by Anna Santos
She disappeared, leaving me alone with the silence.
I tried to relax, but there was a persistent buzzing in my head. My stomach was calmer, however, I had an insane emptiness in my heart that was making me feel extremely sad and crave Cedric’s presence.
I stared at the clock and scowled at the hour. It was past midnight. I had slept for ages, it seemed.
The intense pain hit me again. This time, I gasped and clenched my teeth really hard. I wanted to scream in agony. I wanted to yell Cedric’s name. I was screaming his name in my mind. But it wasn’t me screaming, it was someone else calling for him, urging me to go to him.
Suddenly my wings erupted on my back, making feathers fall all around me. I got fascinated by it. Until I noticed that I was getting out of the bed and going to the closet. My body was moving on its own accord. I glanced at my reflection in the mirror and scared myself by the shining gold in my eyes and floating hair. Then I heard her. “We need to go to our mate, now! Get dressed!”
CHAPTER THIRTY
CEDRIC
I had fallen into that bastard's perverse game, and I almost ruined everything I had accomplished with the other vampire leaders that night. However, I could always thank Jacob for being my guardian angel—no pun intended—and to be the voice of reason.
Things didn’t get out of hand because Jacob forced me to let go of Philippe’s neck while my men prevented the other vampires from attacking. Yet, it was Philippe, with an arrogant smile on his lips, who urged the other vampires to calm down. He made up some lame excuse that I couldn’t take a joke and the animosity stopped. Only then were we able to go to William’s house, where I gave a guided tour to the vampires who wanted to check on their friends, families, or subjects.
Meanwhile, I tried to find anything on Aria’s parents’ whereabouts. They were, in fact, missing since that morning. Their family and relatives had no idea where they could be. It was at William’s house that I was able to confront Philippe again and try to understand the distorted game he was playing.
The deal was simple. He wanted a meeting with Aria in return for telling me her parents’ location. Since there was just a short amount of time I could keep it from Aria, I agreed. Yet, Philippe would only talk to her if she wanted to. If Philippe thought that kidnapping Aria’s parents was leverage, he couldn’t be more mistaken. Aria would fiercely hate him if he has harmed them in any way. Just knowing he had taken them would make Aria really upset. For someone who claimed to be so smart, he made a stupid move. It was my turn to move my piece on the board since I was not letting some selfish vampire steal Aria away from me.
Besides, now that her angel has shown her feathers, it would be much easier for me to make her forget all about Philippe. Angels couldn’t stand vampires. They were mortal enemies. I doubted Aria’s angel would want to spend time with him. She would be too busy with me to even remember about Philippe’s existence.
It was extremely late after I finished the tour with the vampires. When I left them, they were busy talking among themselves, and some were talking to William about the drug and its effects on vampires. They wanted to know about the progress that was made to understand how the drug worked and how it was created. But the mystery wasn’t unraveled yet. William needed more time to figure that out.
I was feeling uneasy. There was a sharp pain in my chest and an uncomfortable itching on my back. My wings wanted to come out, and I needed to be away from curious eyes. I was wondering if Aria had woken up and was missing me because I couldn’t think of anything else but her. Well, at least, more than usually.
“Cedric!” Charlotte squealed, appearing at the end of the corridor with Maribel by her side. She ran, excited to see me, and jumped into my arms. “I’m so bored here! Why can’t I go to your place instead? I promise I'll behave,” she mumbled, pouting and staring at me with puppy dog eyes that made me sigh and put her on the ground.
“Charlie, I’m not in the mood to have this conversation with you again. I’m in big trouble because of you,” I explained, untangling the girl out my arms and stepping back to put space between us. I didn’t want my mate to have my head on a platter because of Charlie.
“Well, if she feels so threatened by me, maybe she is not the right one for you. Maybe you should consider other options.”
