Days and nights rolled into one, and Penny no longer knew who she was or what was happening. She heard her parents talking about her, but their words didn’t make any sense, as if they were speaking a foreign language around her.

“She needs counseling. Wherever she was, whatever she was doing all that time, it did something to her,” Pat whispered. “She won’t get out of bed, Amanda.”

“I can’t drag her out by her hair, Pat,” her mother retorted. “She keeps rambling that she feels hollow.”

“I know,” her father murmured. “I’ve heard her screaming out about reefs in her dreams, and when I wake her up, she is furious.”

“Could she have been kidnapped?”

“I have no idea what to think, but she needs to see a doctor. Let’s see if we can’t find someone to make house calls.”

That had been weeks earlier, or at least what Penny perceived to be weeks. She had no sense of time. All she had was a feeling of deep, abysmal emptiness, which only grew darker with each passing day. There was no reprieve from the loneliness and longing she felt. Penny knew there was only one thing that would cure that: seeing Reef again, but he had yet to materialize.

How could he have just forgotten about me? Did something happen to him?

She played every possible scenario in her head, perhaps that he’d been hurt or somehow captured, but that didn’t add up. He was a dragon prince, ruler of the Hollows. He was untouchable. So why hadn’t he come for her? That only left the devastating realization that he was glad she was finally gone and therefore no longer a burden to him.

For a full day, Penny had wandered through Louis Armstrong Park, searching for the chapel that obviously only existed for Violet. She was picked up twenty-six hours after she’d landed on the bench, unconscious under a tree. Someone had contacted her distraught parents, and Penny had remained in their care, listless and void, despite their best efforts to bring her out of her shell.

“It doesn’t matter what you tell us,” Pat begged. “We won’t judge you, Penny. You’re our firstborn, and we love you.”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” she muttered, turning her head against the pillow to stare out into the blue sky of the Louisiana horizon. The mere glimpse of the sun made tears fill her eyes, and she would fall into another block of misery that would last for days.

A knock on the door barely registered, and it wasn’t until a stranger stood by her bedside that Penny noticed she was there at all.

“Hi, Penny.” She had a nice smile, but she was all business. “I’m Dr. Rogers. How are you doing today?”

Penny eyed her for a long moment. “My parents sent for you, I’m guessing.”

Dr. Rogers nodded and perched on the edge of the bed. Penny didn’t bother moving her legs beneath the comforter to make room for her. “They’re worried about you, Penny. Do you know why?”

“I’m not an idiot, Dr. Rogers,” she snapped. “Of course I know why.”

The physician didn’t seem put off by her tone. “Would you mind if I have a look at you? Check your vitals? That sort of thing?”

Penny nodded at the case she’d set on the nightstand. “Got any good drugs in there? Something to knock me out permanently?”

“Are you looking for drugs?”

Penny groaned loudly and forced herself to sit up. She’d almost forgotten about that. “No. I’m not.”

Dr. Rogers nodded and reached into her medical bag for a stethoscope. “That’s good. Is anything hurting? Are you in pain anywhere?”

Everywhere! Penny wanted to scream. Everything hurts, and I have no idea how to fix it. There is literally nothing I can do to make it right! “No.”

“Trouble sleeping? Bad dreams?”

The dreams are the best part of my life right now. I’m with Reef every time I close my eyes. We’re still in the palace, making love, laughing, whispering, and making plans for our future. The future is here, and he’s nowhere to be found. “No.”

Dr. Rogers checked her heart and then her blood pressure. “Anything you want to talk about, Penny? I realize you don’t know me, but I can be a good ear, and I promise that no one will know what we discuss.”

Except for my mom, who has her ear pressed up against the door right now. “No.”

Dr. Rogers sighed and sat back, removing the band from her arm.

“Penny, this is no way to kill yourself. It’s clear you’re suffering from some sort of mental exhaustion. I understand that a lot happened to you in a short time, and it’s only natural that your body wants to shut down and recharge.”

