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his head of a child. Brown hair. Dark eyes. Something caught in his gut, something important, a gnawing certainty that the child was important. Who was it? Why couldn't he remember?
    More, Kane. How did you save him? Show me his innocence. Sarah's voice was urgent, desperate, and he knew they were out of time.
    He swore, unable to remember any more about the child. Frantically, he tried to think of another. I—
    Sudden movement caught his attention, and Sarah's original assailant materialized in front of him again. There was a rush of heat, and then another ten Calydons appeared, teleporting from hell knew where. Kane's weapons burned with the need to attack, but he couldn't risk engaging.
    Sarah needed his help, and he wouldn't abandon her to fight.
    The Calydons lunged at him. Kane immediately pictured the spot where he'd left his teammate and dematerialized, taking Sarah with him.

Chapter Three
    Ryland spun around, his weapons ready as Kane appeared behind him. Ryland's gaze immediately went to the woman in Kane's arms. Sarah's eyes were closed, her breathing shallow, her heartbeat too damn faint. "What's going on?" Ryland asked, moving into a battle stance before Kane even spoke.
    Kane didn't waste words. "Tell me a fairytale. Now!"
    "What?" Ryland stared at him as if he'd gone insane. "What are you talking about?"
    "She needs to hear a story of angels, goodwill and redemption. I got nothing to offer. Talk to me."
    Ryland glanced down at the woman, and something in the hard lines of his face softened. Kane was shocked by the transformation on Ryland's face. The warrior was always angry, always on the edge of violence, fury, and lack of control. And yet there was something on his face, an easing of tension, an expression of actual humanity as he looked at the woman in Kane's arms.
    Kane instantly tightened his grip on her. "She's mine."
    "Fuck that." Ryland strode across the earth right toward Kane, ignoring Kane's growl of warning. "How in hell's name did a bastard like you find an angel?"
    Kane swore as Sarah groaned in his arms. He pulled her more closely against him, trying to infuse her with his strength. "I need a story of angels, you dumb ass. Not compliments about her."
    "Shit, man, don't you get it?" Ryland looked up at him, and for the first time since Kane had known him, the warrior's eyes were green instead of the bottomless black pits they always were. Was that Ryland's real eye color, not the black they'd always been? "She's an angel," Ryland said quietly, almost reverently. "The real deal. Put her down. You aren't worthy of holding her. None of us are."
    "An angel?" Stunned, Kane looked down at Sarah. Her dark brown hair was tangled around her shoulders, her face ashen, tight lines of suffering around the corners of her mouth. Her throat was still bleeding from the attack, and more blood was oozing from her side. There were bruises all over her throat, and she was trembling violently against him. Protectiveness surged over him, and he knew it didn't matter what she was. Right now, she was a woman who was dying in his arms, and he had to stop it. "Tell me a story of redemption, Ryland," he said quietly, trying to soothe her with the tones of his voice. "Without it, she dies."
    Ryland immediately went down on one knee, and bowed his head, a show of respect so far from the rogue warrior he always was. "My mother," he said quietly. "She was the most beautiful soul that ever graced this earth."
    Kane was stunned by the raw emotion of Ryland's words, of the depth of reverence in his voice. Ryland was a cold killing machine, who cared only about following his own path, about revenge, about his own brand of justice. He was a warrior who felt nothing, who saw no beauty, who had no depth to his soul other than death, pain and anger, and yet his sincerity about his mother was so evident that Kane could feel the other warrior's emotion. "Son of a bitch, Ryland," he said softly, staring at the warrior he thought he