Primal Heat 05 - Darkness Reborn

jerked his attention back to his surroundings. He became aware of massive amounts of smoke pouring out of the hole in the ground now, so dense with evil that it permeated his pores.
    Sarah gripped the back of his shirt. "This is it," she whispered, her voice pulsing with anticipation. "This is what I feel at night. It's coming out." She stepped up beside him, keeping close to him, her heart pounding. "This is the source."
    Kane fisted his weapons as he watched it swirl. The pain in his flesh was almost excruciating now, but he shut it out, focusing his adrenaline on the shapes swirling above their heads. "Touch me and don't let go," he instructed Sarah. "I need to be able to take you out of here, but I need my hands free."
    Sarah set her hand on his waist and twisted her fingers in the waistband of his jeans. Her skin was cold, too cold, and he glanced over at her. Her face was pale, and there was a sheen of perspiration on her forehead. Protectiveness surged through him, and he whirled back to face the smoke, intensely focused. This was the source of the threat to his woman, and it ended now.

Chapter Thirteen
    Sarah caught her breath as the smoke began to take shape, the swirling getting faster and faster, like a tornado of doom and rot—
    Click click click.
    A triple clicking noise sounded from her right, and she jerked her gaze off the mass that was accumulating above them. Two red eyes glowed at her from the side of a nearby tree: a Calydon ready to attack. A triple click to her left. More glowing eyes. And to her right. And behind them. Suddenly, the night was alive with clicking, and the woods took on an eerie red glow. She felt for the flask at her hip, her last one. Um, Kane.
    I know they're here. I knew they'd come. They were waiting.
    She swallowed hard, frantically scanning the woods. The triple click always preceded an almost instantaneous attack, yet nothing was coming at her. She braced for the assault as the clicks became louder and louder. The crescendo rose to a thundering din, and the woods began to glow so brightly. It was as if a forest fire was raging around them, ready to burn them all to a crisp.
    "Holy shit," Kane breathed, pulling her attention back just as the clouds above them began to take the shape of a face, of a man, a distorted, tormented male.
    The wind began to howl around them as the massive face took shape above them, whipping Sarah's hair around her cheeks so violently it felt like it was cutting her skin.
    Kane pulled her more tightly against him, crushing her against his side, protecting her from all the directions that he could. "Ryland," he muttered. "Get the fuck up."
    But Ryland was the same, his body bleeding now from all the slashes, convulsing violently as the earth was chewed up around him, chopped up by invisible blades.
    Suddenly there was a flash of red light so bright that Sarah yelped and covered her eyes. Black spots flashed in her vision as she struggled to see. The clicking grew louder, closer, and she jerked her eyes open as shadows began to shift around her, Calydons moving into position, surrounding her, getting tighter and tighter. "Oh, crap," she whispered.
    "Who the hell are you?" Kane demanded.
    Sarah jerked her gaze off the woods and gasped in shock when she saw a man walk out of the red light, striding toward them. He was tall and heavily muscled, wearing a black leather shirt cuffed to the elbows and unbuttoned to his navel, showcasing angry red marks across his chest, as if someone had tied him down for centuries and the cables had become permanently carved into his flesh. His muscular legs were encased in black pants and his leather belt that seemed to undulate as if it were alive.
    The man fastened his gaze on Kane, and there was a glow of intense satisfaction in his eyes. "You returned."
    Kane stiffened as the man's voice rolled through him. His voice was grating and harsh, as if he'd spent centuries screaming and had nearly destroyed his ability to speak. His voice carried pain, anguish, despair, and a violence so dark and so dangerous that all of Kane's warnings began to sound. Kane tightened his grip on Sarah, pulling her back. He was vigilantly aware of all the Calydons surrounding them, ready to leap, and he knew he'd have only a split second to get Sarah out of there once they launched their attack.
    Swearing, he began to edge to the right, toward Ryland. He would not leave two men behind. Not today. Thano, if you can hear me, stay alive.