“He’s a... he’s a…” Sarah’s eyes were bulging.
“Take a breath, yes, he’s a gargoyle just like Pascal, Toussaint, Aristide, and Sebastian.” She held Sarah’s shoulders breathing deeply with her, trying to help her calm down. “I know this seems insane but it’s the truth. Alex can tell you too, Asald is the one who saved us that day on the roof from Hank. We didn’t do anything, Asald had shifted and fought him.”
Asald walked up and stood next to them, she glanced over, relieved to see he looked like a normal human again.
“You know it’s true, stop and think about everything you saw this past weekend, there is no other explanation for how real it all was.” Sarah dropped her arms and stood next to Asald.
“I need a few minutes, can you let me think for a second?” Sarah was trying to grasp everything she had been told but she was struggling with the idea that she had been in a room with a real dragon and mortified at the idea that she had flirted with the weretigers who apparently were real and could have eaten her and not in the way a woman wants to be eaten.
She shook her head at her inappropriately timed dirty thought. Asald waved Adam up to the house, she stood still while they went inside to give her space.
The last week replayed in her head, she thought back to everything she saw and heard. She did just see Asald drop out of the sky and turn into stone so she couldn’t deny they were telling the truth but that would mean everything she had ever known about fairy tales and monsters was real and that thought was terrifying on its own.
She couldn’t deny that everyone had been nice to her, she never felt unsafe. Asald was the reason both she and Alex were alive today and every cell in her body was screaming for her to accept Adam.
It wasn’t going to be easy but she finally came to terms with what she had heard and decided to rejoin the group. As she walked inside she did the math and realized he had been alive over two hundred years, she wasn’t sure she wanted to know how many women he had slept with in all that time. Not that she was an angel but she’s had a lot less time to rack up the numbers either. She shrugged, that could explain how he was so good in bed.
Chapter Twenty-One
Dinner was quiet and somewhat tense. The conversation was mundane which helped ease Sarah’s mind. The boys at the table were unaware of the tension in the room and thankfully provided plenty of entertainment to help move the night along.
Once dessert was done the boys were yawning and rubbing their eyes, “It looks like it’s time for someone to get to bed.” Sarah tussled Alex’s hair.
“Can Adam carry me to the car?” Alex held his arms up expectantly.
Adam looked at her for permission before picking the boy up. He immediately laid his head on his shoulder and closed his eyes. Sarah wasn’t sure if her heart exploded or it was her ovaries, he looked too damn good holding her child.
Penny linked arms with Sarah and walked her out, “I’m sorry we kept this from you for so long. It has taken Asald years to acclimate to our time and he wasn’t sure if you would accept him.”
“Tell him I still love him and will always be grateful for what he did for us?”
Penny nodded and hugged her best friend. “You deserve happiness, give Adam a chance.”
Sarah waved to Asald who had stayed up on the porch holding Christian who was clearly as worn out as Alex was. Once Penny was out of earshot and Alex was buckled in Sarah walked around the car and stood by Adam.
“Would you like to follow me back to my apartment? We can keep talking?” Sarah was nervous to hear more but she had already decided there was no way she was walking away from him now.
“I would love nothing more, are you sure?” Sarah leaned up and kissed him, she hoped that was all the affirmation he needed.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Sarah sat at work replaying the night before, she had stayed up talking to Adam for hours. His stories comparing what it was like to live in different centuries fascinated her. She was jealous at the same time as grateful she wasn’t alive during some of the worst periods in history.
He had told her more about his time after the rebirth as she liked to call it, her heart broke listening to his pain as he told her about watching everyone he had loved die. Living in Black Hollow had saved him in more ways than one, he was finally able to get close to people who weren’t going to leave him after eighty years.
She knew he was shy to be around humans but hadn’t grasped how deeply he tried to stay hidden from them. The fact that he not only left Black Hollow to come for her but also stood in broad daylight for anyone to see him had her falling head over heels for him.
She told him about Hank, the abuse, living in the shelter, and everything Penny and Asald had done for them. He was seething with anger at times during her story, he cursed her ex and the coward he was.
Their emotions had been running high, she had invited him into her bed, they made love while the sun slowly rose.
By morning she was exhausted and wanted to sleep but Alex was not going to understand mommy wanting to sleep the day away.
Adam had agreed to stay hidden in the bedroom till they were gone, she didn’t want Alex asking questions about them she didn’t have the answers to yet.
He was going to go home and on Friday she and Alex were going to Black Hollow. He was going to ask his roommate Silver to stay somewhere else for the weekend so they could stay in his spare bedroom.
She finally understood why Penny and Asald hadn’t told her about his secret, she had no idea how to explain the town to Alex. Her best idea was to tell him it was all pretend like she had first thought then tell him the truth if things continued to progress with Adam like she hoped they would.
Now she had to make it through the next two days waiting to see him again.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Friday finally rolled around, Sarah wasn’t sure who was more anxious to get on the road, her or Alex. Penny and Asald decided to take Christian and go back to the Inn too.
