Brynley snorted. “Buzz off, Rhett. Why would I marry you when everyone knows you plan to kill me after the wedding?”
“No.” He shook his head. “Everything’s changed now. You’re too valuable to kill. With you, I could rule the entire Lycan world. I would have the strongest children—”
“What?” Corky screamed and zoomed over to him. “You can’t keep her! You’re supposed to stay with me! We’re going to rule the world! We’re—”
“Forget it!” Rhett sneered at her. “Why would I want you when I can have the one and only Alpha female—”
“You’re dumping me?” Corky screeched. “You—you stupid animal. I was mistress to kings before you were ever born.”
“And you’ve outlived your usefulness.”
“You think so?” Corky pulled a knife and pointed it at Rhett. “I could slit your throat so fast you’d never see it coming.” She glanced at Brynley. “Or I could take out your bitch.” She vanished, then reappeared behind Brynley.
“No!” Rhett dashed toward them.
With vampire speed, Phineas pulled Brynley away from Corky’s slashing knife.
Phil grabbed Corky’s arm and strained against her vampire strength.
“I’ll kill you,” Corky hissed, aiming her knife at Phil’s face. “I’ll kill all of you stinking wolves.”
Phil’s arm shimmered and shifted, and then with the power of his wolf, he shoved Corky back.
She stumbled into Rhett’s arms and reached for his face. “Darling, let me take you away from here. We’ll rule the—” She gasped as Rhett’s knife plunged into her stomach. “What? You can’t—no!”
Rhett rammed his knife into her heart.
Her scream died as her body disintegrated into a pile of dust.
Silence fell over the field. Phineas glanced at Angus and the others. They didn’t seem too upset over the failure to capture Corky. He suspected that even though she would have been found guilty at Coven Court, Roman would have had a hard time determining her punishment.
He looked back at Rhett, who was calmly brushing some Corky dust off his sleeve. “Didn’t you just kill your escape route?”
He returned to the side of the yard where his small army was gathered. “I have no need to escape. I’m not leaving until Brynley and I are married.”
“You’re an idiot,” Phil said. “My father and his men plan to kill you after the wedding. You should leave while you have the chance.”
Rhett stiffened and glanced at Caddoc. “You think you can kill me?”
Caddoc shrugged. “You think you can kill me?”
Both sides drew their weapons and started hurling insults at each other.
“And the shit hits the fan,” Phineas muttered, then held up his hands and shouted, “Are you guys really going to kill each other over Brynley when she doesn’t want either of you?”
“He’s right!” Brynley yelled. “I’m leaving with Phineas.” She glared at Rhett. “Go back to Alaska and leave my family alone.” She switched her glare to her father. “Good-bye.”
His eyes narrowed, but he said nothing.
A muffled sob came from the patio.
Brynley winced. “Glynis, I’ll stay in touch with you. I promise.” She turned her back and closed her eyes.
“Are you all right?” Phineas took her hand.
“I’m always leaving her behind.” Brynley gazed at him with tears in her eyes.
“We’ll find a way for you to see her.” Phineas led her toward the Vamps.
Phil walked with them, holding Brynley’s other hand.
“Did it work?” Brynley whispered. “Did we stop a battle?”
“Don’t know,” Phil murmured. “Just keep walking.”
They were halfway to the Vamps when Angus shouted a warning.
Phineas spun around. Rhett was running toward them, his knife raised. He gave a war cry, and his men charged after him.
“Go!” Phineas shoved Brynley toward the Vamps.
Caddoc responded with his own war cry, and his men ran onto the field, their knives raised. They clashed with Rhett’s men, knives stabbing.
Rhett lunged toward Phineas, but with vampire speed, he wrenched the knife from the werewolf’s hand and punched him hard enough he heard the jaw crack. Rhett hit the ground, then jumped up, instantly shifting and repairing his broken jaw. He pounced on Phineas, who grabbed the wolf by the neck as it attempted to rip his throat out. He threw the wolf to the side, but Rhett twisted and snapped his jaw onto Phineas’s arm.
