The Vamps must have heard her first, for Dougal and Phineas zoomed toward her. Connor, Ian, and Roman zipped toward them a few seconds later.
"Daddy!" Tino reached for Roman, who grabbed him and held him tight.
The other Vamps returned with Howard Barr and Father Andrew trailing behind. There were shouts of delight and slaps on the back.
"You found him?" Roman asked Toni. "I can't thank you enough."
"Way to go, Toni!" Phineas gave her a high five.
"Well done." Connor nodded at her.
She felt her face heat up. Was he going to fire her now? She glanced at Ian. Passion flared in his eyes, then he turned away.
"Constantine!" Shanna ran toward them, followed by a gasping Radinka.
Roman zoomed to them quickly, and Shanna flung herself at her husband, sandwiching their little boy between them.
"Thank God." Shanna hugged him tight.
"I was so scared." Radinka's eyes filled with tears. "I could never forgive myself if anything happened to you." She touched the boy's cheek.
They all walked back to where the crowd was gathered.
"Who found him?" Shanna asked. "Where was he?"
"Toni," several Vamps answered at once as they smiled at her.
Her heart expanded with a warm feeling. For the first time in her life, she felt like she belonged to a whole family.
"Oh, thank you." Shanna hugged her.
"He was afraid you'd be mad at him," Toni whispered. "I found him hiding under the table." She motioned with her head toward the fellowship hall.
"Oh my goodness." Shanna turned toward her son. "How did you get in there without anyone seeing you?"
"I don't know. Can I have a cookie?"
"Tino," Roman spoke quietly. "You've been told not to leave the nursery alone."
"I didn't mean to." Constantine wiped his nose. "I was just thinking about you and Mommy and how much I wanted to be with you. Then it was so dark, and I couldn't see anything. Then I was there behind the table, and I fell down 'cause I was dizzy. And then I heard everybody shouting, and I thought you were mad at me."
"Oh my God." Shanna pressed a hand to her mouth.
"Everything went black?" Roman asked his son. "You were in the nursery, then suddenly you were here?"
When Constantine nodded, everyone exchanged shocked looks.
"Tino, you teleported." Roman looked at everyone and grinned. "My son can teleport!"
The Vamps cheered. Toni's mouth fell open.
Shanna gasped for air, her face very pale. "Oh God, this is terrible."
"Are you mad at me, Mommy?" Constantine asked.
"No, no." She hugged him, then gave her husband a pointed look. "Can you teach him to control this?"
"Yes," Roman assured her. "It'll be all right."
"Come." Radinka escorted Shanna into the fellowship hall. "I think you'd better sit down."
Shanna winced. "A toddler who can vanish at will?"
Everyone filed into the fellowship hall, and Roman set his son next to Shanna. He returned a few seconds later with plates of food for both of them. Constantine happily munched on cookies.
Radinka looked around. "Where's Gregori?"
"I haven't seen him," Toni replied.
Radinka huffed. "That rascal. He told me he would come to church." She marched to the mortal table to fill a plate with food.
Toni edged toward Ian. "Am I still employed?"
He glanced toward Connor, who was busy congratulating Roman. "Aye, for now. The final decision will be made in a week."
Toni exhaled with relief. A week would be enough time for them to rescue Sabrina. Then it would be okay if she lost her job. But she still dreaded having her memory wiped. Carlos could fill her in on the facts, but he couldn't tell her how she had felt while she'd lived with the Vamps. She would forget how wonderful it had felt to be a part of their family. And she would forget all about Ian.
"If I lose this job, I can live with that. But I don't want to lose my memory."
Ian frowned at his shoes. "I'll do what I can for you. But it would be better for us not to be alone."
Toni swallowed hard. He was backing off. Was he doing it to save her job? Or had the kiss not meant that much to him? She could have sworn there'd been a ton of passion. "I still need to talk to you."
He glanced at Connor. "This is not a good time. I–I promised Vanda I would go to the club tonight."
She gritted her teeth. "Still looking for the perfect lady Vamp to share eternity with?"
He swore under his breath. "I have never lied to you, Toni. I said from the beginning that I wanted a Vamp."
"Right. 'Cause they're so superior."
"Better suited," he corrected her.
"Fine. But I still need your help with something really important. When you find some time in your busy dating schedule, let me know." She marched from the room before she succumbed to an urge to slap his handsome face.
CHAPTER 16
Jedrek Janow hid behind a large maple tree, on the grounds at Romatech. He'd instructed Yuri to park a mile away from the entrance gate. Then they'd teleported onto the grounds and zipped through the woods to the main building.
"The parking lot looks completely covered with surveillance cameras," Yuri whispered. He crouched next to Nadia behind a snow-capped bush. "And the guards sweep through these woods every fifteen minutes. We can't stay long."
"We don't need to." Jedrek eyed the number of cars in the parking lot. There were more Vamps here than he'd expected. "Are they workaholics or holding an orgy?"
"They have a mortal priest who performs Mass for them on Sunday night," Yuri said.
"And you forgot to mention that to me?" Jedrek ground out between clenched teeth.
"We thought they stopped," Yuri protested. "They did stop for a while. We blew up their chapel last August."
So the sweet little bottle-sucking morons had started going to church again. They made him want to puke. "I hope they're praying for salvation. They'll need it." He glanced at Yuri's long duffel bag. "Get the RPG ready."
"Yes, Master." Yuri unzipped the bag and carefully removed the shoulder-launched rocket weapon. He loaded a grenade.
"I heard the Vamps have a party after Mass," Nadia whispered. "They give out free Chocolood."
"And how would you know that?" Jedrek asked softly.
She eyed him warily. "I never went. It was some of the other girls in the coven. They were curious."
"Stupid cows," Jedrek grumbled. "Tell me, Nadia, have you ever watched a vampire burn to death?"
She shook her head.
"Answer me."
"No, Master. I have not."
"You're in for a special treat. You will show your gratitude to me later tonight."
She hugged her knees to her chest. "Yes, Master."
He smiled. She was bending to his will now.
Yuri lifted the rocket-propelled grenade to his shoulder. "Ready."
"Good. We'll wait for them to return to their cars, then blow a few of them up," Jedrek said. "And when the survivors are running about like frightened little mice, we'll locate MacPhie or Draganesti and get the information we need." His attention snapped back to Romatech when the front door burst open.
A lone figure ran out.
"Jackpot," Jedrek whispered. It was Roman Draganesti. He was running around the parking lot, looking frantically for something. "The fool is unarmed. Take him."
Yuri set the RPG down and pulled a long silver chain from his duffel bag. He wrapped the ends around his heavily gloved hands.
Just then, two sword-wielding Highlanders zoomed out the front door, headed straight for Draganesti.
Yuri hesitated.
"Is there a problem?" Jedrek asked dryly. He recognized the Scotsmen as Connor Buchanan and Ian MacPhie.
"That's Buchanan," Yuri said. "He's the one who killed Sashenka."
"Then you should be eager to avenge him."