Be Still My Vampire Heart(79)

 

"The Malcontents may have murdered some mortals. Emma's on her way there." Angus gritted his teeth. "Alone."

 

"We're on our way." Robby rang off.

 

Cursing some more, Angus strode into Tina's apartment. Lindsey was hovering by a doorway, trembling.

 

"Excuse me." He slipped past her.

 

She jumped back with a squeal. "There's blood on her neck!"

 

Tina was sprawled on the bed. Phineas was tugging a sheet up to her chin.

 

"Good news," Gregori said. "She's alive."

 

"Aye." Angus frowned at the twin punctures on her neck. "I can still hear her heart beating."

 

"You can?" Phineas gazed at Tina, confused.

 

Angus gave his rookie an irritated look. "Ye have a lot to learn, lad." He turned to Gregori. "Teleport her to Romatech for a transfusion, then bring her back."

 

"I'm on it," Gregori assured him. "Were you able to reach Emma?"

 

"Aye—" Angus stopped talking when Lindsey leaped into the room, waving a foot-long, plaster Celtic cross in front of her.

 

"Begone, you demons!" She aimed the cross at each of them. "Go back to hell where you belong!"

 

Angus sighed. "And when ye're done," he continued to talk to Gregori, "be sure to erase their memory."

 

"What?" Lindsey shook her cross like it might be broken. "Why didn't it work? Aren't you guys like vampires or something?"

 

Gregori motioned for Phineas to pick Tina up. "Let's get going."

 

"Where are you taking her?" Lindsey dropped the cross and fell to her knees. "Oh my God. You're going to change her into a vampire, too. She'll be young and hot forever."

 

Her face brightened, and she jumped to her feet. "Sign me up!"

 

Angus shook his head as he left the room. "The vampire world could never survive you two."

 

The police had cordoned off the entrance to the heliport, so Emma asked the cabbie to drop her off nearby. She wove through the noisy crowd, headed for the nearest police officer. She fished in her tote bag for her ID badge. Her hand grazed her cell phone, and she considered calling Angus, but there were too many people jammed together for him to teleport there safely or unnoticed. She located her ID and showed it to those who remained stubbornly in her way.

 

"Excuse me. Homeland Security." That usually got people out of the way. She finally made it to the crime scene tape and a police officer. She flashed her badge and shouted to be heard over the noise. "I need to see the bodies!"

 

"You'll have to talk to the captain first." The officer pointed at a man in a trench coat about a hundred yards away, next to an ambulance. Two medics were loading a gurney with a body bag. Emma ducked under the tape and strode toward the captain. She'd gotten about ten yards when another officer yelled at her to stop.

 

She raised her badge. "Homeland Security."

 

After another fifty yards, she passed by a police car. She narrowed her eyes against the glare of its flashing lights.

 

A uniformed officer stepped away from the car to block her path. "This is a crime scene."

 

She lifted her badge. "Homeland—" She gasped when he seized her upper arms. "This will be a very bad crime scene."

 

A Russian accent. She'd caught it too late. Stunned, she gazed into Alek's face. The flashing red and yellow lights made his smile look evil.

 

"Do you like my costume? The officer no longer needs it." He tilted his head toward the car. It was difficult to see with the strobe lights flashing in her eyes, but Emma spotted a man in the front seat, his head twisted at a bizarre angle. Without warning, she rammed her knee into Alek's groin.

 

He stumbled back. She aimed a series of punches at his chest, then spun and kicked him in the face.

 

Alek fell, blood gushing from his nose.

 

"Oh my God!" Someone in the crowd shouted. "She's attacking a police officer!"

 

"Halt!" Several voices shouted.

 

Emma turned to see two officers running toward her. Her badge—where was it? She'd dropped it when she was punching Alek.

 

"Looking for this?" Alek jumped to his feet, her ID in his hand. His smile was tinted with blood. He licked the blood from around his mouth, then zoomed away, taking her badge with him.

 

"Halt, or I'll shoot!" an officer yelled.

 

Emma dove into the crowd and worked her way in the direction Alek had headed. Pier 66. She dug her cell phone out and called Angus.

 

"About time!" he thundered. "Where are you? Are ye all right?"