“There are other kinds of shifters, too,” Lara added. “Howard is a were-bear, and Rajiv’s a were-tiger. Caitlyn here is a were-panther.”
Caitlyn raised a hand in greeting. “Meow!”
Freemont gasped. “You’re a cat?”
“Not at the moment.” Caitlyn grinned. “The lack of fur is a major clue.”
Freemont’s gaze drifted down and then back up. “But you’re pregnant.”
Still smiling, she patted her big belly. “Twins.”
He gulped and shifted his gaze to Toni. “What are you?”
“The most awesome creature on the planet,” she replied with a wry look. “A human female.”
“You go, girl.” Lara gave her a high five.
Freemont gave Phineas an incredulous look. “Your life just gets weirder and weirder.”
The door swung open, and a group of MacKay employees filed in. Ian MacPhie and Jack di Venezia pulled up chairs to squeeze in next to their wives.
“Another cat?” Freemont whispered when Carlos Panterra sat next to Caitlyn.
Phineas nodded. “And that’s the werewolf taking the chair beside you.”
Freemont glanced warily at Phil, who gave him a wolfish grin.
At the foot of the table, Emma MacKay set Phineas’s wallet and cell phone on the table and slid them down to him. “One of the mortal prisoners had them.”
He pocketed them. “Thanks.”
Emma took a seat. “Angus will be here shortly to begin the meeting. Howard and J.L. are still at Corky’s place, scouring it for clues. Robby and Olivia are handling the mortals. Rajiv’s in the security office, keeping an eye on things, and we left Mikhail and Austin in the silver room to guard the Malcontent.”
Jack chuckled. “They piss him off the most. Dimitri hates Mikhail for being a Russian on our side, and he hates Austin because he’s immune to vampire mind control.”
“I wish you let me talk to him.” A newcomer strode into the room, talking with a thick Russian accent. “I would make him really mad.”
“Hey, Stan.” Phineas gave him a knuckle pound as the former Malcontent passed by.
“I’m sorry, Stanislav,” Emma said. “But we can’t let any Malcontents know you’re here, not with the bounty they’ve put on your head.”
Stan nodded, then sat next to Phineas. “That was good what you said in the interview. Maybe now my old friends not be so eager to kill me.”
“I liked yer interview.” Ian’s mouth twitched. “Especially the part about Angus being a rich old fart.”
Everyone chuckled, including Emma.
“And then, ye told him to go to hell,” Ian continued. “What was it ye called him?”
“An old turd.”
The laughter ended abruptly at the sound of Angus’s stern voice. He stood in the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest as he glowered at Phineas.
Freemont gulped and gave Phineas a worried look.
“I was trying to sound convincing,” Phineas said.
Angus continued to stare at him.
“It was all an act, you know,” Phineas added.
Angus strode toward him, then grinned and slapped him on the back. “I was just playing with you, lad. Ye did verra well. Ye led us straight to our target.”
Phineas winced. “But she still got away.”
Freemont jumped to his feet. “It was my fault, sir. I apologize.”
Angus turned to regard him curiously. “Ye’re Phineas’s brother? Freemont, is it?”
“Yes, sir.” He squared his shoulders. “It was my fault Corky escaped.”
“No—” Phineas began.
“Why do ye say that?” Angus interrupted, focused on Freemont.
“My brother told me to lay low, and I didn’t—”
“Why?” Angus asked.
Freemont glanced at Phineas. “I couldn’t let him go into danger alone.”
“Och, so ye’re verra loyal to yer brother?” Angus narrowed his eyes. “Can ye be that loyal to his friends?”
Freemont nodded. “Yes, sir.”
Angus rested a hand on his shoulder. “Doona blame yerself for what happened. ’Tis no easy task to capture a vampire. It took us years to catch up with Casimir. We’ll get Corky, too.”
“Yes, sir.” Freemont looked relieved as he sat back down.
“Now, let’s get on with the briefing.” Angus strode to the head of the table and gripped the back of the chair. “So far, Dimitri has told us nothing.”
Jack shrugged. “He will once he gets hungry enough.”
