“Oh my gosh!” Vanda jumped to her feet. “Why didn’t I think of this before? There’s a perfect solution.” She gave Toni a pointed look. “Right down the hall in the teachers’ lounge.”
Toni sucked in a deep breath. “Of course!” She and Vanda smiled slowly and turned toward Phineas.
He stepped back. The glint in their eyes looked downright suspicious. Surely, they weren’t thinking—
“No one knows the territory better,” Toni said. “She grew up there.”
With a gulp, he stepped back again. Oh no. Hell no.
“And she could guard you during the day,” Vanda added.
“She’d probably kill me,” he grumbled.
Vanda exchanged another sly smile with Toni, then gave Phineas a wide-eyed innocent look. “You know of whom we speak?”
“You’re not setting me up with her,” he growled.
“It’s a job, not a date.” Vanda’s eyes twinkled with humor. “Unless you would like a date?”
“I’m not taking Big Bad Wolfie-Girl with me, and that’s final!”
Toni’s mouth twitched. “Big Bad Wolfie-Girl?”
“Sounds like a term of affection to me,” Vanda murmured.
“Are you crazy?” Phineas shouted. “Why would I have any affection for her when she hates me?” Why, indeed? He had to be crazy.
Toni stood. “We’ll just ask her about it.”
Phineas’s breath caught. “You don’t have to ask her. I know why she hates me. I’m a Vamp. She hates all Vamps—”
“Whoa, Phineas,” Toni interrupted him. “We’re just going to ask her if she’ll go to Wyoming with you.” She strode toward the door.
“But I told you I’m not taking her,” he insisted.
“Don’t be such a wuss,” Vanda fussed at him. “You’ll be fine with Brynley.” Her mouth twitched. “As long as you follow her Three-Step rule.”
He frowned. “What’s that?”
Toni snickered. “You’ll have to ask her. We’ll get her. She’s just down the hall.”
“We’ll be right back.” Vanda accompanied Toni into the hallway, and he heard their poorly concealed laughter.
His hands curled into fists. This was bad. He couldn’t share a cabin with Brynley Jones. It would be sheer torture. In many ways. She would torment and tease him. He would waffle between wanting to jab at her or jump her.
He couldn’t jump her. She was the daughter of the most powerful werewolf Pack Master in North America, a rancher with huge amounts of land, money, and influence. She was a freaking princess.
And he was a poor Vamp from the Bronx. If he laid a finger on her, she’d probably bite it off. Hell, she’d chew all ten of his digits down to mere stubs, and then her father would sic a pack of werewolves on him to rip apart the rest of this body.
Her dad was already pissed that his eldest son, Phil, had married vampire Vanda. Pissed enough that he’d disowned Phil and declared his second son the heir to his empire.
So as much as Phineas was tempted by Brynley, he didn’t dare pursue her. For her sake, as well as his own. She could end up disowned and rejected by her own people. She could lose her status as princess.
Jumping her was out of the question, so all that was left was jabbing at her to keep her at a distance. And since she always poked back, that had to mean she didn’t want anything to do with him. Why would she? She could have her pick of any werewolf in the world. Someday her prince would come. And he’d be a rich and hairy Alpha dude who howled at the moon and pissed on fire hydrants.
Phineas hated him already. He hated this whole situation. Tension coiled inside him, threatening to spring into full panic. He couldn’t allow Brynley to accompany him. He had to find someone else. Fast.
LaToya. She knew about Vamps and could guard him during the day. If he could explain how much he needed her help, she might agree to come with him. As a police officer, she understood the importance of catching bad guys.
Anger seethed inside him that he was forced to beg a favor from a woman who had rejected him. Damn. What a desperate fool he was. He’d do anything to avoid being with Brynley.
He pulled out his cell phone, then recalled LaToya’s threat to never answer a call from him. He grabbed the phone off Toni’s desk, so the call would come from the Dragon Nest Academy.
“Hello?”
“Hey, LaToya.” There was a pause, so he quickly told her what was going on before she could hang up. “So what do you say? You could have an all-expense-paid vacation in Wyoming while we hunt down a nasty vampire villain.”
