All I Want For Christmas Is A Vampire (6 page)

“Right.” She leaned back and crossed her arms. “Okay. Since I can’t be affected in any way, let’s see what you can do. Try your best mojo on me.”

Mojo? What the hell was that?

She shifted to face him. “You see me in a bar. I’m a sexy, Vamp lady with a gorgeous set of…fangs. So you make your move…” She watched him expectantly.

Smooth and charming. That had worked for Jean-Luc. “Good evening, miss. Ye’re looking quite fetching tonight.”

“Thanks.” Her eyes narrowed. “Lovely weather we’re having.”

“Quite so. A bit chilly, perhaps.”

“Indeed, Mr. Darcy. I fear the sheep will be shivering on the moor.” She made a face at him. “What century did you come from?”

“The sixteenth, but I’ve adjusted over the centuries.”

She scoffed. “Not enough. You’re still behind about two hundred years.”

“I was trying to sound charming.”

“Prince Charming’s not a hero anymore. Haven’t you watched Shrek?”

He didn’t know what she was talking about. “I thought charm could never go out of style. It worked for Jean-Luc.”

“I don’t know him. Look, you’ve got to sound more modern. More hip. Try again.”

He searched his mind for the right words. “Yo, hot mama, let’s get down?”

She burst into laughter. “Now you sound like Phineas, except that you just said, ‘Let’s get dune.’ Oh God, the accent is so funny.”

“Thanks.” He gave her a wry look. “Perhaps I can mispronounce myself into a lady’s affections.”

Toni grinned. “You still sound old-fashioned.”

“Is that such a bad thing?”

She tilted her head, considering. “I suppose it depends on the girl. Some girls like having a man open the door for them. But a lot of modern women would interpret chivalrous behavior as rude. We can open the damned door for ourselves. Don’t ever consider us the weaker sex.”

“Then ye’re misinterpreting my motives. I would open the door to show respect, no’ disrespect.”

“But do you really respect women? Haven’t we just been your dinner for centuries?”

“Ye’ve been my salvation. I could never have survived without you.”

Her eyes widened. “We see things so differently from each other.”

“That only makes you more fascinating to me.” He gazed into her eyes and saw a mixture of emotions struggling against one another. She was so beautiful. So determined to be tough and hide her wounds. Would it frighten her if she knew how attracted he was to her? “I would never harm you, lass. I hope ye know that.”

She pulled back suddenly and looked away. “Were you using mind control on me?”

“No.”

“Then why am I—” She gave him a wary glance. “Never mind.”

Was she feeling it, too? This strange pull between them. He stretched an arm along the back of the sofa. “Tell me, Toni, when it comes to dating a modern lass, would it be all right for me to kiss her on the first date?”

She pulled her handbag into her lap. “A peck on the cheek would be fine. Or a quick kiss when you say good-bye.”

“What if I want more?”

Her cheeks reddened. “If you want to jump in the sack, that’s your choice.”

“I was only referring to a deeper, more satisfying kiss. But since ye’re in a hurry to get me in bed—”

“I think you’ve had enough practice.” She jumped to her feet and pulled on her coat.

He stood. “Thank you. This was verra educational.”

“Right.” She swung her handbag onto her shoulder. “Believe me, you’ll do fine with the dating.” She headed for the front door.

“That’s good. I have two dates tonight.”

She glanced back. “Two?”

Was she jealous? “The nights are long. I’ll see you in the morning before sunrise. We still need to talk.”

She shook her head as she reached for the doorknob. “There’s nothing to talk about.”

“I have questions that need answering.”

“You’re too nosy.”

“If ye refuse to talk to me, I’ll have to investigate you.”

Her eyes flashed with anger. “Why can’t you leave me alone?” She left, slamming the door behind her.

That was a good question. He had two dates tonight and plenty of phone calls he could return. But for some reason, he couldn’t leave Toni alone. She filled his thoughts. He desired her, but it was more than lust. She was a mystery. A beautiful, clever mystery. And damned fun to flirt with.

He teleported to the fifth floor to shower and change. First he would go to Romatech to see Connor and begin his investigation. He had a few hours to kill before meeting his dates at the Horny Devils.

In the bathroom, he yanked the T-shirt off, then stared at the words Toni had scribbled. Could she really be jealous that so many women desired him? Or did he just want her to be jealous? One thing was certain. He was totally intrigued by their beautiful female guard.

