The Otherling
Page 26
"I speak to the sparks of life within these pots," Annaleah said, her voice soft with gentility and full of the power of creation. "I speak to the last breaths of life captured by the sacred Illuminare. To the angels who fought for the Light and gave the ultimate sacrifice, I speak to you. All is not lost, for nothing ever truly dies. For all you have done, I thank you. For the pain, for the battle you so bravely fought, I thank you. For waiting endlessly within these earthen pots for the time that you might once again have a form and ascend to your home in the Heavens, I thank you. With the supreme blessing of the Mother of All That Is, the holy and pure Goddess of creation, I summon you forth, back into the forms which you knew when you were angels."
At once, the lids over the sacred pots lifted up as if on their own, a deep indigo light radiating from inside each vessel. Throwing back her head and closing her eyes, Annaleah opened her arms wide. From the center of her body a mighty pulse of illumination burst forth, a powerful luminescent surge that pulsed a full 360 degrees around her in a circle of pure, radiant light. As the pulse mixed with the indigo light within each vessel, the light within the pots transformed into the forms of the angels that had breathed their last breath of life into the waiting hands of the Illuminare. As they stretched their wings against the horizon, a melodic chanting filled the air. Before taking off to the Heavens, thousands of angels filled the first breath of their lungs with a song of loving gratitude. Many a wing opened and closed to mark cadence with the holy hymn they sang, white feathers floating across the sky and dancing on the wind.
It was a hymn of love and the utmost devotion, in the native Enochian tongue of the angels. Annaleah found herself joining in, somehow knowing intuitively the words they sang. She was moved to tears by the outpouring of love all around her. The air seemed to vibrate with poignancy, as though it too, was trying to chant this holy hymn of devotion.
As the newly reborn angels of Light stood together in the open field chanting, Annaleah turned to her friends. "Will you please accompany them back to their places in Heaven? The Goddess is very pleased with you and has requested an audience with each of you."
Smiling and nodding their consent, Annaleah watched as the three angels prepared to take flight. She caught Seraphael's arm before he could leave her. "Not you," she said breathily, her lids lowered. "I have other plans for you."
As Michael and Gabriel arose into the sky, Seraphael took Annaleah in his arms, relishing the feel of her soft skin against his own.
Other plans indeed, he thought smiling broadly.
Chapter Forty-One
At Last
Sebastian and Annaleah, after returning to their human forms, arrived together at the Professor's quarters. She was still glistening with the afterglow of having channeled the Goddess, and Sebastian couldn't keep his newly indigo eyes off of her. As they approached his door, he paused to reach out slowly and stroke her hair. Soft golden light began to glow where he touched her, her tresses illuminating his slender fingers.
"You are so gloriously beautiful, Annaleah," he purred, his voice low and thick with desire. She smiled at him, a rose tint rising in her cheeks. When she looked at him, her heart felt as though it were beating starlight instead of blood, warming her chest with the intensity of passions flowing therein.
"You know Professor," Annaleah teased, smiling coyly. "The last time I came here it wasn't such a pleasant situation for me."
"Well then," he said, twisting the key in the lock and opening the door wide, "let me make it up to you." He put his arms around her waist and swept her into his arms, carrying her into his chambers. Annaleah briefly saw the sitting room where she had conversed with him not so long ago, and felt a residual chill crawl its way up her spine. If Sebastian had felt her shiver, he made no mention of it. He carried her through the sitting room and through the door to his bedroom. Long scarlet curtains hung over the windows, a beautiful contrast to the walls covered in black and silver scrolled wallpaper. She had a few seconds to take in the ebony of the velveteen blanket on his bed before she was gently placed on top of it.
Sebastian began to speak to her in the Enochian tongue, which strangely, like the hymn sung by the revived angels in the clearing, she found herself easily able to understand. The words felt as if they were pouring themselves over her, captivating her with enticing, hypnotic pleasure. As he touched her intimately with his words, her skin felt as if it were inflamed, burning her with sweet sensuality. It was his hymn to her. His voice low and enticing, his accent quickening her heart as it mixed with the words he spoke to form a ballad of magnetic allure.
