Her cheeks were wet. From blood or tears? Both. “I’m . . . sorry . . .” She couldn’t let the vampires eat his flesh. Not during these last desperate moments. She couldn’t do that to him.
“Come . . . back . . .” His words were a bare whisper. One she had to strain to hear as she leaned over him. “You . . . run . . . ”
She nodded.
“Don’t want to . . . hurt . . . you . . .”
But he wanted her to shoot him.
She lifted the gun to his heart. The fire in Cain’s hands was flickering, fading, and the vamps were closing in as the darkness spread once more.
Their claws reached her, tearing into her skin. Cain’s body jerked and shuddered, and Eve knew they were attacking him, too.
“I’m sorry,” she told him, crying hard, unable to stop her tears. Eve pulled the trigger.
“Remarkable,” Richard said as he watched Eve kill her lover. The gray images played before him on the screen, the gritty, night-vision surveillance cams making the forms of the vampires look like long, desperate shadows.
Shadows with glowing eyes. Shadows that were grabbing Eve. Poor Eve. She’d used her last bullet on Cain. She was still trying to fight back, but she couldn’t seem to summon any fire on her own.
Not like her mother.
How disappointing.
Flames began to flicker around Cain’s body. The regeneration process had begun, but the phoenix had better hurry. If he didn’t rise soon, Eve would be dead long before Cain was able to draw breath again.
“Taste . . . sweet . . .” Fangs tore into Eve’s shoulder, digging deep. She screamed at the pain and shoved the vampire back. She punched and she kicked, and the vampires still kept coming.
Since the gun was out of bullets, she used it like a club to hit them.
They weren’t near Cain anymore. The minute he’d died, they’d left his body, and come after her. She figured the bastards must like fresh meat. The kind of meat that was still alive.
Hurry, Cain, please, hurry . . .
“Drain you dry . . .” the vampire who’d bit her rasped as he came at her again.
Drain you dry . . .
Eve stiffened. Another vampire had said those words to her. So long ago. The night her parents had died.
The scent of smoke teased her nose. Yes. Smoke meant flames and flames meant . . . Cain was coming back to her.
Fire lit up the area, flashing as it consumed Cain’s body. The vampires jumped back, screaming.
Eve got a good look at the vampire who’d been trying so hard to make a meal of her.
All teeth. Giant eyes. Deadly claws. But . . . but there was something about his face, the curve of his jaw, the stark lines of his cheeks. She stared at him, heart racing, and realized—
I know him.
A girl never forgot the face of her nightmare.
The vampires were backing away from the fire, giving off screams that felt like they were going to shatter her eardrums.
“You wanted a bite?” Eve snarled to the vamp she remembered. The one who’d always haunted her. “Come and get it.” She grabbed him and fell back toward Cain—and the fire.
The vampire’s flesh ignited instantly, like dry leaves in a flash fire. The skin burned, the muscle . . . all melted away in an instant.
Eve was left holding ash in her hand as the fire burned brighter.
Some of the vampires were running down a long, dark tunnel on the left. So much damn darkness. Others were frozen, staring with gaping mouths and wide eyes at the orange and red flames.
The fire raged. Bigger. Brighter.
Cain stood up. He went right for the vampires who’d stayed behind. Touched them with his hands and they melted before him. One. Two. Three. They went down so quickly. Burned, burned.
Eve wanted to close her eyes. She hated to see the carnage and the smell . . .
It was choking her.
But she kept her eyes open. The vampires died quickly, but their screams seemed to linger in the air around her.
Then Cain turned to her.
Fire was at his feet, seeming to sputter out and fade away. He stared at her, and she could see the flames flickering in his eyes.
“Do you know me?” she whispered. On his last rising, he’d seemed so confused. Lost.
He stared at her. Stalked toward her. Eve’s back was pressed to the wall. The tunnel was a few feet away. But some of the vamps had escaped down that tunnel. If she ran that way, they could be waiting for her.
Cain’s eyes were locked on her, too bright with the flames that he stirred. “You . . .” His voice was dark, rumbling.
He recognized her. Eve’s breath left her in a rush. He knew who she was. He knew—
“You”—a muscle jerked in his jaw—“killed me.”
There was fury in his stare. So much dark rage. And deadly intent.
Eve glanced toward the dark tunnel once more. Cain had tried to warn her. She should have listened when he’d told her to run.
He reached for her.
I’m listening now.
She ducked under his arm and raced down the tunnel, but she could hear the thud of his footsteps as he followed her and she knew . . .
There’d be no escape.
“Run,” Richard whispered as he watched Eve flee.
Cain followed right after her. The phoenix didn’t bother running. He just slowly stalked his prey.
Why should he run? He’d track Eve down easily enough. It wasn’t like the tunnel had an exit. Eve would hit a dead end soon enough.
“Sir . . .” From the guard on Richard’s right. “Do we need to go down and follow them?”
Richard shook his head. “No need. There’s no way out of that tunnel.” It was why the vampires were trapped there. The area had proven to be the perfect prison for a particular failed experiment.
Richard glanced over at the guard. His eyes narrowed. The guy was sweating. Had it been the first time the man had seen a vamp get fried? If he stayed around Genesis, it sure wouldn’t be the last time he saw such a sight.
Richard was glad those particular vamps were gone. He’d figured that once Cain was tossed in their midst, the vamps wouldn’t last long.
That breed of vampires had proven to be a disappointment. An unfortunate experiment that had gone wrong. His father had made those beings. Tried to transform soldiers into an enhanced breed of vampires.
At first, the transformation had seemed to work. The soldiers who’d volunteered for the program had become stronger, bigger, and faster. Their senses had been better than any shifter. They’d been such great hunters. Perfect killers.
At first . . .
The genetic splicing had been flawed, though. The humans hadn’t been able to maintain the transformation, not at an optimum level.