by Eve Langlais
“I’m not a monster.” She tilted her chin.
“None of us are. We’re just different.”
“Different is another word for crazy.” She paced, glancing at the charred body then her hands again. “How do I get rid of the voice?”
“You don’t. Just ignore it. It’s what I do.”
“Does it work?” she asked.
“Most of the time.” He shrugged. “You learn to tune it out eventually.”
“But it’s a part of me.” She touched her ribs. “Surely there’s a way for us to exist as one.”
“It would mean fully embracing your other half. And you’ve seen how that usually ends up.” He referenced the monsters from the woods. Mindless things who’d not joined with their other half so much as given up.
“Becky embraced hers.”
“Becky is a special case, and I should add it hasn’t been that long. We have no idea about the longer-term effects of giving in to the other side.”
“What about Luke?”
Adrian’s lips pursed. “He’s also a special case.”
“Or are they the answer? What if I said yes to my voice?”
“You risk losing yourself.”
Her lips turned down. “But don’t you see…” She swept a hand to showcase the burnt remains. “I already have.”
He reached for her. “Let me—"
There was a thump, as if something hit the roof overhead.
She raised her eyes. “Did you bring reinforcements?”
“Just Jett, but I left him by the car once I saw the bodies.”
“There’s more outside?” Of course, there were. She had a vague image, a flash of men screaming as they jumped out of a vehicle.
“What about Luke and the others?”
“I left him behind to guard the women and the baby.”
More thumping overhead. “I don’t suppose Jett likes to pretend he’s a gargoyle.”
“He might scowl like one, but he doesn’t sit on roofs.”
“I think we’re in trouble.” So much trouble and they were out of time.
The men burst in from everywhere, their combat boots smashing through the skylight windows. Ropes dropped down, quickly followed by men rappelling. On the floor level, more trouble arrived, at least a dozen men, if not more, attacking.
Unfair. They had guns and numbers. They wanted to hurt her. Hurt Adrian.
Putsss us in a cage, precious. She didn’t understand the strange cackle, but she did grasp this wasn’t a time to hold back or be squeamish.
She let the rage rise in her, her inner voice surfing the wave of heated anger. Her temperature rose and pooled in her hands. She held up a palm, which ignited with fire, orange with licks of red and yellow. She flung a ball of it at a rope, where it stuck, melting the strands, sending a body plummeting with a scream that cut short.
More men were coming, more than she could handle at once. But Adrian was here. He didn’t fear as he stood tall and took aim.
Bang. Bang. Bang. She didn’t have time to see if he killed all those he shot at. She tried to keep up with the bodies rushing her. Did her best to defend against the bullets. They sheared past, nicking her skin, letting her blood flow in molten rivulets.
Opening her mouth wide, she let out a primal cry and blew fire. It poured from her mouth in a liquid stream that brought screams, and panic.
It was beautiful. And hot. She sucked in all that delicious warmth. Would have taken it all in, but she didn’t. She wanted her enemies to burn. They sizzled as they died. Screamed until the flames sucked the air out of their lungs.
More. More fire. More!
The voice demanded, but it wasn’t the only one striving for her attention.
“Jane?”
Turning on feet that no longer touched the ground, she stared without seeing. Held her hands out and ignored the screaming in her head—This isn’t me. I’m not a killer!
Yes, she was. This was her time.
Her place.
And there was her enemy. Right in front of her.
“You,” she said in a deep voice. “Must die.”
“If that is the price for Benedict stealing my blue pills, then so be it.” He knelt in front of her. Dropped his gun yet he didn’t bow his head. He held her gaze. “But I know my Jane doesn’t want me dead.”
“Jane’s not here.” The lips quirked, while, within, the other Jane screamed about sharing and forgiveness.
“Then you might as well kill me. Because life isn’t worth living without her.”
He bowed his head and waited for her to act.
She lifted a hand that dripped with blue flame. The color caught her eyes, and she stared at it.
Blue pills.
That wasn’t the first time he’d said that. The truth hammered at her rage.
Hammered at her reason for vengeance. Hammered so hard she never heard the one invader she’d missed.
The bullet hit her in the chest.
Chapter Twenty
The bullet hit Jane. Blood blossomed across her chest. Eyes wide in surprise, she went down. Whereas Adrian dove for his gun and rose with a snarl. He shot the man who dared, too late.
Jane lay on the floor and didn’t move.
She’s dead. The woman he’d loved for twenty years. The only one he’d ever wanted. Dead because he didn’t save her.
His mind shattered, and he roared, “How dare you!”
The exclamation vibrated the very air.
Kill them, the voice whispered. Kill them all.
Because he could hear more of them coming. Their whispers like shouts. Their stench offensive.
Let me avenge you, boyo. Set me free.
Not free. Not entirely. A partnership.
You do realize you bargain with yourself? mocked the voice.
Adrian knew. He’d always known it was just easier to pretend the voice was someone else. He didn’t want to face the fact that it represented a primal part of him. A savage side he didn’t want to acknowledge.
Fact was he was a monster all along. It just took the treatment to be honest about it.
