Primal Heat 05 - Darkness Reborn

We're coming for you.
    "Kane Santiago," the man said. "You're more than I ever thought you might be."
    Kane's adrenaline bolted into high gear as he kept moving Sarah toward Ryland. "You know me?"
    The male's eyes narrowed. "You don't remember?"
    Kane went still, all his senses on high alert, racing through everything he could pick up. The scent of sulfur and death on the man, the taint of blood on the claws that reached halfway to the ground, the raspiness of his breathing. The male bled evil. He was thick with power, corruption and torture. Kane's brands burned, and he felt his upper lip lift in a snarl, disgusted by the creature before them.
    "No!" The man shouted his rage. "You know me! Think about it, Kane! Bring it back!"
    Kane swore as something nudged at the back of his mind, but he couldn't place it. But even as he thought it, pain began to streak through his body again.
    Sarah gripped his arm. Kane. Your arm!
    He glanced down, and saw the skin on his left arm was completely flawless. Not a single scar from his shoulder to his fingers. But as he watched it, it began to ripple, as if there was a black poison beneath his skin, being stirred by an approaching storm.
    A thin smile stretched across the man's face, and he raised his hand. A streak of red light flashed out of his hand spiking right toward Kane's heart. Kane instinctively blocked it with his flail. The man smiled, his face pleased. "You're good."
    There was movement from his right, and Kane sensed Ryland dragging himself onto his knees. He glanced over and swore when he saw that Ryland's face was still the distorted hell that it had been. Ry's eyes were fixated on Kane, on his hand where he was holding onto Sarah. Kane swore. Threats coming from all directions. Too many to defend against. "Who are you?"
    "Luc Acostos," the man bowed deeply, and Kane saw black markings on his right shoulder, markings that made the hair on the back of Kane's neck stand up.
    Because he had those same markings. They were barely visible beneath the scars, but they were there. And this man had them too.
    "Jesus," he said softly. "What are you?" The man carried no brands. He wasn't a Calydon.
    "You know," Luc said, moving closer, his gaze locked on Kane. He didn't even seem to see Sarah or Ryland or anything else. "You know. "
    Kane's mind filled with flashes and images. A woman. Brown hair, blue eyes. Kindness. Warmth. Something shifted inside Kane, something that tightened in his gut and seemed to reverberate through him...then the pain began again. Not his skin this time. Deeper. Inside his soul. The kind of pain that stripped a man raw and left him to die.
    Luc's eyes glittered. "Elizabeth," he breathed. "You see Elizabeth."
    "Who is she?"
    "Your mother."
    And suddenly Kane was back there in the room. He could smell the fire in the hearth, the scent of food cooking. She was rocking in a chair, humming to herself as she knitted. Kane closed his eyes at the sound of the song. He knew it. Sweet Jesus, he knew that song. She held up her project, and he saw it was a small blue blanket. A baby blanket. She smiled and pressed the blanket to her heart, and he felt the waves of love pouring off her, filling the room with warmth and a golden energy that seemed to wrap around her.
    Kane. Sarah's awed voice was in his head, and he realized that she could see what he was seeing. She's an angel. The gold glow. Your mother was an angel.
    An angel? His mother was an angel? His entire body shuddered in disbelief. This was his past? This was his world? His mother stood up suddenly, and he saw she was heavy with child. She patted her belly, and again, he felt her warmth. It plunged straight into his chest so fiercely, he couldn't breathe, and he realized that she'd sent that love into him. Jesus, Sarah. She's pregnant with me.
    And she'd loved him. Son of a bitch. She'd loved him—
    His mother staggered suddenly, and waves of violent energy began to pour off her. She screamed and grabbed the back of the chair while she slid to her knees, grasping her belly. "No!" Kane leapt up, reaching for her, for the woman who wasn't really there. "What's happening to her?"
    She screamed again, and a black stain began to spread over her skin. Violence spewed off her, turning her golden light to a mutated taint of poisonous smog. She fell to the ground, and her body began to convulse as smoke poured out of her fingers, blood oozing from her pores, cuts appearing on her body. "No!" Kane screamed,