by Anna Santos
Aria looked at me with a pained expression. “Did he know that when he rejected me?”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged, mesmerized by her. I could stare at her all day and not get bored. She was the reason I didn’t turn into stone and could enjoy that blessed day of sun.
“I don’t believe in heaven or hell,” she explained, staring at her feet. “I don’t believe in soul-mates. Why is this happening to me?”
“In what do you believe, Aria?”
“Science and stardust.”
“I don’t understand, sweetie.”
Trapping her hands between her knees, she explained, “I believe that there isn’t heaven or hell. There is just evolution. We are the product of millions of years of evolution. From a single organism, we were evolved into these rational beings. Apparently, evolution made other rational beings that hide inside mythical stories. Either way, love is a reaction produced by hormones in our body that make us want to perpetuate the species. We need to breed, so the body creates a feeling that we call love that makes us decide which partner is better suited to procreate.”
Aria was too rational for her own good. I had to destroy those walls and plant the seeds that would make her believe once again in love and fairy tales.
She raised her gaze from the floor, focusing on me as if she was waiting for me to refute her beliefs. I shrugged and smiled at her. In the light of this new evidence, I thought I could make her believe in hell and heaven and accept me as her mate. I just needed to be patient.
“I think you are more than suitable to bear my baby. You please me a lot.”
She giggled with my answer, and I smirked, happy for bringing some joy to her face. “Do I please you, Aria?” I asked, wanting to know if I had any chance to make her mine.
“Yes, you please me too,” she whispered, hiding her face behind her hands.
Her shyness was adorable. Everything about her was adorable. There was no other word I could use for the bubbling feeling I got inside my stomach each time I stared at her and saw her smile like that.
CHAPTER TEN
PHILIPPE
Those self-righteous and ugly gargoyles had the nasty habit of ruining my plans. We had come to a truce in the last eighty years. Some basic rules were established, so we could have a cordial relationship. Yet, I had my ways to do whatever I wanted and get away with it. I was planning to finish with them once and for all. Nevertheless, secrecy is the best way to ensure victory. Soon enough those wannabe angels would be cast away for good from this realm and be stuck in their own.
The worst thing about living in Paris was that I could see through the veil into their realm. I could see the dark mountains and the horrific, big castle on the edge of a cliff, glaring at the city like the red eye of Sauron.
If only I could close the veil, they wouldn’t be able to fly across to Paris.
Gargoyles won’t attack a vampire if the vampire was only feeding. We are allowed to feed. After all, we need blood to exist. But, we aren’t allowed to kill. If a vampire kills a human, there are serious consequences. Aria falling into the river was troublesome.
Nevertheless, I was pretty decent at damage control. I was able to convince the police that the girl jumped and my men were merely trying to help. We enthralled some of the guests to corroborate our version of the facts. We reached the tourist boat and got the pictures they had taken without any casualties. And the gargoyles had done a great job at taking the girls from the boat and getting rid of the vampire’s body prior to the police’s arrival. They could despise us, but they didn’t want the humans to find out about the existence of supernatural beings and their petty conflicts.
The newspapers didn’t know who the girl was. I made Sean bring his little toy with him and compel her to go home and give the sad news of her cousin’s suicidal jump to her parents. Gabby’s recount of the events would be crucial in making Aria look like a depressed girl. It would make her story seem plausible, and cause it to look like a cry for attention when she eventually showed up. I was sure that Cedric would return her home safe and sound. He was an honorable man. I was also hoping he could curtail her version of the facts to somewhat go along with the story I had fabricated.
By the time the sun was coming up, I was satisfied with what I had accomplished. However, I was not prepared to receive an arrogant angel in my headquarters with an urgent message requesting an audience with Cedric in one of his houses in Paris. We had places in the city to meet our allies. From the looks of the message, Aria had revealed too much and had described everything that happened in the basement. So, I was being summoned to explain why the vampires were breaking the rules. I had to come up with a credible excuse by the end of the day. They didn’t seem to realize that it had been my fault, and I was planning to keep it that way, so it would look favorably on me. I could manipulate things to my advantage. Give him some useless vampires to kill in return for keeping the peace among us. Blame some random rogue vampires to take the suspicion off me. It wouldn’t be the first time. There were a lot of things I could do to keep Cedric content and the peace treaty intact.
There was just a small thing I needed to take care of. So, I used an insider. I enthralled Aria’s cousin to keep me in the loop. I wanted and needed to know when Aria would return home. I had some urgent affairs to discuss with her that would be beneficial to us both. I couldn’t have my mate running around the streets of Paris, smelling delicious, making me lose focus, and growing a conscience that I’ve long since chosen to ignore. I needed to send the girl away and remove her from my dangerous world. I didn’t want Cedric to use her to his advantage.
The damn gargoyle brat was making me wait for him like a commoner. I was getting extremely annoyed. He would flash his title to us as if it was something to bow to. I couldn’t care less that he was the damn prince of those flying rats. I was the ruler of the vampire community and didn’t need this kind of disrespect!
