Black Hollow: Reviving Love Read online

  Penny could see the anger radiating off of him, she was glad to see he was able to control it. Maybe after being alive a couple of hundred years you get good at managing emotions. “I know it’s not right to say but part of me wishes Hank had died that day on the roof, jail is too good for him.” Penny cleared her throat, she wasn’t as good at controlling her emotions as he was. “I’m going to call Asald and update him. Is it okay if I sleep here, I want to be close in case,” she stopped, she didn’t want to finish the sentence.

  She grabbed her cell phone and went to the kitchen. All she wanted was Asald to be by her side comforting her but she knew he was going to have to be there for Alex and keep him entertained so he didn’t know anything was wrong. She was not going to worry him if she didn’t have to. They had been through enough already, Penny would be damned if she would bring that little boy any more heartache.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Seven restless hours later Adam and Penny were both sitting anxiously by Sarah’s side waiting for Dr. Larson. He had called saying he was stopping by, Adam hoped that meant he had news.

  The quiet beeping of the machines monitoring her heart and blood pressure was starting to make his skin crawl. He needed her to wake up, he couldn’t take losing another person he loved.

  A knock on the door had Adam jumping up and letting Dr. Larson in with a fiery Seraphine hot on his tail. She ignored everyone as she went over and touched Sarah’s forehead, she closed her eyes concentrating on something no one else could see or hear.

  “Most of the tests have come back and I’m sorry to say I’m not finding anything specific. Her kidneys are starting to struggle and I can already see she is starting to turn blue around her lips. That usually means her red blood cells aren’t getting enough oxygen. I’d like to move her to the clinic, she’ll be closer to the rest of my equipment in case she needs it and I am going to start widening my tests to look for more rare conditions.”

  “There is darkness around her.” Everyone turned to see Seraphine had opened her eyes again, “I think someone did something maliciously to her. You need to stop looking for natural explanations.”

  Dr. Larson stared at Sarah for a minute, “I will include poisons and drugs in my next round of tests. I wouldn’t have even thought it could be something like that. We’ve never had a visitor intentionally harmed, you should let the Sheriff know.” He waited for Seraphine to nod before turning to Adam. “Let’s get her to the clinic, we don’t know how fast she is going to continue to deteriorate.”

  Seraphine walked up to Adam and grabbed his hands, “Stay strong for her and she will return to you, have faith.” She smiled at Penny then turned and left as quickly as she had come. Adam had known her for more than a century and he still couldn’t get used to her all-knowing ways.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  They had been sitting at the clinic for three hours, Adam didn’t know who was more anxious, him or Penny. Sarah didn’t look any better, actually, her already shallow breathing was now coming out in short rapid breaths.

  The machine next to the bed alarmed, the sound making both Penny and Adam jump. A nurse ran in, Dr. Larson followed quickly behind. “Step outside for a minute, let us see what is going on.”

  Adam had experienced a lot in his life but being asked to walk away at that moment was probably one of the most difficult requests he’d ever been given.

  Penny grabbed his arm and pulled him into the hallway. “There is nothing we can do except get in the way, come on.”

  She sounded strong but Adam could see the tears rolling down her face. He didn’t know her well but he knew how healing a hug was. He awkwardly pulled her close and let her cry on his shoulder. Before Sarah he hadn’t hugged another person in years, now he’s had contact with two people in the last week and both human. His life had certainly taken a turn, except now he felt like he was on the edge of a cliff and his ability to survive hinged on Sarah waking up.

  Ten excruciating minutes later Dr. Larson joined them in the hallway, “We had to intubate her, she’s starting to go into heart failure. We are running out of time, I’m going next store to talk to Seren.”

  Adam’s throat felt like it had shut, the air was not making it to his lungs. Heart failure, how was this even possible?

  “Who’s Seren?” Penny stared at Dr. Larson’s retreating back.

  “He’s the apothecary or a pharmacist, actually he’s a wizard and much older than I am. Dr. Larson is smart to talk to him.” Adam called over the nurse who had been working on Sarah, “Can you have someone get Alizon,” he looked back at Penny, “she is the only residing witch in the area,” he turned back to the nurse, “she may be able to help Seren and Dr. Larson.”

