She patted her swollen belly. “Yes, with twins.”
“I have two children myself,” Shanna added.
“Oh my.” Darlene went pale. “I didn’t realize you two were married.” She frowned. “You are married, aren’t you?”
“Yes.” Shanna grinned. “I know the perfect place for you to stay. You can see your grandchildren every day.”
“Oh. Oh my.” Tears ran down Darlene’s face. “That would be wonderful.”
“Come.” Shanna wrapped an arm around her mother’s shoulders. “Let me introduce you to my husband.”
Gregori, Abigail, and Charles moved to the side to let the three women pass. Roman, Angus, and Emma were still waiting in the hallway in front of the security office.
“Does the mother know about Roman?” Abigail whispered to Gregori.
He shook his head.
“Oh brother,” she murmured. “She’s in for more drama tonight.”
“Yep,” Gregori agreed. Not only would Darlene Whelan find out her daughter was married to a vampire, but her daughter had recently become one as well. And her other daughter, Caitlyn, was now a were-panther and expecting kittens.
The security office door opened and Sean jumped out.
“Darlene! Don’t leave me!”
“You bastard!” Darlene charged down the hall. Her daughters grabbed her to slow her down.
“Darlene, I only did it because I love you!” Sean shouted.
“The devil take it.” Angus shoved Sean back into the office. “Doona come out until ye know how to treat a woman.”
“But she’s going to leave me!” Sean bellowed.
“And ye deserve it.” Angus shut the door in his face.
“Never a dull moment around here,” Gregori muttered. “Come on, I’ll show you around.” He led Abigail across the foyer and through some double doors into another hallway.
She walked beside him with Charles trailing behind. “Sean Whelan was using mind control on his wife?”
Gregori nodded. “He sent Shanna away as a teenager when he discovered he couldn’t control her.”
Abigail shuddered. “No wonder his wife is so angry. If someone messed with my mind, I’d want to kill him, too.”
He glanced back at Charles, then lowered his voice. “For the record, I think what Sean did was unconscionable. It’s not how you treat someone you love.”
She didn’t answer, but he noticed her hands were clenched. “Here.” He handed her the stress ball. “These seem to help.”
She accepted the ball and gave it a squeeze. “What do you have to be stressed about? Can’t you live forever?”
“We’re not immortal. We can die. And we see people die.”
She nodded and dropped the ball into her raincoat pocket. “I think that would be the worst part of being a vampire—watching your mortal friends and family die.”
She grew quiet until they arrived at Laszlo’s laboratory. Laszlo invited them in with a shy smile.
“Amazing.” She looked around, her eyes wide. “Tell me what you’re working on.”
“Of course.” Laszlo launched into a long monologue that made no sense to Gregori at all, but Abigail was nodding and agreeing.
Laszlo was clearly delighted to have someone who understood what he was doing. Charles stood by the door, silent and watching. Gregori ended up standing nearby, silent and watching, too, because he couldn’t understand what the hell they were talking about. Whatever it was, it certainly had Laszlo excited for he was twirling the buttons on his new lab coat. Abigail seemed excited, too. She was talking fast, her hands were gesturing, her eyes gleaming.
Gregori sighed. He was doomed. She was way too smart for him. Way too alive for him. Way too forbidden for him.
She mentioned some plants she wanted to find in the Yunnan province of China, and one of Laszlo’s buttons popped off and bounced onto his black-topped table.
“Yes! Roman used a plant from that province when he invented the Stay-Awake drug.” Laszlo fiddled with another button. “The drug works, but it has the unfortunate side effect of aging the Vamp one year for every day he ingests it.”
“Amazing,” Abigail said for about the tenth time.
“Roman still has the plant in his lab,” Laszlo continued. “Perhaps you would like to examine it?”
“I would love that!”
“I’ve been working on the Stay-Awake formula to try to minimize the side effects, but it’s hard to find a Vamp who’s willing to test it. They don’t like taking a chance that they could age a year.”
Abigail gasped. “You test your formulas on your fellow vampires?”