“Angelina,” he said slowly. “We are negotiating her release. That’s why we’re talking about her.”
“But you act like you love her more than you love me,” Angelina whined. Ramsey didn’t want to point out that he didn’t love her anymore. That would definitely get Dani killed.
“I could never love anyone more than I love you, Valicinia. You know that.”
“Actually, I don’t. You’re so enamored with her. Why?”
“You’re not thinking clearly. She’s just another human fling. Nothing special. Something to pass my time. In a few years her looks will fade. I’ll be able to smell the decaying of her body and tire of her. She’s not like us and never will be.”
“Then why are you so worried about her? You never worried about me like you are with her.”
“She’s an innocent. You know how I feel about protecting the innocents.”
She humphed. “That always was your flaw.”
“I know. But Dani isn’t like you, strong and independent. She’s weak. Fragile.”
“Right?” Angelina giggled, and the sound of her voice irritated his ears. After all these years, the simple sound of her voice made him cringe.
“After you take Dani home we’ll meet to discuss our reunion and figure out the best way to move forward. I’ll have to give you access to my wards. Just drop her off at home and come to New Orleans.”
“Wait. What’s to stop you from reneging once this idiot is home safely? You aren’t thinking about luring me into a trap, are you?”
“What good would that do me? You would just grab her again and this time even kill her.”
Angelina let out a cackling laugh. “So very true. I would give her to my hounds. They sure do like human flesh.”
“So what time are you coming over?”
Angelina went silent.
“Angelina?”
“I’ll have to think about it some more. I want to believe you, but I’m getting the feeling that you’re lying and planning on killing me after I let this pest go.”
Ramsey cursed under his breath.
“Maybe I’ll keep this human pet of yours hidden away for a few years. You know, just to make sure that you keep your promise of making me your mate again. Oh, and to make sure that you don’t kill me at the first chance you get.”
Ramsey threw his head back, letting out a ferocious growl.
“Temper, temper, temper,” Angelina sang. “I see you need some time to calm down. I’ll call you back when you’re more open to negotiate properly.”
“Angelina, I will kill you!”
She giggled. “Kill me and your pet will spend the rest of her days on her knees, pleasuring Alex.”
Ramsey’s vision turned red.
“I’ll give you time to think about that,” Angelina said.
The line went silent, and Ramsey destroyed everything in his room.
Chapter Twenty-One
Angelina disconnected the line, then turned her ire on Dani. Even with the glare that Angelina gave her, Dani sat on the floor, her legs crossed and her hands folded neatly in her lap. She kept her chin held high when all she really wanted to do was cower under the direct stare of the woman who’d tried to kill her.
Angelina sat poised on a chair. It wasn’t a regular sized chair, but more like an oversized throne. The other reason why it wasn’t regular was because it was made entirely of ice. The chair didn’t look comfortable, but Angelina draped across it as if it was fluffy and warm.
The cave Alex had brought her to was made of stone and had a dirt floor. Dani didn’t know the exact temperature, but it had to be below freezing. The water in Dani’s eyes was freezing over, making it difficult to blink. Every time she breathed in her nostrils deflated and stuck to her face. While Dani shivered, her pajamas not doing anything to keep her warm, Angelina acted as though the single digit temperature didn’t bother her in the least. The formal gown that she wore, made of gold and chiffon with a sweeping neckline, spaghetti straps and ankle length, couldn’t be the only thing keeping Angelina warm. If crazy provided warmth then Angelina must’ve been burning up.
Even as an evil bitch, Angelina was beautiful. She didn’t have the same long straight hair as before, but wore it in a short, severe bob complete with bangs. The style only brought out the arresting vibrancy of her eyes.
“I told you that I don’t mean anything to him,” Dani whispered.
Angelina tilted her head to the side and assessed Dani. “You believe that, don’t you?”
Dani thrust her chin higher.
