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

keeping our existence a secret."

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Toni winced as she threw away the dirty paper towels. She pulled more towels from the dispenser.

"Let's clean up your knees." She started to kneel, but Ian levitated till his knees were even with the sink. "It'll be easier this way."

"Oh." She glanced up at him. "This is weird." "Thank you. Back to yer story..." "Right." She gently tugged his bloody knee socks down. "Sabrina's trust is handled by her aunt

and uncle. Her uncle's a psychiatrist, and he diagnosed her as psychotic and delusional. He put her in a mental ward."

"She's the one at Shady Oaks Psychiatric Hospital?" "Yes." Toni's eyes flashed with anger. "Her uncle wants her money, so he'll make sure she's never released. Carlos and I went to see her tonight, and it was awful."

Ian lowered himself to the floor. "Ye went there before Mass?" No wonder her emotions had been so raw.

Toni nodded. "I can't fail her like I did Grandma. I've got to get her out of there." He squeezed her hand. "And ye thought ye would need my help? Is that why ye took the job as my guard?"

"I do need your help, but that's not exactly how things happened. After Sabrina was attacked, she asked me to find the vampires who attacked her, to prove she wasn't delusional." Ian stiffened. "Ye purposely went to the park to be attacked?"

"I didn't think anything would happen, 'cause I didn't believe vampires were real. But--" "Ye were viciously attacked," he finished her sentence. "Ye could have died if Connor hadna come along."

"Believe me, I know how bad it was. Connor offered to erase my memory, but I couldn't do that, not when I'd just found out that Sabrina was right. So I took the job, hoping I could get the proof she needed."

A chill came over Ian. "Ye intended to prove our existence?" He let go of her hand. "Ye took an oath that ye would never expose us."

Toni winced. "I know." "Do ye no' understand the full importance of our secret? If our existence becomes public knowledge, there would be millions of mortals wanting us destroyed. There would be slayers roaming the streets with their bloody stakes. There'd be scientists wanting to experiment on us or dissect us. And if they ever found out about the healing properties of our blood, we'd be hunted like animals and drained dry. Exposure means extinction."

She paled. "I never meant to hurt anyone. I thought I could give the proof to a psychiatrist or

lawyer who would keep it confidential. Sorta like your Father Andrew." "That's a terrible risk to take. Ye canna guarantee someone would keep quiet, especially if he considered us a serious threat to mankind."

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"The Malcontents are a serious threat."

"Ye canna expose them without exposing us! And we're the only ones capable of defeating them. I canna believe ye would take such a risk with our lives." He paced away from her. "I didn't understand at first how nice the Vamps are. Once I got to know you all, I knew I couldn't

hurt you." "That's bloody generous of you." Ian frowned at her. "Ye should have told me this from the start." "I didn't know if I could trust you. It took me a few days to get to know you." Ian didn't know what to think. He just felt a nagging sense of betrayal. "I--I have to think about

this." He headed for the door. She followed him. "Ian, you must know I could never hurt you." He felt too confused to even know how to answer. "Go to bed, Toni. I'll see you tomorrow." "Ian, I'm sorry." He couldn't bear to see her stricken face, so he marched back to the waiting room. Shanna was

ready to see him. He sat on an operating table, thinking things over while Shanna plucked glass

from his face and knees. He couldn't believe Toni had planned to spill their secret. Maybe she didn't understand how important it was. But surely, Connor had explained it to her.

To her credit, she had noble intentions. She was trying to save her friend Sabrina. Ian would feel

that way about his friends. But she'd intended to expose the Vamps. That made his gut wrench. When Shanna was done, he wandered down the hall. Toni had signed a contract, swearing to protect them. How could she have planned to betray them?

But she hadn't. Should he blame her for her intentions before she'd gotten to know them? After the Malcontents had attacked her, she might have easily thought all vampires were evil and should be exposed.

But she'd practiced deception. He'd sworn to himself that nothing was more important in a potential mate than honesty and loyalty. Was that why this frustrated him so much? He was seeing Toni as a potential mate. God knew he wanted her. He ached with desire for her. He thought about her all the time. But could he trust her?

After an hour of getting nowhere, he decided he needed advice. He teleported to Vanda's office at the Horny Devils. After she recovered from the shock of his scarred face, he gave her the details of Toni's story.

Vanda sat behind her desk, frowning. "That little bitch." Ian stiffened. "She doesna deserve that. She's trying to save her friend who's in danger." Vanda's eyebrows rose. "Are you defending her now? I thought you were angry with her." "I'm no' angry." He paced across the office. "I'm confused." "Why? This problem's so easy to solve."

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He stopped. "Ye think so?"

"Sure. Fire her ass and erase her memory. Then she's no longer a threat, and she's out of your life for good." Out of his life? A surge of panic swept through him. How could he bear to lose her? "But...what

about her friend?" "Who gives a shit? She doesn't owe you any money." "She's trapped in a mental ward--" "Yeah, yeah, by the evil uncle. Boo hoo. That's one person. One mortal. And Toni was ready to

expose us all to danger because of it." "Only because she cares so deeply," Ian protested. "She's not the only one," Vanda muttered. Ian scowled at her. "Fine, I admit it. I care about her. I wouldna be this upset if I dinna care." "A week ago, you swore to me that all you wanted was a Vamp. I have a list right here of twenty

Vamp women, all vetted by me and eager to meet you. You could start seeing them tonight."

A week ago, that would have sounded wonderful. But now Toni was in his life and everything was changed. "I doona want to date anyone else. Take my profile off the dating site." "Ian, she was planning to betray us." "But she never did. She never did anything to harm any of us." He was finally able to appreciate

her predicament. She wanted to save Sabrina because she loved her. And she hadn't exposed him because she cared about him. He'd seen that clearly on her face when she'd frantically searched for him in the parking lot. She truly cared about him. But at the same time, she couldn't bear to fail her friend. Her heart was getting split in two.

All he had to do was help her rescue her friend. Then she would no longer be pulled in two

directions. She would be free to come entirely to him. And that's what he wanted more than anything. He wanted Toni to be free to love him. She was the one he wanted.