Darkness Reborn (Order of the Blade #5) (17 page)

But it simply parted around his weapon, streaking past him, still dragging Thano. "Thano!" Kane dove on Thano as the warrior was ripped past him. He locked onto his teammate, and instantly dematerialized, taking Thano with him. But as he faded, he felt Thano's body resisting the teleportation, his cells refusing to disintegrate. "Shit!" Kane rematerialized, still holding onto Thano as they were yanked and dragged, tumbling across the earth as they were sucked along.

"Get out of there!" Ryland shouted, pointing past him.

Kane turned and saw a gaping black hole in the earth. The air above it was murky, roiling with violent green, purple and black. "Son of a bitch." He concentrated his energy on Thano, who was still relentlessly hacking at the thing wrapped around him. "Thano! Don't shut me out!"

"I'm not," he yelled back. "It's not me. Get us the fuck out of here, Kane!"

Swearing, Kane gripped Thano tighter and opened his mental connection to his teammate. They weren't blood bonded, but when they were close, they could talk mind-to-mind like any Calydons. Thano's mind met his, and he sensed the warrior's grim desperation. They locked onto each other, and Kane made sure they were tightly connected.

"Now!" Ryland shouted. "Now!"

"Kane!" Sarah yelled, her voice frantic. "You're almost there!"

With a furious burst of power, Kane poured all his energy into Thano, tearing apart his cells and yanking him ruthlessly into the dematerialization. They began to fade, and Kane felt a surge of triumph—

Then Thano was torn out of his grasp, and both warriors bellowed in fury as they were ripped apart. Kane lunged for Thano as the younger warrior plunged over the edge of the hole. "Go," Thano shouted as he was yanked over the edge. "This isn't about me! I'm not your mission!" Then he was gone, and Kane was hurtling over the edge after him—

Kane!
Sarah's voice ripped through his mind.
You can't save him that way! Don't go in there!

With a roar of agony, Kane dematerialized, and he landed beside Ryland and Sarah, his body screaming from the effort. He landed hard on the earth, his body shaking as the black taint rushed over him, eating away at his skin. Son of a bitch. He'd lost Thano.
He'd lost him.

He stumbled to his feet, as Ryland and Sarah hurried over. "We have to get him," he managed, barely able to stand through the pain. It felt like his skin was being torn off his body, like his flesh was being ripped from the bone. "Now!"

Ryland was already racing toward the hole, his machete out as he bellowed his rage. Kane grabbed Sarah, and they sprinted after him. But even as they raced after him, Kane saw another black tendril spring out of the earth right at Ryland. "Ry!" he shouted. "Watch out—"

Ryland vaulted over the tendril, hacking at it with his machete. It twisted and turned, trying to track him as he leapt over it. "Stupid bastard," he yelled. "You don't get to have me—" It grabbed at his ankle and hauled him back toward the hole, tearing through the air as Ryland shouted his rage.

Sarah let go of Kane. "Get him," she shouted. "Go!"

Kane didn't waste any time. He immediately dematerialized and teleported to mid-air where Ryland was being dragged down toward the hole. Ryland met Kane's gaze, and Kane saw his teammate's eyes were blood red. Pure, raw evil was pouring out of Ryland, so thick that Kane's hands burned where they touched his flesh. "Fuck that bastard, Santiago," Ryland snarled. "Get me the fuck out of here."

Inches from the churning miasmas of smoke spewing out of the hole, Kane dematerialized again. He felt a scream of rage from the smoke, and he felt Ryland's body resist the dematerialization just like Thano's had. But then, something violent and evil ripped out of Ryland. There was a flash of crimson light, streaked with putrid brown and black slashes. It lit up the night, and the smoke that had been gripping Ryland so tightly screamed in agony and suddenly Ryland's body was released and he disintegrated with Kane.

