by Anna Santos
“I’m jealous of him right now,” Cedric muttered.
I smiled at him, caressing his face.
“Why can’t we feel like that for each other? It’s unfair.”
“So, you don’t feel it, either?” I asked.
“I thought I did. I thought that we were perfect for one another. But then, we began to fight and…I began to get possessive and… I love you. We just don’t see things the same way or understand each other as much as we should.”
“I still find you extremely hot.”
He laughed as did I.
“You are witty. I didn’t know you were so funny.”
“You didn’t let me be funny around you, Mister Straight Face.”
“That’s a lie. I made you laugh a lot of times,” he defended himself.
“Foreplay doesn’t count,” I whispered near his mouth, teasing him with a smile.
“Okay, you better stop before I kiss you and won’t let you leave me.”
“Are you going to be okay?” I asked, losing my smile. “I didn’t want to break your heart.”
“I’ll be fine. I just want you to be happy,” he said, caressing the hair away from my face. He had shiny eyes and a tender smile. It was hard to leave him.
“I want us to like each other despite not being together for eternity. I know you don’t like my decision and find it…unexpected. But I want us to be friends.”
“You are my first mate. I’ll always have a special place for you in my heart.”
“You will have a special place in my heart, too. You were my first boyfriend.”
“Guess Philippe will be your last.”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged as I put distance between us. “I want to go back home. I’m not kidding about that. I want to have my life back, to go to college and become an oncologist. I have many dreams to fulfill. I won’t stay with a guy who tries to stop me from doing that.”
He looked at me with pensive eyes again. “I was demanding too much of you, and I was giving you little in return.”
I refused to agree, although it was partially correct. “You saved me, and you…loved me and made me happy.”
“And gave you an awesome pair of wings with amazing powers.”
“I would face the trial and love you madly if there wasn’t a Philippe around,” I confessed as I played with my hands. “I know he isn’t Prince Charming. He has lots of flaws, but I love him. It isn’t fair to keep pushing this between us and kill you. You deserve to be happy. I’m sure there will be another rejected soul or a gargoyle girl who will be your new match, and you will be insanely happy.”
He hugged me tightly. I felt overwhelmed by my emotions. It was sad, and I knew that there was no coming back from my decision. However, it was time to let go of Cedric. It was time to face my feelings and give my heart a break. No more doubts, no more fears.
Cedric kissed my cheek, taking his time to smash his soft lips against my skin. I liked him a lot. But it wasn’t the same as when I was next to Philippe.
“Okay, I’m going outside to get some fresh air. I will see you in a bit,” he whispered, trying to conceal the quivering of his voice.
Releasing me, he disappeared. I stared at the void, trying to control my tears and my breathing.
I was going to be alone. It was the first thought that crossed my mind. Turning around, I faced the window to where the meeting was taking place. Philippe was on the other side, staring at me with wounded eyes. I didn’t know if I loved or hated the fact that I could understand what was crossing his mind when we looked at each other. He had witnessed what had happened inside the office. By the look of it, he wasn’t happy about it.
I teleported in front of him.
“We need to talk,” I said, grabbing his arm and preventing him from storming away.
Before he could say anything else, we teleported out of there. I didn’t know exactly where we were going to land, but it wasn’t far away. We ended up outside the church, in front of the entrance.
Philippe looked at the building and then at me.
“You didn’t need to bring me outside to tell me that you are going to get back with Cedric,” he said with hurt in his eyes. “You didn’t even let me give you an explanation.”
“Explanation for what?” I asked.
“That there is only you in my life now. Even if you don’t forgive me, there isn’t anyone else that I love,” he confessed sweetly, sending goosebumps throughout my skin. “I love you, Aria. No one else. You are my whole world. And I’m sorry if I sound selfish, but I was hoping that you would leave Cedric and give me a chance to prove how much I love you and how much I regret rejecting you.”
I lost my breath at his words. I wasn’t expecting such an elaborated declaration of love. It touched me and made me smile like a silly person. After staring into his loving eyes, I hugged him. I wasn’t going to kiss him. I wanted to so bad that my body was shaking. No kissing him. I shouldn’t even be hugging him. I should be slapping him around for being a coldhearted jerk when we first met.
He hesitated and eventually hugged me back. I relaxed against him as I enjoyed the silence for a moment.
My words came out muffled against his chest. “Cedric and I weren’t making up. We were saying goodbye.” I pulled away to talk to him without fangirling myself over his declaration of love.
“You are leaving him?” His big brown chocolate eyes rounded, probably not believing me.
“Yes, we broke up for good. I’m going back home,” I told him before he could think that he was going to make me stay. “Do you understand me?”
“You want to go back home… And me?”
It was a damn valid question, one I knew he was going to ask me. I wanted to be able to be evil and say mean things to make him suffer but couldn’t. I was a romantic fool.
“I guess you’ll have to try harder to make me forgive you,” I said, trying to stay serious. “It’s not like I’m going to believe that you are suddenly in love with me and don’t want me floating down the river.” I diverted my eyes from his. It was true. He could be tricking me. He might want to lock me up in his house and prevent me from leaving. I didn’t want to be trapped again. The idea made me panic.
