Jack heaved a resigned sigh. "All right. We'll do it."
Lara took his hand and squeezed it.
"Who else is on the list?" Angus asked.
"I am." Phineas raised a hand proudly. "Dr. Phang at your service."
Angus smiled. "Verra good, lad."
"I'll go, too," Robby announced. "They should have backup, someone Casimir isna expecting."
"Like a secret weapon." Angus nodded. "Good idea."
"Look, guys," Gregori spoke up. "I'm not a warrior, but I know marketing and publicity. You guys from the hit list can sit on a hill for a week, but if Casimir doesn't know about it, he'll never show up. You've got to stage and promote this deal without it looking like it's been staged and promoted."
Angus folded his arms. "What do ye suggest?"
"A believable scenario." Gregori rubbed his chin as he considered. "Zoltan and Dougal just narrowly escaped death tonight, so it would be logical for them to go out and celebrate. They would go to a Vamp club. The most popular one is Vanda's, but it was destroyed tonight. Is she all right?"
"She's fine," Phil replied quietly.
"Good." Gregori flashed him a smile, then grew serious again. "When it comes to Vamp clubs, I've been to most of them. We need a dark, seedy place, perfect for an ambush." He snapped his fingers. "I've got it. Vampire Blues in New Orleans."
"I like it," Angus said. "And the Coven Master there is a good friend. Colbert will help us out."
Gregori tapped his chin, still thinking. "We'll need publicity."
"What about Corky Courrant?" Emma suggested. "She does celebrity gossip on her show."
"Yeah, but let's face it," Gregori said. "Dougal and Phineas aren't celebrities. Corky wouldn't care what they're doing."
Phil felt a heaviness in his chest. There was a surefire way to get Corky's unwitting participation. He glanced at Connor, and the Scotsman was giving him an apologetic look.
Connor cleared his throat. "There was one more name on the list. Casimir wants Vanda Barkowski dead. And Corky hates her with a passion."
Phil's heart squeezed in his chest. Damn. He didn't see any way out of this.
Gregori winced. "There has to be another way. Vanda lost her club tonight. She's suffered enough."
"But she's a feisty lass, no?" Angus asked. "She might want revenge."
"She does have an anger problem," Gregori admitted. "But we've been trying to help her get over it."
"Her anger might be just what we need," Connor said. "We take her to the club, let it slip to Corky that she'll be there, and let Vanda throw one of her famous fits. Corky shows it on air, and when Casimir realizes Vanda is still alive, he rushes to the club, hoping to kill her. And that's when we kill him."
Gregori nodded. "That would work, but we need to make sure Vanda would be safe."
"I'll go with her," Phil said quietly.
"Can ye convince her to do it?" Connor asked.
Phil sighed. Did he have any choice?
CHAPTER 16
It was close to dawn by the time Phil returned to the cabin. Phineas teleported back to Romatech, leaving him alone with Vanda. She was folding laundry at the kitchen table. He noted the stack of clean towels and clothes, including her purple catsuit.
As soon as Phineas disappeared, she threw her arms around Phil and hugged him. "I missed you."
He held her close and nuzzled his chin against her hair. Connor had suggested he simply invite her to New Orleans for a holiday. No need to let her know what the real plan was. She might refuse to be their bait, and they were too desperate to take that chance. This was war, and a time for desperate measures.
Phil hadn't argued the point, although he'd doubted he could purposely mislead Vanda. Now that she was in his arms, he knew for certain that he couldn't.
"How bad is it?" Vanda asked.
"Bad enough." He took her hand and led her to the couch. "The Malcontents used mind control to get ahold of some military helicopters. They bombed those two Romatechs from the air."
"Oh no." Vanda sat beside him on the couch. "What's Angus going to do?"
Phil described Sean Whelan's plan to help the Vamps. Then he explained Roman's plan to make Nightshade, and Laszlo's plan to make tracking devices. Vanda nodded, listening carefully in spite of numerous yawns.
She blinked sleepily. "I'm really glad to have a safe place to hide, but I feel a little guilty that I'm not doing anything to help." She sighed. "What am I saying? I worked with the resistance in the last war, and it was scary as hell."
Phil hesitated, not sure how to proceed. "The Coven Master of New Orleans has invited us to stay with them for a few nights."
Vanda yawned. "New Orleans?"
"You're about to conk out. Let's get you to the closet." He pulled her to her feet.
She leaned against him as she walked. "I've always wanted to see New Orleans."
"Gregori told me about this club called Vampire Blues. I think you'd like it."
She gazed up at him with a confused look. "It's a vampire club? I thought I was supposed to be in hiding."
Inside the closet, he sat on the blanket and pulled her down beside him. "Vanda, I have to be honest with you. Angus is desperate to draw Casimir out. If we can kill him now, we might be able to avoid an all-out war. Think of all the lives that could be saved."
Her eyes narrowed. "What's going on?"
"They want you to go to this club so you can be seen. You're on Casimir's hit list, so there's a good chance that as soon as he knows you're there, he'll show up to finish you off. There'll be lots of guys there to protect you. Phineas, Zoltan, Dougal, Robby, and me."
"Oh God." Vanda pressed a hand to her chest. "You're using me as bait."
"We didn't want to. The guys wanted to do this without you. Some of them are on the list, too, but we realized we really need you."
"Why? What can I do?"
"If you're there, we can get Corky to announce it on her show."
"Because she hates me." With a groan, Vanda fell back onto the blanket. "Lucky me."
"I won't blame you for getting angry."
She yawned. "I'm too sleepy to get angry."
He brushed her hair back from her brow. "I'm really sorry. I didn't want you to have to do this. But if it can stop Casimir from killing more Vamps, it would be worth it. I swear I'll protect you. I won't let anyone hurt you."
"Right." Her eyes flickered shut. "First thing tomorrow night I'm kicking your ass."
Phil smiled. "It's a date." His beautiful Vanda, so clever and brave.
She took a long shuddering breath and was gone.
A spurt of panic shot through Phil. He'd just watched Vanda die. If he failed her, she could die...permanently.
By noon Phil was pacing the cabin like a caged beast. He went outside, but the woods didn't calm him like they usually did. His inner wolf was howling. He had finally won Vanda's love, but now he could lose her.
Connor had assured him the plan was solid. There would be at least a dozen Vamp men at the club in New Orleans. When Casimir showed up, the Vamps would attack, and Vanda would be safe.
But Phil knew plans didn't always work. He couldn't expose Vanda to this danger without a backup plan. He needed a safe place to take her. They could come back here, but what if it was near dawn in New Orleans? It would already be daylight here. Going west would be safer.
And he had a hunting cabin in Wyoming. Or at least he thought he did. He hadn't been there in over four years. The place could have burned down. There was no phone, so no answering machine would pick up and give Vanda a beacon to guide her to the right place.
It had been a present to him on his eighteenth birthday, a bribe to make him more agreeable to his father's control. That had lasted about three months. Phil had tried to break loose, and his father, in a fit of rage, had banished him for life.
He'd gone to the cabin, but after a few months, he decided that hiding from life was not a life. He left, seeking an environment that was completely different, and he found it in New York City.
The first few years, he'd gone back to the cabin on vacation. That's when he discovered the letters his sister Brynley had left. At first she had begged him to come home. He'd left a note, telling her no, he could never go back. Then she left letters begging him to at least stay in touch. He entered her phone number on his cell phone but never called. About four years ago he stopped going to the cabin.