Archangel's Kiss

Chapter THIRTEEN

 PHILIPPE

Those self-righteous and obnoxious gargoyles had the nasty habit of ruining my plans. We had come to a truce in the last eighty years. Some basic rules were established, so we could have a cordial relationship. Yet, I had my ways to do whatever I wanted and get away with it. I was planning to finish with them once and for all. Nevertheless, secrecy is the best way to ensure victory. Soon enough, those wannabe angels would be cast away for good from this realm and be stuck in their own.

The worst thing about living in Paris was that I could see through the veil into their realm. I could see the dark mountains and the horrific, big castle on the edge of a cliff, glaring at the city like the red eye of Sauron.

If only I could close the veil, they wouldn't be able to fly across to Paris.

Gargoyles wouldn't attack a vampire if the vampire was only feeding. We are allowed to feed. After all, we need blood to exist. But, we aren't allowed to kill. If a vampire kills a human, there are serious consequences. Aria falling into the river was troublesome.

Nevertheless, I was pretty decent at damage control. I was able to convince the police that the girl jumped, and my men were merely trying to help. We enthralled some of the guests to corroborate our version of the facts. We reached the tourist boat and got the pictures they had taken without any casualties. And the gargoyles had done a great job at taking the girls from the boat and getting rid of the vampire's body prior to the police's arrival. They could despise us, but they didn't want the humans to find out about the existence of supernatural beings and their petty conflicts.

The newspapers didn't know who the girl was. I made Sean bring his little toy with him and compel her to go home and give the sad news of her cousin's suicidal jump to her parents. Gabby's recount of the events would be crucial in making Aria look like a depressed girl. It would make her story seem plausible and cause it to look like a cry for attention when she eventually showed up. I was sure that Cedric would return her home safe and sound. He was an honorable man. I was also hoping he could curtail her version of the facts to somewhat go along with the story I had fabricated.

By the time the sun was coming up, I was satisfied with what I had accomplished. However, I was not prepared to receive an arrogant angel in my headquarters with an urgent message requesting an audience with Cedric in one of his houses in Paris. We had places in the city to meet our allies. From the looks of the message, Aria had revealed too much and had described everything that happened in the basement.

Consequently, I was being summoned to explain why vampires were breaking the rules. I had to come up with a credible excuse by the end of the day. They didn't seem to realize that it had been my fault, and I was planning to keep it that way, so it would look favorably on me. I could manipulate things to my advantage. Give him some useless vampires to kill in return for keeping the peace among us. Blame some random rogue vampires to take the suspicion off me. It wouldn't be the first time. There were a lot of things I could do to keep Cedric content and the peace treaty intact.

There was just a small thing I needed to take care of. So, I used an insider. I enthralled Aria's cousin to keep me in the loop. I wanted and needed to know when Aria would return home. I had some urgent affairs to discuss with her that would be beneficial to us both. I couldn't have my mate running around the streets of Paris, smelling delicious, making me lose focus, and growing a conscience that I've long since chosen to ignore. I needed to send the girl away and remove her from my dangerous world. I didn't want Cedric to use her to his advantage. 

  ═════════════ ೋღ♥ ღೋ ═════════════════╗

Keep voting and commenting :)

Thank you to the ones that are voting and also the ones that do both (comment and vote) :) I really appreciate it.