“Cain.”

He hadn’t been able to stay away.

The doors closed with a ding, and the elevator began to rise.

She took a step forward, then stopped. “I didn’t—I didn’t expect to see you.”

He’d been desperate to see her. So damn desperate that if she hadn’t gotten out of that precinct today, he would have ripped the place apart to get to her.

“The cops kept you too long.” His fault. He’d let her go in alone. He lifted a hand and traced the shadows under her eyes.

Her smile seemed to squeeze his heart. “Considering the crimes I was wanted for, getting out this fast is pretty much a miracle.”

She seemed so delicate to him. He wanted to pull her into his arms but—

The elevator doors opened. Too soon. Cain spared a glance over his shoulder. “Get the next f**king ride.”

The guy wisely jumped back.

The doors slid closed, and Cain was alone with her again.

Eve shook her head. Did her lips lift into the faintest smile? He’d missed her smile. He’d missed . . . her.

“This isn’t smart, Cain,” Eve told him as her gaze held his. “I didn’t tell the cops your name, but they found videos of you at that lab. They know what you look like.” Her gaze searched his. “And I’m pretty sure the FBI is tailing me. They can get to you, through me.”

Because he was a threat. Always would be. Cain knew that.

He also knew just where all the FBI tails were. The guys were so obvious. They needed to work on that whole secrecy bit. The paranormals could help them out with that problem. No one did secrecy quite like paranormals, those who preferred to stay under the radar, anyway. We hadn’t all wanted the humans to know about us.

But there was no changing what had been done, thanks to a few ass**le vamps.

Cain gazed back at Eve and asked, “Worried about me?”

“I got you out of one prison.” She shook her head. “I don’t want to have to drag your hide out of another.”

But she would. He knew that. He bent and brushed his lips over hers. How could she taste even sweeter than before? Her mouth was open. Her tongue slid over his. Soft. Sensuous.

“I dreamed about you.” His confession. When he’d slept, Cain hadn’t seen the fire. Not death. Just her.

He’d known that he had to go back to her.

Her hands pushed against his chest. “Did you find Trace?”

Cain shook his head. He’d gone back to Beaumont. Hunted in the woods. Came up with nothing. There had been no sign of the wolf.

The elevator was slowing as they reached Eve’s floor, but he didn’t let her go.

He wanted to keep her. Why the hell couldn’t he?

Mine.

She was the only thing that made him feel sane. Without her, he’d been . . . lost.

“You have to protect yourself,” she told him, pulling away.

Cain stepped toward the back wall of the elevator. When the doors opened, she was the one who exited, and he watched her leave.

She didn’t talk to him. Didn’t glance back. Probably too worried that others were watching. On this floor, they were. The FBI had four agents stationed on Eve’s floor.

But he had another way of getting to Eve. Without all the eyes seeing him. Night had fallen in the city. Night was his time.

Just as she was his.

Everything was gone. The research. The facilities. The funding.

His son.

Gone.

And that bitch was on the news. Spouting her nonsense about truth and torture. He could show her real torture.

The same way he’d shown her mother.

Jeremiah stared at the TV screen. He knew Eve Bradley’s face so well. It was the face he’d seen on the video at the Beaumont facility, the video that showed his son’s last, desperate moments.

Eve had shot Richard in the head, then she’d ordered her lover to stake him.

Did she actually think there would be no punishment for her crime? The police had let her go. Just let the woman walk away.

Jeremiah wouldn’t make the same mistake.

He already knew where she was. And where Eve was . . . the phoenix would be close by.

A phoenix could never stay away from his mate. The need to see her, the yearning, would be too much.

Eve had been sequestered by the police for days. That time must have driven the phoenix crazy. He’d be willing to risk anything to get close to her again.

Jeremiah smiled. He might not be able to kill the phoenix—damn immortal beast—but he could sure take care of the woman.

And without her, the phoenix’s life wouldn’t be worth living.