“You could make a million fledglings and I would cut through them all to kill you,” Ramsey vowed.
“B-but I love you,” Angelina cried.
Her crocodile tears and pitiful looks meant nothing to him. It was time for her to die. “You don’t know the meaning of love,” he spat. “Even from very beginning, I’d understood your love for me wasn’t genuine. But when you abandoned our girls when they needed you the most, I knew then that you were a monster.”
A low rumble came from her throat. “I do know what love is! I love myself.” She pulled heavy chains from her chest. “I love the life that I have.” She opened her arms, spreading the chains out. It wasn’t one, but many chains intertwined. “And I won’t let your feelings for this human dog get in the way of that.”
Ramsey eyed the weapon that she held. Although the chains looked inconsequential, he knew better. Everything in the chest she guarded would be a weapon.
Alex galloped toward him on all fours. Ramsey turned to kick him in the head. He lifted his foot, and with all the blood covering the ice on the ground, he slipped. He flailed in the air, trying to right himself with muscles that wouldn’t cooperate. He hit the ground with a thump, smacking his head, hard.
Alex was on him, his hands around Ramsey’s neck. “She’s mine! She’s mine!” Nothing but crazy fury was in his eyes. Spittle of blood came from his mouth.
Ramsey fought through the pain that coursed around his shoulder to fist his fingers through Alex’s hair. “She. Is. Mine.” He let his weak arm fall, bringing Alex’s head with it. Ramsey tore into Alex’s neck, again and again, until Alex was ripped from his grip.
Before Ramsey could jump to stand, Angelina threw the chains over him, and immediately the little energy he had slipped away.
Antonio rushed forward to jump on him, but Angelina blocked him with an arm.
“We can kill him while he’s down.”
Angelina tilted her head to the side. “He’s my husband.”
“But he wants to kill you and us!” Antonio tried to push Angelina’s unmoving arm out of the way.
“This?” Angelina giggled. “This is just a fight between lovers.”
Ramsey tried to move the chains. Even though they weren’t heavy he couldn’t get them off his body. “What is this?” he demanded.
Angelina crouched to stare in his eyes. “A reminder,” she whispered. “You live to serve me. You’re just too stubborn to see that.”
Ramsey growled and stuck his fingers through the chains, trying to grab onto her. “Take this off of me so we can talk about this properly.”
Angelina touched the chains as if she was about to comply. Antonio yelped and pushed her hand away. “Don’t listen to him, my love.”
Angelina turned toward Antonio and blinked. Ramsey could see the confusion behind her eyes. Then as if she’d worked the puzzle out in her head, she nodded and stood.
Ramsey roared out, seeing his last chance to get to her slipping away. “Angelina!”
“You almost had me.” She looked at Ramsey and smiled. “See? I’m not the nitwit that you think I am.”
“When I get free from this I will find you and I will kill you.”
Angelina giggled and winked at him. “You’ll come around to seeing things my way. I’m sure of it.”
Alex gurgled somewhere to his right. Angelina turned her attention toward the sound.
Ramsey punched the ice underneath. If he couldn’t toss the chains from his body, then he would dig his way to freedom. Angelina whipped her head to stare at Ramsey. He balled his feet and struck the ice again. This time it cracked. Another punch and he had a nice sized hole.
Angelina gasped. “Y-you shouldn’t be able to do that. The spear should’ve damaged any tissue it touched, and the chains should drain all of your strength.”
Ramsey smiled at her, showing her his fangs. He punched the ice again. More broke away. “This is what love looks like.” He punched. He now had enough room for his head to fit through.
“If you aren’t going to kill him we have to get out of here!” Antonio pulled on her arm.
Angelina staggered back. “But … but…”
Ramsey had enough room to slide the top half of his body inside. The only thought fueling him was killing Angelina and keeping Dani safe. He punched and punched, throwing blocks of ice out of his way as he made his way to freedom. When he emerged on the other side of the chains he wasn’t surprised to find that he was alone in the cavern. The aches and pain in his body made him want to roll over to rest and repair. But his mind screamed for him to keep going. He wouldn’t rest until Dani was safe.
