Darkness Reborn (Order of the Blade #5) (24 page)

Sarah!
Kane's anguished bellow filled her mind, and then it was gone, and all she could hear was the mindless screams of thousands of people being sucked to their doom.

* * *

"Sarah!" Kane bellowed with raw terror as she disappeared into the muck. He immediately opened his mind to her. He found her instantly, and he tried to dematerialize...and nothing happened. "Shit!" He frantically charged through the sludge and dove into the mess where he'd seen her go down. The mud was thick and toxic, burning his skin as he fought to swim through it. The mire was blocking his path, not letting him through. Panic assaulted him, and he fought harder against the muck. "Sarah!"

A cold hand suddenly grabbed him around the neck, yanked him out of the mire and flung him into the woods. He landed on hard ground, and immediately began swinging his flail at the earth to dig through it to Sarah.
Sarah! I'm coming!

No response. It was as if she were dead. "No!" He screamed his rage, his desperation, his fury as he fought harder against the earth that had suddenly turned hard again. Taunting him. Not letting him through. He tried to dematerialize again, and nothing happened. "Shit!"

"Sucks, doesn't it?"

Kane whirled around and saw Luc lounging against a blackened tree trunk. His body was in shadows, undulating in and out of focus. His hair was streaked with soot, and his skin looked noxious and poisoned. His face was bony and haunted, but his eyes were glittering with power and intention. "I sat there and fought for Elizabeth after you killed her, but I couldn't save her." Luc's eyes narrowed. "Do you know why I couldn't save her?"

Kane clenched his flail, quickly assessing the situation. His entire team was gone, sucked into the muck with Sarah.
Ryland, you find her under there and keep her the fuck alive.
No answer. It was as if they were all dead to him. The only living creatures were Kane and Luc. "No. Tell me." His instincts were screaming at him to attack, to destroy Luc, but he didn't move. He knew Sarah would still be alive. Toxic swampland couldn't kill her. He knew it. He kept telling himself she was okay, trying to hold his shit together long enough to figure out how to get to her.

He was too experienced as a warrior to make a move without a plan, and he forced himself to stand still as his mind frantically sifted through possibilities.

"Because I'm bound to this hell," Luc spat out. "I can never leave, until I find a replacement."

"So I hear." Kane looked down at the earth that had swallowed Sarah. It was solid now. Locking her away from him. Fuck that. It couldn't be solid. There had to be a way through.

Luc hadn't moved, and he was watching Kane with an interested gleam. "There's no way through. I control the earth." And at his word, the earth began to seethe again. Kane dove into the earth, and it went solid before he hit it.

Kane!
Sarah's voice burst into his mind, and it was torn with agony. Pain. Suffering.
Hell.

His adrenaline went haywire, and he gripped his flail.
Sarah! Call me to you!
He felt a sharp gasp of pain as if she'd been struck, and then she screamed. His entire body began to shake with the need to save her, and he felt dark, brutal anger rolling through him. "Let her go, you bastard!"

Luc grinned. "Make me."

Sarah screamed again, and her suffering broke through the last reserves of Kane's control. He launched himself at Luc, and slammed his flail toward the male's head—only the demon turned to smoke and disappeared as Kane reached him. Kane landed and whirled around as Luc reformed behind him. Sarah screamed again in his head, tearing apart the last of Kane's sanity.

He bellowed with rage and attacked Luc, swinging ferociously. Luc howled with maniacal glee and attacked him, striking with hard, fast blows that inflamed Kane even further. He couldn't even think, couldn't plan, couldn't focus. Darkness just streamed through him, giving him strength and power, ripping through his controls until he was nothing but pain, violence and destruction.

He welcomed it. He let it consume him. He allowed it to infuse his body with power. His muscles strengthened, his speed quickened, and his body magically turned from flesh to smoke. Luc struck at Kane, but he had already turned to smoke and the older warrior's blade went right through where Kane used to be. Kane threw back his head and roared with victory, basking in the sensation of power tearing through him. He channeled the demon power into his cells, and his entire body turned to smoke.

Luc turned to smoke as well and then streaked through the woods and went straight down into the earth that had sucked down Sarah. Kane bellowed with power and rage and followed him, plunging straight into the ground, his body separating into thousands of smoke fragments as he finally, fully embraced exactly what he was.