Angus MacKay’s cardinal rule repeated in the back of his mind. A guard must never become romantically involved with his charges. She was forbidden. She was mortal.

“Bloody hell.” He tossed the T-shirt in the trash.

Jedrek Janow moved slowly across his new office at the Russian-American coven house in Brooklyn. So far, so good. His electronic scanning device wasn’t picking up any bugs. When he’d arrived Tuesday night, he’d found a few. He suspected there was a mole in his coven, but until he found the bastard, he’d keep checking the office every night.

Such disloyalty and incompetence would not be tolerated. As the new master, he’d made it clear last night that he expected more from this coven. Any member who wasn’t willing to die to achieve his goals might as well die now. He’d punctuated his speech by staking a coven member who hadn’t looked properly impressed.

That simple act had done wonders for everyone’s motivation. The men had offered to hunt for him. The women had offered to screw him. All except one. The little brunette, Nadia, had looked terrified of him.

So of course he’d selected her. He smiled, remembering the brutal hour he’d spent with her. When he’d finally let her slink away in tears, he’d relished the certain knowledge that her fear of him had grown. She still had some spirit in her, though. He’d break it soon enough. It was a game he’d enjoyed many times over the centuries.

He finished scanning the room. It was clean, and it would stay that way now that he was in charge. The former coven masters had been idiots. Ivan Petrovsky had ended up betrayed and assassinated by his own coven. Katya Miniskaya had made a ton of money, only to squander it all in a pathetic attempt to kill a former lover who’d jilted her.

Neither Ivan nor Katya had recognized what was truly important. When Roman Draganesti invaded this building during the daytime to rescue one of his minions, Ivan had simply increased the number of day guards. The idiot! Draganesti had been awake during the day. The significance of that had completely evaded Ivan. And Katya.

A vampire who could stay awake during the day could rule the world. All vampires would have to bow to him for fear of being slaughtered during their daily death-sleep.

“Master?” Yuri knocked on the door. The door was open, but he was afraid to enter without Jedrek’s permission.

Good. They were learning fast. Jedrek sat behind his desk and dropped the bug detector in a drawer. “Enter.”

“I have the report and photos you requested.”

“Show me.”

Yuri set some digital photos on the desk. “This is Romatech and some of the Vamps who work there.”

Jedrek recognized the pictures of Draganesti and his bodyguard, Connor Buchanan. “Who is this?”

“Gregori Holstein. A vice president at Romatech.”

“Where is the information on Draganesti’s home?”

Yuri gulped. “We haven’t been able to find it. Yet,” he quickly added in response to Jedrek’s glare. “Here are some photos of his townhouse in the Upper East Side.”

Jedrek looked through them. There was a kilted Scotsman and a young black man in the MacKay uniform.

Yuri pointed at the photo of a third man. “This guy arrived last night. We’re not sure who he is. He doesn’t match any of our older photos.”

Jedrek studied the picture of a young man in a red and green kilt. “Another damned Highlander. I swear MacKay has an endless supply of them.” He picked up the last photo of a young blonde woman. “Who is this? Their whore?”

“Perhaps.” Yuri shifted his weight. “She’s mortal.”

“How can you tell?”

“I…recognize her. I fed on her Monday night.”

Jedrek set her picture down. “Wasn’t that the night you let Sashenka get slaughtered?”

“Connor Buchanan killed him,” Yuri said quickly. “We had everything under control until he showed up.”

Jedrek curled his hands into fists. “It was three against one. You should have killed the damned Scotsman. What did I tell you about incompetence?”

Yuri paled. “It will not be tolerated.”

Jedrek stared at the man, allowing Yuri’s fear to grow as the seconds ticked by. He breathed deeply. He loved the smell of fear. “You are fortunate the event happened before I became master. I am hungry now. Fetch me a mortal.”

“Yes, Master.” Yuri bowed. “Right away.”

Jedrek smoothed a finger over the face of the girl in the photo. “Bring me a blonde. I hear they’re more fun.”

After a subway ride and short walk to Washington Square, Toni arrived at the second-floor apartment she shared with Sabrina. She dropped her handbag and keys on the coffee table, then shrugged out of her jacket and tossed it and her scarf on the love seat. Sabrina’s cat, Vanderkitty, jumped from the easy chair to weave around Toni’s legs.

