Cynthia Eden - Burn For Me

Thirteen could withstand any torture. Any pain. But … he wouldn’t be able to hold out against her. She’d be the key Wyatt needed.

Once Thirteen broke, there’d be no stopping the next stage of the project’s development.

He turned away from the test subjects. After all these years, all the time and blood he’d poured into Genesis, he was finally close to a breakthrough.

Subject Thirteen would be that breakthrough.

A being that couldn’t truly die. One that could withstand gunshots, poison, dismemberment … because he’d tried them all. Each time Thirteen died, he just burned, and rose up again. Stronger than before.

Just like a mythical phoenix.

Only … clearly that story hadn’t been merely a myth.

The guard’s eyes widened. Barnes licked his lips. The guy was obviously enjoying the show.

That had to mean that things were getting hot in there. Just what Thirteen needed.

Wyatt glanced down at his watch. They’d barely had ten minutes of the promised hour. He’d let Thirteen enjoy himself for a little while longer …

Until the flames started.

The lock snicked open, but Cain moved quickly, twisting his wrist so that the mechanism still appeared to be closed. If those watching saw that he was loose, they’d turn on the gas again.

Cain needed Wyatt to open the door for him. If that door would just open …

He’d unleash hell.

He brought his lips close to Eve’s small ear. “We have to make this look real.”

She shuddered against him. Fear. Had to be in fear. She’d seen what he could do. She had to be terrified that he’d hurt her.

He wouldn’t.

Cain had his control gripped as tightly as he could. He just had to hold on for an hour. Then the fire could rip free.

One hour …

At least fifteen minutes had passed already. Had to have.

He grabbed her hips, lifted her up against him. Held her easily.

Her breath caught as her hands curled around his shoulders. To the men watching, it would look like he was pinning her to the wall and driving his aroused flesh against her.

Because … he was.

She just felt so good. Soft. Silken. Her taste filled his mouth and her body trembled against his.

It would be easy to strip her clothes away. To thrust into her. To let go.

Her hands lifted and sank into his hair with surprising strength. “It can look real.” Her lips skimmed over his jaw. “But it won’t be.”

His lips curled. Maybe it will be.

Then he heard the door slide open behind them. Metal grated. In an instant, he spun around, putting his body in front of Eve’s.

He expected Wyatt. Instead, Barnes stood smirking at them. “Change of plans.”

“I have an hour!” Cain’s voice thundered out.

Barnes backed up a step. “That was before the vamp started convulsing. He needs fresh blood—and guess who’s gonna be his donor?”

The hell she was.

“Now come on, lady.” Barnes lifted his gun and pointed it at Cain’s chest. “We’re leaving.”

“No.” Cain stalked forward. One step. Another. More, a few more feet … and the chains weren’t supposed to let him advance any farther.

His leash stretched taut behind him.

The guard was sweating. Sweating, but still looking too confident.

If those chains had been locked, the guard would have possessed the power.

Would …

“You shouldn’t have hit her with your gun.” Cain kept his eyes down. Barnes couldn’t be allowed to see what was coming, not yet.

The guard’s feet shifted on the floor.

Eve stayed pressed against the back wall. Smart woman.

Cain flexed his hands. One lunge, and the chains would fall away. He had to be fast. Fast enough to get through that open door.

“And you really shouldn’t have fucking cut out my heart in your third experiment …” That shit had hurt.

The bastard guard had laughed while he cut into Cain’s chest.

Cain glanced up. Barnes wasn’t laughing now.

He’d never laugh again.

Cain lunged forward. He shoved his hand into Barnes’s chest and threw the asshole back through the doorway.

Barnes screamed, calling out for help. Help wouldn’t come in time.

Cain cleared the doorway. No more locks. No more chains. He felt the power swelling inside him. Building higher and higher.

Barnes was on the floor. Shooting at him. The bullets were like bee stings on his flesh.

Eve screamed behind him. Cain didn’t stop advancing. He grabbed the gun. The metal melted in his hand. Then he grabbed Barnes.

Flames erupted, burning so bright… .

The shriek of the alarm froze Wyatt as he entered his private office.

He turned to the right and pulled up the security feed.

Sector Three. Subject Thirteen. He stared at the monitor. Thirteen stood before a pile of ash. Outside his holding cell.

Dammit. They had to tranq him. Had to knock him out before—

Thirteen looked up at the security camera and smiled.

Wyatt could see the flames burning in Thirteen’s eyes. The beast was out, and he was ready to destroy.

“Stop him,” Wyatt whispered into the intercom. His message would feed into the earpieces of every security guard in the facility. “Use the SP-tranq.” It was their all-purpose drug to take out the supernaturals. Sure, the weaker ones never woke up after getting an injection, and the stronger ones, well, it didn’t keep them out for long… .

But they didn’t need too long, just—

Thirteen wasn’t on the monitor anymore. Shouts and gunfire echoed through the facility, and Wyatt could smell smoke. Thirteen was leaving a path of fire in his wake.

He wasn’t just escaping. He was keeping his promise.

Sending us all to hell.

Wyatt wasn’t ready for hell. Not yet.

He sealed the door to his office.

Not yet.

There was too much work to do first.

Cain had just … incinerated the guard. Eve stared in horror at the pile of ash at her feet. He had touched Barnes and in the next second, flames had consumed the man.

Cain raced down the hallway, and fire seemed to be taking over the facility. Eating at the walls. Snaking up to the ceiling. Burning everything.

Eve jumped back, away from the flames.

“Run.”

Her head lifted and she found herself staring into Cain’s eyes. He’d turned back to look at her. Only … fire was in his eyes. She could actually see the flames burning right in his gaze.

“Run … or die,” he told her, the words more growl than anything else.

When he put it that way … Eve ran. The facility was going down, burning around her—some guards were fighting, shooting at Cain. But the guards weren’t the only ones in the facility.

If this place went up in flames, and it sure looked like it would, then all the other test subjects would die.

The corridor sprinklers burst on from overhead. About freaking time. They drenched her clothes and fought the fire. Some of the flames died. Some grew stronger.

Chaos reigned.

She grabbed a white lab coat from a storage closet. Yanked it on. Tried to blend with the other researchers who were running for the exits.

Only … Eve didn’t head for the nearest exit. She raced for the stairs that would take her down to the next level of the facility. The level she’d never accessed.

More test subjects waited down there.

She shoved her hand against the stairwell door. The alarm blared constantly, driving her crazy. She hurried, nearly fell, but caught herself as she staggered down the steps.

She opened the next door—and came face-to-face with an armed guard.

“What are you—” he began.

Eve hit him. Just punched him right in the face. She guessed that she hadn’t looked particularly threatening, because he sure seemed caught by surprise. She grabbed his gun when he stumbled back. “Now get the hell out of here!” she told him. Screams reached her from upstairs. “Before you burn.”