by Hanna Peach
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 23
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. When 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.
Epilogue
Some many years later…
At eighty-four Alyx was having trouble walking as fast as she used to, but Israel was always there at her side, his arm around her, patiently walking beside her.
Their children and grandkids had just left their little villa in their retirement village in southern Prague. It was getting late. Very late. Both of them could feel the pull of the next life.
They dressed as they usually did for bed. Israel held up the blankets for her as she slipped in before he made his way over to his side.
Alyx got a flash of the first time they had lain next to each other…
Alyx listened as Israel’s breath deepened until she was sure he was sleep. Only then did she garner enough courage to roll on her back, where she was more comfortable. Israel was also on his back, his face turned towards her. Asleep, his features were softened and he looked at peace. His jaw slackened, causing his bottom lip to pout, his long lashes shaded over his cheeks and his scar. That scar. Her fingers itched to touch it. Did she dare?
Alyx tore her eyes away from him and forced herself not to look back. Above her the ceiling was painted with wisps of clouds, a full moon and an angel flying across the stars.
She let out a soft sigh as she glanced to the ceiling of her room where wisps of clouds, a full moon and a flying angel were painted across it. She had insisted that they put that in, a replica of one that had been on the ceiling in the old Regent Theater, the place their love first grew. When asked by her children why she wanted this exact painting, she simply said that it reminded her of where it all began, confusing them all because their children knew that Alyx and Israel had met on the steps of Saint Paul’s Cathedral, where she had taken a blow to the head. Then as fate would have it, they had met again on the train to Prague a few days later. Alyx had shared a secret smile with Israel before he’d told them to just “do what makes your mother happy.”
In bed Israel pulled Alyx into her nook against his chest. She could hear his heart beating, that beautiful melody.
“So, angel,” Israel said, his deep baritone shaking slightly.
“So…”
“We had a good life, didn’t we?”
“We did. A wonderfully boring mortal life.”
Israel laughed. “You know there was nothing boring about it.”
Alyx grinned up at him. “I know.”
“And now that we are at the very end, tell me…was it worth it?”
Alyx knew exactly what he meant. She smiled, remembering the words he had once said to her. Even if it doesn’t last forever, it’s worth it.
“Oh,” she breathed, “it was so worth it.”
Israel pressed his lips to her forehead. She sighed, her chest filling with love and contentment. “I could listen to your heart beat forever,” she whispered.
He smiled, and even through his wrinkled face she could still see the young man she fell in love with all those years ago.
“I love you, Alyx.”
“In this life and the last.”
“And for whatever comes after.”
She brushed her own frail fingers across his top lip, where once upon a lifetime there had been a scar, and she felt his last breath ease from him. If you die, I die, she thought.
As she exhaled one last time and closed her eyes, she felt a warm, loving presence with them both.
Just outside the window of Alyx and Israel’s bedroom there was a small gathering of angels and one blue-skinned demon who stood among the sunflowers, all hidden under the invisible cloak of Mirage magic. They watched in a reverent silence as two old friends they loved so very much said their goodbyes to each other. Then they bowed their heads as the two souls who they all owed their very lives to flickered out and left this Earth for the last time.
So, Alyx and Israel got to love each other. They got their chance like every other soul on this planet, to live and love and to do it well, however brief mortal lives are.
Sometimes great loves get to last a lifetime. Sometimes they don’t, torn apart too soon. There are no guarantees in this life. Or for what comes after. But that doesn’t matter. We already know that all great loves, no matter how “normal”, are never boring. And all great loves, even if they don’t last forever, are so so worth it.
The End
Dear Readers
Firstly, thanks for reading Afterlife. Thanks for being patient while I wrote and re-wrote (twice!) Afterlife. It was a difficult one for me to get just right because I really wanted to give the (final) ending that Alyx & Israel deserved. I hope I did that for you!
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Books by Hanna Peach
The Dark Angel Series
Angelfire (#1)
Angelstone (#2)
Angelsong (#3)
Angelblood (#4)
Angeldust (#5)
Afterlife (#6)
Acknowledgements
Angelfire
To my family, who supports me through it all.
To my gorgeous friends (you know who you are), who understand when I disappear into my writing cave and continue on like normal when I return.
To my beta readers, Dani, Michael and Jacqui, for your priceless feedback and for never losing enthusiasm even after I had saturated your inbox and our conversations with plot holes and character development and descriptions and titles and, and, and…
To the amazing bloggers out there who read Angelfire and loved it, and supported this new indie author as she chased her dream. Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart.
To JD and Josh/Matt (haha), thank you for sharing with me your talent, your genius and your time. And thank you to V, Dumke, Dani and Eric, who also gave up their time to help out with the trailer.
To Fiona McIntosh for tough love and teaching me the Law of 625 words.
To Mr. O’Brian for teaching me the difference between a sabre and a foil.
To the writers in my life, especially Maurs for all our WCs; Chris for sharing your home and your family; and the Bryce Courtenay Masterclass alumni (both of them) for all the encouragement and support. Keep writing.
Angelstone
To my family and those friends who feel like family, who support me and love me even when I do something crazy like… quit my “respectable” job to write and travel the world.
A special thanks to Ben & Jaz (and Bongo and Pax), Auntie Meriana, Dad & Astiko, Kimberley, Stephen and Tyler Bohle, and Auntie Jane and Peter, who welcomed me into their homes during my gypsyventure while I was writing this book. Thank you for providing me with a warm, safe and comfortable place to write. Bless you.
To Dani and Michael – who critiqued this book into shape (from the other side of the world!).
To Christie, my proofreader at Proof Positive, who does all the things I am not good at and polishes my work so that it can shine.
To the incredible bloggers who have read and reviewed my work and those who have promoted my books. Especially (in no particular order): Michelle from Michelle’s Paranormal Vault of Books, Aman from Enticed by Books, Naomi from Nomis Paranormal Palace, Iris from Paranormal Cravings, Melanie from Book Passion for Life, Lori from Parajunkie, Liana from Book Addict, Kristen from Seeing Night Reviews and Bookshifter from Night Owl Reviews – God, I hope I’m not forgetting anyone! If I do, it’s a failing on my memory, not of your importance. Thank you for your support and your enthusiasm and for helping this little Indie writer get her work out there.
I think writers have to be a little crazy to be able to sit in a room for hours on end, a
lone, fussing over the perfect word, and talking only to our invisible friends. Here’s to the crazy ones. Here’s to the writers in my life. Thank you for filling me with love and encouragement and for reminding me that (although writing is a lonely task), I am not alone. P.S. Keep writing.
Angelsong
To the Sunflowers (especially Fiona): thank you for letting me share my writing crisis with you. Thank you for not judging me and for your support, love and advice, which helped me pull myself out of that angst-pit and to finish this book seven days later. You guys rock.
To everyone who puts up with me when I disappear into my writing cave. I love you. Thank you for understanding when I take ages to return phone calls, texts and messages and when I say no to every invitation. Thank you especially to those who battled their way into my cave and dragged me outside for an hour or two so I could see the sun like a normal person, haha.
To my beta readers, Dani, Michael and Jacqui for your brilliant and honest feedback. I hope I appreciate you enough.
To my bro, Ben, who I know is the biggest raving supporter of me and peddles my books like a pimp. Big love from the other side of the world. Miss you.
To the amazing bloggers and readers out there who have been following this series from the start. Thank you for your support.
And to anyone who has ever reviewed or recommended any of my books, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Angelblood
Firstly, thank YOU dear reader for your support; for buying this book, for every time you recommend me to a friend, for every review you post.