Israel wandered the streets of Saint Joseph, his eyes searching every face for the one face he desperately longed to see. But Alyx wasn’t anywhere.
When it started getting late he gave up and went home. He needed sleep. He had a train to catch first thing the next morning.
Of course, at home in bed he couldn’t sleep. He just kept staring up at his ceiling wondering…
If only he had been faster getting to the museum. If only he had gone back to her hospital room. If only he had done…something… But he had been too late. And sometimes not even fate could help.
Chapter Twenty-Two
The next morning, Israel shrugged the bag onto his shoulder as he walked through the bustling Saint Joseph’s train station, an old pre-war relic, domed main atrium with sandstone walls decorated with statues of angels, leading into platforms lined with old ornate benches under iron and glass ceilings. The only things that broke the spell were the new high-speed trains waiting at the platforms. Like the one he was boarding.
He checked his ticket. Compartment number 13, seat A. Something about this number always made him smile. This city may have all but wiped out the number 13, but they couldn’t do anything about the intercountry railways. Most people in Saint Joseph thought the number 13 was unlucky. But not him. He was always fascinated with the number. It was his lucky number.
He tucked his bag in the storage compartment above and settled into his seat. Compartment number 13. Maybe his luck was finally turning?
“Oh my God.” The familiarity of the feminine voice carrying through the compartment made him leap to his feet, his heart hammering in his chest.
He was dreaming. She couldn’t be real.
Alyx was standing at the compartment entrance, a suitcase on wheels behind her and a bag slung on her shoulder.
“Alyx?”
“Israel?”
“What are you doing here?” They both spoke at once.
“This is my seat…compartment 13, seat C,” she said.
On autopilot, because he had gone totally numb, he helped her push her suitcase into the bag rack above them. Her scent of soft jasmine was the most amazing thing he could have smelled.
With nothing else to do they took their seats facing each other. Israel’s heart was thudding uncontrollably in his chest. She was here. Right in front of him. He had been searching for her and had given up but now she was here. Don’t waste this moment. Seize it, Israel. “I came to see you. At your work. Yesterday.”
Her face lit up. “Really?”
“But I missed you by five minutes. You had already left. They wouldn’t tell me where you’d be going.”
“I took that job I told you about.”
“I’m so glad you decided to listen to me and take it.” He grinned and she smiled back at him.
“I suppose sometimes you do give good advice.”
He laughed, his heart pattering along happily in his chest. “I am kinda amazing like that.”
“Yes. Yes you are.”
His heart beat up into the back of his throat. “I got a new job too. In Prague.”
“You’re kidding! That’s where I’ll be working. At the National Museum of Prague. You?”
“As a security consultant at Layne & Burrows. They advise companies and galleries on theft prevention. In fact, the National Museum of Prague is one of our clients.”
She laughed softly, shaking her head. It seemed neither one of them could believe it.
He reached out to touch her knee. Just to make sure she was real. Images from the Dream slammed through him. He drew a sharp breath and he heard her inhale too.
Their eyes locked. He saw their past and their present reflected in her eyes. But…not their future. Where did they go from here? Should he pretend that he didn’t remember? Should he confess everything to her? That he remembered. That he missed her like she was a piece of his soul. That he loved her. Still.
Say something, anything.
She spoke before he could. “Before you say anything, I need to thank you. If it wasn’t for what you taught me, to not be scared of living, I wouldn’t have taken this job. I wouldn’t be here in this train right now.”
“That’s so funny.” Israel swallowed back his impatient confessions. “I need to thank you too. If it wasn’t for you making me want to be a better man, I wouldn’t have taken this job. I wouldn’t be here in this train right now.”
“How’s that for a coincidence.”
Israel shook his head. He could barely believe what was happening. But then again, perhaps he could. They both had to make changes to deserve each other. They both had to make their decisions apart so they could be on this train. Right now. Together. “Do you really believe in coincidences?”
A smile pulled at the corner of Alyx’s beautiful mouth. “No.”
Israel remembered something. He stuck his hand into his shirt and pulled out the silver ring he still wore around his neck.
She gasped. “My mother’s ring.”
“Do you want me to…?” He indicated her neck.
She nodded. And turned in her seat.
Israel pulled the necklace off him and slid into the seat next to her. He lowered the necklace over her head and did up the clasp, his fingers shaking at her proximity. It took all of his willpower not to lower his mouth onto her neck and kiss it or to bury his nose in her hair to breathe in her scent. “There. Done.”
She turned and stared at him, her fingers brushing at her charm. “Do you remember how you got it?” Her voice was barely a whisper.
“Yes.”
“It was all real, wasn’t it?”
It is real. Except… “Alyx, if you and your fiancé—”
“We broke up.”
“What?”
“I broke up with him. He wasn’t the right guy for me. I was…settling if I stayed with him.”
“Good.”
“Good?”
“I mean, that’s terrible that you broke up. I just mean that it’s great that you refuse to settle.”
