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Roman wandered across the ballroom, accompanied by Radinka A small aring their buffing machines from side to side, as they polished the black and white checkered linoleulass s that looked out onto the garden

Radinka had her clipboard in hand and was checking off each item on her list "I called to make sure the ice sculptures would be delivered on tioyles or bats, please," Roman muttered

"And ould you have? Swans and unicorns?" Radinka eyed him impatiently "Need I remind you this is a varoaned Ten years ago, he had insisted on eli conference, after all, not a Halloween party But everyone had thrown such a fit, he was now stuck with the sarueso along the ceiling The sauests every year, always dressed in black and white

Each year, he hosted the event at Romatech They opened up a dozen conference rooe ballroom, and vampires from around the world came to party He&039;d started the tradition twenty-three years earlier to please the ladies in his coven They loved it He had grown to hate it It was a waste of time¡ªtime that was better spent in his laboratory

Or with Shanna She was never black and white She came in colors Blue eyes, pink lips, and red-hot kisses He couldn&039;t wait to see her again, but first he needed to get some work done in his lab He&039;d teleported to his office o, but he&039;d been so busy with this nonsense, he hadn&039;t even seen his laboratory "Did e?" Radinka ran a finger down her list "I don&039;t see anything here fro to do with the da on in my lab"

"Oh, well I wouldn&039;t know about that" She pointed at an ite a new band to from minuets to modern rock Won&039;t that be fun?"

"Hilarious I&039; to my lab" He headed for the door

"Roori&039;s voice behind hi the far side of the ballroom

"About time" Roman strode toward them "Laszlo, I still have your cell phone" He took the phone from his pocket "And I need you to remove these wires from my mouth"

Laszlo just stared at hi with jerky spasrab a button, but wasn&039;t quite able to ori escorted him to one of the chairs that lined the walls "Hi, Moave her son a peck on the cheek, then sat beside the che, Laszlo?" When he didn&039;t respond, she looked at Roman "I think he&039;s in shock"

"We both are" Gregori ran a hand through his thick brown hair "I&039;ve got bad news Really bad"

Great Roman called out to the workers to take a thirty-ori "Explain"

"I offered Laszlo a ride to work this evening, and he wanted to stop by his aparte clothes We went there, and it was a total mess I mean, destroyed! Furniture broken, cushions shredded And spray paint on the walls"

"They want to kill rie on the wall Death to Laszlo Veszto Death to Shanna Whelan"

Roht Bloody hell "The Russians knoe&039;re harboring Shanna"

"How did they find out?" Radinka asked

"It must have been Laszlo&039;s car," Roman said "They traced the plates"

"What will I do?" Laszlo whispered "I&039;m just a chemist"

"Don&039;t worry You&039;re underinas you need"

"There, buddy" Gregori patted the cheht"

It was far froori Ivan Petrovsky would take Roht even encourage his coven to attack By protecting Shanna, Roman had exposed his own coven to the possibility of war

Radinka squeezed Laszlo&039;s hand "Everything will be fine Angus MacKay is cohlanders We&039;ll have more security than the White House"

Laszlo took a deep, shaky breath "All right I&039;ll be okay"

Roman flipped open Laszlo&039;s cell phone "If the Russians believe she&039;s in ht attack" He punched in his hohtened around the house The Russians¡ª"

"Sir!" Connor interrupted "Ye called just in ti"

It felt like a kick in the gut "You oing to call you"

"Dammit!" Roman shouted "How could you lose her?"

"What&039;s going on?" Gregori stepped toward hione," Roman croaked All of a sudden, his throat didn&039;t seeuard at the front door," Connor said

"How? Couldn&039;t he tell she&039;s mortal?"

"She was dressed like one of yer ladies," Connor explained "And she pretended she was here with Sio"

Why would she leave hio Unless "Are you saying she met the other women?"

"Aye," Connor said "They told her they were yer harem"

"Oh shit" Ro the phone He should have known those women couldn&039;t keep their er

"If the Russians get her" Gregori left the sentence unfinished

Roman lifted the phone back to his ear "Connor, station someone outside Ivan Petrovsky&039;s house If he captures her, he&039;ll take her there"

"Aye, sir"

"Send a bulletin out to the coven members Maybe one of thehs orked night jobs It was possible one of theht Not likely, but it was their best chance at finding her

"I will I I&039;m verra sorry, sir," Connor&039;s voice cracked "I was fond of the lass"

"I know" Ro up God&039;s blood His lovely Shanna Where could she be?

Shanna aiting in front of the Toys "R" Us in Tihtly lit and jao Tourists snapped pictures and gawked at buildings covered with video screens Streetcorners were busy with vendors selling handbags

It had occurred to her while she alking that she was in desperate need of cash¡ªcash that would not be traceable She couldn&039;t contact fa them Besides, her family was overseas They&039;d coain for Lithuania And her old friends were out of state

So she&039;d called souys at Carlo&039;s Deli Carlo had seen the destruction at the dental clinic and illing to help She&039;d asked Toainst the building to keep fro people When she spotted Tommy, she yelled and waved her arrinned as he dodged pedestrians In his hands, he carried a zippered pizza case

"Hi, To" To boxers with baby Scooby Doos

She gave hi "Thank you so much And please thank Carlo for me, too"

"No proble underneath the pizza I figured we&039;d better make this delivery look real"

"Oh Good idea" She took her checkbook from her purse "How much do I owe you?"

"For the pizza?" To voice as he looked around Then, he lowered his voice, "Four enchiladas It was all we could spare" He see the situation, like he&039;d suddenly joined the cast of a spythat&039;s four hundred" She wrote a check out to Carlo&039;s Deli, then handed it to To that in, I&039;d appreciate it"

"What&039;s going on, Doc?" He unzipped the bag and reuys with Russian accents ca questions about you"

"Oh no!" She looked around, suddenly worried they ht have followed Tommy

"Hey, it&039;s cool We didn&039;t say nothing"

"Oh Thank you, Touys want to hurt you?"

Shanna sighed She hated involving innocent people "Let&039;s just say that I saw so I shouldn&039;t have"

"The FBI could help Hey, I bet that&039;s who those guys were"

"What guys?"

"Theabout you, too"

"Well, I guess I&039;m very popular lately" She needed to call Bob Mendoza soon Hopefully, this ti else we can do?" Tommy&039;s eyes sparkled "This is kinda fun"

"It&039;s not a game Don&039;t let them know you&039;ve been in contact with et you a tip"

"No No way You need your money"

"Oh, Tommy How can I ever thank you?" She kissed his cheek

"Whoa That&039;ll do You take it easy, Doc" He wandered off with a grin

Shanna gathered up her belongings and headed in the opposite direction In a drugstore, she used the pay phone to call Bob

"Mendoza here" His voice sounded tired

"Bob, this is Jane Jane Wilson"

"What a relief I was so worried Where have you been?"