"Aai biab blior aao daphaht amma. Aoivea alar aalo adoian chirlan dooaip dosig. Emna eors eophan eol."
The language of the angels dripped like enchanted honey from his lips, seducing her body, mind and soul. After each word was spoken, Annaleah translated to herself the meaning of them, speaking them aloud softly in English. Hearing them again in her native tongue sent waves of entranced bliss throughout her body, igniting her spirit with burning passion.
"You are my comfort amongst the unspeakable and the cursed," she said breathily, "The stars that have settled in thy face rejoiceth in the name of this night. Here in this bed, a thousand lamentations I shall make you."
He continued in the eloquent tongue, arcs of light flashing underneath both of their skins. He sat on the bed beside her, tracing the space between her parted lips with the pad of this index finger. She closed her eyes and took the tip of his finger gently into her mouth for a brief moment. When she released his finger, he continued to trace the lines of her flesh; her cheeks, her jawline, her throat.
"No love has been born in any heart greater than that which lives in mine," she continued, her voice low. As Sebastian was about to continue seducing her with his Encocian words, she opened her eyes and looked at him with urgent longing.
"Oh Sebastian, shut up and kiss me already!" she said, not able to wait a moment longer.
Sebastian sensed her need and obeyed. He leaned slowly towards her, his midnight black hair trailing over her cheek as he relished the look of desire in her eyes.
When Sebastian pressed his lips to Annaleah's, everything around him ceased to exist. All that was real was his mouth hot and moist against hers, sending him into waves of ecstatic bliss. All pretense of composure was gone as he knew they had both lost themselves fully to the fervor that consumed them. As they fell into each other's arms, the light of their pure love sent arcs of radiance throughout their bodies, which leapt from one to the other, joining them in spirit as one.
When their bodies finally met and made them one being in body, mind and soul, the arcs of light flashing within them burst into flames inside them, setting them both on fire with the holy purity of Heaven blessed love. Here and there the flames flared like lightning, curving through the air and crackling with power. One such bolt even knocked over a vase of columbines on Sebastian's dresser, though he barely noticed.
After their passions were spent, Sebastian lay in his bed, the afterglow of their lovemaking washing peacefully over him. Holding Annaleah in his arms, listening to her breathing, he was truly, deeply happy for the first time he could recall. Though he had been on this earth for centuries, he had not really lived until he had met the woman who had now fallen into a peaceful sleep against him. He had been empty without even being aware of it, hardening his heart against anything that might have given him pleasure or comfort. She had been worth waiting for and every one of his troubles seemed insubstantial when compared to the peace and meaning she brought with her into his life.
Sebastian, elated and happily exhausted, leaned forward and kissed her gently on the forehead before settling back down next to her. Though he was countless centuries old, he knew, because of her, his life had only just begun.
Epilogue
Several months later
Uncle John sat at the kitchen table talking animatedly with Rachael and Seth. Annaleah watched contentedly as they poured through wedding book
s and bridal magazines, oohing over a particularly glamorous gown and discussing the best wedding colors to bring out the emerald of Annaleah's eyes. She had decided to let them make most of the plans and wedding preparations, as her wedding gift to them, only allowing for herself the final say in the choice of the gown.
Annaleah smiled, her heart full and content watching her loved ones prepare for the day she would walk down the aisle to become Sebastian’s wife. Her mind wandered as she looked upon the happy face of her uncle. Seeing Uncle John so happy and healthy never ceased to make her heart overflow with gratitude. The glow of life that flowed through him now was something she had missed dearly these last few years of his illness. Watching him happily describe his version of the perfect wedding was almost enough to make her challenge her memories of him ever being ill at all. Almost.
As her love for Uncle John warmed her heart with gratitude that he was alive and well enough to enjoy this day with her, her thoughts went back to the day he had returned home from the hospital. She smiled as the memory made her heart grow warmer still.
