“We’ll never know if we don’t go back,” Brynley insisted.
“She has a point,” Lara said. “We can’t tell if her father’s been informed if we stay here.”
“If my father knows, he’ll send some of his goons to Phil’s cabin,” Brynley added.
“Then I’ll go and see if anyone comes looking for you,” Jack suggested.
“I shall go, too,” Zoltan offered.
“Is there a television there?” Lara asked. “I want to go, but I don’t want to miss Maggie and Darcy’s new show.”
“What new show?” Jack asked.
Lara huffed. “I told you about it a dozen times. It’s the latest celebrity talk show on DVN.
“I tried to forget that,” Jack muttered.
“I know.” Lara gave him an exasperated look, then turned to Brynley. “Maggie asked if we would do the next show at our palazzo in Venice.”
“Wow,” Brynley breathed. “You have a palazzo?”
“Yes!” Lara’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “It would look fantastic on television. And I could show off all my favorite places in Venice.”
“It’s an invasion of privacy,” Jack grumbled.
“Heather and Jean-Luc did the show for tonight,” Lara said. “If they can do it, why can’t we?”
Jack gritted his teeth. “We’ll talk about this later. For now, we need discuss who is going to Phil’s cabin in Wyoming.”
“You, me, and Zoltan,” Lara answered. She glanced at Brynley. “There’s a television, right?”
“Yes.” Brynley nodded. “In the basement.” She turned to Phineas. “I want to go, too.”
“No.” He held up a hand when she started to argue. “Think it through. If your father’s minions show up at the cabin and find these three guys watching television, they’ll just think they made a mistake and leave. But if you’re there, they’ll attempt to take you, by force if necessary, and it’ll turn into a battle. Do you want to risk any of these guys getting wounded or killed?”
Brynley swallowed hard. She hardly knew Lara, Jack, and Zoltan. She assumed they’d fought in the battles at Mount Rushmore like she had, but she’d been in wolf form at the time and too involved in the battle to pay them any mind. “I don’t want anyone to get hurt because of me. Even without me there, my father’s men might give you some trouble.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Jack told her.
“We are pleased to be of service,” Zoltan added.
Lara touched her arm. “We’re all one big family here. We’re happy to help—”
“But I’m not . . . one of . . .” Brynley started.
“You’re Phil’s sister,” Jack said. “You
Brynley’s heart squeezed in her chest. A family that truly cared and protected one another? Instead of using one another as pawns? It was a beautiful thought. And it struck a deep need inside her that had long been neglected. This was the way a pack should act. Truly caring for one another. Never banishing boys who showed great potential. Never treating women like bargaining chips.
“Hot damn!” Freemont punched a fist in the air. “We’re like the Musketeers! All for one, and one for all!”
Everyone chuckled except Brynley, who blinked to keep tears from crowding her eyes. All this time she’d hated the Vamps, but they were willing to endanger themselves to protect her. They considered her family.
“I’ll teleport you guys to the cabin so you’ll know the way,” Phineas offered. He patted Brynley on the shoulder. “I’ll be back soon.”
She nodded, her face averted so no one would know she was struggling not to cry.
Phineas turned off the alarm system, then teleported away with Zoltan. While the rest of them waited, Brynley explained their theory that Corky might be hiding at a ranch once owned by the Haggertys. And that the new owner might be a werewolf.
“I’ll see what I can find out.” Freemont sat at the desk and started a search on the computer.
Phineas and Zoltan reappeared in the office, then teleported away, taking Jack and Lara with them.
Less than a minute later, Phineas materialized and turned the alarm system back on. “Everything’s set. Zoltan took the first watch on the porch, and Jack and Lara are in the basement watching television.”
Brynley nodded. She still ached to return, but she knew this arrangement was for the best. “I can still go back tomorrow night for the full moon, right?”
“I believe so. Like you said, it’s a big place. We should be able to find someplace safe for you to shift.”
“Thank you.” Her inner wolf grew calm, and she smiled with a sudden comforting feeling of peace. The wolf was happy, and she was happy to be surrounded by people who were willing to help her. “By the way, your brother’s investigating the Haggerty ranch on the computer.”
“Great.” Phineas gave his brother a thumbs-up.
“I got it going on,” Freemont murmured, his eyes focused on the monitor. “The Ice Man is too cool for school.”
“Speaking of ice, would you like some ice cream?” Phineas asked her. “I could take you to the cafeteria.”
“Oooh, it’s never too late for a red-hot date,” Freemont whispered.
Phineas shot an annoyed look at his brother, then turned to Brynley. “The cafeteria is closed, but the soft- serve ice cream machine is always working.”
“Oooh, a little chocolate swirl for the wolfie-girl.”
“Enough, Freemont,” Phineas growled.
Brynley bit her lip to keep from grinning.
Freemont’s mouth twitched. “Ooh, look who’s pissed, when he’d rather be kissed.”
“Let’s get out of here.” Phineas grabbed Brynley and led her out the door.
“Wishing you luck,” Freemont called after him. “So you’ll have a good—”
Phineas whirled around to glare at him.
“—time on your date,” Freemont finished, his eyes twinkling.
“I’m sure we will.” Brynley grinned as she looped her arm through Phineas’s. “Our first date, Phin.”
His dark chocolate eyes gleamed. “Let’s do it, Bryn.”
“Look what I found in the kitchen.” Phineas set a chocolate brownie on the table next to Brynley’s bowl of chocolate swirl ice cream and glass of milk.
She smiled at him. “You’re spoiling me.”
“I hope so.” Anything to keep her mind off going back to Wyoming tonight. He sat beside her and plunked his bottle on the table.
“Where is everybody?” She pinched off a corner of the brownie and popped it into her mouth.
“Most of the night shift are Vamps, so we don’t use the cafeteria very much.”
She sniffed when he twisted the top off his bottle. “That smells like beer.”
“It’s Bleer, a mixture of beer and synthetic blood.”
Her mouth twitched. “Shouldn’t you be drinking Blardonnay?”
He winced. “Don’t tell anyone, but I don’t really like Blardonnay very much.”
She grinned and spooned some ice cream into her mouth. “Well, you do a great job on the commercials. Do you have a lot of fans fawning all over you?”
He shrugged. “A few.”
She pointed the spoon at him. “I think it embarrasses you to be a sex symbol.”
He made a face. “It’s kind of . . . artificial. I want to be liked for the real me.”
“I sure understand that.” She took another bite of ice cream. “I hate it when people pretend to like me because I’m Caddoc Jones’s daughter. I want to be liked for the real me, too.”
“I do like you just the way you are,” he reminded her, and she looked away, her cheeks growing pink.
He touched a lock of hair that rested on her shoulder. It was silky smooth against his fingertips. “I’m beginning to think we have a lot in common. We can both live for a long time. We have lousy fathers. We lost our mothers.”