I clenched my jaw, fighting the urge to tell her to drop dead and stalk someone else. I had an epiphany about Charlie’s actions that morning. It no longer allowed me to find her pouting and flirting cute.
“Daddy says if we get married, it will be a really good thing to ally both kingdoms. Our baby would rule over Paris and London. It would be an unparalleled event.”
“Charlie, I know your parents always try to do what is best for you, however, you need to understand that I’ve found my mate. I’m not going to give up on her because of an unsure thing with you. You must love a person and be loved back for the curse to break. The only thing you love is the idea of us being a couple. Loving an idea is not going to break your curse or mine,” I reasoned with her, watching how her eyes slowly lost their brightness.
“But I love you!”
I sighed. “You will have to find someone else to love then,” I said, not feeling any remorse for saying that. I was actually relieved. “Maribel,” I called the girl at the end of the corridor who was pretending not to be listening to our conversation.
She was William’s friend and a gargoyle girl herself. Yet, she would rather spend time indulging William’s scientific curiosity than finding a mate to break her curse. I could only guess that William was blind enough to not understand that Maribel was in love with him. She was waiting to win his love, so she could kiss him. But I was not going to be the one to repeat that to William. He thought Maribel only shared his passion for Science. Sometimes, he was so blind that it hurt! “Could you take Charlie to her bedroom and keep her there. There are vampires in the house, and I don’t want her to get all friendly with them,” I added, staring at Charlie with a warning look.
“You are so annoying sometimes,” she replied, folding her arms and glaring at me.
“You are too curious for your own good!”
She turned her back on me and walked away, mumbling random words about how I was just like her parents.
I sighed and combed my fingers through my hair, watching her disappear behind a door. “Why are girls so stubborn?” I whispered under my breath.
“You haven’t seen anything yet,” a woman’s voice replied to me.
I searched for her, surprised for having company that I hadn’t felt coming. There she was, with her back against the door, to my left side, staring at me with her big, gorgeous eyes. She was a stunning beauty, and I had never seen her before.
“I’m sorry, but who are you and how did you appear there?”
“I’m Josephine. I’m one of the sick vampires,” she explained, drawing a smile and getting near me. She was tall and wore a sexy red dress that molded to her curves like a second skin. I swallowed hard and stared at her face. “You are the spitting image of your grandpa,” she whispered sweetly, sending shivers down my spine. She had to be really old if she knew my grandfather. “He was hot like you.”
I felt myself blush from my utter surprise. I don’t normally feel affected by a female presence, but this woman was really intense and truly beautiful.
“What are you doing by yourself in the corridors?” I questioned, masking my surprise. She shouldn’t be here unsupervised if she was a vampire.
“I was bored. I wanted to catch some fresh air.” She didn’t give much attention to my straight face and walked behind me. “Do you care to join me?”
“Why would I care to join you?” I asked, puzzled by the request as I turned around to face her. Her flowery scent hit my nostrils as I tried to decipher the smile she had tugging at the corner of her lips.
“I’ve been meaning to talk to you. I have a favor to ask.”
I furrowed my brows. She claimed to know my grandpa and now she
was saying she needed a favor.
The female vampire smirked, with an amused expression. “Don’t be so worried. I have no intentions of causing you trouble. It concerns the curse,” she said, tilting her head to the right. “Don’t look so surprised. I used to be like you.”
“And you choose to be that?” I sneered. If she had been an angel, and she chose to be a vampire instead, she was a shame to our race.
“We don’t choose who we love, do we?” she whispered sadly, but it was enough to make me feel goosebumps on my neck because of the sexiness of her voice. She had a velvet tone and enticing lips.
“So why do you need to talk to me?” I asked, finding myself curious about what she could possibly want.
“Jo! I’ve been looking for you all over the place,” Philippe’s voice was heard.
I turned around as I sneered, fighting the urge to growl like a mad dog and rip his head off.
“I see you have found him,” he said, arriving at our side in a split second.
