Darkness Reborn (Order of the Blade #5)

by Rowe, Stephanie

  “Where’s he going?” Thano asked. “You think there’s a beauty salon down there? Maybe he’s getting a manicure.”

  “Probably,” Kane replied. “What else do you have to do in these woods other than get beautified?”

  “No.” Sarah was crushed up against his side, sandwiched between him and Thano so tightly that not even a breath could come between them. Ryland was at her back, guarding her from anything coming up behind them.

  Their trip through the woods had been uneventful. Nothing had come after Sarah or the rest of them. But the woods had been too silent, devoid of even the smallest animals. They were being hunted, and they all knew it.

  “I’ve been near it during the day,” Sarah said. “It’s pure evil. I can’t even get close to it without getting violently sick. The only ones who can get near there are the men. The women all get sick, but I’m the worst.” The townspeople had all heard rumors about the existence of the place, but no one had ever been able to find it. Sarah had searched for it for years, always during the day. And then one day, she’d stumbled across it, and she’d known instantly what it was. The evil had crept over her like some insidious taint, and she’d barely made it back to the village before falling into a fever that had lasted for weeks.

  She’d never gone back, though she’d spent many hours watching it from afar, trying to figure out what it was and what she could do about it.

  “Oh…” Thano said, anticipation humming in his voice. “That sounds like just the kind of place we like.”

  Kane looked over at her. “Did Mason or Jacob ever go in there?”

  Sarah nodded, remembering all too well how she’d warned them to stay away. “They couldn’t sense anything wrong with it. They went in and out all the time, and said there was nothing in there but grass and plants. They didn’t believe me that there was something wrong with it.”

  Kane looked at his team, and Thano and Ryland both nodded. “We need to go in there.”

  Sarah grimaced, and a cold chill shuddered over her. “I don’t know—”

  You can do it. Kane’s voice washed over her, and she felt his strength wrapping around her. I can shield you, and you’ve got the water. And if you start to crash, I’ll get you out.

  He was right. She knew she wasn’t on her own this time, and she did need to get in there and find out what was going on. Sarah took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay.” She pulled the flask off her belt and poured some in her hands to rub it over her skin. Her skin tingled when she did it, energy surging through her.

  “Let me.” Kane poured some into his hands and ran his palms over her arms. His touch was like fire, electric and sizzling, and she instantly sucked in her breath.

  “Hell,” Ryland stepped back, his face contorted. “I can feel the lust between you guys. Jesus, Kane, she’s an angel. You can’t think about her like that.”

  Sarah felt her cheeks heat up in embarrassment. He can sense that?

  Ignore him. Kane poured more water in his hands and ran his hands over her head, drenching her hair. His touch was hot and sexy, and she had a sudden urge to simply throw him down and attack him. He’s got some issue with you being an angel.

  Ryland and Thano turned their backs, staying close, but giving them privacy, which embarrassed Sarah even further. It’s not like we’re having sex.

  Kane’s eyes were gleaming as he ran his hands over her hips, spreading water over her jeans. Sweetheart, every time I touch you, I can remember every detail about having you under me, about making love to you, and feeling our bodies and spirits intertwined. So, yeah, we’re not having sex, but it’s there, in the currents in the air, in the electricity jumping between us, in the heat burning my palms, and they can feel it just as much as we can.

  Sarah swallowed, her heart thudding in her ears. We’re in the middle of the woods, Kane, about to go down into the crevasse of hell, or whatever it is. How can there actually be chemistry leaping between us right now? I’m an angel! I’m not a sex maniac!

  Kane laughed, a deep, rolling sound that seemed to catch her embarrassment and roll it up into a cocoon of warmth. You’re my sheva, sweetheart. It comes with the territory.

  It does not! It was never like this with Mason!

  Kane’s eyes darkened, and a flicker of something dangerous lit them up. It’s a damned good thing it was never like this with Mason. And if it was, you’d better keep that from me.

