Vampire Mine - Kerrelyn Sparks [45]
“God bless you.” Marielle smiled, and Marta’s face reddened before she turned away.
“So you’re an angel?” The woman in cowboy boots asked as she hooked her thumbs into her belt loops.
“Have we met?” Gregori asked. “You look familiar.”
The woman gave him an impatient look. “We might have. I fought in the battle at South Dakota, but I was in wolf form for most of that.”
Marielle stiffened. The woman was a werewolf? She had nothing against shifters, but the wolf form tended to make her uneasy since it was a guise so many demons enjoyed adopting.
“This is Brynley,” Vanda introduced her. “Phil’s twin sister.” She glanced at Marielle and clarified, “Phil is my husband. And Marta over there is my sister.”
“I see.” Marielle tried not to look confused. Vampire sisters? And one of them was married to a werewolf? And had purple hair?
“Delighted to meet you.” Gregori smiled as he approached Brynley. “Phil and I are good friends.”
“Oh yeah?” Brynley cast a wry look at Vanda. “Well, he has weird taste.”
Vanda snorted. “I think she’s including you in that insult, Gregori.”
“Surely not.” Gregori pressed a hand to his chest, affecting an injured look. “I’m one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet.”
Brynley looked unimpressed.
“Well dressed, too.” Gregori adjusted his cuff links.
Brynley arched an eyebrow. “Can you bring down an elk in sixty seconds?” When Gregori hesitated, she shrugged. “I didn’t think so.” She turned to Marielle and regarded her curiously. “Are you really an angel of death? You don’t look very scary to me.”
“She could bring you down in sixty seconds,” Gregori muttered.
Brynley paled a bit, but lifted her chin. “I’m not afraid.”
Marielle could tell that the female werewolf wasn’t as tough as she pretended. “Did you volunteer to guard me during the day?”
Brynley shrugged. “Someone had to do it. The Vamps are completely useless in daytime, and the mortal women were too nervous. I figured why not? It’s not every day you get to meet a real, live angel.”
“I appreciate your bravery,” Marielle said. “And I can assure you that I mean no harm.”
Brynley nodded. “That’s good to know.”
Vanda gave her sister-in-law a fond look. “Brynley came to live with us about a week ago. Phil and I are delighted.”
Brynley looked embarrassed. “Well, I got sick and tired of my dad telling me what to do. He had the gall to throw me a big birthday party and announce my surprise engagement in front of a hundred pack members.”
“You’re getting married?” Marta asked as she unloaded the tote bags in the kitchen.
“No,” Brynley snapped. “I’d never even met the guy before. Some Alpha wolf from Alaska. Anyway, I packed my bags and left. I knew Phil would welcome me at his school.”
“We all welcomed you,” Vanda said quietly.
“You’re from a school?” Marielle asked.
“Dragon Nest Academy,” Vanda explained. “I teach art there. Brynley’s planning to teach En-glish, and Marta works in the office.” She ran a hand through her purple spiky hair. “To tell you the truth, I’m glad to get away for a little while.”
“Me, too,” Marta mumbled from the kitchen.
“Why?” Gregori asked. “What’s wrong?”
Vanda snorted. “Ten teenage werewolf boys all learning to become Alpha? We’ll be lucky if they don’t kill each other.”
Brynley winced. “There’s a reason why a pack only has one Alpha.”
“And then you throw in five were-panther orphans, plus the new were-tiger from Thailand—” Vanda shook her head. “Cats and dogs do not mix well.”
“We need more girls there.” Marta set a plate of food in the microwave. “The werewolf boys keep trying to hit on me.”
Brynley laughed. “Well, you do look about fourteen.”
With a groan, Marta punched some buttons. “I was fifteen when I was transformed, but that was back in 1939.”
“So it is a school for shifter children?” Marielle asked.
Vanda nodded. “We have some mortal kids, too, who know too much to go to a regular school. And then there are the hybrids—half mortal, half vampire.”
“Roman