Wyatt shook his head. “I’ll take my data. Go forward, but you . . .” That gun didn’t waver. “You’re not going anywhere.” His clinical façade was cracking right before her eyes as the rage swept through him.

“Why?” The question tore from her. “Why are you doing this to them?”

“Because they don’t deserve to be the ones with the power.” Disgust tightened his mouth. “They won’t be the strong ones. They won’t destroy us!”

Sounded like the doc had some personal issues going on. She could understand. Seeing as how vampires had killed her family, she wasn’t exactly warm and tingly when it came to all the supernaturals. But killing them?

Torturing them?

No.

“We don’t get to play God.” She edged behind his desk. The laptop was clutched in front of her. Like it would stop a bullet.

“Some of us do.” Wyatt’s response, arrogant and so cold, drifted across the room.

Her eyes narrowed. “You’re gonna blame all of this”—her free hand waved toward the smoke filling the room—“on them, aren’t you?” He was setting up the explosions to make it look like the paranormals were the ones who’d attacked. I bet he blames everything on Cain.

Wyatt smiled. Sometimes, it was easy to see madness. Sometimes, it was harder to see evil.

Wyatt kept the gun up as he said, “When no one walks away but me . . . there will be no other story to believe.”

“Cain . . . Cain will walk away.” The fire wouldn’t stop him. Not when he could control the flames so easily. “You know he’ll live, you know—”

Wyatt laughed. “Cain’s the worst monster there is. You think I’m bad? You don’t even know what he’s done.”

Then he shot her. Not in the heart or head, as she’d expected. But in the stomach. She fell down, gasping at the pain. The laptop fell from her fingers.

“You will, though,” he promised her. “You will.”

He stepped back into the small opening made by the bookshelf. His perfect exit strategy. He’d planned so well—and now the jerk was going to get away.

“No!” She couldn’t stand. Her whole body felt heavy, weighted. She tried to crawl to him. “You can’t—”

The bookshelf closed, sealing him inside. No, sealing her inside the room and letting him get wherever the hell he wanted to go.

“Help!” She yelled, crawling a bit more. She’d find something. Something she could use to help her and she’d get out. She’d—

Fire raced into the room.

Fire . . . and Cain.

“Help me,” she begged him, staring up—and looking right into his eyes. Into the fire.

He’s worse than me.

Cain lifted her into his arms. Held her against his chest. Fire blocked the door. Blazed down the hall.

“Can you . . .” The smoke was choking her. Dammit, if they didn’t move, that would be what killed her. Not the fire.

Never the fire.

She’d lied to Wyatt. To Cain. To just about everyone. She had plenty of secrets that no one knew, not even those who were supposed to be her closest friends.

“Can you . . . get through . . . the fire?” she asked him. It was getting hard to speak. Hard to focus. Wyatt hadn’t shot her with a regular bullet. More like some kind of drug, a tranq that was making her numb.

Cain nodded. “I can.” His face was grim. “You can’t.”

The drug was making her hallucinate. Why else would she think that the guy’s voice had sounded all gruff and sad? “I . . . can. Trust . . . m-me.”

But he wasn’t moving. Just standing there.

What? Waiting for death?

“I . . . lied.” She could barely whisper the words.

Fire caught the bottom of his jogging pants. Burned higher. He tried to yank her away from the flames.

Eve reached out and touched them. The flames slid right over her skin. She could feel the heat, but there was no burn.

For her, there never had been.

“I’m not . . . exactly . . . human.”

His eyes widened, but he didn’t speak. Not then. Just held her tight—and raced through the fire.

As the drug pushed through her body, everything slowly faded away. The last thing she saw was the fire.

Burning so bright.

CHAPTER FOUR

Genesis burned faster than he’d thought it would. Screams filled the night, mixing with the crackle of the flames as the fire raged.

And Cain just stood back and watched the hellhole burn.