Eternal Flame (Night Watch 3)

Zane blinked at that. “Ah … pretty. About five-foot-four, curvy, black hair, blue eyes-”

“Could have changed her appearance,” Pak murmured and his fingers stopped tapping.

And Zane got a really bad feeling in his gut. “Uh, excuse me?”

Pak’s black brows shot up. “Did I ever tell you I thought you handled yourself damn well when all that shit went down with Dee?”

Dee. Dee Daniels was another bounty hunter in the office. She’d watched his ass, he’d watched hers, for years. He’d trusted the woman with his life more times than he could count. Then she’d become a vampire.

“I do my job,” Zane said quietly. Just like he’d done his job when Dee changed. He’d protected her and made sure the ass**les after her were taken down. “No matter what happens, I do my job. “

Pak rose and walked around the edge of the desk. A ghost of a smile curved his thin lips. “Good. You know the job has to come first.”

What the hell? The job always came first for him. Zane sucked in a sharp breath. “Jacobson’s body wasn’t recovered on the scene. The fire department was still there when I left, digging through the rubble, but-”

“But you don’t think they’ll find a body? Or what’s left of one?”

“Jacobson was a demon.” Demons and fire always mixed. “The guy was low level, but he should have been strong enough to knock the flames back, at least for a few moments.” A few moments would have been all the guy needed for an escape.

“You want to keep searching for him.”

Hell, yeah. “He’s my collar.”

Pak didn’t blink. That dark stare just weighed him.

“Uh, boss?” Pak didn’t usually get all quiet and focused like this unless he was out in the swamps, talking to the gators. The guy was a charmer, a being born with the ability to speak to animals. On the weekends, Pak would spend hours with the twelve- to fourteen-foot gators that loved to snap and feast in those muddy waters.

“I’m going to give Jude the Jacobson case,” Pak said.

“The hell you-”

“Jude can go back to Francis Street. If Jacobson got away, he’ll catch the guy’s scent.”

Jude Donovan was good at catching scents. But then, Jude was a white tiger shifter, so he’d f**king better be good at sniffing.

Zane locked his muscles. “Jude’s good at tracking, but so am I, and you know I don’t stop on a case until I’ve got my prey.” Especially not if the prey was a demon. He always brought the demons down. Or put them down, depending on the case.

“Jude’s got Jacobson,” Pak said, staring up at him. Fuck. Every muscle in Zane’s body tightened and his hands clenched.

“Because I need you on something more important,” Pak told him. “What?”

Pak shook his head. “You can take the fire, Jude can’t. That means he can’t take her.”

Her.

“I don’t think an accelerant was used on Francis Street,” Pak said, “Just like no accelerant was used three nights ago at the fire on Biltmore that took out two vampires, or at the three fires in New Orleans that occurred over the last few months…. Fires all aimed at supernaturals.”

Okay, Pak sure had Zane’s attention. Someone was targeting supernaturals?

“They were aimed at the Other, but it looks like humans were caught in the crossfire. Two human scientists died.”

Hell.

“ ‘Course, the arson investigators think an accelerant was used because those fires burned so fast and so hot.” Pak reached behind him and scooped a manila file off the top of the desk. “A woman was spotted at the crime scenes. Average height. About one-hundred-thirty pounds.”

Zane’s gut clenched.

“Witnesses saw a blonde, with curly hair, running from the other fires.”

Blonde. Maybe she changed her appearance. Now he knew what Pak meant. “The woman tonight was a victim. “

Pak stared back at him, that dark stare unblinking. “You sure about that?”

Too much doubt was in Pak’s voice, and Zane realized that no, he wasn’t sure. In this world, you couldn’t be sure of anything or anyone. Damn. He might have been played. Jaw clenched, Zane demanded, “Just what am I dealing with here?”

“If I’m right, the woman you’re looking for is a human with a very special gift. A gift of fire.”

Shit. An Ignitor. A human who could create fire from nothing, who could let it burn fiery hot and so very fast. A human who could destroy too much.

“You’ve had experience dealing with Ignitors,” Pak said.

Zane’s head jerked in agreement. Not the best experience.

“I want you to find this one. Find her, and bring her in.” The briefest of hesitations. “If the woman from tonight isn’t the one we need, clear her, and move on. But I expect to have the Ignitor who is making these fires contained within the next forty-eight hours.”

Well, it would be easy enough to find the dark-haired beauty with the bedroom eyes. The EMTs had taken her in. She’d still be at the hospital now.

Unless she ran. Unless she wasn’t the victim. Unless she screwed me.

Zane forced his hands to unclench. “Sometimes Ignitors can be hard to contain.” He paused, because the question had to be asked. “Is this a kill mission?” With Ignitors, there wasn’t always a choice. If the fire raged too hot…

Kill or be killed.

“We want her alive,” Pak said. Then the cagey bastard added, “For now.”

How long did it take to bandage a bite mark? Jeez, it wasn’t like the demon had even broken the skin. After two hours- two freaking hours-Jana managed to slip away from the nurses and the docs in their garish green uniforms. She snuck out of the hospital’s exit, making sure she stayed in the shadows, and she hurried down the street as quickly as she could.

It took her about two minutes to realize that she was being trailed. Bad, bad mistake. She should have realized that fact in about thirty seconds.

Must be slipping.

Jana rolled her shoulders, trying to keep her body loose. In this town, she knew she had to be ready for anything. Sure, the majority of women would probably worry about muggers waiting in the night. She knew she was more likely to be attacked by a hungry vamp or a pissed-off demon.

No, Jacobson’s dead. No way did he get out.

She hoped.

Okay. There were two ways to play this. She could attack with guns blazing or …