Darkness Reborn (Order of the Blade #5)

by Rowe, Stephanie

  I don’t know, she gasped, reeling from the pain that was hitting him. I—

  Suddenly, there was an unholy scream of terror, and Kane threw her off him, whirling to his feet as several Calydons rushed into the cave, howling a blood-thirsty cry of assault.

  Eyes red.

  Claws out.

  The night had begun.

  Chapter Eleven

  Kane leapt to his feet and immediately engaged, aggression howling through him as he shoved Sarah behind a rock, out of the way. Behind the intruders, he saw Ryland and Thano, acting fast as well. The three of them worked as a team, taking down the local boys, but not killing them, not this time. Within moments all four of their targets were incapacitated, but not dead.

  “I’ll blood bond with the big one,” Kane said, immediately targeting the largest, oldest one. That was the one he wanted. The male was practically bleeding poison, and his taint was so thick that the air around him was churning with black and purple and a thick yellow. If Kane blood bonded with him, there was no doubt he’d get a good inside look at the source of the taint destroying these men.

  Thano swung hard and took the big guy out, and the warrior dropped. Kane sprinted to his side, and immediately jammed his flail into the downed Calydon’s arm. The blood poured forth as Kane sliced his own arm open. Then, while Ryland and Thano hauled the other Calydons out of the way, Kane pressed his wound against the other male’s and chanted the words of the warrior blood bond, Thano and Ryland’s voices raised to accompany his.

  The moment the words were complete, bonding the two warriors, Kane’s entire body began to vibrate. Searing pain rushed through him, dropping him to the floor of the cave as the warrior’s blood cut through his veins like razor blades. “Jesus,” Kane gasped, as his body began to shake, and his muscles began to convulse.

  “Shit, man!” Ryland was beside him immediately. “This isn’t supposed to happen!”

  Pain tore through Kane, along with darkness, and visions of demons with claws and dripping fangs. Skin stretched across his body like parchment over hell itself. His insides felt like they were being clawed to pieces, his muscles ripped from his bones, his lungs torn from his chest, his bones crushed by a force so great it bowed his spine.

  “Jesus, man!” Thano grabbed his shoulders, trying to hold him down. “If you want more attention, just ask for it!”

  Images flashed through Kane’s mind. Bodies. A boy. A young boy looking up at him, with dark brown eyes, trusting him. Then the child was bloodied, sprawled across the floor, slashes ripped through his small frame. “No!” Kane screamed, the anguish tearing through him. He tried to get to his knees, to crawl away from the nightmare, to escape from the hell—

  “Kane!” Suddenly Sarah was in front of him, holding his shoulders. “Come back to me!”

  He screamed again, and suddenly her face changed. Her hair seemed to turn a glossy white, drifting in floating tendrils around her head. Her eyes were pale blue, her pupils pitch black. He touched her face, and his fingers seemed to drift right through her skin, skin that was so pale and fragile it was like silk threads dangling in the breeze. She was wearing a pale blue dress, the color of a full moon on a clear night, shimmering as if a thousand stars had been woven into it. Her lips were pale, a pink so fair he could barely even register it. Her cheek bones were high and flawless, and she was wearing a thin silver chain around her neck with a single diamond hanging from it. “My angel.” He touched her hair, and the shimmering tendrils wove around his fingers as if they were alive.

  She smiled, her face glowing with love and hope, and Kane felt his own heart come to life, beating with a vibrant light of triumph and salvation.

  “What’s he doing?” Ryland asked, but his voice was distant, a faint rumble.

  “His eyes are white,” Thano said, his voice drifting through Kane’s mind. “I have no clue. Kane. Kane!”

  He didn’t even need to acknowledge them. They just floated out of his mind, until all that was left was Sarah. There was a white glow behind her head, growing brighter and brighter. “Kane,” she said again, only this time, her voice was raspy…harsh…

  He stiffened, and suddenly streaks of black tainted her hair. Her lips turned black. Her skin turned to ash, crumbling in gray flakes from her body. Her mouth opened and a violent scream tore out of her. She raised her palm, and he saw a flail in it. His own weapon. To be used against him. “No!” He lunged for her, his hands going for her throat, knowing there was only one answer, one choice, one way to live.