He gasped. Hot, searing pain shot up his arm. He tried to stand up, but tumbled back onto his rear.
Phil lunged onto Rhett, both in wolf form, and they rolled, clawing and snapping. Phil pinned him down and bared his teeth, growling.
Howard sprinted toward them, his knife raised. “Let me fight him!”
Phil moved aside with a snarl aimed at Rhett.
Rhett rolled to his feet and shifted to human form, his clothes in tatters, his face shocked as Howard ran toward him. “You.” He turned and hollered. “Dimitri!”
The Malcontent teleported beside him.
“No!” Howard lunged at Rhett, his knife plunging just as the werewolf vanished with Dimitri. “No!”
“Phineas!” Brynley ran toward him and fell to her knees beside him.
He looked at her and stars danced around her head.
She ripped her shirt off and wrapped it around his arm. “He bit you.”
Phil knelt beside them, back in human form. “How do you feel, bro?”
Phineas blinked at him. “Do you have two heads?”
“What will happen?” Brynley asked.
“I don’t know.” Phil shook his head. Or both his heads. Phineas wasn’t sure.
“Hi, guys.” Phineas waved faintly at the Vamps who were crowding around him with worried faces. He looked over at the field. “They’re running away.”
“Aye,” Angus agreed. “After Rhett disappeared, his army took off running.”
Phineas watched Howell and his cohorts giving chase. “They might chase them all the way back to Alaska.” He blinked as their forms wavered.
Brynley touched his forehead. “He’s burning up. He has a fever.”
Phineas smiled at her. “I’m hot for you, sweetness.”
“He was bitten?” a voice asked.
Phineas squinted up at Brynley’s father. “You again. I thought we said good-bye.”
Caddoc looked at his daughter. “Keep me informed. I want to know what happens to him.”
“You care all of a sudden?” she asked.
“I’m curious.” He paused, then added. “If he survives the transformation, I might accept him as your husband.”
“We don’t care what—”
He lifted a hand to interrupt her. “If he survives, he may have powers no other werewolf has. That alone makes him of interest to me. You will be welcomed in my house.” He glanced at Phil. “All of you.” He turned and strode away.
“Don’t you just love family reunions?” Phineas asked, then slumped over as everything went black.
Fire. He was on fire.
Phineas moaned and kicked off the sheets.
Sheets? Was he in bed? He squinted, but couldn’t see.
Everything was glowing red. On fire.
“Why are his eyes red?” a woman asked. Brynley.
He tried to say her name, opening his mouth, but nothing came out.
“I think he’s hungry,” Brynley said.
“Here,” a male voice said. Roman? What was he doing here? “Let’s give him a cold bottle. It might help with the fever.”
Someone lifted his shoulders.
Careful, Phineas thought. I’m on fire.
“Damn, he’s hot,” the person said.
Told you so. A cold bottle was pressed to his mouth, and blood trickled down his throat. It was cool. It helped with the fire. He drank it all down.
His stomach clenched in pain. He groaned, pushing away the hands that reached out to help him.
He rolled halfway off the bed and threw up.
“Oh no!” Brynley cried.
Hands pushed him back onto the bed. Everything went black.
He woke again. Still on fire. And so damned hungry.
“He’s awake!” Brynley exclaimed.
“Let’s see if he can eat,” Roman said.
Someone lifted his shoulders. He squinted, peering around the room. It looked like the basement at Phil’s cabin. Why hadn’t they taken him back to Romatech?
“He’s not as hot tonight,” said the guy holding his shoulders. Phil?
A bottle was placed against his lips. He drank and drank. So good.
It hit his stomach and instantly curdled. He rolled over and vomited.
“I’m not sure what to think,” Roman said. “He’s had two days of death-sleep. I thought that would heal whatever Lycan virus is in his system. But if he’s rejecting blood—”
“Then he’s becoming a werewolf,” Phil said. “We should try giving him real food.”
