The Angels of Paris Chronicles Books 1-3: Boxed Set Bonus Edition

by Anna Santos

  “Yes.”

  “Where is Aria?”

  “I don’t know,” she whined. “Please, don’t get mad at me. I don’t know where the girl is.”

  “Do you know who took her?”

  “Yes. My master hired rogue werewolves to kidnap her. They were following her family. He asked the other woman to rip her angel from her. He simply wants the angel.”

  “What woman?”

  “The one who kills angels. The maker of Clarity.”

  “Clarity?” I asked.

  “How long until they take Aria’s angel?” Cedric asked.

  “Tonight. She’ll do it tonight.”

  “Where?”

  “I don’t know. I swear I don’t know. “

  “I’ll die if Aria’s angel dies,” he told her.

  Shivering, she grabbed his face.

  “I can find out where they took her,” she claimed.

  I breathed in relief. She wasn’t worthless after all.

  Margaret kept talking, “I don’t want you to die. I want you to stay with me forever.”

  “If we find Aria in time, nothing is going to happen to me.”

  “Then we can be together?”

  “Yes.”

  “Kiss her,” Jo said to Cedric. “If she leaves this place, the enchantment will run out soon enough. You need to kiss her to seal the deal.”

  “I know,” Cedric grumbled.

  “It troubles me how much you know about angels,” I said to Jo, who shrugged.

  “Margaret, I need you to go to your master and find out where they’re keeping Aria. Will you do that for me?” the prince asked sweetly, like a lover.

  She nodded promptly.

  “Don’t forget she needs to cure me before she goes,” I reminded him.

  “Yes, and you need to cure Philippe,” he said to the girl.

  “You don’t even like him,” she complained.

  “I know. But you need to undo the curse.”

  “I’ll do whatever you want,” she agreed, caressing his face.

  Cedric sighed and took one for the team. He placed his lips on hers. I don’t think he was expecting what happened next, but the girl grabbed him and kissed him hungrily as if there was no tomorrow. He was caught off guard and tried evading her, but she was like a serpent holding tightly to its prey.

  “That’s enough,” Jo said, pulling the girl away from Cedric. It was rather hilarious to see his worried face and troubling to understand that Jo didn’t look pleased when she turned around to look at the prince. “Were you enjoying that?”

  “Of course not!”

  “Then tell her to cure Philippe and to go and look for your mate,” she said in an angry voice.

  “She grabbed me!”

  “He’s mine,” Margaret hissed at Jo.

  “You can have him again after you find where Aria is,” Jo told her.

  Margaret hissed like a wild beast.

  “Margaret,” Cedric said, holding on to her hand and pulling her closer. “Cure Philippe. Go find where they have Aria and then call me with your report.”

  “No, she’ll report to us. We’re in this together. I’ll help get Aria. You’ll need my help. Besides, her master is producing Clarity. Finding Aria and catching the woman who wants to take her angel are essential to us both,” I reasoned with him.

  “My master won’t be suspicious if I come back to Philippe’s house. My former lover lived here,” Margaret said to Cedric. “I don’t want my master to hurt you.”

  “He won’t. Report here. I’ll be here waiting for you,” Cedric said, brushing her cheek and evading her mouth.

  She wanted more. I could almost laugh if I weren’t so damn sick, and Aria weren’t missing.

  “Come cure Philippe,” Jo urged the witch, pulling her away from Cedric.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CEDRIC

  Philippe had left for the hospital the moment Margaret had cured him. He was worried about Aria’s mother. Her dad had some broken bones, but her mom was seriously wounded and in a coma. Aria’s uncle was also in a bad shape, and Philippe’s friend was dating Aria’s cousin. They were all in the hospital waiting for news, full of anxiety. As much as I wanted to go back to the hospital to reassure Aria’s father that we were doing everything in our power to find his daughter, I had to stay here and wait for Margaret to return. The moment I found out what had happened, I had gone to the hospital and talked to Aria’s dad. I’d been to the place of the accident and ordered trackers to try to find the jeep that had provoked the accident. I knew the kidnappers were wolves. However, I couldn’t neglect the fact that Philippe could be behind the whole thing, and that he’d hired them to get Aria.

