by Lynsay Sands
“And even then you make up pretty quick,” Mabel put in.
“Yes.” Elvi fell silent for a minute, and then said, “It’s hard to explain, but they really do seem like your other half. A soul mate, I guess.” She frowned briefly and then admitted, “I was married as a mortal. My husband died long before I met Victor,” she added quickly, apparently concerned that Allie might think she’d tossed him over for the immortal. “I was happy with him. I thought we had a good marriage, but really it couldn’t compare to what I have with Victor. He’s my best friend, my confidant, and my rock. I know he would give his life for me, and I would do the same for him. They’re a true partner. It makes you . . . I don’t know, confident, of course, but at peace too. You know you can always count on your mate.”
“But why?”
“Because a life mate is the most important thing in the world to an immortal,” Magnus said quietly, and Allie glanced around to find he had joined them and now stood behind her. Taking her arm, he turned her and asked solemnly, “Will you be my life mate, Allie?”
She stared at him silently for a minute, Elvi’s words replaying in her mind. Best friend and confident, a true partner you could always count on. It sounded nice. It would be nice not to always have to carry the burden alone. Not that Liam was a burden, but keeping him safe, making money, raising him right, always being the bad guy and having to say no . . . He was reaching the age where he would need to be homeschooled soon too, another chore she’d be tasked with. It would be nice to have a partner to lean on.
“Yes,” she breathed so softly a mortal wouldn’t have heard her, but he did. They all did, and Allie found herself being hugged and congratulated by first Elvi and then Mabel as they assured her she wouldn’t be sorry. Allie wasn’t sure they were right, she was already half regretting it, but knew that was her fear talking.
“—and we’ll hold the wedding dinner at the restaurant.”
Allie’s thoughts fled as she caught the end of Elvi’s words. She tuned back in fully to hear Mabel add, “We’ll close it to customers, of course, so we can have a private celebration.”
“Wait. What?” Allie asked, glancing around with confusion.
“The wedding dinner,” Elvi explained. “We’ll hold it for you at the restaurant after the ceremony at the courthouse.”
“The courthouse?” she asked blankly.
“Yes, dear,” Elvi said, and then frowned. “Oh, did you want a big wedding? We didn’t think you had a large family and would want one, but you can always do the big wedding deal later and just do the courthouse and dinner now.”
“Now?” she asked with alarm.
“Well, not right this minute,” Mabel said with amusement. “We have to go back to the house and call the courthouse and see how quickly it can be arranged.”
“That’s a good idea,” Elvi said, and then turned to call out, “Victor, round up the kids. We have to go home and arrange a wedding. Allie’s agreed to be Magnus’s life mate.”
“Really?” Liam squealed, rushing to them from where he and Teddy had been watching Victor and DJ lead the girls back up the hill. Expression excited, he stopped in front of Allie and Magnus, looking from one to the other as he asked, “Does that mean you’re getting married and Magnus will be my dad?”
“Yes,” Magnus said when Allie remained silent, her expression stunned. Taking Liam’s hand in his, he slid his other around Allie’s back and urged her toward the parking lot where the vehicles were, saying, “We better get your mom home. She’ll want to figure out what to wear.”
“Oh, my God,” Allie breathed, but allowed herself to be led.
Twelve
“You’re not eating, Allie. Do you need something? More sour cream, maybe?”
Allie raised her head at Tricia’s question, stared at her briefly, and then lowered her gaze to the chimichangas on her plate. Apparently, she’d requested them. She didn’t remember. But then everything from Cider Hill to their arrival here was a blur. She had a vague recollection of the women fussing over her at the house—ushering her into the shower and out, and then dressing her in the gown she was wearing, a pretty pale blue lace dress that flared out at the waist and reached her knees. She had no idea where it had come from but thought Elvi had loaned it to her.
The next clear memory she had was of standing in the courthouse next to Magnus in the charcoal suit he was still wearing, and stammering the words, “I d-do.”
