When a Vamp Falls

by A. M. Griffin

  He used his knuckles to stroke the side of her face. “If you didn’t give his gift back you can’t give mine back. Graduation gifts are meant to be kept. No givebacks.”

  She pinned his arms to the bed and claimed his mouth, raining him with kisses. “I can’t believe you did that,” she said between each one.

  He chuckled and let her shower him with love. Her man.

  “Should I tell you that I paid off your house and car, too?”

  She froze, staring at him open-mouthed.

  “When Marcos pulled your credit report he figured it was best to clear all your debts.”

  She sat back in shock. All her debts?

  He lifted his finger. “As a graduation present.”

  Dani felt the smile stretching across her face. “You are something else, Ramsey Moreau.”

  “So that settles that.”

  “I’ll have to explain things to Jamie, my dad and Bride.”

  Bride.

  Fear slammed into her. “Bride!” She pushed away and searched for her cell phone. “Alex said that he would go after her if I didn’t cooperate. I have to tell her to hide.” Dani ran her hands through the tussled blanket. Where is it? Her stomach clenched, forcing bile up her throat. If something happened to Bride…

  Ramsey reached over to grab his cell phone off a side table. “Don’t worry. I’ve already asked Vallus to get your sister and Libby.”

  Although she breathed a sigh of relief, Dani still searched for her phone. “I have to let her know that I’m safe and let her know to expect Vallus.” Bride wouldn’t appreciate a stranger showing up to whisk her away from everything that she knew. Especially a vampire. Not after what Alex had done to her. “With Alex taking me, her nerves are probably already on ten. I don’t want her trying to fight Vallus or anything.”

  Ramsey punched a text into his phone and smirked. “Don’t you dare warn her. Let her give Vallus a run for his money. He just told me that he was up for some fun.”

  She watched Ramsey anxiously, and he looked too happy sending his text. “He isn’t going to hurt her, is he?”

  “No, nothing like that.” He set his phone down and snuggled with her.

  “Bride isn’t going to appreciate being trapped here.” Dani pulled her lower lip into her mouth, thinking about Bride under Ramsey’s roof. Bride didn’t have a filter. This was going to be a challenge.

  “She wants to live, doesn’t she?”

  Dani nodded.

  “Then she won’t mind being here.”

  “But what about my dad and Jamie, Ramsey? Do you think Angelina will go after them, too?”

  Ramsey pinched his brows together. “Does Alex know about them?”

  She’d always kept things work-related with Alex. If Bride hadn’t been over that night he came, Alex wouldn’t have known about her either. Dani shook her head.

  “Good. But I think you should delete your Friend Book account, getting rid of anything personal about you that’s out there. They should be safe.”

  Worry made her frown. “But what if he does find out about them?”

  “There’s a security agency that’s owned by pair of vampire brothers. They have both human and vampire employees. I’ll call them now. They’ll keep a far enough distance so Jamie and your dad won’t know that they’re being protected, but close enough to defend them if needed. There’s no use in disrupting their lives if we don’t have to.”

  Dani settled into the crook of his arm as he called Marcos and told him of his plan.

  Ramsey disconnected the line and ran a soothing hand down her arm. “Don’t worry, love. This nightmare will be over as soon as I find Angelina and her fledglings. When I do, I’ll kill them all.”

  A calm serenity covered her as she drifted to sleep, snuggled in the arms of the man she loved. “Is it bad that I want people to die?”

  He kissed her forehead. “Not at all.”

  Epilogue

  Angelina’s footsteps were soft on the marble floor. Her gown, soft and feathery, brushed against her ankles as she walked. The blue and grey dress had chiffon, Egyptian silk, and diamonds encrusted in the bodice. The dress’s designer was one of the world’s most famous. All of the major design houses were vying for his attention, trying their best to steal him from his independent company. Celebrities and the highest political figures alike clamored for one of his pieces.

  Angelina smiled slyly.

  Everyone wanted the designer that she had eating out of the palm of her hand. Normally she wouldn’t have worn such a special dress unless she was sure to be seen by hundreds of people.

  But tonight was a special occasion.

  Angelina reached the large double metal doors. Simultaneously, she looked into the retina scanners and placed both hands on the palm readers. After three seconds the security system beeped green, and the large lock inside of the reinforced metal walls turned on its gears. When the door finally opened she strolled inside with her newest fledglings behind her.

  The room, her secure vault, housed her most precious objects. The objects she’d acquired over the centuries. The items she wouldn’t dare bring out of her vault in fear that they would fall into the wrong hands, which would be anyone who took them away from her.

  “Touch anything and I’ll kill you,” she stated. She didn’t expect a reply and wasn’t given one. Alex and Antonio followed closely behind her.

  She knew Alex and Antonio were probably curious about where they were and took guesses about the objects that were so precious that she needed to hide them away. Their eyes were most likely roaming from one treasure chest to the others. She didn’t doubt they wanted to open them and rifle through the goodies inside. Alex and Antonio probably salivated over the weapons that hung on the walls, some in cases and some alone, and itched to get a hold of one of them.

