All I Want for Christmas is a Vampire

CHAPTER 20

Ian cursed again as he threw on his Santa coat. With vampire speed, he buttoned it up and yanked on his boots.

What bloody awful timing. He would have been tempted to let Connor or Angus deal with this, but the alarm had been triggered by an emergency psychic call for help from Phineas. Ian had taught the young Vamp how to fence. He had to be there for Phineas, no matter how much he wanted Toni. And God, he wanted her.

She was leaning over to pull on her red tights. Her long blonde hair fell forward, partially hiding her flushed face. She straightened, flipping her hair back as she wiggled the tights over her hips. By all the saints, he'd never realized that putting clothes on could be so sexy.

"Bloody hell," he whispered.

"Is it bad?" She snatched her bra off the floor.

"Aye. It's downright painful. I'm rock hard and about to explode." He belted on his sword.

She paused with her bra half on. "I was referring to the attack."

He glanced at the window overlooking the parking lot. It was still snowing, so visibility was bad. "I can hear them outside. Phineas must have been making the rounds."

He put on his beard, wig, and hat. "Stay here. I'll be back as soon as possible."

"But I should help. It's my job." She pulled on her red T-shirt.

"Stay here," he repeated. "There are plenty of Vamps to take care of the matter."

"You don't think I'm strong enough to fight a Malcontent, do you?"

"Honestly, I'd rather no' find out." He teleported to the parking lot and saw the tracks in the snow where other Vamps had crossed the pavement to the woods. He heard the clash of swords in the distance. Drawing his own sword, he zoomed toward the noise.

As he entered the woods, the snowfall became lighter as snowflakes were caught by the canopy overhead. He spotted a dozen red Santa suits in a clearing. They were standing still, so each had a slight dusting of snow on his hat and shoulders. Most of the Santas had formed a loop around a pair engaged in a duel. Phineas and a Malcontent, dressed in black. They circled each other slowly.

Two more Santas had a second Malcontent pinned against a tree with their swords poised to strike his heart.

Ian joined the circle of Santas. "What happened?" he whispered to the man on his right.

"Phineas was making his rounds in the woods here," the Santa answered, and Ian recognized Robby MacKay's voice. "Two Malcontents jumped him, and he called for help. We sounded the alarm and came running."

Swords rang out as the Malcontent lunged at Phineas. He parried the attack and forced the Malcontent to retreat.

"We captured that one." Robby nodded toward the second Malcontent pinned against the tree. "The other one challenged Phineas to a duel, and he accepted."

Ian watched the duel carefully, gauging each one's skill. They appeared evenly matched, though he detected more desperation from the Russian.

"Let's go, Stanislav!" the captured Malcontent yelled. "Let's get the hell out of here!"

"The second I see your body start to teleport, I'll stab you through the heart," one of his captors warned. Ian recognized his French accent. Jean-Luc Echarpe.

"The devil take it," the second captor grumbled. It was Angus. "Let's just skewer the bastard and get it over with."

"I'm unarmed!" the captive shouted.

"Ye were armed two minutes ago before ye threw yer sword down," Angus argued. "Look, Yuri. Aye, no need to look surprised. I know who ye are. 'Tis a simple matter of being time-efficient. If we doona kill ye now, ye'll just come back, and we'll have to do it later. So I say we slaughter you now. 'Twill save us all a lot of time."

Jean-Luc chuckled. "You expect him to agree with you?"

"If you're as good and noble as you claim to be," Yuri said, "then you'll never kill an unarmed man."

"Och, I hate it when they say that," Angus growled.

Jean-Luc pressed the point of his sword against Yuri's throat. "Don't be a coward, Yuri. Pick up your weapon, and we'll settle this like men."

"Now ye've scared him," Angus said. "I think he's wet his pants."

"I did not!" Yuri protested. "Stanislav, I'll leave without you."

Stanislav was busy with Phineas. Both men eased slowly to their right, their legs bent, their swords ready.

"Stan the man, you're going down," Phineas spoke softly. "Why are you doing this? I always thought you were pretty decent. You were the only Russian I could stand to talk to."

"You double-crossed me, you bastard." Stanislav slipped in the snow and quickly righted himself. "You tricked me into telling you where Katya was."

"She was a bitch, Stan. Haven't you realized yet that you're on the wrong side? You're one of the bad guys."

"Traitor!" Stanislav lunged forward, swinging his sword wildly.

Phineas blocked each move, and Stanislav fell back, breathing heavily.

Phineas circled him. "You're not going to live through this, Stan."

"Let's go!" Yuri yelled.

"I can't!" Stanislav wiped sweat from his brow. "Jedrek will kill me if I don't kill Phineas."