Now they were at Mabel and Elvi’s restaurant, Bella Black’s, for her wedding dinner. She was married. The words were a whisper in her head when it should have been a scream. Dear God, she was married. And it had all happened so fast. One minute she’d been standing on the hill watching the kids tobogganing and the next she’d been rushed off to the courthouse to marry Magnus.
How had it all happened so fast? That was a question that just kept running through her head. Well, she knew how it had happened, but didn’t understand why, or if it had been the right thing to do. At the moment, it felt like she’d got caught up in a tornado on that hill and then been dumped here in the restaurant, storm tossed, bewildered, and married.
“Allie? Are you all right?” Tricia eyed her with concern and then her gaze slid past her and a smile curved her lips. “Oh, look. Teddy was able to get away and join us, after all.”
Allie dutifully turned her head and stared at the tall, dark-haired man moving confidently toward them from the entrance to the kitchens. He’d obviously parked behind the restaurant and used the back door as they had done, she thought as he made his way through the empty tables. As Mabel had mentioned, they’d closed the restaurant to their normal customers so that it was just the immortals present. There were more of them than Allie had expected. Aside from Elvi and her husband, Victor, Mabel and DJ, Leonora and Alessandro, Dani and Decker, Magnus and Tybo, and Tricia as well as the four children, Stephanie had come too, along with a couple named Drina and Harper that she’d introduced as “part of my family too.”
“Teddy looks worried,” Magnus commented next to her, and Allie silently agreed. Port Henry’s chief of police had concern written all over his face and, she realized, wasn’t moving with confidence so much as urgency.
“I’ll see what’s wrong.” Tricia slid out of her seat and hurried to meet her husband.
The people around the table, which was really several small tables pushed together so everyone could sit together, fell silent as they watched Teddy and Tricia talk. If Teddy looked worried, Tricia looked positively alarmed by whatever her husband told her. She also turned abruptly and made her way back to the table at a quick clip.
“We have to go,” she announced the moment she reached them. She also took Allie’s arm to urge her to her feet.
“Why?” Allie asked with surprise.
“What is happening?” Magnus asked at the same time. But he was already standing and taking Allie’s other arm even as he reached for Liam, who had been sitting beside him with Teddy Jr. on his other side.
“You know how I said this is a small town and strangers would be noticed?” Tricia asked. “Well, two vans, two pickups, and a couple cars are circling the downtown, all packed full of what Teddy suspects are rogues.”
“Christ,” Tybo muttered from behind Allie. Everyone was on their feet now and moving up to surround them as Tybo asked, “What’s the plan?”
“There are too many to take on with the children and civilians around,” Teddy said abruptly. “I suggest we head back to the house and call Lucian. See what he wants to do.”
“We’re going back out through the kitchen to the parking lot,” Tricia announced, and Allie glanced anxiously toward Liam. Magnus immediately lifted the boy into his arms. Settling him on his hip where Allie could see him, he then caught her hand again and Allie offered him a grateful smile.
“Wait at the back door for me to give you the go-ahead,” Teddy instructed. “I want to make sure they’re still on Main Street. I don’t want you rushing out the back just as they
cut down the side street to turn around or something.”
Tricia nodded, and gestured for Tybo to lead the way. She then followed closely, pulling Allie along.
The kitchen was hot and bright white, a sharp contrast to the restaurant’s colorful dining area. It was also occupied by the cooking staff, who all turned startled gazes their way when they entered, and then stepped back out of the way as they moved through the cramped space.
“Wait at the door for my okay,” Tricia reminded them, releasing Allie and stopping at the beaded curtain that hid the kitchen from the diners.
Tybo glanced back and immediately took Allie’s arm, keeping her close behind him as he continued to the back door. Pausing there, he put his free hand on the handle and then turned to look back toward the beaded curtain.
Heart beating rapidly, Allie turned to look back too, but there were so many people crowded up behind them that she couldn’t see anything but the stressed smile Elvi offered her.