“Aye,” Angus agreed. “But we willna know if he’s telling us the truth. Olivia’s lie-detecting skills only work on mortals. She’s verified our two mortal prisoners are telling the truth. They know nothing, other than the nonsense they were programmed to believe. They love Queen Corky and want to die for her.”
“What will we do with them, then?” Toni asked.
“Robby will erase their memories, and we’ll take them back to their homes,” Angus replied. “Hopefully, they can go back to their normal lives.”
“So we have no idea where Corky may have teleported to?” Phineas asked.
Angus drummed his fingers on the back of the chair. “We can make a good guess. The Malcontents we encountered on the ground floor teleported away when they realized they were outnumbered. But we heard them talk to each other, and it sounded like Hungarian. And of course, Dimitri is Russian.”
Ian leaned back in his chair. “Most Malcontents are Eastern European or Russian.”
“Aye.” Angus nodded. “As for Corky’s whereabouts, since Roman issued a warrant for her arrest here in the States, I doona think she’ll remain here. She’s declared herself the Malcontent queen, so I believe she’ll seek refuge with them. She’s originally from England, so she probably teleported there, and then plans to move on to Eastern Europe or Russia whenever it grows dark there.”
Everyone murmured their agreement.
“We’ll have three search teams working out of three different bases,” Angus continued. “One in Moscow at Mikhail’s house, one in Budapest at Zoltan’s house, and the last one at Stanislav’s house in Minsk. Emma and I will be in charge in Moscow, Robby and Stan in Minsk, and Jack and Lara will assist Zoltan in Budapest. We doona expect any trouble at the school, so Ian and Carlos, I apologize for separating you from yer wives when they’re expecting, but we need every available man to help with the search.”
Carlos touched his wife’s shoulder. “Caitlyn is due in about two weeks.”
“We’ll bring you back in a week, or sooner, if need be,” Emma assured him.
Angus went on to assign everyone, making sure each team had at least two day guards. Olivia, Toni, and Caitlyn, the three pregnant women, would remain behind to protect the Dragon Nest Academy, a fairly easy job since no Malcontents knew the school even existed.
“Phineas, ye’ll remain here at Romatech, in charge of security,” Angus announced.
“But I thought you needed every available—”
“I have to leave someone here in charge, and I trust you,” Angus said.
Phineas sighed. He would have liked to see some faraway places, but he knew the other guys were better suited for the search. Jack could speak Czech and Italian. Austin knew several Slavic languages. Robby and Angus knew French and Russian. “Okay, I’ll stay here.”
“It’s an important job,” Emma reminded him. “Our attempt to capture Corky will have angered the few remaining Malcontents here in the States, and you know that Romatech is one of their favorite places to attack. We also need you to keep Roman safe.”
Phineas nodded. “I understand.”
Angus smiled. “And since ye’ll be here, ye can start yer brother’s training. That is, if he’s interested in working for us.”
“Yes, sir!” Freemont sat up. “Phineas will train me real good. I’ll be solid. Hard-core.”
Angus nodded, his smile widening. “I’m sure ye will. Welcome to MacKay S and I.”
Everyone at the table congratulated Freemont.
With a grin, Phineas gave his brother a knuckle pound. “Way to go, bro.”
“Phineas can get you the forms to fill out,” Angus said, then strode toward the door. “As for everyone else, gather the weapons and supplies ye need. We start teleporting to the London office in ten minutes.”
Chapter Four
A week passed by at Romatech with Phineas and Freemont manning the MacKay security office at night. Eventually, Freemont would guard Vamps during the day, but with most of the Vamps overseas hunting for Corky, there weren’t many left behind, just the night shift at Romatech. Phineas and his brother were responsible for their safety—Vamps like Roman, Laszlo, and Gregori, and a few mortals like Gregori’s fiancée, Abigail.
There was a mortal security team that worked out of a separate office during the day, and they guarded Romatech’s mortal employees. Most of the day shift was blissfully unaware of what happened at Romatech after sunset. That was when the night shift came in to make Vampire Fusion Cuisine.
For right now, Freemont needed to work the same hours as his brother so Phineas could train him. They began with lessons in fencing and martial arts, and they practiced marksmanship in the shooting range in the basement. Freemont also learned how to make the rounds and file reports.
