“Dee …” Catalina’s shaking voice. “You, um, need to be very care—”
The vampire screamed and dropped her hold. Jana spun around and saw that Dee was clutching her hand. A hand that was smoking. Yes, oh, yes. The fire’s back! She was back!
Jana’s lips began to curve. Then the male vamp tackled her. Jana’s head thudded into the ground and the world disappeared in a curtain of black.
Jana was on the ground. Not moving. A man had her in his arms. He said, “Oh, fuck—” just as Zane launched at him.
“No!” The blond female was there again. Glaring up at him with her vampire eyes. “Zane, she’s okay, but we have to get out of here! Do you hear me?”
He grabbed her arms. Everything was too loud. Too dark. The fire seemed to call him, and Jana-Jana was the only constant in his world.
Eyes closed. Unmoving. Vamp holding her.
This had happened before. He wasn’t going to let her be hurt again.
He shoved the blonde aside.
“Shit, Zane!” And she was back, grabbing him. Shaking him. Strong for someone so small. ”It’s me.”
Her voice seemed distorted, echoing almost. He frowned and studied that face. He … knew her.
“Dee. It’s Dee.” Her head turned to the left. “Dammit, shift already, Jude! Don’t you hear those sirens? We’ve got like five seconds to scram.”
He blinked. Dee. The name clicked in his mind. She was …
“Tell me you remember me.” She stared up at him. “I’ve only been working with you at Night Watch forever. It’s me.”
Dee. Sandra Dee.
Vampire.
He broke free of her hold. The male vamp lifted his hands, but didn’t attack. Jana’s head lay cradled in his lap. “She hit her head. I didn’t mean—” The vamp broke off, swallowing.
“I just didn’t want her to hurt Dee.”
The fury was easing inside Zane. No, not easing. He felt like he was about to crash. His heartbeat slowed, and his breathing roughened. He took Jana, hoisted her into his arms, and held tight.
Get away. They had to leave because of the—
Sirens. For some reason, a reason he couldn’t remember right then, Jana didn’t like sirens. She didn’t want to be around cops.
He held her tighter. Zane inhaled her scent and started running away. No, not running. Barely walking. His legs didn’t want to move. Holding Jana seemed so hard.
“It’s going to be okay.” He looked up when he heard the woman’s soft voice. An angel stood before him, her long, blond hair feathering around her pale face. “You’re safe,
Zane.”
Those were the last words he heard before his knees buckled and he fell onto the ground, pulling Jana down with him.
“We’re being hunted.” The voice drifted through the fog that surrounded him.
Zane tensed at that voice. One so important to him. She’s okay. If Jana was talking, then that meant she was all right.
He tried to open his eyes. Couldn’t.
She was all right, but what the hell was wrong with him?
“Who’s after you?” Another feminine voice, but sharper, harder.
“Someone from Perseus.” A pause, then Jana said, “At least, that’s what the witch said. I-I’m worried … have we heard from the cop, from Tony?”
Silence.
“He was outside that building. He would have seen whoever set the fire.” Jude’s voice now. “I saw him, before … He came to find me inside. I told him to—”
“To send me after Catalina,” Dee said. Yes, Dee. That sharp voice was hers.
Jude’s snarl hung in the air. “Tony wouldn’t have just left us to burn.”
Zane tried to open his eyes again. Nothing. He tried to lift his hands, but couldn’t move. What the fuck? What had the drug done to him?
“Pak’s got a search on for him,” Dee said. “For him and Agent Thomas.”
A soft sigh drifted in the air. “Tony was there the night Perseus went up in flames.” Jana’s words came slowly as if she hated to say, “Catalina said we were all marked for death. What if he’s been taken by Perseus?”
No. His hand jerked, hard, and Zane felt something snap.
“Okay,” Jude drawled the word. A long whistle filled the air. “Our demon just broke a steel restraint. I’d say he’s coming back to us.”
Soft fingers wrapped around his. “Zane?” Jana whispered. “You coming back?”
Open damn eyes, open. Because he needed to see her.
Jana.
Light filled his vision. Too bright. Then she was there, leaning over him, that dark curtain of hair surrounding her face, a blue-and-black bruise high on her forehead.
The other restraint broke as he shoved upright.
“Yeah, he noticed the bruise,” Dee murmured. “See, told you it was a good idea to station Simon outside.”
Simon. Dee’s lover. The vamp he remembered tackling Jana. His teeth snapped together.
“Are you really back this time?” she asked softly as her brows pulled together.
This time? Just what the hell had been going on?
He reached for her and skimmed the back of his hand down her cheek. “I’m back.” His voice grated, but she didn’t wince. Didn’t so much as look away from him.
“Good.” Her lips tried to curl, that dimple peeking at him, and she blinked quickly. For an instant, Zane could have sworn that he saw the glint of tears in Jana’s eyes.
She’d stayed with him. He remembered that. The blood-lust had burned inside, and she’d stayed. She’d let him—
Zane sucked in a sharp breath. “Baby …”
She leaned forward and kissed him. A soft, fast press of her lips. “You didn’t hurt me.”
“Hell, no,” Dee grumbled. “You didn’t hurt her. You weren’t even close to hurting her. It was anyone dumb enough to get between the two of you that you decided to hurt.”
That was damn good news. No, it was fucking fabulous news.
Jana tried to ease away. He caught the back of her head and pulled her close, and he kissed her the way he needed to. Deep and long, tasting and taking, and promising so much more to come.
“Aw, hell.” The frustrated sigh was pure Dee. “Can’t you get a room once we’re done figuring out who is trying to destroy you? You know, we’ve got the little matter of someone setting a fire to kill you, and your girlfriend.”
Slowly, Zane lifted his head. He could taste Jana on his lips now. Just what he wanted. “No one was trying to kill us with the fire.” He turned his head and saw Dee’s face tense.
“Then why—”
“Someone trapped us so Tony would be easy prey.” The knowledge pissed him off. “This guy is doing up-close and personal kills. Slicing throats, not burning prey.”
“Well, maybe he changed his M.O.” Jude crossed his arms over his chest. “Because that fire was damn wild. If you hadn’t calmed it down …”
He’d always had a way with the fire. Jana twined her fingers with his.
“We have to find Tony,” Dee said, voice fierce. “The guy’s pretty much freaking helpless. He’s just—”
“Human?” Jana finished quietly. Then she shook her head. “Just because we’re human, it doesn’t mean we’re helpless.”
“Oh, don’t worry, I wasn’t making that mistake about you.” Dee’s blond brows rose. “Not making that mistake at all.”
Zane frowned, struggling to shove the last of the fog from his mind. His temples throbbed as he demanded, “How much time has passed?”
Jude exhaled. “Too damn much.”
Fuck.
“You were out an hour. I tried to pick up Tony’s scent from the scene, but—” His shoulders lifted, then fell in a hard shrug. “It was like the guy had never been there.”
Someone strong was jerking them around. “The claw marks were like a wolf’s.” He spoke quietly as he pushed his way through all the evidence.