Primal Heat 05 - Darkness Reborn

again.
    Sarah watched in disbelief as Jacob began to drag himself toward her, his red eyes fixated on hers. "Don't," she warned. Frantically, she searched the woods, desperate to try to find another option, a way out. It couldn't end like this! "Don't do it."
    He uncurled his claws, and tears filled her eyes. How could he be making this choice? Wasn't there anything left of the human being he used to be? Of the brother she once loved? She knew he'd been chosen for her, because the betrayal by her own brother was the final blow that would eviscerate every last shred of hope and faith from her soul. "Oh, come on!" she shouted at him. "I'm your damned sister, Jacob! You're a better man than this!"
    Jacob didn't even hesitate, dragging himself closer and closer to her, the inexorable approach of doom. Was he too weak to teleport, or was he forcing her to watch his approach on purpose, to have each inch of progress destroy another part of her soul?
    As she watched him, her heart began to fragment, piece by piece, the strings that had been barely holding it together for so long finally breaking. Weakly, she managed to raise one hand in warning, letting white light pulse from her palm. "I'll kill us both," she whispered.
    His eyes glowed with excitement. "I know."
    He knew. He was willing to sacrifice himself just to see her die. How on earth could he have been conscripted like this, turned so far from the person he used to be? "Dammit! I won't let this happen!" She fought to sit up, and dizziness sent her back down to her side as she struggled for breath. Come on, Sarah! Fight! She shoved herself up on her elbows. "Jacob—"
    He jammed a claw between her shoulder blades and knocked her back toward the earth. Pain barreled through her, and the dark chasm inside her grew larger, threatening to overtake her—
    Then she felt it again. That warmth in her mind. That protective male energy. She hadn’t imagined it? It was real? Was there really someone out there who could help? Hurry. Please hurry.
    I’m coming. The male voice was so fierce and furious in her mind that sudden hope flooded her like a great burst of sunshine.
    Jacob froze, his hand suspended in midair over her throat as if he’d sensed it too.
    “Someone is coming to save me,” she whispered, her throat too dry to do more than rasp out the words, the deadliness of the stranger's voice reverberating through her. “Run, Jacob, before he gets here. He'll kill you." She had no doubt of that. She'd felt the violence pulsing through the stranger, and knew he wouldn't hesitate.
    It was great, of course, to have some protector descend upon her like a gift from the heavens, but this was her brother, after all, and she didn't want him to die. There had still been flashes of blue in his eyes. He still might reclaim himself. She had to give him that chance. "Get out of here, Jacob!"
    But he didn't retreat, and his forearm tensed to strike—
    The night burst with sudden energy, and a huge Calydon warrior materialized beside her SUV. His torso was bare, covered in scars. His shoulders were tremendous and wide, and his fists were clenched around a pair of deadly spiked flails. He was strength and power, consumed with a ferocity that made the night thunder. He met her gaze, and for a split second, she felt the world grind to a halt, as if time had literally stopped from the force of their connection.
    Then his gaze went to her trembling hand, where she was pressing so weakly and desperately against the wound in her side. Intense, violent fury darkened his face, and his body vibrated with aggression. She saw him fixate on Jacob, who was still crouched over her, his claws poised over her throat. The two warriors stared each other down, and she knew Jacob was trying to decide whether he could kill her before this warrior reached him.
    Sudden terror consumed her, a sense of overwhelming loss at what would happen if these two warriors engaged. Everything was being held in the balance, dependent on the outcome of that moment. Both men had to live. They both had to live. She knew it with sudden certainty, with everything she had. “No, Jacob,” she managed. “Don’t do it—”
    But before she could finish the words, Jacob slashed at her neck. The new warrior bellowed with rage, and he materialized at her side just as Jacob’s claws raked across her throat. He jammed the flail in Jacob’s chest and flung her brother into the forest as she grabbed at her neck, gasping at the