* * *

Sarah unleashed another flash of white light as another demon tried to sink his claws into her belly. It wasn't just Calydons. They were full demons. They were—

"Sarah." Jacob threw the demon aside and strode up to her.

Sarah gasped, rolling onto her side, holding her arms protectively over her belly. Her brother's eyes were rogue red, and his claws were out. Just like before.
Just like before.
"Jacob," she gasped. "Don't—"

He didn't hesitate. He just struck right at her stomach and this time, God, this time, Sarah didn't hesitate either. She unleashed every ounce of power she had at him, and he screamed with agony as she torched him.

He fell to the ground beside her, writhing in agony as death sank its claws into him.

She'd killed him this time. She hadn't held back. She'd killed her own brother, who she loved so dearly. Because she didn't believe she could bring him back anymore.

Her own brother.

"Oh, God." Her body began to shake, and nausea churned in her belly as she tried to crawl away from him. "I'm sorry, Jacob," she gasped. "I had to make a choice—"

"Sarah." He rolled onto his side, his eyes brilliant blue.

Sarah gasped, staring at him. "Jacob," she whispered. "Is it you?"

"Yeah." He held out his hand. "You did it. You broke me free of Luc's hold."

Tears filled her eyes, and she crawled over to him, taking his hand. His hands were cold and clammy with the onset of death. "Jacob, God, I'm so sorry—"

"Me, too, Sarah." He held out his arms. "But thank you for saving me, for bringing me back." He smiled, that same, beautiful smile he'd given her so many times in his life, the one that had always melted her heart for her baby brother. "For giving me one more chance to see you with my own eyes, and to tell you that I love you."

"Oh, Jacob!" She fell into his arms, hugging him desperately as his life force began to fade. "Don't die, Jacob. Please."

"I'm not going to."

There was an edge to his voice that sent a chill through Sarah, and she froze, staring into his face. "Jacob—"

"You shouldn't have made the same mistake twice, Sarah," he said. "I thought you were smarter than that." And then his eyes turned red, and he jammed his claws right into her belly and twisted them.

And in that moment, the white light inside Sarah died for good.

* * *

Kane streaked through the earth, emerging just in time to see Jacob plunge his claws into Sarah's abdomen. Fury tore through Kane, and he erupted into a blinding frenzy of outrage. He tore across the clearing and ripped Jacob away from Sarah. The warrior started to dematerialize, and Kane turned his hand to smoke and wrapped the tendrils around the youth's throat, spreading his taint through the kid's body and latching onto every cell, holding onto it, refusing to let it go.

Jacob's eyes widened with fear when he realized he couldn't teleport, and Kane lifted his lip in a snarl. "And now you die!" He swung his flail and sank it deep into the kid's belly—

"Kane," Luc snarled.

Kane whirled around as Luc lifted Sarah by her hair, holding her above the earth like a rag doll. Blood was pouring from her belly and her skin was covered in thousands of microscopic fractures. She wasn't even bothering to hold onto Luc's arm or get away. She was just dangling, all fight, all hope, everything utterly gone, her life ebbing from her.

Raw, unbearable anguish ripped through Kane.
Sarah!

Kane dropped Jacob and sprinted across the cave toward Sarah, but Luc turned them both to smoke and streaked away from him. "Sarah!" Kane turned into smoke and streaked after Luc, his entire body screaming with agony as he raced after them, trying to get to her, trying to save her. Sarah. Their baby. "Sarah!"

Luc got further ahead, and Kane saw a glowing red light up ahead, the opening to a cave. He suddenly knew that he would never find Sarah if Luc got her to that light. He tried to teleport again, and again,
nothing happened.
The same tendrils that he'd used to bind Jacob were holding him back, locked down in his cells.

Get her, you bastard.
Ryland's voice echoed through Kane's mind, and he turned to see Ryland sprinting out of the forest behind, weapons out, followed by the rest of the team.
Unleash the monster like you did before.

