“How did you know?” Harper asked, concern clouding his face as he watched the women work.
“Because she said Allie saved her life, and she would have died if he had cut off her head,” Magnus said grimly. “I only know of a couple of cases where an immortal was beheaded and did not heal when the head was replaced quickly, and both of them were women who were pregnant.”
“Why would that make a difference?” Elvi asked, glancing up briefly from what she was doing.
When Magnus sighed wearily, and ran a hand through his hair, it was Katricia who explained. “The Argeneau scientists aren’t positive, but they think when the mothers were beheaded, the nanos automatically turned to the baby as a viable replacement host and moved into it to try to keep it alive.”
“Abandoning the mother,” Elvi murmured.
“Like rats from a sinking ship,” Mabel said with disgust.
“Drina didn’t tell me she was pregnant,” Katricia said now with a frown.
“I didn’t know either,” Elvi admitted.
“She didn’t want anyone knowing until we got past the fourth month,” Harper said quietly. “She wanted to be sure she wouldn’t lose the baby.”
“Will she lose it?” Mabel asked.
No one had an answer.
Finished with the IV, Katricia stepped back, peered down at Drina, and commented, “Allie really did save her life, then.”
“Most likely,” Magnus agreed, and thought now he just had to save hers.
Allie woke abruptly and opened her eyes before she stopped to think. It didn’t increase her pain much, but then she was already hurting pretty good. Not as bad as the last time she’d woken, though, and supposed she had Abaddon to thank for that. The bastard had forced blood on her the last time she’d regained consciousness. Knowing it wouldn’t be bagged blood, she’d tried to refuse, but he’d simply forced her mouth open and poured mug after mug of the tinny liquid down her throat. It had still been warm.
Not wanting to think about that or where the blood had probably come from, Allie lay still for a moment, waiting to see if the pain in her head would increase. It didn’t, and remained a constant, dull throb that was at least bearable. Actually, it had eased enough that she was now aware of other aches and pains. Her back and hip, for instance, Allie noted, and shifted to her side, drawing her legs up almost into a fetal position in an effort to ease her discomfort.
“There you are.” Abaddon’s cheerful voice was not what she’d hoped to wake up to, but there it was, coming from somewhere behind her but moving closer. “When you stopped screaming I knew you would wake soon.”
Allie didn’t comment. She simply waited.
“Now that you are awake again and feeling a bit better, we really need to speak.”
He could speak all he wanted. It didn’t mean she had to answer, Allie thought grimly.
“First, I should thank you for raising the boy for us.”
That made her stiffen. She hadn’t raised Liam for these two monsters.
“I fear I am not good with babies,” Abaddon continued in a chatty voice. “But then, really, all they do is cry, scream, shit, and stink up the place. It bewilders me why so many mortals and immortals are enthralled with them.”
The screech of what sounded like metal on concrete accompanied the appearance of a chair in front of her. Allie ground her teeth against the brief increase of pain in her head that the sound caused and raised her eyes to look at her tormentor as he settled himself in the chair.
Abaddon was just as Stella described. He looked utterly average. An accountant in a jogging suit, she thought grimly, and then glanced to the man who appeared behind him. Stella’s husband, Stephen, looked a lot like his photo, and at the same time, nothing like it at all. It was the same face, the dark hair cut in the same preppy style, but the eyes were different. In the photo, his eyes had almost sparkled with happiness, now they were bleak and empty. Of course, his clothes were different too; instead of the wedding tuxedo, he was wearing the mailman’s uniform, but while it had been clean when he’d come to the door of Casey Cottage, now there were several bloodstains adorning it.
Stella would weep to see him like this, Allie thought, and shifted her attention back to Abaddon. They stared at each other silently for a moment, and then she asked, “If you dislike children so much why did you tell Stella how to keep from losing her baby?”
“You misunderstand. While I dislike babies, I do like children,” he assured her, and then turned to Stephen. “Help her sit up, my love. I will get a crick in my neck staring down at her like this.”
