by Anna Santos
I watched as my parents followed him.
“Your parents are lovely people,” Camille said when we were left alone.
I nodded as I looked at Jacob. “Do you have any idea what Cedric plans to tell them?”
“Probably the truth,” Jacob said.
I felt the air rapidly abandon my lungs. “They’ll freak out!”
“It’s better that they freak out now,” Camille argued. “Besides, if you want them in your life, they need to know the truth.”
A dark thought swept its way into my mind. “Is he going to tell them what Philippe did to me?”
I didn’t want them to hate Philippe. Dad was fond of Philippe. It would break his heart. Plus, Dad didn’t know malevolent Philippe, and Philippe had changed for the better. He was no longer insensible and cruel. Although I felt guilty for trying to apologize for my former mate’s actions.
Camille came closer and put her hand on my shoulder. “What’s wrong, Aria?”
“I don’t want my parents to freak out,” I lied. “And if they want me to leave and never come back here?”
“You’re old enough to make your own decisions,”
said Jacob. “You’re eighteen. They can’t take you from here by force. Plus, Cedric would never let them take you away from us.”
His words didn’t soothe my fear. “What do you mean?”
Jacob sunk his hands into his pockets. “Nothing bad, Aria. Cedric wouldn’t hurt your parents. We’re angels, not vampires. I meant, Cedric will reason with them and explain to them what’s at stake. Also, if your parents love you and want what’s best for you, I don’t think they’d want you to die and go to hell, would they?”
Holding on to Camille’s arm, I answered, “No. My parents are religious people. They believe in God.”
Jacob grinned. “Cedric loves you. He wants what’s best for you. You’ll be his queen. You’ll be bonded for eternity. I’m sure he’ll ask them for your hand in marriage.”
My body froze, and my mind stopped processing thoughts. The idea of having Cedric asking my dad for my hand in marriage was overwhelming and confusing. My dad would go ballistic. I was eighteen. He’d always said that I had a lot of time to think about boys and marriage. I had all my life ahead of me, he’d point out, and I should focus on my studies and on being happy.
“My dad isn’t going to understand. I don’t think he’ll be happy to know that Cedric wants to marry me.”
“Relax. Cedric knows what he’s doing. He isn’t an immature boy. He’s an adult man. He’s dealt with worse things than your parents,” Camille said with a smile.
“I should be there listening to the conversation. I want to know what he’s going to tell them.”
I was in no mood to smile. A lot was at stake. It troubled me that Cedric might reveal the reason I was mated to him. He had to tell them what had happened to me—the truth. I knew that Cedric was a good guy, but my heart didn’t want my parents to judge Philippe’s actions. They wouldn’t understand his reasons. They’d believe that Philippe had tried to kill me. It had been his fault I’d ended up in the river, fighting for my life. Yet I couldn’t remember clearly anymore. The Vampire King, the scary man who’d rejected me, wasn’t as evil as I thought, and Cedric kept insisting that he was.
“We should pick a bedroom for them to stay in,” Camille said, waking me up from my thoughts.
Jacob added, “I’ll go to the kitchen and ask them to set the table for six and wait for Cedric’s orders. He’ll probably want one of us to go get your parents’ luggage from the hotel.”
Panicking, I asked, “Does this mean they’re going to move in with us?”
I would feel guilty making love to Cedric while knowing they were a few doors away.
“He just wants them to be safe,” Camille said.
“Philippe wouldn’t harm them,” I said, only to find a look of skepticism on their faces. “He wouldn’t.”
“He’s a vampire,” said Jacob. “He brought them to Paris to have leverage against Cedric. Keeping them here is the right thing to do. Sending them back to the U.S. is the next best option. Philippe might do something bad to them, so you would go back to him.”
I shook my head. Jacob and Cedric seemed like a broken record, always repeating the same thing. I knew they were wrong, but they couldn’t see past what Philippe was. To them, he was a vampire with an agenda to hurt me and Cedric. However, he’d had every opportunity in the world to hurt my parents, and he hadn’t. He’d made them feel at home and had been extremely nice to them. Philippe did his best to earn my forgiveness. Yet I wasn’t going to reason with Jacob or Cedric about that. They always saw the worst in vampires. They were natural enemies.
Guilt gnawed at me for dragging my parents into this mess. I shouldn’t have cried on the phone and relied on my dad’s comfort. Now, they were going to get tangled up in the supernatural world and find out that I was no longer human. They were going to find out that I couldn’t go back home. Even if living in Paris was a dream come true for me, I knew it would break their hearts.
Waiting was the worst. I tried to distract myself with Camille. We went looking for a bedroom for them to stay in. We helped the maids make a fresh bed, and I even went to the kitchen to watch the cooks preparing dinner. Camille talked about how she’d gotten along with her brother since she’d joined the angels. She talked about how he was a good Alpha, and she was proud of him. Her parents hadn’t been supportive or kind to her in her childhood. Her mom had turned against her. I managed to find out that her former mate was dead. But she remained secretive about what exactly had happened. For some reason, she was sure that my parents wouldn’t be against my relationship with Cedric. I wanted it to be true. I didn’t want my parents to feel betrayed by my lies, even though I had to lie to protect them from the truth.
An hour later, Cedric and my parents joined us in the living room. I watched Cedric descending the stairs while smiling at me. He kissed my head and sat beside me. I frowned at my parents’ serious faces and blank stares. Even if they both were holding hands, something seemed off about them.
Straightening up, I walked towards them. “What’s wrong?”
“Everything is fine, honey,” Cedric told me.
“Dad, are you in shock?”
The air shifted around me as Cedric got up and moved closer. His hand circled my waist as his lips brushed my cheek. I was flustered at the intimate contact in front of my parents. They didn’t even blink.