  It turned out that he wasn’t behind the kidnapping and it would probably be thanks to him that I could get Aria back before they could harm her.

  The last thing I wanted was to lose someone else I loved. I didn’t want to feel helpless when it came to protecting the people I care about. Everything was rushing to my head—all my bad memories, my parents’ death, my sister’s disappearance, the explosion, and the destruction. I wouldn’t forgive myself if Aria got hurt because I wasn’t able to keep her safe. I shouldn’t have let her go alone with her parents. I had angels following them. I wasn’t irresponsible. But someone—the person or thing behind the kidnapping—was powerful enough to knock out my angels and kidnap my mate. There was something more than werewolves behind that abduction, something strong enough to fight angels and win.

  “Stop blaming yourself,” Josephine said, sitting next to me on the couch.

  She’d gone to her bedroom to change her clothes. She wanted to be ready to leave as soon as there was any news about where Aria could be. I wasn’t going to refuse her help. I would work with Philippe to find Aria and punish the ones playing with fire and inciting angels to war. Whoever had done that to Aria, whoever wanted to take her angel and harm her, was going to pay dearly. No one harms my mate and lives to brag about it.

  “I’m not blaming myself,” I lied. “I should be doing something more productive than sitting here and waiting.”

  “Margaret is under your spell. She’ll talk to you and no one else. Be glad we had a witch who could help us find Aria.”

  “What happened here? Why did Philippe kill his number one?”

  “Gerard tried to kill him with the help of the witch. I guess he didn’t like the way Philippe was ruling.” She smiled, like she was trying to make a joke. Then her face became serious. “I believe there’s someone trying to manipulate the vampires into starting a war with the angels and the gargoyles.”

  “Why do you think that?”

  She was a smart woman. That possibility had also crossed my mind when the vampires had been poisoned with Clarity at Jean-Paul’s party. However, I had no idea who would want to make us go to war and why.

  “Someone kidnapped Aria because they knew that you would blame Philippe for it. If we hadn’t stopped Gerard and the witch, if the witch hadn’t been here, you would probably have beaten Philippe to death. Besides, killing Aria means that you would also die. The angels and the gargoyles would be without a leader. New fractions would emerge, supporting different princes who could take over the crown. I feel that there is some conspiracy behind this.”

  “If they want to get rid of me, why haven’t they killed Aria? They just took her.”

  “The witch said they wanted to take her angel. Why would someone do that?”

  I thought about that, too. I had no idea why they wanted to separate Aria from her angel. She would become mortal, but no longer be complete. Her angel was a part of who she was, it was her alter ego. Without her other half, Aria would become different, damaged. She would eventually die from depression. Plus, they couldn’t do anything with Aria’s angel. It was essence, white matter, raw power. They couldn’t use it to make someone else an angel and use its power. There was something terribly wrong about all that was happening. There was some more sinister intention that I needed
to uncover.

  “We’ll find Aria before they can harm her. We have until sundown,” Josephine said as she put her hand over mine and squeezed.

  I looked at her. “I don’t want anyone else to die because I wasn’t strong enough to protect them.” It was odd, opening my heart to a stranger and a vampire whom I barely knew.

  “We won’t let her die or let them steal her angel,” Josephine said. “Philippe will do everything he can to save her. And you’ll do the same. She isn’t alone. She has us to rescue her.”

  “Why does Philippe want to help?”

  “Why do you think, Cedric?”

  “He rejected her. He tried to kill her.”

  “He wasn’t thinking straight. Sometimes pain can numb our feelings and lead us to make stupid decisions. He regrets his actions.”

  “She’s mine now,” I reminded her, my possessive side surfacing.

  “We know that. He knows that. It doesn’t mean that he doesn’t care for her and doesn’t want to help her. He wants her to be happy. You need to start believing that before you make any other stupid mistakes like coming here and destroying his home and screaming at your mate.”

