I deserve to be happy.
I will accomplish my goals.
I will achieve something meaningful with my life.
I am worthy to be loved.
Toni repeated her morning affirmations as hot water sluiced down her body and steam billowed around her. She just needed to believe. Yeah, right. In the last few days, her life had started spiraling down the toilet.
I deserve to be happy. She sighed. Her family didn't believe in her, so why should she? She turned the water off. She needed to toughen up emotionally and not let other people drag her down—people like Ian MacPhie.
How could a dead guy be so handsome? She pulled back the shower curtain. Why couldn't he have been mortal? For one fleeting, wonderful moment, she'd thought he was human. But no. Swish down the toilet. He was one of them.
She stepped out of the shower, scolding herself. Don't think about him. He has no power over you. Unless…
Unless he used vampire mind control. Toni's bare skin prickled with goose bumps, and she shivered in spite of the hot steam surrounding her. She glanced down at the bite marks that covered her chest and torso.
She'd fought those three vampires. She'd thought she might survive until they'd taken over her mind. She'd sat there in the dirty snow, shivering and helpless while their cruel thoughts invaded her head and forced her to remove her shirt. Her bra. A deep shudder racked her body. If Connor hadn't come along when he had…
She blinked away tears and grabbed a towel to dry off. She would remain in control and stay focused.
I will accomplish my goals. She had to succeed. Sabrina was counting on her. Already Toni had confirmed the existence of vampires and invaded the good-guy camp.
Good-guy vampires? Who would believe that? But Connor had saved her, and he swore all good Vamps had given up biting. She'd seen them drink from bottles, but still, it was hard to completely trust them. No matter how well these good Vamps behaved, she could still sense the beast lurking just below the surface. She'd felt it even stronger with Ian, but instead of repelling her, it had excited her.
How foolish could she get? Only a complete idiot would challenge a beast that could bite. She would ignore him.
I will achieve something meaningful with my life. This would happen. She and Sabrina had it all planned out.
Toni padded into the bedroom while she towel-dried her hair. Her gaze wandered over the soft, golden walls and large canopy bed hung with blue and gold brocade fabric that matched the curtains and comforter. The two dressers that flanked the bed looked like Louis XVI antiques.
One thing she had to reluctantly admit: the Vamps had excellent taste. Dougal claimed this room once belonged to a Vamp princess who was a member of Roman Draganesti's harem. Apparently Roman had disbanded his harem when he married. Toni snorted. What a great guy. As far as she could tell, all the male Vamps were a few centuries behind on their opinions of women. Ian MacPhie certainly was.
I am worthy to be loved. The last affirmation was the hardest to believe. She tossed her towel into the laundry hamper. Dammit, she was loved. Grandma had loved her.
And remember what happened to her? You failed her. Toni quickly squashed the nasty inner voice that kept sabotaging her affirmations, telling her she didn't deserve to be happy, and she wasn't worthy to be loved. She was worthy, dammit. And she would not fail Sabrina. Even if it meant living in a house full of blood-drinking creatures.
She popped in her contacts and dressed in her guard uniform of khaki pants and a navy polo shirt. Connor had given her small sizes, but still, the men's clothes hung on her frame like shapeless sacks. Obviously MacKay Security and Investigation was not accustomed to hiring female guards. Dougal and Phineas had been surprised, but they'd accepted her easily enough once they'd seen her fight.
Ian was much more suspicious, but she wouldn't let him scare her away. She would remain calm and cool. In control. Nothing was going to faze her.
She jumped when her cell phone blasted forth with loud music. Damn. Carlos had given her a new ringtone a week ago, but the sudden explosion of "Cum on Feel the Noize" by Quiet Riot always gave her a jolt.
The male vocalists screamed while she dug through her handbag. Hopefully, it was Sabrina calling. Toni had gone to the hospital last night to see her, but Sabrina had been sleeping so peacefully, Toni hadn't wanted to wake her.
She yanked open the phone. "Hello?"
"Toni?" The gruff voice sounded urgent. "What's going on there?"
