Eternal Flame (Night Watch 3)

What? They’d gone to all the trouble of tracking her, they’d locked them in this ice box, and now they were just going to let them both walk?

Bullshit.

“You don’t come after us,” Beth continued, “and we’ll forget you exist.”

Baring her teeth, Jana said, “Don’t know if I can make that promise.”

“Well…” Beth’s head inclined toward her. “Perhaps you and I can make a deal.”

Now what the hell was that about?

“I doubt that, lady.” Jana’s arms crossed over her chest.

“Mr. Wynter?” Beth motioned to the guards. “I really must insist you leave with my men now.”

He let a smile curve his lips. “You know, I think the guys with the guns really wreck this lie of a friendly conversation.” But he walked forward. He’d come to Perseus for a reason, and he wasn’t leaving until he’d finished his mission. Zane tossed a quick glance back at Jana. You okay? He let the question drift on the psychic link they’d made.

She gave the briefest of nods.

“Of course, she’s okay,” Beth said. “I think you’ll soon realize that Jana is a lot stronger than she looks.” Well, shit, Beth was psychic.

“I’ve already realized it,” he said, striding for the door and guarding his thoughts now. “I think you’re the one in for the surprise.”

When Zane left, the door shut behind him with a hollow clang of sound. Jana didn’t move. She kept her eyes on the woman she really wanted to rip apart, the only woman in the room with her.

Beth Parker. The agent who’d lured her in. The agent who’d stood there and watched while she was tortured. The agent who’d turned Jana into a wanted woman.

You took away my life.

“What the hell kind of game are you playing now?” Jana asked. She knew Beth was psychic. They both were-that had been part of Beth’s Perseus recruitment spiel. Come … be with others who are just like you. You don’t have to be alone anymore.

Blah-fucking-blah.

“I’m not playing a game.” Beth’s heels tapped on the tile as she crossed toward her. “I’m trying to show Mr. Wynter that Perseus isn’t as evil as you think.”

Jana laughed at that. “That’s right. You’re worse than I think.”

Beth shook her head. “Things were going so well. I was pleased with your progress.” She sighed. “Then that shifter screwed things up for you.”

“You mean things got screwed when you wanted me to kill an innocent man?” The lady was good at twisting details.

Beth’s eyes narrowed. “He wasn’t innocent. He’d killed a human.”

“A human who murdered his girlfriend and half a dozen other girls. Call me crazy, but I think that’s justifiable.”

“You don’t understand.” Her jaw clenched and Beth gritted out, “Once the wolves start killing, they can’t stop. He’d crossed a line. He was psychotic. He’d attack again and again—”

“Then why didn’t he kill the girl in the alley? Huh? Why didn’t he kill me?”

Click. Click. The heels were moving again. “If we don’t stop the paranormals out there, they will take over our world. Humans will be damn servants. Prey. We’ll be the food they hunt at night, and we’ll have nothing.”

She’d heard that spiel before, too. At one time, she’d believed it. “They’re not all bad, Beth.”

“They’re sure as shit not all good, Jana.”

“No one’s all good.” Not me. Not you.

Beth inclined her head. The red on her cheek looked even angrier in the hard light. “I know.” A touch of sadness coated the words, but then she lifted her chin. “I’ve been authorized to offer you a deal.”

“Bullshit.” Were they really back to this? Jana uncrossed her arms and let her hands slip to her sides. “You’ve been authorized to kill me. You think I don’t see right through this act? I knew the minute you took Zane out of here that you’d be coming at me.” She kept her mind blank, not wanting Beth to pick up on her plans.

But Beth’s brows rose. “Killing you was never the plan for me. You’re a human. I don’t kill humans.”

Liar, liar. Beth might not like killing humans, but she executed the ones that got in her way, and she didn’t hesitate. “Oh, right, your preferred method of attack with humans is to wreck their lives. Make ‘em into wanted criminals and—”

“I was simply trying to bring you back home.” Again she spoke with that wistfulness that could have been sadness. “I liked you, Jana. In so many ways, you reminded me of”-a light laugh—“me.”

“Well call me a freaking mirror.” Fury spiked in her blood.

Beth’s gaze raked her. “There are two ways this can work.”

Jana stared at her and pictured darkness. A wall of perfect black in her mind.

“You’re not strong enough to take Perseus down. You don’t even have a clue of just how powerful we are. You can try.” Beth shrugged. “But you’ll fail.”

“You know what? This polite bullshit is wearing thin. Zane’s not here, so you don’t have to pretend you’re anything other than a cold-blooded killer—”

“Option two is that I take that fire away from you.”

Jana’s mouth went dry.

“Ah … I’ve got your attention, don’t I? You know we can’t just let you loose out there, Jana. If you’re not on our side, you’re too dangerous … as you are.” Beth exhaled heavily. “But with a few modifications, you wouldn’t be a threat anymore. You’d just be a regular human. Like all the others we protect.”

Still spouting that protection bull, but … “You can stop the fire?” She had to ask.

A slow nod. Beth’s blond hair brushed against her fire-stained cheek. “You can be normal, Jana. It will only take a few moments. Just a few. Then you can walk out of here and have the life you’ve always wanted.”

The temptation was so strong. “You’ve been hunting me all this time …”

“Because you’re too dangerous with the fire.” Her jaw hardened, stretching those scars. “Without it, you’re no threat.”

“But if I keep my fire …?”

Beth didn’t speak. But then, Jana already knew the answer. Keep it and die. Because she wasn’t just going to have the chance to walk away with her power.