Freeing myself from Cedric’s arms, I spun around and asked, “What did you do to them?”
“Nothing that can harm them.”
His answer confused me. “What did you tell them?”
“The truth.”
“What truth?” He was being awfully vague and that was maddening. “Why do they look so pale?”
He grinned. “It’s difficult to find out that angels exist.”
I didn’t feel like smiling. What was up with these angels, who thought it was funny to reveal themselves to humans?
“You’ll need to excuse me for a moment. I need to talk to Jacob. I want him to send someone to get your parents’ suitcases from their hotel. Then he’ll make arrangements, so they can leave tomorrow.”
“Leave to go where?”
“Home,” he answered me, leaning down and placing a kiss on my lips. “You can take them to the airport to say your goodbyes if you want.”
“Tonight?”
“Tomorrow morning. We’ve talked, and your dad and I agreed that it would be the best thing to do. They had a nice time here in Paris, but they have their lives in America.”
“And the audition for the London orchestra?” I asked, staring back at my mom.
“It was just a dream. I got excited about something that wasn’t real,” my mom said. “We should talk.”
I nodded, apprehensive about what they must have known to say something like that. It was Philippe who’d arranged that audition. It broke my heart to see the sadness in her e
yes. She was talented. It wasn’t a dream. She could get that job. I didn’t want her to lose that chance because it was Philippe who got it for her.
“Dad,” I whispered, leaving Cedric’s side to hug him. He looked lost. A bit like myself when I’d first found out about angels. “Are you okay?”
“Are you okay?” he asked me.
I nodded.
“Do you want this?”
“I love Cedric,” I said, unsure how to answer his real question.
“I’m not against your marriage if, like he said, it’s your destiny. But that doesn’t change the fact that you’re too young.”
“Mom was my age when you got married.”
“It was a different time. You’re living with him and…even if he wants to make things right and marry you, you’re still a child, Aria.”
“I have my own bedroom,” I said, blushing from head to toe. “Cedric is good to me. We fight sometimes, but…I love him. I didn’t want to worry you today.”
“Aria, what you did was childish. You shouldn’t stay in someone else’s house when you’re bonded to another man. Philippe told us that you were here. He also told us that Cedric acted impulsively and got jealous. However, he’s your boyfriend and Philippe isn’t. He may be your friend, but Cedric was right to be jealous. You shouldn’t have stayed at his house.”
“Are you going to lecture me, too?” I asked. Exactly what I needed, Cedric and Dad joining forces to point out my mistakes. I lost my pout and stared at Cedric in confusion. “Didn’t you tell them about Philippe?”
Arching an eyebrow, Cedric asked, “What did you want me to tell them?”
I almost sighed with relief. He hadn’t told them that Philippe was a big bad vampire.
Cedric added, “I told them the truth. I saved you from dying when you fell into the river. We fell in love, we’re bonded, and you’re going to be my wife and queen. You’re an angel now, so you and I will get married and you must live in Paris with me, but you can go and see your parents whenever you want.”
“And the vampires?” I asked, troubled by the half-truth.
“You’ll be safe with Cedric. Vampires won’t try to harm you,” my dad said as if he had always known about their existence. “I understand why you tried to keep the truth from us. It’s troubling to know about the existence of angels and vampires. Knowing that vampires tried to kill you, and I wasn’t here to protect you, is frightening.” He seemed regretful.
“There was nothing you could do,” Cedric said, putting his hand on my dad’s shoulder.
My dad nodded and relaxed under Cedric’s touch. It intrigued me.
Cedric continued his speech. “I showed you what we are. You’ll go home knowing that Aria is safe and happy. You’ll live your lives, and we’ll be a part of it. We’ll have a traditional wedding in the United States with all the family. You’ll visit us, and we’ll visit you. I’ll protect you all.”
Cedric’s projections for the future were being well-received by my parents, who simply nodded to my utter amazement.
“What are you doing to them?” I asked, unsure if there was perhaps a power that angels could use on humans. My parents were acting too compliant for my tastes.
“An angel’s touch is soothing to a human. I’m making them cope with everything.”
Widening my eyes, I blurted out, “You’re compelling them.”
“Not compelling; I’m making them accept everything without freaking out. Compelling is forcing people to do something against their will or having them forget something bad. I want your parents to be a part of our lives. I don’t want you to have to lie about who you are now. They know the truth, and they’ll still know it when they leave our home.”
“That was how you convinced them to leave?”
“We agreed it would be the best thing for them to do. I’ll send them home in my private jet. They’ll resume their lives, and we’ll resume ours. After the trial, we’ll get married or…you can go back to your old life.”
His words silenced me and made my heart hurt, especially the last few. I looked at my parents. They were silent, as if they weren’t listening to our conversation.
Cedric’s voice took me out of my reverie. “We need to strengthen our bond. They need to go back to their lives. There’s plenty of time to bond with your parents after the trial. I have no intention of keeping you apart from them. They’ll become my family too. But we need to focus on ourselves. We need to know each other better. Also, weren’t you complaining that I didn’t have time for you? How is that any different from your behavior if you’d rather spend your time with your parents than me?”
“Mom has an audition. You could have let them stay and do whatever they wanted,” I reasoned.
“It was their choice to leave,” Cedric argued.
I spun around to face my dad. “Why? Why are you leaving?” I asked, putting my hand on my dad’s shoulder.
He answered, “It’s your soul that’s at stake. You’ll be a queen and it takes a lot of responsibility and growing up to accept that role. Cedric is a suitable man for you. I was wrong. He’s an angel and he wants what’s best for you. He saved you and kept you safe. If you had been destined to be something other than our daughter—a violinist player or a scientist—it would be up to you to accept that destiny and make us proud.”
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.