“Damn straight,” Kim muttered. “You look like hell.”

Lora ran beside the men, brushing away their questions. Kenton came first. He had to get stable. They had to make certain the bullet hadn’t nicked his heart. He’d need blood, a transfusion, saline—

“We know, Lora!” Carl, one of the EMTs, said, and she realized she’d been shouting the whole time.

They loaded him up. She crawled inside, then turned around and saw—

Her house. Burning. Red and orange flames. So bright.

My home.

Two firefighters ran out, but their arms were empty. No body. The flames were too hot. The fire too strong.

Seth MacIntyre was still in that house.

Burn.

CHAPTER Twenty-one

Monica watched the ambulance lights fade away. Her fast heartbeat shook her chest, and she forced herself to take a deep, slow breath.

“He’s going to make it.”

Luke sounded confident, but then, he always was. She gave a quick nod. Kenton would make it. He was strong, and she knew Lora Spade wasn’t about to let her man die.

“Good job, Donalds,” Hyde said, and her gaze turned back to Kim. “If you hadn’t followed Spade to this house…”

We all might have arrived too late. Monica didn’t need him to finish the sentence.

Kim’s stare held his. “Just doing my job, sir. Kenton told me to stay with her…” Kim’s head inclined toward him. “So I stayed on her tail.”

Shouts came from the house. The firefighters had pulled back, and the roof fell in with a loud whoosh.

“He’s not coming out of that,” Luke said quietly.

No, he wasn’t. Phoenix wouldn’t rise again.

Kim and Hyde headed for Garrison’s team. Monica knew they’d need to get statements. They needed to block off the scene and get ready for the reporters who would be swarming them.

“Kenton’s going to make it,” Luke told her again, and his arm brushed against her.

Luke—always trying to reassure her. She swallowed. Life could be so hard sometimes. So very dangerous. There were no promises in this world. No guarantees of happy endings. Monica knew that truth better than most.

But…

But sometimes, you had to take your chance at happiness and hold on tight to it. “I’m not moving into that hole in the wall you call an apartment.” Her voice came out a little raspy. Probably due to the black smoke thickening the air.

His hands caught her shoulders, and he turned her to face him. “Monica?”

“But there’s plenty of room at my place. If you want to move in there.”

His smile came slowly, and it made her pulse quicken, just as it always did. “You sure?”

She’d never been more certain of anything—or anyone. “Yes.” Because she didn’t want to spend any more time away from him.

Life was too short. Death was too quick.

If she was going to spend her days chasing killers, then she damn well wanted to spend her nights with the man she loved.

“Easy, Lake. Just take it easy.” The voice seemed too loud. Too close. Kenton opened his eyes and immediately squinted against the light. He tried to speak—

Only a groan emerged. Jesus, it felt as if he’d swallowed fire.

Fire.

He lurched up, a series of beeps rang out, loud and long, and something pulled hard on his arm. “Lor… a…” A whisper, not the yell it should have been.

“Damn, son, take it easy, you can’t pull out your IV.” Hyde’s frowning face came into focus.

IV? His gaze flew around the room. So white and bright. Beside him, a stack of machines flashed green and red lights.

He was in a bed. Hospital.

His right hand lifted, and his palm pressed over his chest. The IV tugged at him.

“The shot missed your heart, but you bled…” Hyde sighed. “Too much. You had the docs really going for a while.”

Kenton’s gaze lifted to Hyde’s.

“Don’t ever do that again,” his boss ordered.

For Lora? No, he would do it. If it meant saving her, hell, yeah. “Wh-where…” Why did it hurt so much to talk?

“You had a tube down your throat for the last two days,” Hyde told him as he shoved a straw toward Kenton’s mouth. “Take it easy. Didn’t I tell you that already?”

He realized that Hyde looked different. He wore a wrinkled suit. There were deeper lines near his eyes and thick stubble—black sprinkled with gray—covered his jaw.

“Lora.” She was the only thing that mattered right then. He’d seen her, outside that house—hadn’t he? Those last moments were jumbled, confused, but there was an image of her floating in his head.

Pale cheeks. Wide eyes. Lips that trembled and said I love you.

The machines beeped louder.

Please, don’t be a f**king dream.

“I’m here.”

His head swiveled to the right and it hurt, but he didn’t care, because Lora stood just inside the doorway. Her arms were bandaged, her hands covered with gauze, and—

So beautiful.

“I had to—to get the bandages changed or I would have been here—” She exhaled and stared at him with wide eyes. “You scared me.”

And it wasn’t easy to scare Lora Spade.

Hyde cleared his throat and stepped back. Kenton lifted his hand and realized that he had white gauze to match hers.

She came to him with her eyes shining and her lips smiling.

“Told you he was too tough to let one bullet take him down,” Hyde muttered, crossing his arms. “It takes one hell of a lot more than that to knock out an SSD agent.”

Yeah, well, the bullet and the fire had come pretty close.

Lora leaned over him. He wanted to touch her, but didn’t want to hurt her. Burns. He remembered her slapping the fire around him. On him. Kenton stared up at her. “I love you, Lora Spade.”

Her gaze held his. He saw her swallow.

“Monica is tying up the last of the loose ends,” Hyde said, “but the Phoenix case will be officially closed in just a few more days.” He pointed at Kenton. “And you’ll tell the city. You’ll be the face on the news they see, letting them know they’re safe again.”

“Another one down,” Kenton murmured.

“And the rest of them had better f**king fear us.” Hyde nodded, then the briefest of smiles lifted his lips.

Hyde’s mission was personal. Kenton knew that, but not why. And he’d never asked. Some secrets just weren’t for sharing.

“Take it easy, Lake. No setbacks. I want you in fighting form again soon.”

“Yes, sir.”

