by Anna Santos
“I’ll rest when I’m sure that Aria is safe. Did you call her on her cell?” I asked, hoping to have Jo’s help. I knew I couldn’t do it alone.
“It’s off.”
“Something happened to her,” I said as my heart beat faster.
“You don’t know that. It may have run out of batteries. Do you want me to try Cedric’s phone?”
“He wouldn’t believe me if I told him that Aria was in danger. He blames me for everything that’s wrong in the world.”
Jo arched an eyebrow at me. “What did you do to him?”
“Nothing. He doesn’t like vampires. We’re wasting time. We need to interrogate the girl,” I said, moving from the bed and almost falling on the floor. I was weak beyond words. I’d never felt like this since I’d become a vampire.
“You can barely walk,” she said, stating the obvious.
I glared at her.
Sighing, she helped me reach the place where our prisoner was kept. All the way there, she kept reminding me of how stubborn I was. Nothing I didn’t know already.
Josephine had taken Margaret to a new bedroom, where light couldn’t hurt us. She had sat the girl in a chair and secured her with a rope and blindfolded her. She’d also gagged her mouth since we didn’t want a screaming lunatic in the house. Jo had brought Gerard’s lifeless body into the bedroom, placing him opposite to the girl. She would see him once we took off the blindfold. It was an intentional reminder of what would happen to her if she didn’t tell us the truth. It also reminded me that I had to kill my number one and my longtime friend because he wanted to take my place. After everything I had done for him, he’d betrayed me. Sean would become my new number one, even if I didn’t know where he was, and I had no idea of the full extent of Gerard’s betrayal. Gerard’s closest friends and men would have to be put to the test, and they would probably pay with their lives, too. He hadn’t acted alone. He must have had supporters among my ranks to pull off a stunt like this. My house needed cleaning. Above all, I needed to know who my new enemy was—the one who’d turned Gerard against me and made himself Gerard’s new master. I had an idea about who that might be, though.
Jo sat me on a chair in front of the girl, probably so she wouldn’t notice how weak I was. I just had to enthrall her so she would tell me what they were planning to do to Aria and reverse the spell she’d cast on me.
I motioned Jo to remove the gag and the blindfold.
To my surprise, Margaret’s face was calm. She didn’t even blink at the sight of Gerard’s body.
“Glad to see that the spell is working,” she said with a wicked smile.
“I’m not going to waste my time talking to you,” I said, preparing myself to compel her.
“Don’t bother. It won’t work in me,” she informed me. “Witches, powerful witches, can’t be enthralled by vampires,” she explained. “And I’m not going to tell you where your precious angel is.” Her lips stretched into a smug grin. “They must have taken her by now. When night falls, she’ll be gone.”
“What are you talking about? Who wants her? What will they do to her?” I asked, putting my hand on her neck and squeezing hard enough to make her understand that I wasn’t playing around.
“My mas-ter wants her,” she stammered without losing the smile. It seemed she liked being hurt.
I lessened the pressure. “Why?”
“I won’t tell you anything else. I told you enough to make you suffer more. Once she’s dead, remorse will finish you off. It’s already killing you. I can see it in your eyes and face. You look pale and weak. Tell me, have all your ghosts come back to haunt you yet?”
“Stop saying nonsense! Just tell me where Aria is and who took her!” I yelled at her as I choked her.
Jo stopped me before I could kill her. At least, Margaret wasn’t smiling anymore.
“Tell me, where is Aria?” I asked, looking deep into her eyes.
She stared at me blankly.
“Do you want me to kill you like I did your lover?”
“I couldn’t care less about that idiot. It was his arrogance that killed him. I told him that he wasn’t ready to finish you off. That was my intention all along. I wanted to find someone strong enough to kill you, someone close to you. Someone whom my master could use to rule and control the vampires in Paris. I guess that Gerard was a poor choice.”
“What did Philippe do to you to make you hate him so much?” Jo asked.
