Primal Heat 05 - Darkness Reborn

the shadows one last time. He thought he saw something move, but when he looked more closely, there was nothing but stillness. A chill rippled over his skin, and he looked over his shoulders at the woods. He could sense nothing, but he got the distinct feeling he was being watched. Shit. "Someone's out there," he said as he walked inside.
    "I know." Sarah looked past him. "There always is."
    "The place is haunted," Thano announced, already lounging comfortably in a chair by the fireplace. "Lots of creepies." He jerked his chin at the fireplace. "That's the village's body count, my friend. All the innocents and rogues who have died over the last six hundred years, since the Los Muerte destruction."
    Kane stiffened at Thano's casual reference, realizing that Nonny must have filled them in on the town's history, but there was no edge to Thano's voice. The warrior didn't know about Kane's possible connection to the town's history yet. Relieved not to have to address that with his team yet, Kane looked past Thano and saw rows and rows of hash marks carved into the old mantle. Thousands of marks.
    More than the Order had killed during that time. Far more.
    "Every man who has succumbed to the dark side, and every person they've killed," Sarah said softly, running her hand over it. Her finger touched on a small one in the corner, and she looked at Kane. "Abigail," she said softly.
    Kane reached out and took her hand, and Sarah's throat tightened at his gesture. God, it had been so long since anyone had given her comfort, or since she had even considered accepting or seeking it. She'd just put her head down and kept on pushing, refusing to give up, refusing to grieve, because she couldn't afford it. Nonny never gave her sympathy, just told her to get herself together and move onward, which is what they both knew she had to do.
    But it felt different with Kane, as if she could afford to feel that pain and grief, and yet somehow, he would provide a buffer to keep it from destroying her.
    But she couldn't rely on him. She couldn't let her guard down. She had to remember Mason and Abigail—
    I'm not Mason, Kane said.
    Sarah bit her lip. I know, but—
    "So, this is a night gig," Ryland said, pacing around the room. None of the men had commented on the fact that there was no one else in the general store besides them, or that the few remaining inhabitants of the town had vacated when the Order had appeared on the premises. Kane knew it was because they were Calydons, distrusted completely, and it was an odd sensation to be distrusted by the innocents that they had taken an oath to protect.
    Were the villagers jaded, or were they the wise ones?
    Jaded. It had to be jaded. He and his team would never attack innocents. They just wouldn't.
    "These guys are close to sane and normal during the day, but at night they attack. Is that right?" Ryland asked.
    "The level of daytime sanity varies, but basically that's correct," Sarah said. "It used to be really bad, but for the last few hundred years, it seemed to stop. But in the last fifty years, it's been virulent again. Most people have moved away, hoping to protect the men that way, but many of them still become Calydons and go rogue, and come back here."
    "Yep, only us stalwarts remain." Nonny was perched on the edge of the counter, drinking a beer. She pointed it at Kane. "You've got a job to do, young man. My granddaughter needs to survive, or this town goes down, and so does hope and light as the earth knows it." She shrugged. "And of course, whoever it is she's assigned to."
    Kane frowned. "What do you mean?"
    "All angels are assigned to someone to protect," Sarah explained.
    Thano raised his brows. "We have guardian angels? Damn. That's cool."
    "No, not exactly," Sarah said. "I don't go out and hover over the shoulder of the people I'm connected to. My life force is linked to theirs, so that when they need hope and faith, they can tap into mine, even though they don't realize where it's coming from." She shrugged. "I'm like this great fountain of hope."
    "And if you don't have anything to give them?" Kane asked, studying her closely.
    She met his gaze. "Then they're on their own. Most people are these days. There aren't many angels left."
    "Well, shit." Thano looked over at Ryland. "That explains you. Maybe we can put in a request for you to get one. Think it might help?"
    Ryland's black eyes glittered. "No, I don't."
    "We need to stop the Calydons." Sarah stood up, pacing the