"Howard?" Her supervisor? Howard Barr was in charge of daytime security, and he monitored Toni from his location at Roman Draganesti's house. Howard was supposed to call for a morning report at eight A.M., but yesterday morning he'd used the house phone, not her cell phone.
Her gaze flickered to the bedside table where the digital clock glowed 7:26. "Is something wrong?"
"That's what I'm asking you," Howard continued in a rush. "I did my morning rounds here, and Connor had his cell phone open by his ear. Were you talking to him?"
"No. Everything's fine here—"
"I don't think so. Connor's phone was connected to your house phone there. I hung up and tried to call, but your line is still busy."
Toni glanced at the phone on her bedside table. A light indicated it was still in use. Of course. Ian had said he would check up on her. "It must be Ian MacPhie."
"Ian?" There was a pause during which Toni could hear the shuffling of papers. "Are you sure? He's not due back for another week. And his coffin's empty."
"He outgrew it."
"So it's true? The boy doesn't look fifteen anymore?"
She wrinkled her nose. "He looks older than that, but his behavior's not what I would call mature."
Howard chuckled. "Made a good impression, did he? Look, he's not showing up on any of my monitors, so you'll have to find him and make sure he's all right."
"I'm sure he's fine. Where would he go? He's dead. That sorta cuts down on his mobility."
"Yes, but we're responsible for these guys during the day. You can't guard a corpse if you don't know where it is. So find him."
Toni groaned silently. There were five floors in this townhouse, six counting the basement, more than eighteen bedrooms, and a bunch of bathrooms and closets. It would take all morning to search the whole place.
"I'll call back in ten minutes." Howard hung up.
Ten minutes? Toni dropped her phone into the pocket of the men's trousers she was wearing, and still barefoot, she rushed into the hall. He wasn't conveniently sprawled out dead in the hallway, so she would have to hunt him down.
She jogged down the stairs to the ground floor. She didn't expect to see him here, but there were surveillance cameras in the foyer and the kitchen, and she knew Howard would expect to see her pass by in her search.
She'd been hired on a probationary status for two weeks, and Connor had warned her that the cameras in the townhouse were linked to monitors in White Plains. In other words, she was watched constantly to make sure she could be trusted. As if she would ever try to harm one of the Vamps.
Connor had stressed the fact that once she took the vow to protect Vamps, that vow would be sacred. The cost of betrayal was severe and final. If she incurred their wrath, there would be no place to hide where they couldn't find her. Her body would never be found. Then he'd proceeded to tell her about the great medical/dental plan, high-yield money market accounts, and vacation opportunities that MacKay Security and Investigation offered its employees.
Under normal circumstances, she would have chosen option number one: having her memory erased so she could return to her normal life. But circumstances weren't normal, so she'd gritted her teeth and taken the vow.
Ian was not to be found on the ground floor, so she headed down to the guardroom in the basement. Her gaze flickered to the couch by the wall. Nope, not there. She glanced up at the surveillance camera and shook her head.
She paused by the door of the dormitory. She was required to check this room four times a day, bu
t it still gave her the chills. Well, not the room so much, but the dead bodies inside. She took a deep breath and entered.
Dougal was on his back in his coffin, wearing an old-fashioned nightshirt that reached his knees and looked a bit like the nightgown her grandma used to wear.
Phineas was sprawled across his twin-sized bed, wearing nothing but red silk boxer shorts. Toni glanced at the framed photos on his bedside table. An elderly woman and a young girl and boy, most probably the aunt and younger siblings he talked about. She wondered if they knew he'd been transformed into a vampire almost two years ago.
She peeked inside the bathroom and winced at the towels and clothes littering the floor. Thank God she didn't have to clean up after them. There was a Vamp-owned maid service that came in at night. Her gaze landed on a stack of girlie magazines in a basket. Aack! What pigs.
She jogged up the back stairs to the ground floor, then went up another flight on the grand staircase. There were no surveillance cameras on the top four floors, so at least she didn't have the uncomfortable feeling of being watched. She sprinted past her bedroom to check the remaining five bedrooms on the second floor. Then she rushed through all the bedrooms on the third floor. With time running short, she dashed through the rooms on the fourth floor.
