A small herd of deer was on the road, along with half a dozen squirrels and rabbits. They were all looking at her.
Tino laughed. “I think they like you.”
Her skin prickled with gooseflesh. “I wouldn’t know why.”
“Maybe they want you to sing to them,” he suggested. “Like Sleeping Beauty.”
She snorted. “I’m more like Fiona, I’m afraid.”
“But you have blond hair like Sleeping Beauty. And you’re not green.”
She smiled. No one had ever compared her to a willowy princess before. “I’m a bit on the large size.”
“You’re smaller than Howard.”
Her smile faded. “You know Howard?”
“Sure. He’s a really nice guy. He feeds me donuts and plays games with me. I like him a lot. You would, too, if you got to know him.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Did he send you here?”
“No!” Tino hung his head. “He’ll probably get mad at me for coming.”
“Where is he?”
“At the school. He’s head of se-secoowaty.”
“Security?” Was this the school Shanna had warned her to stay away from? Was it such a dangerous place that it needed a huge man like Howard to keep the inmates in line?
“Come on.” Tino motioned for her to follow. “I’ll take you to the school so you can see Howard.”
She followed reluctantly. “I’m not supposed to go near the school. I promised Mrs. Draganesti that—”
“My mom?”
Elsa halted. “Shanna Draganesti is your mother?”
“Sure.” He kept walking.
She hurried to catch up. “Where is your mother?”
“At the school. My dad’s there, too. We live there.” Tino smiled at her. “Howard’s there, too. He’ll be really happy to see you again.”
The little boy was matchmaking. Elsa shook her head. Why had Shanna said the school was full of juvenile delinquents? “I—I thought the school was for troubled children.”
Tino’s eyes widened. “Troubled?”
“Yes.”
“We’re not troubled. We’re special.”
“Special how?”
He frowned. “I’m not supposed to talk about it.”
This was getting more and more strange, but it was all part of the puzzle she’d sensed the night before, a puzzle she wanted the answers to. She glanced back. The animals were still there, following them at a distance. “I thought your mother said she worked during the day. Your father, too.”
“Oh.” Tino nodded. “Yeah, that’s right.”
Earlier he’d said they were sleeping. “What do your parents do?”
“Mom is a dentist, and my dad is a scientist.” Tino smiled proudly. “Mom says he’s a genius. He invented syn-syn . . . fake blood.”
“Synthetic blood?”
“That’s it.” He nodded, smiling. “He cloned it from real blood. And he made me and Sofia, too.”
“Sofia?”
“My little sister. She’s special, too.”
“And you all live at this school?” That Shanna wanted to keep secret? A secret school in the middle of nowhere with a brilliant scientist who made special children? It sounded like something out of a sci-fi movie. “Are there any other special children?”
Tino nodded. “My aunt Caitlyn just had two. Twins. And Toni and Olivia will have their babies soon.”
Elsa’s skin chilled. “And do all these women live at the school?”
“Yes. Marielle’s going to have a baby, too, but she didn’t need a turkey baster like the other ladies.”
“What?” Elsa stumbled, then kept walking.
“That’s what Connor said. He said he was able to do it the old-fashioned way, but that made Toni and Olivia mad.” Tino shrugged. “I don’t know why. I like turkey.”
“Where is this Connor?”
“He’s on a secret mission.”
Elsa took a deep breath. Good Lord, this was starting to sound like an X-Men school for children. “And when you say that you’re special, do you mean you have special talents or skills that normal children don’t have?”
Tino wrinkled his nose, then nodded.
She gulped and came to a stop. What on earth was she getting into? “I don’t think I should go to the school. Your mother told me not to.” And her aunt had warned her to stay away from the man who’d made her birthmark burn. She turned but found the road blocked with animals. All looking at her.
She dragged a hand through her hair. Damn.
“Oh, look! Raccoons.” Tino moved toward them.
She grabbed him. “Don’t. They might carry disease. Rabies or something.”
Tino looked up at her, his eyes wide. “You’re trying to protect me?”
“Yes, of course.”
He smiled. “I know why Howard likes you so much. You’re just like him. He keeps me safe, too.”
“Does he?” He’d mentioned last night that he kept people safe, but could he really be trusted, when he was the one who’d made her birthmark burn?
“Howard’s been keeping me safe all my life,” Tino said. “He’s a really nice guy.”
“Is he . . . special like you?”
Tino scratched his head. “Well, sorta.”
The animals suddenly scattered.
“What happened?” Elsa’s blood ran cold when a half dozen feral pigs ran onto the road, their hooves clattering, their eyes glued on her.
She gulped and pulled Tino behind her.
“They look mean,” he whispered.
They sure did, with their sharp tusks pointed right at her. She clenched her fists to keep from trembling. What to do? She could call on her cell phone, but it could take a long time for help to come. Visions of the little boy getting gored with a tusk flitted through her mind.
“I’ll distract them,” she whispered. “You run for home as fast as you can.”
“No.” Tino wrapped his little arms around her. “They’ll hurt you. I won’t let them hurt you.”
“There’s nothing you can do—” She gasped when everything went black.
Chapter Nine
Howard was in the security office wondering if he should drive into Cranville and accidentally bump into Elsa. Would she suspect it wasn’t accidental? Did it really matter, as long as he saw her again?
Somehow he needed to gain her trust. Once her fear was gone, her desire could take over. And then she would be his.
He grabbed another donut, when something on one of the four surveillance monitors caught his eye. Tino, materializing in front of the school with . . . Elsa?
“Holy crap!” He dropped the donut on the desk and ran for the front door.
Dammit, he should have checked to make sure Tino had returned to his room. What was the boy thinking, showing off his skills like that? And Tino had no way of knowing he could successfully teleport another person. It was something the adult Vamps did, but they had years of experience. Centuries of experience. Tino had not only committed a serious security breach but he’d also put Elsa’s life in danger.
Howard wrenched open the front door and spotted her collapsed on the ground. “Elsa!” He charged down the steps and skidded to a stop beside her. “Are you all right?”
She blinked up at him, a dazed look on her face.
He scowled at Tino, who knelt on the other side of her. “What have you done? You know you’re not—” He stopped when he noticed the tears in Tino’s eyes and the trembling of his little chin. “Are you all right? What happened?”
“I don’t know,” Elsa whispered, “but I think he saved our lives.”
Alarmed, Howard looked at her pale face and then the tear rolling down Tino’s cheek. “Don’t worry. You’re safe now.” He patted the boy on the shoulder. “Can you walk, big guy?”
“Yes.” Tino rose to his feet, wiping his face.
“Good man.” Howard slipped his arms under Elsa and straightened, cradling her against his chest.
She gasped.
He froze. “Are you hurt?”
“No. I—I’m too heavy to carry.”
He scoffed. She’d scared him for nothing. “Do you weigh over five hundred pounds?”
She huffed. “Of course not!”
“Then you’re not heavy.” He jogged up the steps to the front door, then glanced at Tino. “Can you get the door, big guy?”