Life After: The Complete Series Read online

  Life After

  The Complete Series

  Julie Hall

  Contents

  Awards

  Praise and Reviews

  Huntress

  Prologue

  1. In the Beginning

  2. Processed

  3. The Job Eternal

  4. Training

  5. Celestial Heights

  6. Over the River and Through the Woods

  7. Dumped

  8. Changes

  9. Riding the Waves

  10. The Great Escape

  11. The Day After

  12. Apologies

  13. A Second Chance

  14. Fight

  15. The Celebration

  16. By the Lake

  17. Romona’s Apology

  18. Meeting the Archangel

  19. The Fiery Sword

  20. Angelic Encounters

  21. The Game Plan

  22. To Battle

  23. A Single Jar of Pickles

  24. God

  25. Awake

  26. Good-Bye

  27. Mentors

  Epilogue

  Warfare

  1. The Trials

  2. The Gift

  3. A Strange State of Mind

  4. Boyfriends

  5. The Defeated Warrior

  6. Breaking and Entering

  7. Allies and Enemies

  8. A Piece of Logan’s Past

  9. The Truth Burns

  10. Coming Home

  11. A Spiky Situation

  12. No More Fun and Games

  13. A Deal with the Devil

  14. The Return

  15. Heartbreak

  16. Confessions

  17. Trials Upon Trials

  18. A Cohort

  19. When Darkness Descends

  20. The Shattering

  21. Legions

  22. Face the Music

  23. The Effects of the Wind

  24. Something Stolen

  25. Only Time Will Tell

  26. A Truth Revealed

  27. It Begins at the End

  Epilogue

  Logan

  Instructions

  Author Commentary

  Logan’s Soundtrack

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Dominion

  1. Hell

  2. Zombies

  3. Logan

  4. Rings

  5. Shelter

  6. Demons

  7. Hidden

  8. Descent

  9. Broken

  10. Cursed

  11. Betrayer

  12. Kindred

  13. Reunion

  14. Reunited

  15. Awkward

  16. Half-Truths

  17. Soul Fusing

  18. Archives & Things

  19. Memories

  20. Coming Clean

  21. Desperate Times

  22. Make Believe

  23. Girl’s Day

  24. The Reveal

  25. Ceremony

  26. New World

  27. The Chase

  28. Artifacts Room

  29. Face Off

  30. The End

  31. Defeat

  32. Realms

  33. Training

  34. Revelations

  35. Hope

  36. Changed Plans

  37. My Story

  38. Home

  39. Dreams

  40. Beginnings

  41. Better Together

  Epilogue

  Bonus Scene

  Join the Fan Club

  About the Author

  Audiobooks by Julie Hall

  Awards

  For the Life After Series

  Finalist, Speculative Fiction

  Huntress

  2018 ACFW Carol Awards

  Young Adult Book of the Year

  Huntress

  2018 Christian Indie Awards

  Gold Medal Winner

  Huntress

  2018 Illumination Awards

  First Place Winner, Religion

  Huntress

  2018 IndieReader Discovery Awards

  Christian Fiction Finalist

  Huntress

  2018 Next Generation Indie Book Awards

  Alliance Award (Reader’s Choice)

  Warfare

  2018 Realm Makers Awards

  Parable Award, Finalist

  Logan

  2018 Realm Makers Awards

  Gold Medal Winner

  Huntress

  2017 The Wishing Shelf Book Awards

  Best Inspirational Novel

  Huntress

  2017 Ozarks Indie Book Festival

  Best Debut Author

  Julie Hall

  2017 Ozarks Indie Book Festival

  Second Place Winner

  Huntress

  2017 ReadFree.ly Indie Book of the Year

  First Place Winner

  Huntress

  2012 Women of Faith Writing Contest

  USA TODAY Bestselling Author

  August 17, 2017 & June 21, 2018

  Praise and Reviews

  The romance is sweet, mysterious, frustrating, and perfect. With fantastic world-building, Julie Hall has created an interesting and desirable afterlife. I love the unique take on angels, demons, and the life after death. Characters are relatable: Audrey, flawed and confused, but also filled with untapped strength; Logan, strong and swoon-worthy. Enough action and mystery to keep me flipping the pages.