  “I don’t need lectures from you,” I grumbled. Is everybody against me now? I knew what I’d done and that I should have handled the situation better, but I had all the right in the world to get mad at Aria sleeping over and spending time with her former mate.

  “I don’t give a damn about what you need. We’re just talking. You don’t need to be a jackass.” She removed her hand. “I’m trying to be nice to you because you’re suffering, and I understand what you’re feeling. But if you want to continue to act like a jerk, that’s fine by me, too. Yet, whether you want this to be true or not, not all vampires are bad and not everybody has dubious intentions. I, for one, don’t need to worry about your little war and your mundane affairs in this world anymore. I’ll be gone soon, and I won’t have to handle your pouting or Philippe’s tantrums anymore.”

  “I didn’t mean to upset you.” I regretted my outburst. It was true—I didn’t. Josephine was one of the few vampires whom I admired. She was brave and her heart was in the right place.

  Josephine’s time was running out. Uriel, the old gargoyle I sent to evaluate the parchment, was sure that it was the real stuff. The day for Josephine to go to my kingdom and recite the words to break Oliver’s curse and exchange places with him was drawing closer.

  “You don’t need to act like I’m radioactive,” she complained, folding her arms.

  “I don’t understand what you mean.”

  “You’ve remembered that I’m going to die soon, so now you’re feeling sorry for me. I’m fine with my destiny. I’ve accepted it. I need you to let me go to your world and perform the ritual. I don’t need your pity.”

  “Who’s being a jackass now?” I asked her, cracking a smile and finding it amusing how easily she’d gotten upset. “I’m not feeling sorry for you. I admire your courage.”

  “Hmm.” She assessed my face. “I’m not courageous. I’d rather save a soul that’s worth saving than go to Hell. I think I’m a coward, actually.”

  “You’re not. It’s not your fault that your former soulmate was a jerk who rejected you.”

  “I know. I didn’t do anything. He was a greedy madman. I…don’t want to talk about my life. Can’t we keep talking about how miserable you’re feeling because you’ve lost Aria?”

  I frowned, and she smiled. She was a weird woman.

  My phone vibrated, and I checked it. It was a message from Camille. I’d left her in the hospital with Aria’s father. Healing angels were coming to try to cure Aria’s mother and uncle. I’d told her to inform me when they were feeling better or if anything bad had happened.

  “Who is it?” Josephine asked.

  “One of my angels. Philippe was able to cure Aria’s mother with his blood. The healing angels cured her wounds, but she was still unconscious. After Philippe’s cure, she woke up, and Camille’s saying that she’s asking for Aria. I don’t know what to tell them.”

  “Tell them the truth. Tell them that someone took Aria, and we’re doing everything we can to get her back.”

  “In two hours it’ll get dark. Whoever wants to take Aria’s angel will arrive and it’ll be too late. We need to find out where she is and who took her.”

  “Margaret will find out. You know she’ll do anything for you once you’ve kissed her.”

  Jo’s hand landed on my shoulder as she looked at me with compassionate eyes. “I don’t feel comfortable with that,” I said. “Aria may not understand that I had to kiss Margaret.”

  “I’ll make her understand. Now stop pouting and feeling sorry for yourself. Philippe and I won’t let anything bad happen to Aria or you.”

  “Me?” I asked. It troubled me that I needed Philippe’s help to get Aria back. But if that meant we’d find Aria and discover for certain who was producing Clarity, that wouldn’t matter.

  “You’ll also die if something happens to Aria’s angel,” she reminded me.

  “Do you think I’m worried about that? I just want Aria back, unharmed. I couldn’t care less about what happens to me. They should have taken me instead of her.”

  “Yes, but it wouldn’t hurt you so much, would it? They wanted to hurt you, to make you feel powerless. If they’d wanted to kill you, they wouldn’t have kidnapped her. They would have simply finished her off there. They want you to suffer, and they need her angel for something.”