They were fast, and Josephine knew Philippe. I could only imagine why.
“He didn’t want me to talk to you,” Josephine whispered my way.
I frowned at her words. What the hell were those two plotting?
As if reading my thoughts, she explained, “Philippe is my son.”
“Son,” I repeated seriously, doubting that because she wasn’t old enough to have a son like Philippe. She couldn’t be more than twenty when she was turned into a vampire. Maybe she was turned when he was a baby.
Jo smiled as she further elaborated, “My vampire son. I turned him into what he is.”
My displeased smirk wasn’t unnoticed by her. She pursed her lips and held her hands in front of her stomach.
“He really doesn’t need to know that,” Philippe grumbled with his hands in his pockets. He seemed annoyed with Josephine’s explanations.
The only thing that could put him on a leash was his master because he didn’t say anything else when Josephine motioned for him to shut up.
If only I had that power, he would never speak again.
“What do you want?” I asked Josephine, getting impatient as I scratched my back. My wings wanted to get out and my chest was heavy. All I wanted was to leave this place and touch Aria.
Josephine’s voice snapped me out of my reverie. “I guess we will have to talk another day. Maybe tomorrow? Can I ask William to arrange a meeting between us?”
“I don’t see why not. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have more pressing matters to attend to,” I said.
I only agreed because I knew it would upset Philippe. Plus, I could use the fact that Josephine was Philippe’s master if I needed a favor from her. If she needed a favor, there was also something I could ask in return.
“Great.” With a wide smile, she pressed her hands to her chest.
I found myself smiling back at her. She looked so relieved and happy with my answer that it felt contagious. She was a beauty, but she would have been even more gorgeous if she had become an angel instead of choosing to remain a vampire.
I didn’t waste any time to say my goodbyes. I used my new powers to teleport home. I wanted and needed to see Aria. She had to know about her parents, and I needed to hold her tight, kiss her, and ask for her forgiveness for making her jealous of Charlie.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CEDRIC
The moment I appeared in the living room of my house, Aria’s angry voice made me run to her bedroom.
“Let me go! I have to go to him. Let me go, Camille!” Aria demanded.
“Cedric wants you to wait here. He’s coming home soon. Just hold on a bit longer.”
“No, I want to see him now!” she growled.
“Aria, you have to get control of your angel. She is taking over! Aria!”
“Aria, calm yourself,” I ordered when I entered the bedroom and saw what was going on.
Despite the scared look on Camille’s face, Aria seemed healthy. She was wearing a short white dress that contrasted with the redness of her hair and wings that were on display and shining orange behind her back. Her stunning beauty made me hold my breath. I loved her doll face and cherry lips.
The moment our eyes met, she stopped fighting Camille.
“Cedric,” she gasped. Camille released her, and Aria ran to me, throwing herself into my arms.
I held her tight.
“I’ve missed you so much. Don’t ever leave me alone,” she pleaded.
My heart started to beat faster with her words. “I won’t baby,” I whispered in her ear, holding her tighter to ease the empty feeling in the pit of my stomach.
“I’m leaving,” Camille warned.
I didn’t say anything to stop her because I wanted to be left alone with my mate.
When Camille closed the door, Aria grabbed my face between her fingers. “You better have a pretty good excuse to be gone from my side.”
I was not out of the woods yet. Even with the warm welcome, my mate was still angry with me.
“I had to go and talk to Philippe. Didn’t Camille tell you that?”
“She did. But why did it take so long?”
“I had a meeting with the other vampire leaders. After that, we went to William’s house to see the wounded vampires from Jean-Paul’s party.”
“The vampires should take care of their own. We don’t have anything to do with that matter.”
I smiled. The angel was there all right. She was talking as if she was one of us.
“It was necessary because of the new drug. But I have everything resolved except…” I paused unsure if I should tell her about what Philippe had done.
“I really don’t care about those mundane affairs. I’ve just missed you,” she whispered against my lips.
