Her? Who? “We can help—”
Real pain flickered in Luc’s eyes. “No,” he said. “You can’t. There’s only one way, and that is for Kane to take my place and free me from the bondage that has kept me here for seven hundred years.” And with that, he whirled her around and flung her into the pit that had sucked down Thano.
*
Kane!
Kane whirled around as Sarah tumbled through the air, heading straight for the black hole. “Son of a bitch.” He broke into a dead run, straining with everything he had to teleport, but there was no response from his body. No tingling from his cells. “Shit!” He ran harder, plowing through the Calydons, not even flinching as the blows rained down. His entire being was centered on Sarah, his entire soul focused on the woman falling into the pit.
He reached the edge of the pit and launched himself into the air. Sarah reached for him, and he caught her wrist. He tried to dematerialize instantly, and again, nothing happened. Son of a bitch! He yanked Sarah against him, locking her against his chest as they tumbled through the air. Kane looked below them and saw only a bottomless pit of blackness. Smoke swirled beneath them, and there was the most horrific scent of rot and suffering, of death, of evil, bubbling up from the earth.
He knew then that they would die if they went in there.
There was no rescuing of Thano. Nothing could survive that. Nothing.
I will. Sarah’s voice was grim. That won’t kill me.
Kane realized suddenly what she was saying. She wouldn’t die from that. She would live an eternity of torment and suffering, unable to die to escape from it.
“Unleash the beast!” Ryland shouted as he raced down the hill toward them. “Let it go, Kane!”
Kane suddenly remembered how Ryland had broken the spell. By turning into a monster. Sarah gripped Kane tighter and met his gaze. I trust you, Kane. Do it. The heat from the inferno was raging now, and Kane could feel it burning his skin. They were inches, seconds from hell.
He kissed her hard, then he stopped fighting the darkness within him. He embraced it. He embraced the nightmare that he’d seen in the vision. He allowed the darkness that had been hunting him to simply take over.
The pain tore through him with violent force, erupting from him. Violence, hate, death, a thousand murders, bodies strewn across the earth, the joy of seeing such destruction. Kane embraced it all, and he opened himself to it. Suddenly there was an explosion of red light from his body. He screamed from the evil spewing through him, but at the same time, he felt sudden lightness in his cells, and he knew that he’d broken free of the dark tendrils.
Sarah gasped and gripped him tightly. Now, Kane, now!
Kane immediately tried to teleport again, and this time, he felt both of them begin to disintegrate.
“Wait for me!” Ryland launched himself off the edge of the pit and dove straight down toward them, narrowing his body like a spear to slice through the air. He reached for Kane as they began to dissolve. Kane lunged for him, and their fingers touched as they vanished, making contact just in time.
Kane had a split second to revel in the triumph of their escape, when he heard Luc’s laughter, and he realized that somehow, they had just played right into a trap that Luc had set for them.
It wasn’t a victory. Not for them. But what battle had they just lost?
Chapter Fourteen
Sarah tumbled to the hardwood floor of her grandmother’s house, her body aching as she landed, still wrapped in Kane’s arms. Ryland crashed beside her, and Kane landed with a thud.
For a moment, none of them moved. Her body was shaking violently from the aftermath of using her powers, and the two warriors were bloody and ragged.
Kane rolled over, pulling her under him, his dark eyes searching hers. Sarah? You okay?
Sarah nodded, still trying to catch her breath. Kane’s body was warm and heavy on hers, filling her with a sense of safety, of respite. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, clinging desperately. She could still see that pit, bubbling with things so awful that she couldn’t even imagine them. “That was so close.”
“Nah,” Ryland said, his voice strained. “It was a piece of cake.”
Sarah turned her head, and she was relieved to see that Ryland’s face was still human. His body was still streaked with the slashes, and his clothes were torn. But the nightmare that had consumed him was gone.
“You okay, man?” Kane asked, still not moving from Sarah, as if he couldn’t bear to separate them, which was fine with her.
Ryland sat up and propped himself against the wall, draping his arms over his knees. “Yeah.”