  The nurse nodded and went back to the desk. Adam and Penny cautiously walked back into Sarah’s room, neither was ready for the site of her with a tube in her mouth.

  “She doesn’t deserve this, she’s had enough bad in her life.” Penny stroked the hair from Sarah’s pale face.

  A quiet knock on the door got their attention. Sebastian and Aristide stood staring at Sarah. “Seraphine called me. Does the doc really think this was intentional? That kind of stuff just doesn’t happen around here.” Sebastian’s fingers tapped subconsciously on the handle of his gun.

  “They don’t really know what is causing this but she’s getting worse by the hour.” Adam’s voice hitched. “Maybe we should bring Alex to see her?”

  No one was thrilled with the idea of explaining the situation to the boy. “Let’s give it a little more time, Pascal, Toussaint, and Asald took the boys flying, they have a whole day of fun planned. Alex won’t even notice he hasn’t seen his mom until later tonight.” Adam appreciated Aristide’s optimism.

  “When she wakes up she is going to kill Asald.” Adam looked questioningly at Penny, she shrugged, “she is extremely protective of Alex, when she finds out he went flying without her knowledge she is not going to be happy.”

  “Do you guys want to go get showers and food, we can sit here till you get back?” Sebastian offered.

  “I don’t think I can leave her.” Adam nodded at Penny’s statement, he agreed completely.

  “How about this, Adam come with me to the bakery, we’ll grab some food and bring it back.” Adam started shaking his head at Aristide’s offer, “You need the fresh air, come on, clear your head for a few minutes.”

  Aristide grabbed his arm and dragged him out, his stomach decided at that moment to be a traitor and growl loudly. Aristide gave him a knowing look as they crossed the street.

  They ordered quickly, Adam tapping his foot nervously as he waited for their order to be bagged. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a commotion outside, dread filled him as he saw Dr. Larson running from the apothecary back to the clinic. He didn’t wait, he took off at a dead run, only steps behind the doctor as he ran into Sarah’s room. Sebastian was holding a sobbing Penny in his arms in the hall, he reached out and stopped Adam from going inside.

  “Let me go!” Adam roared in anguish.

  “There is nothing you can do.” Adam tried to see Sarah but couldn’t between the doctor and nurses working on her.

  “What happened?” He couldn’t pull his eyes from the room.

  “Her heart stopped, the nurses were there in seconds. It’s going to be fine.” The confidence and strength in Sebastian’s tone were the only things keeping Adam from falling to pieces.

  Aristide walked up with the food in hand, Sebastian whispered the update to him, he squeezed Adam’s shoulder, he knew his friend was trying to comfort him.

  It was a long time before Dr. Larson came out, their group had sat in chairs across the hall, everyone jumped up as he approached.

  “She’s okay, I’m not going to lie, that was touch and go there for a few minutes. We’re racing the clock, Seren and Alizon are meeting me in the lab. We’re working as fast as we can but you need to prepare yourselves in case,”

  Adam didn’t wait for him to finish his
sentence, he couldn’t listen to him anymore.

  When he reached the door, he was able to see her again and it broke him. Her eyes were sunken in, the blue had spread to most of her skin. He staggered to the bed and collapsed in the chair. He grabbed her cold hand and held it as he leaned on the bed, resting his forehead on the side of her face.

  “I’ve tried to die, I wanted to leave this Earth so badly I tried killing myself more times than I can count.” Tears fell from his face to hers. “You don’t get to come into my life, give me hope and a reason to want to live then try to leave me. If you die, I want to die too but I can’t. I’ll be stuck here; the world will go on and I’ll be alone again.” Anger laced his words, “For a brief moment I actually thought I was going to find love, for the first time I pictured being a father to that amazing little boy who is waiting for you to wake up.” His voice had risen, someone’s hand touched his shoulder trying to pull him back, he jerked away, this was his confessional and she was going to listen to every last word he had. “I’ve tried giving up so many times, I didn’t have anyone begging me to stay but that’s what I’m doing now. I’m begging you to fight, to come back to me, and to Alex. It took two centuries for me to find you, I’m not giving you up already. I don’t know how to live if I lose you, I need you to come back to me.” He ended in a whisper, despair still clear in his voice.

