by H. D. Gordon
Charlie looked at the girl, thinking that if he ever had a daughter, he hoped she was just like this generous, kind-hearted Halfling girl. “I don’t know if you understand what you’re offerin’,” he told her. “I’ve lived nearly a thousand years, Aria, and I’ve never felt pain like I’m feelin’ now.”
Aria let out a slow breath. “I’m an Empath, Charlie, and even though I’ve only lived for seventeen years, trust me when I say that being an Empath comes with its own special kind of torture. I’m no stranger to emotional pain. We’ve actually become something like old friends.”
The way in which Aria said this left no room for question. A deep voice filled Charlie’s head, the first words from the tiger since Charlie had jumped into the portal to get Surah out of the Fae Forest.
Do it, Samson told him, also leaving no room for question. There seemed to be a silent, or I’ll eat you attached to the words.
Charlie looked at Surah, then back at Aria, and took her outstretched hand. “I owe you one, kid,” he told her.
Aria grinned, that glow that was so natural to her appearing for a moment before dying back out. “Actually, you owe me five, old man, but who’s counting?”
CHAPTER 61
SURAH
She was floating on air, surrounded by nothing, lost in the darkness. There was no sound, no light, nothing to be smelled. She was aware of only the pain, the anger, the terrible monster that was eating at her mind. She was bodiless, just a consciousness with no way of healing itself. Screaming silently. Crying without tears.
And she would be here forever. Wherever here was. There was no escape, no entrance or exit. There was only the void. The void and the agony. An eternity of it.
There was no way to calculate how much time passed, no such thing as time in this place that was not a place. Her soul was dispersed in the ether, broken down to the raw thoughts that had made her who she was. Who she’d been.
When the music came to her. It came slowly, note by note. At first, she was not sure at all it was even there, or if her mind was so far gone that every experience was a construct of it.
But it kept playing, and eventually grew louder. A melody she felt she’d heard somewhere before, in some distant lifetime on some distant plane. Then it was all she could hear, and she latched onto the sound of it, afraid to let it go. More afraid than she’d ever been.
A voice accompanied the melody. A deep, soft, familiar voice. Just a humming, really. A humming that sounded like home.
But she had no home. She was nothing. Just a consciousness floating free in the vast universe, a dying star shooting across a black sky.
Charlie, she thought, and held tight to the name that reached her through the darkness, that surfaced in this galaxy of despair like a life raft in an angry sea.
***
Surah’s eyelids fluttered, and the first thing that registered was the soreness of what seemed to be every single muscle in her body. Then a familiar voice filled her head, and it sounded more relieved than she had ever heard it.
Oh, thank the Gods, Samson said. I was getting ready to eat your boyfriend.
“Sam,” Surah said, but her voice came out a rough whisper. Her throat felt like it was on fire.
Sam’s black and blue head appeared over her, his amber eyes staring at her as if he’d feared he’d never see her again. Don’t ever scare me like that again.
Surah replied silently, the method easier than speech at the moment. You came back.
Did you ever doubt I would?
She pulled herself up to a seated position, wrapping her arms around her tiger and noticing for the first time that they were not alone in her room. The music she’d heard had stopped, and Charlie sat beside the bed with a guitar across his lap and a stunned look on his face. Bassil and Aria were also here, and they too looked slightly shocked, a touch wary.
Surah felt as though she had not seen any of them in ages, and her heart settled slowly down to her feet as the memories of the past day came flooding back to her.
Then she was crying, the tears falling from her eyes in rivers, all the things she’d stored up for when it was all over bursting free and wracking her body. The others sat with their heads down, tears filling their eyes as well.
She supposed they had won, but at what cost? Could there ever really be a victor in war? Surah seemed sure now that there could not.
Aria broke the silence first, and Surah noticed that the girl was not glowing in the way she usually did. Her face was as drawn with grief as was Surah’s. Aria wandered over to the doors of the balcony, and as she looked out, her breath caught in her throat. When she turned back to face Surah, some of the light had returned to her pretty face.
“You should come see this, your majesty,” said the Halfling girl, to whom Surah would later learn she owed her life. Aria turned back to the glass doors, holding her hand up as if touching something only she could see. “It’s beautiful,” she whispered.
Charlie helped Surah out of bed, and Bassil held the door open as they all stepped out onto the balcony. Below, thousands of Sorcerer people stood holding candles. They lined the streets of the city, overflowed into the fields beyond, so many of them that it seemed nearly everyone in the entire Territory had come.
When they caught sight of their queen, they erupted into cheers.
CHAPTER 62
SURAH
Surah hated goodbyes, but at the same time, understood the importance of them. She was grateful for them, because she had lost so many loved ones in her life without ever getting a chance to say goodbye, and knew from experience that this hurt even worse.