He smiled at her, his pulse speeding up as she stared right back at him. This moment could not have been more perfect. Destiny, pure dumb luck, whatever it was had brought them back together despite everything. Except there was one thing about this fateful moment that was weighing on him. If there was any time for him to tell her the truth, it was now.
“I’m sorry—” they both began to say, then cut off. Nervous laughter filled the compartment.
“Ladies first.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Daniel. I…I was embarrassed. Afraid you’d judge me for being with a man I didn’t love. Afraid you’d think I was weak.”
He shook his head. None of that mattered. Not to him. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Adere. I guess I was embarrassed too.”
“Tell me now.”
He took a deep breath. “You know I used to be a police officer. About six months ago, I got involved with a domestic abuse victim. It was a stupid thing for me to do. And she paid the price. Her husband found out and killed her before coming after me.”
Her eyes widened, her only movement.
“The guilt ate at me,” he continued before he could lose his nerve. “So much so that I left the force. So I shouldn’t have been surprised when she appeared to me in the maze.”
“It’s not your fault, you know. What happened to her.”
Israel nodded. “That’s what everyone says. It only seems to matter coming from you.” His voice cracked. “I’m not proud of what I’ve been doing since…to try and cope.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Devil worship?”
He laughed, a nervous gesture. He couldn’t stop until he’d told her everything. “Booze, women…illegal work.” His heart stopped as he watched her face for the judgement that would surely come.
“Oh.” She pursed her lips. “Is that all?” She had a wicked glint in her eye.
He watched her face for a sign of judgement. But there was none. What game wa
s she playing?
“Israel,” she began slowly, “whatever wrong you think you’ve done, it doesn’t matter. Because I know who you are.”
His head spun. She couldn’t mean that. “You don’t understand what I’ve done. What I’ve—”
“My mother used to tell me that a true mark of a man is how he acts when he doesn’t have to. You could have left me in the Dream. You could have let me fall on that mountain. You could have left me to face that Heartless creature on my own, but you didn’t. Through all that… Even after I pushed you away again and again.” Her eyes blazed into his. “You never left me.”
His soul grew wings and he felt like he was flying. “And I won’t. Ever. If…” He grabbed her small beautiful hands and he prepared his heart for the most important question of his life. Of all his lives. “Alyx, will you…” His throat clogged up.
“Yes?”
He cleared his throat and tried again. “Will you…”
“Israel?”
“Let me kiss you?” It tumbled out.
Her mouth opened then shut. She frowned. “Should you ask before you do it? Doesn’t that ruin the mood?”
“It’s not just this kiss I’m asking for. I want all of them… In this life.”
She didn’t move.
His hands began to sweat. Maybe he’d taken this one step too far. After all, they had only just been reunited. And he was asking her for forever? Idiot.
She slowly licked her lips. “On one condition.”
She looked so deadly serious. He was almost afraid to ask. “What…condition?”
A smile crawled across her face. “That I get all yours.”
He couldn’t contain the laughter that spilled from his lips, his happiness like a field of butterflies rising to the sun. He took her face in his hands. “I’m not ever letting you go. Never again. The Lord himself would have to pry my soul from yours. Even then, I’d find a way back to you.”
Her autumn eyes were wet as she looked back at him, her hands fisting in his shirt. “I’m counting on it.”
“I love you, Alyx.”
“I love you. In this life and the last.”
“And for whatever comes next.” He closed his mouth over hers and his entire being blazed with a soul-deep warmth. The delicate thread that had joined their two souls since they had separated in their last life weaved around them like a Maypole braid. He felt, for the first time in this lifetime, like he had finally come home.
* * *
On the platform three figures stood huddled together, trying to be inconspicuous as mortals rushed past them. They were all staring in through the window of the waiting train into compartment 13.
Balthazar nudged Vix with his elbow. “Will you look at that?” He sighed wistfully. “Together at last.”
“So, Vix,” Jordan said, his thick arms crossed over his chest and a knowing look on his face. “What do you say?”
She rolled her eyes.
Balthazar nudged her in her ribs. “Be gracious when you’re wrong, Vix.”
“Alight, fine.” She turned to Jordan. “You were right. Don’t mess with fate. Fate knows what it’s doing.”
Jordan grinned a huge “I told you so” grin.
But she couldn’t hold on to her annoyance. She smiled, her heart glowing, as she watched through the window as Alyx and Israel kissed and kissed even as the train pulled out of the station.
“Do you think they’ll keep that up until Prague?” Balthazar asked. “These mortals do enjoy a good kiss, don’t they?”
“Everyone enjoys a good kiss,” said Jordan.
Balthazar screwed up his face. “Not me. I can think of a lot of other things I’d prefer to be doing.”
“Then you’ve never been kissed properly,” said Vix.
“Why, Vixen Demetri,” Balthazar batted his eyelashes at her, “are you offering?”
“Dear God, no. Stay away from me with those fishy lips or I’ll cut them off.”
“Not if Xiang cuts them off first,” interjected Jordan.
