All I Want for Christmas is a Vampire (Love at Stake #5)

The kettle whistled, and Toni jerked back to the present. She had to stop thinking about Ian so much.

Howard strode into the kitchen. "Those women are psycho! One of them hit me with a poster when I told her Ian wasn't here."

Toni winced. "Sorry. They do seem awfully determined."

Radinka handed Howard a cup of tea. "Such nonsense. Are they still there?"

"I got them to leave, but I'm afraid they'll come back." Howard drank some tea. "I'd better check on the guys. Is Ian still on the fifth floor?"

"Shanna's already on her way up there." Radinka set a cup of tea in front of Toni.

"I'll start in the basement then." Howard gulped down the rest of his tea, then left the room grumbling about crazy women.

"Is this truck?" Constantine looked up at Toni, then pointed at another word.

She glanced at his book. "Yes, it is." He had finished his banana. "Would you like something to drink?"

"Can I have some milk?"

"Sure." Toni hunted through the cabinets, but couldn't find any plastic cups. She'd have to give him a glass. She set it in front of him, and he drank without hesitation.

She sat next to him. "How old are you, about four?"

He grinned with a milk mustache. "I'm almost two."

Toni gaped, then shut her mouth quickly since she didn't want to embarrass the little boy.

"You're...sure?" "He'll be two in March." Radinka added some milk to her tea. "He's very clever, isn't he?"

More than clever, Toni thought. He was a wonder child.

"Is Toni with us?" Constantine asked.

Radinka tilted her head, considering Toni. "She may not know it yet, but I believe she is." What did that mean? Toni sipped her tea with a growing sense of confusion.

"Do you want to see what I can do?" Constantine backed away from the table and spun around. "That's great!" Toni smiled appreciatively.

He gave her a dubious look. "I haven't done it yet."

"Oh, sorry." Toni's mouth dropped open as the young boy slowly rose to the ceiling. "Oh my gosh."

Radinka sat at the table with her cup of tea. "He's very special."

"I'm back." Shanna strode into the kitchen. She picked up her cup of tea and glanced around the room. "Where's Tino?"

A giggle from the ceiling drew her attention, and Shanna snorted. "I should have known." She gave Toni a wry look. "I've been trying to teach him to clean the ceiling fans."

"He--he's floating," Toni said lamely.

Constantine giggled and performed a front somersault.

"Oh, now you're just showing off." Shanna sipped some tea. "You should see him and his daddy play basketball."

"I blocked Daddy's goal by sitting in the hoop," Constantine boasted.

"He--he's really Roman's son?" Toni asked. "How--?"

"Roman's a genius. Don't ask me how, but he inserted his DNA into human sperm." Shanna patted her stomach. "We're expecting another one in May. A little girl."

"Oh. Congratulations." Toni watched Constantine float down to the floor. She couldn't believe it. Shanna and Radinka were sipping tea like it was entirely normal to breed half-human/halfvampire children.

"Did you ask if it was okay before you levitated?" Shanna asked her son.

"Yes, Mommy." He climbed back onto his chair.

"That's good." Shanna sat across from him. "We've been teaching him to be careful about levitating. It's not something we want just anyone to see."

"Like Grandpa." Constantine drank more milk.

"I'm afraid so," Shanna agreed. "My dad is the head of the CIA Stake-Out team. They'd like to eliminate all vampires from the planet."

Toni winced. "That's got to be a little awkward for family reunions."

"Tell me about it. Fortunately, my dad's crazy about his grandson, so he's ignoring the Vamps and concentrating on the Malcontents. But if he found out that Tino's inherited some unusual genes, it could cause a problem."

The little boy slumped over his book. "Would Grandpa not love me anymore?"

"Oh, sweetie." Shanna rushed over to hug her son. "He'll always love you. We all love you so much."

