Phoenix Fury Box set

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

When Cassie opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Dante. He was leaning over her and frowning.

“What have you done now?” Hopefully not attacked Cain again. Or, jeez, not Eve.

“I’ve stayed by your bedside.” His words were soft. “Waiting for you to wake up.”

That wasn’t what she’d expected to hear. Cassie slowly sat up. “Cain? Eve? They’re both still—”

“Alive, yes. Eve, ah, freed her lover, and they’re resting somewhere in the building. Trace has been secured back in his room.” Dante’s fingers slid over her body. “And you’re all healed. Quite amazing.”

She didn’t feel so amazing. Actually, she felt like she’d been hit by a truck. But there was work to do. “I need to start analyzing the results.”

He brought her hand to his lips. Kissed her knuckles.

Her heart beat a little faster.

“I’m sorry for attacking your friend.”

She was suspicious. “Is this the part where you think we’re gonna kiss and make up?” Not happening, buddy.

One eyebrow rose. “That sounds like a good option.”

She shoved against his chest. “Think again. You used me.” She was on her feet. Her first step was a bit wobbly, but by her third, she was in charge of her knees again. “I’m not going to forget that. You knew I trusted you, and you used that trust against me. You—”

“You’re the only person who has truly trusted me in centuries.” Dante had risen to his feet, too. “I didn’t realize what it would be like when your trust was gone.”

“Yes, well, realize it now.” Her heart was doing a double-time beat. “I have to work, okay, Dante? We almost lost Trace last night because you attacked him. He’s stuck now in worse shape than he was before, and I have to figure out a way to heal him.”

Dante stared at her. Then he gave a grim nod. “You had your samples taken.”

“Yes.” She needed to analyze them and—

“Now take mine. Learn all my secrets.” He walked closer to her. “I offer them to you.”

Wait— now he was all about helping?

“Take my blood, my DNA, whatever you need. Take it.” He shook his head. “The others experimented on me for years, and they could not understand the power of a phoenix. If you cannot succeed in helping the werewolf—”

She couldn’t think about failing. Couldn’t.

“Then I will help you to ease his suffering.”

Cassie stabbed her finger into his chest. “You are not killing Trace!” Why was everyone else so fast on the trigger when it came to killing? There were other options in the world.

“Sometimes killing is the kinder thing to do.”

“No! Give me time, dammit! Give. Me. Time.” Her breath huffed out of her chilled lungs. “I can do this.” She had to do this.

Dante nodded. “Fine. Run your tests on me,” he ordered. “Do whatever you have to do.”

He was…helping?

“And in the end, if you need me to do what I must, I will.”

Kill Trace.

“We’re not at that point yet,” she whispered and prayed that they never would be.

***

Evansville, Louisiana, was a speck on the map. If you blinked, you’d miss it. That was why Charles loved the place. No crowds. No fast pace. Just the perfect spot to vanish for a while.

He slowly drove down the old highway that led to his grandfather’s farm. All of his family members were gone now, but the memories waited there for him and—

The farm was burning. He could see the thick, black smoke drifting in the air.

No!

Charles shoved the accelerator down to the floorboard and gunned the car. The little vehicle jumped and bumped its way down the old road until he brought it to a screeching stop before the farmhouse. Or what was left of the place.

He jumped from the car and stared at the twisting flames. They’d gutted the farmhouse and were reaching up for the sky, stretching and destroying everything.

The only link he’d still had to his family. To Kerri.

Gone.

With shaking hands, Charles yanked out his phone. He had to get the fire department. Had to get some help—

“Well, well…”

The voice came from behind him, and it had Charles stiffening. He hadn’t heard any approaching footsteps. Just the crackle of the flames.

“I had hoped to find you inside, Charles, but when you weren’t home, I got a little angry.”

He knew that voice. Carefully, Charles turned to face the man he’d once worked for.

Lieutenant Colonel Jon Abrams.

“What have you done, Jon?”

The man looked different. His smile was cold and hard and—

Charles crept toward him, then froze when he got a good look at Jon’s eyes. Fire burned in Jon’s eyes. The gaze of a phoenix.

“You were always so tight with dear Cassie. Such good friends.” Jon took a long, stalking step toward him. “That friendship used to piss me off, just so you know.” He drove his fist into Charles’s stomach, and Charles howled at the burning pain—and it did burn. His shirt burned away, and blisters sprang up on his stomach.

