Be Still My Vampire Heart(31)

How had he managed the connection across town? Unless…

 

She dashed to the living room window and peeked through the blinds at the street below. A few pedestrians were out, but no men in kilts. She closed the blinds. Had he somehow discovered her whereabouts? She ran to the front door, flipped the locks, and looked outside.

 

Two blond women were teetering down the hallway, jabbering and laughing. The taller one wore brown and turquoise; the shorter one, pink and silver. They stopped a few doors down. The taller one struggled to get her key into the lock.

 

Emma stepped into the hall to peer around the women. She hid the knife behind her back to keep from alarming them. The hallway was empty.

 

The taller blonde dropped her key on the floor. "Shit!" She leaned over to pick it up and tumbled onto her face.

 

The shorter one giggled. "God, Lindsey, you're so smashed."

 

Lindsey stood and smoothed down her brown mini-skirt. "I am not smashed. I'm totally hammered."

 

With a shake of her head, Emma headed back into Austin's apartment.

 

"Let me try." The shorter blonde pushed Lindsey aside to unlock their door.

 

Lindsey careened into the opposite wall, then spotted Emma. "What are you doing? Isn't that Austin's apartment?"

 

"Yes. He's out of town, so I'm house-sitting for him. We're good friends." Emma started to close the door.

 

"Wait!" Lindsey lurched toward her. "You can't be his girlfriend. We know about Austin."

 

Emma hesitated.

 

"We know Austin's secret," the shorter one announced in a singsong voice.

 

They knew he'd been a spy for the CIA? "What exactly do you know?"

 

"We know he might as well come out of the closet." Lindsey snickered. "Right, Tina?"

 

"I know, right?" Tina gave Emma a doubtful look. "You can't be much of a friend if you didn't know he's gay."

 

Emma's mouth dropped open. Why on earth would Austin tell these women he was gay?

 

Unless… "Did either of you make a pass at him?"

 

Lindsey snorted. "Well, duh! The guy's totally hot."

 

"I tried a jillion times to get him to come inside." Tina flipped her pink-streaked hair over her shoulder. "He always had some kind of excuse, like his iron was on."

 

Lindsey scoffed. "That is so rude."

 

Emma knew Austin wasn't gay. The guy had snapped a hundred photos of a girl he was lusting for. "I'm afraid you're mistaken about him."

 

"'Fraid not!" Lindsey yelled. "We have proof. We met his boyfriend."

 

"Yeah, he was a total poser," Tina boasted. "He's not even Irish."

 

"Yeah," Lindsey added. "His fake accent and little skirt couldn't fool us."

 

Emma caught her breath. "There was a man downstairs with an accent, wearing a skirt? Was he tall with incredibly broad shoulders, a gorgeous face with green eyes, and long auburn hair?"

 

"Sheesh, don't get all worked up." Tina rolled her eyes. "The guy won't be interested in you. He even had a purse."

 

"Yeah." Lindsey nodded. "Like that's a clue."

 

Emma squeezed the knife in her fist. "He was downstairs in the lobby? Just now?"

 

"Yeah, we just saw him." Tina scratched at her pink highlights. "He kept talking about Austin."

 

"And he wouldn't come upstairs with us," Lindsey mumbled. "Anyone who refuses us has got to be gay."

 

"I know, right?" Tina nodded seriously. "'Cause we're so totally hot."

 

Emma took a deep breath. Angus had been downstairs. He knew where she was. "Good night, ladies." She shut the door and bolted the locks. Shit. A hell of a lot of good these locks would do. Angus could teleport inside whenever he wanted to. Why hadn't he? Why was he leaving her alone? She strode to the sofa and pried open the crate of stakes. Damn that Angus MacKay! He could invade the apartment or her mind whenever he damned well pleased.

 

And if that wasn't bad enough, there was a part of her that actually liked the fact that he'd gone to the trouble to track her down. He was interested in her, not the blond bimbos in the hall who'd tried to pick him up. Did this mean he never took advantage of mortal women for a little nibble? Did he only take his meals from a bottle like he said? Good heavens, she was starting to believe him.

 

Just the fact that she was flattered by his attention was a major disaster. He was sneaking into her confidence. He was trying to burrow into her heart. Dammit, no one was allowed there.

 

The only way to get rid of him was to kill him. And if part of her objected to that, then it just made her decision more imperative. He had to go. He had to die before he weaseled his way into her heart.