Red Angel (The Angels of Paris Chronicles Book 2)

by Anna Santos

  I had many regrets. I regretted not having experienced love—the physical kind. I should have been with Cedric on a romantic date right then. He had left to plan it while I was accompanying my parents to the airport. Cedric saving me was my last hope. Yet I couldn’t stop dreaming about Philippe every time I closed my eyes. I screamed at him in my dreams, upset at being rejected. It hurt still. Loneliness and emptiness slashed my soul as the yearning to see him again, to be with him, if only for a moment, tormented my thoughts. I was losing it. Cedric deserved my love, not Philippe. I shouldn’t have been thinking about him. He couldn’t care less about me. He was the King of the Vampires. Yet in my dreams, he wasn’t evil or heartless. He loved me, and I loved him.

  I must have blacked out again as I woke up to the sound of something shattering. I heard doors slamming shut as the energy around the room seemed to change. I shivered, trying to see past the dark, while the cracking sound became louder and more consistent. It was as if rock was shattering and falling to the floor. Maybe the building was caving in and I would die under the wreckage.

  My angel went still, and I intuitively knew that something cold and dark was coming. I tried to move my hands and cringed at the pain. I was out of tears and out of strength. I wanted to pass out again, but this time on the floor. I felt I would feel more comfortable lying down.

  The cracking sound stopped. I heard movement and focused my sight on the darkness before me as a silhouette drew closer. As my brain tried to understand what was happening, I discerned the form of a beast whose wings and claws were moving in my direction. The floor vibrated under the weight and the sound of heavy breathing resonated. The only statues I’d known to come to life were gargoyles. My kidnappers were wolves. From what I’d heard, they’d kept me there until it was dark, when my real captor would wake up.

  Suddenly, the door opened and a monk wearing a hooded cloak entered the room with a chandelier in his hand. I blinked several times to adjust to the light.

  “They’re here. They found us somehow. You need to move fast,” the scary creature said to whom I now noticed to be a slender figure wrapped in several white sheets like an Arabian person in the desert. The figure’s face was covered, but I could see the person’s eyes. They were blue—crystal blue—and cold as ice when they stared at me and noticed that I had awakened.

  “Stop them from reaching this room,” a hoarse female voice said, grasping the chandelier and moving towards me. “Take as much Clarity as you can. It’s our last batch. We need her to make more.”

  I heard her orders and cringed in my seat, panicking and wanting to scream for help. Someone was coming for me. I could be saved. But that woman didn’t want me to be saved. I panicked even more when she grabbed a table from the side of the room and pulled it next to me. There were needles and surgical instruments on it.

  Is she going to torture me or…worse?

  I tried to move. I tried to scream. I wanted to call Cedric’s name. My angel was restless and afraid of the woman and the huge needle that she picked up from the table.

  “Just relax. This isn’t going to take too long. I’m not going to kill you. I’m simply going to take something from you that I need,” she said in a soft voice.

  I knew better. She wanted to hurt me, and I had no intention of staying calm and letting her do it.

  I heard a loud smash. Screams and sounds of a fight carried up from the lower floors. Help was coming. I had to endure a bit longer.

  More sounds of breaking windows and cracking objects echoed around the building.

  “They aren’t going to get here on time. It’s a huge house, and I have a lot of guards to entertain the angels,” the mummified woman said, killing my hopes.

  I glared at her, wanting to burst her into flames. She wouldn’t have been so relaxed if I had my powers.

  She smirked, walked behind my back, and pulled my hair away. I felt the needle touch the back of my neck. It confused me as much as it scared me. I screamed for help, but the sound came out muffled by the rag in my mouth.

  “Wait, I want him to hear this,” she whispered wickedly in my ear as if she was going to enjoy what she was about to do to me. She took the cloth out of my mouth. “Call for him,” she instructed me.

  I didn’t move, wondering why’d she uncovered my mouth.

  “Come on.” She pulled my hair. “Scream for the prince.”

  I screamed out loud, “Cedric! Help!”

