by Anna Santos
“I’m a shallow person.”
“You are not that shallow.”
“You bring out the best in me.” He kissed my cheek and hugged me tighter as I giggled.
“There you are,” Camille said, appearing beside us. “I'm sorry to interrupt your lovebirds’ moment, but William is ready to see you, Aria. We need to do this fast because he’s busy with something else.”
I removed myself from Philippe’s arms as I reached for Camille’s hand. “Oh, thank you for doing this. Can Philippe join us? I don’t want to leave him here all by himself.”
“Sure, follow me,” Camille urged, walking among the crowd without delay.
“What is going on?” Philippe asked, following me since I took him by the hand.
“I asked Camille to ask William for a favor. We are going to see him now,” I explained.
“He’s in his laboratory. We are going to the balcony where I can teleport us upstairs and save us the trouble of climbing the stairs. One would think that a palace of this size would have elevators,” Camille said. “Oh!” She stopped walking and turned around. I almost bumped into her. “I got you Ed Sheeran’s signed CD. Who’s your bestie?”
“You are,” I replied, thrilled.
Camille voiced with the happiness of a groupie, “He’s so nice!”
“Does he know about the existence of angels?” I questioned.
“Lord, no! We have teleported him from his limo. He thinks he’s on Earth, performing a concert for a rich girl. Do you want to meet him afterward?”
“No, I’m good.” I blushed. “It would be great, but I wouldn’t know what to tell him without looking like one of those crazy girls who scream every time they see him.”
“Hmm.” Camille lost her smile and pouted. “I’m one of those. I was fangirling all over him.”
“Fangirling is not a verb,” Philippe said.
“According to the urban dictionary, it is,” Camille retorted, smiling cockily and turning around to get to the balcony. “Philippe, don’t worry, Aria will still be fangirling over you after meeting Ed.”
“Hey!” I complained, feeling my cheeks burn.
Camille waved her hand, dismissing my annoyance. Looking back, I noticed Philippe smiling widely.
William’s laboratory was fascinating. The skylight had a view of the dark starry sky. There was artificial light inside, especially over the square table where William was reading manuscripts with a magnifying glass like a detective looking for clues. The rest was covered by the moonlight scratching at the surface of the dark. The lab had an intricate decor with modern equipment, which could belong to a biology laboratory or a hospital, and old dusty shelves with ancient scrolls and heavy books. There were jars with organs and weird looking animals inside, plus a lot of test tubes on several tables.
Camille had to call William for him to realize that there were people in his laboratory.
He looked up and, the moment he noticed who was there, drew a friendly smile and his blue eyes lit up. “Aria.”
I smiled back.
“How’s my favorite patient feeling today?”
“I’m good,” I answered, kissing his cheek. We had the opportunity of getting to know each other better when I was sick. He was smart and friendly. I liked him a lot.
“Camille said that you wanted me to take a sample of your blood and…angelic essence.”
“What?” Philippe reacted with a worried expression.
“It’s okay. It’s a tiny sample, and won’t hurt me,” I tried to reassure Philippe.
“It will hurt,” William explained without sugarcoating things. “It will be beneficial, though. I’m grateful to you for volunteering like that.”
“You said it could help find a cure for vampirism.”
“Aria,” Philippe called. “Honey.”
“I don’t mind you being a vampire. I don’t,” I explained as I looked at his big and shiny brown eyes. “But if there is a chance of curing you, I would like to help. I would…want you to be a human like me, so we could…” I stopped talking and glanced away. I felt selfish for saying those words. Wrinkling my skirt with my tight grip, I mumbled, “I’m sorry.”
“That’s okay.” Philippe walked to me and put his hands on my shoulders. “Look at me. That’s okay. I just don’t want you to be disappointed if William can’t find a cure…in time. Or if there isn’t a cure for vampirism.”
“I don’t want to stress myself thinking about a future that is so far away. I want to live in the present, to enjoy every day of my life. I want to be with you, even if you are immortal. But if becoming human again would make you—us—even happier, then I want to help William achieve that.”
“Do you need some time alone to discuss this?” William asked.
Staring at William, Philippe replied, “No. If Aria decided to do this, I’m not going to stop her. I’m going to stay here, beside her, if that’s okay with you.”
“You can stay. It won’t take long, and you can hold her hand to soothe her pain.”
“I’ll wait outside,” Camille said. “I can’t see anyone suffer. I’m sorry.”
“I’ll be fine,” I reassured them, aware that everybody was concerned about me, especially Philippe.
I was ready to endure the pain if that was what it took to help William find a cure for vampirism or for the gargoyles’ curse. I didn’t want my powers to be a total waste if I could save lives with that donation.
Ten minutes later, I was seated on Philippe’s lap, hiding my face against his chest with my skirt falling around us and my hands holding on tight to his shoulders. William wasn’t lying about the pain. Even if it had been a total nightmare, I had endured it until he was done. I only showed weakness when I got up from the chair and collapsed on the floor while shaking and sweating. I had tried hard to hold on to my tears since I didn’t want to scare Philippe. During the procedure, I had grabbed his hands so tight that my muscles ached.