  “Whoever’s behind this will regret this day. Mark my words,” I said, clenching my teeth and making my eyes glow with silver. My powers were restless, and I wanted to smash something.

  “Calm down. Don’t go all angel on me and start breaking everything.” She rubbed my arm as her lips curled into a smile.

  “I don’t appreciate your sense of humor,” I muttered.

  “Tough luck. I’m the only one here to keep you company whereas I could be doing something more productive with my last days of life. Instead, I’m here listening to you complaining. You should loosen up and stop finding reasons to hate me.”

  “I don’t hate you,” I said. “I don’t care about you enough to hate you.”

  “Ouch!” she exclaimed, only to giggle. “You are good. I have to give you credit. You’re extremely good at pushing others away. Do you display this kind of attitude with your mate? Do you also push her away and keep your secrets to yourself?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I love my mate and we…” I stopped talking and glared at her. “You don’t have anything to do with my life. Stop prying.”

  “I’m not.”

  It seemed that she found me hilarious when I wasn’t trying to be funny. Maybe I was overreacting. “Stop talking. I’m not in the mood for small talk.”

  “You can be such a jerk sometimes,” she complained, getting up and leaving.

  She was dead wrong if she thought I was going to run after her and apologize. I wanted to be left alone, anyway. She was doing me a favor by leaving. Silence was welcoming. I wanted to focus on my hurting heart and on what my mate must have been feeling. She was scared. I knew she was calling for me; I just couldn’t find her. As long as I could feel her, she was alive and there was a chance of saving her in time and preventing the separation.

  “You could reject her right now and get this situation over with,” Josephine said from the door, staring at me with cool eyes.

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” I muttered.

  “I do. If you reject her, she’ll lose her powers. She’ll become human again, and they can’t rip her angel from her.”

  “Then, they’ll kill her as they won’t have any more use for her. Don’t you think I had others advising me to do that?”

  “Isn’t it the best option for you to stay alive?”

  I growled like a wild animal. “I love Aria. I don’t care what happens to me as long as she’s safe and unharmed. Do you understand me? So, stop
finding ways to save me. I’m only interested in saving her!” I yelled the last part as I got up.

  Jo wasn’t afraid of me. She smiled as if she was pleased by what I’d said. “Now I really want to meet the girl.”

  “Why?”

  “She has two men willing to die for her. I would love to be in her shoes.”

  I frowned at her words, only to sigh and sit down on the couch. “I’m sure a lot of men have already died because of you, Josephine.”

  “Just Oliver. I’m not even sure if he died for the right reasons. Since lust isn’t the same thing as love, Cedric.” I looked at her, and she continued, “I admire your altruism, but you need to let people in and be a part of your life.”

  “Aria is a part of my life.”

  “Does she know what happened to you in the past? Did you tell her that she has a choice, that you can set her free? Does she want to be an angel?”

  Josephine’s words were like poison to me. She was manipulating me. I was sure of that.

  “You’re trying to take Aria from me, so she can be with Philippe. You know she has feelings for him.”

  “No, I don’t. Does she?”

  “He was her soulmate. He played her well and pretended to care. She’s too innocent to understand the difference between love and manipulation.”

  Josephine came closer, and I followed her feline movements. “I’ve never met Aria. I saw her at the party. Being an angel made her a real beauty.”

  “She was already beautiful,” I grumbled.

  “She was a normal girl. I’ve seen the pictures. Being an angel made her special. She’s a Red Angel. How long did you wish for her? How much were you willing to give up to find your mate?”

  Her questions were making me mad. She seemed like the serpent in the Garden of Eden. She wasn’t tempting me to do anything, but she was trying to spread doubt.

  She repeated herself, “How much are you willing to give up for her?”

  “Your questions don’t make any sense!”

  “She’s innocent and pure. You said it yourself. Are you willing to let her become a Red Angel for good?”

  “She’ll become whatever she wants to become. It’s her choice. Do you think that being a vampire would be best for her? Wouldn’t she become a predator and a killer?” I asked her.