All I Want for Christmas is a Vampire(103)

"What?" Toni looked confused. "Howard's a shape shifter?"

 

Carlos helped himself to a sandwich off the refreshment table. "You said it yourself, Toni. He's a teddy bear."

 

Ian snorted. "No' nearly as cuddly as a teddy bear once he's shifted, believe me."

 

Toni's mouth dropped open. "My supervisor is a bear?"

 

"Aye. Howard Barr." Ian drained his glass.

 

"That is so incredibly awesome," Teddy whispered.

 

"No, it isn't!" Sabrina screamed. "I can't take it. Panthers and vampires and bears—"

 

"Oh my!" Phineas quipped.

 

"You're all monsters!" Sabrina edged toward the main staircase. "I'm getting out of here!"

 

"Bri, wait!" Toni ran toward her. "You can't go. You have no money. No ID."

 

"And the police are looking for you," Carlos added.

 

"Like that's my fault?" Sabrina glared at them. "You took me from my room."

 

"We rescued you," Toni said, frowning.

 

"You made me a penniless fugitive." Sabrina lifted her chin. "Now I'm going to my apartment to get the key to my safety deposit box. I have a passport in there and lots of cash, so I don't have to hang around with monsters!"

 

Carlos walked toward her. "You can't go to your apartment, Bri. The police will look for you there. And it's a good ten hours before the banks open."

 

"I am not spending the night with vampires!"

 

"Calm down, menina." Carlos raised his hands. "I'll take you somewhere safe for the night. Another hotel."

 

"I'm not going anywhere with you." Tears streamed down Sabrina's face. "You're an animal."

 

Carlos halted, and he scowled at her. "That's why I never told you my secret. Vanderkitty told me you couldn't handle the truth."

 

Sabrina gasped. "You—you talk to my cat?"

 

Ian was fast losing patience. There was no way he was letting Sabrina leave with the knowledge she now possessed.

 

Sabrina glared at Carlos. "You said you had orphans for our orphanage, but they're animals like you."

 

Carlos's face flushed with rage. "They're children in need of a home and education. And compassion."

 

Sabrina wiped tears from her face. "I can't possibly put them with normal children. They might bite them or…eat them."

 

"Enough!" Ian moved toward Toni as he sent a psychic message to Phineas to take Sabrina. "Miss Vanderwerth, yer fear is an unfortunate result of yer ignorance."

 

She gasped. "How dare you!"

 

Ian wrapped an arm around Toni. "Ye and yer friend are coming to Romatech. No arguing. No disobeying." That earned him a dirty look from her. He glanced at Carlos. "Ye can come if ye like."

 

"I'll come tomorrow," Carlos said. "And I'll bring Teddy."

 

Sabrina squealed when Phineas grabbed her. Ian vanished, taking Toni with him.

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER 22

 

 

 

 

"They're holding us prisoner!" Sabina trudged about the silver room.

 

"They're keeping us safe." Toni opened a can of chicken noodle soup and poured it into a saucepan. "This room is lined with silver so no vampires can teleport in."

 

She didn't dare tell her friend that she knew how to unlock the door. The last thing they needed was Bri running around White Plains, claiming she'd seen vampires and were-panthers. She'd end up back in Shady Oaks before the night was over.

 

Bri collapsed into an easy chair. "This is crazy."

 

Toni stirred the soup as it heated on the stove. "You'll find it easier to accept everything once all the drugs are out of your system."

 

"Why would I want to accept vampires? And Carlos—I can't believe him. I feel so betrayed."

 

"Your uncle was the one who betrayed you." Toni tamped down on the anger she'd been squelching for hours. First Ian had tried to order her around. Vanda had treated her like a lowly worm. Carlos had somehow forgotten to tell her he was a shape shifter, even after she'd told him about vampires. And Sabrina was acting like they'd ruined her life instead of rescuing her.

 

Toni gritted her teeth. "I'm sure Carlos can't help being born a shape shifter, no more than I could help being born an illegitimate embarrassment."

 

Sabrina yawned. "That's it, isn't it? You accept all these…weirdos because they're outcasts, and you've always felt like an outcast, too."

 

Toni started to argue, but paused. Sabrina could be right. She'd always felt a natural empathy toward anyone who felt unworthy or didn't fit in. Ian's fear that he didn't deserve true love because of his jaded past—that had touched her deeply. It had made her determined to prove him wrong. And her eagerness tonight to jump into danger to rescue Vamps—was she still trying to prove she was worthy?