The night before they had told her his story. She struggled to comprehend he had been in hell, like the literal fire and brimstone hell you were taught about as a child in Sunday school. Her heart broke listening to him talk about the woman he had lost and what he had done to save her. She finally understood why Aristide had said Asald wasn’t born one of them, he had been cursed and turned into a gargoyle, he had been born a human. It was all a total mind fuck she was still reeling from.
Sarah and Alex followed behind them in their car, as the trees started to turn dark and leafless Alex’s eyes grew bigger. She couldn’t wait for him to experience the people in the town, it was a paranormal Disney World.
At the turn for the Inn Asald’s arm shot out the window and waved to them. Sarah drove straight and turned further down towards the address Adam had given her. She was surprised to find him sitting on the stoop waiting for them. His smile warmed her from her head to her toes. As soon as Alex’s feet touched the pavement he ran for Adam and held his arms out for a hug. Adam wrapped in his arms and looked at her, the look on his face was priceless. He couldn’t believe how easily the little boy had accepted him scars and all. The innocence of children never ceased to amaze her.
“Mommy your turn.” Alex waited expectantly for the two secret lovers to hug. Sarah turned her face into his neck and took a deep breath. She lightly kissed the scar below his ear, a small shiver ran down his body.
“Someone’s feeling naughty.” He whispered into her ear before she pulled away. He had no idea how x rated her thoughts were at that moment, and every minute she thought about him. He had turned her into a walking hormone.
“Let’s get you guys settled in then we can meet the group at Scales N’ Tales.” He grabbed her bag from her and waved her to go in first.
“What’s unique about that place again?” Sarah had told Adam ahead of time that she hadn’t told Alex the truth of the town yet.
“The mermaids run it, they serve mostly seafood.” He smiled a
t the look of horror on her face.
Adam showed them around the apartment, there were antiques on every shelf, she had no doubt he had collected them over the years. His dining area had been turned into an office with four large computer monitors.
“Yeah, when you live alone you don’t really need a formal eating area.” He shrugged apologetically.
They dropped their bags in the spare room, she stole a glance at his bedroom, the huge, puffy bed was inviting. Alex was a very deep sleeper, she hoped they would be able to sneak some alone time in during the night.
“It’s not a bad walk to the restaurant but we can drive if you’d prefer.” He held his car keys up questioningly.
“After that many hours in the car, I think we could use the walk to stretch out our legs and burn off some energy.” Her eyes flitted down at the boy dancing from foot to foot anxiously.
He led the way outside and down the road, the first building they came across was the school, “We’re a small town so Kindergarten through Senior year go here.” They turned the corner and passed the movie theater across from the library. Alex stared intently at all the interesting looking people in front of the theater. Most were dressed like the creatures they truly were, now that Sarah knew they were real she wanted to take her time studying them too.
As they passed Medusa’s Locks and Yeti’s Ice Cream shop the owners poked their heads out and waved to them. Sarah didn’t realize how good it would feel to be a part of a community. In the city, you are lucky if you know even one of your neighbor's names. Here people went out of their way to be friendly to each other.
Many of these creatures would be feared if people knew they were real and yet it’s those same humans who aren’t half as decent as these so-called monsters were.
By the time they made it to the restaurant, Alex was bursting with excitement at everything he had seen. Sarah was relieved he was enjoying himself, she was quickly falling for the man and the town, having her son like them too would make everything easier.
Adam held the door open to let Sarah walk in first, as she stepped inside multiple people yelled her name. She was excited to see the whole gang was waiting for them. She had quickly come to think of these loveable gargoyles as her friends as well as Asald’s.
She grabbed a seat next to Penny and introduced Alex to everyone.
Sarah studied the menu until the waitress came over to get their drink orders. Immediately Sarah forgot what she was going to order. The young woman was intoxicatingly beautiful. Her blonde hair hung to her waist and shimmered as if she were floating in water. Her skin was so pale blue it was almost see through. Now Sarah understood the stories about mermaids luring humans into the water.
Once the waitress had their order and was gone Sarah’s head cleared from a fog she hadn’t realized she was even in. What kind of powers did these merpeople have over humans?
“So, Sarah, I heard Chief Holland is having a party this weekend, want to go?” Pascal asked her innocently while the rest of the table burst into laughter. Penny looked as confused as she felt.
“Why is that so funny?”
Toussaint wiped the tears from his cheeks, “Because he’s the Chief of the Fire Department and also the Phoenix from the party the other night.”
Heat rushed Sarah’s face, of course, they had to bring up her drinking. “Haha, very funny.”
“Hi everyone,” a trio of young women Sarah vaguely recognized walked up to their table. “I see you’ve come back to town and so soon, I guess you had fun?” The brunette leading the group looked at Asald, Penny, and Sarah expectantly.
“I invited Sarah to stay with me for the weekend. Asald and Penny came back to visit with the guys.” Adam admitted freely to the girls, Sarah knew what his statement implied. It was a good thing her face was still warm from the group’s teasing or she would have been blushing more.
“Well, you all seem like lovely people, I’m sure we’ll see each other again soon.” The group waved and went to sit at a nearby table.
