tell you the truth,” Magnus assured her solemnly, and then took a sip of water before saying, “Successful as we were, it was not long before I had the coin I needed to build my castle, but I needed to be granted land to put it on. Fortunately, the Battle of Agincourt was one of the last contracts I took.”
“Oh, I know about that one,” Allie said, excited to recognize a part of his history. “The Battle of Agincourt happened in 1415.”
Magnus smiled and nodded. “Yes. The history books recorded a great deal of that endeavor. What they did not record was that an attempt was made on Henry’s life the night before the Battle of Agincourt.”
“Really?” Allie asked with interest, and then demanded, “Tell me.”
Magnus chuckled, but complied. “One of the mercenaries was actually a French spy. He had traveled with us, eaten with us, and even fought at our side. He had everyone fooled.”
“Except you,” she guessed. “You must have read his mind and realized his intent.”
“I did,” he acknowledged.
Her eyes widened. “Oh, my God. You knew and didn’t say anything. You just bided your time and waited until he made his attempt and then stepped in to save the king at the last minute.”
Magnus grinned. “You know me so well already.”
Allie shook her head at the claim. “And I imagine the king was so grateful he granted you land.”
“And a title and even coin,” he assured her. “He was most grateful.”
“Oh, my God, Magnus,” she said on a laugh. “I can’t decide if that was incredibly brilliant or somewhat evil.”
“What was evil about it?” he asked, looking offended. “I did save his life. I earned that land. Certainly more than if I had just controlled Henry and made him give me the land and title of baron. And if I had not been there, the assassin probably would have succeeded. Everyone liked the man. No one suspected him of a thing. Even me until I read his thoughts.”
“All right, it wasn’t evil. Just a brilliant use of the situation,” Allie decided.
Magnus grunted, but still looked out of sorts about the evil bit. In fact, he reminded her of Liam when the boy got sulky.
Biting her lip to keep from laughing, she quickly put the remaining food back on the tray, set it on the dresser, and then climbed back on the bed and crawled to sit sideways in his lap.
“So,” she said, smiling at his startled expression as she snaked one hand around his waist and allowed the other to play over his chest. “You’re a baron with his own castle.”
“That turns you on, does it?” he murmured, running a hand up her outer leg.
Allie shook her head. “Your cleverness does. Castles are drafty old buildings. Besides, it’s probably a pile of rubble now.”
“Our castle is not a pile of rubble,” he assured her as his hand drifted up under his shirt to skim its way up her side.
Allie pulled back to peer at him with surprise. “Our castle?”
“We are life mates,” he said solemnly. “What’s mine is yours . . . Baroness,” he added with a grin.
She stared at him for a moment, enthralled at the idea of having a title, but then frowned and said, “But I have nothing to offer you in return.”
His hand had just reached the underside of her breast, but he withdrew it now to clasp her cheek and assured her, “You have everything. You are everything. You and Liam are far more valuable than the pile of rocks that make our castle. With the two of you there it will finally be a home. Anywhere we live will be a home with the two of you in it, and that is something I have yearned for, for more than a thousand years.”
“Home,” Allie whispered, surprised to find her eyes growing moist. But his words had touched her, and what he offered sounded so lovely. Home. She’d left her childhood home beaten and broken, had bought a town house, but it had never really felt like home. Although it had got close with Stella and Liam there to fill it with laughter and caring. But then Stella had died and she’d been forced to flee to save Liam.
Allie had spent the last four years dragging Liam from one temporary hidey-hole to another, always running, desperate to evade Abaddon. Now Magnus was offering her a home again. Himself. Because home wasn’t a pile of bricks or boulders, it was the people in