“It will be fine,” the other woman said reassuringly.
“Fine, my ass,” Mabel said, not bothering to hide her worry. “Teddy’s in a panic and he never panics.”
“There must be a lot of the buggers,” DJ said grimly.
“Two or three per pickup, four to six per car, and two to twelve or more in each van if there are people in the back,” Victor calculated. “There could be anywhere from sixteen to forty or more people in the six vehicles.”
“Stella said Abaddon had thirty or forty people that he’d turned when she was with them,” Allie told them anxiously, and then added, “But that was four years ago. There could be more now.”
“And we have what?” DJ glanced around. “Five hunters?”
“Hello,” Drina said with annoyance. “I think you’re forgetting that Katricia and I are hunters too.”
“And Stephanie’s a hunter in training,” Elvi said proudly.
“And I used to be a mercenary,” Harper said with dignity. “I can handle myself.”
“I was a soldier and can handle myself too,” Teddy said firmly as he and Katricia hurried to join them. “Time to go, people. Tybo, check to be sure the coast is clear and then we move quickly.”
Allie turned back as Tybo opened the door, waited as he peered around, and then Tybo started forward, pulling her, Magnus, and Liam behind him in a chain. Elvi, Victor, and Sunita made up the next link in the chain, the pair ushering their daughter between them, with Mabel, DJ, and Gracie following doing the same. Teddy, Katricia, and Teddy Jr. were the last link with Stephanie, Drina, and Harper moving to one side of the group while Dani and Decker took the other, flanking the families.
They moved swiftly and silently, the groups breaking up to go to different vehicles.
Allie had no idea who rode where except that Tybo, Decker, Dani, and Stephanie joined them in their SUV, Tybo taking the wheel and Decker in the front passenger seat. Magnus ushered her into the back seat, set Liam in her lap, and then climbed in beside her even as Dani slid in on her other side, while Stephanie opened the back door and climbed into the cargo area.
The last door had closed and Tybo was starting the engine when his phone rang. He pulled it out at once and then listened briefly. Grunting approval a moment later, he dropped the phone back in his suit jacket and announced, “Teddy wants us to stick together and avoid the main road. Back roads only. He’s going to lead the way.”
Both Magnus and Decker grunted in what Allie guessed was approval as Tybo put the vehicle in gear and steered up behind the police SUV moving toward the exit to the road. A tense silence then filled the vehicle as Teddy led them away from the restaurant. Allie didn’t relax until they were following the police cruiser into the driveway at Casey Cottage several moments later. Apparently, she was the only one who had thought they were safe now, however. At least, that was the conclusion she came to when Magnus took her arm in a firm grip, but didn’t immediately open the door, instead waiting until Decker and Tybo turned in the front to peer back at them.
“How do you want to do this?” Decker asked.
“Everyone exits on the driver’s side,” Magnus said without hesitation. “Stephanie, you will have to climb over the seat to come out my door. I want a tight group till we are in the house.”
It was definitely a tight group. Allie and Liam were surrounded and herded into the house at a quick march. She didn’t even realize the others were on their heels until they got inside and the kitchen filled as they entered. There were several moments of chaos as coats and boots were shed and put away, and then Elvi suggested the children should go watch a movie in the living room. Everyone then helped gather pop and chips for the children and get them settled in front of a movie with their goodies. But the moment the adults were alone and the living room door was closed, Magnus turned to Tricia’s husband and asked, “Are you sure they were immortals, Teddy?”
“As sure as I’m standing here,” Teddy Brunswick said firmly. “I turned onto Main Street just as they were passing. My headlights reflected off their eyes. Caught my attention, so I took the next side street, backtracked on the next road over, got in front of them, and pulled up to the corner to get a good look at them as they passed to be sure they weren’t Enforcers Lucian might have sent down.”
“I’m guessing they were not?” Magnus said grimly.
