by H. D. Gordon
“Not quite done yet, Charlie,” Surah said.
He turned just in time to see a final Fae heading for him, but Surah did her ninja-run up the side of the tree nearest him and hopped onto the Fae’s back, the two long points of her sais pressed into his throat. The Fae lost his footing and fell face-first to the ground. Surah fell along with him, but managed to keep her weapons in place on either side of his neck, pushing the tender skin there in painfully but not quite breaking it.
The Fae let out an oomph! as he hit the ground, the sound of thick fallen branches crunching beneath him. Surah sat atop him in triumph, her features relaxed but the air panting in and out of her. Charlie looked around again at all the fallen Fae. More than a handful of them had died by his hand, but she had taken out a healthy number herself. Though it was a bloody mess and exactly the sort of thing he’d been trying to avoid, he couldn’t help a small smile at how incredible the princess truly was. He couldn’t deny that watching her fight made his pulse quicken.
His eyes went back to her and he watched as she flipped her head back, clearing her wild hair out of her face. She leaned forward slightly, staring down at the back of the Fae’s head she had pinned beneath her. “Who sent you?” she asked, and though her voice was still that soft, sweet tone Charlie loved so much, now it was commanding and surprisingly intimidating.
The Fae turned his head to the side and spat into the dirt. “Kill me,” he said.
Surah rolled her eyes. “Stupid answer, fairy. I had no intention of killing you, but now that you’ve mentioned it, doing so slowly would be entertaining.”
Charlie knew that calling a Fae a fairy was an insult, and he couldn’t help it when the amazed smile grew a little wider on his face. For the first time, he allowed himself to hope that when he got around to telling her everything he had to tell her, she might be able to understand. She wasn’t nearly as soft as she looked.
“You don’t even have to tell me,” Surah continued. “I would assume you know who I am, since you were sent to come and kill me… Or was it to capture me? No matter, I guess, but if you know who I am, you must know I know whom you serve. How is your queen? I don’t believe I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting her.”
“Go to hell you Sorceress bitch,” the Fae spat. Charlie was a heartbeat from kicking him where he lay, but Surah laughed and slapped the Fae hard on the back of his head, the metal of the sai in her hand making a painful-sounding thud against his skull. Charlie bit back a chuckle and settled for an amused shake of his head.
“Haven’t you any manners?” she asked. “I am no ‘Sorceress bitch’. I am Surah Stormsong, daughter of King Syrian Stormsong, next in line to the throne.” She slapped the back of his skull again, and he made a choking sound as leaves and dirt were stuffed into his mouth. A bit of blood now leaked out of the back of his head. “I’m going to let you live, not because I think you deserve to, but because you have a message to deliver to your queen on my behalf.” She pressed the tips of her sais a little harder into his neck. “Think you can handle that, fairy?”
Charlie stood off to the side and watched all this in silence, his crossbow aimed at the Fae’s head just in case he tried anything sneaky, but he had a strong feeling Surah wouldn’t be needing any help. He didn’t want to interrupt, either, because if he was being honest, he wanted to see where she was going with this. After a few more hard hits on the back of his head, the Fae grunted an agreement to deliver her message. What she did next surprised Charlie further still.
“Good,” Surah said. “That’s a good choice, my fairy friend.” She leaned forward now, her lips only inches from the Fae’s pointed ear. “You tell her Surah Stormsong sends her regards. You can remember that can’t you, fairy. See? Not so hard.”
“Fine,” the Fae snarled. “Let me up.”
Surah laughed again, and it was such a sweet sound, a direct juxtaposition to the whole situation. She slapped his head with the sai again. It made another hard thud. A large bloody bump was beginning to form there. He let out a small cry of pain. “You still think you’re in a position to give commands. Slow learner, I suppose. Anyhow, I will let you up… just as soon as I give you something to remember me by. Or rather, take something for me to remember you by.”
Then she reached into her boot and removed a very small, very sharp-looking knife, and began sawing off the Fae’s clawed pinky finger. When he screamed, Charlie shoved a thick piece of bark in his mouth to stifle the sounds, earning a nod from Surah, who continued sawing. Blue blood sprang out in spurts and covered her fingers. When it was over, she sent him on his way. When he was gone, she tossed the dismembered digit into a bush with a disgusted look on her face and bent down to wipe her hands in some leaves.
She turned back to Charlie and approached him slowly, a wary, guarded look on her face. A look not dissimilar from the one he usually wore. “You think I’m crazy, don’t you?” she asked.
So many things went through his head just then, so much he knew he should just tell her and get it over with. Instead, Charlie shrugged and one side of his mouth pulled up. He placed his hands on either side of her face, gently wiping away some of the sapphire blood on her cheeks with his thumbs. He stared into her violet eyes, doing his best to take in every perfect line that was her face while she would still let him get close enough to do so. “I think we both are, love,” he said.
He was rewarded with a slow smile that made his chest swell and his heart threaten to break.
CHAPTER 11
SURAH
“So… uh… you’re pretty fearsome,” Charlie said as they were walking back into the cabin.