Kane didn't hesitate. He closed his eyes and came to a complete stop. He opened himself to the darkness within him. He accepted the violence. He looked into the soul of the man who had killed his own child and his own
sheva,
and he accepted him. He slowed his breathing and allowed himself to access the power that had consumed him and given him the strength to wipe out a town and kill his own family. He invited it into his body. He allowed the demon taint to coat his heart and poison his cells. He gave himself over to the very thing he'd been fighting for five hundred years to deny, and he gave it free reign over who he was.

He became the man he truly was, the one who had killed his own child.

The moment he did, power exploded through Kane, streaking violently through him, tearing apart his soul. He felt all the bonds holding him shatter, and he knew he had returned to life, truly and completely.

He was who he was destined to be.

Los Muerte had returned.

Kane fixated on his connection with his
sheva,
and he allowed his predator mode to go into full force, and then he went after her.

Sarah was falling, failing, dying. There was nothing left inside her. She'd failed again. She'd chosen wrong again. And her brother had killed her in cold blood. There was nothing left—

A burst of power exploded in her body, ripping her from her emotional spiral as Kane materialized and tore her from Luc's grasp.

Sarah gasped as her body turned to flesh again, as the smoke fled from her cells. Kane tossed her to the ground, barely noticing her as he launched himself at Luc. Sarah rolled onto her side, her body shaking violently, her muscles drained and weak as she lifted her head to look.

What she saw made her blood run cold.

Kane's skin was black, stretched across his bones like dried snakeskin strung up to bake in a hot desert sun. His muscles were like metal coils beneath his skin. And long, deadly claws protruded from the ends of his hands as he slashed at Luc. The two men circled each other, claws out. Kane wasn't even using his flail. He was hunched over like an animal, reverted to the same state as the monsters that had haunted her for so long.

His eyes were glowing red, but there was grim awareness in them, an embrace of the violence toiling through him. Not rogue. Pure evil. Los Muerte. There was no doubt. Not anymore.

Sharp pain sliced through her belly, and Sarah gripped her stomach. She tugged her shirt up to look at the damage, expecting to see a gaping hole like there had been after Mason. To her shock, her skin was intact, but the puncture wounds were deep and jagged. Had Jacob missed the baby or not? Tears filled her eyes, and she began to shake, barely aware of the violent confrontation between Kane and Luc.

She knew Kane was lost to her, their connection severed. He hadn't even noticed her lying there, and he hadn't tried to come to her aid. Los Muerte was fighting for dominance, to take his place, and the Kane she knew was gone forever.

Despair filled her, but she fought to keep it at bay. If there was any chance her baby had survived Jacob's attack, she had to find a way to survive. But even as she rolled to her side and tried to crawl away, she felt the devastating weakness of her body. Her body shook as she collapsed on the earth, and she realized that she was dying.

Her last hopes had died. Killed by Jacob. Killed by the sight of the man she loved becoming consumed by the evil that had taken so many from her.

"Dammit." Sarah dug her fingers into the dirt, struggling to drag herself a few inches. She had to get away from Kane before he noticed her. Before he finished what he'd been brought here to do—

A howl of triumph tore through the night, and Sarah saw Kane plunge his claws into Luc's heart and rip it from his body. He held it over his head in triumph, Luc's black blood pouring down his arm. Sarah went cold, horrified by the image of the monster Kane had become. "Dear God," she whispered. How on earth would anyone stop him?

Beside him, Luc fell to the earth, clutching his chest. But as he fell, Sarah saw a smile flood his features, a smile of triumph and relief. It made him look like a man, a human being. As his eyes closed, he whispered, "I'm coming, Elizabeth, my love. I'm finally coming." There was such pure serenity in his voice that Sarah felt her own soul respond.

And then his soul left, and his body vanished, leaving Los Muerte behind, basking in his victory.

Sarah tried to crawl away as Kane lowered his trophy. He scanned the clearing and then his gaze came to rest on her. There was no recognition in his eyes, simply violence and death. Sarah froze, afraid to move, terrified of triggering him into action.

For a long moment, neither of them moved. Her mouth parched and dry, Sarah dug her fingers into the dirt.
Kane. Are you in there?

No response from him. No connection.

Then he dropped the spoils of his kill and began to circle her, his red eyes glowing like the demons of the night. Dear God. There was nothing left of Kane. Nothing at all. Adrenaline rushed through Sarah, the instinct to survive fighting to give her strength.