“I was just joking, Vix,” said Balthazar. “Don’t get your horns in a twist. Now, anybody hungry? I know a great bar just round the corner at number 13…”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Six months later…
* * *
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the coming together of Israel Kader and Alyxandria Urban…”
Alyx stood at the altar in a simple vintage white dress with lace across the back shaped like two wings. Around her neck she wore her mother’s ring. In her hand she held a bouquet of bright yellow sunflowers. Behind her stood Elysia, her maid of honor.
Before her stood Israel, handsome as ever in a tailored black suit, his usually messy dark hair slicked back and he was clean-shaven for this occasion. Anton, his best man, was standing behind him, already making eyes at Elysia. Israel had convinced the young Petr to be his ring bearer, and he was looking very sharp in a new tailor-made suit.
In the pews were a small gathering of friends and family including Mounia, Israel’s mother (in this life, anyway), Alyx’s uncle, and Mr. Brown, Alyx’s old school teacher.
As the priest continued his speech, Israel grabbed Alyx’s hand and squeezed it, shooting her a slightly sad look. She knew his motion was saying, I’m sorry your parents weren’t here to see this.
She squeezed back and smiled. It’s okay. I know they’re watching.
Up in the balcony underneath a large Mirage, Balthazar laced his long fingers together and sighed at the sight below them. “Isn’t this just beautiful,” he said to Vix standing beside him in a silk navy blue pantsuit that made her hair look even more silver.
She mumbled something incoherent back.
Balthazar tore his eyes off the happy couple to glance at Vix. Her eyes were watery and her bottom lip was trembling even as she had them pressed together. “Oh my God. Vixen Demetri…are you crying?”
“No.” Vix glared at him before sniffing.
Balthazar pulled out the folded red silk hankie from his suit pocket and handed it to her. “I would never have picked you for a wedding crier.”
“Oh, shut up, B.” Vix grabbed the handkerchief and blew her runny nose. Twice. Xiang, standing at her other side, gave her waist a quick squeeze with one arm. When Vix was finished, she held out the used handkerchief to Balthazar.
He looked at it with disdain. “Er, you keep it.”
“Thanks.” She crumpled it into her pocket.
Balthazar turned back to the ceremony and spoke out of the corner of his mouth. “This doesn’t mean we’re friends or anything.”
“Not at all.”
“It doesn’t even mean that I like you.”
“The feeling is mutual.”
“You know, I’m still mad at you for not letting me take over that priest’s body instead of this generic thing.” He made a movement to indicate the forty-something local’s body he had “borrowed” for the occasion. He sighed. “I would have made such a good priest. I would have totally killed this wedding.”
Vix snorted. “Literally. I’m surprised you could even attend. Shouldn’t your kind burn up upon entry or something?”
Balthazar gave her a horrified look. “Shame on you for perpetuating myths like that. I should report you to the Society for Reducing Public Stigma for Demons and Other Hell-Creatures.”
Vix’s eyes bugged out of her face. “Is that actually a thing?”
“Guys,” Jordan hissed from the other side of Xiang and Cleo, who were both trying to smother their laughter into their hands and failing. “Shut up. They’re starting their vows.”
Their small group fell into silence.
Down below, Israel looked into the autumn eyes of the woman he loved with all his soul. His voice shook as he spoke, the emotion coursing through his veins almost overcoming him.
“Alyx, from the moment I met you, you taught me more about myself than I could ever learn on my own. When I was weak, you were strong. Wh
en I had doubt, you had faith. You are the only one I want to wake up beside and the only one I want to fall asleep next to. From the moment I met you, I became extraordinary. I love you, Alyxandria Urban, in this life and the last. And for whatever comes next.”
The priest frowned at this last bit. He opened his mouth, perhaps to clarify, but Alyx was already speaking. “Israel, from the moment I met you, you have taught me to be my best self. When I was weak, you were strong. When I fell, you lifted me up. When I needed it, you were by my side. Yours is the only heartbeat that I want to listen to in those quiet moments together. From the moment I met you, I became extraordinary. I love you, Israel Kadar, in this life and the last. And for whatever comes—”
Israel grabbed Alyx and crushed his lips to hers before she could finish. He tasted the warmth of her breath and the salt of the tears already rolling down her cheeks. And his heart almost exploded out of his chest.
The church erupted into claps and wolf whistles.
“You kiss the bride after you put the rings on,” Israel heard the priest muttering as he waved for silence. Israel and Alyx broke apart, her face flushed and his cheeks heated.
The priest cleared his throat and looked at Israel expectantly. “The rings?”
“Oh, yeah. Right.” Israel took Alyx’s hand and held up the ring that Petr presented to him. “Not that I need this to know that all your kisses are mine.” He winked at Alyx and she grinned back.
He slipped the ring on her finger, a white gold ring with the words, Ani Ledodi Ve Dodi Li.
I am my beloved and my beloved is mine. Something to tie their two lives together.
She slipped a matching one with those very same words on his.
“By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Now, you may kiss the bride.”
Israel grabbed Alyx and dipped her, before covering her lips with his. This time the cheering of the crowd could not be contained for a long, long while.
Legends of the Damned: A Collection of Edgy Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance Novels Page 272