by Sophia Sharp
“Hmm?” Nora asked.
“It’s time that you know. You deserve the truth.”
“The truth?” Nora furrowed her brow. “What truth? What are you talking about?”
Hunter sighed. “About your lineage. Your real mother. Your true father.”
“My… mother?” A sharp pain bit Nora at the side of her temple when she said the word. She brought a hand up to massage it away. “I saw my mother. Just a few minutes ago.”
Hunter gave her a sad smile. “Not her. The people you knew as your mother and father were your adopted parents. Do you remember them?”
An uneasy heaviness settled on Nora’s shoulders. “Yes,” she said. “Yes, but.. not really.” She shuddered involuntarily. “Hunter, what’s wrong with me? Why am I having so much trouble remembering?”
“It’s the aftershock of what you did,” he said gently. He turned toward her and leaned down to press his forehead against hers. “You were amazing,” he murmured.
His lips brushed hers. Nora closed her eyes and leaned in to further the soft, intimate connection.
Hunter pulled away. “I’m going to help you remember, now,” he said. He lifted his hand between them. “Put your hand on mine.”
Nora wasn’t sure what she was doing, only that, once again, it felt right. She brought her hand up and lay her fingers on top of Hunter’s…
The sudden rush of feelings and memories and experiences blindsided her. She staggered back, but Hunter caught her arm, refusing to let her move. Everything came to her in a brilliant ray of bright light. The elders. The Vassiz. The angels. The stars. Everything—everything she had thought she’d lost.
She knew why Hunter was here now. His words made sense. Everything they’d gone through together—all of it was back.
“How—how did you do that?” she gasped when she could breathe again.
Hunter shot her a wry smile. “One of the gifts that comes from being an elder.”
“So you really are?” Nora whispered.
“Yes.” Hunter nodded. “But that’s irrelevant. You fixed things, Nora. You fulfilled your destiny.”
“What did you say before? About my parents?”
“Why do you think you are meant to be the next succubus? To wander in the dream forever?”
“Because…” Laura trailed off. She thought she knew, but she couldn’t bear to say the words.
“Yes?” Hunter prompted.
“Because… because I am Selaine’s daughter.”
Hunter traced her jawline with the back of his hand. “That’s right.”
“But then… my father? Who is he?”
“Rafael.”
Nora’s gasped. “What?”
“You caused the dispute between him and the angels. When the elders became too powerful, he took refuge in the caves rather than fight. They ostracized him for his decision, but her did it for you. He knew of the prophecy. Knew what was destined to be. He knew what his daughter would do.”
“But… why would they abandon me?” Nora asked, feeling a horrible sense of betrayal.
“They didn’t abandon you,” Hunter chided gently. “The succubus cannot enter the human realm. Selaine had to give you up to human parents to raise you until you were old enough to fulfill the prophecy.”
“And that’s when you came into my life?”
“Yes,” Hunter said. His eyes took on a distant look. “But I never expected for you to have the effect that you did on me. I love you, Nora.”
Her heart swelled in her chest. “You… what?”
“I love you. Only you. Forever.” He met her eyes. “Just like you said when I converted you in the caves. And now…” he swept a hand to take in their surroundings, “…we can begin our new life together. You’ve done everything you were meant to, but your true role beings now.” He linked hands with her. “I’ll be there with you, by your side, always. The angels can return to their proper place now that the elders are gone. You will bear responsibility over our entire race.”
Hunter chuckled. “And, speaking of bears…”
A noise in the bush made Nora look back. She turned back—and cried out in delight when she saw Gray approaching.
She broke away from Hunter and ran to him. He galloped to meet her halfway. Nora flung her arms around his great neck, while Hunter laughed in the background.
“How is he here?” Nora asked, nuzzling into him.
“There are special privileges afforded to being the succubus,” Hunter said. “One of which is being able to link the stars of two beings in ways restricted to all but you. You can’t control it yet, not consciously, but—since I’m here with you—I hold some influence over it, too.”
“You did this?” Nora asked.
Hunter shrugged. “I thought you’d like to see him.”
“You were right.” She beamed at Hunter. “You were right. Thank you, Hunter. And…” She looked down at her feet, suddenly shy.
“Yes?” he asked, stepping closer, his voice a hushed whisper.
“And… I love you, too.”
Hunter swept her off her feet and kissed her, sealing their fates together forever:
Two beings.
One star.
One life.
One love.
~~
The End.
Thank you!
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for going on this amazing journey with me. I hope you loved reading the books as much as I’ve loved writing them. This is the end of the story for Nora and Hunter.
Like I said in the introduction, I have new books coming! They’ll be released in 2016. So sign up for my mailing list to make sure you don’t miss them.
Click here to sign up.
As always, I want to hear all of your feedback. Message me! [email protected].
Lots of love,
Sophia
December 15, 2015
Bonus Books:
Here are the two bonus books. Truth be told, when I wrote the first one... I knew it wasn’t very good. So I published it under a pen name (Sarah Swan) and kind of swept it under the rug. The second was better, according to reader reviews.
