A Vampire for Christmas(79)
First, I’m not your amigo. Second, I paid you what was agreed upon,” Damien said and then scooped up another spoonful of the chowder. He never once looked at the vampire captain, but instead of appeasing Ramirez it only seemed to incense him.
The vampire captain reached down and with a swing of his arm, sent the plates and cups in front of Damien flying.
Damien finally looked up at the man and his two friends. She prayed for him to act carefully. Prayed for him to appease the other man rather than incite further violence.
Disappointment sank in as Damien replied, “You’ll not get another dime from me.”
I didn’t have the money to return, Angelina heard the Damien of the present mutter and finally understood. He had paid every last cent of what he had made to the grocery store owner.
Have you forgotten already, mi amigo? I never take no for an answer.” Ramirez leaned close, his pale and pockmarked face barely an inch from Damien’s.
I guess there’s a first time for everything,” Damien replied, the slow rise of anger apparent in his voice.
Son of a bitch,” Ramirez growled and grabbed hold of the collar of Damien’s woolen peacoat.
Angelina understood Damien’s burst of pain and anger at the mention of his sainted mother. Much like hate for his father had driven him a century ago, now love for his mother and her memory caused Damien’s violence to erupt.
Before Ramirez could do anything else, Damien was on him, battling the smaller man to get free of his hold. Throwing punch after punch, which finally caused the vampire captain to release him. But instead of stepping away as she hoped, Damien launched himself at Ramirez, tackling him to the ground and pounding his face, overwhelming the other vampire.
Seeing that their captain had lost the upper hand, Ramirez’s two goons jumped into the fray and so did some of the other men in the bar. They knew Damien well, and he had helped them on more than one occasion. But Angelina worried that the men were no match for Ramirez and his vampire crew.
She was not mistaken. One local man after another was flung around the room while Ramirez and Damien continued to fight. The damage to the locals only seemed to cause more violence as the remaining sailors and fishermen joined the fight. The very air grew electric, charged with aggression and hate.
But even with dozens of men engaged in the brawl, they failed to overcome Ramirez and his men, who seemed to delight in the escalation of the violence. While Damien and Ramirez wrestled and beat each other, blood pouring from their mouths and noses, Ramirez’s men decimated the town folk, gouging eyes and slashing razor-sharp nails across the other men as the crewmen watched their captain’s back.
Angelina rushed forward, urging the men she knew away from the quartet fighting in the center of the bar. They had families who needed them and could ill afford to lose a breadwinner. She laid a calming hand on one man after the next, imparting peace to them, urging them away from the fray. Eventually, she’d made her way to Ramirez’s vampire crewmen.
They were large, imposing creatures filled with such malevolence that she could feel it beat against her. But she tried to reach them anyway, hoping for peace before Damien and Ramirez killed one another.
Please let me pass. There has been enough blood shed tonight,” she urged the vampires.
The one crewman threw his head back and laughed, almost braying like a jackass, but to her surprise the second vampire gave ground. He stepped away, giving her enough space to move toward Damien and Ramirez.
She was no more than a step from them when Ramirez wildly swung his arm around and walloped the middle of her chest.
A sharp gasp escaped her. The distressed sound pierced the violence, bringing a halt to the fight.
Damien’s eyes went wide and he was quickly at her side as her knees weakened and became rubbery. Only then did the pain register.
As he slowly lowered her to the ground, she looked down and saw the hilt of the knife protruding from her body. Felt the warmth drain from all her extremities, leaving behind cold and weakness.
You should not have interfered, Raphael’s voice boomed, chastising her again, much as he had upon her return to Heaven after the failure of her first mission.
I was wrong to do so, she admitted, and this time she finally understood that by her actions she had denied Damien the opportunity to save his soul.
With that understanding came a dense feeling in her center that gathered into a heavy ball and burst from her. It dragged her forward, sending her on a wild ride and dropping her back into the present. Her heart raced as she found herself beside Damien again.