Primal Heat 05 - Darkness Reborn

slightly, and saw that it was the same warrior who'd been after Sarah when Kane had first arrived on the scene. How had he found them after Kane had teleported?
    But it wasn't just the one guy. He'd brought a dozen warriors with him. All of them with red glowing eyes, unfashionably long claws, and the same intensity as the two rogues that had been such a tough take-down before. Kane itched to fight them, but he knew he couldn't. His number one priority was protecting the woman in his arms. "We need to bail, Ry." There was no way they could engage and keep Sarah safe at the same time.
    Ryland didn't bother to answer. He just continued to defend Sarah and Kane with his weapons as he stepped on Kane's ankle to create body contact between them. "Go!"
    Kane instantly dematerialized, taking Ryland and Sarah with him. But as the woods disappeared, he met the gaze of Sarah's brother, and saw in them a glittering truth.
    The bastard would be right behind him.
    * * *
    Tears burned in Sarah's eyes, as Kane teleported them away from her brother. "He's not going to give up," she told Kane, her heart aching at the thought.
    "Your brother?"
    "Yes. He's the one tracking me. The others don't have the blood connection to me, so they can't track me without him. It's Jacob." Sarah felt the strength that Kane had given her when he'd shared his emotions with her begin to fade, chased away by the visceral reminder of Jacob's betrayal.
    Dammit. No! She couldn't afford to be weakened. She had to stay strong. Faith and hope were all she had to sustain her. Fighting against the nausea, she opened her eyes to focus on Kane, to let him fill her world the way he had a few minutes ago.
    He was looking past her, searching the woods he'd taken them to. His jaw was whiskered, his eyes blazing with lethal determination as he rapidly assessed their situation, engaging in urgent discussion with his teammate as the two warriors evaluated their options.
    Kane was pure elemental Calydon, with his huge muscles, the black brands on his arms, and the gaping emptiness inside him. She'd felt Kane's void all the way to her core. As empty as her brother was, Kane was all that, and so much more. There was nothing left of who he might have been: his humanity and warmth was so buried. All that remained was the monster, the shell, the demon that possessed good men and turned them into creatures of death, destruction and betrayal. Kane was everything that she'd feared for so long. He was the epitome of the creatures that had stolen everything from her. He was her greatest nightmare, and she was trapped in his arms.
    And yet, in his embrace, tucked against his bare chest, she felt safe. As if he'd erected some tremendous shield that could keep the danger at bay. She should fear him. For heaven's sake, he knew she was an angel. Both men did. And yet neither one of them had moved to hurt her. How was it possible? Was there more to them than the deadly creatures she'd grown up defending against?
    But even as she asked the question, she knew the answer was yes. The depth of Kane's pain was extraordinary, so tremendous that it had touched her heart. A man with nothing but emptiness and death in his soul wouldn't be capable of feeling such pain. She wanted to heal him, to help him, to give him relief.
    Sarah's chest tightened at the realization, at the gift that he offered her by making her want to help him. It had been so long since she'd wanted to reach out. She'd been focused only on her survival and doing her duty, and she hadn't had the energy or inspiration to help or heal anyone else for so long. Until Kane.
    He looked down at her, and a smile flashed across his face. "Nice to see you looking conscious."
    She smiled, her heart warming at the way his face lit up when he looked at her. "I think you can put me down."
    "No chance." He actually tightened his grip on her. "What's the deal with your brother and his buddies? How can they teleport? Why do they want to kill you—"
    Her brother flashed beside them, grabbed her and then began to dematerialize again, snatching her right out of Kane's arms. Her skin lit up in self-defense before she could even think about it, the white light bursting over the clearing in a blinding attack. Jacob swore and dropped her, but before she'd even hit the ground, another one of Jacob's teammates grabbed her and started to disappear. She took him out, and then another, and another and another. So fast, milliseconds between each grab and