Eternal Flame (Night Watch 3)

“It’s not easier for a wolf to break,” Jana said, fighting to keep her voice even. “It’s harder. Yeah, I know wolves have the rep for being crazy, but they’re also smart and incredibly strong. Strong enough to live through hell and survive.” Just like Marcus had. They hadn’t needed to talk. She’d seen the truth in his eyes.

They’d walked out of hell together.

Erin’s head inclined toward her, and it seemed like the tension in Jude’s shoulders eased, just a bit.

“If the shifter didn’t kill Lindsey Meadows,” Jana told them, “then we’ve got a real big problem here.” She had to point it out, though surely everyone had realized that.

Zane’s arm brushed against Jana’s. Okay. She hadn’t meant to walk to his side. Not really. Her gaze darted to those bloodstains and then back to the ADA’s eyes. Humans were so weak.

It sucked to be weak, and she sure wasn’t about to show weakness now. She hadn’t been given the chance to finish her confession with Zane. He didn’t know the truth. None of the others knew. As far as they were concerned, as far as the rest of the world was concerned, she was the big, bad fire queen. Get in her way, and she’d burn you to ash.

“This crime …” Even the locations were identical. The freak in New Orleans had always picked alleys just behind the vics’ dorms or apartments. “The kill—” No defensive wounds. No sign of a struggle. “-and the victim type are all the same. It fits the serial’s M.O.” What was up with the timing of this kill? So close to Marcus’s arrival in town. Too close. “Someone knows about what happened with the serial killer in New Orleans. About Marcus. And I think that person’s trying to set him up.”

“Why?” came from Jude.

“Because he was the only actual named suspect in New Orleans. He made the papers. Someone wants the spotlight on him again. Someone wants the cops after him.” Hunted. “Someone is turning him into prey again.” The supernaturals who cross the line have to be eliminated. The old spiel from Perseus.

Perseus. Her breath heaved out. “They know.” “Uh, who knows?” Erin asked.

“Project Perseus. They knew all about Marcus. They could be—”

But Zane caught her hand. “Perseus is dead, Jana. The organization is finished. The guards who survived were rounded up. Beth was the leader of that group … the guards confirmed it. She’d started Perseus after a vamp killed her father.”

She knew about the vampire. I found my father on the ground. The bastard had torn his throat open. Beth’s shaking voice whispered through her mind. Because at the beginning, when she’d first approached Jana, they’d talked. Almost been … friends.

No, no, they’d never been friends. Beth’s psychic talent had just made her real good at reading people. And she’d known how to get to Jana.

She offered me a family. A place to fit in. Things had been fine until Jana turned away from the system. Then the claws had come out.

“Beth wanted vengeance,” Jana spoke slowly. “And I gave it to her.” The first vamp she’d killed for Perseus had been the one who’d drained Beth’s father.

Thank you. The only words Beth had spoken after that fire. But Beth’s eyes had been blazing.

That death hadn’t been enough for Beth. Nothing had ever been enough.

So she’d been the one to start Perseus? Jana had always thought Beth took orders from someone else.

“She’s dead,” Zane said. “The Perseus group is finished.” “Nothing ever dies easily in this world,” Jana whispered. The instinct to survive was too strong.

Marcus Malone knew when he was being hunted. He’d spent too much time being prey not to know that feeling.

He glanced back over his shoulder, his nostrils flaring. He didn’t see anyone, didn’t smell anyone, but he knew some bastard was out there. Hunting.

I need to get out of this city.

Perseus had burned. Those flames had lit the night, and he’d escaped that hellhole, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that someone-something-had risen from the flames.

Coming after me.

There was only one person in this town he trusted. One woman who’d been through the fire.

Maybe he should have been afraid of her. After all, Jana had been the one to hunt him before. She’d also been the one to hold back the fire because she’d realized he wasn’t the sadistic killer Perseus had made him out to be.

And she’d come back for me. He’d caught her scent over the fire and looked up … and Jana had been there. She’d pulled him from those flames in the swamp. Saved his ass.

So he’d returned the favor. He’d gotten her away from the cops. Gotten them both to safety.

But this town wasn’t safe. He swiped a hand over his brow. Not nearly f**king safe enough. Jana thought her demon could protect her.

Her eyes had been so dark. “If you need me, I’ll be with Zane.”

“You really think you can trust him?” A faint smile had lifted her lips. “He’s one of the good guys.”

Marcus didn’t have a lot of experience with good guys. He didn’t trust the demon, but he did trust Jana. She’d studied him, looked beneath the surface. His hands were stained with blood, but that kill-he’d just been avenging his Rita.

Rita.

A blinding pain shot through his head. Those f**king headaches. Every time he thought of Rita, his head seemed to rip open.

He pushed through the bushes and stumbled toward the house on Louis Avenue. Jana would help him. He’d tell her about the eyes on him … because those eyes could be turning to her. He and Jana were linked. Whoever was after him, well, the ass**le could come after her, too.

Together, they’d be stronger. Those bastards at Perseus had made him so weak. That bitch had come and touched him, while Beth had stood back and laughed. She’d touched him then—

Weak.

He was still weak. Too weak. Almost like a human. And the headaches … Sonofabitch.

He stumbled and nearly fell onto the porch. The house was dark, but it was late. The demon had to be there, with Jana. They had to—

“Wondered how long it would take for you to crawl out of those shadows.” The voice whispered from the darkness.

It was a voice Marcus knew. He froze. No, no. But he turned his head and f**king sure enough, the ass**le was there. Smiling at him.

“Did you really think going to the fire whore would save you?” The insidious whisper slipped right under his skin. Marcus kept his eyes on his stalker, aware of the sweat that had burst from his skin, even on the chilly night.