’d be easier to kill.”
“Yeah, you’re not the first person to make that mistake.” She’d never forgotten his face and his soul-less eyes.
Beside her, Simon stood as still as freaking stone. The bastard was trying to get back in his head. She didn’t have to be a mind-reader to know that was coming.
Even though she was a mind reader now.
Deliberately, Dee stepped in front of Simon. Her turn.
Grim’s lips quirked, but he made no move to attack. “You’re too late to save her.”
Dee’s gaze darted to the bed.
A cold laugh. “Not her. She doesn’t matter.” He smirked. “The witch.”
Her blood iced. No, no, he was just screwing with her. Catalina was long gone. She’d run so she wouldn’t face the fire.
“She had her uses, I’ll give you that.” He lifted his hand, then pointed right over Dee’s shoulder. Straight at Simon. “After all, with just a little fire, she gave me…you.”
Her gut knotted. Why had the fire been in that old stable? If Nina were attacking, why hadn’t she set her fire here in the main house?
“Can you feel me, asshole?” Grim snarled at Simon, and the smile left his face. “Because I can damn well feel you.”
Dee glanced back. Sweat coated Simon’s face and his eyes flickered back and forth, back and forth, from black to gray. Torment etched deep lines onto his face. “Get…out,” he growled.
He’ll turn on you.
Screw this.
“Witches can burn so fast,” Grim murmured, “but your witch, I made sure she—”
Dee leapt forward.
“Do you want me to kill them all?” Grim shook his head and lunged to meet her. One hand ripped the stake from her fingers and her wrist cracked beneath his hold. His right hand grabbed her neck, held tight, and he lifted her off the ground. “Do you? Because I can kill every one of those bastards you brought to my land. Your demon, your stinking animals—”
Zane. Jude. Hell, Erin.
“The witch let me back in.” He brought his face close to hers. “She didn’t want to touch the dark magic, not at first, but when the fire started, she was all too eager.”
Dee couldn’t breathe. If he snapped her neck, she’d be helpless. Paralyzed, but still living, until her body could heal. He wouldn’t give her the time to heal. He’d stake her. Behead her. Burn her—
Like he’d burned Catalina?
Why wasn’t Simon helping her? Attack. Get the bastard! Her mental cry blasted out, and she tried to reach him desperately on their blood link.
And she slammed into a brick wall. A wall that hadn’t been between their minds before.
Grim.
He yanked her close to his face. “I had him first, and I have him again.” He threw her against the wall. Dee hit, hard, and her body shuddered at the impact.
She glanced up to see Grim studying Simon with raised brows. “You’re the one who caused all this trouble for me.”
A fine tremble worked down Simon’s stiff length.
Grim shook his head. “Usually, the willing are the easiest to control. And you were willing, weren’t you, Chase? So ready to live forever.”
His choice. Dee shoved up to her knees. Simon?
Damn brick wall. She couldn’t see it, but she knew it was there and she wanted to smash her fist right through it.
Simon’s eyes jerked toward her. A flash of smoky gray. He lifted his leg, as if he were going to take a step.
“A puppet on a string.”
He froze.
Grim laughed again. “Too damn easy.” He turned his head toward her. “I can make him do anything, you know. Anything.”
Dee’s fingers brushed against her ankle holster. Not packing a gun. Old faithful.
“I wonder…” His gaze rose to the broken window. “Do you think she’s still alive? The flames should have taken the stable by now.”
But the flames had flickered. She’d seen them waver right before she’d heard the scream. The scream had brought her here, instead of to the fire.
“You’re a fucking liar.” Dee rose to her feet, keeping her hands close to her sides. “Catalina is nowhere near here.”
“My men caught her right after she left the motel.” He shrugged. “I knew where you were, every minute. I knew.”
And he’d gotten his vamps to follow and attack her and Simon. Then to attack Zane. Yeah, he’d told her all about his run-in with the vamp crew.
Had Grim gotten to Catalina, too? Her heart kicked up in her chest. If I go with you, I’ll burn.
Maybe Cat had been seeing her future after all.
Dee’s gaze jerked to the flames she could see in the distance. Was Cat still alive?
The flames danced.
Sweat began to slick her palms. Couldn’t afford that, not now. “Simon.” She said his name deliberately, injecting fury into the word.
His head jerked.
Grim’s brows pulled together. “You know, I was going to kill you…but it’ll be more fun if he does the deed for me.”
Her eyes narrowed to slits. “I’m all about fun.” Time’s running out. The fire.