“You were the one who threw yourself into the river, not me,” he accused me, waking me up from my fears.
I glared at him. “Really? Do you want me to tell you whose fault it was?”
I didn’t manage to say anything else. He grabbed me and kissed me. I wasn’t expecting that. I wanted him to, but I wasn’t expecting it right then. He placed his hands on my face and pulled me in for a kiss. It wasn’t rushed or harsh, just surprising. He brought his lips to mine, and I let him, closing my eyes and placing my hands on his wrists. My lips played with his, rubbing, touching, and enjoying the closeness of our mouths. It was glorious, breathtaking, and addictive. We drew near each other, his arms reaching to bring me closer to his chest, and my arms surrounding his neck. Suddenly, we were wrapped in each other’s arms, and breathing was the last thing on my mind.
“I hate to interrupt, but everybody is waiting for you.” It was a soft and embarrassed voice that broke our bubble.
I felt dizzy when his lips let go of mine. I didn’t want to stop. After opening my eyes to meet his, I felt like I was melting and evaporating at the same time. What is this feeling that is burning and weakening me?
“Should I tell them that you are…busy?”
I looked to my left, seeing Camille standing there with rosy cheeks.
“I tried not to interrupt,” she said, glancing at her hands. “Everyone’s impatient and wants to continue.”
“We’ll be right there,” Philippe said.
I wanted to run and hide in shame. Camille had seen us kissing. She didn’t know that I had broken up with Cedric and was probably judging me.
“Okay,” she said, turning around and leaving.
“Oh my God, I need to talk to her,” I whispered, panicking and hyperventilating.
“Calm down,” Philippe requested calmly, nuzzling his nose against my neck. His arms prevented me from running after her. “Relax. You can’t go inside like that. It was my fault. I kissed you. Now try to focus on breathing.” He combed my hair and tickled me with his nose.
My heartbeat decreased. The idea of letting go of him was daunting. I knew that we were just hugging, and I wanted to do that for all eternity.
“Couldn’t we slap some sense into them? They are so stubborn and don’t believe our good intentions,” I ranted.
Philippe laughed. His breath caressed my neck. “If I didn’t know you better, I would have thought you were being serious.”
“I wanted to save them, but that was before I knew they were so…”
He held my face between his hands. “What?”
“Creepy!”
“Most of them are black sorcerers. In the graveyard, there are kids and women, and probably some humans, too, Mara said that there was a protest. People were going to attack the angels if they invaded their territory, without permission.”
“Guess we have a meeting to attend to,” I whispered, bored but worried.
“It won’t take much longer. They are ready to give in.”
“If you say so.”
“Are you going to stop ignoring me during the meeting?” he questioned, pleading me with his eyes.
“I’ll think about it.” I smiled wickedly and let him go, so we could enter the church and prevent a war.
Philippe had other intentions. He pulled me back into his arms, and we disappeared in a flash, appearing inside the room where the meeting was taking place.
I fixed my hair, straightened my dress, and went to take my place at the table. I half-listened to some lame excuse Philippe gave them about having to leave to talk to an informer regarding Kayden. It was a plausible explanation. Jo and Cedric weren’t buying it, though. But Cedric used his commanding voice to draw the attention back to him.
Chapter SIX
ARIA
Things were getting heated. The graveyard representatives were losing their patience.
“I don’t care who you think you are or in the name of what God you are speaking,” one of the warlocks spoke louder, interrupting Cedric. “We are not going to let you bully us out of our sacred ground, so you can burn our ancestors’ bones and strip us of our powers!”
I looked at Philippe, confused by their words.
Leaning closer to my ear, he explained, “Covens take their magic power from their ancestors’ bones. If the presence of their ancestors is erased, their magic will become weaker.”
I nodded and paid attention to the howls of agreement that rose from the other warlocks and representatives. I grabbed Philippe’s hand tighter. The tension was killing me. They were all mistrusting. I realized why Cedric had such a hard time in believing people. I didn’t want to be like them. I liked to think that people weren’t evil to their core and that some meant what they said and wanted to help others.
“No one will burn your ancestors’ bones or take away your powers. We are only looking for someone who is trying to hurt not just us but you as well. He wants us to start a war and make us weak. You need to understand who your true enemy here is. It’s not us. We want to help you,” Cedric said sternly, without transmitting any kind of emotion.
His face didn’t disturb me. They all looked severe and scary, even Jo looked emotionless from the other side of the table. She hadn’t smiled since the meeting resumed again. She had only spoken to support any statement that Philippe made.
“We know nothing about Kayden. We don’t meddle in his business, and he doesn’t meddle in ours,” an old man in black ceremonial clothes said.
“It looks like he wants to meddle now since he brought the angels to your front door. Not to say that vampires aren’t angered that Specters are selling Clarity, and Kayden is the one suspected of producing it,” Cedric reminded them.
