Read A Stitch on Time 5 for Free Online Page B

I’d sat only seconds ago.
    No, no, no, this can’t be happening!
    A ragged cough wracked through me as I struggled to keep my composure. This wasn’t like being dragged into a spook’s zone, but I’d been here before. With a fellow spook catcher called Mara. She’d been in a coma—in limbo—when she’d somehow pulled me in. But Papan had been in a coma for days and I hadn’t seen him once. Not until now.
    “Hey, Fox,” he said, meeting my eyes. “What’s going on?”
    I stepped closer. “You’re hurt, you’re—”
    “Yeah, I got that bit.” He took only two strides to reach me. “I’m in a coma, except something’s changed.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I think I’m slipping away.”
    “You’re in limbo.”
    He nodded. “That’s where I was, but I can feel something warm rising up behind me. And it’s getting brighter.”
    “Don’t turn around,” I warned. Giving him the opposite advice I’d offered to Ebony seemed bizarre, but he couldn’t go. Not yet. “Whatever you do, don’t turn towards the light.”
    His green eyes twinkled. “I’m almost at the end of the line, aren’t I?”
    “No, you’re not. Saul’s helping you get better.”
    Papan raised his right hand and touched my lips with his fingertips. “It’s all right, Foxy.”
    I shook my head and his fingers slipped away. “No, nothing’s going to be all right until you open your eyes and get out of that bed!”
    He pulled me into a firm embrace, and all I could do was rub my cheek against his firm chest and wish this wasn’t happening. I wasn’t ready to let him go, I didn’t want to lose someone else. Papan ran a hand over my hair, smoothing it out.
    “It’s so great to see you. I didn’t think I’d get to hold you again.” He kissed the top of my head. “At least I can move on peacefully now.”
    His words sunk in and I pushed him away. Why did Papan share Ebony’s blasé attitude towards death? “Don’t say that. You’re not going anywhere.”
    “But Fox—”
    “No!” The scream tore from my throat, hurting so much I closed my eyes to keep the pain at bay. When I opened them, Papan was gone. His motionless body lay still on the bed under the bloody sheet.
    Lavie was leaning over Saul, who was slumped onto the bed.
    “What happened to him?” I raced over, and his eyes were shut. The demon looked pale. “He’s not chanting anymore, is that going to be a problem?”
    Lavie nodded. “If he doesn’t chant, the blood won’t flow like it needs to.”
    “Saul, wake up. Damn it, Saul. Don’t do this. Not now!” When he didn’t respond, I cleared my throat. “We have to do something. We can’t let Papan die.”
    Pain glistened in her hazel eyes. “If we don’t rouse Saul back to consciousness, neither is going to make it.”
    “What do we do?”
    In the distance, something else exploded.
    She pressed two fingers to the side of Saul’s neck. “He’s got a strong pulse.”
    “Wake him up, then,” I said.
    “It’s not going to be that easy.”
    I pushed her out of the way, grabbed a hold of Saul’s collar and straightened his body as best as I could. I then slammed my left fist against his cheek once, twice, three times. “Wake up! You promised you wouldn’t let him die.” I hit him again.
    “Sierra!”
    I shook Lavie off, determined to do anything to wake the demon. When I attempted to hit him a fifth time, his hand shot up and caught my wrist. Saul’s grip was so tight his fingers turned white. Our connection caused a flutter of familiarity to flow between us. The Strophalos on the back of my hand lit up, and I suddenly felt some of my energy pouring into him. The pink outline of his Hecate’s Wheel tattoo shone through his shirt.
    “He’s not going to die.” Saul’s whisper filled my mind. He tilted his head at an unnatural angle and said out loud, “I don’t know how many times I need to tell you that I won’t let him die.”
    “I’m sorry I hit you, I didn’t know what