Allie started to try to sit up herself to avoid his touching her, but she’d barely shifted her hands to push herself up when Stephen was at her side. Grabbing her by the upper arm, he raised her to a sitting position, and then dragged her back several feet until she felt the wall at her back. Releasing her then, Stephen returned to his position a little behind and to the side of Abaddon.
Like a good little slave, Allie thought bitterly as she struggled with the pain the movement had raised in her head. Much to her surprise, Abaddon didn’t start talking at once, but waited until the worst of the pain had left her and she released a little sigh.
“As I was saying, I do like children,” he assured her. “They are so eager to please . . . and easily molded too. That is the best part about them.”
“Right,” Allie said wearily. “So you told Stella about the baby, let her escape, and . . . ?”
“Kept an eye on her, and gave her a little scare once in a while to send her scurrying.”
“Why?” she asked at once.
“Because it entertained me,” he said with amusement. “Watching her run, thinking she could escape me . . .”
“But she couldn’t because you had put a tracking device in her necklace,” Allie said grimly, and then shifted her gaze to Stephen. “Or was that you?”
Stephen scowled at her irritably, but didn’t bother responding.
Allie shifted her attention back to Abaddon. “So you always planned to reclaim Liam?”
“Yes.”
“In the meantime, you had your men pop up once in a while to scare her into running again.”
Abaddon nodded, a small smile playing about his lips. “Which they continued to do with you after she killed herself.”
Allie stared at him, thinking of how useless Stella’s sacrifice had been, and then thinking of herself and all the money she’d wasted running, all the fear and anxiety she’d experienced . . . because he’d wanted to what? Fuck with her head? See her run? It made anger writhe inside of her like snakes in a basket. It made her want to hurt him back, and she said, “Lucian set up a trap and caught your men. They’re all dead.”
“That was expected,” he said with a shrug of indifference. “They were just pawns. Sacrificed so that the security at the house would ease and give us a chance to snatch Liam away.”
“Which failed,” she pointed out, and saw irritation flicker over Abaddon’s face. When he didn’t say anything, she asked, “How did you know Liam and I were still at the house when the tracker left?”
“Stephen and I happened to be looking through the garage window when Dani and Decker got in the car. You and Liam were not with them.”
“You were already at the house?” she asked with dismay.
“We tracked you to the house that very first night and had been watching it ever since,” he said with a faint smile. “But the security there was too tight to take the boy. So, I had the men ride up and down Main Street while you were in the restaurant in the hopes of spooking the Argeneaus into taking you away. Whether they drove back to Toronto, or flew, they’d have to leave the house by car and the plan was to run your vehicle off the road and grab Liam. But when I saw Dani and Decker leaving and the tracker moving away on the tracking app on my phone, I knew it was a trap. I ordered the men to follow.”
“And sent them to their deaths,” Allie said quietly.
“They were pawns,�
� he repeated. “Pawns are meant to be sacrificed.”
“And what is Stephen?” Allie asked. “Just another pawn? I bet he doesn’t even know he’s an immortal, not a vampire.”
“He does know. I told him everything,” Abaddon assured her firmly. “I have been honest with him from the moment he agreed to be my life mate.”
Allie gaped at the man, and then turned to Stephen and asked with disbelief. “Seriously? You tossed over Stella for this asshole?”
“He’s my life mate,” Stephen said simply.
“You were a possible life mate,” Allie corrected. “That’s what they told me. I was a possible life mate and could refuse.”
“But you did not refuse, did you?” Abaddon pointed out. “Which brings me to my question. Who is your life mate?”
“Why?” Allie asked warily.
“Because your life mate is the one we will contact to arrange the trade. He is the one who will be most willing to turn Liam over to get you back.”
“No, he won’t,” she said with certainty.
“Our kind will die for our life mates, girl. He will think nothing of turning over a child to get you back. Especially when Liam is not his child and he would be turning him over to his father, who I will explain merely wants to raise him.” Abaddon nodded firmly. “And when I then tell him what will happen to you if he does not turn the boy over . . . Well . . .” He shrugged.