Kane teleported them to the hill just below Sarah, both men landing with a staggering impact. Kane braced his hands on the earth, fighting against the pain, his body vibrating with the shock of whatever Ryland had unleashed. "What the hell was that?"

Ryland was on his stomach in the dirt, not moving, his head turned toward the side, away from Kane.

"Ry?" Then Kane saw Sarah's expression. She was on her knees on the other side of Ryland, staring at Ryland's face. She was frozen in sheer terror, her eyes wide, her mouth open, her body trembling.

"Sarah?" Raw dread pulsed through Kane and he saw Ryland's body twitch. Violent black, brown and red slashes appeared on his skin, as if he were being flayed with an invisible whip before their very eyes.

"Oh, God." Sarah began to back away from Ryland, and he felt the raw coldness of terror so deep it could destroy one's very soul. "Kane," she whispered. "You need to see this."

"What?
What?
" Kane lurched to his feet and vaulted over Ryland's twitching body, tackling Sarah and yanking her back from Ryland. Once he had her a safe distance from Ryland, Kane shoved her behind him as he whirled to face his teammate.

Then he saw what Sarah had seen, and his blood ran cold. "Hell, man," he whispered. "What the fuck are you?"

Ryland's face was gone. In its place was a smoky, turbulent facade of shifting shadows. Black, red, green, purple. Where his eyes should have been were two black abysses, bottomless pits of raging fire, of spirits screaming in agony. Thousands and thousands of spirits, trapped in the abyss, screaming to be saved, suffering agony beyond words.

Kane held up his flail, reaching behind him to make sure Sarah was still within reach. "Ryland," he said quietly. "Come back to us. We need your help."

The warrior didn't move, but his body was still twitching, and more and more slashes were appearing on his skin, tearing his clothes, ripping chunks out of his flesh.

"Ryland!" Kane yelled. "Get the fuck back here! Your angel needs you!"

Still no response, and the ground beneath Ryland began to churn, spewing bits of dirt and earth into the air. "Shit," Kane swore.

"This isn't the pit that's doing it," Sarah said, her hand tight on Kane's back. "I've never seen that before. This is him."

"Ryland!" Kane shouted. Shit. What would Dante do for Ryland? Dante had been their leader, the only one who'd been able to provide peace to Ryland. Thano had seemed to have a connection with Ry, but... Guilt and grief welled through Kane. Thano was gone. Kane was all Ry had left, but he had no idea how to help him. How to bring him back—

His brands suddenly burned in his arms, and Kane 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.

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. 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, lunging for her, but his hands met only earth. Her body began to shake, and others rushed into the room, people shouting and holding her. Some staggering and gagging from the taint in the room. The vileness of the atmosphere was palpable, and some ran out, shouting for help.

People surrounded her, cutting off his view of her, and Kane bellowed his rage, trying to get to see her—

Then someone stood up, carrying a baby. A boy. Him? The crowd parted, and he saw the outline of his mother's body beneath a tattered black blanket. Seeping from the edges of the blanket, inching its way through the crevices in the wood was a thick, black stain, eating away at the very fabric of the home.

Kane stared in horror at his mother, bile rising in his throat. "What happened to her?"

"You did," Luc's voice was dripping with disgust, with disdain, with hatred so thick that it tore through Kane's memories and jerked him out of the past.

Kane looked up in shock. "What?"

"You killed her." Luc spat on Kane, his lip curled in disgust. "You destroyed her, you bastard cretin. I was coming back for her. We had a plan. And you fucking killed her."

The truth of Luc's words reverberated through Kane, and pain stabbed through him, tearing through his flesh and his soul. "Son of a bitch." He bent over and braced his hands on his quads, fighting for breath. How could he have killed his own mother? But he felt the truth of it. He knew that taint was his. He'd poisoned her before he had even been born.

Kane,
Sarah said.
Don't listen to him. He's trying to torment you—

"No!" He gasped. "I can feel it. It's true."

