Primal Heat 05 - Darkness Reborn

Perfect. Unmarred. Five hundred years of scars and unanswered questions, and Sarah had changed it.
    Sarah had the answers he'd relentlessly pursued for five hundred years.
    Anticipation rushed through Kane, and he lifted his head, searching the woods with the intense, focused resolution of a warrior on a mission.
    She had run from him, but she couldn't hide. "I will find you, Sarah Burns," he promised.
    And then he would have answers.
    For the first time in five hundred years, he had a lead on his past. Excitement and hope leapt through him, and he began to lope through the woods in pursuit of the woman who had given him what he'd been seeking his whole life.
    * * *
    When Kane finally returned to the mansion after failing to find Sarah, the scene was grim. The gardens were destroyed, and the bodies of dozens of Calydons were strewn across the lawns. Their twelve-inch claws had vanished, but the black brands on their arms remained. There was no doubt they were Calydons, though they were unlike any he'd ever seen.
    Assorted members of the Order were collecting them on the patio, a pile of assassins that really didn't match the violets planted next to the stone bench. Lily Davenport, Gideon's sheva , and the world renowned expert on Calydons, was kneeling beside the pile of bodies, studying the brands on one of the fallen males.
    "Did any escape?" Kane asked as he walked across the churned up grass toward his team.
    Quinn tossed another body on the pile and nodded. "Just before dawn, all the ones still standing teleported away." He scanned the horizon, the bright blue sky of morning. "I don't know if they'll be back or not. Lily's never seen them before and doesn't know what they are."
    "I know what they are," Lily interrupted. "They're Calydons. I'm trying to figure out their lineage, since they're different than you guys. I think they're a small enclave, which is why there isn't much about them."
    Kane grinned at Lily, once again thinking how much better it worked for the Order now that Lily was on their team, instead of exposing them to the world. A woman with that much information about the Order needed to be kept close, and the fact she was Gideon's soul mate had made her a valuable asset. "Have you figured out where they're from?" He suspected that if he found their place of origin, he would find Sarah.
    Lilly shook her head. "Not yet, but I'm working on it."
    Kane grimaced with frustration. "Let me know when you do."
    "You bet." She bent over one of the dead warriors, snapping a photograph of his brand.
    "Where's the girl?" Quinn asked, looking past Kane for Sarah, who, of course, wasn't there.
    Kane ground his jaw, still annoyed that he'd slept right through her taking off on him. Had he really been so knocked out by the sex and intimacy that he'd passed out like that? Apparently. He shoved his hands in his jeans pockets. "Yeah, well, I lost her."
    "You what?" Ryland strode up, his body streaked with blood from all the battles. His muscles were flexed and tense, and his eyes were coal-black with adrenaline. "You lost our angel? Even though she has a team of assassins hunting her? How is that going to keep her safe, you bastard?"
    Kane narrowed his eyes, his brands burning with the need to call out his weapons in response to Ryland's possessiveness about Sarah. "She took off on me."
    "And you let her?" Ryland swore. "I'll find her. Jesus, Kane, an angel dropped into our lap. You don't fucking blow that assignment."
    Kane flexed his hand. "She's mine," he said quietly, barely able to contain his aggression toward Ryland. Ry was always on edge, but usually it didn't affect Kane. Today, it was grinding under his skin, making him want to engage. "She is my responsibility."
    Ryland moved into Kane's space, his eyes blazing. "Fuck that. You lost her. She's anyone's now."
    "She chose me, and we both know it." Kane met Ryland's gaze, and let him see his commitment to Sarah.
    Ryland stared at him, and then swore. "You slept with her? You defiled an angel?" His machete flashed into his hand with a crack of black light, and Kane instantly called his out as well.
    "Hey!" Quinn moved quickly between them. "Stand down. Now."
    "What's going on?" Thano Savakis sauntered up to them carrying a peach latte, despite the Order's attempts to get him to switch to a more testosterone-appropriate drink. "Don't tell me the Order finally decided to self-destruct and no one invited the new kid on the block?" He propped his elbow on Ryland's