I had to calm my nerves and control my reactions since I was more patient than that. I had eternity for god’s sake! So why was I jumpy and breathless, thinking that time was slipping through my fingers?
Aria hadn’t shown up yet. Cedric had her. I had no idea why. Maybe she was dead when he took her out of the river, or maybe he planned to use her as a witness. If she was coming with him, I was going to see her. She was going to accuse me, and that wouldn’t work for me. I had made plans to conceal my involvement. Maybe I should have sent my second in command to that meeting, but Cedric would be offended by it.
I was in a dilemma, not to mention in big trouble. I couldn’t hold still in my seat. I paced along the corridor and clenched my teeth. I should have drunk blood before coming here. It would have calmed me down. I needed to be polite with Cedric if I wanted my plan to work.
A few agonizing minutes later, the mighty prince eventually arrived in his plain human form and wearing some casual clothes like he actually belonged to this world. He seemed strangely happy. I don’t ever remember seeing a smile on his face. He was talking with Jacob, completely caught up in what he was saying, because he just noticed my presence when he arrived next to the door of the room where we were planning to meet.
“Why the hell do you look so happy?” I questioned, unable to conceal my bad mood and my surprise.
“Good evening, Philippe,” he greeted, offering me his hand that I shook in return. “How are you feeling today?”
I frowned and didn’t reply to his cheerful tone. Saying that Cedric wasn’t acting like himself was an understatement. We would be well-mannered to each other, but his kind and my kind were enemies. They didn’t like the fact that we were creatures of evil. We didn’t like the fact that they thought they could kill us whenever they felt that we weren’t obeying the rules. We had every right to exist like they did. We weren’t all monsters.
“Are you and Jacob the only ones attending this meeting?” I asked, staring back for signs of Aria. I could smell her on his clothes.
“What is wrong with yo
u?” he asked, staring into my eyes and probably noticing the change of color.
I steadied myself, trying to control my primeval instincts. “I’m annoyed, that’s all.”
Cocking an eyebrow, he questioned, “How do you think I am?”
“I was the one accused of disrespecting the rules. You were the one who sent your gargoyles to hunt my vampires.”
“I hope you have a good explanation for what happened yesterday.”
“I’m hoping you have one too, because, as far as I know, my vampires haven’t done anything wrong.”
“We have one witness.”
“Where is your witness?” I asked, staring at him with suspicious eyes to make clear that I didn’t believe him and thought he was bluffing.
“All will be revealed in time.”
His answer was rather vague. He was concealing something or maybe he was afraid we would hurt his supposed witness to shut her up. I knew it was Aria and wanted to know where she was. Apparently, the gargoyles still had her, and I wasn’t going to be able to see her anytime soon. I was enraged. I wanted her back. I wanted to growl at him for keeping her away from me. She was mine. Damn it! She should be mine. I rejected her, I had to keep remembering it, and stop acting possessive like that. She was better off without me. There was nothing special about her, besides the fact of smelling good and being addictive. Yet, she didn’t belong in my world and deserved something better.
“Who’s your witness?” I probed.
“Let’s go inside to talk. I’ll get you a drink, and we will exchange information.”
“You are rather friendly today. Inviting me to have a drink with you and wanting to sort things out. I thought you were coming to make threats.”
“Well, if it was just a misunderstanding, I think we can fix things without going to war. I have other matters more important to take care of, so I don’t wish to go to war with the vampires at this time.”
“More important matters?” I asked, completely astounded by his words. I thought the kid would live and breathe to have an excuse to kill us all. That was unexpected.
“Yes,” he replied with a happy voice that didn’t shed any light on what could possibly be more urgent to him. I had to get my spies on the matter and find out what was going on. All his reactions were completely unlike him. He seemed to be under the effect of some happy drug.
“Have you been drinking?” I asked, being rude but boiling with curiosity.
“Maybe,” he answered and smiled, ruffling his already messy hairstyle and opening the door to come in. “It’s nothing that you need to worry about since we have an important matter to discuss. I need to end this quickly, so I can go back home,” he said, entering.
I followed him, Jacob entered after me and Gerard followed behind, closing the door. So, there we were, the four most powerful beings in Paris, talking about war and peace while playing with the lives of humanity as if it were a game.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CEDRIC
It was no use, Aria was stubborn. I wanted her to relax and stop thinking about the consequences of being with me in that palace. I wanted us to enjoy life, the sun, and our attraction to one another. I was completely fascinated by her. But she was adamant in calling her parents. I had to disconnect all the phones in the house, hide the cell phones, and I was watching her like a prison guard.
I had promised to take her out and show her Paris. We could go shopping for new clothes since she had none. We could go sightseeing and take pictures. We could even go to Disneyland if she wished. But all she wanted to do was remain in her bedroom, sulking in bed, crying her eyes out because I was mean and insensitive to her needs. Maybe she was right, but I was concerned with her safety and with the fact she would want to go back home, leaving me behind. That was the major problem. I didn’t want her to reject me. I had no idea how to convince her to stay. If I had her parents to worry about, everything would be ruined. They would call the police on me. Humans would meddle in our business. I would have to kidnap her and then the chances to make her love me would be little to none.
