Phoenix Fury Box set

Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

“Authorities are investigating what appears to be an arson out on Piersview Road. A blaze at the ranch there claimed the lives of two dozen people.” The camera zoomed in close on the reporter’s tense face. But, behind him, Cassie could see the body bags being wheeled away from the blackened remains of the ranch.

The ranch that she’d been at last night.

Her eyes squeezed shut.

“Miss? Miss, are you all right?”

It was the waitress’s voice. Cassie had pulled in at the first pit stop she found—a little diner in the middle of nowhere. She’d scavenged in the motorcycle’s saddlebags and found a few bucks. Since she hadn’t eaten in—jeez, she couldn’t even remember when—she’d been desperate for food.

Except the pancakes weren’t exactly sitting well with her.

“Hon, are you sick?”

Heartsick, yes. That blaze…all those people…had Dante done that? Had he gone back while she slept?

Her eyes opened, and she forced a false smile for the waitress. “I’m fine, thank you.”

The woman, who looked like she was close to Cassie’s own twenty-nine years, gave her one more worried glance before heading off to refill coffee at the next table.

Cassie’s gaze returned to the TV and to the reporter who was going over the harrowing tale of death and arson. Two dozen dead.

She’d woken up during the night. Dante hadn’t been beside her. His spot on the bed had been empty. When she’d called out to him, he’d come to her side fast enough but…

How long had he been gone from that bed? Long enough to go back to the ranch and let his fire loose?

Maybe she didn’t really know him well at all.

She tossed her precious dollars down on the table and rose on legs that still weren’t quite steady. She eased down the narrow aisle between the tables and pushed against the door, ignoring the little jingle as she hurried outside.

She’d parked the motorcycle on the side of the building in an effort to keep it out of sight.

She hadn’t been mentioned on the newscast. Neither had Dante. With Jon dead, no one would be pointing the finger at them, at least, not until Jon’s bosses figured out what was happening. That should buy her enough time to cross back into Mississippi.

She rounded the side of the little diner.

“Hello, sweetheart.”

Dante was sitting on the motorcycle.

Cassie shook her head.

He lifted a brow. “It wasn’t very nice to run, was it? To just leave without a word, after all I did for you.”

Two dozen dead.

She didn’t think. Just spun away and surged forward, hoping to get back around to the diner’s entrance so that she could get help.

But there was never a chance for help. Dante grabbed her, locked one arm around her waist, and he put his other hand over her mouth. “You’re not getting away again.”

She shoved her elbow into his ribs, and the jerk just laughed at her.

She’d actually thought he was the good guy? The one who’d help her save people?

Talk about being delusional. At least her blinders were finally off. Shattered, somewhere in the dirt of the Texas road because yep, they were in Texas. It hadn’t taken her long to figure that one out.

She heard voices. Men. Talking. Coming toward them.

Dante whirled her toward him. “If you try to get them to help, it won’t end well for them.”

Who the hell was this man? She seemed to be looking at a stranger.

“Don’t call out.” With that last warning, he moved his hand from her mouth, and, of course, she wasn’t about to risk any humans. Humans would never be any match for him.

His arms wrapped around her, and he pulled her flush against his body.

His lips took hers.

She was so surprised that she didn’t even move at first. His mouth pressed against hers, and his tongue swept over her lower lip. A shudder went through her, and as much as she wanted to say that shudder was from fear—

It wasn’t.

Her body was far too attuned to his.

He licked her lower lip once more, and her mouth opened for him.

I’m biding my time. I’ll run when I can.

A wolf whistle sounded in the air behind them. The humans. And they were seeing exactly what Dante wanted them to see. An amorous couple. Not a woman in fear for her life.

Two could play at this game.

Her hands rose and her fingers tunneled in his hair. She pulled him down, closer, harder against her, and she was the one who took over the kiss. He’d thought to seduce her? Well, just because she didn’t have a long line of lovers didn’t mean that she didn’t know a few tricks.

She bit his lower lip, a light sting, then she was the one licking him. Sucking his tongue. Tasting him and making him groan as he clutched her ever closer.