Margaret shrugged and shifted her eyes to the floor, evading our gaze.
“Philippe, did you sleep with her and never call?”
“Not that I remember.”
“My sister,” she growled as she glared at me. “You killed my sister!”
“You must be mistaken. I don’t kill women,” I said, trying to remember if I’d killed some witch lately. The answer was no. I hadn’t killed a woman unprovoked for a long time—not since I’d learned to control my bloodlust.
“Gerard said you did,” she claimed.
“Because he’s such a trustworthy source of information,” I said sarcastically.
“I don’t need his word to confirm it. I know you killed her. You seduced her, you gave her expensive gifts, and you made her leave our coven and cut ties with her family. You must have murdered her. You told her you would make her your queen. I don’t see a queen here. I see you sleeping around with any whore who’s willing to share a bed with you.”
“Who are you talking about?” I was in no mood to hear her accusations. “I have no idea who your sister is, but she sounds delusional.”
“What’s your sister’s name?” Jo asked, seemingly more curious than I.
“Mara,” she answered. “Her name was Mara, you worthless prick!”
“Isn’t the girl who looks just like Sophie named Mara?” Jo asked me.
“Yes,” I said as memories flooded my mind. “But I didn’t kill her. She lives in London. We dated for a couple of years, then she decided she wanted to leave here to get away from her family and live a normal life. If she doesn’t contact you, it’s because she doesn’t want anything to do with your dark magic. But I can assure you that she’s very much alive.”
“You’re lying.”
“I don’t need to lie. I can call her right now if you want,” I said, showing her my phone. “You don’t look like sisters, though. Mara is red-haired and has an oval face.”
“We have different fathers,” she claimed. “And you’re lying. Mara would never leave without telling me.”
“Well, she did. Your revenge is pointless, so tell me where my mate is!” I ordered, losing my temper. I was sick and my eyes wanted to shut down.
“Do you care for the girl?” she asked with venom in her velvet voice. “Would you do anything to save her?”
“Tell me where Aria is and I’ll let you live,” I said next to her face.
“I’m not afraid of dying.”
“There are far worse fates than dying,” I told her, making her lose her smile.
“My master would kill me anyway.”
“You could join your sister and get away from here,” Jo said.
“I don’t believe Mara is alive,” she said, looking from me to Jo.
“And if I can prove it?” I asked.
“I’ll remove your curse, but I can’t tell you where the girl is. I don’t know where she is,” Margaret said.
I frowned. “There’s no point in me living if Aria is dead,” I grumbled, showing my fangs.
She bargained with me. “I can tell you who my master is.”
“I’m not stupid. There’s only one specter powerful enough to do this. I know who he is. I know where I might find him. What I don’t know is where he has Aria or even if she’s been taken or not.”
“If you know that, then you also know that you have a deal with him. He wouldn’t kill you. We went against his orders,” she said.
With her words, I had the confirmation I needed about the identity of Aria’s abductor.
; “He’ll kill me if he finds out Gerard opened his big mouth to brag.”
I was going to yell at her, but the doorbell distracted me. “Who could it be at this time of the day?” I asked out loud, looking at Jo, who shrugged.
Moments after, I heard shouts. “Where’s Philippe? I know he took her. Where is the bastard? What have you done to Aria?”
It was Cedric yelling downstairs. The butler must have opened the door, and Cedric had invaded my house. What worried me was the fact that my worst nightmare had come true. Something bad had happened to Aria. Cedric was assuming that I was the one who’d taken Aria. I needed to convince him otherwise.
I got up to go downstairs and talk to him, but before I could, he was entering the bedroom and jumping on me. He dragged me against the wall and stared at me with murderous eyes.
“Where is she? What have you done to her? You sick bastard! If you hurt her, I’ll kill you!” His eyes glowed silver like his extended wings. He looked scary enough. Before I could say anything, Jo grabbed him and pulled him away from me. I was feeling rather slow. I needed to break that damn curse.
