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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 groused. 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 painful.
“You’ve killed people with your fire.” A muscle flexed along his jaw.
“Oh, and you’re Mr. Innocent?” Doubtful. She’d never met an innocent demon. “I bet you’ve just gone your whole life, and you haven’t ever hurt anyone, right? You’ve never?—”
“The last person I killed was an Ignitor.”
Didn’t expect that. Jana swallowed and studied him, letting her eyes sweep over his face. The curl of his lip seemed cruel. His eyes too sharp and hard.
He stared at her and said, “I broke her neck. She never even knew I was coming for her, not until it was too late.”
Well, damn. Goose bumps rose on her arms. Not from the cold. Not this time. “Why?”
“Because she was working with a band of vampires. She was torturing my friends, and I wasn’t going to stand by and watch them die.”
So she’d died instead.
His hand lifted. Dammit, Jana flinched. But he was just brushing back her hair. His knuckles grazed her cheek. “Now it’s your turn.”
Her breath caught.
“Why do you do it? Make me understand. Give me something here. Why’d you start the fires?”
Screams that wouldn’t stop. “Because I could.” That’s all she’d say. Was that a fair exchange of information? No. But then, she hadn’t forced him to answer her question.
And she wouldn’t answer his.
Jana spun away and marched for the thick line of brush, dragging him with her. “The motorcycle’s over here.”
Because even the idea of being turned over to the folks at Night Watch didn’t seem so bad right then. But ripping her soul open and baring her past to the demon? Yeah, rain check, please.
She didn’t bare her soul for anyone. Her secrets were hers, and she planned to take them to the grave.
* * *