  Sarah stared at him, her insides curling into a warm knot at the lethal expression on his face, on her behalf. You’re jealous of a dead man who betrayed me so badly I almost died?

  No. Kane poured the last bit of water down the back of her neck, the water trickling over her spine like invisible fingers caressing each vertebra. I want to kill the bastard who betrayed you, but I want you to be thinking about only me when it comes to getting naked. His fingers clamped around the back of her neck, hauling her against him. You may have had a man before, a child, a family, but you are the only thing I’ve had in my entire life worth living for, so I can’t even begin to handle the idea of you looking past me at someone else, even in your mind.

  His desperation was so fierce, so raw, so unbearably agonized that Sarah forgot all her fear, all her embarrassment, all the noise in her head, and it simply became about Kane. She knew what it was like to be lost, to be buried in loneliness, to go to bed at night and feel the silence of the world closing in on her. Unlike Kane, she had a past, yes, but everything that had mattered to her had been stripped away, leaving her as isolated and alone as Kane was. Kane. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. It wasn’t a kiss of desire or lust, it was the only way she could show him that she got him.

  He growled and yanked her against him the minute she kissed him. His kiss was raw and possessive, so full of need and desire that it burned through her like fire, igniting every cell and spiking through her very soul. It was even more than the night they’d made love, because this time, she was kissing the man, not a gallant, sexy rescuer.

  His hands went to her hips, and she could feel his erection grinding against her belly. It got hot fast, hands moving, kisses wandering, her heart racing—

  “Stop it!” Ryland roared with fury and yanked them apart. “Just fucking stop it!”

  Kane whipped out his flail and Ryland called out his machete, and they locked weapons instantly, both men tense with the need to kill.

  Sarah froze, afraid to move and trigger them. Kane. He didn’t hurt me. It’s okay. She could feel Kane’s intensity raging though him, his instinct to protect her, which was great, of course, and far better than an instinct to kill her, but there was so much violence laced through his energy that she knew there was serious danger going on.

  “Hey, old guys.” Thano moved between them, but she could see he was moving with caution, and he was keeping his hands free to call out his weapons if he needed to. “We all know you’re both fucked up, but the angel that we’ve all sworn to protect is going to get killed if we don’t all play nice with each other and take out the bad guys instead of the team.”

  Ryland swore, and his gaze went to Sarah. Not taking his gaze off her face, he sheathed his weapon, making it clear to all of them that it was Thano’s reminder of Sarah’s situation that had brought him back. He wasn’t doing it for Kane.

  Kane, however, didn’t stand down. “Do not covet my woman,” he said, his voice rippling with such anger that chills popped up over Sarah’s skin. “Unless you want me to kill you.”

  Thano set his hand on Ryland’s shoulder. “You know he’s right,” he said quietly. “There’s no Calydon alive that could watch another male with a hard-on for his female and not react. What the fuck are you doing, man? She’s his sheva. You shouldn’t even be able to notice her as a woman, let alone want her.”

  “She’s an angel,” Ryland said, his voice grim.

  “So?” Thano asked.

  Ryland finally looked at Thano, and there was something in his eyes burning so fiercely that Thano actually li
fted his hand to call out his weapon. “So, she is my salvation. She’s my only chance.”

  “No.” Kane stepped between them and carefully placed the flail at Ryland’s throat. “She is my salvation, Ryland. Not yours. Never yours.”

  Ryland’s eyes flashed. “No one claims an angel for their own.”

  “No?” Kane grabbed Sarah’s arm and shoved up her sleeve, showing Ryland her brand. “Those are my marks, Ryland. No matter what you think about how the world should be, destiny has chosen her for me. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t serve the greater good, because we all do that every damn day. But as a woman, she is not available, and if you can’t get that, we have a major problem because I’m no damn saint, Ry, and we both know it.”

  Ryland stared at her arm, his lip curled in a snarl. Sarah felt a brush of darkness from him, something evil, something terrible, and then he spun away. “Let’s go then,” he snapped, striding down the slope straight toward the crevasse.

  For a moment, no one moved to follow him.