Teddy shook his head. “Not any I’ve met. They all had long hair and were slovenly. A couple had bloodstains on their clothes.”
“Rogues,” Tybo said grimly. “And it has to be Abaddon and his people. They must have tracked Allie here.”
“Yes. But how?” Magnus asked, and everyone turned to look at her.
Allie stiffened as she found herself the focus of so many eyes.
“At the Enforcer house we decided they must have been tracking her car somehow, but that is back at the apartment in Toronto,” Magnus pointed out, holding out his hand to her.
Allie found herself moving to his side without even thinking about it, an unconscious bid to escape being the center of attention. It didn’t really do that, but she still felt better having him next to her, his hand closing warm over hers.
“Obviously, it wasn’t the car,” Tybo said with a frown, and then shook his head. “But the only things they brought here with them were the clothes they were wearing and the Go bags.”
“I’ll get the bags,” Drina said, and hurried out of the room to jog upstairs.
“There’s nothing in them that anyone could trace or follow,” Allie said with a frown. “I packed them. All they have is protein bars, a first aid kit, a blanket, some money, and bottled water.”
“It is best to check,” Magnus said gently. “They could have slipped a tracker into one of the bags when they were at the apartment, or at an earlier point when they caught up to you.”
Allie didn’t think that was likely, but kept her opinion to herself and simply waited with the others. Drina was back quickly, both bags in hand, and they all moved to the table to go over the contents. It made Allie glad that she’d already removed and put on the underwear she’d had in her bag as she watched them paw through the items on the table. But it was also depressing as hell to think that those were her only possessions other than the black jeans and blouse she’d been wearing when she’d first encountered these people, and the jeans and T-shirt she’d put on after her shower that morning.
Had it only been that morning? she wondered suddenly. It felt like days had passed since she’d woken up from the transfusion. So much had happened . . . Or perhaps it wasn’t really that a lot had happened, as that one particularly huge thing had happened and she was now married.
“There’s nothing here that they could have tracked,” Drina said with obvious frustration as they finished examining everything on the table, including the bags themselves.
Allie wanted to say, I told you so, but bit back the words.
“The necklace.”
Allie turned to look at Stephanie when she murmured that, and found the young
woman staring at her chest, her eyes pulsing with that eerie glow she’d witnessed earlier. Lowering her head, Allie followed the young woman’s gaze to Stella’s winged heart. She’d put it back on before coming downstairs that morning, and had kept it on for the wedding. It had come out of her dress at some point and now lay gleaming under the light from the dining room chandelier.
“May I see it, please?” Magnus asked.
“Yes, but it can’t be the necklace,” she protested as she lifted the necklace off over her head. Pausing then, she said, “Please be careful with it. Stella wanted Liam to have it to remember her by.”
“Of course,” he said solemnly, and then surprised her by kissing her forehead gently before taking the necklace she was holding out.
Biting her lip, she watched him turn it over in his hand and then carefully open it. They were all silent as he peered at the picture inside, and then Allie had to clench her hands to keep from protesting when he ran one finger over the silver frame that ran around inside the heart, on top of the photo.
“I need tweezers,” Magnus murmured, glancing up.
“On it,” Victor said, and slipped from the room.
When Magnus then moved to the table where the light was better, Allie followed, ready to rip the necklace away from him if he did anything that might damage the locket.
“Here you go.” Victor was back, holding out tweezers, and Allie was again amazed at the speed these immortals could manage.
“Thank you.” Magnus accepted the tweezers and used them to remove the thin silver frame he’d been poking at earlier. He did it so quickly Allie didn’t get a chance to protest, but she was scowling as he set it on the table and then used the tweezers to gently pluck out the picture.
Her frown died at once, replaced with confusion as she noted the small black circle inside. It was smaller than a quarter, and not much thicker than one. “What is that?”
“A tracker,” Tybo said grimly.
“It is how they kept finding you,” Magnus added as he now used the tweezers to remove it from the locket and set it on the table.