“Hey, Van.” Toni rubbed behind the orange tabby’s ears. “Have you seen your mama?”

Van gave her an annoyed look, then marched off to the kitchen area to assume a regal pose by her food bowl.

“Don’t give me that. I know Carlos has been feeding you.” Toni peered inside Sabrina’s bedroom.

It looked the same as it had last Sunday—discarded jeans on the floor, textbooks lying open across the purple chenille bedspread. Before going out Sunday night, Sabrina had spent most of the day studying for finals this week—finals she had missed. Toni had visited all of Bri’s professors on Monday to explain why Bri would be absent. She would receive incompletes in all five of her classes.

It was as if Sabrina’s life had suddenly frozen in time, and her room along with her. Toni wondered if their lives would ever be the same.

She turned on the bedside lamp, then dug through the top drawer of Bri’s bedside table. Her heart squeezed when she spotted a birthday card Bri had kept. Toni had given it to her years ago. It was the first time she’d bought a card that was addressed to “Sister.”

As far as Toni was concerned, Bri was her sister. They’d been best friends for ten years. They spent their holidays and vacations together. God knew their real families didn’t want them.

Which was why it was so weird for Bri to leave the hospital with her aunt and uncle. Toni had heard so little about this couple over the years, she couldn’t even recall their full names. Joe and Gwen something-or-other who occasionally remembered to send Bri a Christmas card. Why had they suddenly developed an interest in their niece?

Toni located a pink fuzzy address book and thumbed through the pages. It was sad how few names were in the book. Even sadder how many names had been crossed out over the years. Poor Bri. It was so hard for her to find people she could trust.

Toni carried the address book back into the living room and flopped down on the love seat. Vanderkitty jumped onto the back of the love seat to perch by Toni’s ear.

“You miss your mama?” Toni interpreted the loud purring as a yes. “Yeah, me, too.”

She flipped through the pages of the address book. “Aha!” Under the Ps, she found Dr. Joe Proctor and Gwen, who lived in Westchester. This had to be them, although Toni hadn’t known Uncle Joe was a doctor.

She reached over the sofa arm for the cordless phone on the end table and noticed the blinking message light. Four messages. Three were from her, since she’d called three times. Maybe the fourth one was from Bri.

Toni punched the play button and listened to her voice grow increasingly worried with each message. Finally the last message.

“Bri, this is Justin. You gotta forgive me, babe—”

Right. Toni turned the message off. Then she dialed the number for the Proctors. What kind of doctor was he? A proctologist? Her snort was interrupted by a feminine voice with a Hispanic accent.

“Dr. Proctor’s residence.”

“Hi. Is Sabrina there?” Toni heard muffled voices in the background.

A different voice came on the phone. “Good evening. This is Gwen Proctor.”

“I’m Toni, Bri’s roommate. I’d like to talk to her.”

“I’m afraid that’s not possible at the moment. She’s sleeping, and we hate to wake her up, the poor dear. She’s been through such a terrible ordeal.”

Tell me about it. Toni had survived a vampire attack, too. “Is she all right?”

“Yes, of course.” A definite chill had crept into Gwen’s voice. “Thank you for calling.”

“Can you tell her to call me when she wakes up?”

“We don’t want to upset her delicate condition.”

Was that a no? “Bri will want to talk to me.”

“Perhaps, but you’re not qualified to talk to her properly.

My husband is an excellent psychiatrist, an expert in the type of severe psychosis that Sabrina is exhibiting right now.”

Toni’s stomach dropped like she’d swallowed a cement brick. “Bri is not psychotic.”

There was a pause where Toni could hear whispering.

“Ms. Davis?” a brusque male voice came on the phone. “This is Dr. Proctor, Sabrina’s uncle. I can assure you she’s receiving the best care available.”

“I just want to talk to her.”

“Under the circumstances, I cannot allow that.”

Toni’s fist squeezed around the receiver. “Look, she’s twenty-three years old. You can’t decide whom she talks to.”

“You would not be a positive influence on her at this time,” he answered calmly. “The poor girl believes she was attacked by vampires.”

Toni gritted her teeth. “Yes, I know—”

“And she fears they’ll return to harm her again. We are providing her a safe environment for her recovery.”

“That’s great, but I still want to talk to her.”

“The last time she talked to you, she asked you to prove that her attackers were actual vampires,” Dr. Proctor continued. “And you agreed.”

