by Anna Santos
When I opened my eyes, a flaming sword was in my right hand. I swallowed my tears and focused on the anger. My former self knew what to do with that sword. It was time to give up control and let the warrior in me take over.
Speeding to the demons, I slashed and cut by swaying the sword and used my speed to make my enemies fall back, screaming in terror.
Yet there was someone that I needed to fight more than anything: Astaroth. He was the only one who knew where Philippe was.
Gaining speed, I ran like never before and tackled the huge winged guy, shoving him away from one of the Red Angels.
I halted as the wind messed my hair and my sword glowed brighter. Astaroth and I locked gazes. He frowned with surprise. I saw how his eyes dropped from my face to my flaming sword and then back to my face. His lips moved, but I didn’t hear what he said. Instead, I ran to him and locked my sword with his.
We flew, jumped, circled, and threw orbs of fire at each other. He could be bigger than me, but that didn’t mean he was stronger.
“We had a deal,” he muttered as he held my arm and tried to push my sword back.
Breathless, I asked him, “Where’s Philippe?”
His lips curled into a smile. “Philippe? Veil, you mean. You don’t have your memories. You have no idea of the extent of your powers.”
I swallowed, and he laughed. He shoved me back, making me fly for several yards before I bumped into something soft and arms surrounded my waist.
“Aria, how did you get here?”
His voice was familiar, and I stopped breathing for a while. I snapped my head back and saw Philippe. His face was covered by what looked to be black paint. But I could recognize those eyes anywhere.
“Philippe. I’ve come to get you. I had to cross a desert to get here. Wait, you have wings?”
His voice came out hoarse. “Did you die?”
“No. I’m alive.”
“Fall back,” Philippe yelled.
Suddenly, before I could say anything else or understand what was going on, he had jumped in the air and was flying with me. I looked down and saw that we were leaving the battlefield.
“Wait! And the other angels? We have to help them.”
“We will help them. They will come with us.”
We stopped because Astaroth appeared in front of us.
“You have something that belongs to me,” the dark creature said with a sly grin. “A little bird told me of how you got here.”
Philippe’s arm held me tighter. “You’ll have to kill me to touch her.”
I looked back and saw how serious his face was. His other hand held a flaming sword.
Astaroth threw his head back with a laugh. “You are no match for me, Veil. You and your friends can only delay me, but you can’t kill me.”
“Aria, when I tell you to, fly away. Don’t look back and don’t worry about me.”
I shook my head at his whispered request. “I came here to save you, not the other way around.”
“Take our friends out of here. I’ll delay him.”
Putting my hand on his, I unclasped his arm and moved forward as my wings flapped and made me levitate.
“Our deal is off. There’s no way I’ll let you leave this place,” I informed Astaroth.
“Then you’ll die, and I’ll use the orb myself,” he said.
“Aria…”
I held up my hand. “Save yourself and the others.”
I hadn’t finished talking when two flying Red Angels bumped into Astaroth, and a wave of fire was thrown at him as he flew back with the impact.
Looking back, I saw the other angels surrounding Philippe and me.
One of them flew closer to me. “We don’t have much time. We need to fly to a safe place.”
“I’ll take her,” Philippe said. He grabbed me and sped away before I could protest.
I saw how some followed us while the two angels who were left behind tossed fire orbs at Astaroth and used their shields to repel his counterattacks.
It seemed as if we were flying for ages. Once we passed the mountains, we flew lower and entered the canyons with labyrinth-like passageways inside caves. We came out on the other side and dove into the mass of trees below. Evading trees and their branches, we flew for several minutes more.
The other angels kept following us. Some flying demons had tracked us, but they either hit the walls, or the Red Angels blasted them from the skies.
Despite the speed and the heights, I wasn’t afraid. If anything, I was pumped with adrenaline. Philippe had wings. Red wings like mine. He mastered his ability to fly perfectly. He also seemed to know where we were going.
When we slowed down, and he stopped inside a cave, I managed to talk. “We need to get out of here.”
“We are safe. He doesn’t know where to find us,” Philippe said as he leaned down and secured his hands to his knees. He closed his eyes and took deep breaths.
Catching my breath, I explained, “I mean this world. Now that I have found you, we can leave. There’s no need to keep flying.”
Philippe looked up and frowned. “We can’t leave without the others. We need to wait for them to return. Do you have the orb? Can you use it?”
An angel girl stepped forward. “Wait, she has the orb?”
“Who are you?” I asked, turning to face her.
“Your sister. Don’t you remember any of us?”
“Sister… No. I don’t have a lot of memories.”
Philippe grabbed my hand. “She isn’t dead,” he informed Gail. Then, looking at me, he inquired, “How did you know how to manipulate the power of the orb to get here?”
“There was a voice in my mind when I touched the orb. It speaks to me. I know it’s silly, but the orb seems to have a personality.”
“It’s not silly. The orb is the heart of a goddess. She was the one who created us. Our mother,” my so-called sister explained to me.
“Our mother? God is dead?”
