Caitlyn had to admit they all looked happy. They were also very pretty. Apparently, vampires were drawn to beautiful women. Would the mystery man find her attractive? Would he even notice her? She groaned inwardly. She needed to stop thinking about him. But it was so much easier to think about a gorgeous man than to deal with this strange new reality that had broadsided her out of nowhere.
Vampires. Her brother-in-law was a vampire. And what were her nephew and niece? "I saw Constantine fly up to the hoop. Is he some kind of mini-vampire?"
Shanna laughed. "He's a normal little boy. He eats and sleeps and goes to school."
"And flies?"
"He doesn't fly. He levitates."
Of course. That was so much better. "Shanna, sweetie, that's not normal."
She waved a dismissive hand. "What is normal? We were never normal, not with our psychic abilities. Tino comes by his abilities in the normal way. He inherited them from his parents."
"I didn't think vampires could have children." Caitlyn gritted her teeth. "But then I never bothered to learn much about vampires, 'cause I never thought they existed."
Shanna gave her a wry look. "You'll get used to it. My husband is a scientific genius, so he figured out a way for Vamp men to father children."
"Great." Hybrid children? Caitlyn wondered just how deep this rabbit hole went.
Shanna glanced sadly across the room. "Unfortunately, it's impossible for a Vamp woman to carry a child."
Caitlyn looked warily at the women. "Are you telling me there are vampires in this room?"
Shanna nodded. "You see the two women getting bottles from the tub of ice? They're Marta and Vanda, both Vamps."
So the purple-haired woman was a vampire. Caitlyn eyed the bottles suspiciously. "That's not beer, is it?"
"It could be Bleer. Part beer, part synthetic blood. Or it might be Chocolood, blood and chocolate. Roman manufactures a whole menu of Vampire Fusion Cuisine."
Caitlyn took a deep breath. Vampire Fusion Cuisine? Vampire men fathering babies and playing basketball with their levitating sons? It was all too much.
"And you met Emma," Shanna continued. "She's a Vamp."
Caitlyn sucked in another breath. She was getting light-headed. "I shook hands with a vampire? You handed a baby over to a vampire?"
Shanna frowned. "Emma's wonderful with the children. It breaks my heart that she can't have any of her own."
Caitlyn glanced at Emma, who was still taking care of the baby, Jillian. "I don't understand. Didn't you say she worked for Dad?"
"She was mortal then and a vampire slayer, but some Malcontents captured her and nearly killed her. The only way Angus could save her life was to transform her. It devastated him to do it, but they're happily married now."
"Great." Caitlyn rubbed her brow. "And who are the Malcontents?"
"Evil men who became evil vampires. They refuse to drink synthetic blood. They feed from mortals and enjoy terrorizing and murdering them."
Caitlyn grimaced. "So there's a bunch of blood-sucking killers out there?"
Shanna nodded. "We're at war with them."
"Are they the ones who bombed Romatech?"
"Yes. They'd like to destroy us. And the synthetic blood that's manufactured here. It took Dad a few years to admit that there are two factions in the vampire world: the good Vamps like you see here, who risk their lives to protect mortals, and the Malcontents."
"And where does Dad fit in?"
"Right now, we have an alliance with him so we can help each other defeat the Malcontents." Shanna sighed. "But once we succeed, I'm afraid Dad will focus his attention on getting rid of all Vamps." Her eyes glistened with tears. "Once the witch hunt begins, where will it all end? My children are half vampire."
Caitlyn gulped. "No." She touched her sister's arm. "I can't believe Dad would ever harm his own grandchildren."
Shanna grabbed Caitlyn's hand and squeezed. "He thinks Tino is completely mortal. Please don't tell him - "
"I would never," Caitlyn assured her. "I could never allow an innocent to suffer." That was exactly what had caused her fiasco at the State Department.
"Thank you." Shanna hugged her. "So now you need to know what the job offer is about. MacKay S and I provides security for good Vamps like Roman. And they investigate and hunt down Malcontents. You would get to travel all over the world, using your language skills to help them with their investigations. And you'll be making the world a safer place for mortals. Would you like more information from Emma?"
"Not really. To be honest with you, I need some time to assimilate all of this. Part of me is still thinking this is a weird dream and I'll wake up."
"I understand, but there's actually more stuff I need to tell you."
Caitlyn lifted a hand to stop her. "Not now, please. I'm feeling a little...dizzy with information overload."
"All right. We'll stop for now. I'm sorry to shock you so much, but when I heard Dad was planning to hire you, I wanted to show you our side of the story before you made up your mind. At least now you have a choice."
"I'll think about it." Caitlyn stood. And she would definitely talk to Dad to see if his story matched up. "Maybe I should go."
"Oh no!" Shanna jumped to her feet. "You just got here. And you haven't met Roman and Tino. Please stay a little longer."
One look at Shanna's beseeching blue eyes and Caitlyn knew she couldn't go. She was finally reunited with her only sister. How could she let something like a little vampire problem come between them?
She winced. Okay, the vampire problem wasn't little. It was colossal. It was freaking bizarre. But even so, she wasn't prepared to reject her sister over it. Or her innocent young nephew and niece. "I'll stay, but I'd like to be alone for a little while." So she could pinch herself to make sure she was awake.
"There's my office. You could use that." Shanna's eyes lit up. "Or you could take a walk in the garden. It's beautiful right now. The bulbs are blooming."
"That sounds good."
"Perfect. Come on." Shanna led her past the women, who smiled and waved.
Caitlyn waved back, forcing a smile. No wonder she'd sensed how close-knit these women were. They were all keepers of the Big Secret, the hidden world of vampires.
Shanna exited a glass door into the courtyard. Caitlyn steeled her nerves as she joined her sister. Great. Now she was outside with a bunch of bloodsuckers playing basketball. The shiver that skittered down her spine wasn't caused entirely by the chilly night air.
She reached beneath the strap of her handbag to fasten the top button of her bright yellow cardigan sweater. Her gaze wandered over the basketball players as she looked for the gorgeous mystery man. She didn't want to admit it to herself, but chances were he was a vampire.
A shocking image speared her thoughts. Shanna's daughter had black hair. "What does your husband look like?"
"He's gorgeous." Shanna led her closer to the brightly lit basketball court. "Golden brown eyes, shoulder-length black hair."
Caitlyn gulped. Oh, God, please don't let me be attracted to my sister's husband.
"Hey, Teddy," Shanna greeted a young man with a white stripe bleached down the middle of his dark hair and a referee whistle looped around his neck. "This is my sister, Caitlyn."
Teddy glanced up from his stopwatch and clipboard. "Nice to meet you." His attention returned to the game.
Caitlyn leaned close to her sister. "Is he...?"
"He's mortal like us," Shanna reassured her. "So how's the game going, Teddy?"
He checked his stopwatch. "Two minutes to go in the last quarter. Claws ahead by two. Oh, another slam dunk by Phineas." He marked his clipboard. "Fangs are tied."
"Go, Fangs!" Shanna pumped the air with her fist, then grinned at Caitlyn. "Tino's on the Fangs team."
Caitlyn's eyes widened as her nephew floated up in the air to give Phineas a high five. "He's flying again."
"Levitating," Shanna yelled over the shouting players. "See the guy next to Tino? That's my husband Roman."
Caitlyn let out a whoosh of air in relief. Roman was good-looking, all right, but he wasn't her gorgeous mystery man. She scanned the court, searching for him. Now that she could see all ten players close up, she came to a startling realization. Apparently, vampire men were extremely handsome.