Dammit, he wasn't in any of them! She checked the last bedroom with a growing sense of doom. She even looked in the closet. Had she made a mistake by not checking all the closets below?
Cum on feel the noize! She jumped and dug the phone out of her pocket. "Howard?"
"Toni, have you found him yet?"
"No." She was breathing heavily from all the running about. "I've searched every floor. Except the fifth one."
"Check it out."
She blinked. Connor had warned her not to venture into Roman Draganesti's private office and bedroom. Apparently the big kahuna still had some stuff there. Probably a skeleton in the closet. "I thought that floor was off-limits."
"Normally yes, but we can't go all day without knowing where Ian is. So go look around." Howard hung up.
She dropped the phone in her pocket and climbed the stairs. On the top landing, she discovered two doors that flanked an oil painting of some ruins. She tried the door on the right. It opened.
The room was totally dark. She fumbled along the wall by the doorjamb until she located a light switch. A lone lightbulb turned on, situated over a large desk. Bookcases sat behind it and a red velvet chaise in front. Her heart lurched at the sight of the computer on the desk. It could be the answer to her prayers.
The large room stretched back into shadow. Toni could make out the shape of more chairs, a table, and a wet bar. At the far end of the room, she spotted the dark wooden paneling of a set of double doors.
She crossed the room, her bare feet silently cushioned on the thick carpet, her gaze sliding past expensive antiques. So this was the private lair of a powerful vampire coven master? Maybe she should take some photos with her cell phone. No, it wouldn't help Sabrina. The lush decor only proved that the owner was rich, not Undead.
As she approached the double doors, she heard a beeping sound like a phone off the hook. She shoved open the doors. The shadow of a huge bed loomed before her with a darker shadow on top. She skirted the bed to the right and fumbled with the lamp on the bedside table. A dim light, no brighter than a night-light, came on.
There he was on the far side of the king-sized bed, lying on top of a tan suede comforter. His face was turned away from her, so all she could see was his thick black hair and the ponytail that curled on top of the pillow.
Some men might look effeminate with shoulder-length hair and a skirt, but on Ian, the effect was quite the opposite. There was something wild and rugged about him, like a Scottish warrior who refused to be civilized. Just the sight of him made her heartbeat quicken and thoughts of rebellion sneak into her head.
He rested on his back, his long length stretching to the foot of the bed. Her gaze wandered over the white T-shirt, tightly molded to a broad chest and muscular abs. His red and green plaid kilt lay rumpled about his legs, the hem rucked up past his knees. It looked like he'd simply fallen onto the bed without caring how he landed.
Toni edged around the bed, passing by his huge feet encased in black socks. The old wives' tale about men with big feet must be true. Her gaze drifted back to his kilt. His legs were spread apart with the plaid fabric draped slightly between them. What a shock it had been to realize the guy didn't wear any underwear. Her face grew warm, remembering the amused tilt of his mouth and the glint in his eyes. No shame whatsoever. No, he'd looked…bold, as if he'd enjoyed her surprise inspection.
She tilted her head, focused on the dark, shadowy area between his thighs. Slowly, she leaned to the side.
Cum on feel the noize!
With a gasp, she straightened. What had gotten into her? The man was dead, and she was trying to look up his skirt? Thank God there were no cameras up here.
She opened her phone. "It's okay, Howard. I've got Ian here. He's in bed."
There was a pause.
"Girl, you have a man in your bed?"
Toni winced. "Carlos! I–I wasn't expecting you."
He chuckled. "I realize that, menina. So, who is this guy in your bed?"
"He's not in my bed, and it's not—"
"Oh, you're at his place?"
"Well, yes, sorta." Toni shoved her damp hair behind her ears. "Look, Carlos, I can't talk right now." At the sound of his suggestive chuckling, she huffed. "It's not what you think. The guy is really…dead right now."
"You wore him out? You go, girl."
Toni groaned. Maybe it was his Brazilian heritage, but her next-door neighbor, Carlos Panterra, had a one-track mind. "Carlos, is everything fine at the apartment?"