If he hadn’t been a walking, talking disappointment to her, she would have blown his mind in the next bout of lovemaking.

Your loss, jerk.

The footsteps shuffled past them as the men kept heading toward their cars. A few moments later, she heard their vehicles drive off. That was her cue to pull away from Dante, only he wasn’t letting her go. His thick cock stretched against the front of her body. Long and hard and strong. His hands were on her hips, and he was holding tight.

She kneed him in the groin.

Cassie didn’t know if she hurt him or shocked him, but Dante let her go as he swore. She stumbled back even as she raised her hand to her lips. She could still taste him.

Dammit. I want more of that taste.

She would not be having more.

“I didn’t realize you liked things rough,” Dante growled.

Her heart skipped a beat. Images flew through her mind— no. “Why?” she demanded.

“Because I can give you anything you like,” Dante said as he straightened.

No, she hadn’t hurt him. Figured.

“All you have to do is ask.” He stepped toward her.

Cassie threw up her hands. “Why did you kill them?”

His unblinking gaze stared back at her. “I’ve killed a lot of people, sweetheart, so you’re going to have to be far more specific.”

“The people at the ranch—the guards, the researchers,” she gritted out. The ones who hurt me. “I asked you to let them live.”

A shrug rolled his shoulders. “So you did.”

“And you lied to me! You waited until I slept, then you went back and burned the place to the ground.”

That same furrow—a thin line—appeared between his brows. “What makes you think I did such a thing?”

“Uh, because you’re a phoenix? The only one in the area. And because I saw the destruction on the TV in that diner not five minutes ago.” Her breath heaved out as she dropped her hand. “Two dozen people were killed in that blaze, Dante. Two dozen. They weren’t perfect, but did they all deserve to die like that?”

“I have no idea what they deserved. I’m not their judge.”

“Just their executioner?”

A muscle jerked in his jaw. “I did not kill them.”

“I saw the wreckage! The place was destroyed. It wasn’t—”

“If I had burned it, I wouldn’t have left any bodies behind. There would have only been ash left.”

Nausea rolled through her again.

He frowned. “Cassie, are you all right?”

“No, I’m talking to an insane phoenix, and I just found out that I’m some kind of freak experiment.” She huffed out a breath. “Why are you here? How are you here?”

His gaze—that couldn’t be real worry in his dark stare—slid over her face. “I’m here because this is where you are.” He took another step toward her. “I can follow you anywhere.”

She retreated automatically, and her back hit the diner’s brick wall. Great. Bricks to her back, a phoenix to her front. “How? How did you find me here? How did you find me at the ranch? And how did—”

“I guess you could say that I’m tuned to you. There is no place you could go on this earth that I could not follow.”

“Provided you wanted to follow me.” The words just snapped from her. “You were too busy with the vamp in Chicago to—”

“My memories of you hadn’t crystalized by then. In time, I would have found you.” His words, so very certain, sent a tendril of unease through her.

But since she was walking on a big old knife-edge of fear, she didn’t let the extra unease stop her. “Did you kill those people at the ranch?”

He shook his head. “I swear to you, I let them live.” His lips thinned. “Though I’ll confess, I did entertain the thought of going back to finish them off.”

He’d entertained the thought?

“Why are you looking so shocked? You knew what I was all the time I was caged at Genesis, but you still let me out of my prison.”

A monster. A killer. That was what the guards had always said. Dante belonged in maximum security because of the threat he posed to the world.

She’d never believed those whispers. She’d looked into his eyes and thought she’d seen a man who needed her. But then, she’d also thought Jon had needed her.

She had to get a freaking clue.

“How are you tuned to me?” Cassie wanted to know. If she was ever going to get away from him, she’d have to be sure he didn’t follow her.

His lips twisted. Almost a real smile. As close as she’d ever seen. She hadn’t expected it to look so cruel.

“Ah, Cassie. If I tell you that, you’ll just try to escape, and that’s not on the agenda for us.”

“What is on the agenda?” Though she probably didn’t want to know.