"You're up shit creek." Phineas advanced, and with an expert thrust, he sent Stan's sword flying from his hand.

Stanislav backed away.

Phineas grazed the tip of his sword on Stanislav's chest. "The way I see it, you have three options. You can be killed by me, killed by Jedrek, or you can join our side."

"Now wait a minute." Angus strode toward them. "I seriously doubt we could ever trust this bastard."

Stanislav vanished. Ian turned just in time to see Yuri teleport away, too.

"Merde," Jean-Luc muttered.

Angus sighed. "Ah well." He patted Phineas on the back. "Ye did well, lad."

Phineas sheathed his sword. "I should've killed him when I had the chance. I just…"

"Dinna want to?" Angus asked. "That's what makes you one of us, lad. We kill when we have to, but we doona relish it."

"But he'll just come back," Phineas said.

Angus rested an arm around his shoulder. "There are always bad vampires in want of killing. I've lived over five hundred years, and that has never changed. One thing that time has taught me is there's no need to be in a hurry to kill."

"Aye, that's true." Connor spoke from the circle. "Ye kill one, and two more show up the next night."

"It's freezing out here," Roman observed. "Let's get back to the party."

The Santas walked back to the parking lot. Ian sheathed his sword.

Robby leaned toward him and whispered, "Ye'd better wash her scent off before Connor or Angus get a whiff of you." He strode off to join the other Santas.

Ian winced. He waited till all the Santas had entered Romatech, then he zoomed down to the silver room. With vampire speed, he showered and redressed.

He sprinted to the stairs. When he heard a dinging sound behind him, he glanced back. The elevator doors opened, and Toni stepped out.

"Toni." He strode toward her. So much for her doing as he asked and staying in the conference room.

She spun around. "Ian. What are you doing down here? I thought you'd be with Phineas."

"I was, but…what are you doing down here?"

She lowered her voice. "I was in the foyer, finding out what happened outside, when Emma MacKay whispered to me that I should retire for the evening. She's one of the big bosses, so I didn't want to argue, but I got the impression that she knew what we'd been doing…"

"Vamps have a verra good sense of smell. I received a similar warning."

She stepped closer. "They can smell that we…you know?"

"I know verra well. Unfortunately, a few others have noticed, too."

"Good grief," she muttered. "Can't we get a little privacy around here?"

Ian grinned. "Are ye so eager to jump in bed with me?"

"Quiet." She glanced around the hallway. "I don't want to get you in trouble. And I don't want to get fired. I sure don't want to lose my memory, not after…you know."

"Are ye referring to how ye gushed all over my face?"

She winced. "We shouldn't talk about that." She glanced around the hallway again.

"We're all alone, sweetheart."

She scanned the ceiling. "But there are surveillance cameras around here somewhere."

"Aye. That's why I havena taken you into my arms." He folded his arms over his chest. "I just took a cold shower, and it dinna help."

"Oh, Ian." She sighed. "I don't know where we can go. All the bedrooms down here have cameras."

"I'll figure out something. It'll be easier once Connor takes Roman back into hiding. And Jean-Luc is having a house party in Texas, so a lot of the guests are teleporting there later tonight."

"That's good." Toni yawned.

"Ye're tired. Go on to bed, sweetheart." As he watched her enter the silver room, he knew he could never give her up. He wasn't sure how he could fit into her plan to run an orphanage and school. But he knew he loved her enough that he couldn't bear for her to sacrifice any of her dreams. Somehow they would make it work.

Connor wouldn't dare erase her memory if she was engaged to him. That was a big step, but it didn't cause any warning signals to flare up inside him. It simply felt right. And exciting.

The next morning, Toni called Carlos to see how Sabrina was faring.

"She's fully awake now," Carlos reported. "And full of questions. She wants to know why she can't go home. And how you managed to get her out of the hospital. I asked Teddy to stay quiet till you got a chance to talk to her, but he keeps dropping hints about superheroes."

"Tell her I'll explain everything this evening when I get off work," Toni said. "Or I'll try to."

"There's another problem," Carlos continued. "The local stations have posted Bri's photo on their television newscasts. They say she's been kidnapped. I don't dare take her anywhere she can be noticed."

Toni winced. They couldn't stay hidden in a hotel forever.

"I thought we could meet you at that vampire nightclub," Carlos suggested.

"The Horny Devils? Why?"

"It's a great place to hide. No mortal would ever look for her there. And I doubt any Vamp would call the police to report her. It's also a really good place to convince Bri that vampires are real."

"I don't know." Toni frowned. "It might scare the hell out of her."

"The male Vamps there are strippers. They'll seem harmless." Carlos lowered his voice. "Bri still thinks she's delusional. We have to give her proof that she's right, or she'll end up back in a mental hospital."