“I’ll bring him something,” Brynley said, then climbed up the ladder.
A werewolf? Phineas lay back, trying to wrap his fuddled mind around it. That was why he was at Phil’s cabin. In case he shifted into an animal.
A while later, Brynley was back and spooning something hot down his throat.
“It’s soup,” she said. “I thought we should start with something simple.”
He ate it. Then threw it up.
“What do we do?” Brynley cried. “He’s rejecting both vampire and human food.”
“The two parts are fighting each other,” Roman said. “I’ll put an IV in him. We have to keep him alive until the battle inside him gets sorted out.”
A battle? No wonder he was on fire. Everything went black.
He woke again. The fire was out. He felt good, as if his body was at peace. Good God, was he dead? The spurt of panic quickly faded away as he smoothed his hands over his bare chest. His body was solid. His heart was beating. His vision clear. He was alive.
Power surged through him, and he took a deep breath. Damn. He felt more than good. His vision cut through the dark room, sharper than ever. His muscles flexed with increased strength.
He sat up. Phil was on the floor, sound asleep on a sleeping bag. A bottle of blood sat on the bedside table. He picked it up and drank it down.
No reaction. Apparently, the battle was over, and the Vamp side had won. He looked around, but couldn’t spot Brynley. She must be upstairs.
He pulled the IV from his arm and stood. No dizziness. He smiled to himself. He actually felt stronger than ever. He teleported to the floor above to give Brynley a surprise.
The surprise was on him. He materialized in the bathroom with one foot in the toilet.
“What the hell?” He lifted his bare foot out and shook it off. This wasn’t where he’d intended to go.
He opened the bathroom door and froze.
Daylight.
His heart lurched, and he shut the door. What the hell? He couldn’t be awake in daylight.
“Who’s there?” Brynley demanded.
He cracked open the door and peered out.
She gasped.
He opened the door wider. The room was full of sunshine. He sank back into the shadow, afraid he would burst into flames if the sunlight touched him.
Go into the light, a voice inside him urged. It can’t hurt us. Trust the wolf.
Wolf? He stiffened. There was a wolf inside him?
The wolf knows best. The light cannot harm us.
“Phineas?” Brynley approached him, watching him carefully.
He slowly reached out a hand, then extended his index finger so the tip barely touched the light.
Nothing happened.
He opened his hand, turning it palm up in the sunlight. A gentle warmth caressed his skin.
Enjoy the light, the wolf whispered to him. It is my gift to you.
“Phineas.” Brynley took his hands and led him slowly into the sun-filled cabin.
Our mate. He smiled at her, then looked out the window. Blue sky. “I see blue.”
“You must be a werewolf now,” she whispered.
“But I drank blood and teleported.” He glanced down at his wet foot. “Not very well though. Maybe I’m a little of both.”
“That would be . . . interesting.”
He winced at a sudden thought. “What if I’m lousy at both?”
She shook her head. “You won’t be. Look at you. You’re awake during the day. Do you know any other Vamp who can manage that?”
“I don’t know what will happen to me.”
She touched his cheek. “Whatever happens, I’ll be with you.”
“I love you, Snout-Face.”
She smiled. “I may be calling you that on the next full moon.”
“Mr. and Mrs. Snout-Face.” He pulled her into his arms. “I like it.”
Epilogue
Three months later . . .
“Good evening, dear viewers! This is Maggie O’Brian O’Callahan reporting for Real Housewives of the Vampire World. Tonight we have a very special guest, the newest wife of a Vamp, Brynley McKinney!”
“Hi!” Brynley smiled at the camera. “Thank you for coming.”
“Oh, it’s quite an honor,” Maggie assured her. “I understand you’re the only female Alpha werewolf in the world?”
She shrugged. “We believe so.”
“And your husband is that famous celebrity that all the women swoon over, the Blardonnay Guy!”
