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look like we’re scared of them"

Connor hesitated "They could still try to infiltrate the party And they would target Ro" "It’s a costu him" Her face lit up "I

know! We have a hundred Santa Claus costumes All the men can wear the sarinned "I like it" A hundred Santa Claus costumes? Toni wondered Why would a bunch of Vamps have Santa costumes? Was it so?

Connor nodded slowly "’Tis crazy enough it ht

We’ll coreed" Roal opened the waiting room door

"Roman, the police are here" "Hoill handle it," Connor said "Where is he?" "Laszlo was bandaging his leg" Ro room "Howard, are you

done? The police are here" "I’al in the hallway Ro roo roo him "Come on, Connor I’ll look at your cuts" Shanna ushered the Scots roorumbled

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"If I can pull teeth, I can pull the glass out of your face" She shoved hilanced back "You’re next, Ian"

Toni winced "That’s going to be fun" Radinka left the operating roo to be just fine Here, let me take the little one and put hi Constantine in her aret soh day"

"It wasn’t all bad" Her gaze wandered to his mouth Between the terrible hospital visit and the awful explosion in the parking lot, there had been a glorious kiss Hopefully, Ian would knohat she was referring to, since she didn’t dare mention it in a roo He stepped closer "Ye doona regret it? Ye called the first one a mistake" "I was confused I’m still confused" She shook her head "I don’t knohat to make of all this

And I still need to talk to you It’s really important" "Ye’re ready to spill yer secrets?" "After they take care of your cuts" "I’lanced around the room "No’ here Come on" He led her from the room

Chapter Seventeen

Ian strode down the hallway "Ladies’ or gents’?" "Excuse me?" Toni asked "Which restroom do ye prefer? I want to wash up a bit" "Oh Ladies’, I guess If you don’tas it’s empty" He pushed open the door to the ladies’ restroom "Hello?" Toni followed him inside and looked under the stalls "Roht Just a few people who come to Mass" He turned on a

water faucet and washed his hands in the sink

She stood behind him "You’re not in the mirror I can see myself like you’re not even there It’s so creepy" "Thank you" He cupped water in his hands and splashed it on his face Blood swirled around the

sink "Now tell me yer secrets" He yanked paper towels from the dispenser and pressed them to his face "Careful," she warned hilass further in" "Obviously I canna see what I’" He tossed the towels in the trash

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"Here, let me" She dampened soerly patted his brow

"Yer secrets?" "All right" She plucked a shard of glass frorandmother died when I was thirteen, I was shipped off to a boarding school in Charleston I was miserable until I met Sabrina"

"Yer roommate?" "Yes She came to school after both her parents died in a small plane crash She’d been an only child, so she was really alone At first I just thought it was cool that there was soot to know her, and we became best friends More like sisters, really" "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 aon it for years You kno son 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 anted And we’ll rescue kids fro 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 ae Her parents didn’t want her to be a useless trust fund baby"

Ian nodded slowly, although hisplans, as 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, andbite 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 ht, what they did?" "No, of course not But any vaour existence a secret"

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Toni winced as she threay 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"