Primal Heat 05 - Darkness Reborn

"Fate requires that he turn rogue—"
    "No," she shook her head. "That never applied in our village. The bond didn't have that effect—"
    "What?" He gripped her arms. "You're serious? How many times?" Then he saw the pain on her face, and suddenly it wasn't about the details. It was about her. The village could come later. "What happened?"
    "We had a daughter." Her voice broke, and Kane felt sudden emotion swelling in his own chest. "Her name was Abigail. She was so beautiful, Kane. Such a treasure."
    Kane was stunned by the depth of love in her voice. He'd never heard anything so beautiful. He lived a life of violence and honor. He'd spent half a millennium cutting down males who had turned on their women. Kane had no basis for even understanding the kind of love in Sarah's voice. He had no memory of his childhood or a mother, and nothing in his life had prepared him for the enormity of emotion in Sarah's voice. Something inside him moved, something so deep and so buried he didn't even know what it was, something that hurt almost unbearably. He touched Sarah's hair, unable to speak, unable to respond. Sarah. The way you talk about her is beautiful.
    Then she raised her eyes to his, and he saw the most agonizing loss in them. Pain that went so deep it had torn her soul to pieces. She died, Kane. I couldn't protect her. I saw Mason's eyes when he came into the house that night. I knew that he had changed, but I couldn't believe he would turn on us. I went right to him, intending to pull him back from the edge. I should have grabbed Abigail and run, but I didn't. I believed I could save him. Her voice broke, and tears flooded his mind, drawing him into her story.
    And suddenly, Kane was in her memories, and he could see what she was remembering. A young man, early twenties, strong and strapping, his eyes glowing red, claws extending from his fingers. Around his neck was a talisman in the same shape as the ones on Kane's body. He felt Sarah's horror as viscerally as if he was living it. He felt the stab of pain as Mason jammed his claws into her belly. His body shook from the impact of Sarah being flung to the side, the crash of her body against the wall. Her anguish, her desperate cry as Mason strode across the room to the little girl, who was watching her daddy without the slightest bit of fear.
    Kane could smell the trail of blood as Sarah lunged across the room, throwing her body over her daughter as Mason reached for her. He felt the agony of his claws coming down and slamming all the way through Sarah's body into the child she was protecting beneath her.
    "No!" Sarah screamed, her voice ripping Kane out of her thoughts. Caught in the memories, she was pounding on Kane, hitting him, fighting against the enemy that was long gone. "Abigail! God, not my baby—"
    "Sarah." Kane enveloped her in his arms, pulling her tightly against him. "It's over. You're here with me now. You're safe now."
    "No, no, no!" Still she fought him, screaming for the child she hadn't been able to protect, for the man who had betrayed her so brutally. She was lost in the memories of a hell worse than anything Kane had ever lived.
    He had no idea what to say to take away her anguish. He didn't know how to help. He'd never trusted anyone enough to be betrayed by them, and he had no basis for how to help her, for what to say, how to take away her pain.
    He swore, holding her close, stroking her hair, whispering to her everything he could think of to make it okay. But as she trembled in his arms, sobbing desperately, he knew his words made no difference. No words would ever take away what had happened to her. No words would ever give her daughter back to her. No words would ever rebuild the emptiness of her heart. "Sarah," he whispered, brushing his lips over her temple. "It's not your fault."
    "It is," she gasped, trying to suck in air. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, the agony and guilt of her loss eating away at her. "Don't you understand? I trusted him instead of going first to Abigail. If I'd grabbed her and run—"
    "It wouldn't have made a difference." He kissed her lightly, not for sex, but for comfort, for reassurance that she wasn't alone in her grief, that he had her. "I've fought the men from your village. They're tough and strong. You couldn't have stopped him—"
    "But I did." She leaned her head against his chest, gripping Kane's waist desperately, as if she were trying to ground herself. "I killed him," she whispered. "I