He gazed back at her.

“I’ll tell you what’s on my agenda,” Cassie snapped. “I’m going to Mississippi. People there are counting on me.” Without Dante’s cooperation, she wasn’t sure how to begin helping them. But she would find a way.

“You’re going to the other phoenixes.”

“Yes.”

His jaw hardened. “Then I will come with you.”

Wait. What?

He shook his head as he read her expression. “What did you think I would do? Hunt you down and force you to come away with me?”

“I didn’t think you’d hunt me at all. I thought you’d be free of me!”

His hands flattened against the bricks behind her. The wonderful, enticing heat that was pure Dante seemed to wrap around her.

“What makes you think I want to be free?” Dante asked.

Maybe because he didn’t love her? Maybe because he’d been spouting so much about Canada?

“While I hunted you—I mean, while I followed you…”

Her eyes narrowed.

“I realized that I had been too hasty. Perhaps it would be good to meet my own kind. There have been too many battles between us over the years, or rather, the centuries. It’s time to move past all that. When I meet the others, I won’t be alone any longer.”

“No, you won’t.” Hope was trying to stir within her again. If she got him to Mississippi with the other phoenixes, maybe they could all convince Dante to join the research. She could find a cure and undo the nightmares her father had caused.

“So you will take me to them.” His mouth was just inches from her own. “And you won’t try to leave me again.”

Her gaze searched his. “Promise me,” Cassie demanded.

His brows rose.

“Promise me,” she said again, “that you didn’t have anything to do with that fire at the ranch. That those people—that you didn’t hurt them.”

“And you’d believe my word?”

“Yes.”

His head moved in a small nod. “I promise you, I didn’t kill those people. I spent my night with you.” A slight pause. His gaze warmed. “In you.”

Her sex clenched as the hot memory pierced through her. Damn him.

“And…” His mouth came closer, but instead of kissing her lips, his mouth pressed lightly to her cheek. “I’m the only one who has enjoyed that pleasure.”

Her cheeks flushed.

“Why is that?” Dante asked even as he pressed one more kiss to the curve of her jaw. “Why me?”

Because I love you. She couldn’t give him the truth. Besides, wasn’t it a truth he should already know?

Clueless phoenix.

There hadn’t been any other lovers because she couldn’t sleep with one man while loving another. She just wasn’t made that way. Hell, at this point, she was wondering just how she was made.

“No answer?” Dante chided, his mouth now over her neck. Over the pulse that raced so frantically. “That’s not like you. Usually you have an answer for everything.” He licked her skin. Nipped her.

Her panties were getting wet. She was angry, afraid, and aroused. All because of him. Always… him.

Her hands flattened on his chest. “We need to go.” There were a whole lot of miles to cover between this diner and Belle.

He didn’t stop kissing her neck.

Her legs wanted to become jelly. So she stiffened her knees. Pushed harder against him. “Dante!”

His head lifted. “I love the way you say my name.”

What?

“Husky and rough, trembling a little with that faint Southern accent you never quite lost.” His gaze swept over her face. “When you call my name, it makes me want to fuck you.”

A car horn echoed in the distance.

He gave a little laugh. Not the bitter sound from before, but softer, rougher. Nearly a real laugh. “Don’t worry, I’m not fucking you here.”

Her spine snapped straight up. “No, I’m not fucking you here.”

“But you will be fucking me again, very soon.”

He wished. And, dammit, so did she. “Get me to Mississippi.”

He nodded. “Then I’ll have you.” Not a question.

It should have been. Wasn’t someone being overconfident? “Then I’ll do my job.” The job she’d taken on—fixing her father’s mistakes.

I didn’t realize I was one of those mistakes. She should have known though, as soon as she realized what her blood could do. I should have known that he’d made more changes to me.

Her father had been a real-life Frankenstein—and she’d been his monster.

Dante backed away. Finally.

Cassie sucked in a deep breath then hurried past him and climbed onto the motorcycle. Was it better for her to drive? She wouldn’t have to be plastered to him if she was controlling the bike. And for someone who’d never driven a motorcycle before, she’d done a pretty good job for her first time. Good thing she was a quick learner.