“Phineas—”
“She has to be stopped, LaToya. She betrayed vampires in the worst way, and she’s killed mortals. The world would be a safer place if you help me bring her in.”
There was a pause, then LaToya finally spoke. “Can’t you find someone else? Why don’t Lara and her husband go with you?”
“Lara’s in Budapest. I told you, all the MacKay employees are across the world. There’s no one else available. I wouldn’t have called you if I wasn’t desperate.”
LaToya sighed. “I can’t take a week off work on such short notice. And frankly, I’m too busy chasing down live criminals to worry about the Undead ones.”
“She’s really bad—”
“I’m sure she is, but you need to find someone else to help you. Good luck.”
“Wait!” He stopped her from hanging up. “Look, I know you don’t like vampires, but—”
“It’s not that,” she interrupted. “I know Lara is happy with Jack, and I know she’ll eventually become a Vamp, too. It’s her life and her decision, so I’m trying to be understanding.”
“You mean you’re starting to accept Vamps?”
“I don’t want to lose Lara, so I’ve decided to accept Jack for her sake.”
Phineas bit back a sharp reply. Three years it had taken her to come this far? If she hadn’t been so damned slow, he might have had a chance with her.
“But I don’t want you to get the wrong idea,” LaToya continued. “Just because I’m making an exception for Jack, it doesn’t mean I’m accepting the rest of you guys.”
“Of course not,” he gritted out.
“I’m morally opposed to the whole vampire thing.”
“You don’t have to explain. I know why you rejected me.”
“I don’t think you understand,” she said quietly. “Even if you were mortal, I wouldn’t go out with you.”
“What?” All this time he’d thought it was his Undeadness that turned her off. It wasn’t personal, he’d told himself.
LaToya huffed. “The problem is you, Phineas. I just don’t like you.”
Chapter Five
“So who do you think is the father?” Sarah asked.
Brynley shrugged and stuffed a handful of popcorn into her mouth. She was in the teachers’ lounge at the Dragon Nest Academy with Sarah, a mortal who taught preschool and elementary grades; Teddy, another mortal who served as headmaster and taught math and science; and Marta, Vanda’s vampire sister who worked in the office.
The vampire sisters. Brynley couldn’t see either of them without being reminded of the sister she’d had to leave behind. She missed Glynis something awful, and that just added fuel to the anger that simmered inside her. She couldn’t even call Glynis. Her father might trace the call and find her.
They were watching the soap opera All My Vampires on the Digital Vampire Network. One of the Vamps, rich and debonair Rodrigo, had a gold-digging mortal wife named Lola, and he’d just discovered she was pregnant. Since all his sperm was dead, she’d obviously cheated on him.
“Could be the pool boy,” Marta suggested.
“I hope not.” Teddy wrinkled his nose. “He’s only sixteen years old.”
Brynley shook her head as she gathered another handful of popcorn. That wasn’t too young for the Three-Step rule.
Marta used the remote control to mute a commercial for custom-made coffins. Room for two, lined with red silk, and equipped with a built-in ice chest for stashing a few bottles of Bubbly Blood.
The vampire version of a love nest, Brynley thought with a snort. She crammed more popcorn into her mouth.
“Maybe it’s the gardener,” Marta continued.
“Or the mailman.” Sarah reached for the popcorn.
Brynley passed her the bowl. “I’m not surprised she cheated on Rodrigo. Who would want to be married to a vampire? The guy is literally dead all day.”
Sarah aimed a flirtatious smile at Teddy, who sat beside her on the couch. “I definitely prefer a live boyfriend.”
He smiled back, regarding her with a look akin to worship.
True love. With an inward groan, Brynley sank deeper into her comfy chair.
Marta sipped from her bottle of Chocolood. “Not all of us asked to be vampires, you know.”
Brynley leaned her head back, frowning at the ceiling. She knew Marta and her sister, Vanda, had both been attacked and turned by a Malcontent. Same thing with Phineas. It wasn’t his fault he was a Vamp, but it still stuck in her craw.
