"I'll send Phineas. Expect his call in a few minutes." Connor hung up.
Phil frowned as he set down the receiver.
"Something wrong?" Vanda asked.
"Connor seemed more...curt than usual. There must be something going on. We'll find out when Phineas comes."
Vanda nodded and paced toward the fireplace. The fire had dwindled, leaving a few glowing coals in a heap of ash.
The phone rang, and he grabbed the receiver. "Hey, Phineas. I'm glad you made it out of the nightclub."
By the echoing sound of his voice, he realized he was on speaker phone. He continued to talk so his voice could guide Phineas to the right place. When the young Vamp appeared, his arms filled with a big cardboard box, Phil hung up.
"Hey, bro." Phineas set the box on the kitchen counter and turned to greet Vanda. "Whoa, dudette. Looking a little crispy."
She gave him an annoyed look. "Thanks a lot." Her expression softened as she approached the kitchen. "Actually, I do want to thank you. Not just for bringing the food, but for helping everybody get out of the club."
"No problem," Phineas said. "Sorry about it blowing up. You know, your bouncer was really pissed. Insisted on teleporting back with me to Romatech so he could volunteer to fight the Malcontents. Angus was glad to hire him."
"Angus is at Romatech now?" Phil asked.
"Oh yeah." Phineas removed a plastic case from the box and set it in front of Phil. "These are some weapons Connor wanted you to have."
"Good." Phil opened the case and found two handguns and numerous clips.
"I wish I could have brought you some silver bullets," Phineas said, "but I couldn't teleport with them."
"I understand." Phil loaded a clip into a handgun.
"What about my food?" Vanda peered inside the box.
"Right here, Miss Toasty." Phineas began unloading bottles of synthetic blood and setting them on the counter.
Vanda grabbed one, yanked off the top, and chugged the contents down.
"Whoa, baby." Phineas slanted an amused look at Phil. "I wonder why she's so hungry?"
Phil ignored him and stashed the rest of the bottles into the refrigerator.
Phineas looked back and forth between Phil and Vanda. "Matching lumberjack outfits. How...interesting."
Vanda plunked her empty bottle on the counter. "Stow it, Dr. Phang, before I get creative with this bottle."
"Ooh, kinky." Phineas grinned. "I like it."
Phil loaded another handgun, switched on the safety, and offered it to Vanda. "Have you ever used one of these?"
"No." She eyed it warily, then gave Phineas a sardonic look. "But I know where to aim for target practice."
"Ooh, kinky and freaky." Phineas winked.
"Will you get serious?" Phil grumbled. He offered the gun once more to Vanda. "You need this."
She took it reluctantly. "I prefer my whip."
Phineas snorted. "I bet you do."
"Do I need to knock your fangs out?" Phil growled.
"All right, all right." Phineas held up his hands in a surrendering gesture. "The Love Doctor's just having a little fun, that's all. Things are so...grim back at Romatech. It's a lot nicer here at your little love nest."
"It's a hunting cabin," Phil corrected him.
"Phil and Howard are hunters." Vanda strode to the coffee table and set her handgun down next to her whip. "Phil moved them all to the basement 'cause I didn't like them, but there used to be animal trophies mounted on the walls."
"Yeah, I know what you've been mounting," Phineas muttered. When Phil elbowed him, he whispered, "Don't worry, bro. I won't tell anyone."
"Now that's weird." Vanda pivoted as she scanned the cabin. "I just noticed there aren't any hunting rifles here. How did you kill those animals?"
Phil winced inwardly. No rifles had been necessary. A fully shifted bear and wolf could kill the old fashioned way.
Phineas let out a slow, whistling breath and gave Phil a knowing look.
Phil cleared his throat. "Howard never keeps rifles here. Someone could break in and steal them."
"Oh. I see." Vanda perched on the arm of the couch, apparently satisfied with his answer.
"So what's happening at Romatech?" Phil changed the subject.
Phineas moved the empty box to the floor. "Angus arrived a few hours ago. He converted the conference room across from the security office into a war room."
"War room?" Vanda asked, her eyes wide.
"It's highly probable that things will escalate," Phil explained. "Especially now that Casimir is in America."
She made a face. "Why couldn't he stay in Eastern Europe? That's where all the creepy vampires hang out."
Phil winced. He needed to tell Vanda that the creepy vampire, Sigismund, was here, too. "It makes sense for Casimir to come to America. He wants to destroy all the modern, bottle-drinking Vamps, and this is where the majority of them live. The power base is here."
Phineas nodded. "Angus was saying the same thing."
"Well, the leaders might be here, but the followers..." Vanda groaned. "Did you see those guys at the party last night? When they thought Phineas was poisoned by Malcontents, they freaked out and wanted to run away. Our side has a bunch of wimps!"
Phineas stiffened. "I'm not a wimp."
"And neither am I. We have plenty of good fighters," Phil insisted. But he knew Vanda was making a valid point. The Vamps who chose to drink bottled blood did it because they disliked attacking mortals. By their very nature, they were peaceful, law-abiding creatures.
Casimir's followers, on the other hand, were aggressive and violent. They'd been murderers and thugs as mortals, and as vampires, their cruel natures had worsened. Give a criminal super speed, strength, and mind control abilities, and the result was a vicious monster with allusions of grandeur and invincibility. How could the Vamps hope to defeat them? But if they didn't, there would be no one to stop the Malcontents from terrorizing the world. The Vamps had to fight, like it or not, not just for their own survival, but to protect the mortal world.
Phil strode to the back door and slipped on some rubber boots. "I haven't checked the perimeter in a while. You want to come?" He gave Phineas a pointed look.
"Yeah, sure, bro."
Phil smiled at Vanda. "This will take just a few minutes."
She crossed her arms, frowning. "I get it. You want to talk about gory war stuff without scaring the little lady. Well, I've been through war before, you know. I'm tough, dammit."
Not nearly as tough as she pretended. Phil wished he could take her in his arms and kiss away the frown lines from her brow, but he couldn't in front of a witness. "We'll be right back." He slipped outside with Phineas.
He waited on the back porch a few seconds while his eyes adjusted to the darkness. Then he descended the stairs to the gravel walkway. The moon, three-quarters full, hung low over a dark silhouette of evergreens. A breeze rustled the branches, filling the air with the scent of pine.
He strolled down the walkway, the gravel crunching under his rubber boots. Phineas walked beside him, peering into the dark woods.
"This way." Phil turned to make a clockwise circle around the cabin. Their footsteps became soft on the grass. He listened carefully. Birdsong, the scurrying of little paws through the underbrush.
"How bad is it?" he asked.
Phineas kicked a pinecone. "The Russian Malcontents attacked the townhouse. No one was there, but the alarm went off at Romatech, and by the time we got there, they all teleported away."
"Cowards," Phil grumbled.
"We're going to bunk down at Romatech till things settle down." Phineas sighed. "If it ever settles down. That Sigismund dude made it sound like all the Romatechs were in danger. Angus sent Mikhail, Zoltan, Jack, and Dougal to the other facilities to beef up security."
Phil glanced at the cabin's front porch as they passed by. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention Sigismund in front of Vanda. I want to break the news to her myself."
"Does she know him?"
"He's the one who changed her and her sister."
Phineas whistled. "Hot damn, bro. No wonder you nearly squeezed his head off. That was really awesome, though, the way your hand turned into a paw."