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Zane eased the motorcycle to a stop near the curb. The Night Watch building waited, just a few blocks away. He could easily see the stark lines and the old bricks of the hunting office.
He braced the kickstand and killed the engine. This was it. Time to turn in his bounty.
Zane looked over his shoulder. Jana’s face was as smooth and blank as marble. No heat in those dark blue eyes. No fiery emotion on her face. Just blank. Empty.
He didn’t like that. The woman was many things, but “blank” wasn’t one of them.
“Come on,” he said, rising. “It’s time to get you inside.” But, dammit, something felt wrong.
I burned that pit to the ground, and I didn’t care that they were inside. Hard words, but when she’d said them, Jana’s voice had trembled.
He stared down at her hand and frowned when he saw the dark skin around the handcuff. “Fuck.” He reached for her wrist, lifting it lightly. A circle of dark bruises had already formed on her skin.
“Don’t worry about it,” she said, and her voice was as cold as her face. “I bruise easily. A human trait. We just aren’t built strong enough.”
His fingers feathered over her skin, and Zane heard the soft rasp of her breath. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.” He’d thought she would be deposited at Night Watch less than an hour after he’d cuffed her. He’d never planned on all of this.
Her gaze held his.
The woman was beautiful. No, sexy. He could still taste her, and he wanted more.
But…killer. If the file was right, he was staring at a cold, calculating killer. One who torched for money. An assassin.
Until now, she hadn’t struck him as cold. With her face locked in an icy mask, with her eyes so blank—yeah, frigid came to mind.
Before, though, she’d been a different woman. Wild. Passionate. Never cold. And when she’d talked about New Orleans…
His fingers curled around her right wrist. “Tell me about New Orleans. Tell me what really happened.”
Night Watch waited just over her shoulder. The place could keep waiting.
Her smile was sad. “Why? Are you going to save me, demon? Are you going to help me? Turn your back on everything you know and protect me?”
That last line caught him. “Just what do you need protecting from?” Maybe it wasn’t what. Maybe it was who. “Who are you afraid of?”
She didn’t blink, but the right side of her mouth kicked up, just a bit. “No one. I’m the badass Ignitor, remember? The world needs to fear me.”
She was, but she was also correct about something else: Humans were weak. So easily broken. Killed.
She tugged away from him, shifting her body to face the Night Watch building. “Let’s get this over with. If we stand around out here, we might as well paint bull’s-eyes on our backs.”
“I can help you.” The words were torn from him. It didn’t have to be this way. She didn’t have to keep charging up. Didn’t have to keep killing. There was more to her. He knew it.
Jana tossed him a quick look over her shoulder. “No, you can’t.” The cold glass had shattered in her eyes. He could see her pain and sadness now.
Then she looked away, and he felt like she’d slugged him. “Jana.”
The doors to Night Watch burst open. Three hunters ran out and headed for them. Jude led the other two men, his blond hair shining in the sun as he charged for Jana and Zane.
“Guess that’s the welcome party.” Her attention focused on the hunters. Her silky black hair dipped down her back. “We don’t want to keep them waiting.”
She stepped forward, tugging him with her. His eyes focused on Jude. This was what he wanted. What he had to do. Turn her in. They’d take her inside Night Watch and?—
The explosion shook the street. The blast threw the three hunters to the ground as the windows of Night Watch exploded and fire blazed from inside. Car alarms screeched down the street, and smoke billowed into the air.
And Jana just stood there, staring at the burning building. The building that housed his coworkers. His friends.
She’d gone back too easy.
