Eternal Flame (Night Watch 3)

The guy glanced up and he stared after her car.

She didn’t accelerate. Didn’t zoom out of there with a squeal of tires. Jana just kept her speed nice and easy. She took a left at the corner, aware that her heart was slamming into her ribs. She’d find a place to stash the car, then she’d go back for Zane.

She knew where he was now. Knew exactly where Perseus was.

She smiled.

Guess who is coming home? Time to raise a little hell.

They took his blindfold off the minute the heavy metal doors swung shut behind him. Zane blinked, and his eyes adjusted almost immediately to the darkness. Handy little demon side effect. The darkness never hindered his vision.

Monsters surrounded him. Dragons with fire shooting from their mouths. Horned bulls the size of buses. An angry Poseidon sprang forth from the sea, with his trident up and ready to attack.

“It’s a float graveyard,” the kid said, shrugging. “Once the parades are over, you got to find some place to store ‘em.”

Zane glanced over at Nancy. Her hands were twisted in front of her. “I’m going to be leaving you soon.”

He’d make a point of seeing her again.

“Davey can take you in the back. He’ll introduce you to the folks who can help you.” Her breath heaved out on a sigh. “This is going to be good for you.” Her face and voice seemed so sincere. “This will be a whole new world.”

“I’m counting on it.”

She offered him a trembling smile, then her head inclined toward the kid. “Okay, Davey. You take him back there, then you can come and drive me to the hospital.”

Now that was odd. “Why don’t you come with us?”

Fear flashed in her eyes, just for a moment. “I-I need some air.”

Right. There was plenty of air to breathe right there. She turned away.

Davey waited with his brows up. “You ready?”

Hell, yes. Zane rolled his shoulders. He marched behind Davey, weaving through the floats. Dark, massive shadows hung in the air.

He heard the metal door open behind him, a loud screech of sound. Nancy-going to get her air? Davey stopped and turned back to face him. The guy pointed to another door on the left, a wooden one this time. “This is it.”

Fucking finally.

“Glad you’re here, man.” Davey flashed a tired, lopsided smile. “You’re … you’re like me. Good to know I’m not the only one.”

The only demon? Not even close.

“My old man said I was evil.” Davey’s chin lifted. “I’m not. We’re not. We couldn’t help the way we were born.” No, they couldn’t.

“We’re gonna change the world,” Davey said with a quick nod. “Make it so much better.”

Was that really what Perseus was telling its recruits? Because how did killing good people at Night Watch make the world better?

Davey pushed open the door, and Zane got ready to kick ass.

Getting inside the warehouse was easy. Too easy. Jana found a broken window on the left-hand side of the building and slipped right inside.

Then she hesitated because really that should have been harder. Especially if this was the new base camp for Perseus. It should have been …

“I was wondering how long it would take you to show up.”

Lights flashed on, a blinding explosion of illumination that lit up the warehouse. At the same instant, Nurse Nancy jumped from behind some boxes and grabbed Jana’s arm.

Jana charged up, ready to burn—

The nurse slammed a needle into her arm. “Didn’t really think I’d forget you, did you, Jana?” The smile on her face chilled Jana’s blood.

Jana wrenched back, but she could already feel the drug sliding through her veins. “How did—”

“I never forget a face.” Footsteps pounded as others jumped from the shadows. “And certainly not yours. Guess you could say it’s burned into my memory.”

She’d burn her all right. Jana stumbled and slid to her knees. Charge, come on, charge. She shoved the darkness back and demanded, “Where’s …”

“Your brother?” A laugh. Nancy had the syringe gripped tightly in her hand. “Or rather, the hunter Zane?”

Played.

“Don’t worry. We’ve got him just where we want him to be.”

Trap.

“No!” Charge. She felt the heat build in her body. Build…

And fire shot across the warehouse, seeming to burst from the giant green dragon’s mouth and lunge toward Poseidon.

Come on, come on. She didn’t have much left in her, but she wasn’t going down without a fight. The fire snaked forward and raced toward the two ass**les in black who were lifting their guns toward her. Oh, no, they should know better, they should—

Water burst from the sprinklers overhead. Heavy, gushing waves of water that banked her fire even as she tried to stir it again.

“We planned for your arrival,” Nancy murmured.

Another guy in black-freaking guards, she’d never forgotten them-ran toward her through the smoke. Her body slumped as the drug spread through her blood. Can’t be happening.

Shit, sometimes it just didn’t pay to try and do the right thing. Next time, she was running and looking out just for number one.

Next time.

Jana sucked in a deep breath of air. One more charge. The ass**le was closing in on her with his gun clutched in his fist.

The guy slammed the butt of his weapon against the side of her head. Right before her cheek hit the cement, she felt the fire escape, and she heard him scream.

When he heard the scream, Zane leapt to his feet. Good old Davey had dumped him in some kind of holding room- looked for all the world like an interrogation room at the Baton Rouge PD, complete with what Zane knew to be a two-way mirror-and he’d been biting back his rage and trying to keep his control.

Then he heard the scream. Zane ran for the door. He grabbed the handle and jerked-locked. Right, like that was gonna stop him. He jerked again, using some of the enhanced strength he usually kept carefully banked. The lock shattered and the door flew toward him.

He raced in the direction of that fading scream. His nose twitched. What the hell? Was that—

Smoke.

Jana. Had she come after him?

Davey jumped in front of him. “Wow! Man, wait, what are you doin'?”

He shoved past Davey. “Someone screamed.”

Davey grabbed his jacket. “The guards will handle it.”

“There weren’t any f**king guards there when we came in.” If there had been, he would have noticed them, he would have—