“I know,” Brynley ground out.
“A shame,” Trudy said. “He’s incredibly strong. You should have seen him tossing around those bales of hay.”
“Hmm.” Sherry gave Brynley a pointed look. “Great stamina, too?”
“I wouldn’t know about that,” she muttered.
“Yet,” Sherry added, then she and Trudy snickered.
Brynley sighed. They thought Phineas was her mortal boy toy. A logical mistake, since werewolves tended to be highly sexual creatures. “This is a business trip.”
“Right,” Trudy murmured. “Because there’s so much business going on around here.”
Brynley glanced over at Phineas. He was standing by the barn, pretending not to listen, but there was a definite glint of amusement in his eyes.
She turned back to the women. “Thank you for helping us. And remember, you didn’t see us here.”
Sherry nodded. “I understand.”
“Ready to go?” Trudy asked her.
“Yep.” Sherry climbed into the passenger seat of the pickup, then Trudy drove off, pulling the empty horse trailer behind her.
“All right.” Brynley waved the car keys in her hand as Phineas approached. “We’ve got wheels.”
“And horse power.” Phineas glanced back at the barn, frowning.
“So what’s our first move?” Brynley asked.
“We track down the guy who was bitten.”
“I thought he didn’t remember much.”
Phineas shrugged. “I can use vampire mind control to take a look inside his head.”
Brynley grimaced. She hated the way vampires could manipulate people’s minds. “Bloodsucker.”
The corner of his mouth curled up. “Snout-Face.”
Chapter Seven
Phineas frowned as he slipped a knife into the sheath he’d attached around his calf so that it nestled just inside his cowboy boot. He’d made one simple decision, that they would teleport to the medical clinic, and Brynley had gone ballistic.
He recalled the way she’d reacted when he’d teleported behind her. She’d yelled at him then, and now she was shouting again. Were all werewolves this high-strung? She was behaving like one of those overbred, expensive little dogs that yapped all the time. He couldn’t recall Phil ever acting like this. Apparently, the little princess was used to always getting her way.
“I can’t believe this!” She glared at him, her hands on her hips. “I go to all this trouble to make sure you have a car, and you don’t even want to use it?”
He tugged his pants leg down and straightened. “I explained why—”
“You don’t appreciate what I’ve done. Or the trouble those ladies went to.”
“I do—”
“Then let’s drive the damned car!”
Yap, yap, yap. Would he have to put a muzzle on her? “Brynley—”
“Don’t you understand? I want to be more than just a babysitter for you when you’re dead. I want to help you when you’re awake.”
That gave him pause. It didn’t sound like something a spoiled princess would say. He dragged a hand over his short hair, wishing he could figure her out. “You are helping. I’m really glad we have the car. At some point, we’ll need it.” He wasn’t so sure about the damned horses, though. “I thought it was very clever, the way you arranged it all.”
She scowled at him. “Now you’re just being condescending.”
Damn, she was touchy. “I mean it. I think you’re very clever. And brave. You and your friends have got this whole underground female liberation thing going on. And you’re the leader. It’s radical. Rebellious. Totally cool.”
Her cheeks turned pink. “It’s . . . no big deal.”
“It is big. And it’s gutsy. I like it.”
She looked away and waved a dismissive hand. “Someone had to help the Lost Boys.”
Phineas blinked when it finally clicked. She had trouble accepting a compliment. And that seemed really strange. A princess should be used to flattery, but obviously, Brynley wasn’t.
What if he’d misinterpreted other things about her? He’d always thought her anger stemmed from being a spoiled princess who would throw a temper tantrum if she wasn’t getting her way. But what if she was angry because she never got her way? What if her prickly nature was due to a lifetime of criticism rather than compliments?
It was a bizarre theory, so he needed to put it to the test one more time. “You know, your brother’s really proud of you. Brags about you all the time.”
Her blush deepened. She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it and looked away.
Amazing. She didn’t know what to do with a compliment. And even more amazing—he’d found a guaranteed way to shut her up. It was sad, though, if she’d grown up never receiving any kind words. He knew she’d run away from home because her dad had tried to force her into an unwanted marriage. Maybe the dad had a long history of being an overbearing jerk.
He slipped on a shoulder holster. “You know what I really like about your underground rebellion? The way you’re sticking it to your dad.”
She flinched. “I . . . he . . . this has nothing to do with him. And I still think we should take the car.”
Man, did she change the subject in a hurry. Some major denial going on. He strongly suspected dear old dad was the source of her problems. Which meant, he thought with a wry smile, that he and Brynley had something in common after all.
And she wasn’t the spoiled princess he had thought. She’d risked everything to help the Lost Boys, and she’d given up her cushy life when she ran away from home.