“What happened to you out there?”
Ryland’s eyes glittered with something dark. “Nothing.”
“Nothing? Shit, man, you were—”
“Nothing.” Ryland interrupted again. “You imagined it.”
Kane narrowed his eyes, and then he nodded once, giving Ryland his space. “For now, I imagined it, but eventually, I’m going to realize I didn’t, and I’m going to want answers.”
Ryland’s eyes were haunted. “Thano,” he said quietly.
Kane’s sudden grief beat at Sarah, and his body shook with the effort of containing his emotions. “I know.”
“Luc has to die,” Ryland said. “He has to.”
“Damn right he does.” He met his teammate’s gaze. “Any ideas?”
Ryland said nothing.
“Sarah!” There was a clatter from the kitchen, and Nonny flung open the living room door and raced inside. She took them in with a quick sweep and then swore. “Good God, what kind of defenders are you? I thought the Order of the Blade was tough!” But there was kindness in her voice, and she immediately went to the closet and pulled out a stack of Navajo patterned blankets.
She draped one over Ryland’s shoulders, and Sarah was surprised to see the surly warrior accept it silently, giving Nonny a nod of appreciation. Nonny wrapped one over Kane, who grudgingly rolled off Sarah, and wrapped it around her instead, pulling her tight into his arms.
The blanket was warm, encasing Sarah like a cocoon. She felt it tuck itself around her, a protective energy that tingled through her skin, easing the tightness in her chest. They were the same blankets that Nonny had wrapped around her so many times growing up, the ones that Nonny had kept on her for months and months after the attack.
Kane ran his hand over her arm, and squeezed lightly on the brands. She looked at her arm and saw another line had joined the others. The handle of his flail was done, and one of the spiked balls was outlined. Another stage had been completed, tightening the bond. When? What had they done? Fear rippled through her at the realization that he was drawing her more and more tightly under his spell, like Mason had.
When I dove over the pit to save you, Kane said, his voice low and satisfied in her mind. I risked my life to save yours, so that’s my half of the death stage.
Sarah swallowed, her throat tightening as she remembered how he’d launched himself into the air after her. At that point, he couldn’t even teleport, and he had no way out once he was airborne, but he’d done it anyway, willing to risk his own life for the chance of being able to save hers. And it had worked. Thank you.
He pressed his lips to her arm. There can be no other path but for us to bond and for me to protect you.
Sarah watched his face, but she saw no danger in it. There was none of the monster that he’d unleashed to break Luc’s hold on him. He just seemed like Kane, and she relaxed, suddenly realizing how exhausted she felt. For the moment, she was safe in his arms.
Nonny eyed Kane, but she made no comment as she draped another blanket around his shoulders. Kane shuddered as she wrapped it around him, and Sarah knew he was feeling the same impact as she did from the blankets. “They’re special wool,” Sarah explained.
“I can tell.” Kane tugged the blanket around his shoulders, wrapping his arms around Sarah, and pulling her back against his chest more securely.
Nonny looked around
the room, one more blanket dangling from her hand. “Where’s my young stallion?”
Sarah felt the wave of grief from Ryland and Kane, and her own chest tightened. No one spoke, and Nonny’s face suddenly became old. “My dear boy,” she said quietly as she turned away and set the blanket on the table.
She picked up a candle from the window sill and set it on the floor between Ryland and Kane. Then she held her palm over it and whispered a prayer. A light breeze drifted over Sarah’s cheeks, and then a small flame flared to life, flickering gently in the dimly lit cabin. “May Thano’s spirit be at peace,” Nonny said.
Kane made a sound of pain, and he held out his hand to the flame. “May Thano’s spirit be at peace,” he said gruffly.
“Fuck that.” Ryland lashed out with his foot, knocking over the candle. “It’s not over until I see his body.” He lurched to his feet. “I’m going outside.”
“No.” Nonny rose off her haunches, blocking Ryland’s exit. “It’s not dawn yet. It is not time. Now, you rest. During the day, you plan. Tomorrow night, you go out. It is then that you will get your reprisal.”
