Red Angel (The Angels of Paris Chronicles Book 2)

by Anna Santos

  “I want to go home,” I whimpered, feeling sad. I wasn’t enjoying myself anymore and things were weird and confusing.

  “I’m sorry,” Philippe said with a trembling voice. “I didn’t want to upset you. I’m…going to stop talking about us. Let’s see the paintings. I promise I’ll stop talking about what happened.”

  I fixed my hair and bit my upper lip. Then I spun around and stared at the corridor and the people passing by, minding their own business. I was feeling lost and out of control. I wanted to run away from here and stay away from Philippe. He was messing with my mind and with my heart.

  “I don’t want to see anything else,” I declared, balling my hands into fists.

  I was not going to break down and cry in front of this jerk. I didn’t even know why I wanted to cry in the first place.

  “Come on, Aria,” he whispered, leaning down and holding on to my shoulders.

  I raised my head to face him, holding back my tears. My throat hurt from the effort.

  “I promise I’ll stop talking about you and Cedric, or you and me. I won’t mention any of the stupid things I did and said to you again. We’re simply going to continue our tour of the Louvre.”

  “You’re only saying that because I’m freaking you out,” I mumbled.

  He sighed and smiled. “Why would you freak me out? I’ve seen plenty of glowing angels before. I’m a vampire,” he whispered so no one else would hear. “I have fangs. How freaky is that?”

  I shrugged and pouted. “At least, you’re not a fire hazard.”

  “It’s just when you get upset. Try to relax and take a deep breath,” he said, squeezing my shoulders slightly. I did what he told me to. “Happy thoughts. Let’s go see your favorite paintings.”

  “Favorite paintings,” I whispered.

  “The ones you like the best.”

  “And how do you know which ones those are?”

  “I know you like Vermeer. I don’t understand why you asked to see Rembrandt. They’re insipid and dark.”

  “I like Monet more,” I whispered.

  “Impressionists have a way of capturing light that leave us mesmerized,” he declared, and I nodded. “The Water Lilies mural isn’t here, Aria. It’s in the Orangerie Museum.”

  “I know. You can’t go outside.”

  “I can’t take you there by day.”

  “I…don’t want to go there today anyway. There are plenty of other things here to see. I haven’t seen the mummies. I want to go downstairs.”

  “After we’ve visited these galleries. Now, stop acting evil. I promise I’ll look at whatever you want.”

  I bobbed my head in agreement, even if it was unfair that I was the one being called evil and not him.

  “Do you want to tell me why you were so upset after you hung up the phone?”

  I shook my head. It was none of his business.

  “Fine, but it’s not my fault if your boyfriend doesn’t reply to your messages.”

  “He’s busy,” I retorted.

  “Then why are you so annoyed?”

  “I wanted him to spend more time with my parents,” I confessed. I neglected to add that I wanted him to spend more time with me, but I didn’t want to sound so selfish. “Jacob found time,” I grumbled, remembering Camille’s words, only to regret speaking about it. “Never mind. I want to…stop thinking about that. It’s already bad enough that I have to endure your presence here. I have no idea how I’m going to explain it to Cedric.”

  “Haven’t you told him that I’m here with you?”

  I shook my head after nibbling my lip.

  “Why?”

  I was wondering the same thing, but deep down I knew that I didn’t say anything to Cedric because I didn’t want him to appear out of nowhere and take me away. He wouldn’t let me stay if he knew. But I wasn’t doing anything wrong. I wasn’t indulging Philippe’s feelings—or lack of feelings. I was merely sightseeing and talking.

  “Do you know what Cedric is doing right now?” I asked, staring at Philippe.

  “I have better things to do than have someone following Cedric. Besides, angels can teleport. It would be a waste of resources. So no, I don’t have any idea where your boyfriend is.”

  “Hmm.” I mused over his words.

  “I thought you knew.”

  “No, he didn’t explain. And I had to phone Camille to know that he wasn’t home.”