Still, she wouldn’t be able to hold back her tears much longer, and she didn’t want Sam to see her cry. She knew he had to go, and didn’t want to make it any harder for him.
Will I get to see you? she asked. Will you visit?
Whenever I can, he promised.
The two of them sat in a private courtyard atop the roof of one of the castle’s turrets. Night had fallen, and to the east she could see the glow of dozens of eyes in the darkness, knew they were waiting for their king to return with them to the jungle.
“What’s it like being King of the Beasts?” she asked. “I didn’t know there was such a thing.”
Sam was silent for a moment, regarding the stars. I suppose it’s similar to being a Sorceress Queen. Lots of cats depending on me. Dealing with threats to my authority, making decisions. I’ve watched you rule for so long, I can only hope some of your ways have rubbed off on me.
Surah had to breath in deeply so as to keep the tears at bay. She didn’t want him to go. She wished so badly he could stay. “They followed you into the battle… How did you get them to do that?”
Sam licked her hand, his tongue warm and rough, and nuzzled his head against her neck. They would’ve followed me anyway. I’m their king, but since our jungle is in Sorcerer Territory, I explained to them what it could mean if the Fae invaded. Your family has always been respectful of the jungles and the Great Beasts. Other Two-Legs would have long since destroyed our habitat, and our kind would likely be extinct. I told them it was also our Territory we were fighting for. And that wasn’t a lie.
“Thank you, Sam,” she whispered, running her fingers through his fur for what felt like the last time. He said he would visit, but the truth was he was leaving her. When she awoke in the morning, he would not be by her side. When she shut her eyes tonight, Sam would shut his elsewhere. They were parting ways, and though she’d always known this day would eventually come, she never could have prepared for it.
When he left, Samson would take a part of Surah with him, and she from him.
“Thank you for loving me despite it making no sense at all,” she told him.
If a tiger could smile, Sam would have been doing so just then. As if I had a choice in the matter, he said.
Surah took another deep breath, the air shuddering in her chest. “You need to go now, don’t you?”
Sam didn’t ans
wer. They both knew he did. She grabbed his large head in her hands and kissed his furry face. His amber eyes closed as she did so and a low chuffing sounded in his chest. When he pulled away from her, she could see the reluctance on his face, and she nodded so that he would know he could go. The sooner, the better. She really didn’t want him to see her cry.
Surah watched as the Great Tiger slipped gracefully off the turret top, onto a stone ledge below, and in through a window. She waited until she saw his amber eyes glowing in the distance toward the east. The other cats slipped away silently into the night, but Sam stood staring back at her for what seemed like a long time, as if he could sense her tears all the way from there.
And then he too slipped away.
A sob shook her chest and she let the tears come, seeing no reason to fight them.
“You gonna be alright?” said a deep voice behind her, a slight country lilt riding the words.
Surah turned her head and looked at Charlie, whose handsome face was more than lovely in the moonlight. It had been a terribly long day for both of them. There had been funerals, council meetings, and addresses to the public, all the stuff that went into ruling a kingdom.
And the two of them had lost so much.
“Of course I am,” Surah said, looking back out over her Territory, so quiet and peaceful, the clear night allowing every star in the sky to be seen. “That’s what I do. I ‘be alright.’”
His arms slipped around her from behind, and the warmth of him sparked a fire in her stomach, a heat in her chest that only he could ignite. He held her close to him, his strong body a perfect match to her own.
“Will you be okay, Charlie?” she asked him.
Charlie took her hands and spun her around to face him. His fingers came up and rested against her cheek, as if he almost didn’t believe she was real. Without saying a word, his eyes told her so much, his feelings for her radiating out of them. They had risked everything to be together, had defeated all the odds, for this moment right here.
Surah’s heart, though battered, felt fuller than it had ever felt, as if it may just burst right out of her chest. There was sadness over all that had transpired, yes, but there was also love.
And when Charlie leaned down and kissed her, the whole world melted away, leaving only the two lovers who had managed to rearrange the stars.
When they were able to separate, Surah asked, “Do we get to live happily ever after now, Charlie?”
He pulled her close, and she rested her head against his strong chest, listening to the steady beating of his heart. He didn’t answer for so long that she thought he wasn’t going to.
Finally, he said, “Yes, Surah Stormsong. I think we get to try.”
And this, as it turned out, was more than good enough for her.
THE END
A WORD FROM THE AUTHOR
Dearest Reader,
Thank you for making it to the end of the series, and I hope you enjoyed the ride. Surah was a character brought to life originally in The Alexa Montgomery Saga, and I had a great time telling her tale. If you liked Alexa’s and Surah’s stories, maybe you’ll follow Aria’s next. This world I’ve been building still has construction left to be completed, and I’m working hard to get ‘er done.