"And now you pay for it." Luc lashed out suddenly, and Kane felt his heart stutter. He looked down and saw a black shadow had pierced his chest and was trying to rip his heart out of his body.

"Stop it!" Sarah called out Kane's flail and hurled it at Luc. He glanced over at her too late, and it slammed right into his chest, hurling him backward and ripping his shadowy arm out of Kane's chest.

Kane gasped for breath, his mind reeling as he fought for clarity. He had to focus. Had to concentrate—

Luc was on his knees now, glowering at Kane, but he didn't attack again. "In due time," he snarled. "But first you suffer."

More visions flashed into Kane's mind, thundering through his consciousness. He was in a small cabin in the woods. The night was beating at the doors, the windows rattling, but there was a fire in the hearth. He was restless, pacing the room, his skin on fire. He reached for the door, and then a soft voice called his name.

He turned as a woman walked out of the bedroom. She had white blond hair, blue eyes, and a smile so tender that Kane nearly choked. She was young, shit, so young, barely eighteen. She smiled at him, and he saw brands on her arms. His brands. His soul mate. "Son of a bitch." He didn't know her name. He had no clue who she was, but those were his brands. She belonged to him. "Jesus." His chest hurt, his lungs hurt, he couldn't breathe. This was who he was. His past. His family.

Kane.
Sarah's hands were on his shoulders, and he gripped them tightly, trying to pull himself back from the images. But he couldn't. He didn't want to. He wanted to find out about his past. To know the people who had been important to him.

Another scene now. The same woman. Working outside in the garden. She turned toward him, and a smile lit up her face. Not just a smile. Love. Son of a bitch. She'd loved him. He'd been
loved.
He reached for her, and then there was a shout from around the corner of the house.

His
sheva
turned and held out her arms, laughing as a young boy toddled toward her. The boy Kane had seen before in his dreams. Tousled curly hair. A muddy red shirt. The woman swept the boy up in her arms, their laughter echoing through the yard. God, they were happy. Then the boy looked toward Kane, and his heart almost stopped. The boy had his eyes. Sweet Jesus. "Is he my son?"

"He is," Luc said, violent disgust making his voice vibrate. "Do you feel their love? Do you feel their innocence?"

"God, yes." Kane tried to reach for them to touch them, but his hands just passed through air—

Then suddenly, his
sheva
whirled around, facing the woods. Her smile vanished, fear flickered across her face. She began to back toward the house, clutching the boy to her chest. She had her hand out, as if she was trying to ward off something.

Slowly with great dread, as if he knew what was coming, Kane turned his head to see what she was looking at, and he went rigid when he saw himself sprint out of the woods. His body was clean, not a scar to be seen, his muscles leaner with youth. He couldn't have been more than eighteen, barely a warrior.

But his eyes were glowing black, and he was wielding both his weapons as if for battle. She screamed and tried to run, and Kane leapt on her, raising his weapon and bringing it down toward her head—

Stop it!
Sarah blasted through his mind, shredding the image.

Kane gasped, his mind whirling, agony constricting his heart. "I killed them." Jesus. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't swallow. His emotions were tearing apart his insides. "I killed my son—"

"No!" Sarah grabbed his shoulders, forcing him to look at her. "It's not real, Kane! Luc is projecting them into your mind! It didn't happen! You wouldn't do that! It's not real."

He gripped her shoulders, his fingers digging into her in desperation. "Get away from me, Sarah. Get away before I do it to you."

"No!" She screamed at him and hammered on his chest. "Stop it!"

Then the images flashed. His
sheva
on the ground, blood pouring from a wound in her chest. His son on the ground next to her. Eyes closed. His face angelic even in death. Grief roared through Kane, and he staggered to his feet, unable to focus, to think. He'd killed them. He'd killed them all. Jesus Christ. He was the monster. He was the one who should have been struck down. It was him. He was the one. "No!" He bellowed his rage to the night, unable to contain the hell filling him.