Angelina snarled then turned away. Dani blew out a breath and watched it form as a white puff in the air. She shivered again. The biting cold settled into her bones. Her butt was numb, and her legs were stiff. Her only hope was that the sun would rise soon and the vampires fell asleep. Only then would she be able to use the tunnel to claw her way to freedom.
“Did you hear Ramsey, Dani? Your lover doesn’t want you anymore,” Alex sang. He pushed away from his post by Angelina’s side. He’d been resting his shoulder against Angelina’s throne ice chair and smirking at her during Angelina and Ramsey’s conversation.
Dani had tried her best not to cry as she’d listened to Ramsey on the speakerphone. He didn’t love or care for her. Just an innocent to help pass the time.
She would grow older, and he would stay the same. She hadn’t let herself think of the inevitable before. He spoke the truth, and that’s what hurt her the most. She’d been living in a fantasy world believing that she and Ramsey could ever have a real relationship. How long did she honestly think they would’ve lasted? Five, maybe ten years? How could she have ever thought that someone like Ramsey would’ve still cared for her when she was old and grey?
Dani blinked back the tears that tried to form again.
Alex paraded around her, doing a shuffling dance as he walked. “Ha! You got kicked to the curb. You’re all mine now.”
Alex picked up a lock of her hair, and Dani pulled her head away, not wanting him to touch her ever again. He was disgusting. The things he’d told her about himself. And what he’d tried to make Bride do. As soon as she found a sharp object she was staking him through the heart.
I wonder if I can break a piece of Angelina’s chair off and stab him while he sleeps.
Alex thrust his hand to her scalp, grabbing a handful of her hair, and tugged. Dani’s head jerked up, and something in her neck popped. Blinding pain rushed through her. She cried out. A single drop of blood spilled over her forehead.
“Alex!” Angelina yelled.
Alex held onto Dani, ignoring his mistress. The pain shot down to Dani’s spine. She couldn’t breathe. He pulled her hair out by the fistfuls. Alex growled low and leaned to her neck. His hot breath was almost a welcome against the cold.
“I can hear the blood rushing through your veins,” he whispered to her. “Your heart is beating so fast. I could drown myself in your blood, and it probably still wouldn’t be enough to satisfy what I’m feeling right now.”
Alex opened his mouth, and she tried to shrink away. His teeth grazed against her skin. Each beat of her heart threatened to burst through her chest. Dani scrambled against the floor but couldn’t break free. More blood dripped from her head. “But you stink.” His grip tightened, and she stopped fighting and cried out.
Angelina was on her chair one second and the next she had Alex’s neck in her hand. Alex released Dani, and she slumped to the ground, covering her head with an arm. Her cries came out as soft whimpers.
Angelina lifted Alex. He kicked his feet out and made gurgling noises. It was odd to see a petite woman dangling a grown man in the air. Angelina had to stretch her arm high in order to accomplish that. She glared up at him, her beautiful face now twisted and grotesque. “I can pop your head off your shoulders.”
Alex slapped at her hands and flailed, unable to speak as his vocal cords were being smashed.
“I told you that we have to keep her alive for the time being. B
ecause of his mark Ramsey will know immediately if she’s dead. He’s emotionally drawn to her right now. Kill her and he’ll go to the ends of the Earth to find us and we’ll both be dead.”
As if she were tossing a tennis ball, Angelina threw Alex. He went flying back, hitting the stone wall, forming a crack that started from where his back landed and spread in both directions, to the ground and the ceiling. Alex scrambled into a corner and pawed at his neck.
Angelina crouched, coming face to face with Dani. She raised her hand, and Dani instinctively struggled to get away. The last time Angelina had given her the same look, she’d made Dani crush her own skull.
Angelina caught Dani’s foot and pulled her back without much effort at all. Dani clawed at the ground, fighting against her. Dani didn’t win.
“You’re scared of me. I understand,” Angelina said with a pout. “You should be.” She spun Dani around to sit and raked her fingers through Dani’s hair. Dani winced from the pain, and Angelina tsked. “Newbies are always so cocky. They still think like humans. Their only concerns are ass and money.” Angelina leaned over her.