  She laughed. “That scream is nothing compared to how you’re going to scream when I start the procedure. This is the worst thing we can do to an angel,” she informed me as the needle touched the nape of my neck. She seemed to take pleasure in what she was doing.

  How can someone be that evil?

  Tears rushed to my eyes and fell like a waterfall when the needle entered my flesh. The pain was excruciating, and I’d never screamed so loud before. It was like my body was on fire.

  Suddenly, the pain stopped. I felt fast movements around me and someone crashed against the woman and pushed her away. Then the floor in front of my feet was torn apart by a flying and glowing angel coming through.

  “I told you she was upstairs and not downstairs,” Philippe said.

  I wasn’t imagining things. It was his voice. He was behind me and in front of me was Cedric. His eyes were silver and scary. He didn’t say anything, he looked around, assessing the place, and fixating his faze on the figure who was getting up.

  “Take the needle out of her neck,” Cedric ordered. “Wait,” he yelled after. “See if there’s something inside.”

  The woman jumped in the air and pushed Philippe away from me.

  “What the hell were you doing to her?” Philippe asked.

  I couldn’t see what was happening behind my back. Cedric kneeled in front of me, ripping off the ropes.

  “Don’t move until I remove the needle,” Cedric said.

  “It hurts,” I mumbled.

  “It will stop,” he promised, walking behind me.

  Before I could understand what he was doing, he pulled the needle out, and I uttered a pained cry.

  “I’m here, honey. You’re safe now.”

  I still had my hands trapped, and Cedric had to unbind them.

  “Philippe, stop fooling around and help me,” Cedric growled.

  I looked back and saw Philippe fighting the woman. She looked deadly. He wasn’t fooling around. He was having a hard time overpowering her.

  “He’s not as weak as he looks,” Philippe complained. He must have thought the figure was a man. He couldn’t be more wrong. As a gargoyle, she must be strong. I didn’t have time to explain to him what she was, though.

  “Cedric,” I called out to him, motioning with my eyes to the door. Four scary monks entered the room with axes in their hands.

  He acknowledged their arrival and flew to fight them.

  “Philippe, I don’t care what you do to him. Kill him if you must, but take Aria out of here. More specters are coming, and I’m the only one who can kill them.” Lightning shot out from Cedric’s hands and obliterated the monks.

  Philippe growled in reply. I didn’t know if it was from pain or annoyance. Either way, he threw the female against the closed window, causing the wood and glass to break and fall on the floor. He’d fallen back due to the amount of strength he’d used to shove her away, but he stood again on shaky legs.

  Before he could attack her again, she jumped out of the window.

  Philippe ran to it and must have realized that she was a gargoyle. He stood there with his mouth open and his eyes on the horizon. I guessed he was watching her fly away.

  Meanwhile, Cedric was fighting the two remaining warrior monks. He was using some sort of shining icy blade. I’d never seen it before, but it shredded the ghosts away. However, many more were coming our way.

  I stared at Philippe. I tried to get up but almost fell to the floor.

  “Philippe,” I whispered, out of breath and strength. I was glad to see him. I was g
lad to see them both. “I’m exhausted.” I felt my eyes shutting and someone hugged me and prevented me from collapsing to the ground.

  “I’m here, Aria. I won’t let anything harm you, sweetie,” he whispered next to my face. His arms held me up and sat me back on the chair. Brushing my hair away from my eyes, he asked, “What were they doing to you?”

  “They were trying to steal her angel. Stop stalling and take her out of here. They are too many. Order your men out. I must use my powers to kill them. It will hurt your men, too,” Cedric warned in a serious voice.

  I was too tired to think about the implication of his words. “I’m okay,” I said to Philippe, who was still studying me. He was concerned and he cared about me. That notion warmed my heart.

  “Did they hurt you?” he asked in a trembling voice.

  I shook my head and put my arms around his neck. “Let’s get out of here.”

  My voice was hoarse and my body trembled. I couldn’t stand to stay there another minute. Philippe hugged me back. He put one hand on my back, the other under my legs, and lifted me up.

