She paced around the room. "Next time we're staying at the Hilton."
Something hit the floor.
"What was that?" Angus asked.
"I turned the cot onto its side." She grabbed him under the shoulders and dragged him.
He tried to move his legs to help, but they were still dead weight.
She propped him up against the cot in a sitting position. "There. Isn't that better?"
"Yes." He could see more of the room now. A screen hid the primitive bathroom in the corner. Other than the cot, the only furniture was a small round table and two chairs.
High up on the eastern wall, there was a small window.
The bolt on the door scraped.
Emma grabbed a chair and plastered herself against the wall next to the door.
The door creaked open. No one came in. A woman's voice on a walkie-talkie spoke in Russian.
"Put the chair down," Alek's voice ordered. "We know what you are doing. We have cameras in the room."
Emma lowered the chair and gazed around the room.
The Russian vampire Burien stepped inside and pointed a machine gun at her. She raised her hands.
Alek marched into the room with a tray in his hands. "We saw you were awake. We thought you might be hungry." He set the tray on the table.
"Ye make a good servant," Angus muttered.
"Indeed," Emma agreed with a sweet smile. "Be a dear and empty the chamber pot for me?"
Alek glared at them both. "We are watching your every move. And very soon, we expect it to be quite entertaining." Chuckling, he left the room.
Burien followed him. The door slammed shut, causing all the silver on it to glimmer.
The bolt slid home.
Emma brought the chair back to the table. "What a creep. After I eat, I'll find all the cameras and destroy them." She touched the stuff in the bowl and tasted it from her fingertip. "Porridge. Not bad, actually, and I'm starving."
Angus sighed. His flask was gone. His heart twisted. Poor Emma. Katya had come up with the perfect way to torture them both. No wonder she wanted to watch.
"I hate to eat alone." Emma sat at the table, frowning. "Those jerks didn't bring you any food at all."
Then her eyes met his and her spoon dropped with a clatter on the table. At last she was realizing the true nature of their imprisonment.
"Aye," Angus told her. "As far as they're concerned, they have left me a source of food."
CHAPTER 20
Sean Whelan hesitated on the sidewalk in front of Roman Draganesti's townhouse. He suspected they were holding Emma Wallace prisoner inside.
When Emma hadn't shown up for the Wednesday meeting, he'd been mildly concerned. She could be running late or feeling poorly. But she wasn't answering her home phone or cell phone.
Ground-floor security reported she'd left the building early the night before with a man from MacKay Security and Investigation, the company that provided security for Roman Draganesti and Jean-Luc Echarpe. Since those two were powerful coven masters, Sean figured the company's owner, Angus MacKay, was also a vampire. In fact, he suspected Angus MacKay was the newly arrived Scotsman living at Draganesti's townhouse.
Dammit, Sean had known something was wrong the other night when he thought he'd heard Emma scream. These vampire men were despicable. First they kidnapped and seduced his daughter. Now they were after Emma.
The front door opened. Sean stiffened. The bastards inside had seen him. His revolver was tucked into his belt behind his back, fully loaded with silver bullets.
The vampire named Connor stood in the doorway, wearing his usual red and green plaid kilt. "Did ye have a question, Whelan, or were ye planning to glare at us all night?"
Sean strode to the base of the stairs. "I have a question, scumbag. Are you holding Emma Wallace against her will?"
The Scotsman arched a brow.
"'Cause if you are," Sean continued, "I'll have fifty FBI agents here in ten minutes to tear this place apart."
"We know Emma Wallace is missing." A pained look crossed Connor's face briefly. "One of ours is missing, too."
Sean frowned. "Are you saying they ran off together?"
Connor's eyes glimmered with anger. "Nay, they were kidnapped, and they're in grave danger. We're doing our best to find them." He started to close the door.
"Wait!" Sean climbed a stair. "Do you know who kidnapped them?"
Connor paused, then opened the door wider. "'Twas Katya Miniskaya and some of her Russian Malcontents."