by Anna Santos
"Jacob!" I screamed. "Jacob."
I rushed to his side. He kept grabbing his chest as sweat poured down his forehead. He leaned forward in pain.
"What's happening?" I was terrified. Then, I screamed hysterically. "No! No! It's not fair. No!"
Jacob was turning into stone.
It started with his hands, spreading to his arm. His legs stopped moving, and he bent forward with a panicked look in his eyes.
"I love you. I love you. I swear it's true. I don't want you to disappear. It isn't fair!" I kept screaming and crying. I tugged at his jacket and put my hands over his face. But, my words weren't preventing the stone from taking over his body.
"Look at me," I begged, my vision blurring from the tears. "I'm sorry." I kissed his lips. My arms snaked around his neck as my mouth kept pressing against his, until the softness of his lips were gone, and all I could feel was the cold stone against my lips.
Jacob was gone.
My heart was hurting worse than anything else that I had ever felt before. Life didn't matter anymore. I held on to him tighter. He had turned into stone, and I didn't want to continue without him.
"Turn me into stone. It's not fair!" I shouted at the shining orb behind my back. "Turn me into stone, also." Tears kept falling. My body shook with my painful cry.
I didn't care about what anyone else could do, but I wasn't going to leave that place without Jacob. "He's mine! Give me back my husband," I screamed to the orb, kneeled on the floor and hugging the statue of my Jacob.
I had my eyes closed. I didn't see the bright light or the cold stone disappearing. I only felt the softness of warm hands around my shoulders and the tenderness of lips brushing at my ear.
When I opened my watery eyes, I was on Jacob's lap, and he was staring down at me with lively eyes.
Was I dreaming? Did I lose my mind and was imagining things?
"Is it really you?"
His fingers wiped away my tears. "Why are you crying?"
"You were gone. You became a statue."
He placed small kisses against my forehead and my eyelids. My body drew closer to his as my hands clutched the lapels of his coat.
"I remember the pain, but then...I just opened my eyes and you were in my arms, crying helplessly as if you were in great pain."
"I didn't want to lose you."
"You didn't. I've survived and you, look at you, honey."
I blinked and stared at his loving face, noticing feathers around us. I felt the weight of the wings on my back. They had appeared and were around us, creating a protective cocoon.
I loved my white wings. I loved being an angel. I loved Jacob. Before he could say anything else, I kissed him, once, twice, until all the fear of losing him was replaced by happiness of being married to him for all eternity.
I mumbled against his mouth, "I want to make love to you right now."
His fingers dug into my back, and he deepened our kisses. But then, he said against my mouth, "We can't. Everybody is waiting for us outside. They won't leave until we come out, plus...they are worried about us. We should show them that we are okay."
I nodded, aware that he was right. Despite the blazing desire taking over my rationality, we needed to tell the others that Jacob was alive and well.
"We’ll celebrate our union and, when everybody is distracted, we'll run away to our bedroom and make love until we can't move anymore."
"Okay," I agreed with pink cheeks and a happy smile as I played with his bowtie.
He kissed me again, and we shared another moment of pure lust and bliss. The idea of never seeing him again had been tormenting enough.
"I thought I was going to die when you turned to stone. I never want to feel that again," I whispered, holding his face in my hands.
"Nothing will take me away from you now. But, you ruined your make-up with your tears."
"What matters is that you came back to me."
"Yes," he smirked. "You aced this trial. I was really lucky to find you, was I not?"
"We are both lucky."
Jacob kissed me as he carried me, bridal style, so we could announce to the others that the party was on and we have become fully mated angels.
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Captive—Book 2
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Chapter 1
Cedric, The Prince of the Angels
The alarm sounded loud and clear, warning everybody in the palace. That night, I hoped was the night. I had been visualizing it for a long time. Two years, to be more precise. It had been that long since it last rang.
For a moment, I thought that I was hallucinating. Yet, the alarm kept ringing loud and clear, warning about the existence of a rejected soul wandering the streets of Paris. My heart raced inside my chest as I balled my hands in expectation. Maybe today was my lucky day.
I jogged from my library to the nearest balcony where I had a better view of the other side of the veil. Our dimension had a magical portal over Paris. My gargoyle’s sharp senses enabled me to see farther. Nevertheless, sometimes, it was challenging to perceive anything because the city had too many lights.
Focusing my sight, I found it—the amazing and shining sparkle of a rejected soul. It gleamed intensely, and it was breathtaking. I couldn’t recall ever thinking that a soul looked that mesmerizing before. It had a mixture of bright and serene colors, and it was captivating. Whoever that soul belonged to, that person had to be pure and good at heart.
The other warriors had already transformed into gargoyles and were flying around the palace’s towers. I heard pounding footsteps heading my way. They were waiting for me to give the order for them to go and get the soul. Still, I had no intention of letting them depart without me.
My breathing stopped, when the bright soul, which had been quiet and motionless in one place, suddenly began to move quickly as if something was dragging it away. I noticed as it began fading and flickering. Preoccupied, I jumped in the air, morphing into my gargoyle form through the process. I didn't wait for anyone else as I flew to the rescue.
