Archangel's Kiss Read online

  ARCHANGEL’S

  KISS

  THE CURSED ANGELS SERIES

  Book 1

  Anna Santos

  Copyright © 2017 Anna Santos

  All rights reserved.

  Inquiries about additional permissions should be directed to:

  [email protected]

  Cover Design by Moonlight Ljilja

  Edited by Crystal Services

  Proofread by May Freighter

  Revised by Crystal Services

  2nd Edition, all rights reserved.

  Archangel’s Kiss was formerly published as Captive in the Angels of Paris Chronicles.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to similarly named places or to persons living or deceased is unintentional.

  CURRENTLY AVAILABLE:

  ARCHANGEL’S KISS – Book 1

  ARCHANGEL’S FIRE – Book 2

  ARCHANGEL’S AWAKENING – Book 3

  ANGEL’S TOUCH – Book 4

  For an updated list of books, and to have access to my upcoming releases, check my website:

  www.annasantosauthor.com

  Or Facebook:

  https://www.facebook.com/AnnaSantosAuthor

  You can also sign up for my Newsletter to get a notification the day a new book comes out and find more about my other books and giveaways. Join The Cursed Angels Newsletter and receive a screensaver. The direct links can be found on my website.

  These books are dedicated to everyone who believes in true love.

  CONTENT

  CURRENTLY AVAILABLE:

  CONTENT

  BOOK DESCRIPTION

  Chapter ONE

  Chapter TWO

  Chapter THREE

  Chapter FOUR

  Chapter FIVE

  Chapter SIX

  Chapter SEVEN

  Chapter EIGHT

  Chapter NINE

  Chapter TEN

  Chapter ELEVEN

  Chapter TWELVE

  Chapter THIRTEEN

  Chapter FOURTEEN

  Chapter FIFTEEN

  Chapter SIXTEEN

  Chapter SEVENTEEN

  Chapter EIGHTEEN

  Chapter NINETEEN

  Chapter TWENTY

  Chapter TWENTY-ONE

  Chapter TWENTY-TWO

  Chapter TWENTY-THREE

  Chapter TWENTY-FOUR

  Chapter TWENTY-FIVE

  Chapter TWENTY-SIX

  Chapter TWENTY-SEVEN

  Chapter TWENTY-EIGHT

  Chapter TWENTY-NINE

  Chapter THIRTY

  Chapter THIRTY-ONE

  Chapter THIRTY-TWO

  Chapter THIRTY-THREE

  Chapter THIRTY-FOUR

  Chapter THIRTY-FIVE

  Chapter THIRTY-SIX

  Chapter THIRTY-SEVEN

  More About The Author

  BOOK DESCRIPTION

  Archangel’s Kiss

  Book 1 of The Cursed Angels Series

  Aria loses her humanity after being saved by a monster she believed only to exist in horror stories. But everything isn’t what it seems when her savior becomes a handsome angel prince who awakened her ancient and deadly powers. Powers that can destroy the world, or save it.

  Only true love can break the prince’s curse and stop him from turning into stone for all eternity. Despite the overwhelming chemistry between Aria and the prince, they only have thirty days to fall in love before their bond is put to the test.

  Peril strikes in the form of an addictive drug that can kill vampires and angels are to blame. Conflict is blooming, and the peace treaty between the Angel Prince and the Vampire King is threatened.

  Aria is caught in a love triangle when the Vampire King discovers that the girl he had refused to take as his is now the prince’s new mate. Tormented by the rash decision that almost killed her, the king now believes that he’s saving Aria from the clutches of the manipulative prince.

  Finding out that supernatural creatures exist becomes less terrifying for Aria than discovering what she’s destined to become if she lets her Archangel’s abilities take over and change her.

  Aria is much more than the average, eighteen-year-old girl who wanted to find the cure for cancer. She’s now a deadly Archangel warrior and the future queen of the angels and gargoyles if only she can manage to break her lover’s curse and keep the Vampire King at bay.

  Chapter ONE

  THE PRINCE OF ANGELS

  The alarm sounded loud and clear, warning everybody in the palace. I hoped that this 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 hearing things. Yet, the alarm kept ringing, warning about the existence of a rejected soul wandering the streets of Paris. My heart raced in 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 further. Sometimes, it was challenging to distinguish anything as 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 enchanting 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.

  My 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 in 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—a girl was 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 utterly spellbound by the celestial light that surrounded her.

  Arriving at her location, I flew lower. Stretching my arms out, I grabbed her by her arms and made 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, unaware that she was safe because she kept praying and crying as she clutched 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, but 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 wasn’t a problem as angels and gargoyles understood all languages across the world.

  When her arms released my neck, and her feet touched the ground, I was able to see her tangled dark hair in front of her face and the soaked clothes glued to her fragile body. I brushed the tousled hair away from her pretty face while noticing her silky white skin, her doll face, and her pale, plump lips.

&n
bsp; It had never occurred to me that I could crave so intensely to bond with a soul, even before looking into the girl’s eyes and knowing if we were a match or not. But everything about her made me desire her., especially the bright and fantastic light surrounding her. She had the most beautiful soul I had ever seen. She would make a perfect queen. If only I could choose, I would want 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 into the river?”

  “Vampires,” she whispered, hugging herself and falling to the ground in a sitting position. “I'm so tired,” she whimpered. “You have to save them.” Raising her head, she stared at me with big brown eyes that made my entire being tremble as my heart felt 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 skin tingled throughout my body as my heart pounded. I almost kneeled 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 we-re say-ing that they were go-ing to drink my blood.” She paused to breathe. “There were other girls on 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.

  Yet, her words made me mad at the vampires. They were disobeying the rules. They were hurting girls and 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 at her.

  I crouched in front of her. “Can't you see what I am? Aren't you afraid?”

  “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, bounding 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 whip 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 my angelic, once dormant, powers was transforming her being, curing her, and fixing her soul while sealing it with mine. Our new bond would make her stronger and enhance her senses. She was becoming a better version of herself. 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 turn us permanently into angels.

  I was so in awe of her transformation, and by finally finding my perfect mate, that when she shrieked, I was momentarily startled, unsure why she was frightened. Until I realized, she was screaming because she was able to see my real 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. 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 be 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 costly, and I had been planning to do it when I graduated.”

  “You're welcome,” I replied, not sure 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 powerful 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 out. “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 hallucinating with mythical beings? Is this a dream or just a confusing nightmare? I 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 intelligent, but it was too much to cope with for a human to discover the existence of a supernatural world, be rejected, and almost die, all in the sa
me night.

  “So, they were 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 managing 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 answering, “I had to run from the vampires because they wanted to hurt me.”

  “Did they throw you in the river?” I wanted to understand better 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 a brave one. I can't swim!”

  “That makes you even braver,” I declared, taking pride in her actions.

  “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 on a boat, and we went to the cargo hold. I saw them there. They seemed to be 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? Was 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?”