I got this.

He climbed on behind her.

His arousal immediately pushed into her ass.

Crap. She should have let him drive. I don’t got this.

His body curled around hers. His fingers covered hers as they rested on the handlebars. “One thing…”

Something else? They were burning daylight, they were—

“Don’t ever run from me again.”

She wasn’t about to make him a promise that she couldn’t keep.

“Cassie…”

“Don’t give me a reason to run, and I won’t.”

She kick-started the motorcycle, and it pushed forward. Dante didn’t say anything else, and she tried not to think about all of the reasons a woman had to run from a phoenix.

And the only reason she had to stay with him.

Because she still loved him.

***

“I need to do blood work on you,” Dr. Shaw said. Her clothes were covered in ash, the white lab coat pretty much turned black.

Jon had taken her to a backup facility in the area. A place that had been a satellite office for Genesis at one point.

The small office was empty. Abandoned. Perfect for his purposes.

He hadn’t called his bosses. Hadn’t let them know that he was alive. If they know, they’ll shove me in a cage and try to replicate my success. That wasn’t happening. It was his success. His transformation. He was the most powerful being on earth. Even death couldn’t stop him.

Jon could feel the power flowing through his veins, hot and intense. Pulsating within him.

“What was in that injection?” Dr. Shaw asked nervously. “Did it make you into what you are?”

He turned his head and stared at her. She was afraid of him. Good. She should be. She would also prove to be useful. Because he had such plans…“Yes, it did.” He’d hoped for that result—several now dead scientists had worked toward that goal for a very long time, but he hadn’t been sure of the transformation.

Not until he’d died.

During the course of the dosages, they hadn’t exactly had the chance to experiment and see if the injections were working. The only way to experiment and see if he could rise like a phoenix—well, that way was death.

Jon hadn’t been particularly eager for that phase of the project. If the injections hadn’t worked… that would have been the end of me.

“A young phoenix was held in Genesis a while back,” Jon shared with her. There was no one for her to tell. “Sabine was easier to break than the males, because she didn’t realize what she was.” Not until the first fire had consumed her.

He’d watched the videos of Sabine Acadia’s deaths. Seen her terror. Each time, she’d been so afraid. But she’d kept coming back.

“Her tears were collected and used to create the serum. It was believed that if someone with shifter DNA received enough dosages of that serum, he would change.” The belief had come from the fact that Sabine’s vampire lover had altered because of her blood and tears. He’d become immune to her fire. He hadn’t become a phoenix, though, and the researchers had thought it was because Ryder was undead. They’d theorized that someone with shifter DNA might have a better result.

“You were a shifter?”

“Thanks to Genesis, I was.” The first stage of their experiments. He glanced down at his hands. Since the fire, his claws hadn’t come out. Were they gone for good?

He would miss them. It had been enjoyable to slash the throats of his enemies.

It had been even better to watch men burn before him.

“Is it a…permanent change?” Shaw asked carefully. “I heard that the soldiers who went through the shifter program had to undergo continuous injections in order to keep their beasts.”

They hadn’t been born with the animal in them. Without those injections, the beast died.

“You took your injection right before Cassandra shot you,” Shaw continued, frowning. “If you die again, is that it? Or will you rise once more?”

He wasn’t sure. That’s why you’re still living, Shaw. “We’re going to need more tears to keep creating the serum.” More tears. More dosages. He wanted to be certain.

“How are we going to get them?” Shaw asked, nervously shoving back some of her hair.

He smiled at her. “We’re going to hunt phoenixes, of course.” He knew exactly where to start. The strongest phoenix. Dante. The bastard who actually thought he’d escaped with Cassie. “You did insert the tracking device in Cassie, correct?”

A grim nod. “I slipped it into her vein. If she tries to take it out, she could bleed to death.”

Shaw was appealing to Jon more and more. A strong mind and, seemingly, a very weak conscience. She’d be the perfect tool for him.