I don't think I have ever flown that fast in my life. I sped up more when I understood what was going on—there was a girl fighting against the currents in the Seine. The bastard who had rejected her had probably tried to kill her, or she had jumped. It wouldn't be a first. Rejected souls tend to be suicidal. Yet, she was fighting to survive. I could hear her voice, begging for help. I could see her arms struggling, trying to keep her head above the surface as her mouth sucked in the air. As I pushed my wings to go faster, I was still completely mesmerized by the celestial light that surrounded her.
Arriving at her location, I flew lower, stretching my hands out and grabbed her by her arms, making the effort to move up quickly so I wouldn't drop her. Then I pulled her into my arms and secured her against my chest. She coughed against my shoulder. She had her eyes closed, still unaware that she was safe because she kept praying and crying as she clutched to my neck.
Thankfully, I had arrived before she drowned.
Moments later, I landed in a dim part of the city near a park. I needed her to calm down so she could look into my eyes. However, she didn’t want to be apart from my embrace. She was shivering and rambling on in her native tongue; she was not French. This was not a problem as angels and gargoyles understand all the languages across the world.
When her arms released my neck and her feet touched the ground, I was able to register her tangled dark hair in front of her face and the soaked clothes gluing to her fragile body.
I smiled at her, brushing the tousled hair away from her pretty face while staring at her silky white skin and pale plump lips. She had a doll face. It had never occurred to me that I could crave so intensely for a soul to be bond to me, even before looking into the girl’s eyes. But
everything about her made me desire her, especially the bright and amazing light that surrounded all her being. She had the most beautiful soul I had ever seen. She would make a perfect queen. If only I could choose, I would choose her. But I couldn't.
"You are safe now," I whispered, with sweetness. My voice could sound guttural and scary in my gargoyle form, but I didn't want to frighten her even further. "Open your eyes. Everything will be okay. What happened? How did you fall to the river?"
"Vampires," she whispered, hugging herself and falling onto the ground in a sitting position. "I'm so tired," she whimpered. "You have to save them," she said, staring up at me, with big brown eyes that made my entire being tremble and my heart feel heavy in my chest.
My ability to breathe halted as I stared back at her, overwhelmed by the feeling and recognizing it. Even if I had never felt it before. My heart started pounding, and it hurt inside my chest. I almost knelt down in front of her with the realization of it all.
"You have to save them. They are hurting them. They tried to hurt me. A crazy man, he said the weirdest things. And then he let the other men hurt me. They were saying that they were going to suck my blood. There were other girls in the boat, and others were drinking their blood, too. They will die if no one does anything. I know I sound crazy. I didn't believe in vampires before tonight. But they are real and they are evil. Please, call the police."
The girl was extremely agitated. I wanted to hold her to calm her down, but my men landed next to me, finally arriving. Her words made me mad at the vampires. They were disobeying the rules. They were hurting girls. They tried to hurt her. I wasn't going to let that slide.
"Take ten men to scout the river. There is a boat with vampires on it who are hurting people. Do whatever you need to do, but put a stop to that immediately," I ordered with a rage in my voice that made my men tremble in surprise and fear. "Those leeches will pay for trying to trick us. If the King of the Vampires wants to ruin thirty years of peace, then he has achieved his goal. Bring me their heads if they are killing people," I stated.
My men nodded and flew away to follow my orders.
"You aren't a vampire too, are you?" the girl asked when I gazed down at her.
I crouched down in front of her. "Can't you see what I am? Aren't you scared?"
"I lost my glasses when I ended up in the river," she explained, her body shivering with the cold. "I'm blind as a bat without them."
I smiled, leaning closer to her face and noticing the reflection of my beast in her eyes. She had the most innocent stare. She was more than perfect to be my mate.
"I can fix that," I whispered tenderly as I reached for her hands with my clumsy claws.
I did my best not to hurt her as I pulled her to her feet. With our touch, the spell was cast. As we grasped each other’s hands, the powers from above drew patterns on our left hands and around our arms, bonding our souls for what I hoped would be an eternity. Or condemning me to an existence as a stone statue, forever. Either way, I was ready to accept my fate and prepared to give her my heart. I would love her more than my own life.
The girl’s eyebrows knitted together as the static electricity that the spell produced made her hair float and tousle around. I stood still, noticing the transformations that our bond brought to her. Her skin and eyes glowed several shades of red. The vital force of the angels was transforming her being, curing her, fixing her soul while sealing it with mine. My powers would make her stronger and enhance her senses. She was becoming a better version of her. Her skin became flawless, her hair longer and shinier, red colored her lips, and her eyes were cured. She could see without glasses as she was now a supernatural, like me. Our love could break my curse, and we could both become angels.
I was so mesmerized by her transformation and by finally finding my perfect mate, that when she screamed I was momentarily startled, unsure why she was frightened. Until I realized, she was screaming because she was able to see my true form.
Fine, gargoyles are not as good-looking or enticing as angels. I should have expected her reaction. She wasn’t the first one to scream when seeing one of us in their gargoyle form. Still, I was so caught up in my happiness that I had forgotten to morph back to my human form.
