Ian hesitated. "Once ye know our secrets, there is no going back."
"Cool."
Ian frowned. "You must understand the danger of being with us. We are at war with some evil creatures."
Teddy shook his fist. "Awesome!"
Ian gave Toni a questioning glance.
She shrugged. "Teddy, do you know what you're doing?"
"I'm not stupid," he grumbled. "I was head of the math department at St. Bartholomew's Academy."
"Ye're a teacher?" Ian asked.
"Yes." Teddy eyed them warily. "Does that mean I'm not cool enough to hang out with superheroes?"
"Actually, I think ye're exactly what we need." Ian motioned for him to follow. "Come."
"Cool." Teddy followed him into the hall. "Are we beaming up to the mother ship?"
Toni peeked out the door and saw them teleport away. Beam me up, Scotty. She wondered why Ian was interested in Teddy's teaching background. And while Teddy certainly had good credentials, he seemed a little shaky on reality. She didn't want to find fault with him, though, not when he'd saved her from the perverted nurse.
Bradley had fallen across the bed sideways. She tugged at his body to align him better with the bed.
She noted Bri's belongings on the open shelves. Two sets of clothes and another set of pajamas. She slipped on Bri's jacket, then spotted some underwear on the shelf.
She glanced at Bradley, and inspiration struck. She grabbed a pair of Bri's panties, then stuffed them into Bradley's hand. Then she took one of Bri's bras and fastened it around his head like a cap. Let him try to explain that in the morning.
Ian zipped into the room. "I think Teddy's a bit disappointed to be sitting in a car instead of a spaceship." He eyed the nurse. "That's interesting."
"I like it." Toni gathered up the rest of Bri's belongings. "Shall we go?"
Ian smiled. "There's never a dull moment with you, Toni." He teleported her to the parking lot.
Toni opened the Jaguar's passenger door and peered inside. Teddy was squashed into the tiny backseat with Sabrina. She leaned against him, her eyes droopy with medication.
"Bri, Carlos is going to take you to a hotel where you can rest," Toni told her.
Bri blinked at her. "I thought I was in bed. How did I get here?"
"You'll be fine," Toni insisted. "You just need some rest. I'll come see you tomorrow."
"No." Bri struggled to sit up. "Don't leave me." Her face crumpled. "I think I'm going crazy. I don't know how I got here."
Toni winced. "All right. I'll come with you. Just a minute."
"We have to hurry, menina," Carlos warned her.
Ian touched her shoulder. "It's all right. Go with yer friend. Ye can call me later, and I'll teleport over to bring you home."
She threw her arms around him and kissed him. "How can I ever thank you?"
His mouth twitched. "I'll think of something. I'll see you later." He stepped back and vanished.
Toni climbed into the Jaguar. "Let's go."
"Were you kissing that man, Toni?" Sabrina asked.
"Sure she was," Teddy replied. "The superheroes always get the girl."
Jedrek sat at his desk, studying the photo of Roman Draganesti and his family. How could a man be so smart and stupid at the same time? His Stay-Awake drug was fantastic. But the idiot had used the drug so he could babysit? If the moron had any sense at all, he would give the drug to his Highlander thugs, and they would spend the daytime killing their enemies who rested helplessly in their death-sleep.
It could happen. Jedrek had ordered twice as many daytime guards. But as tough as the Russian mafia guys were, he didn't like depending on them for safety.
What he needed was that damned drug. Then he could spend a few days killing Vamps. He thumbed through the stack of photos, relishing the thought of staking them all. MacKay and his wife. Buchanan. MacPhie.
"Master?" Yuri entered the office, followed by Stanislav. "You wanted to see us?"
"We need to plan our next move," Jedrek announced.
"They're having their Christmas Ball tomorrow night at Romatech," Stanislav suggested.
Jedrek shook his head. "Too predictable." His hand paused on the photo of the black Vamp. "Remember this one?"
"Yes," Stanislav answered. "Phineas, the traitor."
Jedrek arched a brow. "You haven't killed him yet?"
Stanislav gulped. "I will, Master."
"See that you do." Jedrek resumed flipping though the photos. He stopped on the mortal girl with blonde hair. He'd seen her last night after the bombs had gone off. She'd run across the parking lot, screaming MacPhie's name. The ground had been littered with wounded men, but she'd gone straight to MacPhie.
"What do we do next?" Yuri asked.
Jedrek stroked his finger over the photo of the blonde mortal. "I know exactly what to do."
CHAPTER 19
Tuesday night, Toni walked into a ballroom full of Santas. The dancing had already started, and several Santas whirled around the dance floor, waltzing with their partners. The women's costumes were a bit more varied. A few were dressed like Mrs. Claus with long, full skirts, white aprons, and white frilly bonnets on top of silver wigs. Other women wore outfits reminiscent of the costumes worn by the Rockettes in their Christmas show.
Toni did a double take. The two Rockettes by the reindeer ice sculpture looked male.
She headed toward the table with real food. As far as she knew, only mortals who knew about Vamps had been invited to the ball. The other mortal employees at Romatech had gone to a party for them earlier in the afternoon.
She scanned the room, searching for Ian, but all the Santas looked alike. They even wore padding inside their red velvet coats to give them fake bellies. Under their red hats, they sported bushy white wigs and beards. The only departure from the norm were a few Santas sporting swords—in case the Malcontents showed up uninvited. Even Toni had a few wooden stakes in her belt.
She noticed one Santa who was different. He was about a foot shorter than the others, and he fidgeted with the black buttons on his jacket. That had to be Laszlo, the scientist who had helped in the operating room and delivered a bag of stuff to the mystery room.
At the mortal table, there was a Mrs. Claus and a little girl who were having a snack of cheese and fruit.
The woman smiled at Toni and extended a hand. "Hi. I'm Heather Echarpe, and this is my daughter, Bethany."
"I'm Toni." She shook hands, then smiled at the little girl. "What a beautiful dress."
"My new daddy made it for me." Bethany's face lit up, and she pointed across the room. "Look, Mama. It's Constantine. Can I go see him?"
"Sure, sweetie." Heather gazed fondly at Tino, who was dressed like a miniature Santa without the beard.
Bethany dragged Constantine onto the dance floor while the waltzing adults managed to avoid running over them. Tino and Bethany reached the middle of the dance floor, where they started jumping and giggling.
Toni popped a grape in her mouth. "So you must be the one who married the famous fashion designer."
"Yes." Heather smiled. "Jean-Luc is here somewhere. Lost in a sea of Santas."
"Yeah, I can't tell who's who."
Heather bit into a strawberry. "It's for the best, I suppose. It would totally confuse any Malcontent who crashed the party." She stepped closer to Toni. "I hope you don't mind, but Shanna told me about you."
"Oh?"
Heather smiled. "Don't worry, it was all good stuff. I just wanted to say that Ian's a great guy, and I hope it works out for you."
"We—we're not going out or anything. I'm a guard, so it's against the rules for us to get involved."
"Since when does love follow the rules?" Heather lowered her voice. "Ian was in Texas when he took the drug to grow older. He was in so much pain, it nearly killed me to watch. I begged him to stop, but you know what he said?"