  “He must be doing some angelic duty like saving a human from demons and vampires or spending his time at the top of a building staring at the city below. You know, like Batman,” he joked.

  I actually laughed. “Or Spider-Man.”

  “That one, too. If he gets worried, he’ll phone you. Now, stop thinking about Cedric’s whereabouts and enjoy yourself. It’s not every day that you have me around to ask questions about what you want to know.”

  “Don’t flatter yourself. There’s this thing called Google and there are also informative signs on the walls.”

  “Do you want me to shut up then?”

  I rolled my eyes. “If only I had such luck. But you keep talking and talking.” I walked down the corridor, pretending to find him annoying and too talkative. I knew he would follow me. It was hard to maintain a straight face, so I was smirking.

  “I don’t talk too much! I talk when you ask me things. I think I make for a rather pleasant company.”

  “Maybe you do when you’re not trying to kill me,” I retorted, looking at him sideways to see the annoyed face he had. I stared at the ceiling, smirking at how easy it was to make him sulk.

  “That sort of argument is completely uncalled for. There it is a limit to how many times you can use it.”

  “Really?” I asked, stopping in front of a painting and folding my arms. He stood beside me and stared up at the same piece of art. “So what is this ugly thing in front of us?”

  “The Cheat with the Ace of Diamonds by G. de la Tour. And it’s not that ugly. It represents a moral theme. It portrays one of the three major temptations of the times: gambling, wine, and lust. This being the gambling.”

  “Hmm,” I whispered. Yes, he’s smart like that, a walking louvrepedia.

  Arching an eyebrow, he asked, “What?”

  “How many times have you been here?”

  “Many, but it’s better when I can show it to someone who likes it and is curious about it. I like when someone understands what I’m saying.”

  “Is the Louvre open at night?” I wondered, ignoring his attempt to compliment me.

  “It has late night openings on Wednesdays and Fridays until 9:45 p.m., but I don’t like coming here when there are tourists around.”

  “So you sneak in?”

  “A lot of weird stuff happens in this town after dark. Vampires and other creatures come out to play. The Louvre is visited at night by creatures that can’t come during the day and don’t want to mix with mortals.”

  “Cool,” I whispered, only to regret it when I saw the lopsided grin he gave me.

  “Want to see the rest?”

  “Lead the way,” I answered, spinning around to look for another painting that could intrigue me. I followed him, but I saw nothing captivating.

  There were a number of advantages to visiting the Louvre with Philippe. One, he knew a lot about everything. Two, he was extremely patient. Three, he indulged my curiosity. And four, he made for interesting conversations.

  Chapter SEVEN

  PHILIPPE

  My new restaurant’s debut would happen the following week, but it was functional enough to receive a private dinner. I’d brought one of my best chefs and my best sous-chefs to prepare the meal. I hadn’t forgotten that Aria hadn’t tried the French desserts at the restaurant the other day, so I made sure there was vanilla crème brûlée, tulips with raspberry sorbet, and chocolate pudding.

  The meal went smoothly. Everybody enjoyed the food, and Aria adored the baroque décor of my new restaurant. I loved how often we had similar tastes and opinions. I
also loved the fact that she didn’t ask stupid questions and understood my points of view quickly. She was smart and had a cute sense of humor, even if it mostly consisted of antagonizing me with sarcastic remarks about my stupid decision when we’d first met.

  After dessert, Gabby, Sean, and Aria went to look at something on Gabby’s iPad and the three of them continued talking about concerts. They also were trying to convince Aria to go with them to my nightclub to have fun. I liked that idea a lot. However, it was clear that she had never been to a nightclub before, and she was concerned about it, especially with staying up so late. Maybe she had some kind of curfew imposed on her.

  Nevertheless, I was trying not to irritate Aria with my presence, so I stayed at the table, next to her parents, listening to their conversation and answering some questions for Aria’s dad. Until the subject of the conversation changed to their meeting with Aria’s boyfriend. I already knew that they had been to the mall with Aria and Cedric because Aria’s dad had told me when he’d invited me to join them at the Louvre. I just didn’t know how tense it had been.