"We sure do." Radinka's eyes glimmered with emotion as she regarded the little boy. Toni felt a tiny twinge of envy. How lucky this boy was to be so loved. She'd always wanted her mother's love, but it had never happened. Her mom had gone on to marry the man of her dreams and have two more children. Toni had never been welcome there. Her only experience with maternal love had been from her grandmother, and that had ended abruptly when she was thirteen. When she had failed her.

When Toni had first entered the Vamp world a few nights ago, she had expected to find a scary place filled with creepy characters. Instead she'd found a group of Vamps and mortals who were caring and compassionate. It was obvious that they looked out for one another. Shanna had run up five flights of stairs just to leave Ian a note.

Was she with them? That was the question Constantine had asked. With a small shock, Toni realized she could be an accepted member of this extended family--a family that cared for one another and trusted one another. She could be a part of it all. Never rejected again. Never made to feel like she wasn't good enough.

It was so...tempting. But alarming, too, for she already had her life planned out with Sabrina. Sabrina was her family, not these people in the Vamp world. As soon as the mess with Sabrina was resolved, Toni could leave the Vamp world forever. Two days ago she'd been eager to leave. Now she was starting to feel...wanted. And valued. For the first time, she realized she was getting pulled in two different directions.

"Are you all right, dear?" Radinka asked.

"I--I'd better go." She glanced at the clock over the kitchen sink. "My final starts in an hour."

Constantine placed his small hand on her arm. "You'll be okay, Toni."

Her arm tingled as a surge of warm energy rushed from the little boy's hand. She stiffened, then immediately relaxed as the energy washed over her with a soothing gentleness. Her tension melted away, leaving a sense of well-being and a feeling that she could accomplish anything.

She looked at the little boy, and he smiled back. There was an intelligence in his bright blue eyes that should have been frightening in a child so young, but she felt too relaxed to be concerned. Constantine radiated goodness, so she knew there was no need to be afraid.

He withdrew his hand and focused his attention back on his picture book. Toni gathered her things and said her good-byes. As she walked to the subway station, the little boy's question kept repeating in her mind. Is Toni with us? How deep was she getting sucked into this new world? Would it be hard to give it up when she left? Not so hard, if they completely wiped her memory. But how could she give up the memory of Constantine and the others?

How could she give up ever seeing Ian again?

That evening, Toni was celebrating the end of her college education with a big bowl of triple chocolate ice cream on top of a double chocolate brownie, when Ian walked in.

"Good evening."

He'd caught her with her mouth full. She gulped. "Hi."

He opened his mouth to speak, then apparently changed his mind. He wandered to the refrigerator and took out a bottle of blood. He hesitated, then placed it back in.

"Not hungry?" She scooped more ice cream into her mouth.

"I already ate." He paced across the room, his kilt swishing about his knees.

"Did you see the Christmas tree in the parlor? It's very pretty. Shanna and Constantine decorated it."

"Aye, it's nice." He continued to pace.

He seemed nervous to her. "Are you doing that interview tonight?"

"I think so." He flexed his hands as he paced. "But I have a bad feeling about it."

"Shanna thought you should skip it. Did you see the note she left you?"

"Aye, but Vanda's worked verra hard to set this up. I doona want to disappoint her." He sighed.

"She's lined up some more dates for me, too."

Toni stabbed at the brownie. "More Vamp women?"

"Aye." He leaned back against the kitchen counter and crossed his arms across his chest. And what about the kiss they'd shared in the car? Toni thought about bringing it up, but she'd been the one who'd insisted they never speak of it. She'd called it a mistake. She glanced at Ian. Had he thought it was a mistake?

But what about those moments when their eyes met, and the whole world melted away? Toni could have sworn something was happening between them. Something like a huge magnet drawing them together. Or was she fooling herself? She took her bowl to the sink. She'd lost her appetite.

"Toni, I doona know how to say this, but..."

Would he tell her he was attracted to her? "Yes?"

"I canna see myself when I shave. I was wondering if I looked all right. For the interview, ye ken."

