Primal Heat 05 - Darkness Reborn

The same tendrils that he'd used to bind Jacob were holding him back, locked down in his cells.
    Get her, you bastard. Ryland's voice echoed through Kane's mind, and he turned to see Ryland sprinting out of the forest behind, weapons out, followed by the rest of the team. Unleash the monster like you did before.
    Kane didn't hesitate. He closed his eyes and came to a complete stop. He opened himself to the darkness within him. He accepted the violence. He looked into the soul of the man who had killed his own child and his own sheva, and he accepted him. He slowed his breathing and allowed himself to access the power that had consumed him and given him the strength to wipe out a town and kill his own family. He invited it into his body. He allowed the demon taint to coat his heart and poison his cells. He gave himself over to the very thing he'd been fighting for five hundred years to deny, and he gave it free reign over who he was.
    He became the man he truly was, the one who had killed his own child.
    The moment he did, power exploded through Kane, streaking violently through him, tearing apart his soul. He felt all the bonds holding him shatter, and he knew he had returned to life, truly and completely.
    He was who he was destined to be.
    Los Muerte had returned.
    Kane fixated on his connection with his sheva, and he allowed his predator mode to go into full force, and then he went after her.

Chapter Twenty
    Sarah was falling, failing, dying. There was nothing left inside her. She'd failed again. She'd chosen wrong again. And her brother had killed her in cold blood. There was nothing left—
    A burst of power exploded in her body, ripping her from her emotional spiral as Kane materialized and tore her from Luc's grasp.
    Sarah gasped as her body turned to flesh again, as the smoke fled from her cells. Kane tossed her to the ground, barely noticing her as he launched himself at Luc. Sarah rolled onto her side, her body shaking violently, her muscles drained and weak as she lifted her head to look.
    What she saw made her blood run cold.
    Kane's skin was black, stretched across his bones like dried snakeskin strung up to bake in a hot desert sun. His muscles were like metal coils beneath his skin. And long, deadly claws protruded from the ends of his hands as he slashed at Luc. The two men circled each other, claws out. Kane wasn't even using his flail. He was hunched over like an animal, reverted to the same state as the monsters that had haunted her for so long.
    His eyes were glowing red, but there was grim awareness in them, an embrace of the violence toiling through him. Not rogue. Pure evil. Los Muerte. There was no doubt. Not anymore.
    Sharp pain sliced through her belly, and Sarah gripped her stomach. She tugged her shirt up to look at the damage, expecting to see a gaping hole like there had been after Mason. To her shock, her skin was intact, but the puncture wounds were deep and jagged. Had Jacob missed the baby or not? Tears filled her eyes, and she began to shake, barely aware of the violent confrontation between Kane and Luc.
    She knew Kane was lost to her, their connection severed. He hadn't even noticed her lying there, and he hadn't tried to come to her aid. Los Muerte was fighting for dominance, to take his place, and the Kane she knew was gone forever.
    Despair filled her, but she fought to keep it at bay. If there was any chance her baby had survived Jacob's attack, she had to find a way to survive. But even as she rolled to her side and tried to crawl away, she felt the devastating weakness of her body. Her body shook as she collapsed on the earth, and she realized that she was dying.
    Her last hopes had died. Killed by Jacob. Killed by the sight of the man she loved becoming consumed by the evil that had taken so many from her.
    "Dammit." Sarah dug her fingers into the dirt, struggling to drag herself a few inches. She had to get away from Kane before he noticed her. Before he finished what he'd been brought here to do—
    A howl of triumph tore through the night, and Sarah saw Kane plunge his claws into Luc's heart and rip it from his body. He held it over his head in triumph, Luc's black blood pouring down his arm. Sarah went cold, horrified by the image of the monster Kane had become. "Dear God," she whispered. How on earth would anyone stop him?
    Beside him, Luc fell to the earth, clutching his chest. But as he fell, Sarah saw a smile flood his features, a smile of triumph and relief. It