She hated vampires. She hated the way they’d existed for centuries by seducing the innocent so they could feed off them. They were naturally seductive, damn them. Gorgeous, mysterious, powerful, charming—it was all part of their vampire allure. And these Vamp men who took on the role of superheroes, battling the forces of evil, they were even more seductive because they appeared to be good. But if she looked past the façade, she could see their true nature. They were still vampires. Parasites. Users.
And she hated users more than anything. She’d grown up surrounded by them. Werewolves who catered to her powerful father in hopes of using him, while he encouraged it so he could use them in return. It was a constant, never-ending game of deceit and manipulation, and she’d spent most of her life as an unwitting pawn, forced to exist in an atmosphere that made her feel like a helpless, trapped bargaining chip. Used.
She was alone now, alone with her anger and resentment. She’d escaped the Lycan world, but had landed in the Undead world with another group of users. They’d used her brother for years, keeping him away from his pack and his family. Keeping him away from her when she’d needed him the most. Sure, it had been Phil’s choice to remain far away from the pack. But he’d abandoned his own twin sister. He’d chosen vampires over her.
She hated them. And she hated how damned susceptible she was to vampire allure.
Especially from Phineas.
She sat up to reach for the popcorn bowl, then halted with a jerk, her gaze riveted on the television screen.
“Oh my God!” Marta set down her bottle of Chocolood. “It’s the new Blardonnay commercial! Look at Dr. Phang!”
Oh yeah, she was looking. Brynley bit her bottom lip to keep the drool from escaping. Phineas was gorgeous. Broad shoulders, bulging biceps, and corded muscles that deliciously defined his bare chest and abs. He was standing on a beach with a striped towel tied around his hips. The beach was obviously fake, but who gave a damn when Phineas was standing there, proud and defiant liked a bronze god.
“Wow,” Sarah breathed. “What a chest.”
Teddy rolled his eyes.
“Quick! Unmute it!” Brynley snatched the remote away from Marta and punched the mute button. She couldn’t miss hearing his voice.
“Hello, ladies.” Phineas’s deep voice filled the room.
An electric thrill sizzled through Brynley. Oh God, his voice could melt chocolate. It certainly left her feeling all warm and gooey.
“He’s so handsome!” Marta exclaimed.
“Shh,” Brynley hushed her so she wouldn’t miss anything he said.
“Would you care to join me on the beach?” Phineas focused his dark chocolate eyes on the camera with an intensity that made Brynley forget to breathe.
“Look at the man beside you,” Phineas continued. “Now look at me. Him? Or me?” The camera zoomed in on his chest. “Yes, ladies. You made the right choice.”
“Wow,” Sarah breathed.
“Hey.” Teddy gave her an injured look.
“He’s so hot,” Marta whispered.
“Shh,” Brynley hushed them again.
The camera pulled back to show a beautiful blonde jogging toward Phineas, her breasts jiggling in her skimpy red bikini. “Oh yes, Dr. Phang! I want you!”
He gave her a seductive look. “Of course you do. Now look at my hand. Yes, I have the family jewels.”
The blonde gasped, then the camera jumped to Phineas’s hand. In his palm was a stash of loose diamonds and rubies.
“Oh, Dr. Phang! What lovely stones you have.”
“All for you, baby.” In a flash, the jewels were gone, and Phineas was regarding her sternly, his fists planted on his narrow hips. “What do you have for me?”
The camera shifted to a bottle clutched in her hand. “I brought your favorite drink—Blardonnay!”
Phineas smiled. “A moonlit beach, you, and Blardonnay—what more could a man want?”
“I could think of something.” The blonde leaned into him and caressed his muscular chest.
Brynley’s hands curled into fists.
“Later, baby. First, we’ll enjoy our Blardonnay, and then—” He whipped off his towel.
Marta and Sarah squealed. Brynley’s heart lurched up her throat.
He wasn’t naked, but the little swimsuit he had on left no doubt that the Love Doctor was truly gifted in his field of expertise.