Primal Heat 05 - Darkness Reborn

knew only loss. He lived with a void, violence and an empty past.
    Why do you get up every morning? Why do you decide to breathe another breath? She arched in his arms as another convulsion took her. What do you live for?
    Kane swore. I don't know. Answers. I want answers. I refuse to die until I find out who I was.
    She gasped in pain, and more cracks appeared in her skin.
    Okay, so clearly not what she'd been looking for. Son of a bitch! What the hell did she want from him? All he did every day was protect the world from monsters, save innocents from a hell worse than death. That was his job, and now, here he was with one woman dying in his arms and he couldn't stop it?
    Her relief cascaded through him, and he felt the warmth of their connection in his mind. You save innocents, Kane . That's what matters to you.
    Fuck, yeah, I do, but that's not what I live for.
    Tell me about someone you saved. A child. A woman. An innocent. Let me feel it. Show me something good to believe in. Her body started to shake more violently, and her eyes rolled back in her head. Now, she gasped. Now, Kane, now!
    He didn't get it. How would a story help her? But he didn't care. He tried to think back to all the times he'd gone to battle, all the deaths he'd caused, trying to remember one of the innocents he had saved. All he could recall was the death, the destruction, the carnage he'd left behind. The blood on his hands—
    Seriously, Kane? Sarah's voice was weaker now, barely audible. That's what you give me when I ask for faith? That's all you have? I thought you had more... Her energy grew fainter, colder, and he felt her distance herself from him. You gave me hope. You were my last chance. Hope dies...
    He was losing her! Kane swore, searching his mind for something worth remembering in his damned life. A child flashed through his mind. A small child. A baby boy.
    Anguish arced through her, and she gripped his arm. A boy? Tell me. Tell me.
    He couldn't remember. He just had an image in his head of a child. Brown hair. Dark eyes. Something caught in his gut, something important, a gnawing certainty that the child was important. Who was it? Why couldn't he remember?
    More, Kane. How did you save him? Show me his innocence. Sarah's voice was urgent, desperate, and he knew they were out of time.
    He swore, unable to remember any more about the child. Frantically, he tried to think of another. I—
    Sudden movement caught his attention, and Sarah's original assailant materialized in front of him again. There was a rush of heat, and then another ten Calydons appeared, teleporting from hell knew where. Kane's weapons burned with the need to attack, but he couldn't risk engaging.
    Sarah needed his help, and he wouldn't abandon her to fight.
    The Calydons lunged at him. Kane immediately pictured the spot where he'd left his teammate and dematerialized, taking Sarah with him.

Chapter Three
    Ryland spun around, his weapons ready as Kane appeared behind him. Ryland's gaze immediately went to the woman in Kane's arms. Sarah's eyes were closed, her breathing shallow, her heartbeat too damn faint. "What's going on?" Ryland asked, moving into a battle stance before Kane even spoke.
    Kane didn't waste words. "Tell me a fairytale. Now!"
    "What?" Ryland stared at him as if he'd gone insane. "What are you talking about?"
    "She needs to hear a story of angels, goodwill and redemption. I got nothing to offer. Talk to me."
    Ryland glanced down at the woman, and something in the hard lines of his face softened. Kane was shocked by the transformation on Ryland's face. The warrior was always angry, always on the edge of violence, fury, and lack of control. And yet there was something on his face, an easing of tension, an expression of actual humanity as he looked at the woman in Kane's arms.
    Kane instantly tightened his grip on her. "She's mine."
    "Fuck that." Ryland strode across the earth right toward Kane, ignoring Kane's growl of warning. "How in hell's name did a bastard like you find an angel?"
    Kane swore as Sarah groaned in his arms. He pulled her more closely against him, trying to infuse her with his strength. "I need a story of angels, you dumb ass. Not compliments about her."
    "Shit, man, don't you get it?" Ryland looked up at him, and for the first time since Kane had known him, the warrior's eyes were green instead of the bottomless black pits they always were. Was that Ryland's real eye color, not the black they'd always been? "She's an