I just added them here so you can read them if they pique your interest. Nothing more. They’re not part of The Forsaken Saga or related in any way to the four books you just read :)
Chosen (The Seeker Saga, #1)
Forbidden (The Seeker Saga, #2)
Chosen Description:
Could you live your whole life feeling empty?
A New Life
Seventeen-year-old Tracy Bachman feels that something is missing in life. Despite a normal upbringing, she can't help but yearn for more. That is why she decides to transfer to a new boarding school, in a move that takes her all the way across the country.
An Unforgettable Adventure
When Tracy arrives at her new school, she expects an ordinary enough life. But what she finds there instead changes her in ways she could never expect.
A love interest she did not ask for.
A power she does not know she holds.
And a clique of mysterious, popular girls hell-bent on entangling Tracy in their affairs.
A Hidden Purpose
The girls Tracy meets all know she is different. Beneath their easy smiles lies a friendship laced with dark intentions. Will Tracy understand what they want in time to protect herself? Or will she find herself hopelessly ensnared in their web of secrets?
A Forbidden Romance
A suggestive glance. A secret rendezvous. In the midst of everything else, Tracy finds temptation in the very boy she is prohibited from speaking to. But as she pushes herself away, she falls right into the arms of another...
A Mystical World
Slowly, Tracy starts to understand that beneath her school's veneer of splendor lies a dangerous, secretive world brimming with supernatural powers. And before she knows it, she finds herself deep in the heart of that cryptic, mystifying world.
All expe
ctations are thrown to the wind as Tracy struggles to balance love, friendship, adventure - and her newfound power. But will she be perceptive enough to realize that there are those who would use her for that power, lurking closer than she can believe?
Forbidden Description:
Tracy Bachman has come to grips with the crystals, their powers, and what she can do with them.
But she soon finds that accepting them does not bring any peace.
Her acceptances of the crystals brings real danger. There are others who would use her for her powers, lurking closer than she may think. And in an abrupt turn of events, she is forced to abandon Traven Island to escape the very real dangers that threaten her very life.
Together with her friends, she embarks on an exhilarating journey that takes her far from her idyllic paradise. But the path she walks is lined with daggers, and a single mis-step can cost Tracy her life.
Chosen
(Book 1 of the The Seeker Saga)
By Sarah Swan
Copyright © 2011 Red Eagle Press
Amazon Kindle Edition
This entire book is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and incidents are all either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, persons are coincidental. All right reserved.
January 2012
About the Author:
Brief version:
Sarah Swan was born in the summer of 1991 on the outskirts of Seattle, Washington. She is an avid reader and has been so since her mother placed her first book in her hands. She has dreamt of being a writer ever since meeting J.K. Rowling in a local bookshop at the age of 12. She wrote Chosen while balancing a full college schedule and waitressing part-time at a college bar.
Book Description:
Could you live your whole life feeling empty?
A New Life
Seventeen-year-old Tracy Bachman feels that something is missing in life. Despite a normal upbringing, she can't help but yearn for more. That is why she decides to transfer to a new boarding school, in a move that takes her all the way across the country.
An Unforgettable Adventure
When Tracy arrives at her new school, she expects an ordinary enough life. But what she finds there instead changes her in ways she could never expect.
A love interest she did not ask for.
A power she does not know she holds.
And a clique of mysterious, popular girls hell-bent on entangling Tracy in their affairs.
A Hidden Purpose
The girls Tracy meets all know she is different. Beneath their easy smiles lies a friendship laced with dark intentions. Will Tracy understand what they want in time to protect herself? Or will she find herself hopelessly ensnared in their web of secrets?
A Forbidden Romance
A suggestive glance. A secret rendezvous. In the midst of everything else, Tracy finds temptation in the very boy she is prohibited from speaking to. But as she pushes herself away, she falls right into the arms of another...
A Mystical World
Slowly, Tracy starts to understand that beneath her school's veneer of splendor lies a dangerous, secretive world brimming with supernatural powers. And before she knows it, she finds herself deep in the heart of that cryptic, mystifying world.
All expectations are thrown to the wind as Tracy struggles to balance love, friendship, adventure - and her newfound power. But will she be perceptive enough to realize that there are those who would use her for that power, lurking closer than she can believe?
--
Chosen is the first book of The Seeker Saga, a new YA paranormal series. Look for the second book, Forbidden, to be available March 2012.
Chapter One – A New Life
September 23rd is the first day of fall. I know this not because I have some bizarre fascination with the changing of the seasons, or with watching the days of the calendar slowly creep by, but rather because this year, September 23rd happened to fall on a Friday. This is ironic to me, since that day of the week is typically reserved for marking the end of things, such as the working week, than signaling the start of something new. But for me, September 23rd marked not only the transition into a less prosperous season, when the last rays of sunshine from a glorious summer are taken away, leaving only memories of those warm, lustful days, but also the end of my previous life.
