by Anna Santos
My heart hurt as my limbs grew heavy. They were relying on me to do what was best for everybody. What they thought was best for me. Yet no one had asked me what I wanted or if I was ready.
“We should eat,” Cedric said, removing his hand from my dad’s shoulder and taking my hand in his. “Your mom said she’d perform for us, and I also want to hear you play,” Cedric added in a joyful voice.
“It’ll be great,” my dad said as a small, thin smile featured on his lips. “We should get to know each other better if we’re going to be family.”
“Are you sure you’re okay with Cedric and me getting married?” I asked, not believing how easy it was to convince them of the existence of angels and soulmates.
My dad put his arms around my mom’s shoulders as he said, “Of course! He’s an angel, and you’re both in love. He showed me the ring he bought for you. It’s gorgeous.”
“The ring?” I had no idea what they were talking about.
“Your engagement ring,” my mom clarified. “You should give it to her tonight during dinner,” she told Cedric, who agreed instantly.
“When did you have time to buy me an engagement ring?” I asked Cedric.
He ran his hand through his hair. “Yesterday, when you were in the Louvre. After speaking with the London regents. I understand now that, you being human, you need a more traditional mating ritual. We’ll announce our wedding this weekend. Your dad agreed to give me your hand in marriage. They’ll join us for the party, of course. It’ll be a small event. We’re still deciding if we’ll hold it here or at your parents’ home since I don’t know if you want your other relatives to attend or not.”
My mind was spinning with the decisions they’d made for me.
“I’m sure you’d like to have some of your closest friends attend your engagement party, wouldn’t you? You can invite Jennifer and the other kids,” my mom said as she walked to me and caressed my hair. “You look so pretty with your hair like that.”
Apparently, she and my dad were taking the news about my marriage rather well. It was troubling how well they were dealing with it. Moreover, they were talking about it as if it were a done deal.
They kept talking, their happy voices filtering through my buzzing mind. Mom continued to make plans for the engagement party while Cedric put his hand on my lower back, and we joined Camille and Jacob in the dining room. Eventually, I partook in the conversation and had fun when Mom went to play the violin and Cedric showed us how good he was at playing the piano. I even played a bit of the violin myself, just to indulge Cedric’s request. He seemed to be enjoying himself. Everybody laughed and chatted about our future. I even had the chance to show my parents my new bedroom and my new clothes to my mom. She brushed my hair before I went to bed and tucked me in, as if I were a little child again. I’d missed spending time with them and doing family things together. It was pleasant to see them accepting my boyfriend and him acting friendly with them. My mom was fascinated by Cedric and proud of me for finding someone like him to marry. The fact that he was an angel made everything seem even more enticing and fairy-tale-like.
Later that night, I had to evict Cedric from my bedroom when he came to kiss me goodnight. I didn’t want him to sleep with me when my parents were right down the hall. He protested, and I regretted sleeping alone because I had a hard time falling asleep. My head was a mess. I had all these thoughts running loose as my heart clenched and my mind failed to shut down and rest. When I was finally able to fall asleep, I woke up drenched in sweat and with my heart beating fast while Philippe’s name scratched my throat and echoed inside my mind. I felt alone and scared. I started to cry compulsively. I didn’t know what was wrong, why I was missing Philippe, and why I was miserable and feeling alone. I missed him, and I knew something was wrong with him. In between my tears, I grabbed my phone and stared at his phone number. I wanted to call him, but it was the wrong thing to do. I’d asked him to stay out of my life. I had no right to call him in the middle of the night, crying because I’d a bad dream and wanted to listen to his voice. How silly was that? Why did I miss him? Why was I panicking over the fact that Cedric wanted to spend the rest of his life with me? I’d known what I was getting myself into when I’d accepted him as my boyfriend. I knew that surviving the trial meant we’d be bonded for eternity. I shouldn’t be mad at my parents for being happy about me being an angel and having a gorgeous man who wanted to marry and take care of me.
