Kane

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Synopsis

Kane is a demon who is drawn to the lovely human, Corrine, but he knows that giving in to the attraction is forbidden. On the night of the Samhain moon, though, he cannot resist touching her. Unbeknownst to him, his touch has ignited her dormant Druid DNA, leaving her falling desperately ill without his demon energy from which to feed. Kane takes Corrine to the castle of his king and sits vigil at her bedside, but the hallowed moon drives his desire to mate with her as well. Not wanting to take her against her will, he asks his fellow demons to chain him, but when Corrine awakens naked beside a strange man, she fears they've both been kidnapped. Using his psychic powers, Kane shows Corrine the fantastical world she's stumbled into, while hoping that she'll agree to become his mate.

Review

"Kane" is a short novella in Jacquelyn Frank's Nightwalkers series, which takes place concurrently with parts of the first book, Jacob. In that book, we discovered that Demon law forbade them from interacting with humans, but during the times of the Hallowed Moons of Beltane and Samhain, they sometimes can't help themselves. That's where Jacob came in as the Enforcer, but in his book, he and his mate, Isabella, figured out that long ago, Demons and Druids shared a symbiotic relationship that was all but lost to the sands of time when the Druids were thought to have been wiped out. However, there are some humans who still carry Druid DNA that is activated when a Demon touches them. Such is the case with Kane and Corrine, who were introduced in the first book, along with their situation. Unable to resist, Kane touched Corrine, and once her Druid DNA was activated, she needed his Demon energy to keep her alive. Without it, she has become seriously ill and fallen unconscious. Once they figured out it was okay for them to be together, Kane took Corrine to the castle of the Demon king, where he's sat vigil by her side, but since it's Samhain, he's driven by biology to mate her no matter her condition. Kane has asked his fellow Demons to lock him in chains and use their abilities to keep him in check. When Corrine wakes up naked next to a chained-up stranger, she thinks they may have been kidnapped, but through their psychic connection, Kane introduces her to his world and her part in it, hoping that she'll accept him as her mate.

It's been a couple of years since I read Jacob. It was just an okay read for me, which is why it's taken me a while to get around to reading "Kane." I recall liking Kane and Corrine in the first book, for as well as I got to know them as supporting characters, and feeling sympathetic to their situation. When I found out this novella was going to fill in more of their story, I was kind of looking forward to it, but I ended up liking it even less than the first novel. For starters, nothing of note was added to Kane and Corrine's characterizations. Kane is a Mind Demon with telepathic and teleportation powers, and the younger brother of Jacob. At just under a hundred years old, he isn't yet considered an adult Demon, even though he has the form of an adult man. Corrine is the sister of Isabella, the heroine of the first book, and she's mentioned to be a social worker who counsels at-risk youth. Other than that, I couldn't tell you a single thing about either of them, as there were no other details of a personal nature added throughout the course of this story. The plot is paper thin as well, basically consisting of Corrine waking up naked next to a strange man who's chained to the bed beside her, which freaks her out at first. Kane then connects with her psychically to show her the fantastical world that she's stumbled into, thanks to him touching her. Since she can read his mind, too, she quickly comes to accept it, and since the Samhain moon has made them both incredibly horny, they get it on. The End.

I never really felt much of a connection between Kane and Corrine other than their uncontrolled lust. I don't recall any explanation of why Corrine was naked, so it just seemed like a lazy way to ratchet up the passionate feelings between them. Quite frankly, both that and Kane's uncontrolled desire to mate with her even though she was unconscious felt a little icky to me. I also felt like the psychic connection was nothing but a convenient plot device to get them on the same page faster, but that alone didn't create an emotional bond. I would have liked to see them get to know one another and genuinely bond on a deeper level. Instead their relationship seemed very superficial to me. The story is quire narrative heavy, but for all of its exposition, it doesn't really define the characters, their motives, their actions, or the world in which they exist. I'm sorry to say that "Kane" left me less than impressed, and since the first book was just okay, I'm not sure if I'll continue with the series. Since I still have several of the remaining books on my TBR pile, I might give the author one more chance at some point, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's another couple of years or more before I get around to it. "Kane" can be found in the anthology Supernatural.

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Jacquelyn Frank