Did she have enough light to kill him? Could she make herself do it? And then what? Would Ryland find her? Would he drag her back to the village and find a way to uncover the fountain? And would the water be able to bring her back after she'd used her powers against Kane? There was nothing left inside her. She could feel the emptiness, the utter betrayal.

"Kill her, Los Muerte. Kill her now."

Kane spun around, his movements quick and jerky like a creature possessed, as a massive black horse stepped out of the woods. On his back was a rider, his face obscured by a black hood, his body draped in a long cape as black as his horse's coat. The horse pranced restlessly, his huge iron-shod feet making no sound on the packed earth.

The rider leaned forward, his heavily muscled body moving easily with his mount's restless dance. "The baby she carries," the rider said, his voice haunting and eerie, "will replace you if it lives, Kane. It will take your spot. It will dethrone you. You must kill it before it can destroy you."

Kane whirled around to face Sarah, and her stomach dropped at the expression of raw hatred on his face. His gaze went to her belly, and his claws lengthened.

"Oh, shit." Sarah's heart began to pound and real terror shot through her. "Kane. It's me." Her voice was shaky and terrified, and she saw Kane's body shift into attack mode, seeing her as prey. "Kane! I'm Sarah. Your mate. You aren't this creature! You're the man who has nightmares about killing his child! You're stronger than this!"

Kane let out a hiss and hunched over. His claws were out, his body primed for the attack.

"Yes, Los Muerte," the man encouraged. "Destroy her. Destroy the child. Do it
now.
"

Agony filled her as she watched Kane move into a crouch. Every line of his body was taut, his eyes utterly devoid of humanity. This was the monster who had killed his own family. She knew it.
Kane!
But she knew he couldn't hear her. He was so far away from the man—

Dammit, no! The man had to still be in there. Los Muerte had owned his soul before, but once the talismans had held it at bay, the real Kane Santiago had emerged, with his beautiful amazing heart and courage. He had to still be in there, just like before. She just had to get it out of him. "Kane," she shouted, pulling herself to her knees. "You dumb ass! You are madly in love with me, and you will never forgive yourself if you kill me!"

The rider laughed as Kane readied himself to attack. "He's nothing but scum! There's no valor in these Order members," he shouted. "There's no honor! You'll see what he's made of. You'll see why they all need to be destroyed!"

"No, he's not! He is honorable!" Fury raged through Sarah at the man's insults. "Kane is the most beautiful soul I've ever met," she shouted. "I wouldn't love him if he wasn't!" As the words left her mouth, she realized that she did love him. Truly, deeply with all the power in her very soul. Kane had given her life and hope again, because he really was the man she wanted him to be.

She met his gaze as he stared at her with those glowing red eyes. "You love me, you stupid man. Why can't you see that?" But even as she said it, she saw the marks on his arms, the brands, and she thought of the ones on her arms. One more stage to complete the bond. Would the
sheva
connection be strong enough to break through the hold that demon had on Kane? Or would it end like it had with Mason? As an Order member, sealing the bond would doom them forever, but if Kane was truly Los Muerte and born of this village, then the bond wouldn't destroy them in that way. Which was he? Was he Kane, an honorable Order member? Or was he the monster brought from hell to kill her?

As she stared at the man she loved, the father of her baby, she knew that she'd never loved Mason like she loved Kane. Mason had been her childhood friend. Kane was power, desire, passion and tenderness. Kane was her savior, and she would be his.

She met his gaze, and saw only monster in them. No Kane. No humanity. But she knew it was in there.
It was.
And she knew that Kane was strong enough to find it. She also knew she was the only one who could help him. He loved her, truly loved her, and that was going to save both of them.

Click. Click. Click.

Her only warning before his attack. "I love you, Kane!" she shouted as she called out his weapon. Kane launched himself at her, claws out, as his flail appeared in her hand. She positioned it over her heart and she drove it deep into her own body, into the one place that held onto hope and faith, the one spot where she could be killed.

As she fell to the ground, gasping in pain, she felt the final lines of the brand burn on her arms, sealing their bond forever as she completed the death stage by giving her life to save him as the man she'd given her heart to descended upon her to kill her. Triumph exploded through her, and she knew that she'd sealed their connection forever.

