All I Want for Christmas Is a Vampire - By Kerrelyn Sparks Page 0,122

pile of dust. Ian tossed the silver rope aside. "Toni." He pulled her into his arms. "Ye were amazing." She leaned on him, closing her eyes in relief. Jedrek was dead. "To please the master, I will kill the blonde," a voice whispered behind her. "No!" Ian yanked Toni to the side. She jolted when a dagger plunged into her side. Stunned, she saw Ian grab at Nadia, but the

female Malcontent teleported away. She looked down at the dagger in her side. How strange. Then a burning pain ripped through her and dragged her into oblivion.

Panic gripped Ian. He swept Toni up in his arms, and the dagger clattered to the floor. It must not have been in very deep. A good sign. But she was losing so much blood.

He shot a pleading look at the camera. "Roman, Connor, if ye hear me, come to Romatech. Please."

The door burst open, and Phineas, Dougal, Howard, and Carlos rushed in. Ian knew they could take care of the hostages, so he teleported straight to Romatech.

"Laszlo!" He zoomed to the operating room.

"I'm here!" Laszlo opened the door for him. "I saw what happened on the television. Put her on the table." He rushed to the sink to wash his hands.

Ian laid Toni on the operating table. Forms wavered in front of him. Roman materialized, holding

Shanna, while Connor appeared with Constantine in his arms. "Oh, thank God," Ian breathed. "She--she's losing so much blood." Already the sheet beneath her was stained red.

Roman and Shanna ran to the sinks to wash their hands. Connor disappeared, then returned with Radinka. Laszlo snapped on a pair of surgical gloves. "You realize she may have to go to a hospital?"

"Yes, of course." Ian didn't know how to help. He pulled off Toni's shoes and socks. Laszlo grabbed a pair of scissors and began cutting away her polo shirt. Ian unbuckled her belt and pulled it out from underneath her.

"Ian, stand back." Roman snapped on gloves. "I canna lose her." Ian flinched when Connor grabbed his arm to pull him back. "Get out of their way, lad. Let them do their job." "Is Toni hurt bad?" Constantine asked, his bottom lip trembling. "She'll be fine," Connor said. "How is she?" Radinka asked. "She'll be fine," Connor repeated as he handed Tino to her. Radinka forced a smile. "Of course she'll be fine." She hurried from the room with the little boy.

"Let's wait outside." Ian watched helplessly as Toni lay on the table bleeding. "By all the saints, I canna lose her." "She'll be fine, lad," Connor murmured. Ian turned to him. "I love her, and I willna let ye fire her. I doona care what the rules say." "Calm down, lad. No one wants to fire her. We saw what she did on the telly. She overcame

vampire mind control and staked a vicious Malcontent assassin. It was truly an amazing feat for a mortal."

"She is amazing." Ian looked at Roman. "Ye have to heal her!" "We'll do our best," Roman said calmly. "The wound is shallow. No major organs were affected." He gazed at the monitor that Shanna had hooked up to show Toni's vital signs. "Her blood pressure's very low, but that's to be expected." He tossed a bloody pad into a metal pan.

Laszlo passed him another pad. "We could give her a transfusion. She's AB positive." "Do whatever ye have to do!" Ian demanded. "I'm no' going to lose her!" "Calm down." Shanna walked toward him, carrying a tray of gauze pads and a bottle of something

nasty, no doubt. "You've been burned. Let's get you cleaned up." Ian waved a dismissive hand. "I doona care. I'll heal during my death-sleep."

"Ian," Shanna spoke sharply. "Those wounds need to heal cleanly." He groaned. "Fine." He endured the stinging medicine she applied to his burns. It served him right

for failing to protect Toni. He'd been so relieved to hold her in his arms, he hadn't seen Nadia sneak up on them. "It's all my fault." He watched Toni on the operating table. She looked so pale. "I dinna get her

out of the way fast enough." "We saw it on TV," Shanna said. "It was terrifying. Everything was happening so fast." "Aye," Connor agreed. "Ye did well, lad. The Malcontents lost about ten men, and we dinna lose a

single one." But he'd failed to keep Toni safe. Ian gazed sadly at her. "Can ye fix her?" "We're trying," Roman said. "But we're not surgeons." Laszlo nodded. "We've never had to repair