He pushed himself to stand and stumbled to the exit. Just as he’d somehow found the strength to make his way to freedom, Ramsey clawed through the tunnel until he reached topside. He glanced around, turning in a circle. He’d asked Vallus to get her to safety, but a part of him had longed to see her there. Dani’s scent caught his nose. Her blood was evident on the previously pristine snow. He also smelled Vallus in some of it. His friend would’ve stopped the bleeding, in time, Ramsey hoped.
The last thought was what gave him the strength to bend his knees and jump as far as he could into the sky. He headed to New Orleans. To Dani.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Warmth surrounded Dani. She snuggled deeper underneath the thick blanket and moaned. The bed was so soft. She must’ve been lying on clouds. This was pure heaven.
Heaven.
Dying.
A small memory tugged on her.
Cold.
Fighting.
Angelina.
Ramsey.
Alex.
Antonio.
Wait. Is this really heaven?
Dani snapped her eyes open in a panic and sat up. “Ramsey!”
“I’m here, love.”
She looked down to find the handsomest man in the world stretched out on the bed next to her. Ramsey looked the part of a god. His hair was messed up and he looked as though he’d missed a few nights of sleep, but he was perfect in every way. He was shirtless. Possibly bottomless, too, but with the sheet covering his hips she couldn’t tell. Fine dark hairs dotted his chest and down to his six pack of perfectly muscled abs.
Damn. Ramsey was one fine specimen.
She had to pull her eyes off him in order to think straight. She specifically remembered freezing to death in Antarctica. “What happened? Where am I?” She glanced around the room, and immediately she recognized the chaise off to the side. The television on the dresser. The chest of drawers. And how could she have forgotten the bed that they’d made love in? She was at Ramsey’s house. Safe. That she felt in her bones. “But how?”
“Vallus brought you home. You were unconscious. Your body heat was already dangerously low, and thanks to Angelina you were missing a few pints of blood, too. I had to give you some of my mine—again.”
She wrinkled her nose. “The other vampires think I stink now.”
“Good, because you’re all mine.” He pulled her down and adjusted the sheet over her shoulders.
Dani let him take care of her, fussing over her pillow and making sure that she was tucked under the blanket. “You have a habit of saving me.”
He didn’t meet her eyes, as a pain had settled behind them. “And sadly, I also have a habit of getting you into trouble, too.”
She scrunched her eyebrows. “What? No, you don’t. Unless you sent Angelina and Alex after me that is.”
He didn’t respond. He lay on his back and stared at the ceiling.
She lifted to lean over him. Her hair stroked his shoulder. “Wait. Did you send them after me?”
“Of course not.”
She gave him a soft smile. “It was a joke. I know you didn’t.”
He still wouldn’t look at her. “But it’s my fault you’re in danger. If you hadn’t met me I wouldn’t have almost drained you, Angelina wouldn’t have attacked you, and Alex wouldn’t have kidnapped you. I promised to protect you, and I f
ailed.”
“Ramsey. You couldn’t help what you did the first night we met. And Angelina and Alex? They’re both batshit crazy. I don’t blame you for them.”
“But I got you hurt.”
She sighed and flipped to her back, to stare at the pristine ceiling as he did. “Yeah, they hurt me. But you hurt, hurt me.”
“I’m sorry. I should’ve told you about Angelina before. I just … I just didn’t want to ruin what we had by bringing up the past.”
“But sometimes if you ignore the past it will come back in an expensive party dress and try to spear you to death.”
Wait.
Dani popped up again. “You—” She didn’t finish her sentence. She focused on his shoulder, running her finger across the skin she’d seen the spear sticking from. He no longer had a gaping hole there. In fact, all his holes were gone.
