by Adams, Tom
“Let’s spend a moment together before we get caught up in things,” she said. “Look, we can sit up there and take in the view.”
Merrick agreed and let her lead him by the hand. They seated themselves on a smooth, flat rock, and looked at the breath-taking panorama of the Celebrain plain. There was a gentle, mountain breeze blowing up from below, carrying with it the dry scent of desert blooms.
“This place kind of grows on you, doesn’t it?” he said after a while.
“Sounds like you’ve made up your mind then.”
“About staying, you mean? Well, I suppose there are worse places to hole up. Besides, there’s still a price on my head back home and there’s nothing to keep me there anyway.”
“What about you?” He looked at her; she could tell he was genuinely hesitant asking the question. She surprised him with a long, lingering kiss.
“Does that answer your question?”
Merrick felt his face beam with a grin that seemed to spread to his whole being. “So, will we still be known as Mr and Mrs Dwight-Hetherington, only living at number twenty, Celebrai avenue now?”
“Well, they do have some unfinished business.”
“Indeed, they do,” he replied, kissing her again; this time exploring her tongue with his.
After a while he pulled away.
“What is it?” she asked.
“I’m just thinking,” he said. “About how things have panned out.”
“Meaning?”
“What if I’d chosen to ignore those first advances by Karapetian?”
“Go on.”
“Well, I’d never have got mixed up in this. Never been the agent of so much death and destruction.”
“Then, in all likelihood, Shamon would have been free to discover the gateways and become the conqueror of worlds.”
“Maybe not. Don’t you see, he would never have abducted Lotus, and discovered she was the key to him achieving his Great Work.”
“Mmm. Then you would have been stuck with that self-serving bitch and never met me.”
“Oooh, catty ... but true.”
She looked at the sun as it descended, a glowing, orange ball on the horizon. “She’s left with nothing isn’t she?”
“She made her choice; and it could be worse. At least she’s got a cushy cell to spend the rest of her days in.”
“No regrets then?”
“I suppose not. It’s the old paradox, correlation or causation. Are events simply a string of coincidences or is there a pattern?”
“I know what Destain would say.”
“And Albany. Speaking of which, we ought to show our faces.”
The corner of her mouth lifted seductively. “Let’s show them then. But afterwards, I’m going to show you something else.”
“Fuck it,” he said. “I always did enjoy the after-party better.”
~~~
About Tom Adams
First, let me say that I hope you enjoyed 'The Psychonaut.' If you did, please consider leaving a review of the book on Amazon (and Goodreads - if you're a member.) It need only be two or three sentences, and will help keep the book in the public eye, and provide funds for a starving author - okay, I exaggerated that last bit, but honestly, it really helps. Links are at the end of my bio.
Tom Adams is a horror and dark fiction author hailing from the north of England.
Tom has been writing stories since the age of eight, when he would produce comic books inspired by Marvel and 2,000 AD. At the age of twenty five he wrote an epic fantasy novel called ‘Aukben’s legacy.’ This was very much a craft learning exercise and remains unpublished.
Since then he has written numerous short stories, but only recently produced his first full length novel, ‘The Psychonaut’
His literary inspirations are as varied as J.R.R. Tolkein, Stephen King, Clive Barker, John Fowles and Ursula K. Le Guin to name but a few.
The other string to his bow is writing and recording ‘melt-your-face’ rock epics. You can always try checking out his band ‘Hot Flow Anomaly’ at:
http://www.hotflowanomaly.fourfour.com/ if you want to travel down that deep, dark trench. He often allows these spheres of interest to cross-pollinate each other. Indeed, his blog, ‘Writing in Starlight’ celebrates the fusion of literature and music.
The blog can be found at http://tomghadams.uk
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/tomghadams
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Moteridgerider
Finally, Tom has many interests which feed into his muse – hard rock and alternative music, philosophy, politics and spirituality. He is a spiritual atheist – if you can figure that one out!
When he’s not composing, writing or reading, he enjoys the open air – walking, road biking and mountain biking. All in the Middle-Land kingdom of Cumbria, England.
Free horror and dark fantasy starter library
How would you like to become one of Tom’s Connoisseurs of Chaos and receive a free starter library of Horror and Dark Fantasy? Here’s what’s on offer:
The novella ‘Lusus naturae’ is Beauty and the beast in reverse. An aristocrat purchases a monster, never realising that his obsession with her leads him on a path to ruin.
The novellette, ‘Defiled Earth’ tells a tale of the grim acts of a small-time Newcastle thug and his efforts to bury bodies resulting from his executions.
Two short stories – ‘They scream in the dark’ – an extract from the diary of Mr Absolom, a spectral investigator and ‘Prophecy and pork chops’- an account of the apocalypse from the the four horsemen’s point of view.
Two audio tales – both narrated by the author himself. The first, ‘Head’ – speaks of the final thirty minutes of a condemned man. He is sentenced to death by guillotine for performing illegal genetic experiments. But he has one last experiment to perform before he says goodbuy to those watching.
The second, ‘Possession at 3,000 perforations a minute’ – is a tale of possession, but not by your standard run-of-the-mill demon. Deirdre has a special talent, and her skin art is a conduit to hell on earth.
All books are available in kindle or itunes/epub format. Audio stories are in mp3 format.
Just hit this link to receive your free stuff
~~~
Table of contents
Title page
Copyright notice
Dedication
More free fiction
The third eye
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
About
Starter library
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
More from Tom G.H. Adams
The third eye
Table of contents
The Hunter, Anon, 1986
Chapter 1
Chapter
2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
About Tom Adams
Free horror and dark fantasy starter library
Table of Contents