Authors: Cynthia Eden
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.
“Your fire …”
“It’s no good.” Like she’d ever use the flames on Zane. The bastard might have pissed her off before because he didn’t know how to trust, but he was still … Zane.
And his eyelids began to flutter. If he saw the shifter, he’d go into instant attack mode. “Get out!”
“I can’t leave you with him, I can’t—”
She laughed at him and made her voice drip ice as she said, “Do you really think I need protecting?”
But he didn’t take the bait. His lips tightened. “Yeah, I do.”
Almost sweet. But they didn’t have time for sweet. “If he sees you, he’ll try to rip you apart.” Her heart slammed into her ribs. “I’ll keep him calm, I’ll—” A groan broke from Zane’s lips.
“Just go!”
Jude eased back a step. One. Another. “I’ll be on the other side of that door.” Making sure no one entered-no one who could get hurt, she knew. And making sure, also, that Zane wouldn’t get out. “But I’ll be able to hear everything. If he attacks you, I’m coming in.”
She nodded, the movement jerky and hard. Fair enough. If Zane started psychically tossing her around the room—
like he’d tossed the others outside
-she’d want the shifter’s backup.
But Zane wasn’t going to hurt her.
I trust you, even if you can’t trust me
.
Jude hurried out and shut the door. The bolt slammed into place with a clang.
Jana crawled on top of Zane and straddled him. What drug had Kelly given him?
Something my brother made…
Hell, that could be anything! In those few days that Brent had held her in his lab, she’d learned he’d liked to play God, stirring and mixing and creating torments for his “experiments.”
The last time Zane had been hit with a drug, he’d wanted her. Sex and fury could be a potent combination.
Sex and fury
. He’d pulled back. The man had fought the demon’s pull. Because of his hybrid blood? Had he been able to fight the drug because his body chemistry was so different? Or had he just been strong enough, because, shit,
he
was strong?
No more time to think-his eyelids flashed open. Pitch-black eyes stared up at her. He bucked beneath her and nearly sent her right onto the floor.
“It’s okay!” She leaned down close. “Everything’s fine.”
Liar, liar
. She sealed her mouth to his.
His tongue thrust past her lips, and his hand clamped over her hip. His erection rose, long and thick, against her.
Zane
. She called his name in her mind and wondered if he would hear her on the link they’d used before. Would the drug amp up his psychic power? Would it let him in—
An image flashed in her mind. Her. Him. On this same dirty floor. She was on top of him, and he was thrusting his thick cock into her.
She gasped into his mouth right at the moment she felt his hand yank open the snap of her jeans.
“Jana!”
Jude’s bellow.
Her head shot up. Zane stared at her, nostrils flaring, cheeks flushed. “It’s okay!” she yelled back. “I’m fine!”
But Zane was growling. His hands were on her jeans. Shoving them down and the damn cuffs were in the way and—
“I’m coming in!” Jude told her.
Zane’s head whipped toward the door. The bees buzzed in her head again, and the sexy image faded. A red haze seemed to cloak her vision.
Her vision, or Zane’s?
“No, stay back!”
She grabbed Zane’s chin. “Stay with me,” she whispered to him and kissed him again.
Stay with me
. That psychic link between them was there, and Zane was using it. She just wasn’t sure the demon knew it.
Jana kicked out of her shoes and ditched her jeans. He ripped her panties, shredding them. His hand bit into her hip. Too hard. Too strong.
“Zane…”
He yanked down his zipper. His cock sprang free. As wide as her wrist, head bulging, moisture already beading from that tip.
His cock pushed into her, drove inside, and she shuddered against him
.
No. Jana shook her head. Hadn’t happened yet. Just another vision, one coming from him, hadn’t—
He rolled her beneath him. The hard floor pressed into her back. He pushed her legs apart and positioned that cock right at the entrance to her body. No foreplay. No caresses, no—
Flesh to flesh
. She only had a second to process that fact, then Zane thrust into her, a long hard drive that had her crying out.
He blinked, and his eyes narrowed. “J-Jana …” His voice was hoarse, confused. A flash of green appeared near the edges of his irises. “What the fuck … am I do—”
Her legs locked around him. “Fucking me.” Now that the shock had worn off, her body was adjusting, fast. Her inner muscles clamped around him.
“S-sorry…” Sweat beaded his brows. “C-can’t… stop …”
“I don’t want you to.” She arched her hips against him. “I want you to
move.”
The green bled away. Only black again. Such darkness in her lover’s eyes. Such hot darkness.
His cock pulled out of her, a rough slide of flesh. The cuffs banged against the floor as he held her arms. Then he drove into her, again, again. Hard, plunging thrusts that had her moaning, gasping, and shoving up against him because the pleasure was so intense.
He bit her, right where her neck curved into her shoulder. A bite that didn’t break the flesh, but made her arch beneath him.