Charles staggered back. “J-Jon? What the hell?”

“Did Cassie know about your work with the female phoenix? Did you tell her about our little experiments?”

Charles shook his head. He’d barely worked on those experiments at all, just been backup to the others. He had hated the work, and he’d just wanted to help that poor woman escape from her prison.

“Guess what?” Jon came at him again, punching him in the face with that fist of fire. “The experiments worked.”

Charles screamed at the pain and hit the ground. There was nowhere for him to go. The flames were behind him. Jon stood in front of his car.

“Cassie was always so fond of you.” Jon knelt in front of Charles. “You know where she is, don’t you?”

Charles didn’t speak. He wouldn’t risk Cassie. He could stay quiet. He could stay—

“I plan to burn my way to Cassie. I will destroy everyone and everything in my path.” Jon smiled at him.

The smile was that of a monster.

“You can either work with me, Charles, or you can burn right here.”

Terror nearly choked him. The thought of holding back vanished. He’d never been the strong one.

“You know where Cassie is.” Jon glared at him. “I need her.”

Cassie wasn’t alone. She had two phoenixes with her—and a freaking werewolf. If Jon went after her…

They’ll kill you, asshole.

Charles lowered his eyes. It would be okay to give Jon the information. Jon wouldn’t hurt him anymore, and Cassie would be safe with all of her monster guards.

“I-I know…”

“Good. Because you’re going to take me to her.”

Charles nodded.

And they’ll destroy you, Jon. Charles hoped he had a front row seat for the show. The lieutenant colonel had always been a prick.

***

Her DNA was wrong.

Cassie stared down at the test results. She’d known that her father had altered her, but this—

“Seeing what you are?” Dante asked softly from a few feet behind her.

She jumped, then swiveled her chair to face him. “I—there must be some mistake. I’ll run the tests again.”

“There’s no mistake.” He was adamant. “You aren’t human, and you never were.” He wore only a pair of low-slung jeans. He’d ditched his shirt when she took her samples. He stalked slowly toward her. “You’re a siren. Deal with it.”

Her eyes narrowed. “I don’t see how—”

“Conjuring fire is instinctive for me.” His head tilted as he studied her. “I figured using your siren’s song would be instinctive for you, but it isn’t, is it?”

She licked her lips. “No, it isn’t.”

Siren.

“You used the power in your voice when Trace was attacking up on the surface. You calmed him.”

“Is that what my voice does? It calms?”

Dante shook his head. “It can do a hell of a lot more. Get your pitch right. Use the power just right and—”

“You said that you couldn’t trust me.” The words tumbled from her.

Dante stilled.

“Is it because of what my voice can do? If I use the pitch just right, do you think I’ll get you to kill, the way the other siren did?”

“I think you’re not like anyone I’ve ever met before.”

Cassie shook her head. “Dante, that’s not—”

“A siren can compel. If she sings the right song, if she’s strong enough, she can make anyone do anything she wants.”

“Do you think I’m strong enough?” Cassie barely breathed the words.

He hesitated.

He doesn’t.

“I’ve been thinking about this,” Dante answered slowly. “You should know how to use your power, but you’re a hybrid, so maybe it’s not as strong with you. Maybe you can only pull up the power when you’re scared or stressed.”

Wasn’t that her usual way of life, twenty-four, seven? She should be bursting with power.

“There’s one more time it comes out.” He was close enough to touch her. And he did. His hand lifted. His fingers brushed down her cheek. “It comes out when you’re aroused. When the passion heats within you.”

Oh. Ah, okay.

“I felt your power when I was with you,” he murmured. His head bent, and his lips brushed lightly over hers. “I want to feel it— you— again.”

The hunger for him—the lust that he could stir so effortlessly—wanted to rise once more within her. Wanting Dante had always been easy for her. Pretty much as easy as breathing.

Loving him? So much harder.

He kissed her once more, his tongue licking lightly over her lips. He seemed to enjoy that little lick across her bottom lip.

She sure enjoyed it, too.

Then he pulled away.

“Do your work. Finish your tests. When you’re ready for me…” His gaze heated. “Come to me.”

He turned and walked away.

When the doors closed behind him, Cassie finally sucked in a deep breath.