With so many MacKay employees out of the country, it was quiet at Romatech. Roman’s usual day guard, Howard Barr, was in Budapest, so whenever Roman wasn’t working at Romatech, he teleported to the Dragon Nest Academy, where his wife, children, and mother-in-law were now living.
Angus and his Vamp employees e-mailed their reports to Phineas since they were awake while he was in his death-sleep. The shifters, Howard, Carlos, and Phil, called to give him updates. So far, no luck in tracking down Corky. To help out, Phineas made an old-fashioned wanted poster with Corky’s picture on it and faxed it to every vampire Coven Master and shifter contact on Angus’s list.
The Malcontent prisoner, Dimitri, had been released after a tracking device had been embedded in the back of his neck while he was in his death-sleep. They couldn’t be sure how long the device would remain on Dimitri, but it was worth a shot in case he tried to reunite with his queen. According to the device, he was still in the Brooklyn area, hanging out with the few Russian Malcontents who remained there. Roman’s father-in-law, Sean Whelan, had his CIA Stake-Out team watching the Russian Coven House. No sign of Corky there.
After a few nights, Phineas decided his brother could handle a few hours on his own, so he agreed to do another Blardonnay commercial. The next night, he teleported to DVN, where his costar, Tiffany, was waiting, along with Gordon, the director, and Maggie, the producer.
This time, the set was made to look like a tropical island. The backdrop showed a lush green rainforest to his right and a tropical blue lagoon to his left. Lighting had been set up to look like there was a full moon overhead.
He stood ankle-deep in white sand with a brightly striped beach towel tied around his hips. Tiffany wore a red bikini that emphasized her considerable talents. After a few takes, Gordon and Maggie declared the commercial a great success and broke open a few bottles of Bubbly Blood to celebrate.
Maggie poured some of the synthetic blood and champagne concoction into a flute glass and handed it to Phineas. “You really have a flair for this. Any of the soap operas would snatch you up in a minute.”
He took a sip of Bubbly Blood. “It’s a lot of fun, but I don’t want to quit my job at MacKay.”
Maggie gave him a sly smile. “So you like working for that rich old fart?”
He winced. “That was acting.”
“I know. That’s my point. You’re good at it, Phineas. If you ever need another job, you can find one here. They’re getting a lot of disappointed e-mails that you’re not going to appear on the soap.”
“Sorry about that.” He had announced a possible acting gig during his interview with Stone, but it had been a sham. Since then, Stone had reported on the Nightly News that contract negotiations had fallen through. “I like working for MacKay. When I was a mortal, I totally screwed up, but now that I have a second chance, I want my life to count for something. I want to be one of the good guys.”
Maggie’s eyes softened. “You are a good guy, Phineas. We’re all very proud of you.”
He shrugged. Only the married women seemed to think that way.
“I have some good news.” Maggie refilled their flute glasses with more Bubbly Blood. “Since Corky’s show is off the air, and there’s a gap in the schedule, Darcy Erickson and I pitched an idea for a new show, and they bought it!”
Phineas clinked his glass against hers. “That’s great! Congratulations!”
She grinned. “Darcy and I are so excited! I was getting kind of tired of working on the ranch, and Darcy’s been wanting to quit MacKay S and I now that she has two kids. So now we’re coproducers of DVN’s new celebrity talk show, Real Housewives of the Vampire World!”
“Hot damn, woman! That’s gonna be a hit!”
Maggie laughed. “I hope so! We’re going to travel to different locations to interview wives of famous vampires. We’ll tour their houses or castles or wherever they’re living, and what’s really cool is that Darcy can record what their homes look like during the day.”
“Right.” Darcy was the only Vamp Phineas knew of who had managed to become mortal once again. The procedure couldn’t work on him, though, because he didn’t have a sample of his blood from when he was mortal.
“Can you imagine actually seeing things in daylight?” Maggie asked. “It’ll just be an image on television, of course, but I think it will be very exciting for Vamps.”