More
. His hips rocked against her, and he thrust into her, slamming all the way to her core.
His tongue licked the light wound he’d made. A moan rumbled in his throat. Hell, maybe in hers. Her flesh was so sensitive that every fierce stroke had her tensing. And wanting more.
His cock swelled within her, thickening even more, and she started to come. Jana choked out his name as her climax hit and the flames burned through her.
Zane pumped into her. Her sex was slick and eager now.
Withdraw. Thrust
. The slap of their bodies filled the room, and the scent of sex surrounded her.
More
.
She could have sworn he whispered the word, but his mouth was still on her neck. Licking, sucking.
His hips pistoned against her. Her sex squeezed him as the after-shocks of pleasure trembled inside her.
His hand jerked down, yanking those cuffs. Her shirt still gaped open. He yanked her bra up and his mouth closed around her right nipple.
Zane!
Her sex clamped around him.
His tongue traced the nipple, and then he started to suck. And to fuck.
Her eyes squeezed shut.
See me. See us
. His voice.
And she saw them. With her eyes closed, she saw the fast thrust of his cock into her sex. The withdrawal. The thrust.
He sent the images into her mind, and the pleasure seemed to intensify.
More. More
.
From him? Her?
More. She’d take it. Take everything. Take him.
The second climax had her breath catching and her heart racing. She held on to him as tightly as she could. Hard enough to bruise.
He drove into her once more, then stiffened. The hot splash of his release filled her and she heard him gasp her name.
Jana’s eyes opened. In pleasure, his face was so beautiful. So perfect. A lump rose in her throat.
And they’d done it.
We beat you, Agent Thomas
. Zane hadn’t turned on her. Hadn’t attacked. A smile began to curl her lips.
Then his hand rose and wrapped around her neck.
C
atalina threw another fast glance over her shoulder. No one was back there. She’d ditched Jude.
How the hell did I do that?
Her stomach clenched. You didn’t lose a tiger shifter unless he
let
you lose him.
“Where are you going, Catalina?” At the sound of that soft, feminine voice, Catalina’s blood froze. She’d known when she came back to Baton Rouge with Logan in tow that this meeting would be coming, only a matter of time.
Slowly, carefully, she turned to face the woman she’d once considered a friend.
Sandra “Dee” Daniels stood in the shadows, her small body almost completely hidden. There was a slight shuffle of footsteps, then Dee stepped forward. Her blond hair was cut haphazardly around her face.
Normally, Dee would have flashed her a wide smile. They would have gone out for drinks. Talked smack about men. Maybe exchanged some secrets. But that was all in the past. “Jude sent you after me,” Catalina said with certainty. But Dee shook her head. “No, Tony did.” Ah, Tony. Figured. He and Dee had a … pretty intimate past. Of course, that was back in the days before Dee had changed.
Dee smiled now. Only it wasn’t the one Catalina had wanted to see. It was a new, harder smile, one that revealed Dee’s fangs.
From vampire hunter to vampire all in a few short days … yes, Dee’s life had changed. That change had been one of the things that sent Catalina running from the city.
Dee offered her hand, palm up. “I’m going to need you to come with me.”
Catalina shook her head. No, no, she had to go and see about Logan. He was weak, and he’d need her help to get out of Baton Rouge. Especially with someone from Perseus still hunting them.
“I can see the bite marks on your neck,” Dee told her. “And I can almost feel the guy in the air around you.”
Dee wasn’t your average vampire. She hadn’t been Taken, the term for the humans who were transformed by a blood exchange with a vampire. No, Dee was so much more. Born, not made. A vampire who hadn’t even realized her true power until death came calling.
And she sent the asshole packing.
“W-we’re being hunted, Dee,” Catalina said. “We have to get out!”
“Running?”
Again?
The unspoken word hung between them.
Catalina kept her chin up. Dee didn’t understand. She didn’t know what it was like to be weak. To see the fire and know it was going to burn your skin away while you screamed.
Catalina spun away-and slammed into Dee. She’d never seen the woman move. Wouldn’t have, not with Dee’s power. “You’re coming with me,” Dee told her and grabbed her wrist.
Catalina blinked back tears. “I don’t—”
“One spell is all I need, Cat. One spell, then you … and your vampire … can get out of town.”
She licked her lips. “Y-you’ll… let him go?”
Dee held her gaze. “Unless he goes after humans, he’s off my radar.”
But he’d gone after the Ignitor. He’d been desperate, starving. Did Dee know what he’d done? Catalina would need to keep Logan away from Zane so the demon wouldn’t come for his revenge.
Only a matter of time
.
Catalina forced herself to nod. “Okay.” It was the only deal she’d be getting. Better take it, grab it with both hands, and hold as tight as she could. “I don’t have much power.” Painful to admit, but her binding marks weren’t fading yet. And why not? They should have vanished when Beth died. Beth had been the one in charge at Perseus. The one to trap her and to use her.
