Dark and Damaged: Eight Tortured Heroes of Paranormal Romance: Paranormal Romance Boxed Set (90 page)

“You come with us,” she said.

Janet began to descend the stairs in an awkward gait that was neither walking nor floating. Each step seemed to require focus and skill. She could see the frustration in her eyes as she navigated the uneven stairway. Maggie’s stomach rolled as she watched the unnatural movements.

“Sam ...”

“She’s here for me, Maggie. She’s why I left.”

“You remember?”

He nodded, his eyes filled with agony. “There’s only one way to fight her,” he said softly.

The thing gave up on the stairs and moved to the wall, climbing it like a spider, its head twisted round so it could watch Sam as it circumvented the foyer, moving up and around in order to reach him.

It would be on them in seconds. Sam pulled Lexi out from behind him and shoved her at Maggie.

“Get out.”

“But what are you going to do?” she cried.

“She came for me,” he repeated and the look he gave her was filled with remorse. “The only way to keep her from you is to take her out.”

Reap her
. That’s what he meant.

And suddenly Maggie knew what he planned. He’d said death would free him—free the reaper he’d been before he’d been trapped inside of her husband’s body. All the doubt she’d held—even after the birds, even after cleaning her wounds in the restroom at Target where she’d stopped for clothes so as not to alarm Justin when she picked him up—fled now as she understood.

Sam strode to the kitchen, giving one last command over his shoulder. “Out, Maggie. I don’t want you or the kids to see this.”

The children. Yes, she had to protect them. But how could she let Sam do this? She loved him. Whatever he’d been, whatever he’d become ... she loved who he was now.

“Sam,” she cried as the creature crawled overhead, following him like a nightmare dog. She pulled the kids backwards, out the open door, sobbing, unable to think beyond the tragedy that was unfolding right before her eyes. The children were hysterical, crying for their father.

“What’s he doing? What’s he going to do—”

“Mrs. Sloan?” a voice asked sharply.

She and the kids spun to see the detectives right behind them. Hartman took one look at their faces and pulled his gun.

“No,” she cried, but he and Bulldog had already charged through the door. “Stay here,” she told Lexi and Justin as she followed.

What happened next, she’d never understand, yet some part of her brain catalogued the sequence and documented what she saw. The two detectives entered, weapons drawn and ready. Sam was in the kitchen, a butcher knife in his hand. He meant to kill himself with that blade and Maggie screamed at the horror and wrongness of it. The thing that had once been Janet was pinned to the wall, watching him with greedy eyes, unaware of the end that raced toward them all. Maggie saw something shifting around Janet’s shoulders like a black shawl. She didn’t know what it was.

“Hands in the air, Sloan. Drop the knife,” Bulldog shouted, obviously mistaking Sam as a threat to Maggie and the kids.

He didn’t see the creature on the wall. Maggie knew because he didn’t even glance at it. Hartman, though, stared with wide, aghast eyes.

In a moment that was frozen for uncountable heartbeats, Sam shifted his gaze to Maggie. “I love you,” he said. “I finally know what that means.”

The Janet-thing shrieked with rage and jumped at Sam. Maggie saw decision flash through his eyes. In an instant, he’d turned to the cops and charged with the knife held out in front of him, forcing their hand.

Hartman shouted, “No,” just as Bulldog pulled the trigger, once ... twice ... three times.

Sam’s body slammed back into the island, knife falling from his hand. His eyes began to glaze and he turned to Maggie once more as she tried to rush forward. Hartman caught her around the waist and held her back.

Something darkly silver emerged from Sam’s body like a cool mist on a dusky night. The thing that was Janet shrieked again, this time in terror. It turned in a scuttling circle and tried to get away, but the misty cloak found her, covered her ...
reaped her
.

“What the fuck,” Hartman said as Bulldog went down on his knees in front of Sam’s body, pulling out a phone and calling for emergency medical support as he tried to staunch the blood.

The black cloak around Janet’s shoulders separated and vanished like smoke in the wind. A moment later, the mist had dissipated, taking Janet and the stench of death with it.

The Reaper tucked himself in shadow at the back of the room, weighed with emotions no Reaper had ever felt before. Sam Sloan lay on the bed, his skin the color of paste. He should be dead, but machine’s kept his body breathing. The Reaper knew Maggie was to blame for that. She’d insisted.

A doctor came in—the second one in the past hour. Maggie had sat beside this bed since they’d wheeled Sam out of surgery, not moving even when the two detectives had come to see her.

Hartman had witnessed what had happened at the house, though he didn’t speak of it. The Reaper knew he never would. The other detective had no clue, but he was riddled with guilt once Maggie explained that Sam had acted in self defense, believing his family was in danger. The wound to his head, she’d told them, had made him act irrationally.

The two had come to tell them that they’d found Janet Sloan’s body in a ravine near Camelback Mountain. The coroner had verified that the time of death had been during the long days when Sam had been recovering from the gunshot wound, in the hospital under round-the-clock surveillance, an ironclad alibi. They’d determined that Janet had killed herself, staging the suicide so that her body would plummet to the ravine in death. She’d probably thought it would disguise the self inflicted nature of her wounds.

Maggie had calmly thanked them for seeing the case through and wished them a good day. They’d left with questions, but there was no way to ask them.

“Mrs. Sloan,” the doctor said now. “I know this is difficult. Sam’s recovery before was a miracle, but this time ...” He shook his head. “There’s no brain activity. Before he was breathing on his own and—”

“No,” she said. “I won’t do it. He’ll come back to me. I know he will.”

