by Anna Santos
“From what she has told me, you scared her and tried to kidnap her. If you had hurt her, you wouldn’t have been alive to see another night. I would have chased you down and ripped your head off. The nerve you have, Philippe,” he snarled, as red tainted his cheeks. “Coming into my home and scaring my mate!”
I frowned at his last word. His mate! Was he crazy? “You must be insane, boy! I don’t know what fairytale you have told Aria, but we both know that Aria is mine, not yours. She belongs to me. And I really don’t like the idea of you using her to get revenge against me!” I almost shattered the glass in my hand. I was losing it, but I wouldn’t let him get away with it. With dark eyes while baring my fangs, I stated, “She has nothing to do with your hate for the vampires. She is innocent in all this. Therefore, I want you to set her free and let her go.” I was upset by his twisted games. Upset by his claim on Aria. I should have forced her to join me and get her far away from Cedric’s grasp. It was too late, and she didn’t trust me enough to let me take care of her. But I wanted to make amends. I wanted to keep her safe and far away from my sick and perverse world.
“Sorry, but I can’t do that,” he spoke with a peculiar smile on his lips. “And news flash, she doesn’t belong to you anymore. You have rejected her. I found her and now she is mine. Besides, she wants to stay with me. Wasn’t that clear enough yesterday?” he asked, gloating.
I gritted my teeth, trying to control the ache of wanting to slap that smile off his face. “We’ve talked. She told me a sappy story about you and her being together. How she thought that she was in love with you. But, you see, I know you hate me, and you would do anything to get rid of me. She is innocent and thinks you saved her. Maybe you did, but you are also using her to get to me,” I stated, trying to keep my calm and analyze his reaction to my words. “So what do you want in return for leaving her alone?”
“You are paranoid! I didn’t even know she was your soul-mate,” he growled. “I have to confess that Destiny played an ironic hand in all this. However, I have no evil intentions for her. You didn’t want her in the first place, so why are you trying to act all noble and concerned about her safety?” He folded his hands on his lap as he waited for me to answer.
“I don’t believe you,” I stated, fisting my hand on the desk.
“I really don’t give a crap about what you believe or not! Aria is mine now, and you can’t have her back. She will be my queen,” he said severely, shocking me with his words.
Then he got up to leave.
“Sit down,” I ordered, watching the anger flickering in his blue eyes matching my black eyes. “This conversation isn’t over! The deal was that you would bring Aria so we could talk. Even if she is with you, this doesn’t mean she is yours and that she can’t change her mind. So, to make this meeting more interesting, I’m going to propose a deal. You bring Aria to talk with me, and I’ll help you in striking a deal with the other vampire leaders.”
“The deal is already made,” Cedric stated, apparently not really interested in what I was saying.
“You have only a promise of no retaliation against Jean Paul’s pack. No one promised to stay at home and not look for the dealers distributing Clarity. No one has promised to spare the humans of a blood bath if they catch them taking that drug. After all, an infected human is no longer a viable blood source. And we don’t know if the infected ones can infect others by touch, kissing, having sex, or donating blood. Therefore, I can promise you that those vampires inside are going to find a strategy that allows them to take the matters into their own hands.”
Cedric's face went pale, and I almost laughed with the gullibility of this guy. He had really believed the vampires would keep their word and stay out of his way. How naïve was he? It was clear the other vampires wouldn’t let angels handle it by themselves. After all, it was our lives on the line. They were going to do their own investigation and kill whoever they needed and wanted to find the distributor and destroy the drug.
“You know you will need me, Cedric,” I whispered, a wicked smile on my lips. I took a sip of my bourbon as I waited patiently for his feedback.
“What do you want to talk to her about?” he asked, breaking the silence. “From what she told me, she has already said that she didn’t want anything to do with you. She has made up her mind about you. She hates you and thinks you are a monster. You are one,” he said, with a straight face and empty eyes. “Aria is better off without you.”
I smirked at him, finding his words to be rather amusing. If I was the one that he thought to be the epitome of evilness, then he was more naïve than I gave him credit for. He had no idea what a monster was like.
“I think you are afraid of a bit of competition,” I teased him, taking another sip of my drink. “Let’s face it, you are just a Disney’s mild fantasy dream while I’m her real soul-mate and a vampire. We are trendy,” I joked.
“Because killing her to turn her into a vampire and giving her an eternity of pain and away from daylight is a better option for her than being my queen and an angel,” he said with a sharp deduction that made me clench my jaw. “And let’s not neglect the fact that you are incapable of loving anyone else but yourself. So, I think I’ll take my chances, and I’ll bet you that there is nothing you can tell her to make her leave me for you,” he said, folding his arms.
“I wouldn’t be so sure, Cedric,” I said. “But we are not the ones who get to decide what is best for Aria. She is.”
“She did. She chose me.”
An awkward silence fell between us. I wanted to rip his head off, and he was probably wishing the same, but we needed to stay civilized. I needed to keep my temper in check and ignore his cockiness about my mate’s love for him.
