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The cab turned right. The lady hobbled across the street, unaware of his presence. Her dog spotted him, though, and pranced about, yapping. He glared at the little terrier. Silence. With a whimper, the dog sidled up to the old woman.
Angus groaned inwardly. He'd always loved animals as a mortal, so it irked him when they acted terrified of him. Not quite human. Roman's discovery still nettled him. No wonder animals reacted poorly around him. They could sense what he hadn't realized all these years.
He watched Emma's cab driving away in the distance. It slowed to make a left turn. He zoomed after it at vampire speed and continued to follow. Whenever the cab stopped, he remained hidden. If Emma saw him, she'd lead him on a wild-goose chase all over Manhattan.
Luckily she didn't go far. The cab halted in front of an apartment building in Greenwich Village. He waited behind a delivery van while she unloaded a bag and a crate from the backseat onto the sidewalk. More stakes? He'd seen an empty crate like that at her apartment.
She paid the driver, then dug a key ring from her pants pocket. A key? She had a boyfriend. The conclusion slunk into his thoughts like a poisonous snake. He gritted his teeth as she unlocked the entrance door and carried her belongings into the foyer. A damned boyfriend. A mortal lover. Whoever he was, he wasn't good enough for her. Did he even know what she was doing at night? There was no way he could protect her. Angus was the only one for that job.
He clenched his fists, knowing good and well that the snake coiled in his belly had a name. Jealousy. He marched across the street, scowling at the glass door Emma had just entered. It would be locked now, but that wouldn't keep him out. He'd simply teleport -
Brakes squealed, and a horn blared. He spun to his left just as a taxi screeched to a halt a few inches in front of him. The devil take it! He'd nearly been run over. Not that a few broken bones would kill him, but it would have hurt like hell. The taxi driver yelled a few obscenities at him. Angus nodded in agreement. He was a damned fool. He'd let an alleged boyfriend get him so upset, he'd walked right in front of a moving car.
He stepped onto the sidewalk to let the taxi pass. He needed to get a grip. Emma could be staying with a girlfriend. Why would he automatically assume she had a boyfriend? Well, maybe because she was beautiful, clever, courageous, virtuous, and everything else a man could ever want.
He strode to the glass entrance door and peered inside. She'd already taken the elevator, but if he scrunched to the left, he could make out the floor lights above the elevator door. She had stopped on the fourth floor. He glanced around to see if it was safe to teleport inside.
Bugger. The cab that had nearly run him over had stopped in front of the apartment building. Two young blond women stumbled from the backseat, giggling. The taller one handed the driver some money and planted a loud smacking kiss on his cheek. This caused the shorter blonde to burst into more giggles. She waited on the sidewalk, wavering on her shiny silver stilettos that matched her sparkly silver halter top and handbag. Her shorts were pink, and across her rump, written in silver glitter, was the word Juicy.
Angus shuddered. He couldn't teleport into the building with these women as witnesses. He pressed into the shadows, hoping they wouldn't see him.
"Come on, Lindsey," the juicy blonde whined. "We can't stop partying now. Let's go to The Hiccup and Hook Up."
The taller blonde, Lindsey, tripped onto the sidewalk and wobbled toward them in high wedge-heeled sandals that matched her turquoise purse and T-shirt. Brown letters crossed her chest, saying cute is okay, but rich is better. She planted her fists on the strip of bare skin above her brown mini-skirt. "I am never going back to that club. The guys there are a bunch of losers! I swear all the hot guys have left town."
"I know, right?" Juicy flipped her long hair over her shoulder. "I think they all left the country."
"Yeah, I think they all went to like... Pittsburgh," Lindsey concluded.
Angus sighed. How long were these ladies going to stand around, talking about nothing? He realized there were hot-pink streaks in Juicy's hair. Could that cause brain damage? Hard to tell with these two. Maybe he should go ahead and teleport inside. They were so drunk, they'd never notice.
"Ooooh. Look, Tina." Lindsey careened toward her friend. "There's a hot guy behind you."