Grim’s attention shifted totally to Simon. “Ki
ll the bitch.”
Simon’s lips peeled back, revealing his fangs. “Fuck…off.” He shuddered, shaking so hard it looked like he was convulsing.
Or fighting one very strong compulsion.
Fighting for me.
Just like she’d fight for him.
When Grim’s jaw dropped, Dee attacked. She jumped at him, ready for his attack this time, and when he went to grab her, she drove her right hand into his side. Her claws dug deep, and the broken bones throbbed in a sickening wave. She rammed her head into him and her left hand came up, the stake ready.
She drove it right at his heart. It plunged into his flesh, but he twisted and she knew she’d missed her mark. Dee wrenched the stake, jerking it to the left, and Grim snarled.
Then she took him down. Her right leg hooked under his and she tripped him, knocking him flat like Pak had taught her so long ago.
She kept that stake in him, because she would finish him, one way or another.
Hold on, Catalina.
“No!”
Dee’s gaze jerked up just as Nina came barreling through the door. Blood covered her shirt, reddened her hands and face.
“No! You can’t! He’s mine!” Nina yelled.
It was a fury Dee understood, but, really, dead was dead. It didn’t matter to her who made the kill. They’d all have their vengeance.
Fire raced across the carpet, coming straight at Dee. “Mine!” Nina screamed again.
Dee sprang back, slipped, and fell to the floor. If the Ignitor wanted her justice, fine, then she could have it.
Nina’s hands dug into the door frame and her breath shuddered out. “Had to…leave…witch alive…couldn’t let…”
What?
The fire drifted into smoke.
Grim sat up. His fingers curled around the stake, and he yanked it out. Blood spattered onto the floor, the wall. “Nice try.” His teeth snapped together. “Last try.”
Nina sobbed behind him.
And color her fucking stupid. Dee’s jaw dropped. What had he told her just moments before? “I knew where you were, every minute. I knew.” Not because he’d linked with Simon. No, that link hadn’t kicked in until—until he’d broken Catalina.
That meant—hell. Her eyes lifted to meet Nina’s glittering and teary stare.
So blind.
“It’s past time for you to die,” the Ignitor said, not to Grim, but to Dee. Nina’s skin was so pale. The blood looked like bright red clown makeup on her flesh.
“He killed your family!” Dee snarled.
The Ignitor smiled. “That was the price.”
Dee didn’t dare look Simon’s way. If she could keep their focus, he might be able to break free of Grim. Maybe. “The price of what?”
“My services.” She waved her hand and fire snaked out to circle Dee.
Shit.
“For my fire, he had to kill my family.”
Dee surged to her feet. “Why didn’t you just do it yourself?”
“Because they knew what I was.” Spoken with sadness.
Dee stared into her eyes and knew, too. It wasn’t that Nina was an Ignitor.
She was a monster. Down to the soul.
“They wouldn’t let me get close enough to kill them. They left me—I was sixteen and they left me.” Nina’s lips flattened. “It took me so long to track them.”
And longer to find a vamp willing to take them out.
Grim’s hard laugh filled the room. “Tore didn’t know. For once, the bastard didn’t know the game.”
Dee swallowed back the sick rage that boiled in her throat. “You’re one fine actress, Nina.” She’d known just how to act. Just what to do. From the corner of her eye, Dee saw that Grim had risen to his feet. He had her stake gripped in his hand. The only thing that separated the two of them was Nina’s small line of flames.
“Thanks. I owe you for that bit,” Nina said.
Dee’s breath caught. What?
“I saw you. That night, when your family burned…”
They’d been dead long before the fire.
“I was there, watching.” A cold smile. “And making those flames dance. Grim wanted a sample of my power, and I gave it to him.”
But she would have been—
Around sixteen. Close to Dee’s own age.
Guess it hadn’t taken her that long to find her vamp. He’d just taken his sweet time killing for her.
The better to control his weapon.
“I had a sister, too,” Nina murmured. “I wonder—Grim, did she beg like hers?”
Dee snapped. She raced right through the fire, barely feeling the lick of the flames as she went after that burning bitch.
She punched Nina. A hard hit right in the jaw and down, down she went, those eyes closing, the flames dying and—
“Kill her. Fucking kill her,” Grim ordered.
Arms grabbed her, held tight. Her claws raked against flesh that was warm and strong and familiar.
Her heart stopped as his scent filled her nostrils. Simon.
“S-sorry…” His gasped whisper, right in her ear.
