Shanna's eyes glimmered with tears. "You're back now, Mom. We have you back."
They continued to hug each other and weep. Gregori glanced over at Abigail and found her watching with tears in her eyes. Hopefully no one would notice that Shanna's tears were tinted pink.
Darlene wiped her face, then clenched her fists. "I know what he did to me. That control-freak bastard! I can hardly remember the last fifteen years. He stole them from me!"
"I know you're angry, Mom," Caitlyn said. "I was angry, too, when I found out what he did to you."
Darlene gritted her teeth. "Anger doesn't begin to describe how I feel. If I ever see him, I'm going to kill him!"
"Mom - " Shanna began.
"I have my bags in the car," Darlene announced. "I'm leaving him. I was hoping I could stay with one of - " Her mouth dropped open. "Caitlyn, you're pregnant?"
She patted her swollen belly. "Yes, with twins."
"I have two children myself," Shanna added.
"Oh my." Darlene went pale. "I didn't realize you two were married." She frowned. "You are married, aren't you?"
"Yes." Shanna grinned. "I know the perfect place for you to stay. You can see your grandchildren every day."
"Oh. Oh my." Tears ran down Darlene's face. "That would be wonderful."
"Come." Shanna wrapped an arm around her mother's shoulders. "Let me introduce you to my husband."
Gregori, Abigail, and Charles moved to the side to let the three women pass. Roman, Angus, and Emma were still waiting in the hallway in front of the security office.
"Does the mother know about Roman?" Abigail whispered to Gregori.
He shook his head.
"Oh brother," she murmured. "She's in for more drama tonight."
"Yep," Gregori agreed. Not only would Darlene Whelan find out her daughter was married to a vampire, but her daughter had recently become one as well. And her other daughter, Caitlyn, was now a were-panther and expecting kittens.
The security office door opened and Sean jumped out.
"Darlene! Don't leave me!"
"You bastard!" Darlene charged down the hall. Her daughters grabbed her to slow her down.
"Darlene, I only did it because I love you!" Sean shouted.
"The devil take it." Angus shoved Sean back into the office. "Doona come out until ye know how to treat a woman."
"But she's going to leave me!" Sean bellowed.
"And ye deserve it." Angus shut the door in his face.
"Never a dull moment around here," Gregori muttered. "Come on, I'll show you around." He led Abigail across the foyer and through some double doors into another hallway.
She walked beside him with Charles trailing behind. "Sean Whelan was using mind control on his wife?"
Gregori nodded. "He sent Shanna away as a teenager when he discovered he couldn't control her."
Abigail shuddered. "No wonder his wife is so angry. If someone messed with my mind, I'd want to kill him, too."
He glanced back at Charles, then lowered his voice. "For the record, I think what Sean did was unconscionable. It's not how you treat someone you love."
She didn't answer, but he noticed her hands were clenched. "Here." He handed her the stress ball. "These seem to help."
She accepted the ball and gave it a squeeze. "What do you have to be stressed about? Can't you live forever?"
"We're not immortal. We can die. And we see people die."
She nodded and dropped the ball into her raincoat pocket. "I think that would be the worst part of being a vampire - watching your mortal friends and family die."
She grew quiet until they arrived at Laszlo's laboratory. Laszlo invited them in with a shy smile.
"Amazing." She looked around, her eyes wide. "Tell me what you're working on."
"Of course." Laszlo launched into a long monologue that made no sense to Gregori at all, but Abigail was nodding and agreeing.
Laszlo was clearly delighted to have someone who understood what he was doing. Charles stood by the door, silent and watching. Gregori ended up standing nearby, silent and watching, too, because he couldn't understand what the hell they were talking about. Whatever it was, it certainly had Laszlo excited for he was twirling the buttons on his new lab coat. Abigail seemed excited, too. She was talking fast, her hands were gesturing, her eyes gleaming.
Gregori sighed. He was doomed. She was way too smart for him. Way too alive for him. Way too forbidden for him.
She mentioned some plants she wanted to find in the Yunnan province of China, and one of Laszlo's buttons popped off and bounced onto his black-topped table.
"Yes! Roman used a plant from that province when he invented the Stay-Awake drug." Laszlo fiddled with another button. "The drug works, but it has the unfortunate side effect of aging the Vamp one year for every day he ingests it."
"Amazing," Abigail said for about the tenth time.
"Roman still has the plant in his lab," Laszlo continued. "Perhaps you would like to examine it?"
"I would love that!"
"I've been working on the Stay-Awake formula to try to minimize the side effects, but it's hard to find a Vamp who's willing to test it. They don't like taking a chance that they could age a year."
Abigail gasped. "You test your formulas on your fellow vampires?"
Laszlo chuckled. "We don't have any vampire mice. Besides, if a formula ends up making a vampire ill, it won't last for very long. His body will automatically heal during his death-sleep - "
"Laszlo!" Gregori stepped behind Abigail and made a cutting motion across his neck.
"Death-sleep?" Abigail asked. "He'll automatically heal?"
Laszlo's eyes widened as he realized he'd said too much. "Oh, I - I meant - " He nervously plucked at a button.
"What he means is vampires have superior strength," Gregori said. "We tend to heal more quickly than mortals. Of course we can still die. And if we lose a body part, we can't regenerate. We have a Vamp friend who lost a hand in battle."
"True." Laszlo nodded. "Our healing abilities are quite limited. Shall I go find that plant for you?"
"Ah, yes, thank you." Abigail watched as Laszlo scurried from the room.
"Let me show you my office." Gregori grabbed her elbow and steered her out the door.
Charles frowned at them and followed.
"What did he mean by death-sleep?" she asked.
Gregori winced inwardly. Vamps would be in deep shit if the government knew how helpless and vulnerable they were during the day. How easy they were to kill. "It's just a term we use to describe our sleep during the day. It's a . . . very deep sleep."
"So if you teleported me into China, you would have to sleep during the day?"
"Yes, but remember we can move super fast at night and teleport hundreds of miles. We can do more in one night than a mortal could do in a week. Besides, if you want to remain covert, you're better off doing things at night."
"I suppose that's true." She walked beside him, chewing her bottom lip. "What did he mean by automatically heal?"
Shit. He should have never invited Abigail here. She was too smart, too quick at figuring out their most guarded secrets. "I told you, we tend to heal more quickly."
She stopped abruptly. "Would you let me examine you?"
He gave her a slow, seductive smile, hoping it would distract her. "Do I get to strip?"
She blushed, but waved a dismissive hand. "I'm sure your anatomy is basically the same as a mortal man. What I need is a few tissue samples and some vials of your blood."
His smile faded. "Scholar, I'll take you anywhere you want in the world. I'll protect you with my life."
"I appreciate that, but right now, all I want is some blood."
"I . . . can't. I'm sorry."
Her eyes narrowed. "If there's some sort of special healing properties in your blood, I need to know. It might help my mother."
He clenched his hands. This was what he had feared the most, what every vampire in the world feared, that mortals would not only learn that vampires existed, but that their blood could heal. "We can't let you examine our blood."
She gasped. "I'm right, aren't I? Your blood has healing properties." She touched his arm. "Please, this is for my mother."