Forbidden Nights with a Vampire (Love at Stake #7)

"Does Vanda know about the boycott?" he asked.

"No, thank heavens, and we need to keep it that way. She might go ballistic, and we can't afford any more lawsuits." Pamela spotted Cora Lee and waved at her. "Look who's here!"

Cora Lee ran over to Maggie, and the squealing and hugging started all over again. Then Maggie produced a stack of family photos from her handbag, and the ladies gushed over how adorable Maggie's daughter was. Phil wondered how she'd managed to have a child but refrained from asking since the explanation might take a long time, and he wanted to see Vanda as soon as possible.

"Hey, bro!" Phineas walked toward him with two female Vamps hanging on his arms. "I dropped by like you asked. You sure were right about the hot chicks."

"Any sign of Max?" Phil yelled over the noise.

"No." Phineas gave his new friends an apologetic look. "I hate to say this, ladies, but I gotta go back to work."

"Oh no, Dr. Phang." The brunette on his left arm stuck out her bottom lip in a pout. "How can you leave us?"

"Duty calls, sweetness." Phineas patted her hand. "But I'll come back every few hours to make sure you're safe."

"Oh, Dr. Phang, you're so brave." The blonde on his right rubbed against him.

"Where do you work?" the brunette asked, trying to draw his attention away from the blonde.

"I can't say, darlin'," Phineas replied. "Top secret stuff, you know."

"Oooh." The blonde shivered. "Are you a spy?"

"All I can say is when danger lurks in the shadows, they call on Dr. Phang." Phineas stepped back and lowered his voice. "I'll be back."

"I'll be waiting for you," the brunette yelled as Phineas disappeared.

The blonde sidled up close to Phil. "So are you a spy like Dr. Phang?"

"We...work together." Phil noticed Maggie was headed with Cora Lee and Pamela to Vanda's office. He started to follow, but the two Vamp women had latched onto his arms.

The brunette caressed his biceps. "You seem incredibly strong for a mortal."

"And handsome in such an earthy way," the blonde added.

"Actually, I'm not in Dr. Phang's league." Phil extricated himself from their grip. "He's much stronger than me. And a little dangerous. You should probably stay away from him if you like to play it safe."

The brunette's eyes lit up. "He sounds so exciting."

"Well, he is called the Love Doctor, you know," Phil admitted.

The blonde stepped back. "No offense, cutie, but I'm going to wait for the Love Doctor."

The brunette turned toward her. "No, you're not. I saw him first."

While the two women argued over Phineas, Phil hurried to Vanda's office.

Maggie spotted him quietly closing the door. "Vanda, I hope you don't mind, but I brought Phil with me."

Vanda stiffened and turned toward the door. The smile on her face vanished, and a blush crept up her neck.

He remained by the door. "Hello, Vanda."

The blush rose to her cheeks. "Hi."

Pamela and Cora Lee greeted him with knowing smiles.

He nodded briefly at them, then returned his gaze to Vanda. "How are you?"

"Yes, dear, how are you?" Maggie asked when Vanda didn't answer. "Phil told me about that horrible snake, and I just had to make sure you were all right."

"I'm...fine," Vanda said quietly.

"Well, it was mighty nice of Phil to call you up," Cora Lee said to Maggie.

"And we're delighted to see you again," Pamela added.

"It's lovely to be here," Maggie said, smiling. "The club is a huge success. I've never seen such a big crowd."

"Yeah, that'll show Corky Courrant," Cora Lee muttered.

Pamela winced and shook her head.

Cora Lee gasped and covered her mouth.

Vanda frowned at them. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Pamela and Cora Lee answered together.

Vanda glared at Cora Lee. "Out with it."

"It's nothing!" Cora Lee insisted, then turned to Pamela for help. "It amounts to nothing, right? We have a huge crowd. They all came to see why Corky said our club was violent and evil."

"What?" Vanda yelled.