“Dani, I’m fine.” Finally, he met her eyes, grasping her hand into his. “I’m healed.”
“That weapon. It wasn’t normal, was it? It looked like a wood stick. But if it was, how could it have hurt you?”
“It was one of Angelina’s artifacts.” He pulled her to lie on him. She snuggled into his side, and he wrapped his arm around her, holding her close.
“I don’t understand how she had something that hurt you that bad. I didn’t think you were going to survive.”
“Angelina is heavily involved with the supernatural. Ever since she found out vampires existed—with her proof being me—she’s been obsessed. She uses her free time—which she has a lot of now—in search of supernatural artifacts. That was one of the reasons she joined the Third Reich.”
“Wait. As in Hitler’s Third Reich?”
Ramsey nodded. “Hitler had an interest in the supernatural, and he had what Angelina needed. A readily available team and resources to search the world for the artifacts she wanted to get her hands on. She showed Hitler what she was and that fueled him to ramp up his quests.”
“Oh, God, he was a monster.”
“Angelina is partly the reason for that, too. Since he knew that vampires existed he … experimented on innocents to find out what else the human body could endure or how the body reacted to changes.”
“And she got away.”
He squeezed her arm. “I’ll find her again. Her ego won’t let her hide away for long.”
“Then what will you do with her?”
Ramsey was quiet.
Nothing. Because he still loves Angelina.
“I understand,” she said softly. “She’s your wife.” Her eyes watered over. She tried to pull away, but Ramsey tightened his hold.
“Was my wife.” He turned so that they faced each other. Their noses touched. “I went after her when she hurt you. I looked for her for weeks. The only thing I had on my mind was ripping her head off her shoulders. And when you’re fully recovered, I’m going back out to look for her again. This time I will find her, and I will kill her.” He pecked her on the nose.
She shouldn’t have found comfort in her boyfriend vowing to kill his ex, but she did.
She kissed him back. She wanted to forget about Angelina all together, but her words hung over Dani’s head. Dani wanted to believe Ramsey, she really did. But everything that Angelina had told her couldn’t be ignored. “You guys have such a long hist—”
Ramsey put a finger to her lips. “I’m not married to her anymore. Not legally and not in mind, body, or spirit either. I realized my mistake two thousand years ago, and I have been living with that error ever since.”
Dani nodded. “She’s pretty. I see why you fell for her.” She looked down at her body and saw breasts that were too big and stretch marks on her hips that looked like lightning bolts. Instinctively, she pulled the blanket to her shoulders.
Ramsey tugged at the cover, exposing her before him. Heat rose to her cheeks. How many beautiful women had he seen … been with? She would never be put into that category.
“On the outside Angelina is beautiful.”
Dani’s heart seemed to drop into her stomach.
“But the ugliness inside her is rotting and festering, spilling out in her attitude and actions. To know Angelina for more than a few minutes is to know her completely.”
That was true. Within a few minutes of meeting Angelina, she’d tried to have Dani kill herself via tabletop.
“I was enamored because she was so beautiful and she’d chosen me as her mate. A simple baker’s son. I did everything that I could to make her happy. I had even defied my mother and father, who saw through her act. When I realized my mistake, it was too late.”
“So you weren’t the one who changed her?”
He sighed. “Unfortunately, I’ve made many mistakes in dealing with Angelina.” He wouldn’t meet her eyes. “I was the one who changed her.”
Dani couldn’t understand it. Why would he willingly give Angelina immortality? From what he’d said earlier she hadn’t been a very good mother and Dani guess that she hadn’t been a very good wife either. “But why?”
“Angelina had been relentless in her pursuit to get me to change her. What I’d gone through was hell. I didn’t want to make anyone go through that—not even her.”
Ramsey paused, and Dani waited on baited breath for him to finish his story.
“What made you finally change her?” she asked softly when he didn’t continue his story.
“I went through an entire year of her begging, pleading, and threatening to out what I was until finally one day she made me an offer that I couldn’t refuse.”