Why haven’t they faded?
“It’ll have to be enough.” Dee pushed her toward a car idling near the curb. Catalina sucked in a breath when she saw the driver.
Simon
. Dee’s vampire lover.
The two were a perfect killing team.
“Who needs my spell?” she asked, suddenly very worried as she climbed inside the vehicle.
Dee jumped in behind her and the car door slammed.
“Zane.”
The last thing she’d expected. “Zane? Why?” Simon floored the gas.
“Because someone pumped the poor bastard full of drugs.” Dee sighed. “And we both know what can happen to him when the drugs get into his system.”
Goose bumps rose on Catalina’s arms. Yes, she knew. And, once, long ago, she’d seen. Scrying. He’d always asked her not to do it. But the future teased and taunted, and she’d had to know.
Zane … eyes black as the night. Face bloody. The earth bucking beneath him. Death … a shroud he carried. One look, one touch, the prey fell before him
.
“Hurry,” she whispered to Simon and, when he looked up into the rearview mirror, she saw his jaw clench. ”
Hurry.”
Jana’s breath caught as she stared up at Zane. His face could have been carved from fire and fury. Such hard, fierce lines. And his hand, as it wrapped around her neck …
“I… hurt… you.”
Gravel rough. Like the man was struggling to speak. Maybe he was.
She realized his fingers were feathering over the bite mark on her neck. He was worried about that? Jana couldn’t help it. She laughed. A quick, light gurgle of sound.
He blinked at her.
“Zane, trust me, you’ve got worse marks on you.” Because she hadn’t been gentle at the end. Her nails had dug into him and held tight.
“
Should … have … run.”
“Maybe.” She curled her fingers around the steely muscles of his arms. “But you know I don’t ever do what I should do.”
The bees began to buzz in the back of her mind. “Go
…”
She glanced down at the cuffs. “Can’t, remember?” His gaze followed hers. Those bees got louder. Louder … The cuffs broke apart.
“Go.”
Those all-powerful, unbreakable cuffs fell to the floor. He pushed against her, his cock still thick and swollen, and the move seemed almost helpless.
More, please
.
But then he pulled away, sliding out of her, and jumping to his feet.
“Leave…”
Still that gravel-rough voice. ”
While you … can.”
He yanked up his jeans.
Jana licked her lips. Tasted him. She swallowed and wondered what the hell she should do. What did a woman have to say to make a man understand she wasn’t the kind to wilt when things got tough?
Slowly, she rose to her feet. She took a few fast moments to dress, to adjust her clothes, and felt the aches and tingles in her body as she moved. Then she faced him with her legs braced apart and her chin up. “You’re not going to hurt me.”
But he shook his head.
“Will…”
“No.” She was certain. “You’re stronger than whatever that agent pumped into you. You’re the strongest man I’ve ever met.”
True
.
“Not
…man…”
He was right. So much more than just a man. “You’re not like your father.”
His teeth snapped together and the floor seemed to roll. Good thing she’d locked her knees. She’d figured that was coming. “You’re not your father, and I’m not your mother.”
“Weak … human.”
Yeah, he just had to throw that in her face, right?
“Zane, trust me. We can do this, together.”
He hesitated, his powerful body shaking, and in that instant, she really thought that she might be getting through to him. Breaking past the darkness and getting to the man.
Then she smelled the smoke.
Her eyes widened. “Zane …”
She saw his nostrils flare as he caught the scent and then he was running for the door. Just as he reached out to grab it, the door swung open. Jude was there, filling the doorway. His claws were out.
“No!”
Don’t attack, don’t!
Zane’s fingers wrapped around the shifter’s throat. Jude’s claws pressed against Zane’s stomach. “Demon,” Jude growled, “you in control?”
Zane gave the barest of nods.
The claws dropped. “Good. Cause we need to get the fuck out of here.”
Zane didn’t free the shifter. Jana saw his fingers whiten as he tightened his hold. She sprang forward and caught Zane’s shoulder. “Let
him go.”
Zane’s fingers fell away. Her breath heaved out. “What’s happening? What’s—”
“Fire.” Jude bit out the word even as he whirled away. “Coming fast. We need to get up a level and get
out.”
She gave a quick nod, but he didn’t see it. The shifter was already racing away. No, he was
shifting
. Out in the hallway. She heard the crackle and hiss of the flames, but she also heard a roar. Like … a tiger’s roar.
She ran to the doorway. Jude was on all fours, with his head down. As she watched, fur exploded along his body. Bones snapped, popped. Elongated and reshaped. The man disappeared and a tiger-
holy hell, one big white tiger
-appeared in his place.
Another roar seemed to shake the building, then the tiger launched forward as its giant body soared through the air.