Phil walked toward her. "It's all right. Corky used her TV show to announce a boycott of your club, but her plan obviously backfired."

Vanda's eyes flashed with anger. "She's trying to destroy me."

"Your club will be fine," Phil said softly.

"Not as long as that bitch is around," Vanda hissed, and she vanished.

"No!" Phil made a grab for her, but she was already gone.

"Land sakes," Cora Lee whispered. "Where did she go?"

"Where do you think, bigmouth?" Pamela snapped. "She went to DVN to let Corky have it."

"Sweet Mary and Joseph," Maggie breathed. "We need to stop her."

CHAPTER 7

They have lousy security," Phil said as he followed Maggie down a hallway at DVN. No alarm had gone off when they had teleported into a costume room. "You'd think they'd be more careful after that incident last December."

Maggie leaned close and whispered, "These guys aren't exactly grounded in reality."

"I see what you mean," Phil muttered. They passed a group of actors in the hallway, and one of them, dressed as a giant chicken, was practicing his squawk.

"That's it!" one of his companions said. "Now do it again, but with more passion."

Another actor, dressed as a pirate, joined in. "Yaar, me hearty. Ye must believe that ye be a chicken."

Phil snorted. A chicken with fangs.

"This is it." Maggie stopped in front of a door decorated with a giant gold star. Corky Courrant was painted across the star in bright red cursive script.

Maggie listened. "I don't hear any fighting inside."

"That's a good sign," Phil said.

"Unless Corky's already dead," Maggie whispered.

Phil opened the door and marched inside. Corky was very much alive, seated behind her desk, studying photos. In the corner, a little bald-headed man with a camera gasped, then teleported away. No sign of Vanda.

Corky glanced up. "How dare you barge in like that!" She gathered up the photos and shoved them into a desk drawer. "Who the hell are you?"

"Don't you know?" Phil asked. "You posted my picture on your show tonight."

Corky sniffed, then waved a hand in dismissal. Her large jeweled rings glittered under the fluorescent lights. "I'm not interested in the identity of a mortal. Get out of my office."

"I was the man pinning down the dancer at the Horny Devils nightclub. How did you get that photo?"

"I'm a journalist. I never reveal my sources." She glanced at the corner where the little man had teleported away. Her bosom heaved when she sighed with relief.

"Hello, Corky." Maggie strode inside, her cowboy boots clunking on the linoleum floor.

Corky sat back. "Well, if it isn't little Maggie, known for her short stature and her equally short career as a mediocre actress. What brings you to New York?" She eyed Maggie's clothes with disdain. "A little shopping, I hope?"

Maggie approached the desk. "I just had a lovely time at the Horny Devils. Thanks to you, it's the most popular nightclub in the vampire world."

Corky's eyes narrowed into angry slits. "I remember now. You're one of Vanda Barkowski's friends. You can give that crazy bitch a message from me." Corky rose to her feet. "I'm going to destroy her. And her club."

"Try it," Phil said softly, "and you'll regret it."

Corky scoffed. "Am I supposed to quake in fear from a mere mortal and a...miniature cowgirl?" She glowered at Maggie. "Don't think I haven't forgotten how you stole Don Orlando from me."

Maggie glared back. "You had already lost him. You treated him like a slave."

"Ha! I made him a star! I made him famous. What could you ever do for him?"

Maggie smiled. "I make him happy." She turned on her heel and marched out.

Corky sputtered. "I could ruin you. And your ranch. You're just so trivial, I haven't bothered!"

Phil paused by the door on his way out. "Leave Vanda alone."

"What are you," Corky sneered, "her guard dog?"

"Close." He took a deep breath and tapped into his inner Alpha power. He knew it would make his blue eyes glow. His body began to shimmer, his form fuzzy along the edges. He could shift in an instant if he wanted, or remain in human form while retaining all the power of the Alpha wolf.

Corky stumbled back, her eyes wide. "Who - What are you?"