  Jaymin Eve

  USA Today Bestselling author

  of The Walker Saga and

  Supernatural Prison series

  The Life After series is wildly creative and packed with heart pounding adventure, plot twists that leave you reeling! You will not be disappointed.

  Leia Stone

  USA Today Bestselling author

  of the Fallen Academy series

  Julie Hall is destined to be one of the great fiction writers of our time. Not since Frank Peretti has an author had the writing genius to weave together spiritual and physical worlds into a believable epic journey. Her first work will keep young adults riveted, expanding their sense of wonder and challenging them to think about forces and powers beyond what they can see.

  Rebecca Hagelin

  columnist with The Washington Times;

  author of 30 Ways in 30 Days to Save Your Family

  Huntress will have you holding your breath and falling in love. Beautifully creative! Julie Hall expertly weaves an action-packed plot and swoon-worthy romance with powerful, heartfelt themes of love, family, forgiveness, and redemption. I can't wait for the sequel!

  Kelly Oram

  author of The Supernaturals series

  and the Jamie Baker Trilogy

  Dominion is the perfect ending to a beautiful story. While Audrey questions her own existence, she remains fiercely loyal to the ones she loves, especially Logan. Gripping and emotional, it’s filled with hope and unconditional love.

  Cameo Renae

  USA Today Bestselling author

  of the Hidden Wings series

  Julie has created a world so imaginative and exciting that I can't help but want to be there. In Audrey, Julie Hall has given readers a heroine who is strong, vulnerable, and relatable. This book creates a safe place to ask questions, but also shows us we will not always get the answers we want. The adventure is in moving ahead, in faith, even without them
.

  Catherine Parks

  author of A Christ-Centered Wedding

  Huntress is absolutely charming, imaginative, and sweet. It is a fast-paced, original, and intriguing story. I hope it’s a series because I can’t wait to see what happens next.

  Susan Elllingburg

  senior writer for Women Of Faith

  Life After: The Complete Series

  Copyright © 2019 by Julie Hall

  All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form without the written permission from the author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. While this is not a book of theology, it is founded on biblical principles. It is my hope that you would allow your heart to enjoy the story and the deeper messages within.

  Julie Hall

  www.JulieHallAuthor.com

  Huntress, Warfare, and Dominion cover designs by Nathália Suellen.

  Logan cover design by Christian Bentulan.

  JULIE HALL

  Prologue

  The chains rattled when he changed positions, grinding against both flesh and floor. Chains so familiar you’d think he’d be used to them by now. He wasn’t. Whether standing in his tower, as he was now, or roaming grasslands and streets, his illusion of freedom was always only that—an illusion.

  He ground his teeth in anger.

  The misshapen messenger who’d interrupted his musings did not even bear looking at. His contempt for it and its companions was almost as strong as his contempt for them. The chosen ones. Those inferior beings created with limited sight and innumerable weaknesses. He was sick of watching them fumble around in the dark with the freedom he deserved.

  “What is it?”

  “We think we have something. Something new our spies have discovered.” The creature’s voice was thick and oily, with barely a wisp of its former cadence.

  “What exactly would that be?”

  “We think it may be what you’ve been waiting for.”

  His interest was piqued, if only marginally. Numerous false reports over time had dulled his curiosity.

  “Go on.”

  “An ancient weapon has awakened—a double-edged sword that blazes to life at a touch. It’s been witnessed to penetrate even to the division of the soul and spirit.”

  “The cherubim sword?”

  “We believe so.”

  The creature had his full attention now. His shackles marred the ground as he walked briskly to look down over his domain.

  “Who wields the weapon?”

  “A mere girl.”

  He was surprised. Then his eyes narrowed. Why give that much power to someone so feeble? He would have to verify the findings himself. If the news was correct, this could be it—what he’d been searching for. Something this important couldn’t be trusted to his slaves.

  “Where is she now?”

  The creature had the sense to look nervous. It shuffled its feet and brought its body lower. As if groveling could assure protection from his master’s wrath.

