by H. D. Gordon
She would never know how proud Sam was of her in that moment, how his heart thudded in his chest just at the sight of her. There were beasts in all the jungles that did not have the strength of the two-leg before him, beasts that did not have the might of his dearest one, of his Surah.
Two-leg or no, there wasn’t a creature in all the Territories in all the realms that would ever compare, and he thought if he wanted to tell her so, he ought to do it now, because if he was being honest, he wasn’t sure if he would ever see her again, and this broke the heart inside his chest that had been unbreakable before he and the Sorceress had met.
Surah stepped up to him. She would do what needed to be done, and that was that. “Where would you like to go, Sam?” she asked, the White Stone glowing around her neck.
“To the jungles of my homeland,” he told her.
She did not look surprised. She had somehow known this was where he would go. To find his fate, she thought.
And with a wave of her hand, a swirling portal large enough to step through opened before them. The slight suction of it lifted her lavender hair from her shoulders, and it danced around her face in a rhythm Sam would never tire of.
The Great Cat hesitated just before jumping through the wormhole, rubbing his head against his dearest friend one last time.
“I love you, Surah Stormsong,” he told her. “More than any cat has loved before.”
“I love you, too, Sam,” she whispered, and waited until her Great Cat had stepped through the portal and it had closed behind him before falling to her bedroom floor in a puddle of heartache that did not feel queenly in the least.
Chapter 15
Charlie
The hole that had opened up in the floor of the Fae Forest sucked him in spat him back out on an old couch in a small apartment that smelled faintly of floral and old wood.
When Charlie landed, his head struck the armrest of the couch. He rubbed at the back of it, letting the nausea pass over him before sitting up.
Aria landed on the floor in the middle of the small living room, but she rolled right into an agile stand with the expertise of someone who was no stranger to whatever Halfling transportation method she’d just used to bring him here. She smirked when he gave her a slightly annoyed look.
Aria placed a hand on her hip. “What?” she asked. “I think the words you’re searching for are ‘thank you’, seeing as how I dropped you on the couch. It’s not easy to land and roll the way I just did. I could’ve busted my head open on the coffee table. I’ve seen it happen before.”
Charlie said, “Why did you bring me here?”
Aria made a face like this was a stupid question. “Because Tristell would’ve killed you if I hadn’t,” she said. “And I can’t imagine that would’ve pleased your queen.”
“My queen?”
Again with the stupid-question face. Charlie had forgotten how annoying teenage girls could be.
“Surah Stormsong?” she said. “Your Sorceress Queen? Your beloved? The lady who’s half the reason you’re in this mess? Ring any bells?”
Charlie took a minute to absorb this information, though he supposed he should have already known, as he knew King Syrian had passed when the magic flooded back into their world. But somehow, in all the thinking about her he’d done, Charlie hadn’t put two and two together.
“You’ll have to forgive me,” he said. “I’ve been a little kidnapped and held against my will.”
Aria smiled, its radiance lighting up her face. “Well, now you’re free. And, again, you’re welcome.”
She wandered into the small kitchen connected to the living room in which he sat, opened the refrigerator (which Charlie could see ran on electricity, not magic, meaning they were indeed in the human world, as he’d suspected) and took out a red apple. “Want one?” she asked.
Charlie nodded so fervently that Aria chuckled as she tossed it to him. He caught it out of the air. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d eaten, and just the sight of the fruit made his mouth water.
“Again,” she began, “You’re wel—”
“Thank you, Aria,” Charlie interrupted, swallowing a large bite of the sweet apple. “Thank you for freeing me from the Fae Forest and dropping me on the couch instead of the floor.” He held up the already half-eaten apple. “And thank you for the apple.”
Aria sat in the armchair across from him and gave a satisfied nod. “You’re welcome, Charlie Redmine.”
“Now, will you tell me what’s going on here?”
He looked around. The apartment was small, but had tall ceilings, with modern furniture and neutral colors. There were paintings on the walls of various scenes, mostly of shadows in alleys and sunsets over a city, all done by the same unknown artist. Two tall windows hung on the eastern wall, which revealed closely spaced multi-colored houses, and the light of a new morning just beginning to brighten the sky.
“And where is ‘here’?” Charlie added.
Aria bit into her apple, her black-booted feet flat on the floor, as if she were ready to hop out of her seat at any instant, though her posture suggested ease.
“We’re in the human world,” she said, as if transporting out of the supernatural realm was no big deal. “In a place called Blue Hook, New Jersey. You ever heard of it?”
Charlie had been to the human world a handful of times, for no other reason than curiosity, but he’d always found it to be a disappointing, somewhat sad place. Humans polluted their oceans, dug up the earth and trees, and seemed to have little to no regard for the quality of air or the sacredness of all life.
Then again, Charlie thought, he knew plenty of Sorcerers with the same qualities.
“I visited New York City some years back,” he said. “Dirty, crowded place full of crooked humans and smelly sewers and more Accursed than any one place I’ve ever been outside of Vamp Territory.”
Aria grinned. “You’ve got a particular distaste for humans, don’t you, Sorcerer?”