"Yes, of course. I was just feeding your cat. She says she misses you and Sabrina. I do, too."
"I know. We'll be back soon, I hope. Now I've got to go before Howard calls."
Carlos gasped. "You have two men? Girl, you are hot!"
"It's not—never mind. I'll explain later." She moved up the side of the bed.
"It's that new ringtone I put on your phone," Carlos continued. "Now you're rocking the boys big time."
"Yeah, right. Bye, Carlos." Toni snapped her phone shut and dropped it in her pocket. It was a stinking shame she was so inept at modern technology. She had no idea how to remove the ringtone Carlos had cursed her phone with.
Speaking of phones, there was still a beeping one on the bed with Ian. He'd obviously been holding it next to his ear, but now his fingers were relaxed, curling slightly where they rested on the pillow. The receiver must have slid down the pillow, for it was now nestled in the crook of his neck and shoulder. His head was turned toward her, his eyes shut.
She had a creepy feeling his eyes might suddenly open and gaze at her with the blank look of a zombie. With a shudder, she pushed that thought away. She reached for the receiver, but accidentally brushed her hand over his fingers. She jerked her arm back. Shoot, she'd never touched a dead person before. But he hadn't felt cold and stiff as she expected him to.
She slipped her hand between his fingers and his neck and slowly pulled the phone out. Her knuckles grazed the tip of his chin. It was rough with whiskers. She winced, realizing how close she was to touching his mouth. His lips were slightly parted, perfectly shaped.
She stepped back, bringing the phone to her chest. His expression was peaceful, so different from the intense emotions she'd seen earlier. The thick black fringe of his eyelashes cast a shadow on his pale cheeks. Beautiful. A man shouldn't look that sweet and rugged at the same time.
Her gaze fell to the dimple in his chin. It had been one of the first things she'd noticed about him. The whole time he'd been fussing at her, she'd wanted to poke it with her finger. She reached out her hand, then snatched it back. What was she thinking? He was one of them.
She dropped the receiver back into the cradle on the bedside table. It immediately rang.
She jumped. Good grief, she needed to get a grip. She lifted the receiver. "It's okay, Howard. I found him."
There was a feminine giggle. Definitely not Howard, unless he had a secret she didn't know about. "Hello?"
"Hi!" Another giggle. "Is Ian there?"
Toni hesitated. If this girl knew Ian, wouldn't she know he was dead at the moment? "He's not able to come to the phone right now. Can I take a message?"
"Well, I guess so." The caller giggled again.
Toni found a pen and pad of paper in the nightstand drawer. She waited, but there was silence. "Hello? You'll need to give me the message."
"Oh, right. Okay. Let me think." Another giggle.
Toni waited while the caller grew silent, apparently attempting to think. Did Ian actually know this girl? Hadn't he said he was looking for a Vamp woman? This girl had to be mortal because it was daylight, and she was conscious. Sorta. "Can you tell me your name?"
"Oh." More giggles. "I'm Mitzi."
Toni wrote on the pad of paper. "And your message?"
"Can you tell Ian I think he's really hot?"
"Sure." Toni glanced at Ian. He looked stone cold to her. "How did you meet him?"
"I haven't yet. I just found him on Single in the City. It's a dating service, you know?"
"I see." Was that how Ian planned to find his true love? That didn't make sense if he was looking for only Vamp women.
"Yeah, I just saw his profile," Mitzi continued. "And his picture. And I had to call because he's so hot!"
"Right. Do you want to leave a number?"
Mitzi recited her number. "Can you tell him I want to go out with him? And he'll probably get lucky, 'cause he's so hot!" She giggled, then thankfully hung up.
The second Toni set down the receiver, the phone rang again. This had to be Howard. "Hello?"
"Is Ian MacPhie there?" a throaty female voice asked.
Another woman? At least it wasn't Mitzi. "Ian is unavailable at this time. May I take a message?"
"My name is Lola. I was just reading Ian's profile at Single in the City, and I must say, it was fascinating."
"I bet." Toni glanced at the computer in the office next door. She might need to take a look at this profile.
All I Want for Christmas is a Vampire las-5 Page 4
