He picked up my hands, kissing them gently. "And after all this, I really don't want to wait anymore. If it's okay with you, I'd like us to get married as soon as we possibly can."
"Me, too," I said honestly.
FIFTEEN DAYS LATER
TRUE TO OUR WORD, JACK and I had our wedding as soon as we possibly could. He insisted on getting legal documentation - even though all the documents he used to obtain the marriage license were doctored - and since it mattered so much to him, it mattered to me.
Jack managed to charm the staff at the government offices, so he got things expedited, and it took exactly fifteen days for us to get our marriage license. So, on the evening of Tuesday the eighth of July, just as the sun was setting, we gathered on the roof top garden outside of our apartment.
It was a small affair, with only our closest family in attendance. My mom, Leif, Mae, and Milo were our audience. Ezra had been ordained so he could officiate, and Matilda was our makeshift flower girl, with a wreath of peonies around her neck.
Bobby served as my Man of Honor, which had been a no brainer, because he was pretty obviously my best friend. Jack's choice of Best Man had been much more controversial, but he insisted that he wanted Peter at as his side, if Peter was willing.
When Jack asked him, Peter hadn't hesitated a second before replying, "Yes. Absolutely." And then they'd hugged, with Jack looking relieved and thrilled. After all the time and all the mess we'd gone through, they finally felt like real brothers again.
While Jack and I orchestrated the day and picked out everything, Mae, Milo, and my mom had done all the actual decorating, leaving Jack and I to get ready. I wore a white tea-length dress, and Jack wore a white dress shirt with gray slacks, and I had to admit that we'd both never looked better.
When I stepped out into the garden, over flowing with flowers and love and family, tears filled my eyes. We had no aisle, and no one gave either of us away, so Jack took my hand as we walked over to take our place in front of Ezra.
"Thank you all for joining us today," Ezra began in his warm rumble. "I think we've all been waiting for this day for a long time."
"Some of longer that others," Jack said softly, causing me to laugh.
Ezra started the ceremony with a reading - a poem that Jack had picked out because he said it always made him think of me. "Since Feeling is First" by e e cummings. As Ezra read the words, and I held Jack's hands as I looked into his eyes, I knew that I'd never loved anyone more, and I couldn't imagine being anywhere else than right here, with him.
After a few more words, talking about love and family and eternity and the bond we all shared, Ezra got to the call and response part, which meant the ceremony was coming close to the end, and I found myself trembling with anticipation.
"Do you, Jack Hobbs, take Alice to be your lawfully wedded wife as long as you both shall live?" Ezra asked.
Smiling broadly, Jack said, "I do."
Ezra turned to me and asked, "Do you, Alice Bonham, take Jack to be your lawfully wedded husband as long as you both shall live?"
"I do," I said, nodding so fast that it made Jack laugh.
"Then, by the power vested in me by the internet, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride," Ezra said.
"Finally," Jack whispered. He bent down, kissing me fiercely but politely, as I wrapped my arms around him, and from the corner of my eyes I saw the flash of light from my mom's camera as she immortalized the moment.
When we'd finished, Jack touched my face gently, wiping at my lips. "Your lipstick smeared."
"Thanks," I said with a giddy laugh.
"I introduce for the very first time, Mr. and Mrs. Bonham!" Ezra announced, and all our family clapped.
Milo and Mae were crying happy tears when I turned back to face them, as Florence + the Machine swelled over the outdoor speakers. Jack took my hand in his and raised it up, while Leif distributed freshly lit sparklers among the guests,
I wasn't drunk, but I couldn't remember the last time I'd felt this intoxicated. I felt light-headed - but in a strangely good way - like I was just floating around the party, with my husband by my side, and I'd never been so deliriously happy in my life. By the end of the night, my face hurt from smiling, but I couldn't seem to stop myself.
Later, as Jack and I had our first dance, under the indigo sky, I rested my headed against his shoulder. I could feel his heart beating through his chest, and he whispered, "I love you so much, Alice." But he didn't need to say it. I knew it, the way I knew the sun would rise and the moon would set, and that Jack and I would be together forever.