“Take your hands off of Philippe. He didn’t do whatever you think he did,” Jo said, using her body to prevent Cedric from coming at me again. He didn’t try to push her back, but he looked like an angry beast ready to attack me and rip me apart.
“He kidnapped Aria and hurt her family! He’s a monster! I want to know where Aria is! Where’s my mate? Let me go or I’ll hurt you.”
“I would like to see you try,” she challenged him, fearless, holding him by his shoulders and forcing him to stare at her rather than me. “Now, call off your angel, stop acting like a wild animal, and listen to me. Listen to me!” she snapped, stilling him with more force. “If you want Aria back, you need to start listening and controlling your urge to kill us.”
It worked. He calmed down and the glow in his eyes faded.
“Listen carefully. Philippe didn’t kidnap Aria, but we know who did.”
Cedric looked at me, at Jo, and at the girl we had strapped to the chair.
“I can explain that,” I said, knowing that it didn’t look good.
“What the hell is happening here? What sort of twisted behavior do you two get up to?”
“They want to hurt me, please help,” Margaret whined, using her innocent eyes and her scared voice to trick Cedric into believing we were the bad guys.
“Oh, shut up!” Jo ordered, losing her calm and slapping her across the face. “Philippe, call Mara so Margaret ends your curse. You,” she said, pointing at Cedric, who was just staring at her with lost eyes, “follow me downstairs. You need to have some tea to calm yourself down, and I need to explain to you what’s going on and how we can help each other.”
“And the girl, who is she?” Cedric asked before turning around to follow Jo.
“A traitorous witch who tried to kill Philippe and who knows who’s taken Aria,” she said.
Cedric followed her without hesitation, asking a bunch of questions that I was in no mood to answer. I did what Jo had asked me to; I tried to call Mara to show Margaret that her sister wasn’t dead.
The phone kept ringing, but Mara wasn’t picking it up. She probably didn’t want to talk to me. I couldn’t blame her.
Cedric’s eyes were piercing through my skull. He had been debriefed and was as eager to know about Aria’s whereabouts as I was. I was hoping Mara could convince her sister to help us out.
“Try to text her, telling what’s going on,” Jo suggested.
I followed her suggestion. “And what’ll we do now?” I asked after sending the message and staring at Margaret. “We can’t just hope that Mara will call. We’re losing time.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Cedric said. “Why don’t you compel her to tell you everything she knows?”
“We tried that. She’s immune,” I told him.
“Are you going to try to choke me, too?” Margaret asked Cedric with a wicked smile. She seemed to enjoy teasing people. Bouncing on the chair as she tried to free herself, she shouted at Cedric, “You were supposed to save me from them, not join the party! What sort of angel are you?”
“Your master kidnapped my mate. Do you think I care about what will happen to you if you don’t talk?” Cedric said, as cold as ice.
At least, we were on the same page.
“They’re lying to you. I’m innocent. I don’t know anything about that. They were the ones who must have kidnapped the girl. You said it yourself when you came in. They’re playing you.”
“Can you shut up or should I shut you up?” Jo asked, approaching Margaret to slap her again.
“Don’t.” Cedric stopped Jo, grabbing her arm and pulling her away from the witch. “She’s just trying to annoy us.”
“Then kill me and get this over with! I’m not going to tell you anything! My master will find a way to bring us all to life again. You can kill me. I really don’t care.”
“Shut up, you idiot,” Jo ordered.
Cedric pulled her against his chest before she could slap the girl.
Jo squirmed as she shouted, “Your sister is alive and whatever bullshit your master told you, it’s a lie. No one can come back from the dead.”
“We need to find another way to make her talk,” I said, sitting on the chair in front of Margaret.
She smirked as she whispered, “I hope you’ll take a long time to die and that you’ll die in agony.”
Releasing Cedric’s hands from around her waist, Jo fixed her hair as her eyes narrowed at the witch. “She’s human. You can make her talk,” Jo said to Cedric.