Ryland’s eyes flashed, and his lip curled in a snarl. “Oh, trust me, you don’t need to worry. I’m not going to get myself killed. The bastard can’t get that lucky. Tomorrow, he fucking dies.” Then he slammed his heel down on the candle, crushing the flame, and stalked out the front door, slamming it behind him.
Nonny sat down heavily on a chair, and peered at Sarah and Kane. Sarah felt the weight of her grandmother’s worry in the hunch of the old woman’s shoulders and the lines around her mouth. “Bad night,” Nonny observed. “Did anything worthwhile occur?”
“We found the source,” Sarah said, leaning her head back against Kane’s shoulder, needing to feel his strength around her. She knew her body was drained and depleted, and it felt good to be able to let Kane support her. “We found the leader.”
Anticipation gleamed in Nonny’s eyes, and excitement danced across her features. “You found him? He showed himself to you?”
“Yes. He said his name was Luc Acostos, and that he needed a replacement.”
“Luc Acostos?” Recognition flashed across Nonny’s face, and then fear, real fear.
Sarah sat up. “You know him? What do you know?”
“I have heard rumors, but I didn’t believe them. I didn’t think they were true.”
Sarah frowned. “What rumors? I’ve never heard of him.”
“Javier told me about him, and even he said they were rumors.” Nonny’s gaze shifted between Sarah and Kane, and she seemed to hesitate. “Luc Acostos is the link between the demon world and the angels,” she said. “He was once an angel, but he made a bad choice and was condemned forever.” She looked at Sarah. “He was once like you.”
Kane shifted, his body tensing. “What did he do?”
Nonny sat down in front of them and picked up the candle again. “He was an angel of death, and he came to our village to claim a young woman. But he fell in love with her instantly, and he refused to kill her.”
Sarah thought of how Mason hadn’t had that same aversion to killing her, and anger rippled through her. How come Mason hadn’t been that strong? “Can an angel of death do that?”
“No. It is impossible for an angel to ignore a death call, so what he did was unthinkable. He shifted the death call onto someone else.” Nonny set Thano’s candle upright. “He used his love for his woman to overrule his compulsion to kill her and killed an innocent instead. It was the first time that an angel had ever been able to do that, and the repercussions were extraordinary.”
Sarah glanced at Kane, and thought of the sheva bond and how Kane managed to break through Luc’s hold on him to save her. Was Kane the kind of man who could do that?
“The demons were able to claim him instantly, and they did, turning him into a demon more powerful than most because of his angelic origins. Because of his connections to angels, they were able to use him to prey on angels. He became their tool to destroy this village and the angels, and to free up the land so that demons could cross over. He guards the link between their world and ours, and his job has been to weaken the barriers between the worlds until the demons can pass over.” She met Sarah’s gaze. “He is bound to these woods forever.”
Sarah thought back to what Luc had said. “He wants to be free of the bondage.” She looked at Kane. “He said he needs you to do it.”
Kane narrowed his eyes. “Me? Why?”
They both looked at Nonny, but she shook her head. “That I don’t know, but if Luc Acostos truly is the one haunting our woods, then he has the immortality of a demon. This is not good.” She held her hands over the candle and lit Thano’s flame again.
The orange light flickered and danced, casting shadows on the walls.
For a long moment, no one spoke, and the only movement in the room was the flickering of Thano’s candle.
Eventually, Nonny stood up, walked over to the closet and pulled out a stack of linens. She set it on the couch, then opened the door to the spare bedroom, the one Sarah had slept in when she was recovering from the attack by Mason. “You both need sleep. Tomorrow, we will talk.” Defiance flared in her eyes. “Tomorrow, we will plan.” She walked over to Sarah and pressed a kiss to her forehead, and Sarah reached up to hug her.