I shouldn’t be missing a vampire who didn’t want me to be his in the first place. The saddest part was that I resented him for letting me go and no longer fighting for my love.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
ARIA
Once I’d calmed down and tried to sleep again, my dreams were peaceful, and I felt safe. It was difficult to wake up when Cedric called my name.
“Wake up, sleeping beauty. Come on, Aria. We have a lot of things to do this morning. Your parents are downstairs waiting for us to have breakfast.”
I opened my eyes and blinked several times to adjust to the daylight. Then I sat up in bed and focused on Cedric’s face. He was dressed, seated on the bed beside me.
“What am I doing in your bedroom?” I was sure I had fallen asleep in my own room last night. Was I sleepwalking or was the previous day just a bad dream from which I was waking up?
“You came here in the middle of the night,” he explained. “You complained that you were hurting and you sneaked into my bed and hugged me, falling asleep moments after.”
“I don’t remember that,” I whispered, my cheeks burning.
His thumb stroked my cheek. “I didn’t have the chance to ask you then, but why were you crying?”
I froze momentarily. “I had a bad dream. I’m all better now. I think sleeping with you fixed it.” I tried to sound funny.
His face was serious. “Are you sad because your parents are leaving? You know you’ll see them again, right? We’ll be with them this weekend for our engagement party. Your father and I talked about it, and we decided to do it at your place, where you can invite your family and friends. We can teleport there, and I just want Camille and Jacob to be there with us.”
“Why didn’t you show me the engagement ring?” I asked since it was troubling me.
His lips curled into a smile. “I wanted it to be a surprise. I want you to be dazzled when you see it for the first time.” It was a plausible explanation.
I was going to get up and get dressed, but he stopped me.
“Before we go downstairs, there’s something else I need to talk to you about. Friday night is Charlotte’s birthday party.” I waited for him to proceed. “It’s an event of the utmost importance since she’s going to turn into stone when the sun comes up. As I found my mate, and Charlotte and I aren’t going to kiss to see if we’re a match, she’ll have to experience the curse.”
“And?” I asked, trying to understand what the real purpose of bringing this up now was.
“They asked me if I could host her birthday party so all the single gargoyles from both kingdoms can join in order for her to look for a new match.”
“Where are you going to host the party? I’m still not understanding you.”
“At my palace in the other realm. It’s the safest place to do it.”
I frowned. “Why does it have to be in your palace? Why can’t they host it in their own palace?”
“Because I’m a member of the original royal family. I’m the only one who has access to the other realm. They live among the humans, and they don’t have a palace like mine. Charlotte is a princess. Her birthday party is an important event. Many will come from different parts of the world. The security measures must be tight. There isn’t a place more secure than my realm. Vampires and humans can’t go there. Rogue packs of wolves can’t reach it, either.”
“Are you asking for my permission to let Charlotte’s party be hosted at your palace?”
“Yes. I don’t want you to get upset and jealous over it. Charlotte is nothing more than
a friend. She’s going to change into a gargoyle, and her parents want to find a suitable candidate for her. It’s also an opportunity for one of the other gargoyles to be someone’s mate and break their curse.”
I bit my lip and shrugged. “It’s fine by me. You can let her have her party at your place.”
“Our place,” he said in a sweet voice.
I smiled at him, only to lose it. “Cedric, is there any way you won’t turn into stone if we fail the trial?” I didn’t want his death on my conscience, and the pressure of saving his life was getting to me. I doubted my feelings a bit since, apparently, I felt something for Philippe. I had heard about girls falling in love with two guys, but I was sure people couldn’t love two people with the same intensity.
He tensed. “Why are you asking me that?”