Allie swallowed, some of her certainty slipping away. Magnus might give up Liam to save her if he thought Liam wouldn’t be harmed. He might convince himself that they could get Liam back once he had her safely away from Abaddon.
“Which one is it?” Abaddon asked now. “Tybo or Magnus?”
“Who says it is one of them?” Allie asked.
“I say, because I know the others are all mated,” he growled impatiently. “Now, which one is it?”
Instead of answering, Allie asked, “Why haven’t you read it from my mind? Can’t you read me?”
“You were in too much pain when I tried earlier,” he said with irritation, and then his eyes narrowed. “But the pain is not as bad now.”
His eyes shifted to her forehead and narrowed. Knowing he was trying to read her, Allie did the only thing she could think to do. She slammed her head back into the wall. Pain burst through her skull like fireworks, shooting out to every corner of her brain, bright white and hot, then black. She wasn’t conscious to hear Abaddon’s curses, or feel his kick before he stormed out of the room.
Nineteen
“We’ll find her. We’ll get her back.”
Magnus grimaced at Tybo’s words as the man dropped into a chair at the dining room table with him. He was the third person who’d come to give him that reassurance in the hour since he’d left the room where Drina was being treated. He wasn’t reassured.
What he was, was terrified. He couldn’t lose Allie. She was . . . everything.
“Magnus?”
Lifting his head, he peered at the boy approaching the table, and had no doubt his expression was probably as blank as his thoughts at that moment. He hadn’t once thought of Liam since learning Allie was missing, he realized. He was the boy’s father now, but he hadn’t even thought to ask where the boy was, or if he knew what was happening.
“Where’s Mom?” Liam asked, pausing beside him, a troubled expression on his face as he rotated a small toy car in his hands. “Teddy thinks the bad men got her. Did they?”
“Why would Teddy think that?” Magnus asked to stall for time to figure out how to answer.
“Because of all the screaming,” he said solemnly. “And when we came to see what was happening, they sent us away, but we saw the blood. And Drina kept yelling that she had to go save Mom.”
Well, that pretty much nixed his being able to offer a comforting lie, Magnus thought grimly. Sliding his chair back from the table, he scooped the boy up onto his lap, but delayed answering again by asking, “Did the other kids put you up to asking?”
“Uh-huh.” Liam nodded solemnly, his gaze on the toy car he held, and then he glanced up and added, “But I wanted to know anyway.”
“I imagine you did,” Magnus murmured.
“She’s my mom,” he pointed out.
“Yes, she is.”
“Did the bad men take her?”
Magnus closed his eyes briefly, and then nodded. “Yes, son. They took her.”
Liam lowered his head for a moment and then looked up and said, “But you’re going to get her back, right?”
“I am going to try my hardest,” Magnus assured him.
Liam considered that, and then nodded and asked, “Are you my dad now?”
Magnus opened his mouth, closed it, and then said tentatively, “I should like to be, if that is okay with you?”
“Okay,” he said solemnly. “But you have to get Mom back first. Families have a mom and a dad, and I’ve always wanted a family. My whole life.”
“So have I,” Magnus said quietly.
Nodding again, Liam slipped off his lap and headed back to the living room. Apparently, the conversation was over, Magnus thought wryly, and then glanced toward the door to the deck when it burst open to allow wind, snowflakes, and Lucian Argeneau in. He was followed quickly by his niece, Basha, and her husband, Marcus Notte.
Magnus was on his feet at once, but paused when Lucian met his gaze and raised his eyebrows in question.
“Has he made contact yet?” Lucian asked abruptly as he toed off his boots.
Magnus shook his head.
“Right.” Expression grim, Lucian undid his coat as he moved around the kitchen counter, but didn’t remove it. “Where the hell is everyone?”
“Victor, Teddy, Katricia, and DJ are upstairs watching the four sides of the house for anyone approaching, and Harper, Elvi, Mabel, and Stephanie are with Drina,” Tybo answered at once.