"Okay, okay. I'll ask Ian to take me there tonight. We'll meet you at five-thirty." She hung up.

Early that afternoon UPS delivered a small blue box for her from Tiffany's. With her heart racing, Toni pulled out a gold heart-shaped pendant on a gold chain. It came with a note—All my love, Ian.

He loved her. She could hardly concentrate on anything for the rest of the day. She didn't want Howard to know she'd received a gift from Ian, so she slipped the heart underneath her polo shirt and let it nestle between her breasts.

When the sun went down, she hurried to the silver room to change clothes. "Thank you, thank you!" She grinned at Ian as she ran into the bathroom to change.

"We need to go to the Horny Devils," she called out to him. He was in the kitchen drinking his breakfast. "We're supposed to meet Carlos, Bri, and Teddy there."

"They're going to the Horny Devils?" he asked. "Why?"

"So we can convince Bri that she's not delusional." She pulled on a pair of jeans and a green sweater, then opened the door. "Can you teleport me there?"

"Aye." He pulled his cell phone from his sporran. "Let me warn Vanda. And I'll need to tell Howard that we'll be gone for a little while."

Five minutes later, Toni arrived with Ian in the alley outside the Horny Devils.

Carlos was already there with Bri and Teddy. He motioned to the bouncer. "That guy wouldn't let us in."

Bri gave Ian a suspicious look. "Why are we here? I just want to go home."

"We can't go to the apartment, Bri," Toni said. "Your uncle would look for you there. We need to hide you here for a while."

Bri cast a nervous glance at the huge bouncer. "What is this place?"

"I bet it's their secret Batcave!" Teddy exclaimed.

"It's more like a nightclub," Toni explained. "Vanda is expecting us, right?"

"Aye," Ian answered. "She agreed to let you hide in the VIP room. She even had some mortal food delivered."

"Mortal?" Bri whispered.

"I knew it!" Teddy leaned close to her. "He's from another planet. That's why he has superpowers here."

"I'm no' a superhero," Ian grumbled.

"Of course you are!" Teddy insisted. "You have superpowers, man. And I'm gonna be your sidekick."

"Ian, we have to tell them the truth," Toni said.

He frowned. "Are ye sure they can handle it?"

"Sabrina deserves to know that she was right all along." Carlos looked at Sabrina. "Menina, you were never delusional."

Bri shook her head. "No, I was wrong. Vampires aren't real."

Ian glanced at Carlos. "Ye know the truth then?" He gave Toni a disappointed look. "Ye were no' supposed to tell anyone."

"Carlos needed to know what was going on," Toni said. "And besides, he knows how to keep a secret."

Ian regarded Carlos curiously. "Aye, he certainly does."

Carlos exchanged a quick look with Ian before turning back to Sabrina. "Menina, remember how you were attacked by some vicious vampires?"

She shook her head. "I was mistaken."

"You asked me to go to Central Park and find them," Toni said. "Those same vampires jumped me."

Bri gasped. "No!"

"Yes. I was attacked. And I might have died if a guy with a sword didn't come along and save me."

"Did he have superpowers?" Teddy asked.

"Yes," Toni replied. "He stabbed one of the attackers, and he turned to dust. The other two vanished. Then the guy with the sword teleported me to Romatech."

"Is that another planet?" Teddy asked.

Ian groaned.

Toni smiled. "It's Romatech Industries. They manufacture synthetic blood. Connor, the guy who saved me, told me he was a good vampire."

"Whoa," Teddy said. "A good vampire?"

Bri shook her head. "There's no such thing."

"Yes, there is," Toni insisted. "Just like mortals can be good or bad, vampires can be good or bad." She motioned to Ian. "He's a good vampire."

Bri backed away, a look of horror on her face. "He's one of them? He bites people?"

"Nay." Ian frowned at her. "I drink bottled blood from Romatech."

"And you have superpowers," Teddy added. "That is so cool. I guess you're fighting the bad vampires?"

"We call them Malcontents," Ian explained. "They call themselves the True Ones."

"Toni." Bri sidled up close to her and whispered, "Why are you hanging out with…him?"

"Ian's one of the good guys," Toni whispered back. "I've been working for them since I was attacked."

"Why? Are they controlling you?"

"No. I wanted to find a way to prove you were right. You were never delusional, Bri. Your uncle's been holding you prisoner and keeping you drugged so he can control your money."

"But he—he's my uncle…"

It was sad to watch. Toni could see Bri figuring it all out step by step as the emotions flitted across her face. Disbelief, then shock, then horror, then anger.

Her face flushed. "I was never sick."

"No, sweetie." Toni gave her shoulders a squeeze.