“I wish you hadn’t destroyed all of my samples,” she said, the words snapping a bit.

His eyes narrowed. He hadn’t meant to do that—the fire had just gotten a little beyond his control. And I liked it.

“But…ah…I am sure that we’ll get more samples from Cassandra soon.”

Yes, they would.

“You must find Cassandra Armstrong,” Shaw said. “We need her.”

His temples began to throb. “Cassie’s mine.”

Shaw nodded. “We can’t let her escape.”

Cassie’s scent had seduced him for years. He’d been drawn to her even before his enhancement program had started. But after that enhancement, he’d wanted her even more. Her voice—her scent—everything seemed to call to him.

“She won’t get away.” He needed her for the genetics knowledge she would bring to him, but more than that…he just needed her.

Shaw was still talking. Saying something else about Cassie. The throbbing in his temples was worse, and all he could see—wasn’t Shaw. It was Cassie.

Cassie was the key to everything he wanted. Cassie. Once they captured her and Dante, they’d take as many samples as they wanted.

They would do what they wanted.

The power of hell was in Jon’s veins. There was no stopping him now. And those who tried would die.

“I have men I can contact to help us. An army at my beck and call,” he snapped, suddenly realizing that a heavy silence had hit the room. An army that wouldn’t realize he wasn’t taking orders from Uncle Sam anymore. They would follow his orders, never thinking that he would mislead them. Fools. He’d been waiting for this, planning.

By the time the suits upstairs in the government offices figured out what was happening, it would be too late.

The world would be his.

And so would Cassie Armstrong.

***

They were in Louisiana. Progress. Cassie’s legs definitely felt like jelly. If she didn’t get off that motorcycle soon, she was pretty sure that she might collapse.

She braked at a gas station. Well, gas station-slash-casino. It was one of those weird combos that she saw only in Louisiana. There was a small motel behind that station, and then nothing but swamp. Twisting trees. Thick green water. And, she was sure, plenty of alligators.

“Why are we stopping here?” Dante’s voice rumbled from behind her.

She shoved down the kickstand. “Because while you might be Superman, I’m not.” Not even close. “I need to rest.” Before she fell on her face. Just a few hours of sleep, then they could keep going on the road.

If they weren’t on the motorcycle, they could take turns—one driving while the other slept.

But unless she stole a vehicle— and that would just attract attention we don’t want —she needed to crash in that no-tell-motel.

“Please tell me you have some money,” Cassie mumbled as she pushed away from the motorcycle. If he didn’t have money, she might just sleep right there on the ground.

“I have money.”

She could have kissed him. Except, well, she knew where the kissing would lead.

Dante glanced around the dark station and then toward the motel. “No one seems to be here.”

“Because it’s close to one a.m., and sane people are sleeping.” She took his hand and started dragging him toward the motel’s office. “Let’s go be sane, too.”

The door to the office was locked. Fabulous. Cassie lifted her fist. Banged against the wood. “Hello!” Oh, please, come answer. Please.

“Someone’s coming,” Dante said as he stiffened beside her.

Great. Perfect. She was going to crash into that bed and—

His fingers curled around her hand, stopping her banging. “Not from inside.”

Uh, what?

He turned his head and stared out at the swamp. “Someone is coming from out there.” He stepped in front of her, putting his body between hers and whoever it was that was venturing out of the swamp.

“Put your hands up!” A roared order that came from the night.

Dante didn’t raise his hands.

“I said…”

Cassie was pretty sure that she heard the sound of a shotgun being pumped.

“Put your hands up!”

Cassie poked Dante in the back. “Don’t burn him.”

Not yet. She knew Dante tended to have instincts that demanded he attack first and think later. It wasn’t one of those instances.

Dante lifted his hands.

“Tell the woman to step around you! I want to see her!”

She started to ease around him, but Dante moved at the same time, blocking her.

“You put down that shotgun,” he snapped, “and then you can see her.”

A stark pause. “You humans?”

Dante wasn’t. She…Well, Cassie didn’t know where she fell on that one.

“Yes,” Dante said, his voice clear and calm.