I guess, from an even more pessimistic perspective, one would be justified in saying that September 23rd is also the end of the three most peaceful months of the year, a time when the entire western world shifts away from a recess of lounging and relaxing into a more high-octane way of thinking. New stresses and pressures begin to show themselves and become painfully rediscovered. At least, this is the way of things for adults, as I’ve come to figure out in my relatively short sixteen years on this planet.
For a student like me, fall marks the beginning of a new school year. This is a time of great fascination and palpable excitement – about seeing old friends, and meeting new ones, and about discovering yourself for the umpteenth time in the first semester of school. But, this year, that beginning was slightly different for me.
Thinking back, September 23rd was more than just the start of a new season. For me, it signified the beginning of a new life, one which would typically be thrown off as interesting and eventful only in the shallow minds of teenagers and (to be frank) the miniscule world they inhabit. But, my story is far from typical. While it may begin in a familiar setting, I can see now, in hindsight, that where it takes me is a place far and away outside the realm of familiarity.
But I digress. The beginning of this story takes place in the backseat of a very cramped early 1990s Oldsmobile Bravada. If the make of the car doesn’t ring a bell, I wouldn’t blame you – the entire line was phased out of production sometime in the mid-2000s. But with my dad’s constant insistence that his car was just as good today as the day he bought it, only a few weeks after I was born, it was the only vehicle available to us for the cross-country trip that my family was just completing. After spending the better part of a week squeezed between boxes of nearly all my belongings, even my patience was starting to wear thin. And that’s fairly impressive, because, as you’ll soon see, I pride myself on being a very patient and tolerant person. I’m kidding. That was just a lie I made up to make myself feel better about my impatience at the gnawing and very distracting feeling of being restricted to nothing more than a very small, very hard backseat in this rickety ride.
“Look honey!” my mom exclaimed in her usual-but-completely-baffling cheery voice. “The sign outside says we’ve only got twenty miles to go!” She turned around from her copilot seat up front with a wide grin on her face. That quickly turned into a frown. “Tracy! How many times do I have to tell you to stop chewing your nails?”
Abashedly, I jerked my hand away from my mouth. That was a habit I had been meaning to break for, oh, over two years now. I was actually feeling proud of myself for not succumbing to the temptation even once on this long road trip. But I guess it had become so ingrained that I sometimes did it without thinking. I resolved right there and then that this would be the absolute last time I allowed myself to do that. What better time, really, than the day before joining an entirely new school?
“Sorry,” I replied cheekily, “I guess my mind just wandered.”
My mom waved me away. “It’s for your own good, you know. There aren’t many boys who will like a chomper.”
“Mom!” I exclaimed, feeling unusually embarrassed. “Can we not talk about that? Not right now?”
“I’m just saying…” my mom replied, turning back around. “Isn’t that right, Dave?”
Dave, of course, was my father, who snuck a surreptitious wink at me when mom wasn’t looking. “Of course, dear,” he replied with only the barest hint of sarcasm. “Although, I have a feeling that Tracy’s going to do just fine with the boys no matter what her habits are.” I smiled to myself. Dad always had a very inflate
d opinion of his one and only daughter. If he knew just how much of a struggle it was for me to be able to say two coherent words to a boy that I liked, well… shell-shocked wouldn’t be too strong of a word. Still, he always had a way of making me feel better every time I came home after school with any type of problem, big or small. That would be one thing I would definitely miss at my new home.
I shook my head. It was strange thinking of this place I was going to, this seemingly otherworldly institute located far from my Washington home as could possibly be, as, well, home. But that faraway place would be home for the next two years of my life. I was headed for a very small, very prestigious, private school, located on a small island just off the coast of Maine. I emphasize the word prestigious because, while it is not something I would ever use, it is what nearly everybody else said about the place when they found out I had been accepted.
Truth be told, I had had my sights set on the boarding school – Oliver Academy – for a very long time. It had been my goal ever since I had finished elementary school and took my first class in the neighboring high school, actually. I wanted to get into a good college. Doing so from a no-name junior high in the back hills of Tacoma would have been a herculean task. I’m not sure exactly where the desire to go to university came from, but I had a pretty strong suspicion it was because my dad once attended Harvard as an undergrad. And I say “attended” because he was one of those students who never graduated. It is quite a romantic story, actually, and perhaps worth its own in-depth look at a later time, but I’d be remiss if I failed to give the bullet points now. Essentially, in the summer between his junior and senior year, my father decided to backpack through the wilderness of the Canadian Rockies. Somewhere along the way, he stumbled upon a girl: a girl he liked very much, actually, and one to whom he proposed after having known her for only a few weeks. She said yes, of course, and the rest, as they say, is history. Because she was studying to be a doctor at a fairly obscure Canadian school, my dad dropped everything he had to move in with her, putting his own studies on hold. A few years later, I was born, and this Oldsmobile came soon after. And now, I was staring at the back of that girl’s frizzled sun-colored hair while she looked on through the side window at the trees passing us on the side of the road.