  The room stayed silent except for the beeping of the machines. Adam didn’t look around, he stayed against her, pushing his will towards her, picturing his strength pouring into her.

  He didn’t mean to sleep, he didn’t want to risk losing even a minute with her but he had nothing left to give, his body needed to recharge. His eyes fluttered closed, he prayed it would be a dreamless sleep.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Sunday morning came and with it no solution to cure Sarah.

  “I think it’s time we bring Alex in,” Adam whipped his head towards Penny, anger coursed through him at what her statement implied. She held her hands up defensively, “You said your peace yesterday, he should get a turn too.”

  Adam was forced to swallow the bile that had risen in his throat, he didn’t know if he was strong enough to be here when Alex said his goodbye. Finally, he nodded, “Okay, call Asald.”

  Everyone stood frozen, even though Penny had suggested he knew she didn’t want to actually do it. Sebastian stood from the chair he had slept in, “I’ll get Alex.” He paused, he likely hoped someone would offer to take the errand from him. “I’ll be back.” His shoulders slumped as he turned to leave.

  “WE GOT IT!” Yelling down the hall had everyone jumping. Dr. Larson ran in so fast he slammed against the door trying to stop himself. “We figured it out,” Adam stepped back to let Seren and Alizon get closer. “She was poisoned with Strychnine, Seren actually figured it out and Alizon had the plant we need for treatment.”

  The room stood in shock as the three practitioners injected multiple substances into Sarah.

  “She’s going to be okay, without meaning to we did the best thing possible by intubating her early. With some activated charcoal and the curare extract, she’ll wake up soon.” Dr. Larson was smiling from ear to ear.

  “Well, wake up isn’t the right word exactly, they are usually mentally alert even though their body is shutting down. Stay close by and she’ll be talking to you soon enough.” Alizon squeezed Adam’s hand, “Now if you will excuse me, I haven’t slept in twenty-eight hours and I’d like to go find my bed.”

  “That sounds like a good plan to me, I’m going to go crash until tomorrow.” Seren paused by the door, turning towards Sebastian, “this was definitely intentional, I’ll fill you in after I get some sleep.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  It took a couple of hours but slowly Sarah’s color returned, her breathing improved enough they were able to take out the tube. The wait for her to open her eyes was torture, no one could be sure she wouldn’t have any side effects from the poisoning.

  “How dare you try to kill yourself,” the hoarse whisper from Sarah’s lips sounded angelic to Adam even if she was trying to admonish him. “You couldn’t die because you were meant for me, you were just born a few centuries too soon.”

  Adam laughed through the tears, “You come back from the brink of death and you bring jokes?” He leaned forward and kissed her, he didn’t care that her lips were dry and cracked, he wanted nothing more than to crawl into the bed and hold her forever. He thought he had been doomed to an eternity of solitude, now he knew he was just waiting for the right person to come along.

  Not only had she revived his will to live but she also succeeded in reviving his ability to love.

  Dear Reader,

  I hope you enjoyed this introduction to Black Hollow. Sheri Lyn and I have many tales to tell of this quirky town. Adam, Sarah and the gang will be back in future stories.

  While you wait consider checking out one of my other books at www.cassidykoconnor.com.

  To learn more about Sheri Lyn’s other titles please visit www.sherilynauthor.com

  ~Other Books by the Author~

  Sassy Mates: In My Mate’s Sight

  Sassy Mates: In My Mate’s Defense

  Paranormal Dating Agency: My Oath To You

  Broken Dreams

  Forever Yours, Casey

  The Laird’s Promise

  Loving the Monster Within

  To Steal a Prince’s Heart

  Wicked Wonderland Retreat

  The Love’s Protector Series

  Awakening Her Desires

  The Evolution of Sam

  Finding His Swing