Burn For Me (Phoenix Fire #1)(44)

The guard freed her wrists and feet, but before she could try to rush him, he had his gun pointed at her again. “Stay in this room.” He began to back toward the door. Her gaze darted to his gun, and her eyes narrowed on the tattoo that she saw peeking back from his wrist. Wolves.

Eve pulled her gaze away and studied the room even as she rocked forward on the balls of her feet. There were vents on the floor. Sprinklers on the ceiling. No, no, no.

The guard was almost at the door.

“Please.” The whisper came from her. No faking. No acting. “I’m a reporter. I’m just trying to stop Wyatt from hurting anyone else.”

The guard shook his head. “Wyatt’s trying to save lives.”

Brainwashed bastard. “No, he isn’t.” She swallowed back the lump in her throat. “When you see what he does to me, you’ll understand.”

Only by then, it would be too late.



Tracking Eve was the easy part. Cain took out one of the hunters left behind at the vampire club, and he stole the *’s clothes—the black uniform. The gun. And, since the fellow wouldn’t be needing it, Cain borrowed the jerk’s ride, too.

He followed behind the dark van, and when the group drove down a ramp into a thick, squat building, he headed right in after them. NO TRESPASSING signs were posted all around the perimeter and guards patrolled the entrance.

He drove right past the guards. Damn idiots. The vehicle’s tinted windows hid him from view, and they thought he was one of them.

Never.

Good thing their security sucked. It would make taking them all out so much easier.

Once inside the building, Cain tapped his fingers against the wheel, waiting a moment until he was certain that the coast was clear. The occupants of the van had already cleared out before he parked. They sure hadn’t wasted any time. Cain eased out of the SUV. No other vehicles would be following him. He’d made sure of it. Disabling the others back at Blood Bath had been child’s play for him.

Find Eve. She was his priority. He studied the area around him. Where the hell would they take her in this place? It was too big. Hulking and—

“The bitch broke my nose.”

Cain turned at the angry snarl. The words had come from the left. From some whiny prick. Cain crept closer to the voice, making sure to keep to the shadows as much as possible. Once the other men got a good look at his face, they’d know he didn’t belong.

“She’ll pay. She’ll bleed.”

Cain could see the guy. Another idiot in black. This idiot had blood streaming down his face, and his nose was obviously broken.

The bloody one was talking to another one of Wyatt’s goons. The second man was smaller, with light red hair. “I think she’s gonna burn before she bleeds.” Laughter.

Burn before she bleeds.

Cain rushed toward them. “The hell she is.” He slammed their heads together, and before their bodies hit the floor, he was already racing down the hallway.





The temperature in the room was rising. Heat seemed to be coming from the vents in the floor.

Eve kicked at the door. It had sealed as soon as the guard cleared the threshold. There was no doorknob on her side. Nothing to grab and yank. Dammit.

She moved toward the glass window. The guard watched her. His brown gaze steady, intense. Determined.

Sweat coated her skin, and that slickness wasn’t just from heat … but from fear, too.

“We’re almost ready now, Eve” Wyatt’s voice drifted into the room over some kind of intercom. She’d noticed the speaker located above the door.

Eve swallowed back her fear. “Ready for what?” she demanded, trying not to let her fear show. The room was wired. She could hear him, he could hear her. But she couldn’t see him because the bastard was hanging back.

“I have to make sure you’re the one,” Wyatt said.

She slammed her palm against the glass. The glass didn’t so much as crack. “The one what?” She kept her eyes on the guard. Help me, she mouthed.

The guard didn’t move.

“The one who can kill him,” Wyatt told her.

There was a faint hum, then tapping. Strokes on a keyboard. She’d thought Wyatt would come in for an up-close view, but it looked like the guard was going to be the only one who saw her suffer in person.

Wyatt’s voice continued, droning on. “I have to be sure.”

She didn’t have any idea what the crazy psycho was talking about. “Kill who?”

“O’Connor, of course.” Irritation hummed in the words.

Kill Cain? Her heart shoved against her chest. “You killed him.” Another slam of her hand against the glass. Break. It was so damn hot in there. “You’ve killed him over and over.”

“But you can truly make him die.” Wyatt’s cool voice. The irritation was gone. He was back to sounding clinical again. “If you’re what I think, then, Eve, you alone will have the power to make certain that Cain can die—and never rise again.”

What I think … His words echoed in Eve’s head. What, not who. The guy wasn’t even seeing her as a person any longer.

The guard’s eyes were on her. Please. Help me.

A muscle jerked in his jaw. She could see the struggle on his face.

Maybe he wanted to help her, but the guy wasn’t moving.