"What the hell are you?" she asked, pulling away from me, stumbling, and falling. She landed on her butt. "Damn, I can't even run away properly," she whispered to herself, trying to get up, but only managing to fall back again. I tried not to laugh at her clumsiness.
"Get away from me," she ordered when I offered my hand to help her up.
"I'm sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you," I said, scratching my bald head. "I just pulled you out of the river. If I wanted to hurt you, I wouldn't have saved you."
"What do I know? Until today I didn't believe in vampires. And suddenly they are real and then I find out that your species is also real!"
"Gargoyles," I explained to her.
"I know what you are! I'm not stupid," she declared, growling at me in the process and I couldn’t help but smirk at her. "I've seen plenty of you on the top of the buildings!"
"Well, we exist and I need to take you with me." I offered my hand once again to help her get up. The wet fabric and the heaviness of her dress prevented her from succeeding on her own.
"I won't go anywhere. I need medical attention. I need to get examined. Do you have any idea of what kind of diseases I could’ve caught being in the river? I could die from it! And I drank that filthy water! Even though the fall didn't kill me, that doesn't mean the toxic waste won't."
"Nothing will happen to you," I assured her, finding her fear amusing. She was a rational girl, a clever girl. "The same way that you are seeing without glasses, I also cured you from catching any diseases."
The girl put her hands to her eyes. Then she looked at her hands, analyzing the patterns that circled her left arm. She seemed troubled. I let her calm down before I explained anything else to her.
Looking up at me, she asked, "Are you magical and cured me?"
"Yes," I confirmed.
"That’s why I don't need glasses to see.” She puckered her lips with narrowed eyes. “Thanks, I guess. You saved me a lot of money. The surgery is really expensive, and I had been planning to do it when I graduated."
"You're welcome," I replied, not sure of what she was talking about but smiling anyway.
"How-how did you save me?"
"How do you think?"
"You flew?"
"Yes."
She looked at my wings, and then her eyes traveled down my body. "You look like a giant bat," she declared, making me laugh. "So those wings must be really strong for you to fly and to also be able to fly with me in your arms."
"Yes."
She frowned as if she wasn't buying what I was saying. Apparently, she was trying to find a logical explanation for my existence. Her narrowed eyes examined me again.
"I understand," she blurted. "I was drugged. They drugged me. Somehow. I didn't have anything to drink, but they must have drugged me. Didn't they? Is this why I'm having hallucinations with mythical beings? Is this a dream or just a really confusing nightmare? I really want my mom, right now.” Tears rushed to her eyes and left a trail down her cheeks as she fisted her hands in the grass.
"I'm sorry, this is not a dream," I whispered, kneeling next to her. "Please, come with me." I offered my hand again and her eyes focused on my runes that were still glowing. Then, she looked at her own hand with the same patterns. I understood that she was finding the patterns curious. She seemed clever, but it was too much to cope with for a human to find the existence of a supernatural world, be rejected, and almost dying, all in the same night.
"So, they were really vampires and they were...they wanted to..."
I moved closer to her and decided to talk before convincing her in coming with me. “What’s your name?”
“I’m Aria,” she answered, sniffling.
“I’m Cedric,” I said, showing her my best smile but only mana
ging to make her recoil in fear. “Sorry. I’m harmless, though. You don’t need to be afraid of me.”
Her hands brushed her wet hair as she nodded and pouted. “Am I dead?”
“No. I saved you.”
Aria looked around and I noticed her shivering.
“Do you want to tell me what happened to you?”
She bit her lower lip before she answered, "I had to run from the vampires because they wanted to hurt me."
"Did they throw you in the river?" I asked, trying to better understand how she ended up there.
"They were trying to rape me," she explained, fear making her voice tremble. "I jumped."
"You are a brave girl," I said, patting her head as if she was a small child. I was glad that she had jumped, instead of facing that awful fate. What kind of demon would let his soul mate get raped? Or was the vampire who rejected her, attempting it? Either way, I would have his head impaled on a stick.
She pushed my hand away and grumbled, "I'm a stupid girl not brave. I can't swim!"
"That makes you even braver," I declared, taking pride in her actions and smiling at her.
"And the other girls?" she asked breathlessly with innocent eyes and a trembling lower lip as if she was about to burst into tears once again.
I took her hand in mine, and she let me, apparently feeling less intimidated by my appearance. “Tell me what you saw.”
“I was in a boat, and we went to the cargo hold. I saw them there. They seemed in some sort of a...trance. I was too. A man took me there and kept babbling on about some nonsense of me being his soul-mate and needing to reject me. Reject me? Is he out of his mind? As if I wanted to be stuck with that weirdo who sucks blood and..." She stopped talking and glanced at me. "Aren't you going to help the other girls?"
"I've sent help. Don't worry, we will find them and stop the vampires."
"Good.” She sighed and stared at our hands.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm feeling extremely tired."
"That's normal. You had a rough night and we should leave and find you dry clothes."