“There are several gods. Our mother created us, the Archangels. Other gods created the humans, animals, trees. Astaroth wasn’t happy with so many creations.”
“Okay. I had a few flashbacks of the war and of my former life with Philippe in Paradise,” I said. “But I can’t remember you…”
“It will come in time,” Philippe said as his fingers brushed my cheek. “I can’t believe you are here. I thought I’d lost you again.”
I looked at him, eager to hug and kiss him, but there were too many others around us.
Philippe asked, “What is wrong?”
“I just want to go home and leave this place.”
“We’ll start a fire and wait for the others to join us. We can’t leave without them, or they will be stuck here forever,” the girl said.
I looked at her.
“I’m Gail.” She smiled at me.
“Aria.”
One by one, the other Red Angels introduced each other to me.
After a while, a fire was ablaze, and everybody was seated, lost in their own memories and thoughts.
Resting on Philippe’s lap, my head was nestled against the curve of his neck, and my hand clutched at his shirt. Finding him had soothed my fears. Yet I wondered why he was so quiet and if I should trust those angels.
“How much longer should we wait?” I whispered to Philippe.
“Until Samael and Eggard return.”
“Cedric’s world is in the dark. The passageway to Earth is closed. We need to get back soon.”
“Please, trust me, Aria. I know your memories aren’t coming as fast as mine since you didn’t die, and I did. Yet, we need to save our friends and take them to Earth. They will be safe there.”
I lowered my voice. “Are you sure it’s a good idea to set so many Red Angels free on Earth?”
“You can always open a gate for us to enter Paradise,” one of the angels said.
“If there’s a way to enter Paradise at all,” another pitched in.
“Earth is the best opt
ion for you,” Philippe said. “There are other angels there.”
“Cedric can protect you and teach you how to live on Earth,” I said.
Gail jumped to her feet. “Someone is coming.”
Everybody got up and held their weapons.
A Red Angel flew in, and another one followed him. The others relaxed, and one of the female angels ran to hug one of the newly arrived males.
“It’s time for us to go,” I said as I put my hand against my pocket and felt the orb irradiating with power.
“One of us needs to stay behind. Astaroth—”
Philippe interrupted the guy. “No one will stay behind. Astaroth can’t leave this place. All he can do is send his minions to reincarnate.”
“He can also talk to them,” I pitched in. “Kayden explained to me that he could talk with his master.”
“Without the orb, he can’t return to our world,” Philippe said.
I nodded.
“Do you know how to use it?”
“She talks to me. I’ll figure out,” I said as I looked at the other angels and noticed how they fixated their stares on me. They seemed surprised and something else. “Is everything okay? Why are you afraid?”
“It’s been so long,” one of the males said. “I should be left behind…”
“Samael, you are coming with us,” Philippe insisted.
“I’m mateless. I severed my bound with my mate, so she could have a chance to ascend. There’s nothing for me in this new world.”
Samael’s speech saddened me. “You have plenty to expect on the other side. You can find a new mate among the gargoyles. There’s plenty you can do.”
“I’ve never reincarnated…”
Gail put her hand on his shoulder. “We’ll be there with you as a family like always. You won’t be alone. If you stay here, you will be.”
“Gail is right. Either we all go together, or we stay to fight Astaroth like we have been doing for an eternity,” Philippe said.
His words scared me since I didn’t want to be stuck here. I had a life to return to and a family. Though the angel in me knew that it was my duty to follow those angels. They, too, were my long-lost friends and family.
“I want my family to be happy. I’ll leave with you. This world is gone. Let Astaroth have it and rule over his army of demons and the fallen.”
“Now that that’s settled, let’s leave,” Philippe said, looking at me. “Open a portal and guide us out of here.”
Removing the orb from my pocket, I looked at it. Murmurs echoed inside my mind. I closed my eyes and focused.
After a while, nothing happened.
“It was easier the first time. I thought about the place I wanted to go to, and I teleported here.” I looked at Philippe and saw the eagerness in everybody else’s eyes.
“Don’t try so hard then. Focus the energy into a spot on the wall and imagine a door to Cedric’s palace, for example.”
“Yes, we need to return there. It’s the safest place to send the angels.”
I focused again, aiming the orb at the opposite wall. Blue tendrils circled my wrist and the orb. It snaked up my arm and searched its path to the middle of my forehead. Gasping, I stumbled back as the orb projected the blue power at the wall. A swirling circle showed up and grew into what I assumed to be a portal.
“Who wants to try it first?” I asked as I nibbled on my lower lip.
“I’ll go first,” Philippe offered.
Before I could grab his arm in protest, he was jumping into the unknown.
My heart stopped. “Oh my God!”
“I go next. You need to go last, Seraphina,” Samael instructed.
I nodded. “Someone should return to tell us what’s on the other side. I don’t do this for a living, you know?”
“We’ll be fine,” he said with a smile.
One by one, the angels entered the portal.
I was the last one stepping inside and entering Cedric’s realm. We were in the same room that I was in when I had left with Kayden. On his back, Philippe had his red wings folded as he talked to Cedric.