***

“There aren’t any antibodies,” Cassie muttered as she stared at the samples before her. When the primal virus was spread, the host didn’t create any antibodies to fight off the disease.

Except…

She glanced at her own results. Her breath heaved out. “I have the antibodies!” Cassie jumped to her feet. She had to synthesize them. That was going to be tricky. Her blood was poison to the vampires—both a poison and a cure. She had to get the poison out, but still use the antibodies that would help those who’d been infected.

All along, the cure had been right there. Right freaking there. She’d been bitten by a primal, and she hadn’t changed. She’d thought the poison in her blood stopped the change. But no, it was so much more than that.

She was the cure.

Jon had actually been right. It’s me.

She might not be able to help Trace yet, but she could help Vaughn…soon. So very soon. She just had to get the poison out of her blood first. Get the poison out, and then she’d have the cure they needed.

Hope grew inside her, and it felt so good. Incredible. No more lives lost to the primal virus. No. More.

The doors to the lab flew open.

She spun around with her heart racing. “I’ve almost got—”

Eve was there, looking grim.

“What’s wrong?”

“I was watching the security monitors in the outer room. We’ve got company coming.”

Company? “The last phoenix?” Sabine? “Is she already—”

“No, it’s not Sabine.”

Cassie knew Eve had become well acquainted with Sabine’s story, especially since Sabine had once come after Cain.

Those phoenixes…always trying to kill each other.

“It looks like it’s Charles,” Eve said, “but he isn’t coming back alone.”

Cassie headed for her own security monitors. Pulled up the feed.

There was Charles—she saw him climb from a black SUV. There was Charles and—

“Impossible,” she breathed. That could not be Jon Abrams exiting the vehicle and coming to stand next to him. She leaned closer to the monitors.

The same blond hair. The same hard jaw. The same hawkish nose.

She was staring at a ghost. “He’s dead. I saw Jon Abrams die!”

“He doesn’t look dead to me,” Eve returned.

“I shot him.” He’d fallen. He’d been dead, hadn’t he? It wasn’t like she could have mistaken a living man and a dead guy.

Jon shoved Charles toward the hidden entrance, except it wasn’t an entrance that was hidden any longer. Charles was leading the jerk right up to the supposed-to-be-secret facility.

“Charles knows the code to get inside,” Cassie said. Horror filled her. She counted at least ten armed men with Jon.

If those men got inside…

She slammed down the button for the alarm before Charles could reach the keypad. When the alarm was activated, the whole security system went into high alert.

Normal codes were ignored. I’m sorry, Charles. I can’t let them in.

She knew what Jon would do.

Her fingers frantically flew over the keyboard as she typed in her password, making damn sure that no one would be able to override the system. As long as the high alert mode was set, Jon wouldn’t get in.

The lab doors flew open again. “What the hell is happening?” Dante demanded.

Cassie glanced over her shoulder. Dante and Cain were both there, appearing dangerous as all hell. Behind them, Jamie strained to see over their shoulders. Fear was bright in his eyes.

“Cassie says a dead man is trying to break into the lab,” Eve told them, voice tight. “And Charles led him here.”

“I don’t think Charles had much of a choice.” Cassie could see the side of his face now that he was closer to the security camera. It looked like he’d been…

Burned?

Her heart beat faster.

Dante rushed across the room. His shoulders brushed hers as he bent to stare at the screens. “That’s the bastard we left at the ranch.”

The bastard who was up and walking around just fine.

She pushed a few more buttons on the keyboard. Another security feed popped up, and she saw that Charles was trying to input his code.

When the code didn’t work, there was no mistaking the look of terror on his face.

Then Charles glanced up. He would know where the small security camera was hidden. He stared right at that camera and mouthed, please.

“What happened to his face?” Jamie demanded. He’d crept up beside Dante. “Who is that guy with him?”

“Someone very dangerous,” Cassie replied as she tried to keep her voice calm. She slanted him a fast glance. “Jamie, will you go back to your room? Lock the door and stay there.”

His eyes widened. “Are they vampires?” His main fear.

She knew that would always be his fear.

Cassie shook her head. “They’re the people who make the monsters.”

His eyes hardened. “Then they’re like you.”

His words hurt, but they were true. She nodded. “Yes.”