  I felt my body surrender against his. “I’ve missed you,” I whispered, admitting something that I hadn’t wanted him to know.

  “I’m Philippe, Aria. Cedric is fighting the specters.”

  I could have slapped him. “I know. I’m tired, not blind.”

  He chuckled and my bad mood disappeared. “I guess you’re okay since you’re able to argue with me,” he teased.

  “When you’re done flirting with my girlfriend, can you please take her out of here?” Cedric said, exasperated.

  Philippe hugged me closer, and we were out of there in a flash. We only stopped at the entrance of the building I was in. “Everybody out,” he said, urging his men to leave.

  Jacob landed next to us. “Where’s Cedric?”

  “Inside. He said that everybody should leave. He’s fighting the specters,” Philippe informed him.

  “I’ll order the angels to get out of here, then,” he said, flying up into the sky.

  I watched him, mesmerized. It must be nice to fly like that. Too bad I was afraid of heights. Sighing, I nestled my head on Philippe’s shoulder.

  “What’s wrong, Aria?” he asked.

  “I wish I wasn’t afraid of heights. Why have wings if I’m afraid of flying?”

  He was going to say something, but someone interrupted us.

  “Give her to me.”

  Camille was beside us, and she was asking Philippe to release me.

  “No,” I said to her. I had no intention of letting go of Philippe.

  “But you’re hurt,” Camille argued.

  “We need to get out of here,” Jacob said, landing next to us.

  “My men are all out,” Philippe said.

  “Take her to the car,” Camille said to Philippe, who nodded.

  Moments after, we were in the car, and Philippe was placing me on the seat.

  “No, no,” I begged him.

  “You’re hurt,” he said, showing me my bleeding wrists.

  I was going to start crying again like a child if I was left alone. “Please don’t leave.”

  “I’m not leaving,” he assured me, clearing away the tears from my eyes with the tips of his fingers. “Calm down. You’re scared and hurt. You didn’t heal. Why didn’t you heal?”

  “The angel is trapped,” I whispered, breathing deep and realizing that she wasn’t screaming anymore. She‘d been silenced and was waiting patiently for someone to release her from the trap she was in.

  “What’s wrong, Aria?” Philippe asked, noticing my blank stare.

  “Look. She’s trapped,” I whispered, showing him the symbol that was drawn on my cleavage.

  “What does that mean?”

  “I don’t have any powers.”

  Abruptly, everything was illuminated by a bright light that shone inside the building I’d been in. The light erupted and escaped from the closed windows, which incinerated at its touch. Shreds of dying ghosts making painful noises tried to escape. I gazed at it, emotionless and quiet. I wasn’t sure what it was and who was doing it, but it was something powerful.

  “Cedric,” a woman’s voice said his name. She was walking towards the building, intending to go in, but Jacob stopped her. I didn’t know the woman. Why was she calling his name? She was pretty and looked worried.

  “He’s fine,” I told her to reassure her.

  She stared at me and then at Philippe.

  “I’m glad you’re both safe. I was worried,” she said, coming our way and touching Philippe.

  I pulled Philippe away from her and hugged him possessively.

  “That’s not good,” she said, staring at us.

  “She’s been acting strange since I found her,” Philippe said, but he made no effort to get away from me.

  “Do you want to start a war?” She was speaking to Philippe.

  “Who are you?” I asked. “You have no right to talk to him like that.”

  Frowning, she said in a cheerful voice, “I’m Josephine. Pleased to meet you, Aria.”

  “She’s my maker,” Philippe clarified.

  Arching an eyebrow, I asked, “Like a mom?”

  “Like that,” she agreed with a kind smile.

  I burst into tears. The word “mom” reminded me of my own mother, unconscious, in the car. Probably dead.

  “What’s wrong, dear?” she asked.

  “What’s wrong, Aria?” Philippe put his hands on my face. “Stop crying, sweetie.”

  “You’re not helping, Philippe,” Josephine complained. “Cedric isn’t going to be happy.”

  “Fuck Cedric. She’s terrified.”