This is it. She’s going to bite me now. Dani pressed her eyes closed tight.
Wetness slid across her scalp. No pain. In fact, the pain subsided.
What?
Dani opened her eyes to find Angelina with her features mushed together like she’d just eaten something sour. Angelina stuck out her tongue and scraped her taste buds off with her fingernails.
Angelina pushed away from her and spit on the floor. “Ugh, disgusting.”
Dani touched the top of her head, expecting to feel bald spots, blood and a lot of pain. She had the bald spots all right, but no more pain. Her hand came away with clumps of hair attached to blood and a piece of scalp. Dani whimpered and thrust her hand back in her hair to pull out the rest. When she was done she had a small pile of hair and skin in front of her.
While Dani whimpered at her ever-growing hair pile, Angelina sauntered back to her chair, this time lying on her side to kick one leg over the armrest. “You were going to heal anyway since his blood is in you now, but I helped to speed the process along. I can’t return you scalped, now can I?”
Dani moved the pile between her legs. It wasn’t like she could reattach any of it, but she wanted it with her just the same. She peered at Angelina when the last sentence sank in. “You’re really going to let me go?”
Angelina giggled. God, that evil bitch was beautiful. “Oh, he’s going to see me let you go.”
“But you promised me that I can have her,” Alex whined from his corner.
Angelina nodded in Alex’s direction. “I can’t be responsible to what happens to you after I release you. Why, I could drop you off at home, safe and sound, but then Alex here could swoop down and nab you a day, a week, or even a month later. How am I supposed to know what happens to you after you leave my care?” She smirked.
Dani glanced at Alex. He wasn’t upset anymore. His eyes were full of crazy, and they were focused on her.
Dani had nowhere to run. The tunnel that Alex had brought her through had to be fifty feet long and at a ninety-degree angle to the surface. She could climb the distance, but not with it made completely of ice.
This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening.
“Ramsey won’t be able to hold me accountable for a misguided newbie,” Angelina continued. “Fledglings are so unpredictable. See, Alex here was obsessed with you when he was turned, so it’s only natural that those thoughts still remain. It might take, oh…” She glanced at the ceiling. “A hundred years or so for him to finally get you out of his system. Only then will he realize that he could have a hundred girls just like you anytime he wants.”
“I don’t want anyone else!” Alex screamed. He dropped to his hands and knees and slunk Dani’s way. “I want Danya.”
Dani whimpered and pushed away. She glanced around the cave wildly. Where could she hide? Besides the chair, there was an oversized bed, an armoire, and a few chests. She was trapped with the crazies.
Angelina took one lazy look at Alex. “Touch her again and I’ll kill you. You were only a piece of my plan. I can find another way by his side without the headache of keeping you alive.”
Alex whimpered and didn’t move any closer. Instead he rolled to his butt and sat in front of her, staring longingly. Dani didn’t know if Alex wanted to eat her or have sex with her. Both options made her shudder.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Ramsey closed his fist. Plastic and glass crumbled with ease. He opened his palm and let what remained of Marcos’s cell phone fall from his hand.
“I guess I can go to the mall tomorrow and pick up a new phone,” Marcos said, his eyes on the pieces on the floor.
Nadine gave his arm a pat. “You were due for an upgrade anyway.”
“Put it on my card.” Ramsey stormed from the room. His attention was set on one thing only. Get dressed and head to Antarctica.
“We always do!” Nadine yelled after him.
In the short time that it took him to get dressed and go to the kitchen, Nadine was helping Marcos up the stairs. He’d never left the door to his sleeping chamber unlocked and let other people roam through it when he wasn’t there before. Vampires were protective over where they slept. That was the only time they were vulnerable. When he slept he wasn’t alive—well, was even deader. He couldn’t defend or fight for himself. He hadn’t lived as long as he had by letting his guard down and allowing others in his domain. Not even his descendants. But his own safety wasn’t his main concern at the moment.