If you want to be kept up-to-date with new releases like Aria’s, please consider joining my newsletter by clicking HERE.
As always, if you enjoyed this book, please take a second to leave a short review. Even just a few words help tremendously.
Here’s hoping it’s all rainbows and butterflies wherever you are.
Until next time,
H. D. Gordon
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
H. D. Gordon is the author of young adult and adult fiction. She is a poet, a mother, a philosopher and an earth-lover. She believes our actions have ripple effects, and in the sacred mission of bringing love and light to the world.
She loves big dreamers, animals, children, killing zombies, eating dessert and old souls.
H. D. resides southern New Jersey—which she insists is really quite lovely.
For more information, please visit www.hdgordonbooks.com, or find her on the social sites below.
Follow H. D. on Instagram
Follow H. D. on Facebook
Follow H. D. on Twitter
Read on for a sneak peek at THE HALFLING (The Aria Fae Series, Book 1)…
THE HALFLING
The Aria Fae Series
Book 1
H. D. GORDON
Copyright © 2016 H. D. GORDON BOOKS
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
All rights reserved. Without limiting the copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and publisher of this book.
For my dearest daughters, Soraya and Akira, because the world needs more glorification of amazing women, and I’m proud to have produced two of them.
PRELUDE
Life had been admittedly difficult to live as of late, but that didn’t mean I wanted to get shredded to pieces and eaten by a monster.
In fact, I wasn’t sure I could think of a worse way to go. So I ran. I ran like the love child of Forest Gump and Bruce Jenner. I ran for my life. It was fitting, I supposed, as I’d started this story out running, that I should end it that way as well.
I was fast, of course, but the beast was faster.
It was gaining on me; I could feel its hot breath against my back. The whole world became the chase, just me and the creature coming after me. Nothing existed outside of that. My mind could go no further than to tell me to move. The factory lights were bright above me, but I was lost in the darkness, perhaps had been for a while, but only now could see so.
My arms and legs pumped, my breath tearing in and out of my lungs. Terrible pain exploded across my back as the beast’s sharp claws cut through my jacket and ripped through my skin. I cried out in pain, stumbling, nearly falling, but somehow kept my feet.
To fall now would mean certain death.
I ran, but knew I could not keep it up much longer. I couldn’t leave here without her… but it seemed I was unable to save her, and thus, I would likely not leave here at all.
How had things gotten so dire so quickly? How was it that I was going to die before ever seeing eighteen, or graduating from high school… or falling in love for the first time?
And worse, so was she, because I couldn’t save her, because I was too weak to save her.
Terrified as I was, I could not run much longer. That left only the option of turning, and facing the beast for a fight.
CHAPTER 1
Ten days earlier…
The place was new. A city this time, rather than a small town. I’d needed a change. Had needed to run, I guess, depending on how you looked at it.
The high school was much larger than my last one. Easily five times the students, stuck right in the center of Grant City. The walls were made of stone and the windows offered views of brick and concrete. I hated it instantly, or so I told myself. Realistically, I recognized that it was not the place I was unhappy with.
It was my life in general at the moment. Things had taken a nosedive in a record timeframe, and this was my way of dealing with it. I had run, and found that my issues had tagged along with me.
“Miss Fae?” said the teacher, a mousy woman whose name I hadn’t yet remembered, pulling me from my thoughts. “Do you want to stand up and introduce yourself to the class?” She smiled at me and waved her hands in a come on, get up gesture.
I suppressed a sigh and stood from my seat. I couldn’t understand why teachers always asked th
is question. Was anyone’s answer ever really, “Why, yes, I’d love to do that!”
“My name is Aria,” I said, trying not to fidget. All the attention, the eyes of the other students, made me uncomfortable. “I moved here from Blue Hook. I like reading and long walks on the beach.”
No one in the class laughed at this little joke. No one even smiled. Feeling like a super buttwipe, I sighed and took a seat.
“Thank you, Aria,” said teacher-what’s-her-name. “And welcome to Grant City. I’d imagine it’s quite a change from Blue Hook, but it’s not so bad once you give it a chance.”
I gave her a small smile. I could sense she was a good person, and despite the rancid air, constant noise, and lack of green, maybe city life wouldn’t be so horrible after all. If there was one thing I prided myself on, it was my ability to adapt. I had to believe I could find happiness here, because like my current issues, I knew my happiness came from within me.
And, yet, my depression was overwhelming; my moods unpredictable, my emotions a roiling sea. My mother was dead, and I had been cast out by the people who’d been the closest things I’d had to calling my own.
I was a wanderer, an orphan, a soul without a home.
These were the conditions under which I arrived in Grant City. Nothing more, nothing less, than that. I’m not sure if that makes all the things that happened next fate, but looking back now, it sure feels like it.