I knew that if I told him the real reason behind my question, he wouldn’t be happy about it. He wouldn’t understand it. My angel didn’t. That must have been the reason why she’d hijacked my body and got into bed with Cedric. She didn’t want to lose him. The part of me that loved him didn’t want him to die because I wasn’t strong enough to reject Philippe and be immune to him.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and stared into his eyes. The little voice inside my head was whispering the solution to all my problems. She told me how I could break my bond with Philippe and completely forget about him. I needed to strengthen my bond with Cedric and give in to the heat. I needed to commit myself to our love with body and soul. Making love would let us share a special bond, something neither of us had with anyone else. The yearning was there every time we touched and kissed. I didn’t think about Philippe when I was with Cedric. It was just when I was alone.
“Why are you looking at me like that, Aria?” he asked, probably noticing the gleam in my eyes as the angel took over my thoughts.
“I’m weak,” I whispered, holding back tears. Cedric had no clue what I was referring to. But my subconscious knew the truth. I was weak and pathetic.
“That’s okay, honey. You don’t always need to be strong.” He brushed the hair away from my face and kissed me.
“Can we have a romantic dinner tonight? Just the two of us. I want to spend time with you. You can play the piano for me, and we can talk about our favorite songs and composers.”
“Sure, but I have to tell you that I’m not that into classical music. I’m more of a rock and roll kind of guy.”
“That’s fine by me. I don’t just play classical music with my violin. Have you ever listened to Lindsey Stirling? She gives amazing violin performances of all kinds of music. It’s fun to play like her. I do a pretty awesome Imagine Dragons Cover for ‘Radioactive.’ And my favorite thing is to play Evanescence songs. They sound incredible on the violin.”
Cedric grinned, and I felt silly for sharing that with him. He might have found it childish. My mom and dad thought it was just a phase whenever I went against their love for classical music, but for me it was a passion.
“What’s so funny?” I asked, blushing intensely.
“Nothing. Imagine Dragons is one of my favorite bands. I think it’s cool you like them, too. I also find it awesome that you like to perform more recent music with the violin. Maybe you could perform at Charlotte’s birthday party.”
“God, no,” I shrieked, covering my cheeks. The idea of performing at such an important event and in front of so many people terrified me.
“Then do it for me tonight while dressed in something sexy, so I can take it off after dinner,” he whispered in my ear, giving me goose bumps and causing crazy butterflies to crash against my stomach’s walls.
I gave a nod, smiling against his neck. “I’ll take care of everything for tonight then. I’ll make you a romantic surprise, and I’ll make sure to chase away all those nightmares that don’t let you sleep at night.”
“Okay,” I whispered, ticklish, positioning my neck away from his kisses.
“Are you sure, honey?” he asked, making me stare at him. He seemed astonished by my answer.
“I’m sure. It’s time for me to grow up, isn’t it? And it’ll strengthen our bond and make our love stronger.”
“Yes, it will.”
“I know it was wrong of me to let Philippe…get near me. But I won’t let him ruin our love anymore. I’m yours now. Mom and Dad love you, and I have plenty of time to figure out what I want to do in the future. I know that a lot of beings are depending on us to be safe. I know that you have a lot of responsibilities and that you deserve a mate who supports you and loves you. If you’re willing to respect me and understand my reasons to pursue a career in whatever I choose, then we have a future.”
“I’ll put your needs above others,” Cedric said solemnly. “I want to make you happy.”
“I want to make you happy, too.” I stroked his messy hair. “I realized that I was being selfish these past few days. I was only thinking about what you had to do for me, and I didn’t think of what I should do for you. You’re taking a huge risk in trusting me to break your curse. And you never said that you didn’t want me or that I wasn’t suited to be your mate.”
“Fate wouldn’t have matched us if we weren’t meant to be.”
“I admire your faith,” I whispered, stroking his face. “I’m lucky to be your mate. I know that. Don’t think for a moment that I’m not happy to be yours.”
“So why were you crying, Aria?” he asked with hurt eyes, catching me off guard.
I hugged him tight. He didn’t seem angry. I knew I should trust him and open up. That was what mates do; they share everything—even their darkest secrets.
