Primal Heat 05 - Darkness Reborn

was doesn't define who he is today...not necessarily."
    Not necessarily. Which meant that Kane might or might not be the same man who murdered his family before. And she was supposed to figure it out?
    Sarah bit her lip as she watched the men finalize their plans. She already knew the plans, because she had helped Kane and Ryland figure them out before Kane had left. Kane was leading the discussion, and his authority and strength were evident in the way the team listened to him. He had an aura of indomitability about him...one that he hadn't had when she'd met him.
    He had changed.
    He was still changing.
    Kane looked up at her and caught her gaze. Simmering in those dark eyes were violence and danger, and it was getting more and more turbulent with each passing moment. Her heart tightened for the suffering she saw in his face, for the tension emanating from him. His fear of what he was and what he might do. But she also felt his fierce determination not to succumb to the darkness within him. His steady commitment to protect her and their baby.
    His voice filled her mind as he reached out to her. I will not fail you, Sarah. I swear it. The sheer force of his promise, his unyielding focus on who he wanted to be, pulsed through her like the thud of a bass drum, like the slow beat of a massive heart coming to life.
    She knew that she was staring into the face of a man more powerful than any she'd ever met, a warrior capable of destroying an entire town...and of saving one. He may have once been the man who did the former, but today? Who was he today?
    Sarah set her hand over her belly, and for the first time in seven years, she tried to open her heart again. The moment she did, she felt the anguish of her daughter's death and Mason's betrayal consume her, driving into her with such destructive force that she couldn't breathe. It swept through her mind, ripping away at her shields, stealing from her the hope and faith that was so necessary to keep her alive.
    Instinctively, she started to fight it, to shut it down, to shove it back into that locked box where it couldn't hurt so badly, where it couldn't tear away at the fabric of who she was...and then she saw Ana look over at her.
    And Sarah knew what she had to do.
    Instead of fighting the pain, instead of trying to survive it, she dropped her shields and let it destroy her.
    * * *
    Sarah's emotional devastation blew through Kane with brutal force. Before he'd even registered what he was feeling, he was on his feet and sprinting over to her. He caught her in his arms just as her legs gave out, and she started to fall to the ground.
    He swept her up against his chest, his soul vibrating with the depth of her anguish. "Sarah. What's wrong?"
    She had no words for him, but she wrapped her arms around his neck, holding desperately to him as the sobs wracked her small frame. He pulled her closer, burying his face in her hair, trying to offer her comfort. Sarah. I'm here. I've got you. It's okay.
    She still didn't answer, but she gripped him tighter, as if he were her only anchor holding her down. Her anguish rolled through him, and he saw flashes of what was going through her mind. A small girl with blond pigtails, smiling with such radiance he felt his own heart stop as he looked into those blue eyes. It was the same girl he'd killed in his dreams, only she was much younger. Not even a year old. But there was no mistaking her impish expression, the radiant blue of her eyes, and the shade of her hair. Sarah. He could barely keep the tension out of his voice. Is that your daughter? Is that Abigail?
    Yes. Her grief washed over him, and suddenly the world began to blacken and darken around him. His skin burned. Pain crawled down his legs. And a deep-seeded, brutal violence began to burn inside him.
    That's the girl in my dreams. The girl I murdered.
    Sarah sucked in her breath and jerked her head up, her tear-streaked gaze pinned to his face. "That's impossible. You said the girl in your dreams was five."
    "She is. But it's the same girl." Kane's body began to vibrate, violent energy racing though him.
    She tightened her grip on him. "I don't understand. How could you see her in your dreams? You never met her. She was never that old."
    "I don't know." But shit, what did it mean? That he was going to kill her daughter? That he'd somehow contributed to Abigail's death— "Jesus." He set Sarah down suddenly, stepping backwards. "What if I'm the one who's causing all the Calydons to