  She had to die.

  *

  Sarah screamed as Kane lunged for her, his fingers locking around her throat. “Kane!” She clawed at his hands as Ryland and Thano leapt on him, trying to pull him off. But his muscles were rigid, locked down, and they couldn’t stop him.

  Thano called out his halberd, but Kane flung him across the cave. He hooked Ryland in the neck and tossed the other male aside, as if he were nothing but a rag doll. Then he was back on her, lunging for her. Just like before. Just like Mason. Just like Jacob.

  Sarah gasped, fighting for air as Kane loomed above her, his hands around her neck. His eyes were black. Not red. Black! He wasn’t rogue! He was like her brother and Mason. Sane, and trying to kill her. “Kane!” She scrabbled at his arms, clawing at his fingers, and still he pressed tighter.

  Dear God, he was going to kill her!

  Use your white light to stop him. The voice burst through her mind. A male voice, hard and lethal…not Kane. Someone else was trying to force them to destroy each other.

  No! She screamed the thought and then the world started to spin as she began to lose consciousness. Kane, don’t do this. Please, God, Kane. Don’t! Tears poured down her cheeks as she fought for air. This couldn’t be happening again. It couldn’t. She thrust her mind into Kane’s, and then almost screamed from the darkness that consumed her the moment she connected with him. It was a miasma of poison and death, of evil, of hell. It sucked her in instantly, flooding her with despair and hopelessness. She saw her mother, her father, her daughter, all dead. She saw herself, lying on the floor, her hand on her belly as Mason crashed to the ground beside her, his skin blackened and destroyed from her attack. Death and murder between people who loved each other. No one alive. Everyone dead.

  There was nothing left. No hope. Just failure. Just love that wasn’t strong enough.

  Sarah. Kane’s voice distant in her mind, so faint, but she heard his desperation. We have to break through it.

  Her heart ached at the sound of his voice, and she tried to find him, but there was too much chaos and darkness. So much death. So much loss. I can’t.

  You can. Suddenly, she felt a thrust of power from Kane, a rush of electricity so fierce she screamed from the pain. He forced his strength into her, and suddenly there was a flash of black light and a crack so loud it sounded like the cave itself had shattered. Then Kane’s flail appeared in her hand, the twin spiked balls spinning wildly. He’d made her call his weapon into her hand!

  She had no time to think, no time to react, as Kane forced his will through her, until she could almost feel his hands closing around hers, his intentions so powerful that she had no chance to resist them, no chance to second guess. She simply grasped the weapon and swung it as hard as she could.

  It slammed into his chest, flinging him off her. She had a split second to see relief in his dark eyes, and then he landed in a slumped pile against the wall of the cave. Horror reeled through her, and she flung the flail aside as she stumbled to her feet, nausea churning in her belly as the blood streamed down his chest. “Kane?” Dear God. Her hands started to shake, and her legs gave out. The rocky floor dug into her knees as she fell to the ground, staring in agony at him. Her neck was burning from the pain of his attack, and it hurt to swallow, the truth of his attack undeniable.

  Tears burned in her eyes. Kane had failed. He’d succumbed like the others. There was no way to trust him. To trust anyone. And now she’d killed him.

>   “You’re his sheva?” Ryland was on his feet now, staring at her, his face aghast with horror. “That’s impossible. You’re an angel. It would destroy you to be linked with one of us.”

  Sarah couldn’t even look at him. She just couldn’t take her eyes off Kane. Breathe, please, breathe.

  “Damn, woman, that was a slick move.” Thano was on his feet now, striding across the cave to check on Kane. “Youactivated the transference stage of the sheva bond to use the weapon against your own mate. That’s a good one. I gotta admit, I like the irony of that.”

  “I didn’t call it,” she whispered. “He made me.” She suddenly realized the significance of that statement. Kane had forced her to call his weapon. He’d been clear enough in his mind not to let the evil take him. He’d stopped himself by making her strike first.

  He had been strong enough.

  “Kane!” She scrambled to her feet and stumbled across the floor. She fell into him, grabbing his shoulders.