Charlie had forgotten that the girl was half human, and suddenly felt a little foolish.
“I’m sorry,” he said, rubbing at his chin, which needed a good shave. “I guess I’m a little on edge, and in truth, I really don’t know enough about humans to judge them like that. In my experience, there’s good and there’s bad people in all the races.”
Her smile softened a bit. “I knew you were a good one,” she said, and leaned forward, her arms resting on her knees. She pointed a red-painted fingernail at him. “But if I turn out to be wrong about you, I’ll kill you quick as a Christmas goose.” Her grin returned. “Got it?”
Charlie held his hands up, trying to keep a small smile from his face. If he was sure he could trust her, he would probably like the girl, but he wasn’t sure of this in the least. He also had no idea what the heck a “Christmas goose” was.
“Okay,” he said. “Why’d you bring me here, then?”
“This is my apartment,” Aria said, obviously proud of the fact. “And you’ll be safe here until she comes to get you.”
“Where are your parents?” he asked, knowing the girl could not be older than seventeen. “And safe until who comes to get me?”
At the mention of her parents, Aria’s face darkened. It was a look he knew well, a distance to the eyes that spoke of loss and heartache, anger, and a need for revenge, and he did not need for her to speak on the matter of her family. It was clear that the girl did not have any family left. Charlie knew this because he’d seen the look on his own face so many years ago, when he’d been not too much younger than her.
Aria’s chin lifted, and her eyes remained dry and focused as she spoke, causing Charlie’s respect for the girl to grow.
“It’s just me,” Aria said. “And until Queen Surah comes to get you.” She paused, her dark brow lifting and some of the humor she wore as a safeguard against the world came back to her face. “You’re not the sharpest tool in the shed, are you?” she asked.
“Why do you think Queen Surah i
s coming to get me?”
Stupid-question face. “Because you two are ‘getting it on’, aren’t you?”
Charlie almost choked on the last bite of his apple. “Excuse me?” he said.
Aria smirked. “You’re lovers, right?” she sighed, taking on the dreamy look. “Star-crossed lovers,” she added.
“How do you know that?” he asked, but before she could give him the stupid-question look again, he held up his hand. “Wait, I know. It’s your job to know stuff, right?”
Another radiant smile. “Bingo! We have a winner!”
Charlie rubbed at his chin, his large shoulders falling a fraction. “Well, I hate to break it to you,” he said, “but I don’t think she’s coming after me.”
“But you love her, don’t you?” Aria asked.
What was the point in lying? How could it make the situation worse? It couldn’t.
“Yes,” he said. “I love her.”
Aria’s bright green eyes narrowed, her full lips pursing in thought. A moment of silence passed before she leaned back again, kicking her feet up over the armrest of the chair in which she was sitting, boots dangling in the air. She closed her eyes and laid back against the chair in a position that only really young people and cats would be comfortable in.
Without opening her eyes, she grabbed a small beanbag from the end table beside her and threw it at the western wall behind her chair. The beanbag struck the light switch there with a thud, and the lights in the room went out, casting early morning shadows into all the corners.
“She’s coming for you, Charlie,” Aria said, shifting a little in her seat. “Get some rest. You’re gonna need it.”
Charlie sat quietly for a moment before lying back on the couch and closing his own eyes. When he finally spoke, he was not expecting a response from her, because he thought she’d fallen asleep.
His deep voice was just above a whisper when he asked, “How can you be so sure, Aria?”
She didn’t answer for so long that he decided she actually was asleep, and just before he decided to take her advice and try for some rest himself, Aria lifted her head and looked at him, her bright green eyes glittering like emeralds in the soft, dim light of the morning.
“Have you looked in the mirror lately, Charlie?” the half-Fae, half-human girl asked, a mischievous smirk pulling up her pink mouth. “I’m not sure there are too many women who wouldn’t come after you. Now sleep, Sorcerer, and don’t you worry, if someone attacks us, I’ll totally protect you.” Her straight, white teeth gleamed in the darkness. “With a face like that, you gotta be careful,” she added with a wink that was way too charming for her own good.
Charlie would not have thought it possible, but he let out a laugh—the first real laugh he could recall in what seemed like a lifetime, and found that sleep came easy after all.
Chapter 16
Surah
She rose well before the sun, standing before the glass doors of her balcony, which overlooked the city of Zadira below.
At this early hour, the city was awash in a sweet blue and violet light, the night not quite completely receded from the corners, where deep shadows clung tightly before slowly giving way to morning.
Last night she had allowed herself a breakdown. She had locked the doors to her chambers, added an extra barrier spell around the room for good measure, and just sat on her bed and cried into her pillows for what seemed like hours.
The absence of her father in the castle was as noticeable as would be a twenty-degree drop in temperature. The place, with its high stone walls and endless labyrinth of rooms, felt empty and cold and a touch forsaken now that she was the last of the Stormsong line that would likely ever dwell between its walls.
Or any walls, for that matter.
