She called Carlos in the apartment next door. "Have you heard from Sabrina?"
"No, what's wrong?"
"She's been released from the hospital, but I don't know where she is."
There was a pause, then Carlos spoke, his voice deeper than usual. "Toni, you need to tell me what's going on."
"I will, tonight, when I get off work." Toni hung up, then the phone instantly rang.
"Damn!" She grabbed the receiver. "What?"
"Good morning. This is Travis Buckley."
A man's voice. "Yes? What is it?"
"Is Ian MacPhie there?"
Toni blinked. "You…want to talk to Ian?"
"Oh yes, honey. I saw his picture on Single in the City, and I thought he was so…"
"Hot?"
"Exactly." Travis chuckled.
Toni wrote his name down. "I would love to tell him you called."
"Super." Travis gave her his number. "I think he's über-hot."
"Oh, totally." Toni hung up, then rubbed her temples. "This can't be happening to me. I'm stuck in the Twilight Zone." She turned to the computer and clicked on My Documents. A security box came on screen, asking for the password.
"Damn." If she wasn't such a techno-moron, she could get around this, but she didn't have a clue. Oh well, even if she found a document where a bunch of Vamps confessed to being real, would it actually prove anything? Anyone could write such nonsense and claim it was true.
Speaking of false claims, she needed to check out Ian's profile on Single in the City. It was easy to find. He was on the home page in a list of the ten most popular guys. His photo was great, but his profile sounded like Don Juan on Viagra. The more she read, the more she felt steam coming out of her ears.
The phone rang again. And again. And again. The list of names was now up to thirty-four girls and two guys who all thought Ian was hotter than liquid magma. How would she ever locate Sabrina? Or study for her final?
The phone jangled again. She snatched it up. "Yes, Ian is hot! But you'll have to wait your turn."
"Cool." The girl smacked on chewing gum. "I don't mind sharing. Is he into group sex?"
Toni grimaced. "You'll have to ask him about that."
"Okay." She popped her gum. "So who are you?"
"I'm…his parole officer."
"Cool. I've got one of those, too. Got busted for solicitation."
"I hate it when that happens."
"Yeah. So this Ian dude, is he really as rich as his profile says?"
Toni gritted her teeth. "Just give me your name and number." She wrote down the information and slammed down the receiver. "I can't take it anymore!"
She fumbled in the desk drawer and found a big, black permanent marker. She stalked into the bedroom and glared down at Ian. "If I fail my final, it'll be your fault!" She smoothed his white T-shirt across his rock-hard chest and abs, then wrote in capital letters HOT, HOT STUDMUFFIN. Beneath that she wrote, For a good time, call Travis.
Then she marched downstairs to the ground floor, and turned on the answering machine. The Vamps wouldn't like it, but she was not about to screw up her last exam because of Ian's love life. As she descended into the basement, she heard the phone ringing again. The guys in the cellar were fine, so she called Howard for the ten o'clock report. She explained about the answering machine, and he agreed.
While she ate her lunch in the kitchen, the phone rang twelve more times. It was still ringing when she went upstairs to her bedroom. She disconnected the phone there so she could study in peace. She checked on the guys again at one and four P.M. for her afternoon reports.
She also called the hospital back and talked to a nurse on the floor where Sabrina had stayed. The nurse admitted Sabrina had left with family, but wouldn't say more than that. It had to be Sabrina's aunt and uncle, since they were the only family Sabrina had. Toni couldn't recall their last name. The information would be at the apartment. Meanwhile, Sabrina never called back, so Toni continued to worry about her.
At four-fifteen, Toni changed out of her uniform and descended to the kitchen to make a snack. She would be able to leave after the guys woke up, which was any minute now. Fortunately, the sun set early in December.
"Good evening." Dougal sauntered into the kitchen, followed by Phineas. They headed straight for the refrigerator for some bottles of blood.
"Hey, guys." She finished her salad. "Sleep well?"
The door slammed open, and Ian marched in. He glowered at Toni and slapped a hand against his black-marked T-shirt. "What the hell is this?"
CHAPTER 4
Ian had forgotten how pretty she was—pretty enough to scramble his thoughts for a second. But it didn't matter how shiny and golden her hair was, or how pink and sweetly curved her mouth was. Or how her green jumper matched the bonnie green of her eyes. Any guard who wrote graffiti on a sleeping Vamp was not a guard who could be trusted.
Phineas took one look at him and spewed his breakfast all over the kitchen counter. Then he started snickering. Dougal, at least, was attempting to stifle his laughter.
"Eeeuww." Toni grimaced at the bloody mess.
"Don't worry, sweetness. I'll clean it up." Phineas grabbed a sponge from the kitchen sink. "You got him good."
"I wouldna call this good." Ian glowered at Toni. She hadn't answered his question. She just sat at the table, fiddling with a paper napkin, while a pink blush swept up to her cheeks. The scent of her rushing blood ignited his hunger. His gums tingled. His stomach twinged. He stalked to the refrigerator, grabbed a bottle of synthetic blood, and guzzled it down cold.
She wrinkled her pretty little nose. "You're drinking it cold?"
"Are ye offering me some that's hot?" he growled.
Her cheeks grew a brighter red. "No, of course not."
"Why so pissed, bro?" Phineas wiped up the counter. "I'd be happy if Toni wrote on my shirt. Shit, she could write on me all day long."
"You don't wear a shirt to bed," Toni muttered.
"Aha!" Phineas grinned at her. "You've been admiring my awesome bod while I sleep. I knew it. The ladies can't resist Dr. Phang." He rinsed out his sponge, then went back to work. "You should be writing your love notes on me."
"They're not love notes," Toni protested.
"That's for certain," Ian grumbled. "I'm definitely no' interested in Travis."
Phineas snorted, then took aim and tossed the sponge into the sink. "Two points! Look, I've been telling you guys to stop wearing those skirts. It gives out mixed signals, if you know what I mean."
Dougal frowned. "The kilt is a fine and manly tradition amongst the Scots."
"I kinda like 'em," Toni conceded.
Did she really like his kilt? Ian had always considered the MacPhie tartan one of the best. Or perhaps she had liked what was underneath. He slapped himself mentally. This girl distracted him far too easily. "Ye dinna answer my question." He tapped his chest. "Why the hell did ye do this?"
She lifted her chin. "I will admit now that it was a mistake, but at the time, I was very angry with you."
"Angry?" Ian gave her an incredulous look. "What could I possibly do to make ye angry? I was dead all day."
"You were live on the Internet. People were looking at you on Single in the City, and the phone was ringing off the hook. I have problems of my own to deal with, so—"
"Ladies were calling me?" Ian interrupted her. He couldn't believe it. Vanda's plan was working.
Toni shot him an annoyed look. "Didn't you see the messages I left for you upstairs? On the nightstand?"
"Nay, I was distracted by this." He pressed a hand against his chest. He wanted to stay angry, but the thought of women actually pursuing him was amazing. "Ladies were calling me?"