Nonny’s arms wrapped around her, a fierce hug so much stronger than an old lady should be capable of. Sarah clung to her, to the wiry body that had been her sole support for so long. God, she wanted to be a little girl again so her nightmares could be washed away by Nonny’s special blanket and a glass of warm milk. Not anymore. She wasn’t a little girl. There was no magical solution. “I’m sorry, Nonny,” she whispered. “I’m sorry for letting you down.”
Nonny pulled back and shook her head. “Apologies are for the weak and pathetic, Sarah. You owe me nothing.” Her gaze went between them. “Sarah, you—” She hesitated suddenly, indecision flashing across her face. Then Nonny shook her head and stood up. “Rest well, both of you.”
“Wait!” Sarah sat up as her grandmother headed toward her bedroom. “What were you about to say?”
Nonny didn’t look back. She just waved her hand. “You aren’t ready for it.” Then she walked into the bedroom and slammed the door shut.
*
Kane leaned his head back against the wall as Sarah slipped out of his arms. She stood up and faced him. Her blond hair was tousled and tangled around her shoulders, and her eyes were heavy with shadows and weariness. Her skin was pale, the aftereffects of her using her white light on him. But in those shadows was softness, warmth, the woman he’d thrown himself into a pit for.
Somehow, the need to save her had given him the strength to do the impossible and break the bond. “You make me a better warrior,” he said. He felt drained and exhausted, and Thano weighed heavily on his soul, so heavily he could feel it almost crushing him. His body hurt, a sharp, throbbing pain that never seemed to cease, and even his soul seemed to be laced with acid, burning him with every breath he took. But somehow, despite all that, simply being in Sarah’s presence made it all seem to fade into a throbbing ache. “You give me respite from who I am.”
Sarah hugged the blanket tighter around her and smiled. Her gentle, endearing expression softened her eyes and made something tug in his heart. “You are not so bad yourself, Kane Santiago.”
He smiled then, something twisting in his gut. A need to protect, to care for her, to be the man that Mason had never been. “You need to sleep.”
“You do, too.”
“Ten minutes and I’ll be fine.” He gripped the doorframe and hauled himself to his feet, surprised at how much his legs were aching. He looked down and saw black stains around his legs, the remnants of the tendrils that had been holding him, keeping him from using his powers. He frowned, surprised to see them. He’d felt something snap when he’d erupted, and he’d felt the distinct release of being freed from the bonds of something…but he didn’t know what.
Sarah walked over to the couch, drawing his attention. She was moving gingerly, as if her body was on the verge of crumbling. “I’ll help you make up the couch—”
“No.” He caught her arm. “We’re sleeping together in the bedroom.”
Sarah stiffened, but he didn’t miss the surge of desire in her eyes. “Kane, that’s not smart.”
“Why not?” He let his blanket drop to the floor and grasped her hips, pulling her toward him.
Sarah put her hand on his forearm, bracing herself against him. “Because there’s so much going on. I don’t know what is happening, or who you are or what—”
“I’m me.” He pressed his lips to the side of her neck and smiled when she sucked in her breath. But even as he spoke, visions of what Luc had showed him flashed through his mind. Kane immediately swore and dropped his hands from her. Sweat beaded across his brow, and he stepped back. “Shit.”
“No!” Sarah came after him. “Don’t think about that—”
He met her gaze. “That’s what you were talking about, wasn’t it? That I could have really murdered my own sheva and son, right? That I could be Mason all over again?” He held her arm, showing both of them the marks. “That these don’t protect you from me.” He gripped her shoulders, suddenly filled with revulsion for who he was. How could he even think about seducing Sarah, when he could be the very creature that she feared the most?
Sarah’s eyes glowed luminous, and he saw in them the answer she didn’t want to give. That she was afraid of that, too.
And how could she not be? They’d both be fools if they didn’t acknowledge that as a real truth, as a real possibility, especially when he could feel that same darkness still swirling through him. Something had happened to him when he’d snapped in the air, and he didn’t know what it was. Not yet. But something was changing inside him. “Can’t you feel that, Sarah?” He took her hand and pressed it to his chest. “There’s something happening inside me.”
Darkness Reborn (Order of the Blade #5) Page 21