In her mind’s eye, she saw his green eyes wide with astonishment as he confided to her that he had seen an angel who had looked just like her. Though he had no clear recollection of the demon that had tried to kill him, the dream he’d had while he was near death was still vivid in his mind.
"I was in a very dark place. I didn't know which way to turn," he had confided to her, his eyes wide and gleaming with the memory as he recalled his dream. "I was frightened, cold and in pain. I wondered if I was dying, and if so, what my fate was going to be. I began to pray. Then, there the angel was, wearing your face to comfort me. She glowed with a radiant golden light, holding her arms wide to me, her wings open to the sky as if to block out the darkness, pain and fear. She told me not to be afraid, and to come to her. When I embraced her, I felt her light flowing through me. Every part of me was bathed in it, every cell illuminated."
He paused to remove his glasses and wipe at his eyes as he shared his experience with Annaleah. "I could feel my wounds healing from whatever it was that had attacked me. The warm waves of light purified me. I felt love like I have never felt. I knew that it was this beautiful, pure love that healed me. I knew that when I regained consciousness again, I was going to be healed of cancer too.” His eyes looked dreamy and far away as he spoke, his voice trembling. “I was diagnosed with cancer so long ago, and I had been fighting it for so long, but I knew in that moment, every cell of sickness in me had been healed. I felt the love destroy it. I felt an inner wisdom telling me that I was meant to live. I was so happy, so grateful.” He looked upwards, towards the heavens, his eyes sparkling as he recalled the experience. “I have never known such peace and joy.” His eyes gained a little more focus and he went on. “I have faith now, stronger than any faith I have ever known. Seeing this angel was one of the most real things I have ever experienced, even if it was a dream. And Annaleah," he looked her in the eye, his eyes glowing the tell-tale green that only happened when he cried or was overcome with the intensity of his emotions. "I believe your mother now. I don't think I would have been visited by an angel had she not known angels herself. I think she was a blessed woman who few understood. I am lucky to have had her as a sister. I am further blessed to have you as a niece."
Annaleah had come close to telling Uncle John everything then; to explaining that it was indeed her who had come to him and healed his wounds, erasing his cancer with the light of her love. She held him instead, a gentle voice telling her that some things were best left unsaid and some mysteries were more magical if they retained their wonder.
A knock at the door brought Annaleah back to the present moment. She rose to welcome Sebastian, who was smiling happily. Rachael looked up from turning pages in a bridal magazine, her eyes twinkling.
"I swear, you still blush every time you see him, Annaleah," Rachael teased. Annaleah's blush deepened. Seeing Sebastian made her recall the wonderful things they had experienced together in his bedroom the night before, but she wasn't about to tell her maid of honor that was why she was blushing.
"I cherish that flush of color," Sebastian said, putting his arm around her waist and kissing her on the cheek. He bent to whisper in her ear. "I know why you are blushing." He smiled when the heat in her cheeks deepened even further.
After regaining her composure, Annaleah saw her friends were all staring at her with huge smiles plastered on their faces.
"If ever there was a match made in Heaven," Uncle John said, his green eyes crinkled at the corners, "Then I believe you two must be it."
As Annaleah and Sebastian made their way out the door for another romantic evening, she was almost certain they were thinking the same thing.
"If only you knew the half of it," she heard Seth say as he reached over and grabbed Rachael’s hand.
After the door closed behind them, Sebastian looked at her, and Annaleah saw true happiness in his expression.
"If only indeed," she said, and kissed him with the promise of more passion to come.
The End
About the author
Heather lives in LaGrange, Georgia, with her husband, Billy, and her daughter, Makaylah, along with their four cats. Raised in a military family, Heather has been to most of the 48 continental states, as well as having lived for a brief time in Bloxham, England.
Heather is an avid crafter, with a passion for painting glass to resemble stained glass, and a knack for making jewelry. Her passion remains in writing, with Makaylah always helping her to come up with ideas.
Coming soon from Heather M. Walker
The Reclaiming of Charlotte Moss
For more of our titles on Smashwords
Black Velvet Seductions