Jana sucked in a deep breath. Then one more.
White tiger
. She’d never seen a shift like that before. Sure, she’d heard about them, but she hadn’t actually
seen
someone transform. Oh, damn. Oh, shit.
“Fire’s… stronger….”
Zane’s voice muttered in her ear.
“Go…”
She didn’t need to be told twice. Jana ran after the tiger, with Zane at her side. They thundered up the stairs. Smoke billowed in the air, choking her, and stinging her eyes.
The stairwell exit door was broken and hung drunkenly open. Thanks, no doubt, to the tiger. They went through the doorway and seemed to step into hell. Fire-everywhere. Burning so bright and hot.
There was no way to get out. The flames were too strong. The exits were blocked. The windows covered by the flames.
How?
How had the blaze gotten so strong? Not a normal fire. No way. This one was definitely—
Zane shoved his hands forward, as if he were pushing against something. The flames rolled back, rolled, then sputtered, dying low before the windows. The tiger crouched, then leapt forward, easily breaking through the glass.
Jana ran after him, only to be pulled back by Zane. “Wait, what are you—”
He picked her up, tucked her head against his chest, and flew through the window. The glass had to cut him, but the guy didn’t even grunt, and he landed on his feet—
on his feet
. His knees barely buckled as they touched down outside. Then he was running away from the burning building with her held tight in his arms.
Her hands dug into him. “Zane … is … is anyone else inside?”
He froze.
Humans worked there. Sure, it was nearing three a.m., but someone should have been inside. Guards. Attendants. Someone.
And that fire was burning so hot now.
He put her on her feet. Spun back around. The tiger was pacing, growling.
“Where’s Tony?” she asked, coughing a bit to clear her lungs as she looked to the left, then the right. The lot was deserted. “And the agent, where is she?”
Were they in the building?
Zane sprinted forward. The tiger attacked. Its paws slammed into Zane’s chest, and he knocked Zane back.
Snarling, Zane leapt, his eyes on the building. Once more, that tiger came at him, swiping this time with his claws. A long, hard swipe that drew blood across Zane’s chest.
A hot wind blew against her face. The bees …
“
No!”
She grabbed Zane. “He’s a shifter. He’d
smell
people if they were inside.” But Jude was doing everything he could to keep Zane
out
of that building. Because no one was inside? Because if Zane went back in, he wouldn’t be coming out?
Zane shook her off and lunged forward once more. He caught the tiger’s front paws, holding them tight, and didn’t even flinch under the cat’s great weight.
“What the hell?”
A woman’s startled cry. “Zane, Jude, get away from there!”
Because they had gotten too close to the flames. The flames that had shot even higher, even brighter.
In the distance, a siren began to wail.
Hell
.
The woman rushed toward Zane and Jude. Wait, was she crazy? Was she really going to try and get between a demon and a tiger? The lady was small. Freaking tiny, with really bad hair. Blond, but cut oh-so-badly. And she was cursing. Swearing constantly under her breath.
“Dee!” a man bellowed. But that call came too late. “Dee” had already gotten to the two fighters. She punched the tiger in the side. Hard.
He roared and turned toward her.
“Don’t even think of biting me,” she yelled at him, snapping her teeth together. Her incredibly sharp teeth. “I’ll bite back.”
Vampire
.
So was the dark, dangerous man who ran after her. Jana caught sight of his fangs glinting in the dark.
No, not more vampires
.
Jana’s hand rose to her neck, and her fingers pressed lightly against the still tender skin. A shiver skated over her body. Her heart already raced too fast, and the desperate beat began to shake her chest.
Vampires. Near Zane. Closing in …
Her hands clenched into fists.
“Take care of him!” Dee ordered her vamp friend. The male grabbed Zane’s arms and held them behind the demon’s back.
Zane immediately head-butted the guy. Blood poured from the vamp’s nose.
“Shit! It’s me, Zane, it’s—”
“Would you
shift back
already?” Dee shouted at Jude as Jana stared at them, rage and fear twisting inside her.
Can’t just stand here. Can’t let them hurt Zane
.
“She’s charging up.” What? Another freaking voice?
Jana turned her head, just a bit, and saw the witch walk into the back lot.
Catalina
.
“She’s charging up,” Catalina said again, “and she’s going to attack.”
Can’t charge up
. That wasn’t fire spiking her blood. It was plain old fury. But the vamps didn’t know that. “Get away from Zane!” She wanted her fire back!
At her words, Zane twisted and drove his fist into the male vamp’s bloody face. The vamp flew back ten feet.
“Uh, oh.” Dee shook her head and turned her back on the shifter. “Guessing this is why you’re still in tiger form.”
Because Zane was amped up, almost wild? Unstoppable. The blonde’s gaze returned to Jana. Black irises-a vampire in hunting mode. Jana’s vision began to narrow.