Tina, the princess formerly known as Juicy, whirled around, lost her balance, and crashed into Lindsey. They both giggled.
Angus groaned inwardly.
"Ooooh, he's yummy." Tina wove toward him.
"I saw him first." Lindsey pushed her friend, and Tina crashed into a potted plant next to the door.
"Ouch." Tina rubbed the wrong hip while she gave Angus a helpless, injured look.
"Aren't you the guy we almost ran over?" Lindsey squinted at him. "We stopped so fast, I thought I was gonna hurl."
"You wish," Tina muttered. "You only drank like ten thousand calories tonight."
Lindsey leaned toward Angus, making his eyes water from the fumes on her breath. "I love your skirt. Is it Versace?"
"'Tis called a kilt. I have a tailor in Edinburgh."
"Oooh, you must be Irish." Tina lurched toward him. "I just love your accent."
"Actually, I'm Scottish." He tried to back up, but was already pressed against the building's brick wall.
Lindsey ran a long pink fingernail down his arm. "Would you like to come upstairs for some coffee?"
"Yeah, some Irish coffee." Tina snickered.
"You look a little hot in this sweater." Lindsay traced a knitted cable with her polished fingernail. "We could help you get more comfortable."
"It'll be fun." Tina pulled a key from her silver spangled purse and unlocked the entrance door.
Angus cleared his throat. "I do need to see someone inside this building, if ye doona mind letting me in."
"Oh, darling. We'll let you in." Lindsey gripped his arm to drag him into the foyer.
Tina punched the elevator button. "I get him first."
"Do not." Lindsey released Angus to get in front of Tina's face. "I saw him first."
Angus wandered over to the mailboxes while the two blondes argued over him. Luckily, each box was listed by number and the last name of the occupant. He examined the boxes for the fourth floor. One name looked familiar.
"I know!" Tina announced. "Let's do him together!"
They burst into giggles. The elevator door opened.
"Come on!" Lindsey called. "Irish boy! Let's go."
He frowned at them. "Would ye really let a strange man into yer apartment? I could turn out to be some kind of... monster."
The girls' eyes widened and they stared at him, then at each other. Then they erupted with laughter.
"Yeah, right." Tina held the elevator doors open. "I'm so scared, I think I wet my panties."
"Mine are already wet." Lindsey slunk toward him, trying to give him a sexy look through her lashes. Unfortunately, her wilted mascara stuck one of her eyes shut, and she ended up twitching and blinking to get her eye open.
"Would ye happen to know this person?" Angus pointed at the mailbox for apartment 421. "The name is Erickson."
Lindsey wrinkled her nose. "Yeah, I know him." She turned to Tina. "Remember the guy in 421? He was like... so rude."
"I know, right?" Tina leaned against the elevator door. "I asked him to help me open a jar of pickles, and he said I was already pickled."
"I haven't seen him in months," Lindsey said. "But he was really cute. I swear all the hot ones have left town."
"Is his name Austin?" Angus asked.
"You're looking for Austin?" Lindsey's mouth fell open. "Oh my God, you're g*y."
Angus stiffened. "Nay, I - "
"Shit! We should have known." Tina pointed at him. "I mean, look, he's wearing a purse."
"'Tis no' a purse." Angus gritted his teeth. "'Tis called a sporran, and 'tis a fine, manly tradition - "
"Whatever." Lindsey waved a hand in dismissal. "Why were you trying to pick us up when you're g*y?"
"Yeah." Tina sneered at him. "You're just a poser."
"Yeah, he's a poser." Lindsey marched toward the elevator. "I bet he's not even Irish."
Angus heaved a sigh of relief when the elevator doors swooshed shut. Thank God he drank out of bottles and no longer had to deal with the modern, mortal world in order to survive. Courting women like Lindsey and Tina could drive a vampire to leap into the sunlight. Thank God Emma was different. She was special, clever, and lovely. And most probably, staying in Austin Erickson's apartment.