There is nothing natural about being trapped in an underworld, falling in love, and losing my soulmate in the span of a week, Penny thought.

“And there’s nothing wrong with giving yourself a break,” Dr. Rogers continued. “But if you don’t get out of bed, shower, eat—those kinds of things—you’re only feeding your depression.”

This woman takes one look at me and calls me depressed. Hell, I wonder where I can get my doctorate. I could do that, too. “Okay,” Penny muttered.

“Can I take some bloodwork, just to be sure there’s not a virus or something more serious going on? We’ll have the results in a few days.”

“Knock yourself out.” Penny didn’t offer any help, but Dr. Rogers didn’t seem to need it, and she quickly withdrew three vials before carefully labeling them and packing them away.

“I’m leaving my card on the table, Penny, if you should change your mind and want someone to talk to.” Penny didn’t respond and turned her head back toward the window. “Penny…” She didn’t move to acknowledge the doctor’s call. “Can you at least try to get up and have a shower today and sit outside for a few minutes? Say, ten minutes.”

“Okay.” Penny just wanted her to go. She would have agreed to anything without resolve.

“You’d be amazed what a difference that can make in your overall wellbeing.”

“Okay.”

Dr. Rogers tried to smother a deep sigh, but Penny heard it anyway. “I’ll get back to you with your lab results.”

Penny was grateful when the door closed, but she instantly heard her parents’ voices.

“Well? What’s wrong with her?”

“How did she get that gash on her arm?”

Penny froze, sitting up like a newly awakened zombie. She’d been so out of it that she’d forgotten about the Lycan attack. Instantly, her eyes darted toward the healing cut. It was still ugly.

“What gash?”

“It looks like an animal bite,” Dr. Rogers explained. “It’s quite deep. I would say she’s had it for weeks.”

There was a heavy silence.

“She was attacked by an animal?” Amanda choked in disbelief. “Where the hell was she, Pat?”

Of course, her father had no answer, and Penny sat up, waiting for the barrage of questions she knew was coming.

“No,” Dr. Rogers called. “I don’t think confronting her on the issue will get you anywhere.”

“I can’t sit back and not know,” Amanda squealed. “Do you know how hard this is as a parent? To watch your child suffering and—”

“With all due respect, Mrs. Carling, this isn’t about you. This is about Penny. I think she’s been through a traumatic event, and pushing her isn’t going to help matters in the least. I’m sending her blood work to the lab, and I’ll get back to her with the results as soon as possible. I’ll put a rush on it.”

There was a murmur of thanks from the senior Carlings and the sound of retreating footsteps as Penny sat up, listening. For the first time in weeks, her heart began to thump wildly, reminding her that she was alive and worthy of living, no matter how heavy it might be.

Shower. I need to take a shower, she told herself as she realized just how rank she’d become in her deepening sadness. She flung her legs off the side of the bed, and to her shock, she found that they were wobbly. Atrophy. I’ve been in bed so long, my muscle memory is failing me.

Penny ground her teeth together, refusing to let herself fall.

If Reef didn’t want her, she would still live on. She couldn’t waste away in her parents’ house before she turned thirty. She was the same woman who had kicked Ryland to the curb. She was the only woman in her group to survive the Hollows. There was nothing she couldn’t do. But first, she had to get out of bed.

“Mom?” Penny called, her voice wavering. Instantly, Amanda appeared in the doorway, her eyes widening in shock.

“What’s wrong, honey?”

“Nothing. I’m just going to take a shower.”

Amanda’s mouth parted, and her eyes darted toward Penny’s arm, but Penny had already covered the cut with the sleeve of the old shirt of her father’s she’d been sleeping in for a week.

“No,” Pat interjected, joining his wife’s side. “I have a better idea. Let me run you a bath, hon.”

Penny looked at him gratefully and nodded, accepting her mother’s arm, and the trio made it to the bathroom together.

Over the next two days, Penny grew stronger, and as she sat pouring over job openings online, a cup of cooling coffee in her hands, she was beginning to feel a little saner. The dull ache in her heart had not diminished, but it also didn’t seem to be getting any worse—as long as she focussed her attention on anything except the thought of Reef and how he had forsaken her.

