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."