Eternal Flame (Night Watch 3)

“Damn, hoss, it took you long enough,” a deep voice rumbled and Jana froze. “I was starting to think I’d have to come in and haul your sorry hide out.”

Zane grunted and headed for the big, blond guy-the guy from Night Watch. The shifter who’d gone into the fire with them. The guy stood next to a green pickup truck, his arms crossed over his chest.

“It’s not as easy to slip out of a police station as it is to slip into one,” Zane said and opened the passenger side door.

Jana jumped in as the blond hurried around the truck and opened the driver’s side door. She had to ask, “How did you know we—”

“Tony called. He said you needed a ride.” The shifter fired up the engine. “Lucky for you, I was in the neighborhood.”

It’s not the first time we’ve played this game. Huh. The cop really had been helping them.

Zane crowded in on the other side and she was squeezed between the two big, masculine frames. The blond hit the gas and the truck sped forward. “Got orders from Pak to take you to a safe house. He wants you to stay there until we can get this shit straightened out.”

“How many dead, Jude?” Zane demanded.

Jana licked her lips.

“Five total,” the guy-Jude-said. “You got the rest out.”

Five people. Why had they died? To teach her a lesson? Her hands fisted and her nails bit into her palms. She’d make sure the bastards paid for this.

“They knew we were coming, Jude,” Zane said and his arm rubbed against hers. Hell, his whole body rubbed against hers. That strong thigh was pressed to her leg.

“They probably tapped the line,” Jana forced herself to say what she suspected.

Jude grunted. “Maybe. Pak’s doing a housecleaning. There’s no way that fire should have started, not with our security systems in place.”

A housecleaning?

Jude turned a hard left, and the truck drove down a long, narrow road. “Lady, if you’re such a badass, why’d you go running into the fire?”

She lifted the cuffs. “I didn’t exactly have much choice.”

Zane’s finger touched the edge of her mouth, and she realized that the right side of her lip had hitched up.

Lie.

She swallowed.

Zane edged closer to her. His breath feathered over her ear when he said, “As soon as I get you alone, you’re telling me everything. Everything.”

But he wouldn’t want to hear her secrets, and she didn’t want to tell them. Sometimes, she liked to forget who she was, and what she’d done.

“They made it personal,” he said, the words dark and deadly and a shiver slipped over her. “They came after my people, and they’re damn well going to pay.”

She turned and met his stare. Black, not green. The demon was out to play. “I tell you, and then you let me go?”

He’d broken her out of jail. That had to mean something, didn’t it?

He held her stare. His expression never changed. “Of course.”

And this time, she was the one who knew: lie.

“Where the hell are they?”

Antonio cracked open one eye at the screeching voice. He was flat on the floor, and his jaw ached like a bitch.

He’d also spent the last five minutes pretending to be out cold. Like Zane could really take me with one punch. The guy thought he had a fist of steel-not so much. Especially not since Zane had a tendency to pull his punches with friends.

Antonio let a moan break from his lips, and he made a show of pushing himself off the floor. “Wh-what…” He shook his head. “What happened?” Did he sound weak enough? Maybe.

He squinted and allowed his gaze to drift around the room. He saw the shoes first. Two-inch black heels. Long legs. His gaze rose. A woman stood in the doorway of the interrogation room. Her dark blond hair was pulled back at her nape. Her green eyes glittered-oh, yeah, a lot of rage there.

A man was behind her, tall, balding, and peering over her shoulder.

“Who are you?” Antonio asked as he rose to his feet. He shifted his jaw. Zane hadn’t pulled the punch that much. “What the-where the hell are the prisoners?”

The woman shook her head. “You expect me to believe this bull?”

He stumbled and his legs rammed into the thick table.

A badge was slapped onto the table. “FBI Special Agent Kelly Thomas.” Her red nails tapped the badge. “I’m here to pick up your prisoner, Jana Carter.” She paused a beat. “And you’d better tell me that Ms. Carter is just down the hall, getting fingerprinted.”

“I … don’t remember…. Something hit me….”

She swore and spun around, colliding with the guy. “They’re gone! Christ, we’ve got to call headquarters.”

The guy jerked out his phone and began punching numbers.

She tossed a hard glare back at Antonio. “Captain Young, you’ve made a serious mistake.” “Mistake? Lady, I was assaulted!”

Her lips curled in disgust. “You think I don’t know about you? You chose the wrong side.”

His shoulders straightened. “And what side would that be?”

She snatched back her badge. “The side with the freaks. You want to screw with them, that’s your mistake.” Screw with them?

“It’s a mistake that I’ll make sure you regret,” she promised.

He waited until the lady and her partner stormed out, then he took out his phone. Two seconds later, he’d connected to the most powerful man in Baton Rouge. “Hey, Pak. I got a name for you. Kelly Thomas.” He listened a moment and then said, “You were right, she came for the Ignitor.”

The FBI agent would realize soon enough … he never did a damn thing that he regretted. Could she say the same thing?

They were dropped off in the swamp and left at a cabin that lurked on the edge of darkness. Another cabin. Only this one looked much better than their last shelter.

“Your place?” Zane asked Jude when he climbed out of the truck. “Does Erin know about this?” Jana followed him around the front of the truck. Who was Erin? Another hunter?

“Uh …” Jude blinked slowly. “Are you asking if the assistant district attorney knows that I just aided and abetted an escape from the Baton Rouge Police Department?”

“Yeah.”

Jude tossed him a set of keys. “Sure she does. The woman knows everything I do.”

Zane’s fingers curled around the keys. “Thanks, man.”