Eternal Flame (17 page)

The guards didn’t move. Davey straightened away from the wall. ”
I’ve got him.”

They shuffled back.

“Beth wants me to take you to meet the witch,” Davey told him, thrusting back his shoulders. “She thinks Jana’s screwed with your mind. Convinced you that we’re evil.”

No, when they’d blown up Night Watch—
that
had convinced him.

“But maybe … maybe if you can hear that we aren’t monsters, if you hear that from someone you trust, you’ll believe us. You’ll realize that Perseus isn’t some sick nightmare that needs to be put down.” A deep breath. “We’re a group that you can join. You can help us, we can help you, and in the end, we’d make this world one hell of a lot better.”

Zane stared back at him.
Someone that you trust
. At those words, he’d gotten a real bad feeling in his gut. There was only one witch that he truly trusted in the world. She’d disappeared from Baton Rouge a few months back, right after Dee Daniels, another Night Watch agent, had almost been killed. “Take me to the fucking witch.”
Now
.

Davey turned away and led him down the hall. Past the locked, metal doors. Past more guards.

Zane’s heartbeat thundered in his ears. There was no way, no damn way, that they were talking about the same witch. They couldn’t be. They—

Davey opened a door. The room inside was dim. A long, skinny table, a few chairs, and a woman waited inside. The woman spun toward them, her hair-so blond it was almost white-flying around her face. Oh, hell.

“Zane? she breathed his name.

He stared at the witch he’d known for five years. His ex-lover, a woman he’d trusted with his darkest secrets: Catalina Delaney.

“Go ahead, Catalina,” Davey said, walking closer to her. “Tell your friend the truth about Perseus. Tell him that Jana Carter lied to him. Tell him what we’re
really
like.”

He stared into her moss-green eyes-eyes the color of the swamp she’d been raised in-and waited for the truth. Because Catalina had never lied to him before.

“They’re not evil, Zane,” she whispered. “They want to save the world. Not destroy it.”

No, she’d never lied to him before.

So why was she starting now?

“W
e aren’t the only humans with psychic powers.” Beth licked her lips. “There are others out there, so many others.”

Really? Where had they been all her life? While Jana was feeling like a freak,
where
had they been?

“Some powers aren’t strong. Some people can just see the briefest glimpses of the future. So many have weak talents.”

She just stared at Beth. Being weak wasn’t really an issue for her when it came to power.

“Others are stronger with more … unusual gifts.”

‘Cause what? Creating fire was common?

Beth’s gaze pinned her. “Recently, we found an individual with a power we’d never imagined.”

“Good damn deal for you.” She was charged enough. She didn’t even feel the cold anymore, though Beth had started to shiver. Time to blast her way out of this room. Time to blast Perseus apart. There were other paranormals imprisoned here. She’d bet on it. She could free them, get to safety, and—

“This woman we found … she can touch you and take away your power.”

Jana’s breath caught in her throat.

Beth smiled. “I thought you might be curious about her. You see, if she touches you, all that wonderful fire will go away, and you’ll be normal again. You won’t be a threat to Perseus.”

She wouldn’t be a threat to anyone.

“We’ll leave you alone,” Beth promised. “And you can just walk away. You’ll be able to live a normal life.”

Jana’s breath shot out on a long, hard exhale.

Beth held her gaze. “Do you want that, Jana? Would you like to be normal? To be just like everyone else? All you have to do—”

The door opened behind Beth and a young girl walked inside. The girl appeared to be maybe nineteen or twenty. She wore thick glasses, and she had long, straight brown hair that hid half of her face.

“All you have to do,” Beth said again, “is just let her touch you.”

“You’re lying, Catalina,” Zane said. He shook his head. “Did you really think I wouldn’t be able to tell when you lied to me?”

She smiled then, a wide, full smile. “No, Zane. I was
sure
you’d know.” Then she lifted up her hands and said, “Now, please, help me get the hell out of here!”

A dozen guards exploded into the room behind her.

Davey yelled, “What the fu—”

Zane shook his head. So much for the lying front. His power erupted and hit them all.

Jana’s hands tightened into fists. “Don’t take another step.” The girl stilled.

“What happens when she takes the fire away?” Oh, so tempting. “Where does it go?”

Beth blinked. “Nowhere. It won’t hurt anyone.”

Bull. “You take it,
where does it go?”
Because this crap wasn’t making sense. Perseus had been desperate to get her back. So desperate they’d tracked her across Louisiana. If they’d just wanted her out of the picture, she would have been dead.

They didn’t want her dead. They wanted her alive.
Because they couldn’t take the fire from a dead woman?

The girl wasn’t speaking. Her dark eyes looked so big behind the glasses, and her skin was stark white.

An alarm sounded then. A high-pitched, whining alarm. Beth flinched and swore. “Dumb bitch. She should’ve just done her damn part.”

What?

