Primal Heat 05 - Darkness Reborn

with his cells fused with the bark. It looked clear below, but it didn't feel right. "What do you see, Sarah?"
    "I see meadows, but I don't believe it."
    He glanced over at her. "Yeah, me neither." He'd had too much experience with illusions lately to automatically assume that what he saw was reality. "I can smell the sulfur."
    Sarah nodded, her hand tight in his. "I feel nauseous, and I can't breathe. Like last night."
    Kane ground his jaw. "So, we're standing on the edge of that same damn pit we saw last night. It just looks all pretty during the day."
    "Maybe," Sarah said, "but we can't be sure."
    "Well, let's figure it out." Ryland turned and hurled his machete into a nearby tree. It sliced off a branch that crashed to the earth with a thud right next to Gideon. "Toss that to me, will ya?" Gideon lobbed the massive branch to Ryland as Ry called his machete back to him. Then he turned toward the meadow. "Let's see what we have going on here." He took the branch and heaved it into the air, launching it way out into the middle of the meadow.
    It spun around in the air, twirling around as it fell down past the level of the ledge they were standing on. The moment it fell below the edge, into what would have been the pit last night, it exploded mid-air, shattering into thousands of fragments that showered over them. Kane held out his hand and caught some. The wood was burning with a flame that was green, black and brown. A noxious stench was emanating from it.
    "Well, shit." Gideon said. "That's not very polite. We could have gotten hurt."
    Kane snorted, and then realized it was the kind of snarky comment Thano would have made, and his amusement faded. "Thano's in there, and so is Luc. You guys ready?"
    The team moved closer, and heavy hands descended on Kane's shoulders. He let out his breath and gripped Sarah's hand, locking her down against him. He was going to take them down there, but hell only knew what they were going to land in. It wasn't going to be a meadow and flowers. That much he was sure about.
    "Jesus, man." Ry said quietly. "What the hell are we going to meet down there?"
    Kane met his gaze. "Hell, I think."
    Ryland nodded. "Me, too." He looked at Sarah, and his eyes darkened. "I don't think the angel should go down there. Why bring her?"
    "Because we can't leave her behind," Kane said.
    "I'll stay behind with her," Ryland said. "It feels wrong to take her in there. I'm feeling it."
    Kane scowled, his adrenaline rising to a fast peak at Ryland's interference. "It's not your call, Ryland—"
    "I'll make it mine." Ryland stepped back, holding out his machete. His eyes were gleaming back. "The angel should not go down there, Santiago. I know it."
    Kane was about to argue, when he felt a pulse of darkness in his mind, a nudge of violence that told him to resist Ryland, to shut him down. It was his thought, but at the same time...it wasn't. He hadn't thought that. Something else had tried to put the thought in his head. Son of a bitch. What the hell was going on? All he knew was that something or someone wanted him to bring Sarah down there, and that was enough of a reason not to. Ryland was onto something. He was sure of it. "Fine. Sarah stays."
    Sarah shook her head. "No, Kane—"
    "Yes." Kane quickly scanned the crew, dividing them in half. He gripped Sarah's arm and pulled her close. You swear to me that you will use your powers to kill anything that gets you. I'll come back for you, so don't restrain yourself. Got it?
    Sarah gritted her jaw. "I need to go with you, Kane. I'm the one he wants."
    "And me."
    "Both of us," she acknowledged. "It doesn't make sense to split us up."
    Kane ground his jaw. "He's got to be hiding down there right now, Sarah. He can't come out until sunset. I don't want you down there now, but I swear I'll be back before it gets dark."
    Sarah bit her lip, but finally she nodded. "Keep your mind open to me, and come back if I call you."
    He nodded and pulled her close, giving her a long kiss. She melted into him, and Kane let himself get lost in her kiss. He didn't want to let her go. He really didn't. But he had to, and it wasn't simply because of what he'd told her.
    The truth was, he didn't know what he would become when he went down into that hell, and he didn't want Sarah anywhere near him when he arrived in it. He met Ryland's hard gaze, knowing that the warrior had some kind of connection to Sarah that would keep her safe with him. "Ryland, you stay here with Sarah. Quinn