  Her treasures meant a lot to her. Some artifacts were worth more money than anyone, including a vampire, could accumulate in a lifetime. And others, while they didn’t have a monetary value affixed them, were priceless.

  Angelina stopped at a glass case and let her fingers rest on the corners. She glanced down at the thick book secured inside. An exhilarating charge went through her. She could barely contain the excitement that came over her at the possibility of confirming her suspicion. The leather binding was old and weathered despite being encased in a temperature-controlled room, and the pages were yellow and aged.

  “What’s that?” Alex asked.

  “This is a very special medical journal.”

  “And?”

  She closed her eyes briefly and tried to rein in her anger. One of these nights she would take off his head. But right now, she needed him. Ramsey hated Alex more than he did her at the moment. Alex would come in handy one day soon and for that purpose would remain alive.

  Angelina opened her eyes. “This is the book that one of vampire doctors kept all of his human experiments in.”

  “Human experiments? Like drug companies?”

  Poor stupid boy. “No. Not the same as ‘drug companies’. Those companies are regulated by their governing agencies. Vampires don’t have such an agency. We do whatever we want, to whomever we want. That’s why the information between these pages is invaluable.”

  “Wait. So, are you talking about torture?” Alex asked.

  Angelina lifted off the lid and set it aside. “That’s what the vampire council eventually convicted them of.” The doctors who’d performed the experiments located in the journal had begged for their lives when they were caught experimenting on humans. The council had believed they were too dangerous to live with humans. There’d been a short trial, then poof. They were killed instantly. It had taken Angelina years of digging to finally find the records of their experiments.

  Angelina slipped her hands into the soft gloves that were set to the side of the journal. Only when the gloves were on did she dare touch the book, opening it gently. She scanned the pages, quickly moving from one page to the next, looking for a very
specific entry. She’d read the book hundreds of times, giddy that only she had exclusive access to the knowledge within.

  She found the entry that she searched for.

  The subject’s red blood cells are flat and round. Oxygenation carrying ability is within normal limits. The subject’s red blood cell count is at 5.1 microliters, which is normal. The only defining factor that separates this subject from the others is the way that vampires react after consuming his blood. Vampires have experienced vivid hallucinations that they believe to be visions of the future. Each vampire has experienced different hallucinations, and two have reported to have experienced a common theme. One of the vampires in question has described seeing the death of Hitler and the other reported the fall of the Third Reich. Both vampires believe that this will happen in the near future but cannot discern a date or time. More experiments will be conducted.

  Excitement coursed through her. She ran her finger across the scribbled text. “I can’t believe this is real.”

  “Mistress?” Antonio asked.

  “When I fed from Danya, I had a vision. I saw myself sitting on a great throne. The Creator’s. I will be Queen of the Vampires one day, my love.”

  She just knew it.

  She skimmed the book to find another entry.

  Vampires continue to feed from the subject. The visions continue, some recurring. But what is remarkable is that the vampires are experiencing healing in injuries and defects that had occurred before they were changed. One vampire had a three-inch scar from his eye to his cheek that had occurred when he was a human boy. After feeding from the subject six times, the scar has vanished and been replaced with smooth skin.

  Angelina touched her head. She was well aware of the damage that she’d incurred when she’d taken the poison and tried to guilt Ramsey into turning her. She’d never been the same since. Sometimes thoughts got jumbled, and she couldn’t work through the mess to figure out what was right and what was wrong. If she could return to her normal thinking, nothing would be able to stop her.

  She continued to read.

  Since the subject’s blood appears to have healing ability, we have decided to let one of the vampires feed from the subject then during the day put the vampire in the sun. We have asked for volunteers, but none have come forth. None have listened to our reasoning that the sun is harmful because it burns through the vampire’s body. We believe that since the subject’s blood has healing properties that as the sun burns, the vampire’s body will regenerate and heal itself. We will attempt this experiment in the near future, as the vampires have become wary of us for bringing up our latest quest.

  Angelina flipped through the rest of the pages, but found nothing more about this subject or this experiment. Shortly thereafter the vampire council found out what was going on and put a stop to all human experiments.

  Did this subject live or die? She would never know. But what she did know was that the subject and Danya shared the same characteristics in their blood. All she had to do was get Danya back and conduct her own experiments.

  Angelina closed the book and took off her gloves. She gently placed the lid over her precious book. “Change of plans.” She turned and strolled from the room with them following her. When they were out she engaged the locks.

  Antonio and Alex waited for her to continue. They watched her with intense curiosity.

  “I no longer wish to rule by Ramsey’s side.”

  If Danya’s blood was able to heal her brain, Angelina would be dangerous. If Danya’s blood allowed Angelina to walk during the day, she would be invincible.

  Now all she had to do was get her hands on Danya Evans.

  “I know the secret weapon that will allow me to rule them all.”

  The End

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