I claimed, “I have no intentions to keep this conversation between us if you keep being stubborn and presumptuous about Aria’s feelings for you when she barely knows you. I really don’t understand how you could possibly think that Aria can be your mate, but the fact is that I want to talk to her. I regret what I have done and demand a meeting with her. So, we can do this in a civilized way or I’ll have to find another way to get to Aria. And trust me, you will not like it.”
“You wouldn’t start a war because of a girl.” Cedric snorted. “You wouldn’t put your business at risk nor your men. You like your money too much, Philippe.”
“Do not assume that you know me, Cedric,” I warned him darkly. “There is something in this world that would make me give up everything I have. I was stupid enough to make the mistake of not realizing the luck I was given, but I’m not going to make that mistake again. There is a lot you don’t know about me,” I said, turning the glass in my hand and staring at it with blank eyes.
“Yes, let’s talk about that,” Cedric promptly said. “Let’s talk about the fact that you tried to abuse her and then kill her.”
“I did not try to take advantage of her!” I growled, upset by his words. “I didn’t lay a finger on her. I was confused and…I was not thinking straight. My men tried to hurt her without my knowledge, and they paid with their lives for that.”
“And didn’t you order them to kill her?” Cedric asked with a cocky smile. “Killing humans is against the law, Philippe.”
I gritted my teeth. “Technically, she jumped overboard. I don’t know what happened, but I tried… I...” I choked as my heart sunk in my chest.
How could Aria ever forgive me for that?
“I guess I have to thank you,” Cedric said. “I would never have met her if you hadn’t rejected her. I really need to thank you for that, Philippe. You have no idea how amazing she is and how proud I am to be her new mate.”
I growled at his words as I smashed my desk with my fist. “You are not her new mate!”
“Once you’ve rejected her, she got free from your bond. So, yes, I’m her new mate, and she will be my queen. I couldn’t think of a better way to make you suffer, I realize that now. Because you can regret your decision, but there is nothing you can do
now that she’s mine.”
“So, you are refusing to bring Aria to talk to me?” I asked, concentrating on his words but choosing to ignore the teasing behind them.
“You can threaten me with war all you want, but the fact is that you were breaking the rules. Aria saw other women inside that boat being forced to perform sexual acts with your men. With you probably! So you can be charged and be executed for that. Therefore, your threats don’t frighten me. If vampires break the rules, they are put to death, simple as that.”
“There is just one thing wrong with that reasoning of yours,” I informed him. “The girls weren’t there against their will. They were compelled to overlook the fact that the men were vampires, but they had agreed to go down there with those men to have consensual intercourse.”
“Oh, what gentlemen your men are!” Cedric said with sarcasm.
“I can prove it if you choose to accuse me of breaking the rules. I can call my men and the girls to witness. Your angels can get the truth out of them with their powers. I’m not afraid of that. Besides, I don’t need to compel a girl to fuck her. For God’s sake, I’m rich!”
“No, you just need to compel your soul-mate to reject her and try to kill her.” Cedric smirked as he rested his hand on my desk. My eyes went black. “And don’t bring God into this conversation. God has long ago abandoned you. Aria deserves a better life than you could ever give her. She has a kind soul and a pure heart. I couldn’t be happier now that I found her. And since you were the one who made that possible, I’ll forget all you’ve done as long as you leave us alone. Forget she exists. You got your wish. She is no longer bonded to you. So move on and forget us.”
“I don’t think you understood me, Cedric.” I was getting really upset with his lack of intelligence. Was I speaking in a foreign language?
“I do, Philippe. But I’m not one of your lackeys, and you are not the one who gets to tell me what to do despite your threats. Aria is mine, and I’m not going to subject her to another face to face with you. You have already caused her a lot of pain. You’ve scared her, she almost died from drowning, and you’ve tried to kidnap her. She doesn’t want anything to do with you. End of story,” he said, getting up and moving towards the door.
“So, you just want the best for her, is that it?” I asked, rising from my seat when he opened the door.
He paused and turned to look at me. “Yes.”
“You wouldn’t want anything to make her sad and mad at you, would you?”
“Of course not!”
“Then, she will be extremely upset with you when she finds out that you failed to protect her parents,” I said, with an evil smirk on my lips.
To my surprise, Cedric’s eyes changed to a violent shade of anger and actually glowed.
“What did you do?” he asked, moving extremely fast towards me. Slamming me against the wall, he grabbed me by my collar.
I did nothing to stop him. I just laughed at his lack of control. The door was open, so the other vampires were witnessing what he was doing to me. They entered the room to help me. I couldn’t have planned it better! Cedric attacking me was extremely beneficial to prove that the prince had something against me specifically. He was digging his own grave, and I was a step closer to have my meeting with my sweet and innocent mate.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
ARIA
My eyelashes fluttered and when I opened them, I saw the familiar ceiling of my bedroom in Cedric’s house.
“You are awake!” a happy voice acknowledged my alertness.
I knew it was Camille before I dared look to my right. She greeted me with a wide smile. She was sitting next to me in one of the armchairs with her hands folded on her lap.
“What happened?” I asked, confusion clouding my memory.
“You became upset.”
