Read Online Eternal Flame by Cynthia Eden - Free Book Online

finger into his chest. Hard. “I could have
killed
you while you slept.”
    Why hadn’t she?
    “Let me go,” she told him, dropping her voice, but keeping her eyes up. “Walk away from me. Trust me, it will be the best move you’ve ever made in your life.”
    “You’re my bounty.” And there were dead bodies she had to answer for.
    She shook her head. “You’re a fool. You’re gonna get caught in the crossfire. You’ll die. Or you’ll just wish for death.”
    Like he hadn’t done that before. He’d died when he was sixteen, and the demon inside had taken over. He’d been fighting the devil ever since. “Promises, promises, baby.”
    For just an instant, one instant, her eyes seemed to flare red.
    Zane stiffened, but then the blue flooded back into her gaze.
    She licked her lips, and her eyes darted around the cabin. Darted, then paused somewhere just over his shoulder. “This sucks.”
    Yeah.
    “Come on.” Then she started marching away from him, heading toward a shut door.
    “What are you—”
    “It’s been over nine hours, demon. I’ve got to use the bathroom.” She grabbed the door and slipped inside. “Now be a good Southern gentleman, and don’t even
think
about looking at me.”
    Southern gentleman? Since when?
    The cuffs were a damn inconvenience, but they’d be free soon, both of them. He’d take her to Night Watch, turn her in, and be rid of his Ignitor.
    Case closed.
    No more temptation. No more fire. No more Jana. “Damn demon,” she muttered.
    “Jana, I’m—”
    “Save it!”
    Sorry
. He bit the word back, but the guilt burned in him. He
was
sorry. For what he’d done to her last night … and for what he would be doing, soon.
    The demon was really going to turn her in. Jana followed Zane outside the cabin. He stopped, and glanced around the area, obviously searching for the motorcycle.
    Would he remember where they’d stashed it?
    Nope. That glinting stare turned back on her, and he lifted one dark brow. What? Did the guy really expect her help? He was turning her in!
    She smiled back at him and just waited.
    “Jana…”
    Her body hurt. Ached. That car crash hadn’t been an easy hit, and she was sure she sported a ton of bruises beneath her clothes. She needed a hot bath-for the aches and to wash away the blood. She needed some food. And she needed a bed that didn’t smell like crap.
    Instead, she’d get-what? Jail? A fast trip to some human slammer? How long would she stay there?
    “I hate being locked up,” she muttered. She’d already spent too many years being caged. Her gaze drifted around the swamp. Open. Free.
This
was what she wanted. Why couldn’t everyone just leave her alone and let her have it?
    “Then maybe you shouldn’t kill people.”
    His words had her stiffening. “You don’t know a damn thing about me.”
    Faint lines bracketed his mouth. “Don’t I?”
    “What? You typed my name in some computer at Night
    Watch and all of a sudden you
think
you know about me? You think you know—”
    “I know you started your first fire when you were thirteen. A fire that killed your father.”
    “Stepfather.” There was a difference. An important one.
    He crept closer. Not that those cuffs let him stray too far. “Why? Why the hell do you do it? You don’t have to hurt people. You don’t have to use the fire at all. You could’ve been normal—”
    Was he crazy? “Demon, I’m as far from normal as you are.” Did he think she’d chosen to be like this? Did he know how many nights she’d cried and begged God to just let her be normal? Jana sucked in a long breath. “And I don’t know what you’ve heard about Ignitors….” Because it wasn’t like her kind were thick on the ground. “But when the flames start that first time, there’s no
controlling
the fire.” Not when the flames burn so fast, and you scream and beg for it to stop.
    Only for the fire to flare hotter.
    It had taken her years to learn control, and those lessons had been