JULY 19, 2014
IT WAS AT OUR WEDDING the week before, when we were all milling about and chatting, that Peter first mentioned us all coming to Ireland.
"I know this is short notice, and if you guys can't make it, I understand completely," he said, his eyes unwilling to settle on of us, so they bounced between us all. "But I'm doing this thing for Elise's birthday. I'm going back to Blathanna Gorma, where she's buried, and I would like it if you all would join me."
"When is it?" Jack asked, with his arm looped around my shoulders.
"July 19th," Peter replied. "A week from Saturday."
Jack looked down at me. "I think we can. I mean, if Alice can get away from work."
"Things have been quiet since the Agency took care of the House of Basarab," I said.
After we'd rescued Jack, Ettie had done some investigating and discovered that most of the vampires at the Aiweins Dautheins tombs were freshly turned, which is how we'd been able to take out so many of them with relative ease.
But Liesel and several other of the top members - like Aisha and the guards - had been there, and since we'd taken them out as well, the House was like a snake without a head. Ettie dispatched other agents to remove high ranking members before they got ideas about taking Liesel's place, and that seemed to quell any murmurs of an uprising.
The dissenting vampires had gone back into hiding, and for a change, the vampire population of Amsterdam seemed quiet and relatively peaceful.
"So you think you'll be able to make it?" Peter asked, sounding both relieved and nervous.
"Yeah, we should be able to."
"What is all this about?" Ezra asked, and while the rest of us smiled and nodded - partially because we were swept up in the happiness of the wedding - he alone appeared concerned. His eyes were dark with worry, and he was on the verge of grimacing.
"It's just something that I've been thinking about for a while," Peter said vaguely, which did nothing to ease the apprehension in Ezra's expression. "And now seems like the right time. It would really mean a lot to me if you could be there."
Since he couldn't deny a request like that, Ezra had agreed, and that's how the six of us ended up in a rented van, driving across Ireland with the afternoon sunlight streaming in through the windows on the 19th of July.
"Why did he have to have this during the day?" Jack groaned. "It doesn't make sense."
"This is Peter's thing, and we'll go along with his wishes," Mae said, shooting him a glare over her dark sunglasses. "We can handle spending a few hours awake in the daylight for him."
"We can," Jack said. "I just don't understand why."
"He said it'll make sense when we get there," I reminded Jack. Peter had given us little information about the "event," only providing enough cryptic answers to get us here on the right date and time.
From the backseat, Bobby leaned forward to look out the windows. "Where are we going? This isn't the way to Elise's house." That was another of Bobby's useful skills - he had a borderline eidetic memory when it came to directions and maps.
"We're not going to Elise's house," Ezra explained, his voice tight with worry, the same way it had been the very first time Peter had brought up the prospect of this adventure.
"What?" Bobby asked. "Then where are we going?"
"The Cliffs of Moher," he answered. "Where they were married, in the afternoon."
/> It wasn't much longer until we finally made it to the cliffs. The view was absolutely breathtaking. The bright emerald rolling greens of grass, the sharp gray face of the rock, and the dark blue waves crashing up against it.
Ezra parked the van, and we made the trek up from the parking lot, past O'Brien's Tower to the north point, which a sign informed us was the highest peak of the cliffs. It was a beautiful summer day, with few clouds in the sky, and as we got closer to the cliffs, the warm breeze became a stronger wind.
There, we finally saw Peter, standing with his back to us near the edge. Jack called to him and waved, and almost in slow motion, Peter turned back around to face us, with a subdued smile on his face.
"I'm glad you all could make it," he said as we formed a semi-circle around him. "I've thought about this day a lot. How I wanted it to go, and there were so many ways I could've done it, but I think this is the best way. Surrounded by my family like this."
Ezra shook his head and said, "Peter, don't this."