Surah laughed shortly, though she found nothing about this situation humorous. She began to recite a spell to clean herself of the sticky gore that covered her, and stopped when she remembered it wouldn’t work. Now that the fight with the Fae was over, the reality of the current circumstances came back with a staggering sense of dread. Even the Shielding Spell she’d cast around the cabin had disappeared. Maybe Charlie was right, maybe she was “fearsome” in terms of battle, but the lack of Magic had left her feeling unprepared and uneasy. And not being able to simply clean herself off with a spell drove this fact home. Right now, she had a feeling Charlie would have a much easier time getting by than she was going to have.
The sooner the Magic came back, the better. A thought occurred to her then, and it was very possibly the single worst thought she’d had in all her existence. What if the Magic never comes back?
She shook the thought away, it being too big to chew and swallow, and realized he was waiting for a response. “Look at me, Charlie.”
“I am.”
She smiled at this and her shoulders relaxed a fraction. It really was amazing the effect he had on her. “I mean, don’t you think I need to be feared. Just in the past week you’ve seen what kind of danger my position as princess and Keeper puts me in, and even more so now that I’m the last remaining Stormsong heir. My father thought it best that I be trained to protect myself, and over the years I’ve mastered every weapon we know of. I’ve spent months in the jungles where the Great Beasts rule. I’ve killed demons and even some Accursed once.”
She stuck one of her arms out of her cloak and showed him the black, jagged tattoos there, making sure she looked directly into his eyes as she said her next words. “You see these marks? Every time I take a… piece of someone, I get one of these added to remind myself how many enemies I have. Being me is a dangerous thing. Being around me is a dangerous thing. Now, the Magic is gone, and it’s even more dangerous. Magic is a main part of what has kept me safe over the years.”
She was rambling, and she knew it, but she hadn’t been able to stop the words from falling out. She snapped her mouth shut now and drew a deep, shuddering breath.
Charlie came forward and smoothed her hair back behind her ear. “I guess it’s a good thing I don’t scare easily,” he said, giving her that half smile that made a small dimple in his left cheek. “And I’d be
willin’ to bet that Magic has also been part of what has put your life in danger over the years.”
She’d never thought of it that way, but as she looked back over countless memories, she supposed he was right. Still, this was a game-changer. There was no time to sit around and wait for things to come to them. The trouble was here, and at the very least, she needed answers. Like whether or not the loss of Magic had affected all of her kind, or just her and Charlie. Also, how to get it back and who caused it to disappear in the first place were pretty hot questions. She had a few theories, but she needed answers. Then she could decide what to do.
“We can’t stay here,” she said. “With everything that’s going on and the Magic being gone, my father’s kingdom is more vulnerable than ever. The fact that Fae had the nerve to cross the border is beyond troubling. It means the trouble we face goes beyond our kind, and I’ve got a feeling things are headed in a catastrophic direction.”
Her memory of the Silver City just a month ago surfaced. The death, the devastation, all that white snow stained with red. She shivered as she remembered how cold she’d felt that night, watching the army led by the Sun Warrior storm the castle where the army of their sick king was waiting for them. The howls of the Wolves, the screeches of the Accursed and the dying cries of the innocents still haunted her dreams at night.
She pulled away from the thoughts, looking around the small cabin and then to Charlie, who was rubbing his hand down his jaw again. For once, he wasn’t looking at her. His eyes were distant, and she could practically see the wheels in his head turning. “What?” she asked.
There was a long moment of silence before he answered. “It’s nothing, really. It’s just… Michael said some things similar to what you just said when he broke me out of that holdin’ cell back at the castle. He said the Highborns are incapable of protecting the kingdom. That somethin’ big was coming, and it would involve all the races. Like a second Great War, only more devastating.”
He looked at her now, and she could be mistaken, but she thought she saw a little fear in his eyes where usually there were only calm waters. It made a stab of fear strike her own stomach. “He said that when the shit hit the fan, Highborns would only care about protecting themselves. That common people would be left to die in their fields and forests, left nearly Magic-less and unable to defend themselves.”
“And I suppose he thinks he could do a better job protecting them?”
Charlie nodded.
At Charlie’s words, a puzzle piece fell into place for Surah, and her earlier theories about who was responsible for the disappearance of the Magic were all but confirmed. “So he takes the Magic away somehow, to show everyone how weak Highborns are without it. And then…” She trailed off, trying to see how it all fit together. “Does your brother have any connection with Tristell, the Fae Queen?”
Charlie shrugged, understanding dawning in his eyes. “It’s possible, I guess. From what I’ve heard about her, she’s one crazy lady, so they’d make a good match.”
Surah nodded her agreement. “So then he uses the Fae Queen’s army to take the throne while we’re weak. He knows Magic is our biggest defense and weapon, and the Fae are trained solely in physical battle, if they stormed my father’s castle and the Hunters had no Magic to help them…”
Charlie came forward and placed his hands on her shoulders, holding down some of the panic that was boiling up in her with his gentle touch. “Whoa, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. You’re talkin’ about my brother and a bunch of fairies overthrowin’ an empire. Even I wouldn’t give him that much credit.”