“Well, get them down here,” Lucian barked.
Tybo hesitated, but then said, “Shouldn’t someone stay on guard? In case—”
“In case what?” Lucian asked grimly. “The horse is already out of the barn.”
“But the pony is in the living room,” Magnus pointed out sharply, and when Lucian looked at him blankly added, “Liam. We still need to protect him. They could come back.”
“They will not come back. They think they have a bargaining chip to get him without risking a return visit,” Lucian said with certainty, and then looked at Tybo. “Go on. Get everyone down here.”
Tybo turned at once to rush upstairs.
Giving a grunt of satisfaction, Lucian turned back to Magnus. “You know Marcus, and have met Basha.”
Magnus gave Marcus a nod of greeting, but asked Basha, “Can you really narrow down where he might have taken her?” It was his only hope now, unless they got a call.
“Maybe,” she said, and turned to Marcus. The man immediately pulled a large, folded map from inside his coat and unfolded it on the table to reveal the streets of Port Henry.
Basha stepped up beside her husband and opened her mouth to speak, but Lucian forestalled her by saying, “Wait until the others get here or you will just have to repeat yourself. Magnus does not know Port Henry. We need Teddy, Elvi, or Mabel for this.”
Basha nodded, but gave Magnus an apologetic look.
“Basha!” Elvi cried, rushing into the room with Victor, Mabel, and Katricia on her heels. The woman hurried to Basha to embrace her. “Thank goodness you’re all right. We were worried when they couldn’t get ahold of you.”
“Sorry. We ran into a nest of rogues in California. My phone was destroyed and we have no idea what happened to Marcus’s,” Basha explained, looking somewhat uncomfortable as she hugged Elvi back. Magnus knew Marcus had been taking Basha around to meet her family members to let her get reacquainted. Marcus had told him that she was having a bit of a struggle adjusting to having family again. It showed right now. She seemed happy to see Elvi, but wasn’t yet comfortable with displays of affection. She would adjust, he kne
w.
“Are you sure it’s a good idea for all of us to be down here, Lucian?” Teddy barked as he led DJ into the room.
“Yes, I— What the hell are you doing out of bed?” Lucian interrupted himself to ask as he caught sight of Drina entering the room with Harper and Tybo.
“I am healed,” Drina said, glaring at him mulishly. “Now let’s get this going. We have to get Allie back.”
Lucian scowled at her, but then turned to Basha and gestured for her to go ahead.
“Right.” Basha returned to the table and the map of Port Henry as the group spread out around the table. “Abaddon has shown a preference for old abandoned buildings in the past.”
“He still might,” Magnus murmured. “Stella told Allie she was kept in an old abandoned building.”
“He kept us in one too, when he tried to kill us,” Marcus announced.
Basha’s mouth tightened, but she said, “Obviously Abaddon prefers that kind of dwelling for some reason, and will have taken Allie someplace like that. So we need someone who can mark out all the abandoned buildings in Port Henry. We’ll search those first, and move farther out if he isn’t in one of them.” Peering at Teddy, she said, “Lucian thought you could help with that part.”
Teddy stepped up to stand across the table from her and peered over the map, then placed his finger on a spot nearly in the center. “There’s an old abandoned print house here. It’s been empty for decades.”
“That’s right downtown,” Basha said, shaking her head. “He likes to make his victims scream and wouldn’t want nosy neighbors.”
Nodding, Teddy looked over the map again, his finger slowly moving from spot to spot, but finally, he stepped back. “There are several empty houses since the truck plant shut down, but all of them have neighbors.”
“Truck plant?” Basha asked with interest.
“That’s on the outskirts of town,” Elvi pointed out, moving closer to the map now. “The property is huge with a parking lot that spreads out from both sides of the building. One side was for workers to park, the other for the finished vehicles. They could park hundreds of vehicles in those parking lots. No one would hear screaming coming from there.”
Immortal Born EPB Page 27