Dante growled. “Watch it, kid.”

She shifted her gaze to Dante. “Please, take Jamie to his room. Make sure he’s safe.”

He nodded, but still gave her a good glare as he ordered, “You stay here until I get back.”

Where was she going to go? Their main exit was currently blocked by a group of armed men.

Her attention slid back to the security feed as Dante led Jamie away.

“Is there a way to get sound on that thing?” Cain asked.

She tapped the audio.

Heard nothing.

Then Jon’s gaze rose to the camera. He’d found it, too. “Hello, Cassie.”

Chill bumps rose on her arms. The audio was working just fine.

“That bastard sounds familiar to me,” Cain said as his gaze turned to Cassie. “Was he at Genesis?”

“Yes,” Cassie whispered. “Jon was a…successful experiment.” So they’d all claimed.

“Cassie, open the door and come out to me.” Jon’s voice was mild. And he kept smiling.

“He’s insane if he thinks you’re going out there,” Cain snapped.

Yes, he was insane. She could see that quite clearly.

“If you don’t come to me,” Jon continued in that same, almost relaxed, voice, “I’m afraid I’ll have to hurt your friend here, while you watch. You are watching, aren’t you, Cassie?”

She couldn’t look away. Her eyes were glued to the monitors as—as flames flickered over Jon’s hand.

Flames?

“What the hell?” Cain was leaning in close. “Is he a dragon shifter?”

“No.” The flames were so close to Charles.

“He’s a phoenix?”

“No,” she said again. At least, he hadn’t been. “He was human when he entered the Genesis Program. He was given a splice of shifter DNA, but he wasn’t a phoenix.”

“I’ll give him a little burn,” Jon announced, “just to show you how serious I am.”

He put those flames against Charles’s right arm.

Charles screamed.

So did Cassie. Her hand slammed down onto the intercom. “Stop!”

The flames died away in an instant. “Ah, Cassie, I knew you were there.” Jon stared up at the camera. At her. “Now be a good girl… and let me the fuck in. ”

***

“What’s happening?” Jamie asked as he huffed out fast breaths.

Dante knew the kid was rushing to keep up with his footsteps, but there was no way they could slow down. He wanted the boy safe and secure, and he wanted to be back at Cassie’s side.

“Who was that guy with Charles? Is he—”

“He’s someone who should be dead.” Dante planned to correct that problem at the very first opportunity. He pushed open the door to Jamie’s room. “Stay here. Keep the door bolted, and no matter what you hear, don’t come out until I come back for you.”

Jamie’s eyes filled his face. “What are you going to do?”

“I’m gonna get rid of the unwelcome company at the door.” Dante turned away.

But Jamie grabbed his arm. “You won’t die will you?” There was fear in the boy’s voice.

He had known fear too much in his short life.

“Death doesn’t stop me.”

Jamie’s lashes dropped. “You’re not scared of anything. I want to be like you.”

“No, trust me. You don’t.” When Jamie’s gaze lifted once more, Dante pointed at him. “Stay here. I’ll come back for you.”

Jamie stumbled back with a quick nod. Dante hurried out, but he heard the lock engage behind him. He’d be back for the kid as soon as he dealt with that ass Jon Abrams. The man had followed them all the way to Mississippi? Talk about a fucking thorn in their sides.

The lieutenant colonel was overdue for his trip to hell.

***

Jamie stared at the closed door. Whoever that man was outside, he was dangerous. Cassie had been afraid of him.

Dante hadn’t. But then, Dante feared nothing. He just faced whatever threat was there. Eliminated it. Fear didn’t control him.

Jamie glanced toward the broken wooden chair in his room. Charles was outside. No one would be in his room. Before he’d cut out, had Charles left his key card behind again? Before, it had just been tossed onto the small desk in his room.

Dante feared nothing.

Jamie wanted to be like Dante. He didn’t want to fear the monsters anymore.

Everyone else was busy with that guy outside—had Cassie called him Jon? As Dante had led him out, Jamie thought he’d heard that name. Jon.

Everyone was focusing on him. They wouldn’t be paying any attention to the vampire that was locked up.

No attention at all.

Jamie grabbed a few of those broken chunks of wood. He’d just see if Charles had left his key card behind.

And if he had…

I will be like Dante.

He wouldn’t fear anyone.

