Primal Heat 05 - Darkness Reborn

Kane was truly Los Muerte and born of this village, then the bond wouldn't destroy them in that way. Which was he? Was he Kane, an honorable Order member? Or was he the monster brought from hell to kill her?
    As she stared at the man she loved, the father of her baby, she knew that she'd never loved Mason like she loved Kane. Mason had been her childhood friend. Kane was power, desire, passion and tenderness. Kane was her savior, and she would be his.
    She met his gaze, and saw only monster in them. No Kane. No humanity. But she knew it was in there. It was. And she knew that Kane was strong enough to find it. She also knew she was the only one who could help him. He loved her, truly loved her, and that was going to save both of them.
    Click. Click. Click.
    Her only warning before his attack. "I love you, Kane!" she shouted as she called out his weapon. Kane launched himself at her, claws out, as his flail appeared in her hand. She positioned it over her heart and she drove it deep into her own body, into the one place that held onto hope and faith, the one spot where she could be killed.
    As she fell to the ground, gasping in pain, she felt the final lines of the brand burn on her arms, sealing their bond forever as she completed the death stage by giving her life to save him as the man she'd given her heart to descended upon her to kill her. Triumph exploded through her, and she knew that she'd sealed their connection forever.
    Nothing was stronger than the sheva bond, at least not the one that she and Kane shared.
    It was done. The rest was up to him.
    And like she'd done seven years ago, she didn't call out her white light to attack her soul mate. She simply let him come.
    * * *
    Pain tore through Kane as he careened through the air, and he screamed from the sudden physical agony. Golden light flooded his mind, tearing through the darkness blinding him. The darkness screamed its protest, digging its fingers into his soul as the battle raged inside him. But in the darkness, he sensed something warm. Something light. Something soft. Something calling to him with kindness and love, and he flung his soul toward it, catapulting through the darkness toward the light that was flickering so far away. Sarah! He gasped, suddenly recognizing it. Sarah!
    Her entire soul flooded him, all her hope and her love, as well as her pain and her loss. Her emotions filled the void that had been baking inside him for so long. They stripped away the darkness and the pain, they eviscerated the grip of evil, and her spirit settled inside him with such rightness, such peace and such beauty that everything simply fell away. The bond was complete. She was his. He was hers. Locked together for all eternity, and eradicating all the darkness trying to consume him.
    He was free, and she had saved him. Their love had saved him—
    "Sarah!" He suddenly became aware of her body beneath his, and he was jolted back into reality as he realized that his claws were plunging straight toward her belly. "No!" With a roar of fury, he stopped himself just before he hurt her, throwing himself off her and slamming into the ground beside her, the impact so violent that the earth shook from the hit.
    Kane shoved himself back up and spun back toward Sarah, horror striking him when he saw her holding her hand to her bleeding belly, her deathly-white skin fragmented with a thousand hairline fractures, his flail embedded in her chest. "Dear God," he gasped as he recalled his flail, jerking it out of her body. "Sarah? Can you hear me?"
    She didn't move.
    Sarah! He gathered her into his arms, pulling her against him, sending all his strength into their connection. I'm so sorry—
    Kane? Her voice was so faint in his mind, but Sweet Jesus, she was alive.
    Sarah. He framed her face, his heart hammering in terror. Come back to me. But even as he connected them and reached into her mind, he saw only darkness. There was no light. No white light. It was gone. Her soul was dying.
    Fuck that. He knew how to save her now, and he was going to do it. This woman was his, and he wasn't letting her go. Kane pressed his forehead against hers and opened his mind to hers. You want a story of hope and faith, Sarah? You want me to tell you about something I love? This time, I have an answer for you. He pulled her closer and pressed his lips to her cold forehead. I love you, Sarah. You are the oxygen that I breathe. You are the beat of my heart. You are the spirit that keeps my soul