How was that going to work, anyway? Penny wondered. It was easy to imagine when we were the only two people in the whole world, but the truth is, we would have never lasted.

At least, that was what she told herself to maintain some semblance of a grasp on reality.

“Any luck, hon?” Amanda asked her, peering over her shoulder.

“Do you think I’d be a good topless maid?” Penny joked. “Because there are about twenty ads for one.”

“That’s not funny,” Pat growled, but the women chuckled anyway. The landline rang, and Amanda hurried forward to answer it, gesturing for them to be quiet.

“Hello?”

Penny turned back to the computer, her eyes scanning through one menial job after another, but she knew that without a reference from Veriday, her choices were going to be poor.

So what? she snapped at herself crossly. It was a small price to pay for escaping Ryland. You won’t feel sorry for yourself, no matter how tempting it is.

“Honey? It’s Dr. Rogers,” Amanda called, handing Penny the cordless phone. Penny accepted it and rose from the chair automatically. She had never been one to sit and chat on the phone, the process unnerving for some reason.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Penny.”

“Hi, doctor.” There was a long silence. “Are you there, Dr. Rogers?”

“Uh, yes, I am. Penny, are you available this afternoon?”

Tension shot through her like a bolt of lightning. “Why?” she breathed. “What’s wrong?” She got my results back and I have the pathogen. It’s eating away at me. The serum never protected me, it only slowed down the process. I’m dying. The werewolves infected me. There—

The flood of irrational thoughts plagued Penny until Dr. Rogers spoke again.

“I would rather tell you face to face,” she sighed. “So we can discuss the results from your bloodwork.”

“No!” Penny cried, and through her peripheral vision, she saw both her parents look up sharply. She inhaled and steeled herself. “I mean, please don’t leave me hanging. I’ll meet with you, sure, but don’t make me wait to know what’s going on.”

“It’s really policy to discuss—”

“Screw your policy!” Penny yelled, forgetting her determination to remain calm. “I’ve been dealt nothing but crap for months! If you’re going to add to that pile, just do it! Stop dragging it out!”

Dr. Rogers was quiet, and Penny waited, knowing that she was debating whether to spill what she knew. “First, I need to ask you something.”

Penny’s jaw locked. “Fine,” she muttered. “What?”

“I understand you broke up with your boyfriend a few months back. How long ago was that?”

“What the hell does that have to do with anything?”

“Please, humor me?”

“About three months.” There was a whoosh of air into Penny’s ear, and she pulled the phone from her lobe.

“Okay…”

“Dr. Rogers—”

“Penny, you’re pregnant.”

There was another rush of wind in Penny’s ears, but this time, it was her own blood, and she yanked the phone to stare at it, as if she was expecting the doctor to laugh maniacally and claim it was all a bad joke.

“Penny?”

“I’m here.”

“I performed a quantitative blood test to be sure, and it looks like you’re about six weeks along now. Do you know who the father might be?”

Suddenly, Penny began to chortle. It started as a small snort, an almost derisive giggle, but it quickly escalated into full, hearty belly laughs she couldn’t stop. Tears of near hysteria poured down her cheeks, and Penny crumbled to the ground, choking on the snickers emitting from her diaphragm.

“Penny!” her parents cried, rushing to her side, but nothing they could do or say would calm her. The laughter became gut-wrenching sobs, and her body started convulsing.

“Penny! Oh, my God, what did the doctor say?” Pat demanded, grabbing for the phone. Apparently, Dr. Rogers had already hung up, leaving their daughter in a frenzied mass on the floor.

“Honey, please, whatever it is, we’ll get through this,” Amanda insisted, casting her husband a deeply troubled look.

Finally, after several minutes, Penny was able to sit up and wipe the tears from her face, even though her frame continued to shake.

“Honey?” Amanda tried again. “What did she say?”

“She said,” Penny sniffled, “that you’re going to be a grandmother.”