  “Sh—she’s no longer here. She’s been taken back up.”

  Red anger flashed in his eyes. Fools, all of them! The messenger scurried out of reach. He turned back to look over the expanse. The pathetic being wasn’t worth the energy it would take to destroy it.

  “You will tell me the moment she returns.”

  “Yes, of course.”

  The creature hadn’t been dismissed, but it took the opportunity to quietly back away. He didn’t notice or care. After all this time, could it be that a mere girl would be the key to his freedom? Oh, the irony.

  He smiled to himself. Deceiving a girl had been the start of his imprisonment. Perhaps it would also be the end.

  1

  In the Beginning

  “Oof!”

  Air exploded from my lungs as I hit the ground and rolled. I wish I could say I saw my life flash before my eyes, but I didn’t. In fact, my eyes were squeezed shut. My body jostled painfully with each lumpy impact. Through the noise I heard a name being yelled. A desperate sound. I wanted to respond, but I couldn’t find my voice. My nostrils stung, and there was a metallic taste in my mouth. I tried to spit it out. Something warm dripped down my chin.

  And as suddenly as it began, everything stopped. My body was no longer moving. The silence was deafening.

  After forcing my eyes open, I immediately wished I hadn’t. I stood in nothing. Startling white all around. Brilliant and soundless.

  Without a sense of up or down I stumbled as I tried to take a step forward. Turning in a shaky circle, the breath in my chest hitched. I dropped to my knees, patting the space before me, and my hands began to sink—down and down until I pitched forward and my down was up. My arms stretched to their limits and I found myself reaching into the space above my head rather than below my feet.

  Where was I? How had I gotten here? I was about to grasp something important, but with a sudden whoosh the memories were yanked from my mind. Tendrils of my consciousness reached out to haul them back, but returned with emptiness . . . a mirror of my surroundings.

  One memory remained, standing out like a lone star in a black night. A jar of pickles on a black granite countertop. A memory that made something inside me prickle with anger even as I wondered why. But everything else was simply gone. Every other memory gone, as if it had never been there. As if I had never been.

  I was about to lose it. Hysterics bubbling up inside, but before they broke free something caught my eye.

  Squinting, I saw something, a dot. It was either very far away or extremely tiny. Without the luxury of surroundings to give it perspective, I wasn’t sure which. I blinked—it was barely, but perceptibly, larger. I squeezed my eyes shut and opened them again. Suddenly, not only was there a dot, but the expanse around me had a line.

  A horizon.

  Relief washed over me. The dot continued to grow in size and began to take shape—a man, I realized. A man with his back to me and partially bent over, moving his arms and hands as if conducting a silent symphony. The more intently I stared, the closer he appeared to be.

  His arm arched down in a curve and then back up, and a great crash came from behind me. Spinning around, I gasped.

  A mighty sea had appeared, waves smashing against the break. I stood on a cliff, the sea churned below me in a kaleidoscope of blues, and the smell of salty water wafted up, tickling my nostrils until I sneezed.

  As I took a step back, something brushed at my ankles. Glancing around my eyes widened. More splendor had sprung out of the nothing. Bright green grass—so lush I could feel its suppleness beneath my feet—covered the ground. I was filled with a sudden yearning to slip off my shoes and sink my toes into its cool softness.

  But then the man was inexplicably closer. Close enough to see the color of his brown hair and the medium build of his body. His arms had stopped their quick pace and were instead swaying back and forth to a slower, unheard melody. Stretched out before him was a landscape with trees, fields, and rolling hills dotted with flowers, a pinwheel of colors displayed before my eyes. The salty air mingled with the sweet tang of fresh summer blooms.

  My breath caught when I flicked my eyes up and a vivid blue sky burst from horizon to horizon. A magnificent red bird shot through the air with a sweet song, followed by a flock of brightly colored birds echoing the melody. They danced in the air before soaring away and disappearing from view. No sooner had they vanished than a brown streak shot through my peripheral vision. I glanced around in time to see a doe dart out from a cluster of trees and lope, carefree, through the pasture.