Kiss of an Angel(Book one Of The Phoenix Chronicles)

The Beginning

Hi, I'm Angel, Angel Clare Michal. My life is a mess. My mom died three years ago, so I live with my dad, my brother Zachariah (Zack), my sister Skylar, Sebastian and Derek the bodyguards. I live in a castle, in a land called Arcadia.

"Angel! where's the dog!" My sister screams.

"Shard's with me and she's a wolf, not a dog!"

"They're the same thing! The stupid Gnomes won't leave me alone." She whines. She has a fear of Gnomes, and no one knows why.

"Shard, go to her so she stops whining." I order. Shard happily wags her white tail and runs out the door. I sigh. Nothing is special about me. My sister is a fairy, my brother is somehow a demon, and my father has a Unicorn. A Unicorn!! I turn around and look at myself in the mirror. I sigh as I grab my brush and crown. I notice something at the corner of my eye.

"Sebastian! Get out of my room! Don't make me unleash my Hellhound!"

"Fine. Just don't let him out! Remember what happened last time? The castle was on fire." He says as he comes up behind me and places a hand on my shoulder.

"Tell me one thing. Why don't I have any magic except the fact that I ride Dragons and Pegasuses because I can't fly with wings like the rest of the family?"

"Umm... We discovered our magic when we turned sixteen. You are only fifteen and you have a month before your birthday. So, that's why." I make a pouty face.

"It's not fair! Oh, and also you can leave the castle grounds. I can't leave the kingdom, but I can fly over it." He hugs me.

"Just wait. You'll be free soon."

"Not soon enough. What are you looking at!?" He's staring out the window. A loud roar makes me jump. I sigh. It's just Drago. He wants out of the stables. I run out of the room and jump over the railing. Landing feet first and unharmed. I run past my Dad. He has a quizzical look on his face. I find the dragon clawing at the gate made of a demon metal.

"What do you want now? A ride around the kingdom? Wait, what's that? Is that blood?" I take a step towards the red pool of blood near the stables. It's too red to be human blood. Is that vampire blood? I don't have time to stare at it. I look behind the stables. A boy is slumped over one of the knights. The boy looks up at me. His eyes are blood red. I freeze for a second. 

"Vampire..." I hiss. I draw my sword.

"I'm not looking for any trouble." He grins. His smile is a little crooked.

"That's hard to say while standing over the body of one of my guards. Why are you here?" The vampire flips his black hair out of his eyes.

"I came here... for you." 

"For me? Who sent you?"

"I can't tell you that my dear."

"Don't call me that. I'm Angel."

"I'm Vladimir." He steps into the sun.

"Of course. Wait, you're not burning. That's not possible!" I say in a harsh whisper.

"I am a special vampire. Take my hand." I've seen plenty of handsome boys, but he was gorgeous. Even for a vampire. I take his hand. He pulls me towards him. I should pull away but I don't want to. Stupid Encanto! He is only inches from my face. He smells like vanilla and blood. I feel drawn to him. I don't know why.

"Angel! Where are you! We're worried."

"My bodyguard, you have to go." I cross my arms and smile diabolically.

"I'll see you soon." He kisses my cheek, then disappears along with the body. I tense as a hand is placed on my shoulder.

"God, we've been looking for you. You look like you saw a ghost." As Sebastian says this I do see a ghost, the ghost of my mother.Sometimes I see her. Mostly when something weird happens to me.

"I did. Mom." 

"Oh, let's go inside." I still smell vanilla. I reach into my pocket, I pull out a note. It's from Vladimir, I smile at the thin spidery handwriting.

As I lay in bed I think of Vladimir. On the note he wrote that he would meet me tonight in the garden by the creek. I argue with myself. I shouldn't go. It's a trap. I should go. Maybe he can tell what's going on outside of the kingdom walls. I' ll go any way , but not unarmed.

I sneak past the sleeping guard, into the yard, and towards the creek.

"I'm here. Where are you?" I whisper.

"Turn around Angel." I turn around to see Vladimir leaning against the old oak tree. I'm tempted to run towards him and hug him, even though I've only just met him earlier today.

"What are you?" I take a step towards him.

"I'm like you, a Hybrid." He is officially crazy.

"Hybrid? I thought that was a legend."

"No, they are very real. They live in secret. No one has ever met one in person."

"Wow, so you think I am a Hybrid?" I look past him towards the creek.

"I know what you are. You might not know it, but I do." Vlad is officially freaking me out. He takes a step towards me and pushes my hair out of my face. He looks into my night-sky-in-hell blue eyes. I feel my face getting hotter. Dang it! Stop blushing you worthless, but beautiful face! Vlad's fangs slide out. My eyes become wide with fear. I can't move, I'm frozen. He aims for my neck. As soon as he bites me I hear someone come up behind him. They grab him from the back of his coat and tears him off of me. My hand immediately goes to my neck. Vlad's attacker is Sebastian. I run in between them and say, "Stop! Someone tell me what's going on!"

"How 'bout we look at the fact that you were just attacked by a vampire!" Sebastian says matter-of-factly. 

"I didn't attack her! I was testing her!"

"Testing her for what?!"

"She may be one of the last Hybrids!"

"Hybrid? That's a myth." Vlad glares at Sebastian.

"I can prove they are not a myth." Vlad grabs my arm and pulls my sleeve up to reveal my birthmark of an ancient rune on my shoulder.

"See? This is the Hybrid birthmark."

"How do you know?"

"I have it too. See right here." Vlad shows his birthmark on his shoulder.

"It can't be! No one must know about this. Got it Bloodsucker?" Vlad snickers.

"If Hybrids are appearing once again, everyone will know. There is no way to hide it."