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I deserve to be happy She sighed Her family didn’t believe in her, so why should she? She turned the water off She needed to toughen up e her down-- people like Ian MacPhie

How could a dead guy be so handsome? She pulled back the shower curtain Why couldn’t he have been ht he was human But no Swish down the toilet He was one of the herself Don’t think about him He has no power over you Unless

Unless he used vaoose bu her She glanced down at the bite ht those three vaht survive until they’d taken over herand helpless while their cruel thoughts invaded her head and forced her to remove her shirt Her bra A deep shudder racked her body If Connor hadn’t corabbed a towel to dry off She would reoals She had to succeed Sabrina was counting on her Already Toni had confiruy cauy vampires? Who would believe that? But Connor had saved her, and he swore all good Va She’d seen them drink from bottles, but still, it was hard to coood Va just below the surface She’d felt it even stronger with Ian, but instead of repelling her, it had excited her

How foolish could she get? Only a coe a beast that could bite She would ignore hiful with my life This would happen She and Sabrina had it all planned out

Toni padded into the bedrooaze wandered over the soft, golden walls and large canopy bed hung with blue and gold brocade fabric that matched the curtains and comforter The two dressers that flanked the bed looked like Louis XVI antiques

One thing she had to reluctantly adal claied to a Vaanesti’s harem Apparently Roman had disbanded his hareuy As far as she could tell, all the male Vamps were a few centuries behind on their opinions of women Ian MacPhie certainly was

I am worthy to be loved The last affirmation was the hardest to believe She tossed her towel into the laundry hamper Dammit, she was loved Grandma had loved her

And remember what happened to her? You failed her Toni quickly squashed the nasty inner voice that kept sabotaging her affir her she didn’t deserve to be happy, and she wasn’t worthy to be loved She orthy, da in a house full of blood-drinking creatures

She popped in her contacts and dressed in her guard uniforiven her s on her frame like shapeless sacks Obviously MacKay Security and Investigation was not accustoal and Phineas had been surprised, but they’d accepted her easily enough once they’d seen her fight

Ian was much more suspicious, but she wouldn’t let him scare her away She would re to faze her

She jumped when her cell phone blasted forth with loud o, but the sudden explosion of "Cuave her a jolt

TheHopefully, it was Sabrina calling Toni had gone to the hospital last night to see her, but Sabrina had been sleeping so peacefully, Toni hadn’t wanted to wake her

She yanked open the phone "Hello?"

"Toni?" The gruff voice sounded urgent "What’s going on there?"

"Howard?" Her supervisor? Howard Barr was in charge of daytime security, and he anesti’s house Hoas supposed to call for ahe’d used the house phone, not her cell phone Her gaze flickered to the bedside table where the digital clock glowed 7:26 "Is so you," Howard continued in a rush "I didrounds here, and Connor had his cell phone open by his ear Were you talking to hi’s fine here--"

"I don’t think so Connor’s phone was connected to your house phone there I hung up and tried to call, but your line is still busy"

Toni glanced at the phone on her bedside table A light indicated it was still in use Of course Ian had said he would check up on her "Itwhich Toni could hear the shuffling of papers "Are you sure? He’s not due back for another week And his coffin’s erew it"

"So it’s true? The boy doesn’t look fifteen anymore?"

She wrinkled her nose "He looks older than that, but his behavior’s not what I would call ood i up on any of my monitors, so you’ll have to find hiht"

"I’o? He’s dead That sorta cuts down on his uys during the day You can’t guard a corpse if you don’t knohere it is So find hiroaned silently There were five floors in this townhouse, six counting the basehteen bedrooms, and a bunch of bathroo to search the whole place

"I’ll call back in tenup

Ten minutes? Toni dropped her phone into the pocket of the , and still barefoot, she rushed into the hall He wasn’t conveniently sprawled out dead in the hallway, so she would have to hunt hiround floor She didn’t expect to see him here, but there were surveillance cameras in the foyer and the kitchen, and she kneould expect to see her pass by in her search

She’d been hired on a probationary status for teeks, and Connor had warned her that the cameras in the townhouse were linked to monitors in White Plains In other words, she atched constantly to make sure she could be trusted As if she would ever try to harm one of the Vamps

Connor had stressed the fact that once she took the vow to protect Vamps, that voould be sacred The cost of betrayal was severe and final If she incurred their wrath, there would be no place to hide where they couldn’t find her Her body would never be found Then he’d proceeded to tell her about the great h-yield money market accounts, and vacation opportunities that MacKay Security and Investigation offered its employees

Under normal circu her memory erased so she could return to her norritted her teeth and taken the vow

Ian was not to be found on the ground floor, so she headed down to the guardrooaze flickered to the couch by the wall Nope, not there She glanced up at the surveillance camera and shook her head

She paused by the door of the dormitory She was required to check this rooave her the chills Well, not the room so much, but the dead bodies inside She took a deep breath and entered

Dougal was on his back in his coffin, wearing an old-fashioned nightshirt that reached his knees and looked a bit like the nightgown her grandma used to wear