"Oh. Okay, let me see." She moved close and examined his cheeks, the line of his jaw, his strong neck, and his dimpled chin. She felt her own face growing warm. "You look fine to me."

Her eyes met his, and her heart did a little flip. Damn, knowing him, he'd heard that. She stepped back.

"I doona have a hairbrush upstairs. I just pulled my hair back."

"I've got one." She rummaged through her handbag on the kitchen table and pulled out a brush. She was about to offer it to him when she realized this was a chance to actually touch his hair. With her heart racing, she motioned to a chair at the table. "Take a seat."

He did.

She stared at the back of his head and his shoulders. Even from the back he was gorgeous. She untied the leather strip around his ponytail and dropped it on the table. She stroked the brush through his thick hair. It shimmered in waves down to his shoulders. His very broad shoulders.

"You have wavy hair." She smoothed a hand over the waves. His hair was as soft as she'd thought it would be.

"When I wore it short, it was curly," he said. "Thank you for helping me. I--I wanted to look good for the interview, but I dinna want to seem vain."

She smiled. "I don't think you're vain." Gorgeous, but not vain. She gathered his hair into a ponytail. She'd never dated a guy with hair this long. It was a lot sexier than she'd realized. She took her time, smoothing the silken strands back from his temples and around his ears.

"Ye have a soft touch," he whispered.

She leaned over to get the leather strip off the table, and her breasts grazed against his head. He glanced up at her, and her breath caught. "Are you all right? Your eyes look kinda bloodshot."

He closed them. "I'm a wee tired."

"Oh." She hadn't thought a Vamp could get tired. She tied the strip around his hair at the base of his neck.

"I dinna know what to wear--breeches or a kilt."

"The kilt is good. It's...you. And you want to be yourself. I mean, if a woman doesn't love you for yourself, then she's not the right one for you."

He remained silent.

She stepped back. "Have you met someone you liked?"

"Aye. I have."

Her heart plummeted. "I see. Well, I'm done here."

"Thank you." He rose slowly. "When I told Vanda I was looking for my true love, I told her I wanted a lady Vamp who was honest, loyal, intelligent, and pretty."

Toni's heart sank lower. She didn't match up very well.

"But now I'm starting to realize that there's more to love than meeting a few requirements."

"That's true." She dropped her brush into her bag.

He strode to the kitchen door, then hesitated. "If ye were no' my guard, I could date you." Her heart swooshed back into place. He wanted to date her?

He frowned. "But if ye were no longer my guard, yer memory would be erased. Ye wouldna know me."

"I know." Her heart squeezed. "It's kinda...sad."

"Aye, it is." He turned and left the room.

A little after ten, Carlos called. "I'm on my way home."

Toni was already in her pajamas, lounging in bed. "How was your date?"

"Good. Maria let me into Dr. Proctor's office, and I found a copy of the will. Sabrina can't inherit the bulk of her trust fund until she obtains a college degree. Meanwhile, her aunt Gwen remains the trustee."

"So they're trying to keep her from graduating?" Toni sat up with a gasp. "Carlos! What if they plan to keep her locked up in a mental hospital forever?"

"I'm afraid that's exactly what they're up to," Carlos muttered. "But never fear. I discovered where Dr. Proctor works. Shady Oaks Psychiatric Hospital. I called, but they wouldn't confirm if Sabrina is a patient there."

"We have to find her."

"I know, menina. We will. Meet me tomorrow night after you get off work, and we'll go to Shady Oaks together."

"Okay." Toni hung up. She'd find Sabrina. And she'd get her out of that hospital. She wouldn't let her down.

Chapter Eleven

Saturday before dawn, Toni didn't see Ian. He teleported straight to the fifth floor without stopping to say hello. How had the interview gone? Was he avoiding her? He'd mentioned he'd met someone he liked. But he'd also hinted that he wanted to date her. It was so confusing.