Or anything.

***

“Let him in.” Cain’s fist hit the table. “We’ll give the bastard a welcome that he won’t soon forget.”

Cassie shook her head. “He died, I know he did.” He’d died—and now Jon was conjuring fire. “He’s become a phoenix.” It should have been impossible.

But these days, nothing seemed impossible. Not with science and magic at play.

“You don’t become a phoenix,” Cain immediately argued. “You’re born one. You—”

More fire was spinning out there.

“Maybe you don’t have to let me in,” Jon snarled. That calm veneer was cracking with every second that passed. “Maybe I’ll just kill him in front of you, and then I’ll set the building on fire until you have no choice but to flee.”

“He’s a dead man,” Cain stated. The words sounded like a vow. Probably were.

Eve wrapped her hand around his arm. “Jon Abrams has some very powerful allies in the government.” Her gaze flickered to Cassie. “Genesis isn’t ever going to be truly dead, is it?”

No, it wasn’t. As for being dead, Jon obviously wasn’t, either.

“I can’t let him kill Charles.” Cassie couldn’t let him die. Charles was her friend.

Two men in black—one carrying a small briefcase—rushed toward the sealed door upstairs.

“They’ll get through sooner or later,” Jon said as his gaze cut to the security camera. “The longer it takes, the angrier I become.”

Charles was trembling beside him.

“Let me in,” Jon shouted.

Cassie’s mind raced. She’d been so close to the cure. So close. She needed more time. Time that Jon wasn’t going to give her. She focused on Eve. “You have to get out of here.”

Eve blinked. “Don’t you mean we have to get out?” she asked carefully.

Cassie shook her head. “Jon might not even know you’re here. He’s after me. You can take my test results and go. There’s an emergency tunnel that will spit you out half a mile from here. Jon won’t look for you there—”

“Unless Charles has told him about it,” Cain cut in, his voice tight. “The way that poor bastard is hurting, I think he’s telling everything he knows.”

I can’t let him hurt anymore.

Cassie spun away from the screens. She grabbed samples of her blood. Dante’s. Got her results. She was racing as she secured them all in a container that would keep them safe. “Here.” She shoved the container at Eve. “Take these. Go. ”

Cassie couldn’t open the door upstairs until they’d gotten a solid head start.

“You really think your Dante is gonna let you go out there and face that bastard?” Cain’s big body had tensed. “I can go ahead and tell you, that’s not happening.”

Dante isn’t going to have a choice. “Charles isn’t dying,” Cassie said forcefully.

“I’m waiting, Cassie!” Jon blasted. Oh, yes, that calm mask had shattered.

She knew he wouldn’t wait much longer. Quickly, Cassie pressed the intercom button. “It takes a while to disengage the security system. I’m working as fast as I can!”

He stilled. “You’re lying. I can hear it in your voice.”

Cassie disconnected the intercom and focused on Eve. “Go, please. Take the tunnel. I’ll meet you in New Orleans. We can meet up at Vaughn’s dad’s place.” It was the safest rendezvous point that Cassie could think of. “Midnight tomorrow. I will be there.”

Or she’d be dead.

Eve nodded. She knew all about Vaughn and his father—they’d also been tied to Genesis.

After a grim moment, Cain took Eve’s hand, and they ran for the doors.

Cassie sucked in a couple of deep, hard breaths. Think, think! She had to keep Jon out of the lab. Had to keep Vaughn and Trace and Jamie safe.

And Dante…

If she went out there to Jon, would he leave the lab alone? There was a chance he might just take a deal. A big might . Her fingers trembled, but she pressed the intercom once more. “I come to you, and that’s it. You let Charles go. You leave.”

“You’re hardly in the position to bargain!”

“Fine, then I don’t come to you, and I stay in here and I shove a knife into my chest.” Totally bullshitting. Would he be able to hear that lie, too? Please, don’t. “Then you can get the samples from my dead body—how about that? Will that work for you?”

His eyes widened. “Don’t!”

Maybe she did have some power.

Jon hesitated, then spat out, “Fine. You come up to me. When I’ve got you, I’ll send good old Charles here away.” His smile was dark and twisted. “But get your ass up here now, Cassie. Now. ”

She jumped back and whirled for the doors.

And found her path blocked by one very enraged phoenix shifter.