Caitlyn's breath caught. From the ages of ten to twelve, she'd worn a bright red coat.
Shanna passed her a cup of punch. "Later on, I saw you in Washington, D.C., then you were back in the snow. A few years ago the dreams changed. I saw white sandy beaches and palm trees. Elephants and tigers."
Caitlyn gulped down some punch. "I graduated from Georgetown University before joining the State Department. I was stationed at Minsk, then Bangkok and Jakarta."
Shanna's eyes glimmered with tears. "I always hoped I was seeing images from your real life. I missed you so much."
Then why did you leave me? Caitlyn blinked back tears and grabbed a paper plate featuring a red cartoon car. "I don't know anything about your life. I didn't even know you had a husband and children."
"Dad didn't tell you?"
"No." Caitlyn put some crackers and sliced cheese on her plate. "He just warned me never to come here."
Shanna sighed. "Well, I'm glad you did. Thank you."
Caitlyn took another sip of punch. "Why didn't our parents come?"
"Mom does whatever Dad tells her to do. And Dad...well, he doesn't approve of me." Shanna motioned to some chairs next to the table heaped with gifts. "Did you know Dad works for the CIA?"
"Yes." Caitlyn set her cup and plate on the table, then took a seat. "I used to think he worked for the State Department, but when he helped me get a job there, he confessed it was only a cover, and that he'd always worked for the CIA."
Shanna nodded. "For the last six years or so he's been in charge of a secret group called the Stake-Out team. Emma MacKay used to work for him."
"Really?" Caitlyn glanced over at Emma, who was helping the baby Jillian eat.
"And another employee at MacKay S and I, Austin Erickson, worked for Dad."
"Can I ask why they left?" Caitlyn figured it had something to do with her father's overbearing personality. The thought of having him for a boss was definitely making her think twice about accepting his job offer. She topped a cracker with a slice of cheese and bit into it.
"They couldn't agree with the mission of the Stake-Out team," Shanna explained. "Dad's investigating a group of...people with the ultimate objective of hunting them all down and destroying them."
Caitlyn swallowed hard as the cracker stuck in her throat. "Terrorists?"
"Some of them are. I know all about it 'cause Dad tried to hire me, too. Our psychic power is inherited from Dad, you know. Our brother didn't seem to get any."
"I know, but what does that - "
"Everyone on the Stake-Out team needs enough psychic power to resist mind control," Shanna continued. "Dad's enemy has the ability to control minds and erase memories. He considers them a dangerous threat to mankind."
"They sound dangerous."
Shanna sighed. "Some of them are, but not all of them. The ones I know are perfectly nice."
Nice mind controllers? Caitlyn had to wonder if Shanna's mind was being controlled if she thought some of them were nice. This had to be the source of the friction between her dad and her sister. "Who exactly are we talking about?"
Shanna hesitated, then whispered, "Vampires."
Caitlyn blinked. "What?"
"Dad is hunting vampires."
Caitlyn sat back. She couldn't be hearing this right. "You mean he's gone off his rocker?"
"No, he's perfectly sane. That's why he calls it the Stake-Out team. You know, staking vampires."
Goose bumps prickled Caitlyn's arms. Her dad and sister were crazy. She rose to her feet. "Is this some kind of joke? Some kind of...party game? I don't find it amusing."
"It's not a joke." Shanna regarded her seriously. "Vampires are real."
"They're make-believe."
"They're real." Shanna lifted a hand to stop further objections. "I know it comes as a shock. If you don't want to believe me, you can ask anyone else here. Or ask Dad. He wants to hire you, so he must be planning to tell you."
A chill skittered down Caitlyn's spine. It couldn't be true. How could her sister lie to her? Then again, what could Shanna possibly gain by making this up? But wouldn't it be foolish for her to trust Shanna? She hadn't seen her sister in years.
She would have to talk to Dad about this. But what if he claimed it was true and he was hunting vampires?
Her thoughts swung back and forth, truth or lie, the pendulum increasing in speed, faster and faster till she felt dizzy. She slumped in the chair. "Are you seriously telling me vampires are real?"
"Yes, I am." Shanna nodded. "And I should know."
A frisson of alarm shot through Caitlyn, and she sprang to her feet. This was why Dad had warned her never to come here. Shanna has changed. She can no longer be trusted. Stay away from her at all cost. "You're a vampire?"
Shanna's eyes widened. "No. I'm the same as I ever was."
"Oh, thank God." Caitlyn pressed a hand to her chest and collapsed onto the chair. "You scared me to death."
Shanna smiled. "Relax, sweetie. I'm not a vampire." She patted her arm. "My husband is."
"Ack!" Caitlyn jumped back to her feet. "You - You're married to a dead man?"
"He's not dead. He's outside playing basketball."
"But - " Caitlyn frowned, trying to make sense of this. "Isn't he...sorta dead?"
"He's Undead."
The dizziness returned and Caitlyn sat down once more. "I don't really see the difference."
"Dead is dead all of the time, but Roman's only dead when the sun is up."
Caitlyn rubbed her brow. She was still tumbling down the rabbit hole and couldn't tell which end was up. "So he's fifty percent dead?"
Shanna chuckled. "I guess you could say that. But boy, when he's alive - " She sighed with a dreamy look on her face. "He's totally alive. All night long."
With trembling fingers, Caitlyn grabbed her cup and gulped down the rest of her punch. Apparently, vampires were good in the sack. Who would have guessed? Her thoughts returned to the gorgeous mystery man on the basketball court. Was he one of the Undead? Was he available? Could he give her the same sort of dreamy, well-satisfied look that Shanna had?
Caitlyn slapped herself mentally. What was she thinking? Within seconds of learning about the existence of vampires, she was imagining having sex with one? It was the damned lure of the exotic. It always tempted her. "Does he bite you?"
Shanna's mouth twitched. "Not for food. Roman and all the good Vamps drink synthetic blood."
"And you're happy, married to a vampire?"
"Oh, yes. And I'm not alone." With a grin, Shanna motioned toward the other women. "A lot of my friends here are married to Vamp men."
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.