Marcos made it to the top of the stairs and coughed violently. His face flushed, sweat dotted his brows, and his breaths came out heavier than normal. Nadine watched him with worry as he turned to lock the door. She then turned that same look on Ramsey.
Ramsey gave her a short nod. Without Ramsey’s blood Marcos wouldn’t last a few months. The pancreatic cancer that he should’ve succumbed to years ago would be left to grow and metastasize unchecked.
Nadine set a cup on the counter in front of him. Ramsey lifted his sleeve, preparing to use a nail to slice open his wrist. This was part of their monthly routine. Ramsey would give Marcos a full cup of blood, and the cancer would stay at bay for a little while longer. Sixty years ago, it was only needed once a year, then twice a year, to three times a year to now every month. Even with his blood the cancer was aggressive. The only cure was full on vampirism.
Fuck cancer.
Marcos waved him off. “Don’t waste your blood on me, sir.”
“If something happens…” Ramsey trailed off.
“If something happens and you don’t make it back, I’ll spend the last few months of my life beating myself up thinking that it was because of me. That if you weren’t depleted you could’ve won against anything that Angelina put up against you.” Marcos shook his head and coughed again. “I won’t have that on me, sir. Besides, if you don’t come back, I’m a goner anyway. Giving me an extra month or two won’t do any good.”
“Wait! There’s a chance Angelina can beat you?” Nadine asked, worry made her wring her hands together.
There was no telling what Angelina had lying around. Two of her fledglings had been walking around New Orleans with an ancient bespelled weapon. He gave Nadine a short nod.
Nadine rushed to hug him. “Don’t go then. We’ll figure out another way to get Dani back.”
He kissed her lightly on the top of his head. “I have to.”
Nadine sniffled then stepped away and held out her arm. “Then take as much as you need.”
Ramsey looked at the vein throbbing in her arm. He didn’t want to take anything from her. His time was limited.
Nadine thrust her arm out again. “Here. You haven’t eaten in a while. Krista and Celine said that you haven’t gone to see them, and I know that you won’t steal from humans. You’re weak because you’ve been so focused on Dani that you haven’t taken care of yourself. You’re going to need
your strength and wits about you. If you want to save Dani, you need this.”
Sometimes Nadine was wise beyond her short years. He took her arm. “Thank you.”
Normally, he would’ve liked for her to be comfortable, resting and listening to her music or watching television, but there was no time for that. He took her where she stood. But what he could do for her was give her thoughts of being someplace safe, the thoughts that she always preferred. Her eyes glazed over, a happy smile spreading across her face, and she sighed. He’d never asked her what she thought about. His only job was to relax her and make it as enjoyable as he could.
As he finished, making sure to take just enough to revitalize himself, Vallus appeared at the kitchen entrance. Vallus didn’t have a key to his front door, but that’s not how he’d entered anyway. Vallus was the only vampire that Ramsey knew who could materialize and dematerialize. No one, including Vallus, knew how he did it.
“What are you doing here?” Ramsey asked, his hackles raised.
Ramsey used his tongue to seal Nadine’s wrist. He’d known Vallus for over a thousand years and was most likely the only friend he had in the vampire community. But Vallus was a vampire just the same. And blood was blood. He watched Vallus intently as Nadine’s wrist healed and she slowly came back to reality. Vallus watched the scene. The only indication that he was interested was his slow, rhythmic breathing. Vampires didn’t need to breathe. Vallus was luxuriating in the smell of blood in the air.
Marcos nonchalantly maneuvered between the two vampires. “I called him,” he said to Ramsey. Before Ramsey could speak Marcos added, “You might need help, and it’s best to have someone you trust at your back.”
Ramsey eased Nadine into a chair behind him. Although he didn’t take a lot of blood, he’d still taken enough for her to be slightly weak. A wounded animal wasn’t something that should be paraded around a predator.
The air became thick with tension.
When a Vamp Falls Page 20
