"Come." Ian ushered her into the waiting room.
Father Andrew was praying with Radinka. Others were sitting silently as if the full force of shock had finally overcome them. Connor was pacing back and forth, with Constantine following him, mimicking Connor's gait.
When the little boy spotted Toni, he ran up to her with his arms raised. She picked him up and
gave him a hug. "Roman and Shanna are in the operating room with Gregori," Connor explained. "He was hit the worst."
"Will he be all right?" Toni realized Constantine had closed his eyes and was falling asleep on her
shoulder. "He has some major cuts and burns," Connor said, "but if he makes it till sunrise, he'll be able to heal during his death-sleep."
The operating room door opened, and Roman and Shanna stepped out. "Gregori will be fine," Roman announced, and everyone sighed with relief. Radinka rushed forward. "Can I see him?" Roman nodded. "He's conscious. Laszlo's giving him a blood transfusion." After Radinka went into the operating room, Roman moved toward Connor and Ian and lowered
his voice. "Some bad news. Gregori said a Malcontent did a Vulcan mind meld on him, whatever
that is, and the Malcontents now know about the Stay-Awake drug." "Then they'll know ye're the inventor," Connor said. "I want to take you and yer family into hiding tonight."
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Roman frowned. "Very well. But I want to tend the wounded first and deal with the police."
"Howard can deal with the police. We're leaving as soon as possible," Connor ordered. He turned to Ian. "Ye'll be in charge here." "But what about the Christmas Ball?" Shanna asked. Connor shrugged. "'Tis no' important." "Of course it is," Shanna protested. "Everyone's coming. We have to do it, Roman." "I'm more concerned about your safety--" "We'll be safe," Shanna interrupted. "Angus and Emma are coming. And Jean-Luc, Zoltan,
Giacomo--they'll all be here. You can't get any safer than that."
Roman exchanged a glance with Connor. "She makes a good point. We'll have a small army here." "And I refuse to let the Malcontents destroy our Christmas," Shanna argued. "If we cancel, it'll
look like we're scared of them."
Connor hesitated. "They could still try to infiltrate the party. And they would target Roman for capture because he knows how to make that damned drug." "It's a costume ball," Shanna said. "They would have trouble recognizing him." Her face lit up. "I
know! We have a hundred Santa Claus costumes. All the men can wear the same costume. It'll totally confuse them."
Roman grinned. "I like it." A hundred Santa Claus costumes? Toni wondered. Why would a bunch of Vamps have Santa costumes? Was it somehow related to what Ian had called the secret Santa thing?
Connor nodded slowly. "'Tis crazy enough it might just work. But we're still leaving tonight.
We'll come back for the ball on Tuesday." "Agreed." Roman was halfway back to the operating room when Dougal opened the waiting room door.
"Roman, the police are here." "Howard will handle it," Connor said. "Where is he?" "Laszlo was bandaging his leg." Roman peered inside the operating room. "Howard, are you
done? The police are here." "I'm on it." Howard limped across the waiting room to join Dougal in the hallway. Roman's gaze wandered over the Vamps in the waiting room. "Phineas, you're next." He strode
into the operating room with Phineas following him. "Come on, Connor. I'll look at your cuts." Shanna ushered the Scotsman to the operating room. "Ye're a dentist, no' a doctor," Connor grumbled.
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"If I can pull teeth, I can pull the glass out of your face." She shoved him inside and glanced back. "You're next, Ian."
Toni winced. "That's going to be fun." Radinka left the operating room, smiling. "Gregori's going to be just fine. Here, let me take the little one and put him to bed." She took the sleeping Constantine in her arms and left the room.
"Ye should get some sleep, too," Ian told Toni. "Ye've had a rough day."
"It wasn't all bad." Her gaze wandered to his mouth. Between the terrible hospital visit and the awful explosion in the parking lot, there had been a glorious kiss. Hopefully, Ian would know what she was referring to, since she didn't dare mention it in a room
full of Vamps with super-powered hearing. He stepped closer. "Ye doona regret it? Ye called the first one a mistake." "I was confused. I'm still confused." She shook her head. "I don't know what to make of all this.
And I still need to talk to you. It's really important." "Ye're ready to spill yer secrets?" "After they take care of your cuts." "I'm fine." He glanced around the room. "No' here. Come on." He led her from the room.
Chapter Seventeen
Ian strode down the hallway. "Ladies' or gents'?" "Excuse me?" Toni asked. "Which restroom do ye prefer? I want to wash up a bit." "Oh. Ladies', I guess. If you don't mind." He smiled. "As long as it's empty." He pushed open the door to the ladies' restroom. "Hello?" Toni followed him inside and looked under the stalls. "Romatech is fairly empty on Sunday night. Just a few people who come to Mass." He turned on a
water faucet and washed his hands in the sink.
She stood behind him. "You're not in the mirror. I can see myself like you're not even there. It's so creepy." "Thank you." He cupped water in his hands and splashed it on his face. Blood swirled around the
sink. "Now tell me yer secrets." He yanked paper towels from the dispenser and pressed them to his face. "Careful," she warned him. "You don't want to push any glass further in." "Obviously I canna see what I'm doing." He tossed the towels in the trash.
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"Here, let me." She dampened some paper towels and folded them into a pad. Then she gingerly patted his brow.
"Yer secrets?" "All right." She plucked a shard of glass from his hair and tossed it in the trash. "After my grandmother died when I was thirteen, I was shipped off to a boarding school in Charleston. I was miserable until I met Sabrina."
"Yer roommate?" "Yes. She came to school after both her parents died in a small plane crash. She'd been an only child, so she was really alone. At first I just thought it was cool that there was someone there who
was more miserable than me. But then I got to know her, and we became best friends. More like sisters, really." "Aye." Ian could relate. Connor and Angus had always been like older brothers to him. Toni threw the bloodied paper towels in the trash and made a fresh pad. She dabbed at his cheeks.
"Sabrina and I came up with a master plan for our future, and we've been working on it for years. You know how some celebrities adopt kids from foreign countries?"
"Aye." "We plan to do that on a bigger scale. We'll run an orphanage that's a real loving environment, like the family we always wanted. And we'll rescue kids from around the world. I've been studying business and sociology so I can run the orphanage, and Sabrina's getting a master's in education so she can run the school. And Carlos already has some orphans for us."
This was not what Ian had expected. It was a huge undertaking. "Ye'll need a great deal of money." Toni carefully wiped his chin. "Sabrina's parents left her a huge inheritance. Eighty-five million."
Ian's eyebrows rose. "She can only inherit the full amount once she graduates from college. Her parents didn't want her to be a useless trust fund baby."
Ian nodded slowly, although his mind was racing. If Toni had such big plans, why was she here, working as a guard? And she certainly didn't intend to stay. It would be terribly selfish of him to try to keep her here when she had such a noble plan for her future.
"Everything was going according to plan till last Sunday," Toni continued. "Sabrina was attacked in Central Park. She ended up in the hospital with cracked ribs, contusions, and...bite marks."
Ian inhaled sharply. "Malcontents." "Yes. She was hysterical when the police questioned her. She claimed she'd been attacked by vampires."
"Those fools. They should have erased her memory." Toni's eyes widened. "You think it's all right, what they did?" "No, of course not. But any vampire, good or bad, knows there is nothing more important than