Hyde glanced at Lora. “Ms. Spade, it’s been a pleasure. You ever get the urge for a career change, you call me.”

Uh, no.

“Thank you, Hyde.” What? Was that some warmth in her voice? For Hyde? No one’s voice warmed for Hyde. The guy was too scary.

But Lora was smiling at him.

And the guy grinned back at her.

Two days—just what had been going on while he’d been out?

Then Hyde was gone, and the door swung shut behind him.

Alone with Lora.

“You scared me so much.” No warmth lightened her voice now. He only heard the echoes of fear. “You were on the ground in front of me, bleeding out, and I–I couldn’t stop it. I was so scared that I’d lose you.”

He shook his head. “Not going to happen.”

“I thought I was gonna break apart out there,” she whispered with eyes down. “You weren’t moving, and I thought you’d left me.”

She leaned forward and brushed her body against his. “I love you, Kent.” Her lips stopped just inches from his. “I didn’t plan on this, but I love you.”

And he would die for her. Or kill for her.

He’d almost done both.

A strong woman could drive a man to the edge and beyond. Now, he knew what waited beyond. Knew what he’d always been looking for—and had finally found.

Her mouth took his. Warm and sweet and soft and real.

No monsters. No death. No evil.

Silken skin. Delicate lips.

Love.

His right arm curled around her. She was the one he’d always wanted.

A woman who’d walked through the fire.

And sent the devil back to hell.

Now… it was their turn to rise from the ashes.

Epilogue

T wo months later…

When the knock sounded at his door, Hyde wanted to ignore it. He’d known this moment was coming. Only a matter of time…

He rolled his shoulders. “Come on in, Lake.”

Kenton popped his head inside. The blinds on the door were down. “How’d you know it was me?”

Because Monica wasn’t the only one good at reading people.

Kenton held a manila file in his hand. Hyde raised his brows. “A new case?” No, he knew it wasn’t.

Kenton’s jaw locked. “Sir.” He shut the door, stepped fully inside, and took a deep breath. “Working with the SSD has been an opportunity I’ll always be grateful for…”

Hyde leaned back in his chair and pointed at the file. “But those are transfer papers, and you’re ready to get the hell out of here.”

Kenton blinked. “Uh, how’d you—”

Come on, did his team think he was blind? “When you woke up in the hospital, her name was the first thing you said.” The guy hadn’t cared about himself. Hadn’t asked about the case, just—

Lora.

Kenton straightened his shoulders and crossed the room. He put the file in the middle of Hyde’s desk. “She was the only thing that mattered.”

Hyde’s gaze drifted to the framed photo on his desk. A woman with pure coffee-cream skin, a wide, sweet smile, and chocolate eyes gazed back at him.

He let his gaze slide back to his agent. “I heard Spade is up for a new job.”

Kenton’s lips curled. “Arson investigator.”

The higher-ups in Charlottesville knew a good move when they saw one, and Hyde was certain that position would be Lora’s. Those folks needed all the good PR they could get, and if they wanted to restore confidence in their department, they’d put their best fire eater on top.

According to every news report he’d seen, Lora Spade was golden. She was the one who’d slain the monster and saved the day.

The woman who walked through fire.

“I’ve got something there, with her.” Kenton’s gaze never wavered. The guy had always been direct. One of the reasons Hyde liked the man. “I have a chance to be happy, and I’m going to take it.”

Kenton knew how dangerous the world was. So many agents knew, and that danger stopped them from really living. Monica had almost stopped. She’d walled herself off for years, then he’d had the good sense to shove Luke into her path.

Monica wouldn’t leave the job. It was too deep in her blood, but she’d needed balance. She’d needed hope.

Luke had given her both.

And it seemed Lora Spade had given Kenton a new start, too.

Hyde leaned forward and flipped open the file. Seeing the transfer request inside wasn’t a surprise. The guy wanted to move to a field office in Virginia.

He glanced up. “You think you’re going to get the picket fence, Agent Lake?”

“I’m damn well going to try.”

Good luck. “You’ve been good in this division, son. You ever want back in, you let me know.”

“Thank you.”

Ah, but Kenton wasn’t getting away that easily. “I’ll give you the transfer”—because he’d known it was coming, and he’d already taken steps to hire a replacement—“but I might need you…”

“Need me?” Kenton’s brows flew up.

Hyde let his own lips curl. “You’ll know when I do. We’ll just call it contract work.”

The agent’s eyes narrowed.

“Not too much,” Hyde allowed, but he wasn’t about to let Kenton go, not completely. Not yet. “Just when special cases arise.”

“Aren’t all of the SSD’s cases ‘special’?”

No. Some were sick and twisted, but they sure weren’t special.

Hyde’s smile faded. “If I call you, it’ll be because I need you.”

Kenton nodded. “Yes, sir.”

And when he called, Hyde knew he could count on Kenton. “Invite me to the wedding, Agent Lake, or I’ll be pissed.”

Kenton laughed.

Sometimes, Hyde wanted to see happy endings, too.

“You’ll have a front-row seat,” Kenton promised before he eased from the room.

When he’d gone, Hyde’s gaze drifted back to the photo. After years of having it in storage, he’d taken it out again just a few days ago.

Sometimes… he just got so tired of the nightmares.

But nightmares were his job. He’d made that decision long ago. Facing the monsters. Stopping them—that was what he did.

His fingers slid over Angela’s face.

Killers, like MacIntyre, were often very good at hiding in plain sight. Hiding as lovers, friends, wives.

But no one could hide forever, and his team was getting good at hunting down serials and forcing them into the full light of day. No matter what it took, they would be stopped.

The SSD would make sure of it.

Hide while you can, but we’re coming after you.

Time to drag the monsters into the light.

Even if they had to do it one at a f**king time.