Archangel's Kiss

Chapter NINE

ARIA

The next day

I woke up screaming, believing I was still underwater and unable to breathe. When I realized that I wasn't, I calmed down and registered my surroundings as my eyes adjusted to the light and my body relaxed under the covers.

I was somewhere beautiful and peaceful. I sat up carefully and touched myself to see if I was real and if this place was also real. How did I survive? Where am I? I didn't recognize this bedroom with a vaulted ceiling and beautiful golden curtains falling over a terrace door. Nor did I recognize the larger four-poster bed I laid on with a thick goose-down golden blanket and delicate white curtains.

Did I die, and this is what heaven looks like?

I browsed around before staring down at myself. I was wearing a white vintage nightgown. Everything seemed new but somehow old-fashioned, taken from a historical movie. The bedroom looked like it belonged to a palace or an expensive hotel. It was gorgeous. Even in my wildest dreams, I couldn't imagine a bedroom that beautiful and extravagant.

It was day outside. The rays of sun peered through the curtains. I put my feet on the white marble floor. It was cold, and I didn't have any slippers to protect my feet from it. But I was determined to know where I was. There was a door to my right and French doors that gave way to a balcony in front of me. Either one of these exits could give me more information about where I was and who had brought me here.

I fell to the floor, losing my strength. I was tired. My legs hurt and I felt clumsy like the Little Mermaid when she tried to use her new limbs for the first time. I forced myself to get up with the help of the bed and moved forward, with tiny steps, sending the sting of sharp needles down my legs with each movement.

I gave up and let my body rest on the floor, swallowing my tears and my pain. Placing my head on the blanket, I tried to recall what had happened. I woke up with a nightmare. Not a nightmare, it was real. I had almost died until I was saved by a mythical creature who took me in his arms and flew away. I had screamed and begged him to put me down. Until I probably lost my senses because I was nauseated and dizzy when I looked down and saw Paris filled with lights. The last thought I remember having was that I was so wrong to envy Lois Lane and her walks in the clouds with Superman. Flying was overrated. It was scary, and the temperature would drop to extremes. I hated flying!

I was distressed. I wanted to climb back in bed but couldn't. I didn't have any strength left. I wanted my mom and my dad, wherever they were. They must be worried about me. I didn't go back to my uncle's place. And I was having weird hallucinations with imaginary places and beings. Maybe I was still hallucinating, and I was, in fact, in a hospital room, and there were nurses there to help me.

"Please help. Please help me! I don't know where I am," I pleaded, first low and then louder.

I needed help. Tears fell down and I gripped the blanket and tried to move up to the bed. I needed the security of the sheets and the pillows to make all the hurt go away. I needed to sleep again. I was so tired! Everything was spinning.

"Please help me."

Someone must have heard me because I felt strong arms picking me up from the floor and placing me on the bed. I was so thirsty! I tried to open my eyes, but it was pointless. The blanket covered me, giving me a sense of security.

"I'm thirsty. Please, I need water," I mumbled, hoping that the person next to me was kind enough to assist me.

I felt a hand on my back, pulling me up, and a glass touched my lips. I grabbed the glass with my own two hands and drank from it, almost losing my breath in the process.

When I finished, I opened my eyes and saw him.

I blinked once, twice.

He took the glass from my hands and sat next to me. My cheeks burned. Heaven sure has beautiful angels. Or he was a hot doctor. I thought that hot doctors only existed on TV. Guess I was wrong. But he wasn't wearing a white coat or even green or blue scrubs like the nurses. He wore a white cotton sweatshirt and a pair of blue jeans. He had blond, ruffled hair and stunning blue eyes. He was muscular and tall. His eyes were on me, making me feel shy, and I had no idea why he was helping me.

"Thank you," I whispered.

I wanted to say something else, but my eyes were heavy. I closed them and felt his hand holding mine. It was nice and warm. It made me smile just before I gave in to sleep, again.

***

 CEDRIC

The process had begun. I no longer turned to stone when the sun came up. I'd found my mate, and I had thirty-one days to make her fall in love with me. I had left her unaccompanied for a while, and she woke up weak and scared. She slept most of the night and day. It was normal. The transformation drained her. She needed to rest, but I couldn't help my impatience.

I tried to go outside to the gardens and enjoy the sunlight. It's been decades since I felt the sun on my skin. When I turned eighteen, I became a gargoyle, and my curse was triggered. For now, it was in a dormant state. I was allowed to be awake during the day until my soul-mate and I became mates for eternity. Or until she failed to love me, and I turned into a stone statue forever.

As enticing as the sun and the flowers were, I'd rather stare at her. It wasn't a creepy obsession. It was just that she looked beautiful while sleeping, and I wanted to be there when she opened her eyes again. I didn't believe that it was possible to fall in love at first sight. I knew nothing about her. Okay, that wasn't true. I knew she had a beautiful and kind soul, and she had tried to explain logically all that happened to her. She had a lovely name, too. She was brave. Other than that, I didn't know if she liked roses, lilies, or any other flower. If she preferred pink to blue. What is her favorite song? Nevertheless, she was meant to be mine from now on.

I was restless. The war was imminent. The vampires broke the rules. A meeting was arranged to discuss the events of the previous night. By the time my gargoyles found the boat, where my soul-mate had been, there weren't any vampires there. There were only humans confused by what had happened and a dead body of a beheaded vampire. We weren't the ones who decapitated him. His own kind had done that. There were claw marks. My men also found the girls in the basement. They had their memories erased and didn't know what they were doing there, but there were bite marks on their necks and signs of abuse. Sexually molesting their victims was against the rules. But we couldn't start a war without hearing the other side. Therefore, I had arranged a meeting with the king of the vampires.

I needed the girl's testimony as proof of the vampire's actions. I also needed her to recognize the dead vampire as the one who tried to hurt her and rejected her. I wasn't sure about what happened. But he was the only one found dead and left behind. I was assuming that another vampire took care of him.

The news about the suicide of a girl in the Seine was in all the newspapers. No one knew who she was. Maybe they would have more information in the afternoon newspaper. The fact that she was presumed dead and they were draining the river for her body was perfect for my plans. Aria wasn't going to go back to her old life. She was mine from now on. At least, for the next thirty-one days. After that, if I disappeared, she could do whatever she wanted with her existence. Still, I wasn't planning to let her go. I wanted her to fall in love with me so that we could become angels. She was going to experience her transformation harder than me. I have to be next to her to make the pain go away. I also need to help her understand and practice her new abilities.

I held her hand, placing it against my lips. Closing my eyes, I inhaled her scent. My body was experiencing yearning and desire. My heart was beating fast, and my skin was quivering with pleasure just from touching her.

"You better wake up soon, darling, or I'll have to wake you up with a kiss," I whispered in her ear, smiling at this thought.

There was a fairy tale that ended with a prince kissing a princess and waking her up. My fairy tale could start like that.