Then his fangs sank into her throat.
The flames drew him closer. Zane moved easily, keeping low to the ground and staying in the shadows. He’d expected to see more vamps around the place. He’d taken out two, had found the signs to indicate Dee and Simon had eliminated at least two others.
The fire flared higher and he caught the faintest of sounds beneath the crackle. A whimper.
His blood seemed to ice. He rushed through the open stable doors, heading through the thick curtain of smoke.
A broken, twisted doll lay on the ground. She’d curled into a ball and the flames were closing in on her. He’d know that long mane of white-blond hair any place. Hell, no.
He ripped off his shirt and began beating at the fire. Trying to shove it back as best he could.
Too big. Too strong.
Zane sucked in a sharp breath and tried to focus his energy. He was strong enough for this. He had to be.
The whisper of wind blew across his face. Wind he’d stirred. With a push, he sent the wind against the fire and the flames shifted, chasing to the left with the force of the wind.
There, just enough. He jumped through the flames. Zane grabbed Catalina and threw her over his shoulder. She was so stiff, so still.
He covered his mouth with her shirt and ran back through the fire. Can’t keep it down. Can’t stop it.
The smoke, a thick wall of gray, blocked his vision but he shoved forward. If he couldn’t find the doors, he’d just tear down a wall. He’d—
“Going somewhere?” A vamp loomed from the smoke, teeth bared, claws out.
No time for this shit.
He hadn’t heard Catalina draw a breath. Hadn’t heard a sound from her since that faint whimper.
Keeping one arm secured around Catalina, he grabbed the vamp and heaved him back into the fire.
Then he took out a wall and got his witch to safety.
It’s all right, Cat. I won’t let the flames get you.
Her worst fear. One that had come true too many times for her.
And for him.
The fresh air slapped him in the face and a shout broke from the line of houses. More vampires, coming fast.
He ran for the woods and really hoped Jude would appear to cover his ass.
In the distance, a tiger roared.
About fucking time. Jude had better have his sexy little lady by his side, because they were going to need her to take out these bloodsuckers.
Chapter 16
Dee’s body trembled against his and Simon tightened his hold around her slender form.
Her blood flowed onto his tongue and with it, their link strengthened. The voice that had been shouting in his mind since he’d followed Dee inside this hell finally quieted, and his focus shifted back to—
Her.
Kill Dee?
No fucking way.
His eyes closed for just a mome
nt and his teeth eased from her neck. His tongue swept over her flesh. The sensual caress was the only reassurance he could offer her then.
“I said to kill the bitch!” Grim’s fierce shout.
Simon’s head lifted and he stared at the Born he’d fought to keep out of his head for so long. The man who’d ordered the hit on his family. On Dee’s.
The Ignitor lay on the floor. Still unconscious because his Dee didn’t screw around.
Neither did he.
Dee laughed. “The man might die for me, nearly has, but no way would he ever kill me.”
Damn but he loved her.
He met Grim’s dark gaze. The bastard’s hold had all but vanished now. Whether from Dee’s touch, her blood, or just her, he didn’t know.
But the end had come. Not for them, but for Grim. “Your brother sends his greetings, Grim. I think he really hopes you enjoy hell.”
The Born’s face changed then, went slack with surprise and a flash of pain. Grim’s gaze leapt to the bed. To the still form of the woman. “I’m not…” He shook his head. “Tore can’t kill me, he’s not here, I’d know—”
“He’s not killing you.” Dee’s body vibrated in his grasp. “We are.”
Grim’s stare snapped to them and his lips rose. “Still on that, are we?”
“Yeah, we are.” So fierce, his Dee.
“A fresh vamp and a fool who couldn’t appreciate the new life he’d been given?”
Enough talk. Time to end—
“Your knight, is he?” Grim sneered at that. “Don’t you know, dear Dee, he’s been luring you in—for me—from the beginning?”
Simon’s hands dug into her shoulders.
“That attack in the alley. The near hit with the gunshot. Your lover arranged that. He almost got you killed.”
Dee glanced up at him.
“And that woman, the one who died so well for my men. Grace, wasn’t it, Simon?”
Grace. Dee’s friend. The one he’d used to manipulate her.
“She gave you all that wonderfully wrong Intel on Simon, didn’t she? I wonder…how could she have made a mistake like that?”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. He should have explained all of this to her before. Should have made her understand—
“I know.” Soft. “I know everything he did,” she said.
His jaw dropped. She knew and she was letting him touch her? Not screaming? Not staking him?