Damn. The more he got to know her, the more he liked her. And admired her. Don’t think about it. Stick to business.
He checked his automatic pistol to make sure it was loaded, then slipped it into the shoulder holster. “The hospital is in Buffalo. It could take over an hour to drive there, and we can teleport there in just a second.”
“It’s a twenty-four-hour emergency room,” she argued. “There’ll be people there. We can’t just pop in and scare everybody.”
“Don’t worry about that.” He slipped a large sheepskin jacket on to conceal his weapon. “I can erase people’s memories if I need to.”
She made a face at him. “You seem awfully eager to use your vampire mind control.”
“You seem awfully sensitive about it.”
“I’m just saying you’d better not try it on me. Mess with me and I’ll mess with you while you’re in your death-sleep. I could do something terrible like . . . donate one of your kidneys.”
He grinned. “Don’t worry. I have no desire to invade your brain.” Her body, yes, but not her brain. “Some places are just too scary to visit.”
She scoffed. “That’s right. I’m so complicated you’d get lost and never find your way out.”
That was the problem. He wouldn’t want to find his way out.
He checked the information he’d written about the emergency room. “I’m going to call now and teleport. Are you coming with me?”
She hesitated. “I can’t let any werewolves see me.”
“I understand.” He extended a hand toward her. “I can protect you.”
She took a small step in his direction. “Can you avoid using my name in public? My dad’s a powerful landowner, so even mortals could recognize my name. And if the news gets back to him—”
“I got it.” He slipped his hand around her waist and urged her closer. “We have to keep you secret.”
She placed her hands on his chest. “I don’t mean to sound paranoid about it. I just don’t want to be forced to marry against my will.”
“I’d never let that happen.”
She glanced up at him. “You don’t know how ruthless my father can be.”
He gripped her tightly around the waist. “You don’t know how determined I can be.”
Her eyes widened, and her heartbeat accelerated. “Why are you willing to protect me?”
Because no matter how much she fussed and snarled, it was music to his ears. When he breathed in her scent, he was in heaven. And when he gazed into her sky-blue eyes, an eternity wasn’t long enough.
But he couldn’t tell her that, so he shrugged. “I don’t like people to be unhappy.”
She snorted. “You don’t even consider me ‘people.’ You call me Snout-Face.”
He smiled and tapped the end of her nose. “But it’s such a beautiful snout.”
Her mouth fell open, drawing his gaze there. Soft, luscious lips, ripe for kissing and sweet to taste. He pulled her close, and his groin hardened as her lips turned a rosy pink.
She inhaled sharply. “What the—?”
He stiffened with the sudden realization that the whole cabin was now tinted pink. And that could mean only one thing. His eyes had turned red.
“Excuse me.” He looked away, squeezing his eyes shut. Shit. He’d gotten hot from just touching her nose?
“Are you all right? You look like you’re in pain.”
He gritted his teeth. “It’s nothing. Just a vampire thing. It’ll pass.” Although it was difficult to ignore her sweet body pressed up against his.
“Excuse me a minute.” He zoomed at vampire speed into the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face. Shit. He hadn’t made it through one night without his eyes betraying him. His attraction to her was stronger than he’d thought.
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. What he needed was self-control. He pictured a snowy blizzard in his mind, then a pack of growling wolves. Bared teeth. Snapping jaws. They hated him. They wanted to rip him to shreds. And Brynley was leader of the pack.
He opened his eyes. His image didn’t show up in the bathroom mirror, but the room was no longer pink, so his vision must have returned to normal.
He dashed back to the table and grabbed his cell phone. “Let’s get going.” He dialed the number of the emergency room and wrapped an arm around Brynley without looking at her.
When a woman answered, he teleported, taking Brynley with him.
Nothing? Ha! Brynley glanced quickly around the emergency room’s waiting area. It was empty, except for the mortal receptionist. No werewolves in sight. She was safe. Safe enough to freak out over what had just happened. If it was nothing, why had Phineas run off so fast to the bathroom?
A vampire thing? That was a huge understatement. She knew good and well what red glowing eyes meant. Vanda had explained it to her and the angel, Marielle. A vampire’s eyes turned red when he wanted sex.
And that meant Phineas was attracted to her! Her heart lurched up her throat. Why hadn’t she realized this before? Well, how could she when the rascal was always tormenting her and calling her Snout-Face? That was not the way to win a woman’s affections.
Her heart plummeted. The conclusion was obvious. Phineas was rude because he didn’t want to win her affections. That was why he’d shot off to the bathroom like the hounds from hell were after him. He didn’t want to get involved with a werewolf.