Footsteps pounded outside. Sounded like guards were racing toward them.

Beth’s face hardened. Her hand lifted, and she stabbed a finger in the air toward Jana. “The demon is going to die. If he won’t help us, then we’ll rip him apart.”

Shit. So much for playing nice. Now the mask was gone and she was back to seeing the real Beth.

“But first…” Beth said, pausing as the guards spilled into the room. “First we’re taking that fire from you. We’re taking it, and we’re going to make sure you’re nothing but a corpse when we leave this room.”

Now,
this
was the Beth she knew and hated. “Bring it, bitch.” Jana let the charge shoot through her. “If you think you’re strong enough, come on.” A line of fire split the floor between them.
Charge more. Charge
. “Let’s see if you still like my fire.”

“Shoot her!” Beth screamed at the guards. “Not the head or the heart, but shoot her! Take her down!”

The bullets flew through the air as the flames blazed higher.

Zane scooped up Catalina and held her tight. He ran out of the room and into the narrow hallway. That screaming alarm pierced his ears. A constant, high-pitched wail that threatened to burst his ear drums. He blasted his power out in waves, knocking back every guard he saw as he shoved his energy at them.

Jana
. He needed to get to her. He didn’t know how long her charge would last and—

“Zane?” Catalina’s breathy voice. He glanced down. Her eyes were fluttering open. Witches were so incredibly strong. He’d figured that she would wake up fast.

He put his back against the nearest wall and eased Catalina to her feet. “What the hell are you doing here?” The last time he’d seen her, they’d both been in a shit-forsaken vampire hell. The vamps had surrounded Catalina with fire.
Burn, witch
. He’d gotten to her in time, saved her from the touch of fire, but she’d still left. Still left because …

“I’m not the one for you
. “ Her words echoed through his mind. Catalina had scryed to see the future, and what she’d seen had made her run.

He hadn’t heard from her in months. Had she been here the whole time? Trapped by Perseus?

“It’s not like I wanted to be here.” Her breath shuddered out, and she yanked up the sleeve of her shirt. There, on her upper arm, he saw two thin white lines. Scars. No, hell,
no
. Binding marks. He’d only seen them once before in his life, but he knew what they were-
marks to bind a witch’s power
.

“I don’t have a coven to protect me.” Her gaze was steady, proud. “When the agents came to me, I didn’t realize what they had planned for me, not until it was too late.”

Until the first binding mark appeared.

“Three marks,” she whispered and he heard her, even with the wailing alarm. “Three and I’m completely helpless. With two”-she swallowed—“my powers became so weak, I wasn’t able to fight back against the bastards.”

Shit. “I’m getting you out of here.”

But she shook her head. “There are others here. I won’t leave them.”

“Others?”

“A wolf shifter … and a vampire. I won’t leave them.”

A woman’s scream ripped through the air.
Jana
. He lunged forward. Catalina grabbed his arm. “They want you. They’ve seen what you can do. If they can keep you here, if they can use you—”

“No one’s gonna fucking use me.”

“They were going to kill me two days ago,” she told him, her lips trembling. “Then they realized I knew you. I’m alive just because—”

Another scream.
Jana
. He broke Catalina’s hold. “Cat, get out of here! Run, and I’ll find you!” But first, he was getting

Jana.

“I’m alive because I told them your weakness.” Her whispered words floated behind him. “I’m sorry, Zane.” He spun back to face her. “Cat?”

Her shoulders were slumped. Her head down. “They were going to put on the third bind. I didn’t have a choice. They know about—”

The drugs. Shit.

She looked up at him. A tear tracked down her cheek. “I’m sorry.”

The screams had stopped. He could smell smoke drifting in the air. Coming closer. “Fire’s coming.”
Catalina’s weakness
. “Get out. Just run!”

Fear had her eyes flaring wide, but she shook her head. “Not without the others.” She stumbled down the hallway, lifting her hand toward him. “Come with me, Zane. Don’t go back, they’re waiting for you! It’s all a trap.”

He knew it, but … “They’ve got someone I—” Someone, what? Someone he needed? Someone he sure as shit wouldn’t leave behind?
She didn’t leave me
. “I’m not leaving her,” was all he said.

Catalina’s lips parted, and her eyes seemed to lose a bit of focus. The shift in her glance always happened when she used her magic. “No.” A bit sad. “You can’t leave her.”

There wasn’t time to waste. Zane ran down the hall, bellowing Jana’s name.

A mass of swirling and crackling flames shot down the hallway. He shoved the fire to the side even as water poured down from the sprinklers above him.
What the hell?

The door to the holding room was open. He rushed inside, and the smoke shoved its way down his throat.
“Jana! Jana, pull back the fire!”

But Jana was lying in the middle of the room with her hair a black curtain around her face. Flames ate at the walls and the ceiling.

Beth stood near those flames, her body swaying.