Let’s see what I can do. Adrian spread his arms wide and closed his eyes. He expected it to hurt, to, at the very least, tingle, and yet when he hit the ground with hands that were more like paws and a jaw with more teeth than usual, he felt…greeeeat!
The tail at his back swished, and look at that, he even had wings. A true chimera, just like his name, with all the power he needed for revenge.
There was something to be said about killing without the use of a gun. The sense of closeness shared with a prey as you pounced and pinned them to the floor. The exhilarating rush as hot blood filled your mouth. The euphoria as you inhaled their last breath.
He especially liked it when they tried to fight. It made tasting their defeat all the sweeter.
Because he was a conqueror. All powerful. Majestic and unstoppable.
All too soon there was no one left to kill. Only then did he roar again, finally taking note of the injuries that bled on his body. The exultation of battle faded into sadness. So very, very sad, enough that his adrenaline evaporated and his body shrank back to his original shape. He knelt beside Jane’s prone body and clasped her limp, yet scorching hand. The heat of it almost burned his flesh, but he didn’t care.
A shudder of grief bowed him, and Adrian laid his head against her belly. Her shirt smoldered against his face as if the heat within her body sought to burst free.
Or did it heal? Because, to his surprise, the ear he had pressed to her felt a soft flutter as if from the faint beat of a heart.
Which seemed impossible. The bullet had torn through her chest. The blood—so much blood—pooled around her on the concrete floor.
“Jane?” He glanced at her face as he spoke her name softly. Her features held a serenity, her eyelids closed with her lashes brushing her cheeks. A faint curl of smoke wisped from a nostril. He stroked a finger down her cheek—and yelped.
“
Jeezus you’re hot.” Hot enough to blister skin.
The hand he held began to scorch, and he released it and leaned back, noticing the air shimmering around her, making her porcelain skin glow. Was she about to self-combust?
She’d yet to move. Or even draw a breath he could see. The ragged hole in her chest had stopped bleeding and now smoked. All of her oozed a hot steam, and she glowed brighter.
Adrian rose to his feet, his clothes flapping in tatters. Perhaps he should stay. Immolate in the cleansing flames with her.
But then it was as if he could hear her voice.
Take cover you, idiot.
He didn’t question. Rather he turned on a heel and ran, ran for the door exiting the warehouse, knowing he probably wouldn’t make it.
Says who, boyo? The challenge only made his legs pump faster. He bolted straight out the door and had made it a few yards when it happened.
The boom of the explosion rattled the very air and trembled the ground underfoot.
A wave of heat blasted him off his feet, and he hit the pavement outside the warehouse hard. For a moment he lay there, kissing the pavement, the pain in his bruised body indicating he lived.
He groaned as he rolled to his back, noticing the sky glowed, lit by the flames shooting from the remnants of the warehouse. Nothing so mundane as orange and red but white-hot flickers hinting at a bit of blue. The hottest a fire could get.
When Adrian managed to regain his feet, he could only stare in grief-stricken awe at the raging inferno. All those who’d attacked, cremated, along with his special Jane.
I failed her.
He’d waited too long to embrace his inner beast. Waited too long for so many things. Like telling her how he really felt. As a scientist, he should have mocked the idea of love at first sight. Then he’d met Jane. A woman who’d touched him with her mere presence. No other woman could compare.
No other woman ever would.
Because I’m perfect.
The voice he heard even had her feminine intonation, which brought a frown.
Now that I’ve made peace with myself, will I forever be haunted by her?
Such melodrama. Again with the sassy remark. It sounded so much like Jane.
Because it’s me, idiot.
He blinked in disbelief as she emerged from the inferno, hips swaying, the shape of her absolute naked perfection. And very much alive.
She reached him, and he sputtered, “I saw you get shot.” Yet not a mark showed on her chest.
“Yeah. That part sucked.” Her lips quirked. “Which is why I had to combust. For some reason that fixes everything.”
The geek in him breathed, “Just like the phoenix, rising from the ashes.”
“More like reborn in fire.”
Sirens in the distance had him frowning. “We need to get out of here.”
Not what he wanted to say, and yet, he didn’t want to stick around and attempt to explain to law enforcement what had happened here.
Jett leaned against the car parked on the road and shook his head as they approached. “Couldn’t you have put a shirt on her at least? Becky’s gonna flip if she finds out I saw another woman naked.”
“Shit.” Chagrinned, he pulled off his ruined sweater, only to have Jett sigh. “Take mine instead.” Jett handed his jacket to Jane. She slid it on and was covered to mid thigh.
They got into the car, and as they pulled away, Adrian could only hope this was the end of their problems. Probably not, given he doubted the mastermind behind the hacking and attacks was in that warehouse when it blew. Which meant they still might not be safe. “How’s Luke and his charges?”
“He got the women and kid to the safe house I had set up a while back.”
“Because you didn’t trust me,” Adrian remarked.
“Because I don’t trust anyone,” Jett offered with a smirk in the rearview. They went silent for a second as a fire truck screamed past, lights flashing and siren wailing.
“They’re safe, though?”