My mouth pressed against hers, and I forgot about all that was troubling me.
“I want you,” she mumbled between kisses. “I need you,” she added while tugging at my hair.
We kissed impatiently, our tongues tangling desperately for some relief. Picking her up, she wrapped her legs around my waist. My palms squeezed her thighs as our chests pressed harder. Her tongue circled inside my mouth, making it impossible for me to think straight or ignore the heat that was spreading throughout my body and sending pleasure to every inch of my being. That felt insanely good. I had never felt anything as good as that.
“You need to retract your wings, baby,” I whispered, finding it impossible to fall with her on the bed without hurting her. She was not used to having wings, they were still developing. Mine hurt, so I guessed that hers did too.
“And you need to take off your clothes,” she mumbled.
I broke the kiss and stared at her face. Was she serious? She opened her eyes to mine, and I saw the gold flickering inside them. She was not herself, her angel was taking over.
“You know you want this as bad as I do,” she teased. I gulped for air, almost letting her fall when she leaned down and nibbled my earlobe. “I’m burning up.” She held my lower lip between hers and sucked on it. “I want you to kiss me everywhere.”
I simply nodded, witnessing her wings disappearing while I headed to the bed. I was enjoying her teasing personality.
Laying her down on her sheets, I watched how her hair fell like liquid fire against the golden comforter. I felt tighter inside my jeans while I stared at her curvy body. My mind was trying to figure out how to get her out of that dress. I kneeled between her legs, caressing her thighs and making the skirt of her dress rise up with the movement of my hands. She raised her upper body, nibbling on her lower lip as my hands kept caressing her soft skin. Heat radiated under my palms.
My eyes were riveted to the stockings that covered her legs which were being held up by a garter belt. It was sexy beyond words. My body ached with pure, raw lust. I wanted to trail kisses along her inner thighs and unwrap her stockings from her legs. Yet, she grabbed my hands before I could reveal more of her body and placed them around her neck. Closing her eyes, Aria ki
ssed me. I let myself be devoured by her demanding mouth. As much as I wanted to strip off her clothes, she was the one in charge, and her happiness was the only thing that mattered. We were in heat.
I lightly tugged her hair between my fingers, enjoying its softness. I was losing my breath with the urgency of our kisses. Her hands were pulling my t-shirt up while caressing my torso. I kissed her neck, licking, and softly nibbling it. She moaned and squeezed her fingers on my shoulders. My hands descended to her back, finding the zipper and pulling it down slowly. I brushed her hair off her shoulders, placing soft kisses on her collarbone and tugging the dress down her arms. My mouth wandered to her cleavage. Her hands pressed on my waist as her fingernails scratched me without hurting and made my muscles tense with desire. Soft moans of pleasure were coming out of her mouth as my hands caressed her stomach and my lips pressed against her skin. Breathless, I tried to descend to her breasts to mold them into my hands that burned for her. My tongue licked her collarbone, and Aria’s hands shot to my hair, gripping it as she moaned.
A hard knock on the door snapped me out of my lust-filled cloud. I groaned, annoyed by the interruption. I hoped the world was ending because there was no other reason that would decrease my frustration.
Aria tried to stop me from leaving—her eyes completely golden. I could get lost in them.
I gasped in pain when I tried to get up. Walking while aroused was not amusing. I did my best to go to the door and peek outside. It was Camille. She was biting her nail while waiting for us to come to the door.
“Is it true?” she asked when she saw my head out of the door.
“What?” I was clueless to what she wanted to know.
“Did Philippe really kidnap Aria’s parents?”
“Yes, it looks like it,” I mumbled, remembering it. “Couldn’t you wait for tomorrow to ask me that?” I asked with an aggravated voice.
She frowned at me and unfolded her arms. “Are you kidding me? He wants to talk to her, the sooner the better. Why aren’t you urging Aria to go meet him before the sun comes up?”
