Jozef, her baby brother, who at the age of twelve insisted on joining his father and three older brothers to fight the incoming invasion. Vanda's eyes stung with tears. Jozef with his black curly hair and laughing, blue eyes. He'd marched off to war so proudly. And she never saw him again. A tear rolled down her cheek.
Ian had always reminded her of Jozef. She hadn't meant to become attached to Ian, but he'd slowly started to symbolize all the brothers she had lost. And she'd come so close to losing Ian last December. Ever since the battle at DVN, her nerves had been on edge.
More pictures drifted out of the coffin. Papa and her three other brothers—Bazyli, Krystian, and Stefan. Fuzzy and unclear.
A sob escaped. Oh God, she couldn't remember their faces. Her shoulders shook. How could she forget? After Mama died, she'd taken care of all her brothers and sisters. They'd been her entire life. How could she forget?
She squeezed her eyes shut. No! She wouldn't do this. She didn't need to punish herself just because she felt guilty for tormenting Phil. Mentally, she shoved all the pictures back into the coffin and slammed the lid shut.
She wouldn't let herself think about the past. How she'd lost everyone she loved. Her parents, her brothers, her sister. Even Karl, her first love and leader of the underground resistance.
All gone.
She took a deep, shuddering breath and wiped the tears from her face. She should have never flirted with Phil. He was a mortal with a short life. If she fell for him, she would only lose him, too.
It didn't matter that he intrigued her and excited her. It didn't matter that she wanted his arms around her, comforting her. It didn't matter that she admired his strength and intelligence. Or that she was so tired of being alone.
Screams erupted from the club, jerking her back to reality. What now?
"Vanda!" Terrance flung the door open. "Max the Mega Member just teleported in. He says you're going to die!"
Vanda strode into the club, whip in hand, her eyes adjusting to the dim lighting. Only a handful of customers remained. The others must have teleported away at the first sign of danger. The remaining customers were crowded in a circle, gossiping with hushed voices.
"He's so incredibly strong," a female Vamp whispered to her friend.
"And so handsome," the friend replied.
Vanda snorted. There was no accounting for taste. Her bouncer Hugo was about as wide as he was tall. His massive head sat right on his huge shoulders. She often wondered how he'd ever gotten transformed when he had no visible neck to bite.
"Excuse me." She nudged the two gossiping girls aside.
"Vanda," a deep, gravelly voice spoke behind her.
With a start, she turned to find Hugo. "What? Then who—"
He rested a beefy hand on her shoulder. "I need to talk to you."
"Not now!" She pulled away from him and shoved her way through the crowd. She stopped with a gasp.
Max was flat on his back with Phil sitting on top of him. Phil's fists were planted on the floor on each side of the ex-dancer, and in them he gripped a silver chain that was stretched across Max's chest. The chain not only pinned Max to the floor, but it prevented the Vamp from teleporting away.
Vanda stared at them for several seconds. No wonder the crowd was whispering in amazement. It was practically unheard of for a mortal to be quick enough to catch a vampire and strong enough to hold one down.
On the floor, at her feet, a long dagger gleamed in the dim light. Good Lord. A shudder skittered down her spine. If Max had stabbed her in the heart, she'd be a pile of dust right now. Somehow, Phil had managed to disarm him. Phil had saved her life. And he didn't even look winded.
He glanced up at her and smiled.
Her knees nearly buckled.
The girls behind her sighed.
"What pretty eyes," one of them whispered.
Vanda's grip tightened on the whip, and she stifled an urge to snarl at the girls. But what could she possibly say? Hands off, he's mine? She had no claim to him.
She glanced away, irked with herself for succumbing to jealousy and being so easily flustered by a man's smile and pretty blue eyes. Her frustration flared into anger when she spotted her three dancers watching the scene from behind the bar. Those spineless cowards.
Hugo grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the crowd. "Vanda, I have to talk to you. It's about that mortal."
"I know," she spoke with gritted teeth. "He's incredibly strong and handsome. You want to join the fan club?"
Hugo looked confused. "No. There's something strange about him. He moves too fast."
"Tell me about it. He captured a psycho and protected me from certain death, which is your job, I believe." She glared at the bouncer. "If you're slower than a mortal, maybe I hired the wrong man."
"No, no! I'm going to take care of Max. I just thought I'd better warn you about—"
"What are you planning to do?" Vanda felt a sudden twinge of alarm. She didn't want any more deaths on her conscience.
"I was going to teleport him far away and warn him to leave you alone," Hugo grumbled. "And I thought I might punch him in the gut, if you don't mind."
"Oh. I guess I can live with that." She nudged her way back through the crowd. Everyone moved back when Hugo came through.
Phil was still holding down the struggling Vamp as if he were detaining a small child in time-out. Max didn't seem to be in any pain, since the silver chain was against his clothes. If it had come into contact with his skin, there would have been some nasty, smelly, sizzling flesh.
Phil glanced up at her. "What do you want to do with him?"
"Hugo will take care of him."
On cue, Hugo growled deep in his throat. The crowd jumped back.
Max gasped as Hugo lumbered closer like a huge bear. "No! Let me go. I'll leave Vanda alone, I promise."
"You were told to leave her alone at the coven meeting." Phil glared down at him. "Obviously, you can't be trusted."
"You're in violation of the restraining order." Vanda wrapped her whip around her waist and tied it off. "I believe you owe the court five thousand dollars."
Max spat at her boots. "You bitch! You're the one who owes me money!"
"Enough." Hugo reached down and seized Max around the neck. "I've got him," he told Phil. "You can let go."
As soon as Phil jumped to his feet and lifted the silver chain, Hugo teleported away with Max. Phil stuffed the silver chain into his pants' pocket, and the female Vamps moved in.
"You were amazing." One of the girls pressed close.
"I do declare." Cora Lee wrapped a hand around his arm. "I've never seen such a vigorous, manly display."
"The show is over," Vanda grumbled.
Phil's eyes twinkled with amusement as he leaned over to pick up Max's dagger. "You might want to step back, ladies. This is a dangerous weapon."
With a sigh, the women moved back.
Phil focused on Vanda. "May I talk to you in private?"
"I…suppose." She turned stiffly and led the way to her office. Her nerves tensed at the thought of being alone with him again. But she needed to do this. She needed to apologize for causing him so much pain in the past.
She glanced at him briefly as he strode into the office, then shut the door. "Thank you for protecting us."
"You're welcome." He placed the dagger on her desk. "You might need this."
She stifled a shudder. She didn't need a reminder of how bad things could have been. "At least Max didn't bring that damned snake."
Phil turned to face her. "Snake?"
"A fifteen-foot-long python. Max dances with it. Or he tried to. The snake had other plans." She took a deep breath. Thank God Phil wasn't a Vamp and couldn't hear her heart pounding. There was something about him, and apparently she wasn't the only one feeling it. All of the women were reacting to him. And that was making her feel strangely possessive.