And that's when it hit me, as I stared out at the gorgeous landscape around us, on the birthday of Peter's one true love, what exactly we were doing out here. My stomach dropped, and I couldn't breathe as a wave of sadness and panic washed over me.
"What's going on?" Bobby asked, glancing between us. "What are you doing?"
"This isn't a decision that I take lightly but..." Peter took a deep breath. "The truth is that I'm old enough. I've lived long enough, and I'm ready to die. I'm ready to go be with Elise."
"What are you talking about?" Jack asked, his voice a tight mixture of fear and pain. "Did you invite us all out here to watch you kill yourself?"
"It's not like that." Peter shook his head. "This isn't suicide. I've lived my life - a long, long life. And it's come to an end. I can feel it, deep within me, that my time here is done. It's harder to accept and understand because my body won't give up on its own. But that's just a vampire trick, an illusion really. My soul is ready for what comes next. I'm ready."
Mae gasped. "Peter, you can't be serious."
"You're a vampire!" Bobby protested. "This is insane."
"I've done the research, and that's a 700-foot drop below," Peter explained calmly. "That should be more than enough to end things for me."
"You can't do this, Peter," Milo said.
"Let's talk about it." Ezra struggled to keep his composure. He moved closer to Peter, which only caused Peter to take a step backward, closer to the edge. "There must be something else we can do."
"I know you all mean well, and I understand," Peter said with a sad smile. "I would try to talk you out of it, if you were suggesting the same thing. But I'm not depressed. I'm not sad or angry. I spent a lot of my life being that way, but I'm not now. For the first time in a very long time, I'm really and truly at peace. I accomplished many things - and some of them were very good. But now I'm ready to shed this mortal coil, and to join Elise in the afterlife."
"But what if there isn't an afterlife?" Bobby asked.
"My time on this earth has still come to an end," Peter assured us.
Ezra looked totally helpless as he asked. "Is there anything I can say, anything I can do to change your mind?
"There isn't," Peter said with great conviction.
"Peter," I begged with tears in my eyes, but he only shook his head at my plea.
"I know it might seem cruel inviting you here," he said. "But I wanted you to know, to understand, for there not to be any questions, and so we could all say goodbye, knowing this really and truly is goodbye. Not many people get that. I love all you so very much."
With that, he went over and began hugging all of us and saying his goodbyes. He started with Mae, who was already weeping openly.
Jack was sniffling as they hugged, and he said, "You're an asshole, but I love you."
"I love you, too," Peter replied.
When he got to me, he embraced me tightly, but neither of us said anything at first. I just held him close to me, trying to sear this moment in my memory forever. So, I would always remember him exactly as he was right now - the way he felt strong and cool in my arms, how his hands gripped me ever so slightly, his heart beating against his chest.
I buried my face in the crook of his neck, fighting back tears, as I held him to me. I breathed in deeply, savoring his scent - heady and fresh, like apples and the forest, but today it mixed with saltiness of the ocean.
"I love you," I said, my voice thick with tears.
"I know. And I always loved you." He finally pulled away from, but he lingered before me and wiped a tear of my cheek. "Goodbye, Alice."
"Goodbye, Peter."
As he moved on down to Ezra, Jack put his arm around me - not to lay claim or anything like that, but only to comfort me, and to comfort himself. I leaned into him, resting my head against his shoulder, as I watched Ezra struggle to keep his composure.
He didn't say much. He just clung to Peter, gripping him so tightly, I know it had to have hurt. I wasn't sure that he would ever let go, but eventually he released Peter. Mae went over and put her arm around him.
Peter walked backwards toward the edge of the cliff. With the sun setting behind him, and the wind ruffling his hair, he smiled at us, looking serene in a way that I had never seen him before. His eyes were light, the way they had been at Elise's house when he remembered her, and he took a deep breath.
He took a step back and waved at us, before saying, "I'll see you in the next life." And then he jumped.
