Primal Heat 05 - Darkness Reborn

that?
    Then she thought of Kane, and she smiled, knowing that yes, there was always a chance for redemption.
    "Sarah." The front porch squeaked as Kane walked out, and he wrapped his arms around her, resting his cheek against hers as he clasped his hands over her belly. The puncture wounds were gone now, healed by the water, and she could feel the life pulsing within her. This time, her child would have the protection of both parents.
    She turned in Kane's arms so she could look at him. His eyes were so bright, filled with softness and warmth. "Thank you," she whispered as she laced her fingers behind his neck. "Thank you for giving me back my hope."
    He laughed softly and kissed her. "Shit, woman, I'm the one who owes you." His smile faded, and he ran his fingers gently through her hair. "You gave me the strength to break the curse that had held me for so long. Your love. My love for you." He kissed her again, and the kiss quickly became passionate and heated. I love you, Sarah Burns.
    I love you, too—
    "Santiago."
    Kane broke the kiss as Javier came out on the porch. The old warrior had washed off the war paint, and his black eyes were intense.
    "Thanks for your guidance," Kane said. "It helped."
    Javier nodded, and he handed Kane a black cord threaded through a red stone. "This is for you."
    Sarah smiled, and Kane felt a wave of warmth from her as he studied the necklace. The stone was carved with a design he didn't recognize. It wasn't one of the ones that he'd carried on his body for so long. "What's this?"
    "That, my boy, is something we've been holding onto for a long time." Nonny walked out behind Javier. She was wearing a hot pink tank top and a pair of flowered shorts. Behind her filed the rest of the team, all of them wearing shit-eating grins.
    Kane frowned as Sarah slipped her hand into his. "What's going on?"
    "Hold it in your fist," Javier instructed. "Close your hand around it."
    Kane glanced again at the panel of smug faces watching him, but he did as Javier instructed. His palm immediately began to throb with heat, a pulsing beat that seemed to echo through his entire body.
    "Now, open it."
    His knuckles were stiff and protesting, but Kane managed to pry his hand open. On his palm was a red mark, burned into his skin. Another scar.
    Nonny grabbed his hand and peered at it, then she grinned at Javier. "It worked."
    "Of course it did," Javier said.
    "What is it?" Kane couldn't keep the impatience out of his voice. Having another scar on his palm made him uneasy, as if once again he was being cut from the town and branded a monster.
    It was Sarah who answered, a smile lighting up her face. "When this village was founded originally as an enclave for angels, a team of guardians was assigned to protect the angels from demons. The original protector was conscripted by the demons, and he left us with no one."
    "Legend said that the new one would come," Nonny said. "And that the stone would mark him as ours."
    Javier tapped his palm. "That design is the same one that is burned into the top of the fountain, which is the center of our town. It means that you and this town are one."
    Kane stared at him. "What do you mean?"
    "It means," Sarah said. "That you're home, Kane. You're finally home."
    Home? Kane tore his gaze off his hand and looked around the crumbling village, the one that had once been his. The place he'd been searching for his whole life. The one he'd destroyed once...it had welcomed him back? His chest felt tight, and he had to take a deep breath.
    "Kane." Sarah stood on her tiptoes and framed his face with her hands. "Welcome home." Then she threw her arms around him, and Kane hauled her against him, burying himself in the amazing sensation of all that she was. As his team pounded on his back and congratulated him, Kane knew that after five hundred years of searching, he'd finally found what he'd been looking for. Himself. His home. His heart.
    He kissed Sarah's head and met Ryland's gaze across the porch. They exchanged a silent nod of agreement. The battle wasn't over. Not even close. Next up? To find Thano, Ian, and two other angels before the horseback rider from the woods made his next move. And as Kane watched Ryland survey the woods, he had a feeling that Ryland, with his connection to the angels, was going to be the man to lead them.

Sneak Peek: FOREVER IN DARKNESS
    (The Order of the Blade, Book Four) (Novella)
    (Dark & Sexy Paranormal Romance, Available Now)

    It wasn't her .
    Ian