"Oh great," Shanna muttered and fell back against her pillows.
Emma chuckled. "We won't let him get hurt."
Angus swung the boy up into his arms. "Ye have to be able to lift a sword before ye can wield it."
Constantine wrapped his hands around Angus's neck. "I'm hungry."
"There's some food at the reception. Would ye like to go with me?" Angus asked.
"Oh yes!" Constantine squirmed in his godfather's arms. "I want to see Toni!"
"Verra well." Angus headed toward the door. "I'll bring him back in a little while."
"Thanks," Shanna said. "And please ask Ian and Toni to stop by before they leave. I was so sorry to miss the wedding."
"I'll tell you all about it," Emma said.
"Scusi." Jack bowed to the ladies and nodded at Roman, then followed Angus out the door.
"I've reconsidered your offer," he told his boss as they walked down the hall. "I'll be happy to fill in for Ian." Since Ian was leaving for a three-month-long honeymoon with Toni, the position of head of security at Romatech Industries was temporarily vacant.
"Excellent." Angus set a squirming Tino down and let the boy run ahead of them. "But I'm wondering why ye changed yer mind. Last night at the party, ye told me ye were eager to return to Europe to search for Casimir."
Jack shrugged. "Our leads are dead. Literally." All of the recent sightings of Casimir had been in Eastern Europe, although the Vamps had never been able to pinpoint his exact location. Whenever one of Casimir's men turned informant, they never survived more than a few nights. "We're no closer to finding Casimir now than we were two years ago."
"Aye, 'tis verra frustrating."
Damned frustrating. Jack had serious doubts they could ever capture the leader of the Malcontents, not when he could simply teleport away if they got anywhere in his vicinity. "I thought about what you said, and you're right. The Russian-American coven will seek revenge."
Jack had helped Ian and Toni defeat the local Russian Malcontents when they'd taken over the Digital Vampire Network. That had been five months ago, just before Christmas. "Since I was involved in the incident at DVN, I should be here for the repercussions."
Angus nodded. "Did ye know they're calling the battle at DVN a massacre?"
"I'm not surprised." Jack could hear music as they approached the banquet hall. The band was playing a waltz. What a shame he couldn't invite Lara Boucher here. How glorious it would feel to hold her in his arms and swirl around the floor till they were both breathless and dizzy. He'd tighten his embrace until her soft breasts—
"Zoltan told me ye killed six Malcontents that night," Angus continued.
Jack frowned as the lovely mental image of Lara wavered and disappeared. "Zoltan talks too much. I stopped counting the dead years ago. What's the point?"
Angus snorted. "The point is for every Malcontent ye kill, ye are saving countless mortals who would have been his victims."
"Oh right." Jack smiled wryly. "I'm one of the good guys." He doubted Lara Boucher would believe that. There had been two mortal women in his past, and they hadn't believed it.
Angus slapped him on the back. "Ye're a good lad, all right. I'm glad ye decided to stay in New York, but I'm wondering if yer decision has something to do with the pretty mortal who crashed Ian's wedding. I believe Robby said her name was Susie?"
"Robby talks too much."
"Robby was right to report a potential threat. She came to the wedding looking for you and carrying a weapon. Did she mean to do ye harm?"
Jack groaned inwardly. He should have known Robby would check that bag before handing it over. "Don't worry about it. I can handle her."
"How do ye know her?"
"She's a police officer."
"The devil take it," Angus muttered. "How much does she know?"
"Nothing. She and her partner were called to the hotel when our party got a little too rowdy." Jack gave his boss a wry look. "You all left me with a mess to clean up. Thank God Phineas came back with the Vampy Maids."
"Ye got the room back to normal?" When Jack nodded, Angus continued. "And ye followed standard protocol?"
"Yes. I erased all signs and memories that we were ever there. The hotel has no record of us. The paramedics who came for Laszlo have no memory of it. Even the dispatcher who called the police to the scene cannot remember it."
Angus paused outside the open doors to the banquet hall. "Why did paramedics come for Laszlo?"
Jack winced. Now he had talked too much. "She called them."
"Susie?"
"Her name is Lara." Jack didn't give out her last name. Somehow he felt possessive of that knowledge. He wanted to be the only one who would investigate her.
"Look!" Constantine pointed across the banquet hall. "There's Bethany and her mom. Can I go see them?"
Angus glanced at Jean-Luc's mortal wife and stepdaughter. "Sure, lad." As the boy scampered off, Angus turned to Jack. "Laszlo told me she couldna be controlled with our psychic power."
"Laszlo talks too much."
Angus narrowed his green eyes. "Then it is true? Ye couldna erase her memories?"
Jack shifted his weight. "No. She's immune somehow."
"She's a threat—"
"No. I can handle her. The situation is under control."
Angus stared at the waltzing couples as they twirled about the dance floor. "How was she able to track you?"
"She knew from the claymores Ian left in the hotel room that the groom was Scottish," Jack began.
"So she crashed weddings with a Scottish groom till she found you?" Angus turned his attention back to Jack.
"Yes." Jack kept his face blank, aware that his boss was studying him carefully.
"She sounds clever. Robby said she was passing fair."
Jack snorted, then resumed his bland expression.
Angus arched a brow. "No comment?"
Jack gave him an annoyed look. "I've known you almost two hundred years, Angus. You're fishing."
Angus's mouth twitched. "Verra well. Robby actually said she was verra lovely."
Jack felt a strange sense of pride on Lara's behalf. "That would be correct."
Angus leaned back against the door frame and folded his arms. "Does she realize all signs of the party were erased?"
"Yes."
"And being a clever lass, she has questions, no doubt." Angus frowned. "I would order you never to see her again, but I'm afraid ye would disobey. I doona want to fire you. Ye're too valuable to the company."
Jack remained silent.
"So I'll suggest ye doona see her again," Angus continued. "Whatever ye do, doona tell her about us. That is an order."
Jack nodded. "I understand." There was no way he could tell Lara about vampires. He'd made the mistake twice in the past, telling his mistress in 1855 and another one in 1932. They'd both reacted so badly that he'd been forced to erase their memories. They'd gone on with their lives, blithely unaware of him and the heartache he'd endured for losing them.
It would be even worse with Lara. He couldn't erase her memory. A confession to her would be a giant leap forward that could never be taken back. Not only would he lose her, but she would remain a threat.
Angus rested a hand on his shoulder. "Be careful, lad. Be verra careful." He sauntered into the banquet hall.
Jack sighed. Telling Lara the truth would put his life and the lives of all his Vamp friends in jeopardy.
The full extent of his dilemma became painfully clear. He couldn't trust Lara enough to tell her the truth. And she would never trust him as long as he refused to tell her the truth. A no-win situation. He should follow Angus's advice and never see her again.
A small voice deep inside him whispered no. It repeated the word a bit louder and louder till it was shouting in his head. Merda. If she called him, if she needed him, he would rush to her side in a second.