  “And what was with her asking his permission to come with us?” George stated, baffled.

  It had me concerned, too. Aria asking Cedric’s permission to go out was not my idea of her being free and happy.

  Her dad was clearly annoyed. “I didn’t raise my daughter to be submissive like that!”

  “They’re dating. She probably wanted to know if he minded being left alone,” Mrs. Davis said.

  I hoped she was right.

  “She does everything to please him and she looks at him as if he’s some kind of rock star or something,” her dad complained.

  I mentally grumbled.

  Mrs. Davis smirked. “He is rather handsome, George.”

  “Do you think they’re doing it?” he questioned his wife, lowering his voice so no one else could hear him. I sensed the tension in his question. “I didn’t raise my daughter to get pregnant and dumped during the best years of her life.”

  “Aria is a smart girl, and she knows how to prevent pregnancy.”

  “Woman, you should have said that they aren’t doing it,” he complained, making everybody shut up and look at him.

  Aria frowned at her dad, and he smiled, a bit ashamed. Since he didn’t say anything else, the others resumed their conversation.

  I was amused by his funny words, but not at the idea of Aria and Cedric having sex. That didn’t please me at all. Cedric had better been treating Aria with the respect and the love she deserved, or else I would smack his arrogant face and take her away from him.

  Meanwhile, the conversation between Aria’s parents was getting intense.

  “You’re overreacting, and she’s old enough. We started a bit younger if you remember,” his wife whispered, making him even grumpier.

  “I should buy her condoms,” he muttered. “And tell her I’m too young to be a grandpa.”

  “You should be quiet and leave our girl alone. It’s her first time in Paris, and she’s experiencing her first love. How romantic is that?”

  “Well, summer loves are great, but what if she doesn’t want to come home because of him?”

  “Oh, George, you are overanalyzing this.”

  “You should be a bit more worried, woman! What if he’s playing with our daughter’s feelings? What if he breaks her heart?”

  Mrs. Davis grabbed his hand and held it tight. They were a lovely couple, clearly in love after all this time. It was endearing to see how Mr. Davis was worried about Aria. He was a good father. I would like to have been a father like him if I had kids. Something that would never happen now that I was a vampire. However, Aria could have them with Cedric. Angels have kids as far as I know. Cedric had a mom and a dad, a family, and he could have a family with Aria.

  I was baffled by how supportive of Aria’s decision I was becoming. I was jealous—of course I was. But I also wanted the best for her. I’d enjoyed our time together. I was liking being with her family and sharing a small piece of her life. I’d loved the time we’d spent together at the Louvre. She was curious and smart. She was perfect. There was nothing I would want to change about her, not even the redness on her face when I would stare too long at her and make her feel uncomfortable. I also loved that she was so introspective and would think before she spoke and shared her private thoughts with me. At least, when she was too distracted to remember that I was her enemy. I loved the delicate smile she had when she liked something or would find something intriguing or simply beautiful. I was probably more ruined now than I had been a few hours ago when I’d been just wishing to see her. What was it about her that pulls me to her and makes me want to worship her like a goddess?

  “Hearts are meant to be broken, George. We can’t protect her from that. We’ve already protected her from a lot of things. She needs to come out of her shell and taste a bit of freedom and responsibility.”

  “She didn’t look free to me. She was always tense around him!”

  “No, she was tense because of you. She wanted us to like him.”

  “How can I like the guy if we barely talked, and he was in a hurry to go to his meeting or whatever excuse he gave us?”

  “Well, I for one thought he was nice and charming.”

  “You and half of the population of the mall, who couldn’t take their eyes off of him,” he grumbled.

  Mrs. Davis giggled. “He’s rather gorgeous. But he was extremely polite and he didn’t take his eyes off of our girl. I think it’s safe to say that they’re in love.”