I had no idea what she was talking about, but Margaret’s head snapped to them, and I could see the horror in her expression.
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“I don’t do that,” Cedric said.
Jo folded her arms as she tapped her foot on the floor. “You have no choice. She’s the only one who can tell us where Aria might be.”
“It’s dangerous,” he claimed.
“Just do it already!” Jo put her hand on her waist. “And tell her to cure Philippe.”
Cedric stepped back with a haunted expression. “Josephine…I can’t.”
What can he do to the girl to make her talk? Is it some sort of angel power?
“Do you want to save Aria or not? Do you want to save yourself? If Aria’s angel is killed, you die, too,” she said as she stepped closer and poked her finger against his chest.
“No! No, you can’t do this! I won’t let you!” Margaret shouted as she tried to get loose, as if she knew what he was going to do to her. “Don’t touch me! Stay away from me! You can’t do this!”
Josephine looked at Cedric. “What will you do?”
He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair before breathing out, “Fine.”
I watched as Jo walked to Margaret and put her hands on her shoulder to stop her from moving. Cedric stood in front of the witch and whispered softly, “Relax, it won’t hurt.” The moment he put his hand on her arm, she stopped squirming and her eyes lost their color.
“What’s he doing to her?” I asked Jo.
“An angel’s touch is soothing. It can also be an extreme aphrodisiac to human females. She’ll do whatever he wants and tell us what we need to know.”
“Is that what you’re doing to Aria?” I asked, upset at the thought of him tricking Aria with his touch.
Cedric glared at me. “Of course not. Don’t be stupid. Aria’s no longer a human. She’s an angel like myself. She’s immune to an angel’s powers. We’re mates.”
I had to ask, though.
“Stop your pissing contest already. Cedric, do your thing,” Jo commanded, as if she were the ruler of the room.
Sometimes, she was annoying like that, wanting to boss everybody around. I wasn’t going to complain, however, since I was extremely tired and I didn’t want to upset her. She had the tendency to sulk if people didn’t do what she wanted. She was also p
ersuasive enough to make everybody do what she wanted in the first place.
“Margaret, you’re safe now. Nothing can harm you. I’m here,” Cedric said, making the girl nod.
“You’re so beautiful,” Margaret said. “Please don’t let them hurt me.”
“I won’t. Just tell me what we need to know. Relax and trust me,” he demanded, caressing her hair. “Tell me where Aria is.”
“No,” she replied.
I felt like laughing. His power wasn’t working, either. Then I reminded myself that I needed his power to work.
“Why not?” he asked in a patient tone.
“Because she’s your mate. I don’t want to lose you. You’re mine now,” she said.
I rolled my eyes. “Nice try.”
“Shut up,” Jo said.
I sulked in my chair. I didn’t know since when she’d been on his side, but I didn’t like it. I wanted my Jo back. She was my master and my friend. I didn’t want her to have a soft spot for Cedric. We were enemies, and he didn’t like me. She shouldn’t like him. I was acting like a spoiled child. I knew I was. My head was spinning, and I was weak.
“Try harder. Kiss her,” Jo ordered Cedric, who looked at her and shook his head.
“Release me. I want to touch you,” Margaret said out of breath, looking at him like he was some kind of god.
“Release her and ask her again. Try harder,” Jo urged him.
It was hilarious to witness her bossing him around. He didn’t complain, though. She was rather assertive.
“I can’t kiss her,” he said, helping Margaret out of the ropes.
“Aria will understand if you kiss Margaret to save her. Stop wasting time,” Jo said.
“Don’t tell him what to do!” Margaret protested. “He’s mine, not yours!”
I sighed while Margaret tried to escape to attack Jo, but Cedric held her firmly.
“Look at me, Margaret,” he instructed her, his voice was like velvet but his face remained serious.
She looked at him, apparently mesmerized by his presence. The girl’s breathing was fast and her gaze showed submission. “You will do whatever I want. You will tell me whatever I need to know. Do you understand me?”