Let her wonder. He shut the door in her face and reined in his power. In an instant he was back to normal. "Okay, where do you think Vanda is?"

Maggie stared at him, her mouth agape. "What was that?"

"The power of my inner...animal." He started down the hallway.

Maggie stood in place, her eyes still wide with shock. "But don't you need a full moon?"

"No. So where could Vanda be?"

"I-I don't know." Maggie ran to catch up with him. "I've never heard of a shifter who wasn't dependant upon a full moon."

"I can shift at any time." They reached the end of the hall, where it led into an intersecting hallway.

"That's amazing," Maggie whispered. "What kind of animal are you?"

He ignored the question as he inspected the new hallway. No sign of Vanda. "Let's split up. You go right, I'll go left."

"All right." Maggie headed right, then pulled back around the corner, grimacing.

"What's wrong?" Phil peered down the hall to the right. A blond woman was talking to the pirate actor.

"It's Tiffany." Maggie raised her gaze to the ceiling as if in prayer. "Must I see every woman tonight who's slept with my husband?"

Phil recalled that the actor Don Orlando de Corazon had been touted as the greatest lover in the vampire world. "I'm sure he never looked at another woman once he met you."

Maggie snorted, then smiled. "I believe you're right. Bless you. So you're a powerful shifter who knows exactly what to say to a woman? Vanda doesn't stand a chance."

"I hope you're right. But we still need to find her. How about I go right, and you go left?"

"Okay." Maggie hurried down the new hallway, moving away from Tiffany.

Phil strode toward the blonde and the pirate. He tried the first door. A storeroom.

"Aar, me buxom wench." The pirate adjusted his eye patch. "Ye be a glorious sight for me sore eye. Would ye care to go below deck with me?"

"To the basement?" Tiffany giggled. "Sure. I just love your accent. It's so classy. You sound like a prince." She led him to a door at the end of the hall.

Phil smiled to himself. Tiffany certainly wasn't pining over the loss of Don Orlando. He spotted a door labeled: CORKY'S DRESSING ROOM. This sounded promising. He quietly eased it open.

Vanda was seated at a dressing table. There was no mirror above it, but rather, a monitor connected to a digital camera. As a Vamp, this was the only way Corky could see herself to apply the mounds of makeup she wore. The camera was turned off now, and Vanda was entirely focused on her task, snipping at clothing with a small pair of scissors.

He closed the door with a click, and she jumped in her seat.

"Phil! What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing, Vanda?"

"I'm busy." She returned her attention to a black brassiere and made a small snip at the shoulder strap.

He stepped toward her. "As your sponsor, I suggest you put the scissors down."

"You are not my..." She paused with a wry expression. "I'm getting a strange sense of déjà vu."

He chuckled. "What exactly are you doing?"

"Nothing." She made a tiny cut between the two massive cups of Corky's bra.

He eyed the pile of clothing on the dressing table. "You're exacting revenge by destroying Corky's underwear?"

"They're not destroyed." Vanda folded several pairs of lacy underwear and returned them neatly to a drawer. "They're just altered a tiny bit. Corky will never notice." She shut the drawer with a wicked grin. "Until it's too late."

Phil sighed. "Vanda, this is not what they mean by anger management."

She folded up a brassiere and stacked it in another drawer. "I don't need anger management. I was sorely tempted to jump that bitch in her office, but then I thought about all the ripped-out hair and black eyes and lawsuits, and I had to ask myself, 'Is it really worth it? "

He couldn't help but smile. "You're thinking before you act. That's an improvement."

"Thank you." She picked up the last bra and showed him the humongous cups. "Can you believe this? Fill it with rice and you could feed a starving family of four for a week." She folded it and placed it in a drawer. "Do men really find such huge breasts attractive?"

"Yes. Some men do."

She shot him a dirty look and slammed the drawer shut.

"But I don't." He moved closer to her chair. "I have seen perfection, so I could never want anything less."