  “Hell, man,” Thano said. “It’s impossible for him to want another male’s sheva. How is this happening to him?”

  “I don’t know.” Kane slipped his hand around Sarah’s and gripped tightly. “But it has to stop or we’re all going to be in serious shit.”

  “I’ll talk to him. Later.” Thano moved ahead of them, striding to catch up to Ryland.

  Kane didn’t hesitate, pulling Sarah quickly along to catch up to his team. Without a word passing between them, Thano and Ryland parted, allowing just enough space for Kane to push Sarah between them. Kane locked down her back side, setting up the triangle of protection once again.

  But this time, the tension rippling between the men was so thick she could almost touch it. How in heaven’s name were they going to be able to fight?

  Because we have one mission, Kane said. To protect the greater good from rogue Calydons. Whatever these bastards are, they’re a threat against innocents, and we are sworn to protect that. You included. Everything is secondary to that.

  Sarah glanced back over her shoulder at Kane, and he flashed her a grim smile. In the shadows of the moon, in the darkness of the night, he loomed huge and muscular, a force powerful enough to destroy anything that came at him. Including her. How are the scars, Kane?

  He didn’t look away from her. They’re still fading, Sarah.

  Fear rippled through her, and she touched the bruises on her neck. Then, there was a flash of black light and a crack, and Kane’s weapon appeared in her hand. She jerked back, startled, and Ryland shot her a look of such agonized yearning that her heart broke for him.

  No. Kane’s voice eased through her mind as they neared the edge of the crevasse. Don’t think about Ryland. Don’t think about the bruises. Think only about the fact that I made you call my weapon, and you did it. I have the power to resist, and you have the power to defend yourself.

  She nodded, her mouth suddenly dry as they reached the edge. One step over it, and the assault on her senses would start.

  Kane set his hand on the back of her neck, his touch strong and protective. “Focus only on your strength, Sarah. Trust your team. There is no other way.”

  Thano raised his halberd over Sarah’s head, and Kane did the same with his flail. The weapons clinked as they made contact. Sarah? Slowly, she raised Kane’s other flail and let it rest against the other two.

  They all looked at Ryland. For a long moment, he simply stared into the blackness of the pit. He took a step, one foot disappearing into the blackness. Literally. His foot was gone. Ryland cursed under his breath, then raised his machete and slammed it against the other three weapons. The crash ripped through the night and vibrated all the way down Sarah’s arm, but she immediately felt a shift in the air between the three men.

  They were a team again, to the death.

  They lowered their weapons, then as a unit, they moved forward. Kane slipped his fingers around her wrist, locking his grip in an iron band that she knew nothing would be able to break through. He was making sure there would always be physical contact between them so he could teleport her to safety. She glanced up at him, and he shot her a brief smile before looking past her into the darkness.

  Sarah paused as they reached the edge, concentrating on the wetness of her skin from the water and Kane’s grip on her arm. Then she took a deep breath, embraced the nightmare that had been stalking her for her entire life, and stepped off the edge into the void.

  Chapter Twelve

  His stallion’s feet were silent on the forest floor, the iron-shod hooves leaving no prints in the dirt. Warwick Cardiff bent low over his steed’s neck, the animal’s black mane whipping against Warwick’s chest. Beneath him, his mount’s muscles strained, sweat caked on the horse’s neck and shoulders. The power of the beast was extraordinary, and Warwick urged him onward, riding hard, both the mount and the rider exhilarating in the display of strength and power. Deathbringer had been Warwick’s mount for over a hundred years, and the partnership was far tighter than simply man and beast. It was an intertwining of souls, the one living entity on the earth that Warwick could trust.

  They burst out of the woods, and the animal leapt over the rubble of buildings that no longer stood, his hooves silent even on the rocky pebbles. Before him, stepping out from the shadows was the man…the creature…Warwick had come to see.

  Warwick reined his steed to a halt, stopping inches from the man lurking in the shadows. He looked down at the creature whose eyes were like bottomless pits of hell, whose skin was stretched across his skeleton like the burned-out hide of an animal long dead. “Luc,” he said, not dismounting. He knew better than to trust these creatures who roamed the woods.