“She was lying there injured in a hospital room. How could I say no?”

“I cannot allow her to speak to anyone who will encourage her in these paranoid delusions. You would severely jeopardize the progress we’ve made.”

Toni swallowed hard. “What are you doing to her?”

“Giving her expert care. Good night.” He hung up.

“Wait!” Toni glared at the receiver. “You asshole!”

“I hope you’re not referring to me.”

Startled, Toni jumped in her seat, then turned toward the man climbing through the kitchen window.

“Carlos!” she scolded her next-door neighbor. “How long have you been there, listening?”

“Long enough.”

“In that case, I was referring to you.” She hung up the phone. Now that she thought about it, she was glad he had eavesdropped. She needed a friend she could confide in, and with Sabrina gone, Carlos was all she had left.

It wasn’t the first time he had snuck up on her. The man moved with a quiet, stealthlike grace. She assumed he’d acquired the skill from his trips into the Amazon jungle, where a person was better off not announcing his presence. With his shoulder-length black hair, black sweater, and black leather pants, Carlos was barely visible on the fire escape landing their two apartments shared.

He straddled the windowsill, his white teeth flashing as he grinned. “Come now, girl, you should be nice to me. It sounds like you might need someone with my talents.”

She snorted. “Which talent would that be? The one where you dance the samba, wearing a sequined thong?”

He looked affronted. “I wear a lot more than a thong. I have a hot pink satin cape and a headdress with ostrich feathers. It’s enormous.” He winked. “Like the rest of me.”

Toni laughed. Carlos always went back to Brazil for a few days at carnival time. Since he was working on his master’s in anthropology at NYU, he claimed the trip was educational. Toni and Bri had certainly learned some new things from the videos he brought back.

He swung his other leg over the windowsill, then straightened his long, lean frame. He was gorgeous, but more likely to dress Toni and Sabrina than date them. Vanderkitty leaped from the love seat, bounced across the kitchen floor, and landed in his arms.

“She never greets me like that,” Toni muttered.

“She knows who’s the boss around here. Hello, love.” He rubbed the cat’s head against his smooth, tanned cheek, then set her on the linoleum. “I was coming over to feed her when I heard you getting all huffy on the phone.”

“That was Sabrina’s aunt and uncle. They’ve got her at their house, and they won’t let me talk to her.”

“Humph. Some people are so rude.” Carlos opened the cabinet under the sink and removed Van’s bag of kibble. “Menina, you said you’d tell me what was going on.”

“Yeah, I know.” But how could she explain without sounding crazy? “I hardly know where to start.”

“Start with the bastards who attacked Sabrina.” Carlos poured kibble into Van’s bowl. “It was Sunday night, yes?”

“Yes. She went ice skating with Justin in Central Park. They had an argument, and she left on her own.”

Carlos put the kibble back under the sink and slammed the cabinet door shut. “Merda. She should have called me.”

“Or me,” Toni agreed. “Unfortunately, Justin upset her so much, she wasn’t thinking properly.”

Carlos’s amber eyes narrowed. “Did he hurt her?”

“Emotionally, yes. He made a comment about how they should spend the money she’s going to inherit.”

Carlos winced. “I didn’t think he knew about that.”

“Me, neither. Anyway, Bri felt totally betrayed, and she took off on her own. Then the bad guys attacked her.”

“Poor menina.” Carlos strode into the living room and perched on the arm of the easy chair.

“There were three…thugs,” Toni explained. “Bri ended up with abrasions and cracked ribs. Some people found her, lying unconscious in the snow, and called 911. The police interviewed her at the hospital, but they thought she was delusional, you know, from all the hypothermia and blood loss. They didn’t believe her story.”

Carlos made a sound of disgust. “She was obviously attacked. Did they think she injured herself?”

“No, but they thought she was imagining the thugs worse than they really were.”

“They beat her up and left her for dead. What could be worse than that?”

Vampires. But no one had believed Bri. Even Toni had thought her friend was conjuring up some imaginary boogey monsters as a response to the trauma she’d endured. “Bri was upset when no one believed her, so she asked me to go to the park and find the guys who attacked her.”

Carlos sat back. “Are you crazy, girl? You should have asked me to come with you.”

He was right. Carlos was an expert in martial arts. When he had first met Toni and Bri two years ago, he’d insisted they go to classes with him. “I wish I had. But I didn’t think anything would happen.”