“What was it?”
“Angelina promised to go away and leave me and the girls alone forever. She’d finally figured out the one thing that I’d wanted from her. Her absence. I’d had enough of praying she would become the wife I’d hoped for and mother the children deserved. By the time I was turned, I was exhausted with her and our marriage and just wanted to focus on my children. I agreed and changed her immediately. We stayed together for the next few nights to make sure the change was successful, and then she went on her way and I stayed behind with the girls. I paid a neighbor’s wife to help me out during the day, and the girls and I continued our routine at night. We were finally happy.”
“I’m sorry that your children didn’t have a good mother. I can’t imagine a mother abandoning her kids. My mother would’ve done anything she could for me.” Dani pulled her bottom lip in her mouth. If she had kids she would stop at nothing to keep them safe.
“Oddly, the girls didn’t dwell on her absence. They knew that they had one parent who would’ve moved heaven and earth for them.”
How in the world had she gotten so lucky?
“I did everything I could to protect them.” He clutched her protectively. “Now I’ll do the same for you. You’re mine, Dani.”
She could feel the heat rushing up her neck and spreading to her cheeks. Having a protector was new to her. And she liked it.
“I’ll have Marcos call a moving company in the morning. Your house should be packed up and your things delivered here before week’s end. I’m not particularity attached to anything on the main floors so feel free to put your things wherever you want and throw out anything of mine.”
Wait. The blissful smile slid from her face to make room for confusion.
“Do you want me to move in with you?”
“Um, why wouldn’t you? Angelina and her fledglings are out there. Angelina won’t rest until she gets her hands on you. I have to keep you safe.”
Could she move in with Ramsey? Spending the night together was very different from living together and invading each other’s space. Libby was the best roommate she could’ve ever wished for. Of course, she wouldn’t admit that in front of Jamie. But her and Ramsey?
Dani trailed her finger around Ramsey’s puckered nipple. “Ramsey, what about my life in California? How can you expect for me to just drop everything and come here? My job, my house, my family, my dog.” She let out a sigh. “I don’t know if we’re at t
hat stage of our relationship. Besides, what happens with this arrangement after you’ve resolved your ex problem?”
“I love you, Dani. I want you here regardless. But with her running around the move has to be sped up. What stage does that fall under?”
“I—I don’t know.” She honestly couldn’t think of a reason not to live with Ramsey. She loved him with all her heart, and she knew that in Ramsey’s arms was the only place she wanted to be.
“Dani, I’ve been alone for a very long time. I want to share my life with you. Don’t say no.”
And the blush that had left came roaring back. She nodded. “Okay. But I don’t want to sit around living off of you. I have a degree that I spent a lot of time and money on. Even if it’s part-time, I have to find a job.”
He grumbled. “But what if I want you to stay here and live off of me? There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“Well, my student loans beg to differ.”
He shifted to look at her. “Is that all?”
She chuckled. “You obviously don’t know how much college costs or know the smothering debt of student loans.”
“It’s quite costly. That’s why I had Marcos pay it off for you as a graduation present. He didn’t tell you?”
Her breath caught in her throat. She’d had to take loans out for undergraduate and graduate school. She was sure she would eventually have to use her retirement checks to keep the payments going. She sat up to look at him. “Wh-when did you do that?”
“The day before you were supposed to come to visit. I was going to surprise you.” He frowned. “But then Angelina happened. No wonder you don’t know about it.”
She wasn’t sure how to react. Never in her wildest dreams had she expected him to do something like that for her. “Ramsey, you didn’t have to do that. I’ll pay you back. I promise.”
He shook his head. “It’s my graduation gift to you. You have to accept it.”
“But this is different.”
“I saw on Friend Book that your dad gave you tickets to a concert.” He lifted his brows. “Did you return those?”
When a Vamp Falls (War of Blood and Bonds Book 1) Page 22