Eternal Flame (Night Watch 3)

A blond spider. A pretty spider with dark brown eyes, an elfin face, and a broad smile. A spider who also happened to have raised, red scars on the back of her right hand and the side of her face.

I burned the bitch.

So he’d found his prey. “I guess you’re Beth Parker.”

“I am.” Her head inclined toward him. “And you’re a hard man to catch, Zane Wynter.” She walked around the desk. Her gaze dipped, just for a moment, to Jana’s still body. “But I knew with the right bait, we’d be able to lure you in.”

The right bait was standing in front of him. “Let me guess … you and your team just got back from Baton Rouge.”

She smiled. “And we just missed you … thanks to those idiots with the FBI.”

“You missed me at Night Watch, too.” Every muscle in his body was tight, but his voice was easy and soft. “But I think you got a few of my friends.”

Beth shrugged. “Unfortunate collateral damage.”

What. The. Fuck.

“Jana was our target, and we had to make certain she wouldn’t find any sympathetic authorities in your area.”

“You killed five people.” And what was up with that subtle emphasis she’d put on “was our target"?

Beth stared at him. Didn’t blink. Davey shut the door behind them. “There was ample time for escape. The super-naturals should have moved faster.” She shrugged again, as if to say: Not my f**king fault they didn’t get out.

“You know, we could have killed you at the Mardi Gras warehouse.” Her teeth were white and a little sharp for a human’s. Her smile was just cold. “But we let you live. Do you wonder why?” Her gaze darted to Jana. She sighed a bit, roughly. “Why don’t you put her down on the couch? There’s no sense holding—”

Jana stirred against him, then her body tensed. He glanced down and saw her lashes flutter open. Confusion and a haze of pain cloaked the blue depths. “Zane?”

“It’s okay, baby.”

“No,” Beth said clearly, “it’s really not.”

Jana’s eyes widened in understanding, and she jerked against him, tumbling from his arms. She staggered and managed to land on her feet, but she kept a death grip on his arm. “You.”

“Hi, Jana.” Beth’s smile dimmed a bit. “Glad you finally came home.”

He felt the fury vibrate through Jana’s body, and he expected fire to erupt in a blaze across the room. Nothing happened.

“The drug slows the charge,” Beth said, as if reading his mind. “She won’t be able to fire up for some time.”

“I don’t need to fire up—” Jana lurched forward. “I can still kick your ass!”

Davey grabbed her, catching both of Jana’s arms, and pinning them behind her back.

Zane lunged, ready to rip that kid apart.

“Easy.” Beth held up her hands. “There’s no need for this to turn violent, not when I want to help you both.”

Help them?

Jana stopped fighting against Davey. Her eyes were trained on Beth.

Beth’s gaze was on Zane. “You’re something special, aren’t you?” she murmured. “I didn’t see it at first. Didn’t realize … not until I saw you at Dusk.”

Oh, hell, she knew what he could do.

“What are you on the power scale?” she asked. “Nine, a ten?”

Zane didn’t answer, but he decided it was time he let his power out. Time to rip into Beth’s head and tear Perseus apart.

“Won’t work.” The faintest of lines appeared around those doll eyes of hers. She tapped her temple with her index finger. “I’ve got a spell in place to keep you out. Once I knew how strong you were, I figured I’d better call out the big guns.”

“Zane?” Jana’s soft voice. Lost. Confused.

But he knew she wasn’t lost. The woman was just biding her time as she planned her next move. Damn, he loved that about her. She was a fighter. In a few more seconds, he knew she’d be going after Beth.

Provided he didn’t beat her to the punch.

“It’s rare that a hybrid demon has your strength.” Beth studied him like he was some kind of bug. No, an experiment. To her, that’s probably all he was. “You know that makes you a valuable commodity.” Her head tilted back. The better to watch him. “And to think, I originally thought Jana was the prize. I didn’t realize what I’d found in you.”

“Oh? Is that why you gave your goons the all clear to kill me when they slammed their semi into us that night?”

The woman didn’t blink. “Back then I thought you were expendable.”

Great. Expendable.

“Here at Perseus, we put humans first. Jana’s a human, so she was the priority.”

There it was again. Only the emphasis wasn’t so subtle on the ”was the priority.”

Beth sauntered toward him. The woman actually put one of her fire-engine-red nails on his chest. “You have all of a demon’s strengths, but inside, where it matters, you’re human.” She stared up at him. “You’ve killed demons before. You killed your own father.”

He was aware of Jana stiffening in Davey’s hold.

“You kill them, you hunt them.” Beth let her hand fall away. “Because you hate them, don’t you? You want to wipe the bastards off the earth.”

Well, wasn’t she a warm Christmas card greeting. “I am a demon.”

“Your mother was human. That wasn’t some bullshit cover story that you fed Nancy. It was the truth.”

So she’d done her homework on him. Was he supposed to be impressed?

“Zane?” A different note had entered Jana’s voice. One he hadn’t heard before, but he could still identify it. Worry.

“Your father killed her,” Beth said. “He showed you just what those freak demons are at their core. But you showed him just how strong humans can be. Because it was your human side that fought back.”

Her smile was too satisfied as she continued. “It’s your human side that let you walk through the door. We want that human side. We want you.”

He laughed then. He couldn’t help it. “You actually think I’m gonna work for Perseus? Lady, you’re out of your mind.”

“Uh, yeah, Zane, she is,” Jana said.

Beth’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t think you understand. You’re a wanted man right now. The FBI is after you, and the Baton Rouge PD thinks you were involved in the arson at Night Watch. They think you’ve been working with your lover, Jana Carter, a known criminal, to set a series of fires in Baton Rouge and New Orleans.”