He’s not a vampire anymore.
Emotions were overwhelming me. Especially because Josephine was beside them with white wings on her back. She was holding Cedric’s hand. I could only assume that they were a couple. I couldn’t be happier for them.
“Aria!”
I lost my breath when arms surrounded my neck and pulled me into a hug.
“Camille, you are suffocating me…”
“We thought we’d lost you and that you’ll never come back.”
“I’m okay. I need to put the orb in its place to reopen the portal. The voice inside my head is quite insisting,” I said, stepping back and looking at Camille’s happy face.
“Who are all these angels that you’ve brought with you?” she asked with a worried expression.
“It’s a long story, Camille,” I said, looking around. The angels were staring at the room in awe.
Cedric would give them a home. I knew he would. I just needed to re-open the portal to Paris and join the conversation to help the angels settle down in their new world.
EPILOGUE
Materializing inside Philippe’s new restaurant kitchen, I smiled when I saw him a few inches away from me. Giggling with happiness, I walked to his side, and he opened his arms to hold me.
“How was your day?” He brushed my red hair from my face.
“It was amazing. I love my classes, and my teachers are so smart! I can’t believe I’m attending all these incredible classes.” Controlling my excitement, I asked, “How was your day?”
“It was great, but I still haven’t found the right chef for this restaurant. I want to have more free time to be with you. I can’t spend my days in the kitchen, cooking.”
“I’m happy to stay here with you and help you, yet I wish you had more free time, too. My parents are coming next week to check on me. Mom is dying to eat here, and Dad wants to taste the wines you promised him.”
“I’m pretty sure your mom also wants to help with the wedding preparations,” he added.
I nodded and looked down at his lips. “I can’t believe it’s been three months since college began. Camille’s belly is huge. Have you seen her?”
“Well, she refuses to leave my restaurant. It’s hard to miss her. Is she having twins?”
I laughed and shook my head. “It’s just a normal, healthy baby.”
“There’s nothing normal about an angel baby.”
I cupped his face. “We are going to be the baby’s godparents. You need to treat Camille better. She’s always nice to you.”
“I’m nice to her. I even let her pretend she works here.”
“She likes managing your restaurant.”
“She’s quite good, and I can use all the help I can get if I’m stuck in the kitchen. Now, changing the subject. Cedric and Josephine are coming to dinner tomorrow night. They want to talk to us. It seems important.”
“Oh, it is.” I smiled widely. “Camille can’t keep a secret.”
Philippe frowned. “What did Cedric do this time?”
“Maybe it’s best if they tell us, and I pretend not to know anything about it…”
Philippe lifted me up and seated me on the countertop. “Now, you need to tell me. Are they breaking up?”
“Of course not! They love each other. Cedric kisses the ground Jo walks on. I thought you, and he were starting to get along.”
“We have our ups and downs. What are they going to tell us tomorrow?”
“Can’t you guess?”
“I have no idea. Are they moving here, too? We’ll have to buy a bigger mansion if the other angels decide to live with us.”
“Camille doesn’t live with us, silly.”
“It seems like it. She even has her own room.”
I kissed his lips. “It’s your fault. She craves your food all the time. Plus, I love having her around. We chat when I get back from college. She h
elps you here, and you are Jacob’s best friend.”
“True. Then what? Are they telling me that they can’t come to our wedding?” His eyes became sad.
I stroked his hair. “No, babe. Jo is pregnant. You are going to have a sibling.”
Philippe’s expression changed from surprise to happiness. “Oh, that’s good news. She’ll be a wonderful mother. We need to prepare an awesome meal. I’ll close the restaurant, and we can have a private party.”
I tapped his shoulder. “It’s supposed to be a surprise. You need to pretend you didn’t know.”
Philippe smiled and kissed the tip of my nose. His breath feathered my skin. “I’m happy for them. I know how much Cedric wanted an heir. Jo must be thrilled.”
“Camille said that they were both over the moon. I hope it’s a boy. He could marry Camille’s daughter.”
Philippe chuckled. “She isn’t even born yet, and you are already trying to find a prince to marry our goddaughter?”
“Hmm, they do have to be a match to get married. I shouldn’t get my hopes up.”
“Yes, you shouldn’t.” Philippe placed his forehead against mine and added, “Maybe in three years, we can start thinking about making our own babies. What do you think?”
“That sounds like a good plan.””
“In a week, we’ll be on our honeymoon.”
I nodded as my arms laced his neck. “Just promise me that by then you’ll have a chef for this restaurant.”
“I’m training my sous chef. He’ll be ready before the wedding, and we will be able to relax and enjoy our honeymoon.”
“Okay.”
Pulling my legs around his waist, he asked, “Do you have homework?”
“I do.”
“Do you want my help?”
“It’s easy. I’m good.”
“Do you want to fly outside for a while? I could use the fresh air.”
“That would be great. We could fly back home. Camille is waiting for me by the pool.”
Philippe tickled me. “Who do you love more, Camille or me?”
“You, of course,” I said as I tried to protect myself from his hands. “I love you to the moon and back.”