Philippe held my hand and shook his head when I was about to speak. “It would only put vampires against angels, and I’m sure Kayden lied to cover his ass. He is guilty,” he whispered in my ear, sending goose bumps along my skin.
“If angels don’t invade to look for Kayden, we won’t be so gentle while looking for Clarity,” Philippe told them out loud.
The other vampires nodded in agreement. I hoped he didn’t mean what he was saying and was just bluffing to get them to agree. I trusted his judgment, and I could understand why the vampires were so mad. I hoped that the leaders wouldn’t remain stubborn and start a war because of Kayden’s manipulation and lies.
“If you don’t have anything to do with this, we will consider it as a proof of goodwill to let us in and look for Kayden and the drug,” Cedric said.
“And share with us where Kayden may be hiding,” Philippe added.
Murmurs surfaced from the graveyard people as they talked among themselves.
“We can give you four possible locations to where Kayden may be hiding,” one of the elders said after a moment.
“If we accept this,” a woman said, “any angel that goes into our territory must be supervised by two of us. And we don’t want vampires there. We don’t want them to scare the children.”
“Why would they have children at a cemetery?” I asked Philippe, troubled by it.
“In some tombs, there are old libraries with books of witchcraft. Children go there to study or practice rituals. It’s sacred ground, and they are safer there.”
I nodded, amazed by the world I was discovering. There was a lot that I didn’t know about the supernatural world in that ancient city. It was mind-blowing and enticing. I think it was the mention of old witchcraft books that woke up the Harry Potter fan in me. How cool is that? Hermione was my heroine. I related to her in so many ways that I would love to be best friends with her. I wanted to study at Hogwarts when I was younger. When I retreated from my reverie, I realized that Philippe was smiling at me, amused by my spacing out, no doubt.
“What?” I asked, feeling embarrassed by my childish dreams.
He shrugged with a puzzling smile on his lips.
I focused around us and noticed how vampires and angels were talking, making noise. Vampires didn’t want to be left out. Cedric wanted to know about Philippe’s opinion. Everybody was trying to prevent a war, but the vampires didn’t want to stay out of the raid.
“Would you agree if only the vampire leaders would escort the angels and the witches inside?” Cedric asked the leaders of the graveyard people.
“We would be outnumbered,” one of the vampires protested.
“Your men could stay outside if you don’t trust us,” one warlock said with a mischievous grin.
“Is that an affirmation?” Cedric asked the warlock.
Another couple of minutes went by with the graveyard people talking.
“We agree,” one older man said. “We will let you into our territory to look for Kayden and Clarity. We also agree to let the leaders of the vampires in. But we need a signed contract about these terms.”
“Okay,” Cedric said after Philippe nodded to him.
“Let’s write the settlement and sign with blood,” an old witch said, scribbling on a parchment with a feather.
I looked at her, fascinated by her handwriting and the ritual behind the agreement.
“We will write it down,” the witch continued. “Once everybody has read it and agreed to the terms, we can leave for the graveyard and finish with this misunderstanding once and for all.”
Everybody agreed and left the table, leaving some of the witches talking about what to write. Cedric supervised the writing. It was going to take a while for the woman to scribble everything down, and I was tired.
Thankfully, Philippe took me to another room in the church. It had couches, old decorative motifs, and a piano. A gorgeous and shiny black piano that made me move towards it and look at the perfect white keys. Philippe sat on one of the couches, looking tired and thoughtful. I lost my intere
st in the instrument and sat next to him.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Yes, I’m just tired,” he said, smiling tenderly at me. I had a bubbling sensation in my stomach every time we looked into each other’s eyes. “Are you tired?”
“Yes,” I murmured, looking around the room. “Can I go to the cemetery with you?”
“I’m sorry, honey, but I don’t want you there. It’s dangerous, and Kayden has plans for you. I don’t want them to use the excuse of small groups for searches to kidnap you and take you away again.”
“So, you are going to go by yourself?”
“I’m going with Cedric and my men. I’ll leave plenty of security behind. Jo will stay here to protect you. I don’t trust anyone else to protect you better than her.”
“Can Camille stay, too?”
“Yes, she can. I’m sure Cedric will leave a lot of angels behind.”
“I would like to see the cemetery.” I was annoyed for being left behind.
“I can show you the cemetery some other night, after we catch Kayden. I understand that you can protect yourself while you are an angel. But you are new to this, and people fear you. They may feel threatened by your presence there and…I just want to keep you safe.”
“Okay.”
“You can see the books some other time,” he whispered.
I looked at him, surprised. Can he read my mind?
“The tombs are cold and ugly. Pretty creepy actually.”
“Okay.” I looked at my hands, entwining my fingers nervously.
“You should eat something and rest while we are gone,” Philippe said, holding a finger under my chin and making me look at him.
“I’m not hungry.” I swallowed hard. He was speaking so affectionately to me that I had no idea how to react. “What will happen if you don’t find Kayden?” A disturbing thought crossed my mind. I didn’t want to be stuck somewhere for my protection. Not again.