  To her disbelief, Kane groaned and grabbed her, shifting her to the side. “Not on the broken ribs, sweetheart. Give me at least a minute to heal.”

  “You’re okay?” She couldn’t believe it. “You’re serious?”

  His eyes flickered open, and she saw the pain in them, but also the smug triumph. “Of course I’m okay. I’m immortal, remember?” He raised his brows. “Are you still going to doubt my ability to resist the bogeyman?” Then his gaze went to her throat, and his amusement vanished. “Jesus, Sarah.” His voice was raw with fury and pain. “I did that?” He set his hand on her neck, and she couldn’t help but flinch.

  “Fuck!” He lurched to his feet, his hands clasped on his head, his face almost ashen. “I hurt you. Son of a bitch. I hurt you.”

  “Kane, no, it wasn’t like that.” She leapt up and grabbed his arm. “You stopped it. Don’t you understand? I felt the poison inside you, all that violence and despair, and it took me, too. I had no defenses against it, and I’m an angel! But somehow, you were able to summon the strength to make me call your weapon. Don’t you get it? You are strong enough.”

  “No.” He pulled free, backing away from her, self-loathing and disgust still etched on his features. “Look at your throat. You’re bruised. Because of me.”

  “Dude,” Thano’s hand came down hard on his shoulder. “Give yourself a break. You were seriously fucked up there for a minute, but all you did was give her a few red marks on her skin? Shit, that’s practically a love bite.” The humor left his voice, and he turned Kane toward him. “Do you realize how easily you could have snapped her neck? And yet you didn’t. In the five seconds it took for Sarah to call your weapon, you could have killed her a thousand times, but you didn’t.” Thano held out his hand, revealing a blackened palm. “That’s what I got from touching you, big guy. That’s how much shit was going through you, and yet you didn’t hurt her.”

  Kane pressed his hands to his forehead and paced away from them. His shoulders were trembling, and Sarah felt the waves of fear rippling over him. True fear. The kind of fear that could tear a person’s soul to pieces and destroy the very nature of who they were. “Kane.” She hurried over to him and pressed her hands to his chest. “Look at me.”

  He dragged his gaze off the far wall and looked down at her. There was so much anguish in his face that her own heart ached. What if I’m Los Muerte, Sarah? What if I really am here to destroy you? What if that was just the start? He slid his hand through her hair, his touch so soft and gentle, as if he were afraid to even touch her. What if I am the monster? He looked down at his chest, at the smooth expanse of skin that now stretched halfway across his chest. What if when these scars disappear, Los Muerte comes back to life?

  “No!” She shook her head, clasping his face between her hands. You stopped yourself, Kane. You don’t understand how significant that is. No one has ever done that. Tears filled her eyes. No one has ever done that for me.

  Hell, Sarah. He fisted her hair, but didn’t pull it. You deserve more than to be grateful that all you got were a few bruises. That’s so fucked up. You should be kicking my ass.

  Life is so much more complicated than that, Kane. She pressed her lips to the wound in his chest that had already stopped bleeding and was beginning to heal. For the first time since Mason’s attack, you give me hope that maybe there’s a way to be stronger than the evil trying to take us. She took his hand and set it over her heart. Can you feel that? My heart is beating again, truly beating. I have hope, and you gave it to me.

  Kane closed his eyes, spreading his hand across her chest, and she felt him reach out for her with his mind. She let him in, and merged her spirit with his, allowing him to feel the hope in her heart, the gift he had given her. He let out his breath, and then opened his eyes, his gaze meeting hers. “I have no idea who the hell I am,” he said.

  “According to Nonny, that’s actually a lie. You know exactly who you are,” Thano chimed in.

  Kane glared at him. “Shut up, Thano. You have no idea what it’s like—”

  “I do.” Ryland was lurking in the shadows, his machete clenched in his hand. He was leaning against the wall, but his body was rigid, and Sarah felt a ripple of menace flowing from him. “I know what it’s like to spend every minute of every day wondering if this is the moment when I finally snap. To walk behind my teammate and know exactly what it would feel like to sink my machete between his shoulder blades, and to wonder when the day will come that I’m going to do it.”