Surah bet that was what the Vampire King William thought just before his empire fell to shambles, and all the rest of the rulers who had fallen to unlikely adversaries over the long course of history.
“I think you’d be silly not to,” she said. “But you’re right about one thing, I am getting ahead of things.” She looked down at her hands, which were still sticky and sick with the Fae’s blue blood. “Is there somewhere I can wash up?”
Charlie’s eyes ran the length of her. “There’s a creek ‘round back.”
They left the cabin, and after they’d rinsed themselves off as best they could in the cool creek water, Surah noticed that the sky was beginning to lighten on the horizon, pinks and light blues appearing in the distance. She slung her black cloak over her shoulders and clasped it at the front, pulling the hood up over her head. “Grab your guitar, Charlie. It’s time to get going.”
He smiled over at her, and she suddenly wished very strongly that things would turn out okay, not just for the kingdom and her father and the people, but for Charlie and her. Somehow, most of all for Charlie and her. The way he always looked at her made her believe he felt the same way. She hoped like hell she wasn’t being fooled, because in the course of a week, somehow everything in her life seemed to revolve around those three words. Charlie and her.
“Where we goin’?” he asked.
She checked to make sure all of her weapons were in place, and handed him the small crossbow he’d given back to her after the Fae fight, along with a long knife. He took them and slung the crossbow over his shoulder, tucking the knife into his boot and pulling his pant leg down over it.
Her tongue ran out over her lips as she watched him. “We’re going back to the city,” she said. “To find out for sure whether the Magic is gone for everyone… And, if so, how they’re reacting to it.”
“Why should I bring my guitar?”
She gave a small smile. “Because I’ve got a feeling I’m going to need some help falling asleep for a while,” she said, shrugging. “Your music seems to soothe me.”
“I don’t need a guitar to ‘soothe’ you, love.”
She shook her head, the roses blooming on her cheeks once more, and checked the position of the sun. “Where are we in relation to the city?”
“Northeast,” he said. “But it’s gonna be a hike. We might get there by sunrise tomorrow if we move at a steady pace.” He gave a rueful grin. “Teleportin’ sure would come in handy right about now.”
Surah turned northeast, keeping the rising sun over her right shoulder. “Then I guess we better get going, before Samson decides to start ripping out throats and biting off fingers to find me.”
“Sounds like he takes after his owner.”
Surah removed a small machete from her cloak and began cutting a path through the trees. “I’m not his ‘owner’. We own each other. I am his and he is mine.”
Charlie followed behind her, moving quietly through the thick brush. “Sounds like a lot to compete with. I never heard of a Great Beast being so loyal to a person. How do you know he’s lookin’ for you?”
Surah glanced over her shoulder at him. “Oh, he’s looking. Now that I think about it, he’s probably doing more than looking. When I see him next, he’ll more than likely have much to report.”
Charlie was silent for a bit, and Surah found herself lost in her thoughts about Samson. Until now, she hadn’t really had time to focus on what her tiger was up to while she was away defying a kingdom and being hunted by a vengeful Sorcerer and a psychopathic Fae queen. Now, she worried. What if Theo or Black Heart used Samson as leverage against her, as a way to make her do as they bid? What if Sam was captured and his captor told her to surrender herself or Sam would die? She took a deep breath, her thoughts were running away again. Still, the answer to her question was easy. If Samson were on the line, she’d come running. She was stupid for having left him behind.
“You worried about him?” Charlie asked, breaking into her thoughts. He couldn’t even see her face because he was walking behind her. How did he always know what she was thinking and feeling?
“Samson can take care of himself,” she said, but she wasn’t sure if it was for his benefit or hers. She glanced over her shoulder to see a knowing look on his face. She sighed. “Of course I’m worried, but he’s a clever cat, smarter than most people even. What’s more likely is whoever he’s near ri
ght now is in more danger of him than the other way around.” She paused, comforting herself with her own words, letting them sink in. “In fact, if something big really is coming, I’ll tell you one thing I’m grateful for.”
“And what’s that?”
She smiled, picking up her pace a little, hacking through the tree branches and tall weeds with precise, easy strikes, her cloak rippling behind her. “I’m grateful Samson is on my side. It’s one of the few remaining certainties in my life. No matter what, he’s on my side.”
Charlie chuckled behind her, and without looking back, she knew that heart-breaking half smile was on his lips. “Well, then I’d say you got nothin’ to worry about,” he said.
Surah laughed at this, but it was forced, and for good reason. They didn’t know it yet, but they were following the rising sun right into disaster, and Charlie was wrong.
Both of them had literally everything to worry about.
CHAPTER 12
SAMSON
The castle was abuzz with activity. Hunters ran to and fro. Servants and old maids stood in small clusters, hands fluttering and fingers pressed to their mouths as they whispered about the disappearance of the Magic. Several Highborns were coming and going, all apparently on some imminent tasks. In the courtyard, Sorcerers and Sorceresses alike were hunched over old texts, searching for an explanation for the phenomenon. Several fights had broken out, nothing physical, but loud arguments and accusations made the air thick with tension. Every warm body in the kingdom was on edge because of the loss of the Magic.