  “My mom and dad,” I said to Philippe. “They were in the car with me.”

  “They’re safe in the hospital. Your mom is alive. Your dad is also fine.”

  “You promise?”

  “Yes.” He kissed my forehead, making me feel much better. “Do you want to see them?”

  “Yes.”

  “What the hell is happening here?”

  It was Cedric’s voice.

  I trembled, afraid of what he would do to Philippe after touching me.

  Cedric’s first action was to pull Philippe away from me.

  “They were just talking,” Josephine said, trying to push Cedric away from Philippe.

  I got out of the car, barely standing up, and I fell inside Cedric’s arms.

  “Don’t move. You’re tired,” he said to me.

  I glared at him. “If you touch him again, if you harm him, I’ll hate you for it. You know that, don’t you?”

  He looked puzzled for a while. “Do you have any idea what you’re saying?”

  “I know what I’m saying. And I want to see my parents. So just try and stop me,” I dared him as I pushed him away. I wasn’t going to be trapped again.

  “I’m not going to stop you from doing anything,” he said. “Hold on to her for a moment.” He passed me to Josephine, who held me as he walked away.

  “Give her to me,” Philippe ordered her.

  “Stay away from her. You aren’t helping,” she muttered as she prevented him from reaching out to me.

  I didn’t have time to protest because Cedric arrived with a wet cloth and grabbed me from Josephine’s hands.

  “This is going to hurt a bit,” he said as I held on to my dress. “I need to clean the sigil from your skin, Aria. Let me.”

  Reluctantly, I stepped forward and let him wash and erase the symbol. But he’d lied. It didn’t hurt a bit. It hurt a lot. I cried out in pain, feeling a wave of heat coming from the inside out. My eyes glowed, I was sure they did, because I felt the angel stretch inside of me and take possession of my mind and my mortality. There was an itching sensation taking over my skin as my heartbeat increased.

  When the pain was over, I breathed deeper and opened my eyes. I was in Cedric’s arms. He looked worried, and Philippe looked troubled. I blinked several times, trying to understand what
was wrong with me. I still felt tired, but I wasn’t feeling any pain.

  “What did you do to her?” Philippe asked. I had the same question.

  “I freed her angel.”

  “I want to see my parents,” I told Cedric. I didn’t want my angel to numb my feelings and stop me from going to the hospital.

  “Okay. I just need to take care of a few problems before we go.”

  “I can take her,” Philippe said.

  “You still have to tell me who’s behind Aria’s kidnapping. And Aria needs to tell us everything she saw inside and what she remembers,” Cedric said.

  “After she sees her parents and rests. Look at her. She’s exhausted,” Philippe pointed out.

  I wanted to run to his arms again. I was glad that someone understood and was defending me. I was afraid that Cedric wouldn’t comprehend and would want to trap me in his home again.

  “Maribel, Olav,” Cedric called to his gargoyles, who landed next to us. “Follow them to the hospital and secure the premises. We don’t want Aria to get kidnapped again, do we?” He looked at Philippe.

  “We don’t,” he agreed.

  “I’m going to trust you, Philippe. If you betray me, or you have some hidden agenda, I’m going to hunt you down and kill you,” he threatened before handing me to Philippe.

  “I’ll stay here with you,” Josephine said to Cedric.

  “We’ll interrogate the prisoners,” he said to her. Then looking at me, he said as he leaned down and kissed my cheek, “I’ll head to the hospital afterwards.”

  I nodded.

  Seconds later, we disappeared in a swift movement as Philippe took me away to the hospital. I held on tight to him, musing about the day, the rescue, and my reactions to Philippe without my angel clouding my mind. Not that she was clouding much right then. She was quiet and weak. More than that, she wasn’t seeing him as a threat. He had saved us. Cedric and he had saved us. But the fact was that when I’d needed help, Philippe had come. He could have ignored me and let Cedric handle it alone. I had told him to stay away, that we weren’t going to happen, and that I loved Cedric. Yet I didn’t have to be a genius to understand why he’d come to save me and joined forces with Cedric.