Incredible. Emma smiled as her eyes flickered shut.
He smoothed her hair back from her brow. "I'm afraid I fed too much. I made ye weak."
"You made me happy." She drifted off to sleep.
Angus paced around their cell. He had to find a way out. Last night he'd been useless, overcome with hunger. But tonight he was strong, vibrant, and ready to take on the enemy.
He stopped next to Emma. She was still asleep and still pale. He adjusted her blanket and listened to her heartbeat. Steady, but weak. The devil take it. He'd taken too much blood.
How could she fight in this condition?
And it would only get worse. He resumed his pacing. Tomorrow night, his hunger would return, and if he fed off Emma, she would become even weaker. Eventually he would kill her. No doubt that was exactly what Katya hoped would happen. She wanted the slayer dead, and she wanted to force him to be the executioner of the woman he loved. If he and Emma didn't escape soon, Katya's evil plan would come to pass.
He eyed the window. It was crisscrossed with silver chains, but if he managed to rip them off, could he teleport through such a small opening? Past experience warned him that the silver-covered walls would block him. The door would be a safer bet. If anyone opened it, he could teleport out, taking Emma with him. No doubt that was why no one ever came at night.
The last time he'd seen Katya and her Russian vampires had been the night he'd been paralyzed with nightshade. They knew better than to open the door if he was mobile. The mortal guards came inside during the day while he was incapacitated. And they probably reported to their masters that Emma was still alive.
The door was still his best bet. If he could cause enough ruckus, maybe someone would come to check on them. Once he teleported out, he wouldn't be able to go far. The sun had only set about an hour earlier, so the locations embedded in his psychic memory—Western Europe and North America — would still be in daylight and off limits. The best course of action was to teleport with Emma a short distance, then join his friends who were looking for them.
He grabbed Emma's underwear from the top of the screen, then knelt beside her.
"Sweetheart, I need ye to get dressed. I have a plan."
She moaned and turned her head away. The sight of his fang marks on her neck made him wince.
"Come, I'll help you." He pulled the blanket off her legs and slipped her underwear over her feet.
Her eyes opened. "Yuck, they're still damp."
"I know, but we need to be ready."
"Ready for what?" She sat up, then touched her forehead and closed her eyes.
"Are ye all right?"
"Black dots." She rose onto her knees so he could slip the underwear over her hips. She grabbed his shoulders to steady herself.
He cursed himself silently. "I fed too much."
"I'll be all right." She put her bra on.
He found her pants and handed them to her. "My plan is to lure someone into opening the door, then teleport us out."
She stuffed her legs into the pants. "Sounds good to me. And as soon as you get out of this room, you can call your Vamp buddies." She shrugged on her shirt and buttoned it.
"They should be close by now. The last time I talked to Austin, he was zeroing in on us."
"Great. We just need to lure them here—" He stopped when the bolt scraped. "Och, that was easy."
Emma grabbed the stake off the floor, stuffed it into the waistband of her pants, and covered it with her shirttail. She scrambled to her feet. She swayed, and Angus steadied her.
"As soon as the door opens, we leave." He led her around the screen.
The door cracked.
Movement by the window snagged his attention. Moonlight gleamed off the barrels of two hunting rifles. The mortal men were reclining on the ground, their rifles poking through the window, aimed at Emma and him.
"Silver bullets," Katya's voice announced through the cracked door. "Back away from the girl, Angus, or we'll shoot her."
He realized she had the mortals under such deep mind control, she could see what they saw through the window. There was no way to fool her. He released Emma and stepped back.
"Give me any trouble, Angus, and we're shooting you with so much nightshade, it'll be a week before you can move. Of course, by then you'll have starved to death." Katya opened the door just wide enough to slip inside. She had her blowpipe ready. Angus considered zipping toward her at vampire speed and breaking her foul neck, but she was as fast as him. She'd drug him for sure, and then how would he protect Emma?