  “Shit, Ryland.” Thano let out a low whistle. “You serious? I knew you were cranky, but—”

  “You live like that?” Kane was staring at him, a hooded look on his face.

  “Yeah.” Ryland shifted, and he seemed to almost disappear into the shadows, as if he’d turned into a specter himself. “I know that there’s a fucking monster inside me that will come out some day. I know what it’s like to sit in my room every night with my machete in my hand, debating whether the only right choice would be for me to cut myself down before I can destroy the world.” His eyes glittered. “I know what it’s like to have a monster inside you, Santiago, and if you want, we can kill each other right now, and then it’s over.”

  “No!” Sarah leapt between them. “You can’t! I need you! Both of you.” She pressed her hand to Kane’s chest, and held out her other hand to Ryland, her heart beating frantically. She could feel Ryland’s despair and lack of hope. It plunged inside her, nearly devastating in its intensity. “Stop!”

  “The angel’s right,” Thano said. “We can’t do this without you, Ry, and if you’re about to turn into a monster, your timing is right.” He toed his boot against one of the Calydons still on the ground. “We’ve got a battle, and we might need a monster on our side to win it.”

  Sarah stared at Kane, worried that he still hadn’t moved, hadn’t responded to Ryland. The two warriors were facing each other, their gazes locked on each other as if they were communicating silently. “Kane?” She touched his chest again, and he started, jerking his gaze toward her. For a moment, he looked confused, and then he took a deep breath.

  “I’m not walking away from this.” He shot a long look at Ryland. “You kill yourself, and who’s going to protect the angel when I turn into Los Muerte?”

  Ryland’s eyes glittered, but then he looked at Sarah. The intensity of his gaze was almost scary. He said nothing, but nodded once and walked out of the cave into the night.

  Thano let out a low whistle. “That dude’s in bad shape, Kane. We need to watch him.”

  “I know.” Kane stepped back as the Calydon he’d blood bonded with began to stir. He grabbed Sarah, and the three of them moved into the shadows at the rear of the cave. They went deathly still, and she felt Kane do a faint mental push to direct the Calydons’ attention away from them.

  The one Kane had blood bonded with woke up, shook his head, then roused the other three. The quartet quickly slipped out of the cave, still holding the wounds the Order had inflicted upon them. The moment they w
ere out of sight, Kane stepped forward. “Let’s go.” He took Sarah’s arm and led his team out into the night to track the male Kane had blood-bonded with.

  Sarah caught her breath as they emerged from the cave, and she was hit with the full darkness of the evening. She was really outside the village in the night, a target for all who had been trying to kill her. She glanced around as Ryland materialized out of the shadows and took his place by her left side. Kane was on her right, and Thano was tight on her heels. A triangle of protection by three massive warriors as they escorted her into the midst of the very hell that had been trying to kill her and her kind for the last thousand years.

  Her heart started to pound, and then she felt Kane’s hand settle on the back of her neck. Sarah.

  She glanced up at him, but he wasn’t looking at her. He was searching the night vigilantly as they moved forward. What?

  When you called out my weapon, that completed another stage of the bond. We’re getting close. His satisfaction vibrated through her, the male appreciation of claiming his woman.

  She swallowed and placed her hand over the brand on her arm, knowing that she was being pulled inextricably into his web. Eventually, she wouldn’t be able to get out. A part of her loved it and felt the absolute rightness of it…and another part of her thrummed with a fear so ingrained that it was almost paralyzing.

  The bond will keep you safe from me. I can’t hurt my sheva. He brushed his fingers over the back of her neck and sent her a mental push of warmth.

  But beneath his strength, she felt a ripple of uneasiness. Kane’s.

  Because he was no longer so certain that he wasn’t meant to kill her.

  Sarah thought of the bruises on her neck, and prayed that she was right to trust him.

  *

  An hour later, Kane crouched low, peering over the cliff as he watched his quarry descend into the valley flanked by the forest. The earth seemed to descend into a V, and at the bottom of the crevice was pure darkness, so thick that even Kane’s preternatural vision couldn’t penetrate it. The Calydon they’d been following seemed to literally vanish into the crevice.