THE SUN FELT WARM AND wonderful on my skin, and I felt like I might just float away into the sky. I opened my eyes in the field of blue flowers, but this time, they weren't attacking me or trying to pull me under. They were only a soft bed for me to rest on, and to fill the air with their sweet perfume.
I sat up slowly, and I was alone in the field. For the first time since I began having these dreams, I could stand up. I walked down the hill, my bare feet padding delicately on the petals, and faintly, in the distance, I began to hear a voice. A clear, beautiful sound that carried all through the hills until finally she appeared.
Smiling brightly and looking far happier than I'd ever seen her before, Elise floated down to meet me, singing an old Irish love song.
"I must thank you, Alice," she said as she reached me. "You finally found him peace."
"I didn't find it for him, and I never wanted him to die," I told her.
She laughed, bright and easy. "You can't give anyone peace. They must make it for themselves. But you helped him. You gave him the tools, so he could finally let everything go."
"So he's happy?" I asked.
"Yes. We both are. We never thought we'd be reunited, and it's more wonderful than I could ever have dreamed of."
I looked around the empty fields. "Is he here? Can I see him?"
"No," she replied sadly. "I don't think he'll be able to visit you here, not like this."
"Why didn't you come sooner? And why did you come to me, and not Ezra?" I asked.
"I was always waiting for Peter, to see him, to help him, should he need it," Elise explained. "But he never let me in. And no matter what I tried, I couldn't reach him.
"And then one day, after all these years, a door opened," she went on. "I stepped through and found you waiting in the field for me. As soon as I saw you, I had to warn you of trouble and that time was short. That was all I know - the only information allowed to me - so I couldn't say more, but somehow, I knew I had to help you save Peter."
"I don't know if I saved him, but I hope I helped him." I swallowed back my tears. "I miss him."
"He misses you all, too, and he hopes that you're happy and you forgive him."
"I am happy, but I don't know that there's anything to forgive," I said. "It was hard to let him go, but I think we all understood. He'd lived a long, painful life, and he was ready for the next chapter."
"Exactly." She smiled. "I'm glad that you understand."
"Does this mean I won't be seeing you anymore either?"
"I can't tell what the future holds, but I don't think I'll be visiting you again. Not here, not like this."
"Well, it was nice meeting you, Elise."
"It was a pleasure meeting you, Alice." She did a small curtsey. "Peter and I are forever indebted to you. Thank you for giving so much happiness, and I hope that you feel the same in return."
"I think do," I said, and she began dissolving slowly before my eyes.
She laughed again, sounding more ethereal than ever, and the she disappeared completely. A bright white light intensified, warming me and swallowing the world up around me.
When I opened my eyes, I realized it was only Jack. His arms wrapped around me, holding me to him as we snuggled in our bed. I had my back to him, and I rolled over so I could face him.
"Are you okay?" he murmured as I stirred beside him.
"Yeah. I'm fine."
He opened his eyes to look up at me. "Did you have that bad dream again?"
"It was actually a really good dream," I said and I sunk back into his arms. "I love you."
"I love you, too." He kissed the top of my head.
"I can't wait to spend eternity with you."
He laughed warmly. "Me too. But would it be okay if we got a few more hours of sleep before we got started on that?"
"Of course. We've got all the time in the world."
In a world of magical visions and pyrokinesis, Mara just wants to have a normal life. But is that possible?
Mara has become used to the extraordinary. Roaming from place to place with Gideon Davorin's Traveling Carnival, she longs for an ordinary life where no one has the ability to levitate or predict the future.
She gets her chance when the struggling sideshow sets up camp in the small town of Caudry, and she meets a gorgeous local guy named Gabe. But before long, Mara realizes there's a dark presence lurking in the town that's threatening the lives of her friends. She has seven days to take control of a power she didn't know she had in order to save everyone she cares about--and change the future forever.
In the pages of Freeks, Amanda Hocking once again proves her ability to create amazing characters and enchanting worlds that will capture your imagination and never let go.
Read on for the first three chapters of Freeks!