“Is it going to hurt this much when Cedric takes her angel out?” Philippe asked William.
The doctor was labeling the blood sample with my angelic essence swirling around the test tube.
“Rejection is a painless thing, but I’m not sure the angel is going to go away. She’s an archangel. Archangels are powerful and different from normal angels. I’ve been consulting the manuscripts about it since it’s extremely rare to have a Red Angel taking over a human vessel. There were gargoyle men becoming Red Angels, but there is only the mention of a human girl once. It doesn’t mention anything about the trial or what happened to her.”
“What are you saying?” I asked, concentrating on their conversation to forget my pain. My mind was a blur, and my body was weak. Thankfully, I wasn’t deaf. His words were troubling. “Does that mean that I’ll be bounded to Cedric for eternity?” Losing my breath, I raised my head to stare at Philippe. “But I want to be with Philippe,” I said with a distressed voice. “I love you. I don’t love Cedric.”
“You can reject each other, that’s not an issue. But I’m pondering the possibility that archangels, and especially your Red Angel, don’t play by the same rules than other angels do. Cedric made you an angel the moment you were bonded. That doesn’t mean that your powers will be removed once you two break your bond. Archangels are powerful and independent beings. Red Angels are the builders of worlds.” William soothed my fears.
“Red Angels are destroyers,” I corrected him.
“Not necessarily. The manuscript isn’t reliable since we are translating it from the ancient language of the gods and there are two meanings for the same word.”
“How long have you known this? Does Cedric know?” I asked.
“Cedric doesn’t support my theory, and he’s more concerned with the other events that will take place tonight,” William stated.
I frowned at his evasive answer. “What do you mean?”
“I’m working with a different scroll tonight. Cedric wants me to find a subterfuge to a millenary prayer, bu
t I’m getting nowhere,” he explained as he stored the samples in the fridge. “I’ll study your blood tomorrow and consult other scientists about the best way to test your essence. It’s precious, and I don’t want to destroy it by being reckless and rushing.”
My dizziness was replaced by curiosity. Looking at William’s desk, I focused my attention on the parchment that he was reading when we first arrived. My angel ability made every language accessible to me. I could read anything and understand everybody. Therefore, I got up and went to the table where I picked up the scroll and began to read.
“Aria, what are you doing? You need to be careful with that,” William warned as he hurried to my side. “Aria, the—”
It was too late. Whatever William was about to say came to an end when the parchment started to glow. Its letters became the color of fire and popped out of the fabric like a 3D hologram.
“Why is it doing that?” I had almost dropped the sheet in my surprise. It was too precious to ruin, so I didn’t let go. Then, I became mesmerized by the words shining with waves of fire.
“It reacts like that to the emissaries of God. You are an archangel. Therefore, His word is recognizable to you and your angelic powers. You have just attested that it’s an original scroll dictated by God.”
“It seems like a prayer,” I said, intrigued by the words.
“It’s an enchanted prayer,” William confirmed. “It’s ancient and precious.”
“What’s it for?”
“It was made to save a gargoyle that had been turned into stone forever. In return for a life, it asks for another one or, at least, that’s what it seems.”
“It’s beautiful,” I mumbled. “My skin is shivering with the amount of love that was put into these words. I feel…blessed and loved by…”
“A higher being,” William completed her sentence. “God is love. That’s why I’m intrigued by it. I may be misunderstanding something in these words. Cedric wants me to find a way to neutralize the prayer once it’s cast by someone.”
“Why would he want to stop someone from saving another gargoyle’s life?”
“It’s complicated,” William sighed as he rubbed his forehead. “Are you feeling better? You should go back to the party. Philippe, please make sure she eats.”
“Aria, I think William wants to resume his work. Let’s go back downstairs,” Philippe requested, approaching me.
I put the scroll back on the table. “Okay.”
It was difficult to take my eyes off of the parchment, which was no longer glowing.
“Thank you for the visit.” William waved his goodbye with a friendly smile when Philippe and I walked out of the door.
Chapter FIFTEEN
ARIA
One might have thought that finding out that I had the possibility of keeping my angel wings and powers would make me happy. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my wings, and I was curious about my abilities. I even endured my second personality now that she was no longer trying to manipulate my feelings and dreams. We had reached an understanding: she wouldn’t try to kill Philippe, and I wouldn’t reject her.
Though, I wasn’t totally sure why she wasn’t freaking out about Cedric’s rejection. Apparently, I was so powerful that even breaking my bond with Cedric wasn’t enough to annul my powers.
What will become of my life if I’m an angel, scratch that, an Archangel? Will I be able to be with Philippe? Will our bond still exist? And when I die, can I take him with me? I don’t want him to go to Hell. I don’t want to live without him in Heaven. Will he still want me if I’m an angel?
“What’s wrong, pixie angel?” Philippe’s question made me abandon my thoughts and focus on his sweet, loving eyes.
He was so gorgeous that I was having a hard time believing that we belonged together. I smiled and caressed his face. He had brought me to the kitchen to eat before returning to the party.
