All I Want for Christmas is a Vampire(79)

 

"Aye." Ian could relate. Connor and Angus had always been like older brothers to him.

 

Toni threw the bloodied paper towels in the trash and made a fresh pad. She dabbed at his cheeks. "Sabrina and I came up with a master plan for our future, and we've been working on it for years. You know how some celebrities adopt kids from foreign countries?"

 

"Aye."

 

"We plan to do that on a bigger scale. We'll run an orphanage that's a real loving environment, like the family we always wanted. And we'll rescue kids from around the world. I've been studying business and sociology so I can run the orphanage, and Sabrina's getting a master's in education so she can run the school. And Carlos already has some orphans for us."

 

This was not what Ian had expected. It was a huge undertaking. "Ye'll need a great deal of money."

 

Toni carefully wiped his chin. "Sabrina's parents left her a huge inheritance. Eighty-five million."

 

Ian's eyebrows rose.

 

"She can only inherit the full amount once she graduates from college. Her parents didn't want her to be a useless trust fund baby."

 

Ian nodded slowly, although his mind was racing. If Toni had such big plans, why was she here, working as a guard? And she certainly didn't intend to stay. It would be terribly selfish of him to try to keep her here when she had such a noble plan for her future.

 

"Everything was going according to plan till last Sunday," Toni continued. "Sabrina was attacked in Central Park. She ended up in the hospital with cracked ribs, contusions, and…bite marks."

 

Ian inhaled sharply. "Malcontents."

 

"Yes. She was hysterical when the police questioned her. She claimed she'd been attacked by vampires."

 

"Those fools. They should have erased her memory."

 

Toni's eyes widened. "You think it's all right, what they did?"

 

"No, of course not. But any vampire, good or bad, knows there is nothing more important than keeping our existence a secret."

 

Toni winced as she threw away the dirty paper towels. She pulled more towels from the dispenser. "Let's clean up your knees."

 

She started to kneel, but Ian levitated till his knees were even with the sink. "It'll be easier this way."

 

"Oh." She glanced up at him. "This is weird."

 

"Thank you. Back to yer story…"

 

"Right." She gently tugged his bloody knee socks down. "Sabrina's trust is handled by her aunt and uncle. Her uncle's a psychiatrist, and he diagnosed her as psychotic and delusional. He put her in a mental ward."

 

"She's the one at Shady Oaks Psychiatric Hospital?"

 

"Yes." Toni's eyes flashed with anger. "Her uncle wants her money, so he'll make sure she's never released. Carlos and I went to see her tonight, and it was awful."

 

Ian lowered himself to the floor. "Ye went there before Mass?" No wonder her emotions had been so raw.

 

Toni nodded. "I can't fail her like I did Grandma. I've got to get her out of there."

 

He squeezed her hand. "And ye thought ye would need my help? Is that why ye took the job as my guard?"

 

"I do need your help, but that's not exactly how things happened. After Sabrina was attacked, she asked me to find the vampires who attacked her, to prove she wasn't delusional."

 

Ian stiffened. "Ye purposely went to the park to be attacked?"

 

"I didn't think anything would happen, 'cause I didn't believe vampires were real. But—"

 

"Ye were viciously attacked," he finished her sentence. "Ye could have died if Connor hadna come along."

 

"Believe me, I know how bad it was. Connor offered to erase my memory, but I couldn't do that, not when I'd just found out that Sabrina was right. So I took the job, hoping I could get the proof she needed."

 

A chill came over Ian. "Ye intended to prove our existence?" He let go of her hand. "Ye took an oath that ye would never expose us."

 

Toni winced. "I know."

 

"Do ye no' understand the full importance of our secret? If our existence becomes public knowledge, there would be millions of mortals wanting us destroyed. There would be slayers roaming the streets with their bloody stakes. There'd be scientists wanting to experiment on us or dissect us. And if they ever found out about the healing properties of our blood, we'd be hunted like animals and drained dry. Exposure means extinction."

 

She paled. "I never meant to hurt anyone. I thought I could give the proof to a psychiatrist or lawyer who would keep it confidential. Sorta like your Father Andrew."