“For the moment. What happened back there?” Jett asked, his gaze flicking to Jane, who leaned against the seat, lids closed.
Her eyes opened to show a kaleidoscope of color. “They all died.”
Adrian snorted first. “Yes, they did, but they weren’t all Jane’s kills. I took out my fair share, too.”
“Who were they?” Jett asked.
Adrian shrugged. “I still don’t know. But it’s obvious they’ll stop at nothing to capture us.”
Which meant they couldn’t stick around this city, and once they reached the safe house, they delayed discussing their options, given Becky and Margaret were sleeping.
But Adrian couldn’t avoid it when Jane chose to follow him to the basement where Jett finagled a cot for him.
“You should get some sleep,” he suggested. “It’s going to be a long few days getting out of the country and covering our trail.”
She stood in front of the stairs—the only way out—with her arms crossed. “You’re thinking of leaving.”
“Hmmm,” he said, turning his back to her lest she see his face. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“I mean, you’re planning to wait until everyone falls asleep, and then you’re going to sneak out.”
“As if Jett’s going to sleep.” He couldn’t keep avoiding her gaze.
Her head canted to the side. “Why are you leaving me?”
The urge to lie was right there. Instead he sighed. “Because we can’t be together.” Much as he wanted to. Much as he loved her.
“Why not? I think we already ascertained the fact I won’t burn you to a crisp in bed.” Her lips quirked.
The reminder brought an erection, but he also strengthened his resolve formed during the drive to rescue her. “I’ve brought you nothing but harm. You’ve seen firsthand the death and destruction that follows me. I’m the reason you were in a coma. My pills put you there.”
“What color were those pills?” she asked.
“Why does it matter? I’m the reason you almost died.”
“It matters. What color were they?”
“Blue.”
“Are you sure?”
He shot her an annoyed glare. “Of course, I’m fucking sure. I took them for years to control my tremors. Right up until I cured myself.”
“The pills Benedict gave me were white.”
He blinked. “Are you sure?”
She snorted. “What do you think?”
“Then they weren’t mine.”
She shook her head. “Nope. All this time you’ve been feeling guilty for something that wasn’t even your fault. And I was mad for the wrong reason.”
She stole some of the wind from his sail, but being a man, he knew how to be stubborn. “Even if I’m not at fault, I need to go. You deserve a chance to discover the world. Meet people.”
“I can still do that by your side. Haven’t you gotten it yet? I know what I want. Who I want.” She grabbed hold of his shirt and yanked him close. “I want you.”
“But—"
Rather than listen to more protests, she sealed the deal with a kiss. Sealed his fate with her touch.
Gave him what he wanted but, for the first time in his life, feared taking.
With a groan of surrender, he slanted his mouth over hers, joining their lips, the passion between them heating. As if it needed much to ignite.
Arousal heated all the blood in his body and left him awash in sensation. Every nerve ending in his body hummed. Desired. He throbbed with need.
She nibbled at his lips, her demanding sucks making him part his mouth that their tongues might duel.
He held her tight to him, his fingers gripping her by the hips, pulling her snug against his frame. He could have cursed the layers that separated them. She still wore Jett’s jacket, and someone had scrounged a pair of track pants for her. All impediments that he spent too many seconds stripping that he might touch her. Feel her.
Skin to skin. And the burning he fe
lt? Came from within.
He was too frantic for niceties or foreplay. Lucky for him, she was just as eager. She shoved him down on the cot, which creaked alarmingly, especially when she clambered on top of him. But when he thought she would ride…
Instead her head ducked, and her lips latched onto his swollen head.
He almost bucked her off the cot. As it was, he had to grip the edges of it tight as she sucked him, drawing him deep into her mouth. The suction was epic. The heat of her mouth scorching.
But not as hot as her sex. He dragged her toward him lest he finish in her mouth. He kissed her, sucking on her tongue, his hands on her hips guiding her to his cock.
Her nether lips spread to take the tip of him. Then all of him as she sat down hard.
They both gasped. Stilled. Enjoyed the moment of intense sensation. He started rocking first, moving his hips in a motion that pushed him deep, and he was rewarded with a clenching of her channel.
She panted as she dug her fingers in his bare chest. Shivered, not in cold but passion, a shiver that went right through her and fisted him tighter.
He kept grinding, and she rocked with him, pushing and rolling, her pleasure triggering his.
He whispered her name as he came, but she shouted his as she lit up like a candle.
A moment of glory where he beheld her with her, a curvy woman with a hint of smoky red and gold phoenix wings, riding him, loving him. Joining them in a way no one could ever tear asunder.
Leaving him limp on the cot.
But ready to go when she said, with a smile so impish, “Now that we got that out of the way, let’s do that again more slowly.”
Slowly led to the fire alarm going off, which led to red cheeks—on his part—and a promise to tone it down.
When Jett left—threatening to shoot him if he woke them up again—Jane giggled. “I think your man is jealous.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Because you made me come so hard I literally set the house on fire.”
Epilogue
“This sure beats the snow in Canada any day.” Jane kicked happily at the hot sand, probably the only redhead in the world who could walk in full sun on a beach and not worry about burning.