A flashlight shone on them. More footsteps came toward them. A lot of footsteps. And a lot more flashlights.

“Show us your fingers and your teeth!”

Wait. Fingers and teeth?

Fear twisted in her stomach. She didn’t like where this was going at all.

A new voice called out, “He looks normal!”

“Drop the shotgun,” Dante snarled.

She was afraid he was about to fire up.

“Thought you were one of ’em…Always come up at night…”

That fear in her stomach was twisting into an ever bigger knot. She lifted her hand and clutched Dante’s broad shoulder. “One of what?” She was on her toes and could see that the shotgun was pointed at the ground.

“Vampire.” The man holding the shotgun—she couldn’t see much of him, just a dark shadow—said the word like it was a curse. “Only them vampires are different—got black claws, every tooth’s a fang, and they just want to feed and feed.”

Primal vampires. “You’ve seen some of them? Here?”

“We staked five last night.”

The infection was spreading. She’d thought all of the primals in Louisiana had been stopped, but it was so easy for their virus to spread. One bite, and the human was infected.

Her gaze swept the circle of flashlights. “Were any of the people here bitten?”

“Jamison…he ran into the woods before we could—” The man broke off, but she knew what he’d been about to say.

Take him down.

Cassie flinched. “This is why I have to get to Mississippi,” she whispered to Dante as guilt pushed through her. She’d been tired so she’d wanted to stop and rest, but people were dying. “We can find a cure.”

“Ain’t no cure for them,” the man with the shotgun called out. “Only death. If we want to keep livin’, we have to take out all the vampires.”

But not all vampires spread the primal virus. The virus had been man-made, generated in Genesis.

“Now get back on that motorcycle,” the man shouted to her. “And you drive as fast as you can through the bayou. Don’t stop for anyone or you’ll be dead.”

Dante wasn’t moving.

Cassie tugged on his arm. “Come on, Dante.”

“They’re lying.”

Her heart slammed into her ribs. “What?”

“Get out of here!” the man yelled at the same time.

“More were bitten. I can smell it, like rot in their blood.”

Oh, crap.

Dante pointed straight ahead. At the man with the shotgun. “He’s infected.”

The shotgun blast broke the night, but Dante had moved in an instant. He’d grabbed Cassie and shoved her back against the glass window of the motel.

“I think Jamison might be the only one not infected,” Dante added darkly. “I can smell the rot on all of them.”

But…but they were talking. The primals she’d seen had been barely able to do more than growl and snap with their teeth.

Is the virus still mutating? That was a terrifying thought. But, it had to be. Mutating, changing, as it was transferred from host to host.

This was so bad. Very, very bad.

“Why did they tell us to run?” Cassie whispered. She didn’t get that. Why not just spring up and attack them?

Crap —those thudding footsteps were closing in.

“Get away from the woman!” The shout came from the darkness. “Or we’ll kill you.”

“They wanted to see what I was before they attacked,” Dante returned softly. “I can smell them, and they could smell just enough about me to tell them I was different.”

The motorcycle was about ten feet away. They could run for it, but…

What would happen the next time someone stopped for gas or a motel room? It was the perfect place to pick up prey.

The shotgun blasted again. It blew out the glass in the motel’s window.

Cassie gasped as a heavy shard of glass embedded in her arm. By habit, she immediately clamped her lips together, holding back any other cries.

Her cries didn’t matter. The blood did. And that scent was in the air. As if things weren’t bad enough.

“Sweet…so fuckin’ sweet…”

“Blood…”

“Mine!”

The voices were wild, frenzied, and suddenly, at least four men were charging for her. As they rushed closer, Cassie saw that their mouths were full of gaping fangs.

“She’s not yours.” Dante’s voice was flat. “So go to hell.” He opened his hand and sent a ball of fire rolling right toward them.

Cassie grabbed the chunk of glass, yanked it from her arm, and backed away. That fire he’d just sent out— “The gasoline!” Had Dante forgotten they were near a gas station?