“So, who are they?” Sarah asked Adam.
“The girl who did all the talking was Josephine, she’s the town dentist and also a tooth fairy.” He nodded at the look she gave him, “The other two are woodland fairies, they own the florist shop we passed by Yeti’s.”
Sarah didn’t have words, she had started to accept all of this was real but that didn’t mean it was any easier to grasp each time she learned something new. She studied them for a few seconds before remembering they had been behind her in the concession line during the movie the weekend before. She had heard them talking about collecting rotten teeth but Sarah had been so infatuated with Adam she hadn’t really thought about what they were saying.
“A round of drinks, courtesy of the ladies in the corner.” The waitress had returned, she set various concoctions around the table, not asking anyone which drink they wanted. Josephine and her two sidekicks waved at their group then held glasses up to salute them.
She could really get used to this town, everyone really did look out for each other.
Chapter Twenty-Four
After dinner, Sarah and Adam walked back to his apartment. Penny’s desperation for them to get together had her begging Sarah to let Alex stay at the hotel with them for the night. Alex none the wiser to the adult undertones of the decision begged and she gave in. He would never turn down having a sleepover with Christian.
Along the way Sarah had stopped multiple times, exhaustion was overtaking her.
By the time they had reached his front door she was leaning heavily against Adam’s side, “Maybe you should call Penny, something isn’t right.” Her eyes rolled back in her head and she crumpled. Luckily Adam caught her before she hit the ground. In a panic, he picked her up and ran to his room. He laid her gently on his bed and tried shaking her awake. She was breathing but he couldn’t get her to open her eyes. He grabbed his phone and called the hotel. Sandy grudgingly agreed to risk waking his guests.
Adam paced the floor waiting for Penny or Asald to call him back, a minute later his phone buzzed. “Hello?”
“Adam, what’s wrong?” Penny sounded anxious.
“I don’t know, Sarah is unconscious, the last thing she said was for me to call you. Does she have a medical condition?” Adam tried to stay calm, his heart threatening to beat out of his chest.
“No, Sarah has no issues that I’m aware of. Let me tell Asald I’m leaving, I’ll be there in five minutes.” She hung up without another word.
Penny’s lack of explanation scared Adam further. While he waited for her he contemplated calling the clinic. Dr. Jason Larson and his twin brother Dr. Jonathan Larson were the town doctors and vets, they also happened to be sphinx. They rarely treated humans but surely, they weren’t that different than shifters and monsters like him. He knew Jonathan was out of town, he hoped Jason was around.
Adam heard the car door out front and ran to let Penny inside. She didn’t say a word, rushed to her friend’s side and inspected her the same as he had.
“She doesn’t feel hot or cold, her breathing is shallow but other than that I don’t see anything wrong. Is there a hospital I can take her to?” Penny chewed her nail anxiously.
“There’s a hospital a few miles outside of town. We do have doctors that make house calls, I can try to get them?”
Penny nodded and went back to poking and prodding Sarah.
Adam dialed the number saved in his phone and paced waiting for his call to be answered. Fridays nights in this town were pretty lively, he just prayed the doc wasn’t already three sheets to the wind.
On the sixth ring, his prayers were answered, “Hello?”
“Dr. Larson, it’s Adam, can you come to my apartment, I have someone staying with me who is ill and I don’t know what to do.”
“Of course, let me get my medical bag and I’ll be right over.”
“Thank you.” Adam hit end on the phone without waiting for a response then tossed his phone next to the bed. “He’
ll be here soon.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
“I’ll be honest, a perplexed Dr. Larson said, I can’t find anything wrong with her either. I’m going to take some blood samples back to the office and run some tests. You can take her to the hospital if you want but I don’t think there is anything they can do differently. I can bring some monitoring equipment over and we’ll watch her closely until we get the test results in then we’ll make a decision?” He looked between Adam and Penny waiting for one of them to make the call.
“Sarah’s not a big fan of hospitals so if you don’t think she is in any immediate danger we can wait a little while.” Penny brushed a tear from her cheek.
“Can you fill out as much of this paperwork as possible while I draw her blood? Any medical history you can give me will help.” He handed her a couple of papers then turned to work on Sarah.
Penny wasn’t sure if you would call it luck but she happened to know quite a bit of Sarah’s history. She had reviewed all of it when Sarah and Alex came to the shelter.
Adam glanced at her multiple times, she couldn’t help how long it was taking, Hank had been an asshole.
She finished the last page and handed it to the doctor who had been waiting patiently. He scanned the sheets and whistled. “That is a lot of broken bones.”
“She was in an abusive marriage for a few years before she was able to escape.” Penny glanced towards Adam then back to the doctor. She didn’t know if Sarah had told him yet, she hoped Sarah would understand if she had just outed her.
Dr. Larson squeezed Penny’s shoulder comfortingly and left the apartment. For a moment neither Adam or Penny said a word. Finally, Adam walked over and brushed the hair from Sarah’s forehead. “She told me about her ex but she didn’t give much detail. By the amount of writing you did and the doc’s reaction I’m guessing it was much worse than she made it out to be.”
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