  Luc Acostos went down on one knee, bowing to Warwick while Deathbringer danced restlessly, his massive hooves thudding dangerously close to Luc’s feet. “My lord,” he said. “The pieces are in place.”

  “You lost him,” Warwick said, dripping his disdain over the demonic creature before him. “You had him, and you let him go.”

  Luc’s head snapped up, his eyes glittering dangerously. “Santiago is strong. That’s why he’s the one I need.”

  “I don’t give a shit about what you need.” Warwick glared down at him. “The angel must die. Santiago is the key to that, and you need to make sure it happens.” He pulled a rose out of his black cape, crumpled it in his hand, and then flung it at Luc’s feet. “Or she will be gone forever.”

  Luc made a noise of agony, of such distress, that Warwick smiled. He knew that kind of pain, and he knew Luc would do whatever it took to save the woman he loved. Warwick knew it, because that was what had driven him for the last seven hundred years. Redemption for the woman who had died in his arms.

  Disgust curled Warwick’s lip as Luc gathered the crushed red petals, cradling them in his hands as if they were the greatest treasure known to humankind. “Tonight, Luc.”

  Tonight was when the Order of the Blade was going to begin to fall. Finally. Completely. Until it was nothing but ashes and smoldering vomit, as it deserved to be.

  Luc looked up sharply. “Tonight? It can’t be tonight. Santiago found the river, and Sarah’s strong again—”

  “He did?” Enraged, Warwick whirled his mount around toward the fountain. It lay in a pathetic pile of crumbled stone, so dry he could taste the dust on his skin. “Where—” Then he saw it. The massive hole in the ground. Furious, Warwick urged Deathbringer over to the opening. Beneath it flowed the pure, clear water that kept Sarah alive, giving life to the angel who had to die.

  Warwick reached beneath his cape and pulled out his wand, a supple, pliant stick of highly polished wood from the tree that marked the grave of his beloved Audrey. He summoned his magic into the wand, and violet and silver sparks crackled violently from the end of it. For a split second, he almost hesitated, grimly aware that if he destroyed the river completely, it wouldn’t affect only Sarah, but the entire earth would be profoundly impacted.

  The he l
aughed softly at the irony of his thoughts. “Sacrifice one to preserve the greater good,” he said bitterly, mimicking the Order of the Blade mission statement that still made fury and disgust burn through him. “No longer,” he said. “Today it is sacrifice the greater good to preserve one.”

  Then he pointed his wand at the river, and he invoked the power of the demons in his incantation. A bolt of light streaked from the end of his wand, and neither he nor Deathbringer flinched when the earth erupted in a shriek of agony, and then collapsed, burying the river beneath a ton of rocks so tainted that they bled black as they fell into the water.

  He spun his mount back toward Luc, who was clenching the rose petals in his hand. “Now, it is up to you. Do not dare to disappoint me.”

  A slow, insidious grin stretched across the face of the creature masquerading as a man. “Have no fear, my lord. It will be done.” He turned his head away from Warwick, scenting the air. Then he stiffened and went into high alert.

  “Did you find him?” Warwick asked, stroking Deathbringer’s shoulder as his mount shifted restlessly.

  “I did. He is mine.” Then the demon-man dissolved into a tendril of thick, noxious smoke that immediately streaked through the night and disappeared into the woods.

  For a long moment, Warwick did not move. He simply closed his eyes and breathed in the silence of the night, the freshness of the air, the freedom of the breeze rippling over his skin. Anticipation hummed through him, and he smiled, the first true smile he’d felt in over seven hundred years.

  Slowly, he shoved up his sleeve and looked at the markings on his arm. The brand of his own weapon, the battle axe that he hadn’t bothered to call out in over five hundred years, since he’d walked away from the Order and their mission. And there, woven into his own brand was the name Audrey, carved there with his axe the very last time he’d ever called it out.