Burn For Me (Phoenix Fire #1)(96)

It sounded like the old man’s cane. But he wasn’t using it. That too-slow thud was Eve’s heartbeat. “Cain …”

He spun away from Jeremiah and raced for the other side of the building.

“Now I’m ready for death.” Jeremiah’s voice followed them.

So did the explosion. A fast, driving blast that lifted Cain and Eve into the air even as a furnace of heat swept over them.

The walls and the roof shattered. Debris rained down on them. The hungry flames consumed everything in sight.





CHAPTER TWENTY


Cain crawled from beneath the rubble. A slab of concrete had broken his leg. Gritting his teeth, he shoved the heavy stone aside. He was bleeding. Pain swept through him in driving waves of agony.

Internal injuries.

The fire hadn’t killed him, but he’d be dead soon—the impact of the explosion was too much for his body to handle. His right arm was shattered. His head concussed. And inside …

His organs were f*cking mush.

Focus on her.

Eve was in his arms. He’d used his body to protect her as best he could. He’d taken the hits, the full force of the explosion, for her.

But she wasn’t moving.

He couldn’t walk, so he dragged her with him. Cradled her as best he could. “Help!” He screamed out at the night not because he wanted to be saved, but because he needed someone to come and help her.

Eve couldn’t die. If she did … she won’t come back to me.

His body was shutting down. He felt it. Felt the surge of the fire inside him. No. He couldn’t leave her yet. She needed him.

He put his hand on her chest, trying to stop that blood flow. The bullet had torn through her delicate body. So much blood. It soaked her shirt. Poured through his fingers.

Beautiful Eve. She looked broken. A cut sliced across her forehead. Her eyes were closed, her lashes casting heavy shadows on her cheeks. She was so … still.

“Don’t do … this,” he grated out as he kept dragging her. They were almost clear of the wreckage, and he could hear sirens in the distance. Help was coming for her. She just had to hold on for him. A few more moments …

But she didn’t stir at his words.

Another few desperate inches. Glass cut into his legs. Dammit. He hadn’t just broken one leg. He’d f*cking nearly lost the second leg.

Jeremiah had known what he was doing after all. It hadn’t been the fire that hurt Cain. It had been the destruction. The heavy blasts that had sent walls tumbling onto him.

At least that bastard is dead. Blown into a thousand pieces. No vampire could come back from that.

Now if Cain could just save Eve.

He couldn’t feel her heartbeat beneath his fingers. “Eve?” He pressed harder against her chest. Had that been a heartbeat? A weak flutter? “Eve, don’t you do this to me!”

She didn’t respond.

The fire burned within him, raging higher as the fear spiked within his blood.

I’m losing her.

He couldn’t. He didn’t want to be without her.

Cain shook Eve. “Open your eyes.” She had to open her eyes. He had to see that she was okay. Before he left, before the fire took him, he had to be sure …

He choked on blood. Death wanted him. Death was f*cking coming.

Wait.

He wasn’t ready for death.

“Open your eyes!”

Eve couldn’t die. She’d said—she’d said she loved him. No one had ever said that to him before. And … and he’d wanted to tell her that he loved her, too.

How could he not love her? The woman had obsessed him from the first. Addicted him. Damn near broken him with lust and need and then …

Then it had become more. Not just a physical need. He’d wanted to touch her all the time. To see her smile. To protect her. To make her happy.

Love. He hadn’t been given a whole lot of it in his life, but he’d recognized the emotion for what it was.

She was the only thing he’d ever loved in all his days. How was he supposed to lose her now?

He shook her harder. “Open your eyes!”

But she wasn’t. She was so cold, and even the heat from his skin didn’t seem to warm her.

Cain hunched over Eve’s body. “Please, don’t do this to me.” He hadn’t begged for anything before. Yet for Eve, he’d beg. For Eve, he would do anything.

Her lips parted. Her breath whispered out so softly.

“Eve?”

He bent his head over her. She was talking. She was still alive!

Her words were whisper quiet. Even with his enhanced hearing, he almost couldn’t hear them. Was almost afraid he’d imagined them.

“Love …” More a breath than a word.

His chest burned. Not from the fire swirling within him. But because Eve was ripping his heart out. “I love you,” he told her. He pressed a kiss to her cheek. His blood stained her face. “Eve, did you hear me? I said … I loved you. I. Love. You.” Don’t leave me.

“No … walk …”

What the hell was she talking about?

“On … beach …”

He lifted her against his chest. The sirens were coming closer. They won’t make it in time. He knew it, damn it. “We’ll walk on the beach,” he told her as he buried his face in the curve of her neck. His eyes burned, but not just from the fire. From tears.