Primal Heat 05 - Darkness Reborn

table beside her. "I've found some anecdotal reports of clawed Calydons from about two thousand years ago. There are rumors that some of the original Calydons, the ones who were turned by that demon-tainted water, had claws, but I can't find any kind of real evidence, and there have been no reports since."
    Gideon crouched beside Lily and studied her notes. "So, we've got throwbacks to two thousand years ago? Where the hell are they coming from?"
    "They're young kids," Quinn said, nudging the comatose Jacob with his blade. "This kid hasn't been alive for two thousand years. These are new ones."
    Elijah leaned on the metal cot, bracing his hands beside Jacob's head. "Who the fuck are you?" he whispered, his voice laced with threat and urgency. "Talk to us." He swore and lowered his voice, but it was still thick with emotion that ran too personal. "Trust me, kid. You don't want to be the guy who kills his own sister. For hell's sake, let us help you before you make a choice that will haunt you for the rest of your goddamn life."
    There was no movement from the cot, and Elijah swore and spun away, striding across the room. Gideon touched his arm as he went past. "We're not going to let him kill his sister."
    Elijah's eyes flashed. "Don't make promises you can't keep, Gideon."
    Gideon stiffened. "I'm not—"
    "Hey!" The door slammed open, and Ian Fitzgerald burst into the room.
    "Ian!" Gideon's relief at seeing their teammate who'd gone missing three weeks ago was instantly chased away when he saw Ian's deteriorating condition.
    The warrior had been gaunt before, but he looked even worse now. There was dried blood on his shirt, his face was shadowed, and his body looked like he'd lost even more weight. His jeans were caked in dirt, and around his head was a piece of blood-stained fabric, tied into a headband like some teenage bad ass. Shit. The man had been dying a slow death since he'd lost his sheva eight months ago, and it looked like death was winning.
    At the thought of Ian losing his sheva , Gideon swore and tightened his grip in Lily's hair, unable to even allow himself to imagine what it would be like to lose her . His entire body thrummed with sudden adrenaline, and his weapons burned in his arms, ready to be unleashed at any threat to his woman.
    Lily touched his arm and looked up at him. It's okay, Gideon. I'm right here.
    But he couldn't breathe, sucked into Ian's anguish, consumed by the image of being like his teammate, of losing his woman—
    Elijah swore and gripped Ian's shoulder as Ian braced his hands on the wall, his ribs heaving as he tried to catch his breath.
    "Hell, man," Elijah said. "You look like shit. Where have you been? No one's been able to reach you."
    Ian caught Elijah's arm, and stared at the team. "I found her," he said. "I found her."
    Gideon stared at his teammate in disbelief, as Lily caught her breath. "Who?"
    "My sheva. "
    Gideon swore under his breath, and exchanged glances with Quinn and Elijah. That was impossible, and they all knew it.
    "No." Elijah turned Ian toward him, and set his hands on his shoulders. Elijah's face was grim, knowing all too well the delusions that the mind could play. "I killed her, Ian. Don't you remember? I'm sorry as hell that I did it, but I did. You were there. She died in your arms."
    "No!" Ian knocked his hands away. "She came back to life. And died again. And now I have to find her before it happens again."
    "Ian, she didn't come back to life," Elijah swore, and Gideon saw the tension in his body. Elijah knew what it was like to lose his mind, and he was still on edge most of the time. Only his sheva kept him sane, but Ana had gone off with her sister Grace, Quinn's sheva , for a trip into town. Elijah had been needed to stay and guard Jacob, so it was the first separation he'd had from Ana since they'd completed their bond.
    "That's impossible, Ian," Quinn said. "Your sheva died. You don't come back from that. Elijah's right."
    "No." Ian lurched to his feet and looked at Lily, his eyes blazing with a clarity that didn't look like a man drowning in his own delusions. He looked desperate and haggard, yeah, but there was a clarity that Gideon hadn't seen in months.
    "There has to be a way that can happen. Tell me what she is," Ian said to Lily, his voice urgent. "Tell me how it can happen. I have to find her again. I've been looking, but I can't find her. I don't know where she is." His voice vibrated with desperate agony, and Gideon had a sudden