Playing With Fire (Phoenix Fire 3)

“And her vampire? You think he will want me to keep living, knowing that I can kill his woman?”

Cassie’s heart was pounding too fast. Her death grip was about to rip the sheets. “Are you planning to kill her?” Before Dante could answer, she grabbed for his hand and dropped her sheet. “Sabine wants to help us! She’s working with me to try and find a cure for Trace—”

Dante’s eyes glinted, the fire simmering.

Uh-oh. What was that about?

But he said, “Phoenixes. Plural.” His head tilted. “You know of another phoenix? Not just Sabine?”

She swallowed. “I do. Another male, not as old as you, but he’s still strong. Cain has agreed to—”

“Cain O’Connor?”

Dante’s voice had gone lethal.

“Yes.”

His hand twisted, and he was holding onto her. “You are not to get near Cain O’Connor.”

“He’s going to meet me in Belle, Mississippi. Sabine is going there, too.” Once she gets back in the U.S.

Her vampire had taken her away for a while—a honeymoon time, of sorts.

Cassie straightened her shoulders and tried to pretend that she wasn’t na**d in front of Dante. “I am going. I wanted—I wanted you to come, too. That’s why I came after you in Chicago. I’m so close to making a breakthrough, so close. With your help, I know I can do it.”

He stared back at her. The golden flames in his eyes seemed to be growing brighter. So not good.

Cassie pressed her lips together. Then, unable to help herself, she asked, “You’re the oldest, aren’t you?”

He nodded.

I knew it. Excitement had her feeling a little giddy. “You’re the key! If Trace can be cured, if the primal vampires can be reverted—”

“Primal vampires?”

Ah, yes. Another confession. “Genesis made monsters—real monsters that have no control. They exist only to feed and kill. Their virus is spreading like wildfire, and if I can’t stop them . . .” She didn’t even want to think about what could happen. “If I can’t stop them, the primal vampires could take over the world as we know it.”

No hint of worry or fear flickered over his face.

Okay. “This isn’t about me,” Cassie said. “It’s about fixing the mess that Genesis created. About saving lives. I have to go back to Belle. And the phoenixes—you—are the only hope that we have.”

His jaw locked. “Then you have no hope. You get the phoenixes together, and we will kill each other.” His gaze swept over her face. “If Cain O’Connor gets anywhere near you, I’ll send him to hell myself.”

Cassie decided not to mention the fact that she’d already been around Cain a few times. He’d been the first one to seek her out because he’d wanted her to help Trace.

“Leave them all. They can sort out their own lives. Or they can die.” Dante shrugged. “You and I will go north. We will—”

“How can you not care?” She pulled away from him and jumped to her feet. “I’m talking about people—innocent people! If they can be saved, we have to try!”

He shook his head. “I don’t care about them at all.” He climbed from the bed and stretched to his full length.

She backed up a step. Damn. Naked, the guy was intimidating.

Rippling muscles. Hot flesh.

Intimidating and sexy.

Her tongue swiped over her lower lip. Focus.

“I saved you,” he said, the words falling heavily into the room. “You are what matters to me. The others can—”

“Die?” she finished, hating that a chill had slipped over her skin.

“If they don’t stay away from me”—he gave a slow nod—“that is exactly what will happen.”

He wasn’t going to help her. The realization was staggering, and it hurt. “You know what it’s like to be trapped, to be an experiment, and you’d still walk away from them?”

“I cannot cure them, Cassie.”

“You’re wrong! Your tears cured me in New Orleans!” That was the part she’d clung to for so long. Her one instant of hope. He’d saved her, so that meant he cared about her. Maybe not as much as she cared about him, but he’d cried, actually shed a tear. He cared. “Your tears must be the most powerful, since you are the strongest phoenix and—”

“I did not cry for you.”

She shook her head. “Of course, you did.” He’d felt some of the same emotion that she did. She was alive—her life was proof of that. “I’m alive because of you.”

Dante stared back at her, his face an implacable mask. “I’m alive because of you,” she said again, her voice rising as fear spiked in her heart. “I was dying in New Orleans! You were there. You took me out of that horrible room and you—”

“I was watching you die.” Brutal words that drove her fear higher.

“Then you saved me,” she said stubbornly. “Because your tears—”

“I did not cry for you.”

She spun away from him. She wasn’t about to put on that damn exam gown so she started yanking open closets and drawers and—

“I . . . got you clothing. I wanted you to have everything you might need. It’s there.” He pointed to a bag near the old table.

She grabbed for the bag and hurriedly dressed. Jeans. Underwear. T-shirt. Even shoes. All a perfect fit.

“You remembered everything.” She knew he truly had. Once dressed, she turned toward him. “So why are you acting like you don’t remember what happened in New Orleans?” Why was he trying to rip her world away? “You had to save me. I’d be dead if you hadn’t—”

“I thought you were dying.” He was still naked. Damn it. The guy didn’t even seem aware of his nudity. She was aware of everything about him.

“You were in my arms, and your blood was all over me. You were staring up at me, trying to talk, but you were too far gone.”

Goosebumps had risen on her flesh. “That’s when you saved me.”

He shook his head.

She grabbed his arms. “Why are you lying to me?” He’d never lied to her before. “Sabine didn’t save me. I know the wounds I had—would have killed me. The only way I could have survived was if a phoenix saved me.” Cassie wanted to shake him. “Why can’t you just admit that you actually care enough about me that you cried? After everything we’ve been through together, the feelings aren’t just mine. You have to—”