Vampire Mine - Kerrelyn Sparks [103]
So many Vamps were arriving, the MacKay security office and hallway were jammed.
“Once ye’re fully armed, go the cafeteria!” Angus shouted.
Marielle accompanied Connor to the cafeteria. He introduced her to other Vamps along the way: Jack, Zoltan, Mikhail, Kyo, and a man Connor referred to as Russell, the new guy. They had come from Eastern Europe, Russia, and Japan, and Connor explained how they’d spent hours teleporting west and following the moon in order to be at Romatech at the correct time.
Then he introduced her to Jean-Luc, Dougal, J.L., Rafferty, and Colbert. They lived in Texas, California, and Louisiana, so they had spent the night at Romatech.
Connor was introducing her to the cat shifters, Carlos and Rajiv, when she spotted Phineas and waved him over.
“Yo, what’s up?” Phineas did a knuckle pound with Connor.
Marielle lifted her fist, and with a grin, Phineas tapped her knuckles softly. “Looking good, angel.”
“Brynley wants to fight again,” Connor said. “Do ye have time to teleport her here?”
Marielle tried to remember Brynley’s exact words. “She said you should get your tight ass over there and pick her up.”
Phineas’s eyes widened. “Is that what she said?”
Connor snorted and gave Marielle a wry look.
“I was trying to be accurate,” Marielle replied. “I believe those were her exact words.”
“Tight, huh?” Phineas smirked. His cell phone rang and he pulled it out of his pocket. “That’s probably her now.” He put the phone up to his ear and deepened the tone of his voice. “Hello, baby. The Love Doctor is at your service.”
He jumped. “Oh, hi, Angus. Sir. Yes, sir. I’m right on it.” He turned off the phone. “Shit!”
“What’s wrong?” Connor asked.
“Stan’s emergency button went off in the office,” Phineas grumbled, his face showing a hint of red. “I have to see what’s going on.” He vanished.
“Who is Stan?” Marielle asked. She didn’t like the worried look on Connor’s face.
“Stanislav is our mole at the Russian coven in Brooklyn,” Connor explained. “Maybe he knows something about Casimir’s plan for tonight.”
“You still believe it’s a trap?”
Connor shrugged. “It could be. But Casimir is still in a bad position. He lost over half of his men last night. We have plenty of excellent fighters, so we shouldna let this chance go by. The bastard needs to be killed once and for all.”
Marielle nodded. There was no denying the fact that the world would be a much safer place once Casimir was gone. “Oh, there’s Roman.”
As Roman walked into the cafeteria, he was greeted with multiple questions about his wife and father-in-law.
Roman raised his hands to quiet down the crowd. “I just left Shanna and her father. He’s doing as well as can be expected. His stomach wound is completely healed.”
“What about his rotten personality?” Jean-Luc asked.
Roman snorted. “I’m afraid there’s no cure for that.”
“Is he pissed?” Jack asked.
Roman smiled. “He’s adjusting. He had one bottle of blood, then asked for some Blissky. He’s . . . upset, but not just because he’s Undead now. He’s angry about missing the battle tonight.”
Roman worked his way through the crowd, greeting the Vamps and shifters. He pulled out his cell phone and frowned at it, then approached Marielle and Connor. He smiled at her, then nodded his head at Connor.
Connor nodded back.
Marielle sighed. Things were obviously still tense between the two men.
“Shanna asked me to thank you for your help in saving her father’s life,” Roman told her.
“I am so pleased he is doing well,” she replied.
“Shanna was too upset last night to realize what you had done.” Roman gave her a sympathetic look. “I’m sure it was not an easy thing for you to do.”
Marielle nodded. She didn’t want to admit her fear that taking a vampire’s life had ruined her chances of returning to heaven.
“After we returned here last night, Father Andrew came by to console Shanna and pray with her,” Roman continued. “He has an unusual view on the situation. He believes you were meant to save Sean, just like you did me, and that your destiny will continue to be linked with ours.”
Marielle