All I Want for Christmas is a Vampire(55)

 

Ian lifted his chin. "Doona hold back on my account. I have a high threshold for pain."

 

Connor's face remained blank, though Ian detected an amused glint in his blue eyes. "Ye should have known Corky couldna be trusted."

 

"I did, and I warned Vanda. She dinna believe me."

 

Connor lounged back in his chair. "I daresay she believes you now."

 

"Aye." Ian smiled, recalling Toni's description of her as a screeching, flying monkey.

 

"The situation is hardly amusing. I hear there are over twenty women camped out in front of the townhouse."

 

"Doona worry. They're all gone. I took care of it."

 

Connor gave him a bland look. "And were ye careful with the disposal of the bodies?"

 

"I dinna kill them!" Ian paused when he saw Connor's mouth twitch. The damned Scotsman was playing with him. "Verra funny."

 

Connor chuckled as he rose from his chair. He approached Ian and slapped him fondly on the back. "Lad, how did ye manage to make such a mess?"

 

Ian felt his face redden. "I'm trying to clean it up. I took the names and phone numbers of the women on the street. They were happy to leave after I talked to them a wee bit. The puir lassies were freezing out there."

 

Connor shook his head. "I canna imagine being that desperate for love."

 

Ian sighed. Didn't everyone need to be loved? He'd endured twelve days of tortuous pain on Roman's Stay-Awake drug just so he could look older and find true love. "There's another problem. Did ye see how Cora Lee announced to the whole vampire world that I aged? Everyone will wonder how that happened."

 

"I doubt any Vamps want to age." Connor circled his desk and sat. "But if anyone finds out that the drug enables a vampire to stay awake during the day—"

 

"The drug could be used as a weapon," Ian finished the sentence. "I'm sure the Malcontents have been dying to know how Roman managed to invade their headquarters during the day to rescue Laszlo. If they figure it out, they'll do anything to get their hands on that drug."

 

Connor drummed his fingers on the desk. "I'll tell Roman that we need to either hide the drug or destroy it. And we'll increase the security here."

 

"Roman has the formula in his head," Ian continued. "We'll need to watch out for him."

 

"Aye." Connor gave Ian a worried look. "When the Malcontents start looking for answers to how ye aged, ye're going to be their first target."

 

Ian swallowed hard. While he hunted for his true love, the Malcontents could be hunting for him.

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER 12

 

 

 

 

"Is there a point to this?" Toni trudged along in the snow, surveying the ten-foot-high brick wall. Carlos had insisted they inspect the exterior of Shady Oaks before entering the lobby. The visitor parking was in front, the employee parking on the east side, and a guarded service entrance in the back. Now they were on the west side, traversing an area that boasted quite a few shady oaks.

 

She realized her question had gone unanswered, so she turned to confront Carlos.

 

He was gone.

 

"Carlos?" She spun around, and her handbag slipped off her shoulder. "Carlos, where are you?"

 

"Shhh, not so loud."

 

She followed the sound of his voice and spotted him high in an oak tree, lying on a thick branch that extended over the brick wall. Good grief, he had to be fifteen feet up. "Carlos, what are you doing?"

 

She gaped as he jumped from the tree and landed lightly on his feet. "How'd you do that?"

 

"The real question is why." He strode toward her. "I needed to see over the wall. There's an inner courtyard. All the surrounding buildings open onto it. I think the buildings with numbers on them are the wards where the patients are staying. The other buildings looked like a cafeteria, gymnasium, and indoor pool. It's a fancy place."

 

"You could tell all that from the tree?"

 

"Yes, and even better, I saw a handful of patients hanging around the gazebo, smoking. There was one guard with them." He walked toward the front parking lot.

 

"How is that helpful?" Toni hitched her bag back onto her shoulder and followed him.

 

"All information is helpful. Now I'll go into the lobby first and check it out. You wait here out of range of the surveillance camera."

 

"But—" She stopped when the automatic doors swooshed closed behind him. "Great. I'll just wait here in the freezing cold."

 

The circular drive to the entrance was lined with stone statues and snow-capped boxwood hedges. She could see inside the lobby through the large plate-glass windows. It looked warm and cozy with leather sofas and easy chairs. Carlos was right about Shady Oaks being a fancy place.