She gave Ian a wary look. "And vampires are real." She closed her eyes and shuddered.

"Let's go inside," Ian suggested. "Hugo, these people are with me."

Hugo grunted and opened the door.

Ian strode inside with Carlos and Teddy. Bri hung back, clinging to Toni.

"It's okay," Toni insisted. "This is a nightclub for Vamps." When Bri's face paled, she continued, "They all drink from bottles. It's perfectly safe."

Bri let Toni pull her inside. Bright flashing lights and loud music greeted them. Bri stayed close to Toni, and her gaze flitted nervously about. Toni noted the usual bunch of scantily clad girls bouncing to the music, close to the stage.

"Those girls are hot," Teddy said. "Are they all—?"

"Undead, yes." Carlos looked curiously about.

The girls squealed when a dancer strutted onto the stage, dressed like a pirate. He tossed his tricorne hat into the crowd, and the ladies scrambled to claim it as a souvenir. More clothes flew through the air till the dancer was down to his bikini underwear. He turned his back to the crowd to show off the skull and crossbones printed on the back of his underwear. He rotated his hips suggestively.

"Oh my," Sabrina whispered.

"He's very talented," Toni agreed.

"Ladies, are ye coming?" Ian stood by Vanda's office, watching them with a wry look on his face. Carlos and Teddy were waiting with him.

"We're coming." Toni tugged on Bri's arm.

She glanced back at the dancer. "I'm starting to feel much better now."

Toni laughed. "It's good to have you back." She joined Ian at Vanda's office, and he arched an eyebrow at her. Her face grew warm. "I was just looking."

His mouth twitched, and he knocked on Vanda's office door.

She greeted them. "Come on in. I've got everything ready."

As Toni entered, she smiled. "Thank you for your help."

"No problem." Vanda regarded her sternly.

Toni had a feeling she didn't approve. As Ian introduced everyone, Vanda's gaze flitted over Bri and Teddy, then came to rest on Carlos. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

Carlos smiled slightly. "I like your cat suit."

"Thanks." Vanda adjusted the whip she used as a belt. She opened a door that revealed a narrow staircase. "This is the back entrance. I figured you don't want anyone to see you going up there."

"That is correct." Ian led them up the stairs.

Toni stepped through some hanging strands of beads and brushed back a gauzy curtain. "Good grief."

"Wow," Bri whispered. "It's beautiful. It looks like Princess Jasmine's boudoir."

"Glad you like it." Vanda swept into the harem-styled room. "As you can see, there's food and drink on the table and plenty of big cushions for resting." She pointed at two doors across the room. "That's the restroom and the main stairs."

"It's perfect." Toni wandered over to the carved wooden screen. She could see the club below. "Thank you, Vanda."

She adjusted her belt with an annoyed look. "Ian's a good friend. I'd do anything for him."

"So would I." Toni glanced at Ian. He was at the refreshment table, pouring himself a glass of Bleer.

Vanda stepped closer. "Would you give him up?"

Toni stiffened. "Why would I do that?"

"Because he wants a true mate," Vanda insisted. "Someone who can spend eternity with him. You can't do that."

"I don't know how things will work out," Toni said. "But I do know I'm in love with him." She heard a gasp behind her.

"You're in love with a vampire?" Sabrina screeched.

Toni winced as everyone stared at her with shock or dismay on their faces. Everyone except Ian. He was watching her intently, his eyes sparkling with emotion.

She lifted her chin. "Yes, I'm in love with Ian."

He walked toward her, a smile slowly forming on his lips.

Vanda scowled at him. "You said all you wanted was a vampire."

"I changed my mind." Ian was grinning now, and the sharp points of his fangs showed.

Sabrina pressed a hand to her chest. "Toni, how could you?"

"How could I not?" She pulled the heart pendant out from behind her green sweater. The gold chain and heart glimmered in the soft overhead lights. "Thank you for sending me your heart."

Ian halted and his grin faded. "I dinna send that."

Toni blinked. "But it came this afternoon with a note that said, All my love."

Ian zipped toward her, and with a quick wrench of his wrist, he broke the chain around her neck.

"Ian—" Toni gasped when he dropped the pendant on a low table and smashed it with his fist.

He picked up a small metal piece.

"That's a tracking device," Carlos said.

Ian dropped the device on the floor and crushed it with his heel. "I'll summon Phineas and Dougal here, and we'll teleport everyone to Romatech." He stepped away, closing his eyes briefly.

Toni realized he was sending out a psychic message.

Sabrina clutched her arm. "Who—who would want to follow us? Is it my uncle or the police?"

"Worse," Carlos muttered.

Teddy's eyes lit up. "The evil forces! They're upon us!"

Shots exploded below in the club, and screams filled the air.