“We are missing the concert,” I reminded him, trying to focus on something other than my doubts and fears.
He was good at reading my thoughts and insecurities. I didn’t want to spoil his happiness. His face lit up every time he stared at me, and I smiled at him. I wanted to kiss him until I was out of breath.
“Why are you blushing?” he asked, whispering in my ear. “Are you feeling hot again?”
I had felt my temperature rising after William took the sample of my essence. William had explained to us that it was my angel healing. But that wasn’t the case now. It was just me being impossibly in love with him.
I shook my head, smiling naughtily. “You are too gorgeous for my own sake,” I confessed, fighting the wish to cover my face with my hands. I should feel a lot more confident when saying those things instead of acting like a shy girl around him.
“Let’s go to the party.” He slipped his arms around my waist and lifted me up. With that gesture, I was able to turn around and hug him, and we became face to face. “After the party, maybe you can tell me what is bothering you.”
Damn! I knew I wasn’t going to be able to fool him. He reads me too well. I didn’t try to refute his words. I nodded and pursed my lips, looking at his immaculate white shirt and black bow tie.
He always smells divine.
My body relaxed in his arms, and my head leaned forward, searching for the enticing scent. Before I gave in to the urge to hug him and hide in that kitchen forever, a waiter rushed in, startling me and waking me from my daydream. Another waiter followed him, and another. They were coming to get the appetizers that were on the table.
The waiters pretended that we weren’t there and continued their work, unconcerned about our small invasion of the kitchen.
Philippe brushed his lips against my cheek. He set me down on the floor and gave me his hand.
It wasn’t such a bad idea to go back to the concert. I was listening to the music from the kitchen, but inside the ballroom, the sound was better, and the crowd was fixated on the singer instead of dancing.
We managed to find a spot to listen to the music.
The bliss was short-lived.
Somehow, Cedric and Jo found us. Cedric acknowledged and greeted us with a small bow of his head. He also shook Philippe’s hand. Jo kissed Philippe and then me. I was dumbfounded about what to say to them other than hi.
“I’m so glad you were able to attend the party,” Cedric said, staring at me. “I really need to talk to you.”
“We also need to talk to you about something,” Philippe interrupted.
“Philippe, I would appreciate it if we could talk privately,” Jo said.
I stared at her and noticed that she didn’t seem as happy as Cedric. She was rather sad, actually.
She insisted, “It’s important.”
The music stopped, and the singer announced that he was going to take a break and would be back after the interval.
The people started to talk, and the orchestra began to play danceable music.
Cedric pulled me to the dance floor, and we disappeared into the crowd.
“They need to talk alone,” he said while my eyes were searching for Philippe. “Relax, I’ll take you back in a bit. We have an important matter to discuss.”
“About what?” I gave him my attention as I concentrated on our dancing moves.
We were entirely out of sync. I fought the urge to let go of his hands and complain about him being so authoritarian. I had no urge to dance with him. If he wanted to talk, we didn’t need to go to the dance floor. Besides, I had no secrets with Philippe. There was nothing Cedric could say that Philippe didn’t already know. Maybe Cedric didn’t know that. Perhaps, I should tell him that Philippe and I are a couple.
“Let me lead and relax,” Cedric demanded, looking down at me with a condescending smile.
I frowned at him, straightening up and following the pace. I didn’t want him to think that he affected me in some way other than bringing me discomfort. We had broken up but remained friends. Things were still awkward; more now that we both had our da
tes and were happy being with them.
Why force me to dance with him, disregarding my will in doing so and taking me away from Philippe?
One thing was clear, I was no longer fangirling over Cedric. In fact, my mind was sharper than ever before. I was getting over my infatuation with him. We had our moments, but he didn’t understand my needs, dreams, and fears. He was too caught up in his own needs and plans to give me the love I wanted.
“What do you want to talk to me about?” I asked since he was only dancing and staring at me.
“You look gorgeous. Red suits you nicely.”
“Thank you.”
“You look…different somehow. More mature.”
“I don’t know if I’ll accept that as a compliment or not,” I muttered, enduring his penetrating stare.
“I love your dress.”
“Did you invite me to dance just to tell me that?” I asked, genuinely confused. Was he trying to win me over? Was bringing Jo as a date a way to make me jealous as Philippe had thought?
“I’m trying to find the best way to tell you something and ask for your help.”
I frowned. The tension between us was real. I wished I didn’t have to handle the pressure tonight, but I knew I was going to see him again. Either he would take what I had to say nicely, or he would lash out. After all, he was always right.
I love Philippe, and we are a couple now.
It took a long time to admit my feelings and the fact was that Philippe and I were meant to be, despite his rejection.
We are mates. My previous relationship with Cedric is a pale image of what Philippe and I have.
“I also have something to tell you,” I said.
He kept his eyes on mine, waiting for me to talk again.
“I’ve forgiven Philippe, and we are together now.”
The words came out from my mouth like a feeble whisper. I should have felt a lot more confident when telling Cedric that. However, I knew that he was going to give me the ‘I-told-so’ look. I felt sad because of that. Cedric wouldn’t understand.
“I take it back,” he declared.