"Emma," Alyssa whispered. "Are you sure you're not ill? You look awfully flushed."
"I'm… super." She sat up straighter when her boss strode into the room and slammed the door behind him.
Sean Whelan, their team leader, looked even angrier than usual. He marched to the head of the table and set down his laptop. "It's been ten months since my daughter was kidnapped by those vicious demons. Ten months! They've probably drained her dry by now and turned her into one of them."
Not if they drank synthetic blood from bottles like Angus. Emma had been told just the night before that Shanna was happy, but she knew Sean would never believe it. Her friendship with Angus was going to put her in an awkward position at work. This must have been what had happened to Austin. She'd try e-mailing him to see what else he had learned.
"Garrett, I want you to continue watching the Russians," Sean ordered. He turned to Alyssa. "How is your research going on Romatech?"
"Very well," Alyssa answered. "I've learned the names of the vampire employees by running their license plates. I'm unable to go inside, of course, due to their security measures, but last week I successfully hacked into their mainframe."
"Excellent!" Sean leaned forward. "Did you learn anything about Shanna? I need to know where she's living."
Alyssa winced. "There was nothing personal in the files about Draganesti or your daughter. But I did find a list of cities and towns where they're shipping the Vampire Fusion Cuisine. Obviously, those must be locations where vampires exist. I'd like to go investigate."
Emma frowned. Those vampires were all drinking their meals from bottles. They belonged to the good camp, and yet they were the ones ending up on Sean Whelan's database of vampires to be eliminated.
Sean sighed. "All right. But I still want someone watching Romatech. My daughter's been seen there several times. I'm hoping someone can manage to follow her to her new home." Sean glanced at Emma. "Can you take over while Alyssa's out of town?"
"Yes." Although Emma was no longer sure she wanted to find Shanna. What if the woman was truly happy? But how could a marriage work out between a mortal and a vampire?
"Damned bloodsuckers," Sean muttered as he searched through a file on his laptop. As she had many times before, Emma wondered if her boss had been bitten. She'd suspected several times that he must have been the victim of a vampire attack. His hatred was so intense.
She'd considered telling him a few times about her slaying activities. In theory, she knew he would understand. But she also knew how obsessed he was with finding his daughter. He'd be furious that she hadn't interrogated the vampires before killing them.
But how could she? The only way she managed to kill them was to take them by surprise. With a sigh, she realized the point was now moot. It looked like she was going to have to retire from slaying for a while. If what Angus said was true, and the Malcontents were going to hunt in groups, then she needed to take a break.
"Here it is." Sean turned his laptop screen to face them. "I was watching Draganesti's house Friday night and spotted someone new. Anyone recognize this guy?"
The blood drained from Emma's face as she watched the surveillance video. There on the sidewalk, approaching Roman Draganesti's house, was Angus MacKay. That was the first night she'd met him, when she'd thought he was a gorgeous and mysterious human.
If only he were.
"Another Scotsman in a kilt," Alyssa murmured. "Aren't there several living in Draganesti's house?"
"I wouldn't call it living, but yes." Sean pointed at the claymore on Angus's back. "This one is different. He's heavily armed, as you can see."
"He looks like one of the Scottish guys we saw in Central Park," Garrett said. "You know, that night when the Russians vampires were there. I saw a bunch of guys in kilts, but they all look the same to me."
Emma shook her head. How could anyone ever forget meeting Angus MacKay? She watched him on the computer screen as he climbed the steps to Draganesti's townhouse. He paused at the top, looked around, then vanished.
"Whoa," Garrett whispered. "He's definitely a vampire."
Emma sighed. Yes, he was, and if she was smart, she'd stay far away from him. He was much too tempting.
"Well, Wallace? What do you say?"
Emma jumped when she realized Sean was watching her. "Pardon?"
"You watch the vampire Nightly News every night," Sean said. "Ever seen this Scotsman before?"