Phineas’s chest tightened. He would love to see a blue sky again. His world was now black with shades of gray, and it would remain that way for centuries. A pair of sky-blue eyes invaded his thoughts, but he quickly chased the image away. Brynley was impossible. As impossible as his chances to ever see the sky again.
He swallowed hard. “You’re right, Maggie. Vamps are going to love it.”
“Heather Echarpe has agreed to be our first victim, so we’re off to Texas tomorrow to start filming.”
“Good luck.” Phineas said his good-byes to everyone, then teleported back to Romatech.
Still no luck in finding Corky. According to the latest reports, Angus, Mikhail, and Phil were following a lead in Siberia. Zoltan, Jack, and Carlos were investigating another lead in Bulgaria, while Stan, Robby, and Austin were checking out a nest of Malcontents in Lithuania. The rest of the MacKay employees remained at the bases comparing reports and searching for new leads.
Sean Whelan and his Stake-Out team were still watching the Russian vampires in Brooklyn. The tracking device on Corky’s minion, Dimitri, was still working, and he had remained at the Russian Coven House.
At the end of the week, Phineas received a call from the police chief in Wolf Ridge, Maine. Wolf Ridge was a werewolf community near the compound Angus had confiscated from the Malcontent Apollo. The compound was now used as a summer camp for the werewolf boys who attended Dragon Nest Academy.
“We got your wanted poster regarding the female vampire,” Chief explained. “And we may have a possible lead for you.”
“Someone has seen her?” Phineas couldn’t imagine Corky hiding out in the northern wilderness of Maine.
“Not here,” Chief replied. “But my sons are on all the Lycan loops and chat rooms, and they heard something interesting. Some werewolf guys were hunting in Wyoming and came across an unconscious mortal. When they took him to the local emergency room, they discovered he’d lost a lot of blood and had two puncture wounds in his neck.”
“So there’s a vampire in Wyoming,” Phineas concluded, not terribly impressed. There were thousands of vampires around the world.
“It’s not a normal place for a vampire,” Chief continued. “The area is too sparsely populated. Anyway, after the mortal gained consciousness, he said the last t
hing he remembered was a beautiful blonde with huge breasts who approached his campfire at night and asked for help. He thought it was his lucky day.”
Phineas snorted. “He’s lucky to be alive. The description sounds sorta like Corky, so I’ll check into it. Thanks, Chief.” He hung up.
“What’s up?” Freemont was sitting in front of the desk, munching on a hamburger from the Romatech cafeteria.
“A possible lead on Corky.” Phineas paced across the security office. “Or more like impossible. Wyoming is the last place we would expect her to go.”
“In other words”—Freemont popped a French fry into his mouth—“it’s the perfect place for her to hide.”
Phineas halted. Could it be true? Could Angus have ninety-nine percent of his employees on a wild-goose chase halfway around the world while Corky was hiding in their backyard?
“I need to call Angus.” Although he was probably in his death-sleep right now. Phineas grabbed the phone off the desk and dialed Angus’s number.
“Hey, Dr. Phang,” Phil answered. “What’s up?”
“Got some news, Wolf-Bro.” Phineas repeated what Chief had told him.
“Interesting,” Phil murmured. “I’ll pass it on to Angus as soon as he wakes up. But you can guess what he’ll say. He’ll expect you to check it out.”
“You should be the one checking it out,” Phineas insisted. “You’ve got that place in Wyoming, and you know the territory.” Phil Jones’s father was Supreme Pack Master of Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, so Phil had grown up there. He owned a bunch of land and a cabin in Wyoming, a gift he’d received on his eighteenth birthday.
In the werewolf world, Phil had the status of a prince, which meant his sister, Big Bad Wolfie-Girl, was a princess. Don’t think about her. Phil had been banished shortly after acquiring the cabin, and over the following years, his sister had used the site to hide other young werewolf boys who were banished. Now the Lost Boys lived at Dragon Nest Academy.
“I’m stuck here in middle of Siberia,” Phil grumbled. “I can’t leave Angus and Mikhail unguarded, and I doubt they’ll want to teleport me back when we’re following a legitimate lead here. Why don’t you go? You’ve teleported to my cabin before, so you know the way.”
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