"What do we do next?" Yuri asked.
Jedrek stroked his finger over the photo of the blonde mortal. "I know exactly what to do."
CHAPTER 19
Tuesday night, Toni walked into a ballroom full of Santas. The dancing had already started, and several Santas whirled around the dance floor, waltzing with their partners. The women's costumes were a bit more varied. A few were dressed like Mrs. Claus with long, full skirts, white aprons, and white frilly bonnets on top of silver wigs. Other women wore outfits reminiscent of the costumes worn by the Rockettes in their Christmas show.
Toni did a double take. The two Rockettes by the reindeer ice sculpture looked male.
She headed toward the table with real food. As far as she knew, only mortals who knew about Vamps had been invited to the ball. The other mortal employees at Romatech had gone to a party for them earlier in the afternoon.
She scanned the room, searching for Ian, but all the Santas looked alike. They even wore padding inside their red velvet coats to give them fake bellies. Under their red hats, they sported bushy white wigs and beards. The only departure from the norm were a few Santas sporting swords—in case the Malcontents showed up uninvited. Even Toni had a few wooden stakes in her belt.
She noticed one Santa who was different. He was about a foot shorter than the others, and he fidgeted with the black buttons on his jacket. That had to be Laszlo, the scientist who had helped in the operating room and delivered a bag of stuff to the mystery room.
At the mortal table, there was a Mrs. Claus and a little girl who were having a snack of cheese and fruit.
The woman smiled at Toni and extended a hand. "Hi. I'm Heather Echarpe, and this is my daughter, Bethany."
"I'm Toni." She shook hands, then smiled at the little girl. "What a beautiful dress."
"My new daddy made it for me." Bethany's face lit up, and she pointed across the room. "Look, Mama. It's Constantine. Can I go see him?"
"Sure, sweetie." Heather gazed fondly at Tino, who was dressed like a miniature Santa without the beard.
Bethany dragged Constantine onto the dance floor while the waltzing adults managed to avoid running over them. Tino and Bethany reached the middle of the dance floor, where they started jumping and giggling.
Toni popped a grape in her mouth. "So you must be the one who married the famous fashion designer."
"Yes." Heather smiled. "Jean-Luc is here somewhere. Lost in a sea of Santas."
"Yeah, I can't tell who's who."
Heather bit into a strawberry. "It's for the best, I suppose. It would totally confuse any Malcontent who crashed the party." She stepped closer to Toni. "I hope you don't mind, but Shanna told me about you."
"Oh?"
Heather smiled. "Don't worry, it was all good stuff. I just wanted to say that Ian's a great guy, and I hope it works out for you."
"We—we're not going out or anything. I'm a guard, so it's against the rules for us to get involved."
"Since when does love follow the rules?" Heather lowered her voice. "Ian was in Texas when he took the drug to grow older. He was in so much pain, it nearly killed me to watch. I begged him to stop, but you know what he said?"
"What?"
Heather's eyes grew moist. "He said all the pain was worth it if he could find true love."
Toni's heart squeezed in her chest. "I'm going to look for him. Excuse me." She started across the ballroom.
The band switched to a modern song, and she noted a disco Santa on the dance floor. Gregori, she thought with a smile. He was back to his normal self.
She'd arrived a bit late to the ball because she'd spent too much time in the silver room, fussing with her hair and makeup. She wanted to look good for Ian.
She'd had a late night, making sure Sabrina was all right before Ian had teleported her back to Romatech. She'd been so tired, she'd gone straight to bed. Today she'd called the hotel twice. Carlos had told her that Bri was sleeping most of the time, and Teddy was watching television. She hoped to see Bri tomorrow, but for now, she was eager to see Ian.
All day long, her heart had been light with joy. She couldn't wait to see him. It was just a shame she hadn't been able to dress a bit sexier. Shanna had insisted she wear this specific costume.
She wandered toward a group of Santas who were talking to one another. They noticed her and smiled.
She quickly checked their eyes. No Ian. "Excuse me." She backed away.
"Bellissima, don't run away." A Vamp Santa with sparkling brown eyes took her hand. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Giacomo di Venezia. Please call me Jack, like my other English-speaking friends do."