The explosion ripped through the buildings, and the force of the blast sent her flying through the air. She didn’t know where Dante was, couldn’t see him at all and—

“Got you.” His voice. The man who’d been talking before. The man who’d shot at them. He grabbed her injured arm.

She felt the slide of his claws over her skin. Then his mouth was on her, and he was drinking her blood. Guzzling it.

“No!” Cassie screamed as she punched at him.

Her punches weren’t having any effect.

But…her blood was.

He stiffened. Shuddered. Fell onto the ground as he convulsed. His head jerked and twisted and then—he stopped moving entirely.

The virus might be mutating, but her poison still worked.

Her arm throbbed where he’d bitten her.

“Cassie!” Dante was there, hauling her to her feet and running his hands all over her as he searched for injuries. When he touched the blood on her arm, he froze. “Did he—”

“He bit me.” His teeth had torn into her and dug deep. “But I won’t turn.” She couldn’t. Though the first time a primal had bitten her, she’d been terrified that she’d sprout fangs and claws.

But her poison destroyed the virus—and the vampires.

“What the hell are they? I’ve never seen vampires like them.”

“Genesis made them. They were supposed to be super soldiers.” Her gaze was on that fallen vampire. The fire that Dante had sent out—burning so bright and hard—lit the scene. The vamp who’d attacked her was definitely dead. Pity. He looked to be so young, barely twenty. “But Genesis just made a virus that took over its host. The progression is fast. All the host soon knows is bloodlust and hunger.”

A bloodlust that could never be fully satisfied.

“One bite,” she said, “that’s all it takes.”

Dante’s hold on her tightened. “Are you sure you won’t turn?”

She tilted her head to study him. He’d destroyed the other vampires so easily. “Would you kill me, if I did?”

“Will you turn?” He shook her once, and in his eyes, she could see a stark expression of—was that fear?

“I can’t,” she said softly. “I’ve been bitten by primals before.” Her head shook. “I don’t turn.” Her blood was poison to them. Not a cure. “This is why I need you,” she added. “These men were probably normal humans until recently. If we can find a cure, we can stop this. But if we don’t, I’m scared the primals will take over.” Especially if they were mutating on their own, getting even stronger.

The primals should never have been allowed out of Genesis. But when the facility had fallen in the mountains, some had escaped and gone on a feeding frenzy.

Dante’s gaze locked with hers.

“We have to stop them,” she said again.

He gave a grim nod. But then he stiffened and whirled from her.

“Dante!”

He was running away from the fire. Toward the swamp. Toward the man who was staggering toward them.

Cassie rushed after him.

Dante stopped just a few feet from the man.

Only he wasn’t a man. A boy. Maybe thirteen. Fourteen. Covered in scratches and bruises. His eyes were wide and desperate. “Please,” he begged, “please kill me.”

Cassie shook her head.

Dante said, “Show me your teeth. Show me your hands.”

Those were nearly the same words that had been given to them.

She could already see the boy’s hands. They weren’t lined with claws. And his teeth—the boy opened his mouth.

No fangs.

“I don’t want to be…like them…” His breath panted out. “I saw—saw what you did.” He lunged forward, caught Dante’s hand, and put it right over his chest. “Kill me,” he begged again.

“Dante, don’t!” She grabbed for the boy.

He started to cry. “My…brother was the one with the shotgun. I don’t want to be—”

“You’re not infected!” Cassie said, then she looked up at Dante’s face. He’d said that he smelled the rot from the others. “Is he?”

Dante shook his head. “You shouldn’t beg for death.”

The boy shuddered. “It has to be…better…”

“No, it doesn’t. Not if hell waits for you.”

She thought the boy might faint. He was sure weaving. “Are you Jamison?” The guy had said that Jamison ran into the swamp.

A weak nod. “J-Jamie…”

“Jamie, what happened?”

“Vampires…attacked everyone. W-we staked as many as we could…then…the others started to change.”

And he’d run. She looked back up at Dante.

His face could have been carved from stone.

“We can’t leave him out here alone.”

Dante jerked from the boy. “He isn’t my concern.” Dante caught Cassie’s hand in his. Tried to pull her away.