Hell. He poured his power out as he fought the flames. The heat scorched his flesh.

The fire retreated from him, and he leapt to Jana’s side. She was slowly pushing herself up.

“Pull it back,” he growled, locking his fingers around her arms as he drew her close. “It’s okay, baby, I’m here now, you can ease up on the f—”

She blinked at him. Her eyes were tired, weak, and dark blue.

He heard the laughter then. Wild, wicked laughter. He turned his head and found Beth staring at him-with eyes gone dark red.

“N-not me …” Jana whispered as her hands twisted to hold tight to him. Her nails sank into his skin. “Not a-anymore.”

Another ball of flames shot straight at him. He threw his body over Jana’s even as he sent the fire slamming into the south-side wall with a psychic surge of energy. Jana coughed beneath him and shuddered.

“You’re going to die, demon!” Beth yelled, her voice rising above the flames. “You’re both going to burn!”

Zane glanced up and saw the flames rolling over the ceiling. Looked like clouds of fire. Not. Good.

“You should have joined us when you had the chance.” More laughter from Beth. “Now I’ll just burn you until there’s nothing left.”

The hell she would.

Zane threw up his hands, pushing a powerful wave of energy at her just as Beth’s flames came for him again. The flames froze in mid-air, caught between them, and Beth screamed.

“She won’t be able to … handle it….” Jana coughed again and pushed against him. “Not the first time … not…”

The flames swelled. They shoved against his hold. Burned so hot.

“The ceiling’s gonna fall. …” Jana jerked from beneath him. “We’ve got to get out of here!” Her hands grabbed at his arms. ”
Come on!”

Beth screamed again, a loud, desperate cry as she fell to her knees. The flames erupted, shooting across the room, and chunks of the ceiling fell down, crashing onto the floor.

He ran with Jana, holding back the fire and charging for the door. The smoke, heavy and gray, blocked their path, but they barreled straight through it and, with his help, through the flames.

Beth’s yells followed them, blending with the piercing alarm, and the crackle of the fire.

He and Jana thundered down the hallway. Guards were running, hell-bent on getting away from the flames so they didn’t even toss him or Jana a second glance. The guards sure didn’t try to stop them.
Too busy running
.

Zane risked a glance behind him. The fire was destroying everything, burning so bright. Sending screams of terror into the air. As he watched, two men appeared near the back wall. Chameleons being forced out of their camouflage because of the fire’s heat. One of the bastards was the one who’d attacked Jana.

He was burning, screaming as he fell to the ground. The flames flared higher around him and the other chameleon. Trapping them, killing them.

Zane’s legs pumped as he searched for a way out of the nightmare.
Not Jana’s fire
. What the hell had happened? And why hadn’t Jana mentioned that Beth was an Ignitor?

Fuck. Just when he’d thought he could trust her …

They burst through some double doors and out into the night. Jana sucked in deep gulps of air and fell to her knees.

The clean air almost seemed to burn his lungs. “Jana …” His voice sounded like gravel.

Her head turned toward him. Her eyes were wet with tears. From the smoke? Or something more?

“Why didn’t you tell me?” He lifted her up and carried her farther away from that burning building and the screams that echoed inside. “Why didn’t you tell me what Beth could do?”

She just shook her head.

“Fuck.”
He sat her down near the edge of the swamp. “Stay here.”

She grabbed his arms. “Where … are you going?” she rasped.

“I’ve got a friend in there. I’m not leaving her for the flames.” He wouldn’t leave Catalina to her worst nightmare.

“Friend?” Her brow wrinkled. Ash stained her cheeks. “With … Perseus?”

Yeah, okay, that sounded screwed. “Just stay here, okay?” But even as he said the words, he knew she’d be gone when he came back. It was her perfect chance to run. “They’ve got supernaturals caged in there.” His voice grew stronger with every word, just as those flames were growing stronger with every second that passed. “I’m not letting them burn.”

Perseus was dying tonight, burning to the ground, but they weren’t taking the paranormals out with them.

He whirled away from Jana and ran right back into the fire.

Jana shook her head, stunned, as Zane disappeared into the smoke again. What was he thinking? Didn’t he realize those flames weren’t going to stop? They were blazing out of control. Even a level ten couldn’t fight them-not with an Ignitor constantly charging them up.
The first fire is always the hottest. Too strong. Can’t stop it
.

She lifted a shaking hand to her head. Oh, God, how had this happened? One minute, that girl had been running toward her, and Jana had been getting her charge strong enough to blast, then—

Then Beth had been in control of the flames.

And I’d had nothing
.

Jana had been surrounded by fire but, for the first time, completely at its mercy. If Zane hadn’t come in there, she would have died.

Her eyes squeezed shut.
I’ve got a friend in there. I’m not leaving her for the flames
. Beth had taunted him about a friend.
We’ve got a friend of yours waiting to meet you
.