I frowned at her words. I tried harder to remember and flashes entered my mind, leaving a bad taste in my mouth and an itchy feeling on my back.
I had wings.
Fire had burst from within and threatened to burn everything to ashes. I had felt mad, scared, and really upset. I wanted to destroy everything around me.
“You saved me,” I said to Camille, feeling my eyes watering. “I couldn’t control myself. You saved me.”
“I didn’t.” She shook her head. Her big shining eyes shone with apprehension. “Cedric was the one who was able to control you. I barely held on to my shield until he got here.”
“Did I hurt you?”
“No. I’m fine.” She clasped her hands with a smile. “How are you feeling? Are you excited?”
“About what?”
Camille leaned in closer. “You have wings and awesome powers, Aria! I’m so jealous of you! Your angel has awakened, and she can kick ass! Can’t you hear her?”
“Hear her,” I repeated.
Why should I hear her? Why was she referring to my angel as someone outside my own personality?
“Yes! Don’t worry about it.” She waved in dismissal and shrugged her shoulders with a girly grin. “You are still a bit confused. But you will eventually understand it all.”
“Where is Cedric?” I inquired, noticing that he was not there. He hadn’t appeared since I awoke. I remembered that I was mad at him, but I also had a crazy yearning to see him and have him close to me. I couldn’t explain it, but his absence hurt.
“He had some business to take care of.”
“Oh,” I whispered.
I felt lonely all of a sudden. A sharp pain in my chest made me move uncomfortably in the bed.
“He went to see Philippe,” Camille clarified.
“Why?” I asked. Cedric had made a lot of threats against Philippe’s life the night before.
“Philippe wanted to talk to Cedric about you.”
“Oh!”
Things could get out of hand if they were arguing about me. I made a movement to get up.
Camille stopped me. “No, don’t move! You are still weak. William came here to see you. He said you should rest and stay in bed.”
“William?” The name sounded familiar.
“Cedric’s cousin. You will have the opportunity to see him again. He’s a doctor. He’s great and really nice. So you have orders to stay in bed.”
I pouted. Laying my arms at my sides, I stared at the void and that was when it hit me. “Is that conceited girl still in our house?” I asked incapable to conceal my jealousy. I felt my hands burn with the thought that Cedric would have let her sleep in the same house we were living in.
“Calm down. She is gone. William took her to his home.”
“So why didn’t we move?”
“Some of us did. But Cedric was concerned about you. Besides, it’s quite useless to move. Philippe would find you anyway.”
“I like living here.”
“You would also like to live in the city, although it’s noisier. Anyhow, tomorrow everybody will come back here.”
“All the moving must suck.”
“Well, it was a good excuse to gather the clothes I no longer used and give them to charity.”
“Yes, because poor people wear Dior on a daily basis.”
“Hey! The clothes can be sold and the money given to the poor. Besides, there is more to me than a shopaholic. I actually do charity work in women and children’s institutions.”
“I’m not judging you.”
Camille smiled and played with her hands. “Do you want tea?”
“Not really. I’m just eager to talk to Cedric.”
“How do you feel?”
“About what?”
“About Philippe being your mate and wanting you back.”
“I don’t feel anything,” I said mildly, surprising myself by the clarity in my mind and in my feelings. I loved Cedric, it was crystal clear. “I’m really mad at Cedric, though.”
“You have to give him the benefit of the doubt. He is clueless about girls. And I gave him a nice lecture about him indulging Charlotte’s flirting behavior
and hurting your feelings,” Camille said.
I smirked, happy for her having my back. “Do you think he likes her? He was really happy to see her.”
“She’s just a kid. Forget all about her.”
“I’m also just a kid. I just celebrated my eighteenth birthday. I’m not much older than Charlotte.”
“But you are Cedric’s mate, not Charlotte.”
“Well, it looked like he would like her to be his mate. He just had the unfortunate luck of being bonded to me first.”
“Don’t ever say that Aria!”
I recoiled in my bed like a kid ready to be lectured.
“You have no idea how hard it is for them to find their perfect match. Jacob waited a long time before he found me. Cedric will not let you down. He will love you like you never thought would be possible. It was the luckiest day of my life when Jacob saved me and we were bonded. And I hope you are not even thinking of giving Philippe a chance. You almost died because of him, and I don’t care how much he regrets it now. In my opinion, he is just pretending, so he can hurt Cedric and destroy him. He didn’t want you before and now suddenly he does! How weird is that?”
“I’m not stupid, Camille. I’m not buying Philippe’s regrets either. He claims he had nothing to do with them hurting me, but…that’s not what I remember.”
I contemplated my thoughts as my eyes stared at the balcony. Philippe’s words still echoed in my mind. He seemed troubled and concerned, even if he acted like a pervert and said the nastiest and vilest things. A sudden burning sensation hit my stomach, and I felt like I was going to throw up. I leaned forward in pain.
“What’s wrong?” Camille asked, getting up and kneeling next to me.
“My stomach hurts!” I complained.
“You are hungry! It always happens to me when my energy is down. I’ll get you something to eat. A hot chocolate and a sandwich will do nicely to ease the pain.”