“How do you plan to explain to your family what happened to you?” I asked, sitting next to her in bed. It was time to take the bull by the horns. If she had any ideas, I wanted to know about them. I wasn’t going to spend the rest of the day, trying to make her get out of bed and talk to me.
“I have plenty of ideas,” she replied, snapping her head up to look at me.
I noticed her crying eyes. My heart ached inside my chest as I reasoned with her, “I want to hear them first. There is no way in hell I’ll let them take you away from me. And they won’t believe it if you tell them about us, the gargoyles, and about them, the vampires.”
“I know! I’m not stupid,” she muttered and sunk her head into the pillow, grabbing it tighter.
“I know you are not stupid, Aria. I like how clever you are.”
“Liar! You would rather have a stupid girl who you could control and make her fall in love with you without giving you so many headaches.”
“And where would be the fun in that?” I asked, grinning at her words. I knew she was still digesting that she and I were mates. Despite my best efforts, she was under the impression that she didn’t deserve me and I wanted someone else.
“Because you think I’m funny?”
“Not in a bad way,” I said before she thought that I was making fun of her.
She raised her head to speak at the pillow. “I just need to tell my parents that I’m alive, so they don’t think it was their fault. Don’t you have parents? Don’t you love them and worry about them?”
“My parents have already ascended. But I love them, of course, I do. I…just don’t want to lose you.”
“You are not going to lose me. Unless you act like a jerk, and you don’t let me talk to my parents,” she said, sitting on the bed and staring at me while hugging the pillow to her chest.
I was beginning to feel jealous of that pillow. Why couldn’t she hug me instead?
“Why are you gazing at the pillow?”
“I want you to hug me,” I said, being straightforward with her. She would never hug me on her own. She was shy, and I wanted to break the ice between us. She almost freaked out the night before because I told her we were going to sleep in the same room. I had to sleep on her couch. It was not a good thing. I spent the night missing her, and she spent the night moving around the bed. I’ve barely slept.
“What?” she asked, maybe believing she was not hearing correctly.
“I want you to let go of that pillow and hug me instead.”
“No.”
“Why not?” I asked, saddened by her denial.
“Because you are evil to me and aren’t letting me talk to my parents.”
“Would you hug me if I let you?”
“Well…” she whispered, thinking over my question. She took too long to answer. “That is blackmail,” she declared.
I smiled, nodding.
She raised her eyebrows. “You act evil for someone who claims to be a descendant of angels.”
“You made me sleep on the couch. My back is killing me and…I’m your mate.”
She fisted her hands to the pillow as she stared at me with narrowed eyes. “You are not my mate. I don’t care what you think these symbols mean, but I’m not going to just roll over and do everything you want just because we are compatible. Plus, you said that I could choose!”
“Do you want me to turn into stone, then?”
“Of course not! But we are just getting to know each other. I don’t feel comfortable with you in my bed!”
“Didn’t you miss me at night?”
“You were on the couch,” she breathed out.
“It was too far away,” I complained.
Aria blushed as her arms surrounded the pillow to create a defensive barrier. “How can I be happy here with you if you don’t let me reassure my parents? They must be worried sick.”
“If they know where you are,
they will try to take you from me.”
She remained silenced with pouty lips.
After a moment, I tried to reason with her again. “I can show you Paris. Would you like that?”
“Not before I’m sure my parents aren’t suffering with my fake death!”
“Calm down, wild cat,” I requested when I noticed she was fisting her hands and aiming her anger at the pillow.
“It’s not funny, Cedric,” she complained with a shattered voice. It made me feel extremely hot the way she said my name. I could get aroused with the slightest things since I met her. Even her pouting lips made me want to reach for her and kiss her.
“Don’t be stubborn and hug me. If I like your plan, you can call your parents.”
She arched an eyebrow at me. “Are you lying?”
“No.”
She sighed and put the pillow aside, pulling her hair away from her shoulders. “Okay, you can hug me.”
I felt a rush of electricity burst in the pit of my stomach which made my heart rush blood through my body. I wanted it so badly, I was afraid of what would happen when I actually had her in my arms. Yet, the sadness on her face wasn’t what I wanted to see when hugging her. It felt as if she was being forced to do it.
“Never mind, I don’t want to force you to do something you don’t feel comfortable doing,” I said, giving up and making plans to leave her and go take care of some important matters. There was always something important for me to fix.
“Stop playing hard to get,” she complained, holding onto my hand when I got up from the bed. “I said I would hug you, so I will.”
“It doesn’t seem like you want to hug me.”
“I do,” she whispered, looking up at me and making me sit down. Her eyes shone as a delicious red rushed to her cheeks. “I need to…tell you something, first.”
I moved closer to her. “What do you need to tell me?”
“Well, it’s something embarrassing.”