The absence of her tiger in her bedside was just as felt, just as palpable. After an indeterminable amount of time, the tears finally ceased, and she’d drifted off to a mercifully deep and dreamless sleep. When she awoke this morning, she felt as ready as she supposed she would ever be to take on the world.
A knock sounded at her door, and without turning, she flicked her wrist, knowing well who would be on the other side.
Sure enough, Theo entered with a hesitation uncommon of him, as if he could sense her need to be approached with caution, despite the expressionlessness on her face.
“Good morning, my queen,” the Head Hunter said with a bow.
“Good morning, Theo,” she said, not completely comfortable with this informal way of addressing him, but remembering her promise to give him a real chance at being more than just a piece in her royal court.
The address clearly pleased him, and a half smile pulled up his mouth, making his handsome face even more so. However, there was a seriousness to his gray eyes that Surah knew predated bad news.
She took a deep breath and asked, “What’s the word?”
The smile was gone from his face now. “Demons have been popping up in the small villages at the edges of Sorcerer Territory. As you ordered, I sent a good majority of the Hunters to protect them, and they’ve been very effective in doing so, but this has spread our manpower dangerously thin.”
“How many Hunters are here protecting the city?” she asked.
“One hundred, counting your personal guard, and myself.”
She nodded. “Focus them on protecting the city, not the castle,” she said.
Theo was silent a tick. “My queen… Is it wise to do so? That would leave us very vulnerable to attack.”
Surah turned to face him now, her violet gaze inscrutable. “By ‘us’ you mean the royals, Hunter Gray.”
It was not a question, but he answered anyway. “Well… yes… of course.”
“Instruct them to take to their hideouts if they fear for their wellbeing.”
This made him smirk, and she could see by the look in his gray eyes that her decisive way of handling things only deepened his affections for her. A voice that sounded eerily like that of her tiger’s spoke up in her head, telling her to tread lightly with the Head Hunter, to remember that when a woman played with a man’s emotions, she tended to end up absorbing the blunt end of his darker side.
“I expect the lords and ladies will not be pleased with that,” he told her matter of factly.
“No, I suppose they won’t.” She thought for a moment. “If any of them complain too much, send Noelani and Lyonell to double protection.”
Now Theo looked displeased. “My queen, that would leave you without protection.”
In answer, Surah went to her floor length mirror, the rounded corner of which was draped with her long cloak. Hidden in the folds of that cloak, all of her weapons were stored.
She slung it over her shoulders, her eyes never leaving his. “I’ll need you to stay here and hold down the fort, Theo.” She came forward and took his hands into hers when he looked apprehensive, and again that small warning voice spoke up in her head. “Will you stand beside me as you’ve promised?” she asked, her head tilting back in order to meet his eyes.
He only hesitated a moment, then the Head Hunter gave a slight nod. “Do I get to know where you’ll be running off to?” he asked, his voice a little huskier with her so near.
The lie came easily. Really, it was only half a lie, and she would never know if Theodine Gray totally bought it that day, or if he just truly was done fighting her, prepared to let her make her own decisions and see just where they led.
“Only Dark Lords can command Demons and open portals into our world,” she said, “and there’s only one Dark Lord I can think of that dislikes my family enough to help the Fae Queen and Black Heart with whatever they’re planning.”
She tied her cloak around her shoulders and back, running her fingers over her silver sais tucked neatly into their folds, taking comfort in the feel of them there. “So I suppose I’ll be paying a visit to that Dark Lord,” she said. “Have a word or two with him.”
“The Underworld isn’t a place to be wandering alone,
” he said.
“You mean, it isn’t a place for me to be wandering alone.”
He shook his head, and she didn’t miss the earnestness in his gaze. “No, I mean it isn’t a place for anyone to be wandering alone.”
“But you’ll stay while I go?” she asked.
Theo sighed, and with a touch of wariness, tucked a lock of her lavender hair behind her ear. “I’ll do what you’ve asked of me, my queen,” he said. Then, “Is that the only place you’ll be going?”
Here was the lie. The half of her story that she suspected they both knew was untrue.
“Yes,” she said. “To the Underworld, and then back here to take action accordingly.”
Whether or not the Head Hunter believed this, she would never know, because all he did was nod and bow deeply, kissing her hand before taking his leave. She watched him go, the tall, arched double doors of her chambers clanging shut behind him, wondering if he had read the silent words in the air as clearly as she had.
To the Underworld, yes.
But, first, to Charlie.
Chapter 17
Charlie
When he awoke he found he was alone in Aria’s apartment.
He sat up, feeling more rested than he would’ve expected, staring out the two tall windows to see that he had slept a good portion of the day away.
He stood, stretched, and found his way to the bathroom, which was just a tiny square of space with an old sink, shower, and toilet. There was a note stuck to the time-stained mirror hanging above the sink.
It read: Go ahead and take care of your business, and shower while you’re at it. I’ll be back when I’m back. ~Aria
Charlie plucked the note from the mirror, shaking his head. Deciding the idea of a hot shower was too tempting to pass up, he stripped out of his clothes and hopped in, turning the temperature to as scalding as he could stand.