  “Well, I don’t buy it,” Aria’s dad argued. He could be one of those dangerous gang members, for all I know. I doubt that he has a security company. He’s too young for that.”

  “You’re exaggerating,” his wife declared mildly. “He seems like a nice kid.”

  “And what’s up with that tattoo on his arm?”

  “It’s a religious tattoo,” the woman said.

  “I’m telling you, he doesn’t seem like a good guy for Aria,” her dad insisted.

  “You’re just jealous because you’re losing your little girl to someone else. I like him.”

  “Well, I don’t know how to explain it.”

  “I can assure you that Cedric isn’t a gang member. In fact, he’s really religious and trustworthy.” I was defending the guy without a clue why.

  It was probably because I didn’t want them to give Aria a hard time because of Cedric. It wasn’t like I wasn’t pleased because Aria’s dad didn’t like him, but he was being a bit prejudiced with the guy, and Cedric was far from what he had described. He was honorable, and I knew he liked Aria a lot. I, on the other hand, was all he wouldn’t want near his innocent daughter. Cedric was the opposite. He deserved Aria. I could see the irony in all that was happening. Even the fact that I was defending Cedric to her parents. I had no idea when I had grown a conscience and a gracious personality, but if it would make Aria happy, then I would help her parents accept their relationship.

  “Really?” Aria’s dad asked.

  George knew I was listening to their conversation; we had built a friendly relationship and, as far as he knew, I didn’t have anything to do with his daughter. I was nothing more than their new friend and Mrs. Davis’ sponsor.

  “Yes, he’s a good guy.”

  “Do you know him? Are you friends?”

  “I wouldn’t say friends, but we’re acquaintances.”

  “Acquaintances,” he repeated the word with worrisome eyes.

  “We know each other. I knew his parents.”

  “What do you mean by knew his parents?” Mrs. Davis inquired.

  “They’re dead. Cedric’s an orphan, even if he was almost eighteen when they died.”

  “That’s sad,” Mrs. Davis said, putting a hand against her heart as any empathic person would when hearing about Cedric’s situation.

  “What happened to his parents?” Mr. Davis asked.

  “They were killed. He should be the one telling you all th
is,” I stated, not wanting to give too much away about Cedric’s past since it wasn’t my business.

  The Davises exchanged a somber stare.

  “See, George, you’re unfairly judging the boy.”

  “It still doesn’t change the fact that I don’t like how Aria acts around him,” Mr. Davis argued with a serious face.

  “How does she act?” I asked.

  “It’s like he puts a damper on her personality. She’s different—less happy and more worried.”

  I pondered over his words. That didn’t make me happy at all. But she had assured me that she was happy with him. Was she lying or does she not understand that she’s changing?

  “Look how she is right now. How happy she is.”

  He motioned his hand to his daughter, and I took hold of her sparkling image with my eyes. It was true that she was smiling while talking to her cousin and Sean. She had a glow that made me feel happy.

  “In fact, I don’t know why you’re at the older people’s table,” he said, staring at me, amused. “You should be there, talking to them, not here listening to an old couple ranting.”

  “I don’t think Aria likes me much,” I said, unsure why I shared that with them. She had every reason not to like me. “She didn’t like seeing me at the Louvre. I bet she wouldn’t even have come if she knew I was going to be there.”

  “Nonsense!” Her father chuckled. “She’s just not used to having someone else who knows more than she does.”

  I stared at him, curious.

  “You impressed her. She let you show her the Louvre, didn’t she?”

  I nodded.

  “She even asked you questions, didn’t she?”

  I nodded again.

  “She never asks anyone anything. She’d rather learn things by herself. And there are few people who actually outsmart her.”

  Her mother joined in on the conversation. “True, she can be a bit of a smartass sometimes, and she’s often taken for a know-it-all because she… She’s clever and likes to learn about a lot of things. She’s a great kid, but she’s shy. I’m even surprised that she found herself a boyfriend. She normally runs away from guys.”