"Oh." A light blush dusted her cheeks. The afghan around her waist loosened, and she dropped the paper on the desk to adjust her makeshift skirt. "What did you tell him?"
Angus gritted his teeth. She was so damned lovely when she blushed. "I lied. I told him I'd taken ye home."
A jangling sound came from her backpack. She dashed around the desk to the chaise and unzipped her backpack. The phone continued its annoying musical phrase.
"Shit," she muttered as she rummaged through the backpack. The afghan slipped just as she located her phone.
He caught the afghan around her hips.
"Thanks," she breathed, then opened her phone. "Hello?"
Angus yanked the afghan off. Her mouth opened with indignation.
"Oh, hello, Sean," she spoke into the phone while giving Angus an annoyed look.
He stepped back, dropped the afghan on the desk, and picked up the paper she'd printed.
"I'm fine." She glowered at Angus. "Perfectly dandy."
He leaned against the desk, examining the list of names Mikhail had sent. They were all Malcontents who had been in Moscow the summer Emma's parents had been murdered. Angus wondered if he'd overreacted to her snooping. It was natural for her to be curious about her parents. How could she have resisted such a message?
He could hear Sean Whelan's strident voice on the other end of Emma's phone.
"No, he didn't harm me." She smoothed down the tail ends of her shirt as if to make sure all her private parts were covered. When she glanced up, Angus winked at her. She made a face and turned her back to him.
He cocked his head, admiring the sweet curve where her upper thighs met her rounded arse. A man didn't need to be undead to want to sink his teeth into that glorious flesh.
"He took me home, using teleportation," Emma continued to talk to Sean. "No, I'm fine. I felt a little woozy, but that's all. And they took Garrett home, too. What happened to you?"
Angus winced as he heard Sean's tirade on evil experiments, his victimized daughter, and the demon baby she would deliver in a few days.
Emma glanced back at Angus with a worried look. "I don't know what to say, Sean. We can only hope for the best."
She leaned over to examine the clothes Angus had deposited on the chaise. He tilted his head more to the side. What a view.
"There's nothing more you can do right now." She leaned over more. "I'm sure they'll let you go. They let me go."
Angus tilted more. Good God, he could see heaven.
"All right. Good-bye." She closed her phone and dropped it in the backpack. "Sean says the Scotsman is escorting him to his car. But there's another problem. I can't find my underwear." She glanced back, then straightened with a jerk.
Angus straightened.
Her cheeks blushed. She tugged at her shirttails. "Your eyes are red again."
"I saw a vision."
"You saw my ass. Where's my underwear?"
"I saw a vision of beauty. I saw our future."
A pained look crossed her face. "We have no future. You know that."
He stepped toward her. "I know I promised to make ye scream several times, and I'm a man of my word."
"I - I release you from that promise."
"'Tis no' what ye want."
"We don't always get what we want." She snatched her pants up and began putting them on.
"What were ye going to do with this list? Were ye planning to kill all seventeen?"
She turned her back to him to zip up her pants. "If you want to help me, I'd appreciate it."
"And if I doona help ye?"
She glanced at him, frowning. "I have to do it. My father's last words to me were Avenge us."
"Then ye did witness the murders. That's how ye knew about vampires."
She sat on the chaise. "A part of me died that night with them."
"Lass, revenge is no' going to bring yer parents back."
"It's not revenge! It's justice."
He picked up the list of names. "I know most of these men. They're the worst assassins in the vampire world." She was trying to kill her grief with violence. He recognized the signs. He'd done it himself after his wife's rejection.
Emma stuffed her feet into her shoes. "I've come too far to give up now. Everything I have done and learned for the past six years has led me to this moment."
"Then it has all led you to me."
Her eyes widened. "I don't believe in fate. We make our own choices in life."
"And you have chosen to trust me. Please, Emma, doona go after these men. You doona need to slay every dragon in the world to prove yer love. Yer parents know ye love them."
She looked away, clenching her fists.
"Let me find the two who are responsible."
She met his eyes. "And then?"
"I'll help you find the justice ye need. In the meantime, I'll transfer two of my employees here and have them watch over Central Park."
"I thought you and I were going to police the park."
She actually looked disappointed. Would she miss him? "We will until my employees arrive. I canna stay here indefinitely. I have to find Casimir. He's growing an evil army, and if there's another war, many will die."
He pushed away from the desk and strode toward her. "Imagine an army of over five hundred Malcontents, all feeding off mortals every night, then killing them because they know too much. 'Twill be a massacre."
Her face paled. "Is that what happened with the first war?"
"Aye. The battle raged on for three nights. A dozen villages in Hungary were destroyed. A few mortals escaped, and their tales spawned some of the legends ye still hear today."
"Stories of evil vampires?"
"Aye." He sat on the chaise beside her. "That was long before synthetic blood. Both sides had to feed off humans. Both sides were killing. Although we tried never to kill mortals, we probably appeared as evil as the enemy."
"If there's another war, will you be the general?"
"Aye."
She winced. "I hate to think of you in so much danger."
"Hopefully, it willna come to that."
"Do you want me to tell Sean about this? I could tell him that we talked before you took me home."
"From what I've seen of yer boss, I doubt he'll believe any of this."
She sighed. "He hates vampires with a passion. I don't know why."
"Ye have cause to hate, too, but ye believe me."
Smiling, she touched his cheek. "I like you too much."
He took her hand and kissed the palm. There was no such thing as too much. He wanted it all. "Where shall I teleport you - yer apartment or Austin Erickson's?"
"I've been meaning to ask you. How do you know about Austin?"
"He works for me."
Her mouth dropped open. "I thought he was constructing something in Malaysia."
"He and his wife, Darcy, are in Eastern Europe, helping with the search for Casimir."
Emma's eyes widened. "Austin married the vampire director of a reality show?"
"She's no longer a Vamp."
"She's no longer dead?"
"No longer undead. 'Tis a long story, but Roman was able to change her back."
"You're kidding! There's a cure?" Emma gave him an incredulous look. "Why don't more of you change back?"
He gritted his teeth. "Maybe some of us like being the way we are."
"Oh." She winced. "I didn't mean to offend you."
He arched a brow. "Being undead comes with some valuable talents. Being mortal does, too. I have quite a few mortals working for me. Ye have the advantage of daylight."
"So Austin is still fighting vampires."
"The bad ones, aye." Angus tilted his head. "Ye could work for me. I'd hire ye in a second."
Her mouth dropped open again. "You would hire me after I tried to kill you?"
"Somehow I was under the impression, while ye were climaxing in my arms, that ye'd gotten over yer ill feelings."
Her cheeks tinted pink. "It is true that I no longer harbor any ill will toward you."
"Yer kindness is overwhelming. But ye seemed downright happy when ye were shuddering and screaming in - "
"All right!" She held up a hand. "But that's a very good reason why I shouldn't work for you. People would suspect that we were a bit... involved, and that's never - "