“A part of me misses Philippe and thinks about how things might have been if he hadn’t rejected me,” I explained, sensing Cedric’s body get tense. “Are you mad?”
“No.” His lips brushed mine. “I just need to work harder to convince you that you and I are better together. That I can give you the life he couldn’t give you. Besides, it wouldn’t be a trial if you didn’t have some doubts about what you truly want. Every rejected soul has feelings for their previous mate. It’s up to them to reject that bond and ignore those feelings or not.”
“But if we mate, I will forget all about him, won’t I?”
“Aria,” he said, making sure I was looking into his eyes, “love is more than sex. It’ll bring us closer and increase the passion, but it won’t stop you from feeling a bond with him. You need to want to let him go.”
“I told him to let me go.”
“But did you let him go?” he asked. “He showed regret and appealed to your kindness to get near you again. He’s cunning. You shouldn’t feel sorry for him. You shouldn’t want to forgive the evil he did to you. Nonetheless, I understand why you want to. The kindness in you tries to see the best in people. But he doesn’t deserve your forgiveness.”
“I know.”
“Do you want to make him suffer for what he’s done to you?”
“No, of course not.”
“Do you want to go back to him?”
“No, I don’t,” I asserted, ashamed of his question and afraid he might doubt me again.
“I don’t know what to tell you, Aria. I don’t have a formula to fix things and remove him from your heart and head. But you said you wanted to be with me. Then you need to be with me and stop thinking about him.”
“I know.” I sighed, unable to disagree with him. He was right.
“Your parents are waiting for us downstairs. You have the whole day to think about how you feel. We’ll have a romantic night and…maybe tomorrow things will be a lot clearer.”
“I love you, Cedric. I want to be with you; don’t think that I don’t. I’m just…”
“Confused?”
“Yes, but it helps that you try to understand and support me. I don’t want to hurt your feelings. But I don’t have anyone else to talk to about this.”
“Fine. Now let’s stop being gloomy and go downstairs to have some fun with your folks. After your magic lesson, yo
u can drive them to the airport. What do you say?”
“I think that’s a really good idea,” I said, wanting to change the subject and chase the unhappiness away.
It was a long ride to the airport. My parents decided to call Uncle Steve to come pick them up and drive them there. Mostly because Mom wanted to say her goodbyes to her brother and explain the best she could why they were making a sudden departure. Cedric let me ride with them in my uncle’s cab, as he used the free time to prepare our romantic dinner. He was being secretive about it. I didn’t mind. I loved surprises, and I was sure he would do something incredible. Since we’d talked, I’d been feeling a lot better.
We were distracted because Uncle Steve was telling us about some of the crazy passenger requests he’d had. We were laughing when it happened. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the front of the jeep that crashed at high speed against the driver’s door and made the car roll several times in the air. I screamed, I know I did. I remembered listening to Mom screaming, too. Then everything went quiet when the car stopped turning. I opened my eyes. My body hurt. I realized that I was stuck between the belt and the seat. My chest especially ached, and I could taste blood in my mouth. I looked around and noticed that my uncle and my mom weren’t moving. They were passed out, I hoped. I wanted to scream and cry. My dad asked me if I was okay. I looked at him, but before I could say anything else, the door was ripped from beside me, and hands grabbed me.
I tried to push back the men who were forcing me to exit the vehicle.
“Draw the symbol on her chest before she can use her powers!” a male voice ordered.
“Dad! Mom!” I screamed, scratching and kicking as a blade ripped at my dress and exposed my chest. There were too many hands holding me back.
“Hold her! Her angel is surfacing!” another ordered.
I tried to look around me, to focus on their faces as my angel ragged inside my mind. Pointless. The moment a cold object touched my skin and drew patterns that I couldn’t see, I lost my voice, my breath got heavy, and my skin burned and itched. Weakness took over as my angel screamed and her presence began to fade. I could feel her slip away from my mind and see her being trapped in an imaginary cage. Then a blow to my head knocked me out and everything went black.
