That had to be Laszlo, the scientist who had helped in the operating room and delivered a bag of stuff to the mystery room.
At the mortal table, there was a Mrs. Claus and a little girl who were having a snack of cheese and
fruit. The woman smiled at Toni and extended a hand. "Hi. I'm Heather Echarpe, and this is my daughter, Bethany."
"I'm Toni." She shook hands, then smiled at the little girl. "What a beautiful dress."
"My new daddy made it for me." Bethany's face lit up, and she pointed across the room. "Look, Mama. It's Constantine. Can I go see him?" "Sure, sweetie." Heather gazed fondly at Tino, who was dressed like a miniature Santa without the
beard. Bethany dragged Constantine onto the dance floor while the waltzing adults managed to avoid
running over them. Tino and Bethany reached the middle of the dance floor, where they started jumping and giggling. Toni popped a grape in her mouth. "So you must be the one who married the famous fashion
designer." "Yes." Heather smiled. "Jean-Luc is here somewhere. Lost in a sea of Santas." "Yeah, I can't tell who's who." Heather bit into a strawberry. "It's for the best, I suppose. It would totally confuse any Malcontent
who crashed the party." She stepped closer to Toni. "I hope you don't mind, but Shanna told me about you."
"Oh?" Heather smiled. "Don't worry, it was all good stuff. I just wanted to say that Ian's a great guy, and I hope it works out for you."
"We--we're not going out or anything. I'm a guard, so it's against the rules for us to get
involved." "Since when does love follow the rules?" Heather lowered her voice. "Ian was in Texas when he took the drug to grow older. He was in so much pain, it nearly killed me to watch. I begged him to stop, but you know what he said?"
"What?" Heather's eyes grew moist. "He said all the pain was worth it if he could find true love." Toni's heart squeezed in her chest. "I'm going to look for him. Excuse me." She started across the
ballroom.
The band switched to a modern song, and she noted a disco Santa on the dance floor. Gregori, she thought with a smile. He was back to his normal self. She'd arrived a bit late to the ball because she'd spent too much time in the silver room, fussing
with her hair and makeup. She wanted to look good for Ian.
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She'd had a late night, making sure Sabrina was all right before Ian had teleported her back to Romatech. She'd been so tired, she'd gone straight to bed. Today she'd called the hotel twice. Carlos had told her that Bri was sleeping most of the time, and Teddy was watching television. She hoped to see Bri tomorrow, but for now, she was eager to see Ian.
All day long, her heart had been light with joy. She couldn't wait to see him. It was just a shame
she hadn't been able to dress a bit sexier. Shanna had insisted she wear this specific costume. She wandered toward a group of Santas who were talking to one another. They noticed her and smiled.
She quickly checked their eyes. No Ian. "Excuse me." She backed away. "Bellissima, don't run away." A Vamp Santa with sparkling brown eyes took her hand. "Allow me
to introduce myself. I am Giacomo di Venezia. Please call me Jack, like my other English- speaking friends do." "I'm Toni Davis." He kissed her hand. "Bellissima, you are the guard Connor hired? He didn't tell me you were a
goddess." He turned to the other men. "She is a vision of beauty, no?"
"Ye're embarrassing her, Jack," a second Santa said with a Scottish accent. He extended a hand. "Welcome to MacKay Security and Investigation. I'm Robby MacKay." Toni shook his hand. "You're related to Angus?" "Aye, but he's much, much older than me," Robby said with a grin. "How do you do?" The third Vamp in the group held out his hand. His eyes were almond-shaped,
and his accent was thicker. "I am Zoltan Czakvar from Budapest." "Oh." She shook his hand. "I'm Attila the Hun." The men laughed. "Will you dance with me, Attila?" Zoltan asked. "Perhaps later. I'm...looking for someone right now." "Ah." Jack nodded his head. "Amore. I'm afraid her heart is already taken, Zoltan." Zoltan bowed. "Then we will hope he is worthy of you." "Okay." Toni smiled as she left the three guys. There was something definitely appealing about
Vamp men.