She wasn’t in the mood to be pulled. “More primals could be in the area. We can’t just leave him to die.”

“Why not?” Dante shrugged. “It’s what he wanted to do.”

Cassie wanted to slug him.

“And what of the others?” Dante asked. “The more that you talk about so much, Cassie. Are we supposed to go out and save every human in the area? You want to save the world,” Dante said, eyes seeming to gleam in the dark. “I don’t.”

“I’m not asking for the world.” Not right at that particular moment, anyway. She glanced over at Jamie. “I’m asking for him.”

She was pretty sure that Dante growled.

Then he said, “We can’t fit him on the motorcycle.”

“Th-there’s a truck, my brother’s truck, a few feet back there.” Jamie threw his thumb over his shoulder.

Dante swore.

Cassie glanced at Jamie. “Do you have any other family?”

“N-no, ma’am. It was…just me and Tim.”

And she’d killed Tim. She couldn’t let the boy die, too. “You’re coming with us.”

Even in the faint light cast from the moon and stars, the hope that lit his face was painful to see.

Dante was still swearing.

“Is he… What is he?” Jamie asked as he wiped his hands over his cheeks. She suspected that the boy was wiping away tears.

“I’m not a hero,” Dante said flatly.

No, he isn’t. “He’s the man who’ll keep us safe.”

Dante glanced at her but was silent. After a moment, he gave a curt nod.

Jamie’s breath rushed out then he was running and leading them toward the old pick-up. He climbed into the bed of the truck.

Cassie slid into the front with Dante.

He caught her hand. “Why?”

She frowned at him.

“Why do you care about saving people?”

When your family business was wrecking lives, you have a whole lot to make up for. “I didn’t save those vampires.”

“The only way to save them was death.”

She flinched. “There has to be more than that, even for vampires.”

His hold tightened. “Why?”

“Because I don’t want my family to have only been monsters, okay?” Is that so crazy? “I want to help, not destroy everything I touch.”

His touch was warm against her. Heating with the phoenix’s power. “Why not?” His voice had hardened. “It’s what I do.” His hand pulled away from hers. “After a while, you might even start to like the destruction.”

No, she wouldn’t.

And she didn’t think he did, either.

“How the hell am I supposed to start this thing?” Dante snarled. “There’s no key.”

She leaned forward. Pushed under the dash. Her cheek pressed against his thigh.

Dante stilled.

Her fingers fumbled with the wires, and, in a few seconds, she had the engine sparking to life. She hurriedly pulled back, aware that his thigh felt rock-hard.

“How’d you do that?” His voice was low.

Cassie swallowed. “I’ve got a few tricks you don’t know about.”

His hand rose to her arm. She flinched. She was still bleeding.

“Yes,” he said softly, consideringly, “you do.”

Cassie scooted as far away from him as she could. But she could feel the heat of his gaze sweeping over her. “Get back on the highway and keep driving straight until I tell you to turn.” They could sleep in shifts and make it back to her base sooner.

Silently, he followed her orders. The black pavement started to disappear beneath the truck’s wheels.

She tore part of her shirt away and wrapped up her arm. It seemed like a trend for her—using clothing to bind her wounds. But hey, it worked. When she had the wound covered, Cassie leaned her head against the window’s glass and stared out at the night that waited.

So much for an easy pit stop.

The boy was behind them. Silent in the bed of the truck. Why hadn’t he tried to get up in the front with them?

Because he’s probably terrified of us. Right. She didn’t blame him for that. Especially since he’d no doubt watched her kill his brother. Lately, she’d started to scare herself.

“What will you do if you can’t save them?”

She flinched at Dante’s voice.

“The shifter that waits for you…what if you can’t save him?”

“I will save him.”

Dante shook his head. “That’s not an answer, you know.”

No, it wasn’t. Because she didn’t have an answer.

“Will you be able to put him down? Sometimes, death is the only cure.”

She didn’t want to think about that, but…Dante was right. She looked down at her injured arm. Death is the only cure.