Nothing was stronger than the
sheva
bond, at least not the one that she and Kane shared.

It was done. The rest was up to him.

And like she'd done seven years ago, she didn't call out her white light to attack her soul mate. She simply let him come.

* * *

Pain tore through Kane as he careened through the air, and he screamed from the sudden physical agony. Golden light flooded his mind, tearing through the darkness blinding him. The darkness screamed its protest, digging its fingers into his soul as the battle raged inside him. But in the darkness, he sensed something warm. Something light. Something soft. Something calling to him with kindness and love, and he flung his soul toward it, catapulting through the darkness toward the light that was flickering so far away.
Sarah!
He gasped, suddenly recognizing it.
Sarah!

Her entire soul flooded him, all her hope and her love, as well as her pain and her loss. Her emotions filled the void that had been baking inside him for so long. They stripped away the darkness and the pain, they eviscerated the grip of evil, and her spirit settled inside him with such rightness, such peace and such beauty that everything simply fell away. The bond was complete. She was his. He was hers. Locked together for all eternity, and eradicating all the darkness trying to consume him.

He was free, and she had saved him. Their love had saved him—

"Sarah!" He suddenly became aware of her body beneath his, and he was jolted back into reality as he realized that his claws were plunging straight toward her belly. "No!" With a roar of fury, he stopped himself just before he hurt her, throwing himself off her and slamming into the ground beside her, the impact so violent that the earth shook from the hit.

Kane shoved himself back up and spun back toward Sarah, horror striking him when he saw her holding her hand to her bleeding belly, her deathly-white skin fragmented with a thousand hairline fractures, his flail embedded in her chest. "Dear God," he gasped as he recalled his flail, jerking it out of her body. "Sarah? Can you hear me?"

She didn't move.

Sarah!
He gathered her into his arms, pulling her against him, sending all his strength into their connection.
I'm so sorry—

Kane?
Her voice was so faint in his mind, but Sweet Jesus, she was alive.

Sarah.
He framed her face, his heart hammering in terror.
Come back to me.
But even as he connected them and reached into her mind, he saw only darkness. There was no light. No white light. It was gone. Her soul was dying.

Fuck that. He knew how to save her now, and he was going to do it. This woman was his, and he wasn't letting her go. Kane pressed his forehead against hers and opened his mind to hers.
You want a story of hope and faith, Sarah? You want me to tell you about something I love? This time, I have an answer for you.
He pulled her closer and pressed his lips to her cold forehead.
I love you, Sarah. You are the oxygen that I breathe. You are the beat of my heart. You are the spirit that keeps my soul alive.

As he spoke, Kane let her feel the true depth of his emotions, the pure, beautiful love that he'd never known how to feel. It now resonated through him with a force so strong he knew it could never be silenced. Something flickered inside Sarah, a faint white spark trying to come back to life, and his throat tightened, knowing that she was coming back for him.
I was empty for five hundred years, because the talismans kept the real me at bay. When they vanished, the demon came back, but it was too late. You'd already showed me what love was, and you believed in me.

Kane thought about how she'd let him attack her, how she'd lay there defenseless as he'd leapt on her, because she had believed that he had the strength to call upon his love for her and break through the grip that the evil had on him. He pressed his cheek to hers as tears burned in his eyes, unable to express how much her faith in him meant.
You believed in me, Sarah. You believed in me even when I didn't, and your faith pulled me out of it. It broke the spell that had bound me for so long. You have shown me what hope and faith really are, and I will love you every second of every day from now until eternity. I love you, my sweet angel, and even if you have to keep the rest of the team in line, you'll always be mine. Always.

And our baby?
Her voice was weak, but there, alive, filling him with the most incredible sensation of hope and love.

Kane immediately transferred his attention to the life she was carrying inside her, calling upon the blood bond he had with his own child. He felt a pulse of warmth from her, and he knew the baby was okay. Of course it was. It had the immortality of a demon, an angel and an Order member.
Jesus, Sarah. Our baby.
He had no words to express the sudden surge of love that overwhelmed him, and he felt Sarah's answering warmth.