The Reaper smiled and the heart he shouldn’t have swelled at her stubbornness. The doctor left and Maggie turned her gaze to his corner. He remembered the first time he saw those fascinating eyes. He’d been entranced from the start.

“I don’t know if you’re there,” she said. “But I’m not going to leave until they drag me out.”

He stepped forward and her gaze snapped to him, though he knew she couldn’t actually see him. The first time, she’d been disquieted by his presence. Now, he sensed hope.

“I’m sorry I didn’t listen when you tried to tell me the truth. I didn’t know ... I didn’t understand. But I saw what you did for us, Sam. You gave yourself to keep us safe. Now come back to me. I love you. Please come back to me.”

He took another step, afraid to believe what he heard. It might be guilt, grief, any number of the vast array of human emotions which he now understood. He’d been wrong to wedge his way into her life before. She deserved a human mate who would give her the human life she’d always dreamed of, not him. Never him.

“I’m not looking for the fairy tale anymore, Sam. I’m only looking for you. I don’t care what you are, what you were ... I only care what you’re going to be. That’s mine. Until death do us part.”

Had he heard that right? Did she truly mean it?

The monitor beside his bed bleeped. Maggie sniffed and looked up, dark brows pulled. Anxiously, her gaze shifted from the monitor to the prone man.

“It’s time, Sam. Please. Come back to me.”

The machine made another strident sound and a nurse rushed in with two doctors right behind them.

The Reaper moved to the bed. Maggie’s gaze jerked to the corner and tracked back until it rested on him once again. He didn’t know how she knew.

“I feel you,” she breathed.

“Mrs. Sloan ... Maggie,” the doctor said. “It’s time.”

Maggie shook her head. “No,” she said. “Save him.”

“But—”

“Please.”

“But—”

“Save him.”

The doctor gave her a hard look, but finally nodded and Maggie moved to the end of the bed where she could see without being in the way.

Hurry, Sam. Hurry
.

Her lips moved and the Reaper felt the words even though she never spoke.

She caught her breath when he touched her and her pulse beat an erratic tempo at the base of her throat. Her eyes rounded, the beautiful blues and greens mixing and changing as she turned her face up to him.

One of the nurses pulled the blanket off, unveiling Sam’s muscular body. The gown came down to bunch at his waist as another nurse pushed a cart in the room. Maggie turned to watch them, hope in her eyes.

The Reaper moved over Samuel Sloan, seeping beneath his skin to the soul that had endured so much. It was still there ... weak, but no longer tainted with corruption. He’d vanquished the demon when he’d taken Janet to the other side.

Somewhere in the room a doctor said, “Clear,” and pressed paddles to Sam’s chest. The Reaper braced himself for the searing pain that sliced through to the core of him, impaling them both. He welcomed the agony.

The doctor said, “Clear,” once more. A second volt went through Sam’s body, through the Reaper, down to a place where the Reaper waited. He didn’t fight it this time and in an instant, it was done.

Joy filled him. He felt Maggie touch his leg as she circled the bed and came up to his side.

“I don’t know what you hoped for, Maggie,” the doctor said gently. “But ...”

“Could you unplug the machine’s now?” she asked.

“What?”

“He doesn’t need them anymore.”

“Before we do that, we need to know ... Sam was a healthy man. His organs could go to—”

“Please unplug the machines. My husband is going to need his organs.”

The Reaper fought his way to the surface, letting the human body mold to him once more. It felt like coming home, a home he vowed to never leave again.

The bright lights burned his eyes when they opened. The sharp gasp from the doctors rang in his ears.

And the first word from his lips was, “Maggie.”

The End

Thank you for reading
The Resurrection of Sam Sloan
and I hope you enjoyed it.

When you've finished reading
Dark and Damaged
, please consider leaving a review for the boxed set. Reviews help other readers make decisions about books and I really appreciate every review my books receive.

New York Times Bestselling author, Erin Quinn, writes dark paranormal romance for the thinking reader. Her books have been called “riveting,” “brilliantly plotted” and “beautifully written” and have won, placed or showed in numerous awards. Look for the third book in the Beyond Series, The Seven Sins of Ruby Love in late 2015. Book One and Two, The Five Deaths of Roxanne Love and Three Fates of Ryan Love are available now. Go to
http://www.erinquinnbooks.com
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Book 1: The Five Deaths of Roxanne Love

Book 2: The Three Fates of Ryan Love

Book 3: The Seven Sins of Ruby Love

Novella 1.5: The Forbidden Life of Alex Moore

Novella 2.5: The Resurrection of Sam Sloan

Book 1: Haunting Beauty

Book 2: Haunting Warrior

Book 3: Haunting Desire

Book 4: Haunting Embrace

Tormented by a savage past and shattered by a bitter betrayal, Iron Guild warrior Toryn Flynn trusts no one and cares about nothing except the battle against their enemies. His target: a mobster who finances deadly missions into Cascadia.

Kicked out of the house by her puritanical father, Keely Weber and her sister run a bookstore and fortune-telling business in an underground district in New Seattle—until a powerful man who controls the area kidnaps Keely’s sister to sell her into the Talent sex-trade.

When a beautiful woman literally falls into his arms, Toryn realizes she holds the key to his success. Keely will do anything to rescue her sister…including taking risks with a dangerously sexy man who pushes all her buttons.