Burn For Me (Phoenix Fire 1)

“Can you . . . get through . . . the fire?” she asked him. It was getting hard to speak. Hard to focus. Wyatt hadn’t shot her with a regular bullet. More like some kind of drug, a tranq that was making her numb.

Cain nodded. “I can.” His face was grim. “You can’t.”

The drug was making her hallucinate. Why else would she think that the guy’s voice had sounded all gruff and sad? “I . . . can. Trust . . . m-me.”

But he wasn’t moving. Just standing there.

What? Waiting for death?

“I . . . lied.” She could barely whisper the words.

Fire caught the bottom of his jogging pants. Burned higher. He tried to yank her away from the flames.

Eve reached out and touched them. The flames slid right over her skin. She could feel the heat, but there was no burn.

For her, there never had been.

“I’m not . . . exactly . . . human.”

His eyes widened, but he didn’t speak. Not then. Just held her tight—and raced through the fire.

As the drug pushed through her body, everything slowly faded away. The last thing she saw was the fire.

Burning so bright.

CHAPTER FOUR

Genesis burned faster than he’d thought it would. Screams filled the night, mixing with the crackle of the flames as the fire raged.

And Cain just stood back and watched the hellhole burn.

Humans were fleeing. Shouting. Some tried to put out the fire. Fools. That fire wasn’t dying.

The paranormals escaping the blaze didn’t even glance back. They fled into the woods. Ran fast. A few stopped to beat the hell out of some guards hanging around.

Interesting.

He’d freed the paranormals trapped on the lower level. He could have let them burn, maybe he should have, but . . .

Cain’s gaze lowered to Eve’s face. Her eyes were closed. Ash stained her cheek. The drug had knocked her out, and he’d carried her right through the blaze.

A blaze that hadn’t even blistered her skin.

He’d saved those paranormals because he’d given his word to her. He’d stared into her blue eyes and hadn’t been able to refuse her. Not then.

Want her.

She wasn’t like the others. She was something special.

His gaze swept over her delicate form. She was something damn dangerous. To him, she was lethal.

“Let her go.”

The voice came from the shadows. It was a rough voice, male, desperate.

Hungry.

The vampire.

Cain glanced up at him. His hold on Eve tightened. “I knew letting you live was a mistake.”

Blood dripped down the vampire’s chin. He’d fed, probably on the screaming guards. The man stalked toward Cain with fangs bared and fists clenched.

He really should turn the dumbass to dust.

“She . . . saved me,” the vampire gritted out. “I won’t let you hurt her.”

Did it look like he was hurting her? And since when did a vampire play hero for anyone or anything? From what Cain had witnessed, those bloodsuckers were good for only one thing—killing.

Cain stared at the vampire and knew that the fire of his power would burn in his eyes. “You don’t want to tangle with me.” He’d watched the destruction. Made sure that Wyatt hadn’t crawled out of the chaos.

It was time to leave.

And he was taking Eve with him.

Why can’t I have what I want? This one time . . .

“She’s human,” the vampire said with a hard shake of his head. “I don’t know what the hell you are, and—”

“She’s not.” Her lie. She was far more than human, and he just had to figure out what she was.

“Doesn’t matter,” the vamp growled back at him as the guy took a step forward. “I won’t let you hurt her.”

“I wasn’t the one trying to eat her.”

“No, you’re just the one who wants to f**k her.”

Cain’s eyes narrowed. It was true, but the words still pissed him off. It wouldn’t take very long to kill the parasite. Just a few seconds.

But time was already running out for them. The smoke was rising high into the sky. Others would see the blaze. More humans would come. Cain wanted to be long gone before their arrival.

He knew some of the Genesis personnel kept their vehicles in the garage to the east. He’d take one of those cars.

The vampire was blocking his path. He’d give the guy fair warning, then he’d attack. “If you don’t move, you’re dead.”

The vamp’s eyes narrowed. “You can’t—”

The fire was raging inside Cain. That blaze might not hurt Eve, but he could incinerate this jerk. And the vampire had been ready to bite Eve before.

Didn’t that mean he deserved to get singed? Even if he was trying to do some lame-ass white knight bit? You don’t fool me.

The vamp wasn’t leaving. No, the guy was actually coming closer.

Cain let the fire rip from his hand. It flew right at the vamp, tumbling end over end in a deadly ball. The vamp yelled and threw his body to the side. Cain let the fire circle the ground around the vampire, trapping him within the blaze.

Cain walked right by him. The flames would keep the vamp contained, for now. But he left him with a warning. “If you ever come at her again, you’ll feel the full force of my fire.” Cain would make sure of it. “And you won’t have time to scream then. You’ll just die.”

While the vamp froze within his temporary prison of fire, Cain made his way to that garage. He wasn’t the only paranormal with the plan to steal a getaway vehicle. That was obvious. Only two trucks and a motorcycle were left, and some guy with red hair was making his way toward the nearest truck.

“Don’t even think about it.” Cain shifted Eve so that she lay over his left shoulder. Probably not the most comfortable position for her, but he had to be ready to attack. His left arm curled around her legs as he lifted his right hand. He let the man see the flames he carried. “Unless you’re in the mood to burn.”

The guy shook his head and frantically backed up. Ah, smarter than the vamp. Then he jumped on the motorcycle and roared out of there.

Some folks were so afraid of the fire.

Cain eased Eve inside the truck. He pulled the seat belt over her, and she seemed to stir, just a bit. But her eyes didn’t open.

He figured she’d been dosed with the SP-tranq. He’d seen that tranq kill a weak paranormal once. His fingers slid to her throat. Felt the faint pulse. “You aren’t dying on me.” An order.