great deal. By the time the sun was creeping over the horizon and she hurried home, we were firm friends.”
Allie took a sip of hot chocolate. “Stella was at my place a lot after that. I’d often see her leave in her car after the sun set. When that happened, I’d keep an eye out for her return to make sure she got back okay. Women alone have to look out for each other,” she added, glancing at Magnus, and he nodded in understanding. The world was a dangerous place, especially for young mortal women.
“Anyway,” Allie continued, “she usually returned at midnight or one o’clock in the morning, and often carrying groceries. I’d watch until she got them safely inside if she only had a few, or go out to help her unload if she had a lot of them. Then I’d go back to work. But then she’d show up at my place around three or four in the morning with snacks or a full meal and we’d sit and talk for hours. Stella usually headed home before the sun rose, but on the days she left it too late she’d sleep on the couch and then wouldn’t leave until night fell again.”
Allie shook her head. “I didn’t think anything of it. The fact that she avoided the sun and spent so much time with me. I just thought she was lonely, or worried about having the baby. I didn’t even pick up at first that with all the food she brought over, she never ate.”
“She did not eat?” Magnus asked with a frown. A woman, whether mortal or immortal, should definitely eat when pregnant. Making a baby took a lot of nourishment.
“No,” Allie said on a sigh. “She’d fix herself a plate and push the food around on it, but I never saw her actually put anything in her mouth. When I commented on it, she claimed she had morning sickness that lasted all day and night and then changed the subject.”
“She probably didn’t think she could eat anymore,” Tricia said with a frown.
Magnus nodded, and when Allie raised an eyebrow, he explained, “It is doubtful her sire told her she could eat. The mythical vampires do not eat and he would want her to believe that was what she was.”
“Why?” Allie asked with bewilderment.
“That can be explained later,” Lucian said before Magnus could answer. “All the questions you no doubt have can be answered after. Just skip the Laverne and Shirley narrative of bonding with the woman and tell us what you know about Stella’s sire.”
Magnus watched the way Allie narrowed her eyes on Lucian and expected a show of temper, but instead she asked sweetly, “Who are Laverne and Shirley?”
“That is a bit before her time, Uncle,” Tricia said with amusement when he began to scowl.
“Yeah,” Tybo agreed, and then leaned forward in his chair to meet Allie’s gaze as he suggested, “Think Thelma and Louise, but funny and without ending with driving off a cliff.”
Allie nodded, but then tilted her head and asked, “Who are Thelma and Louise?”
“Oh.” Tybo frowned. “That movie came out in 1991 when you were probably— Were you born yet?”
“Oh, for God’s sake,” Lucian snarled. “Just tell us about her sire.”
When Allie cast an irritated scowl at the man and growled a sarcastic, “Yes, master,” Magnus had to bow his head to hide his expression. He was both amused and proud of her. Most people quailed in Lucian’s presence, but not his Allie.
He had just caught the fact that he’d thought of her as his and begun to remonstrate with himself about jumping the gun emotionally when Allie started speaking again. Still, he felt his pride increase when she ignored Lucian’s directive and continued in her own way.
“Anyway, the next few months were nice. We had late-night barbecues, attended movies together once the sun started setting earlier, and became best friends,” Allie said, her voice deliberate, and gaze meeting Lucian’s in quite the most beautiful silent fuck you Magnus had ever seen.
When Lucian growled low in his throat in response, she beamed a smile at him and said, “We had great fun when I wasn’t working.” Her smile faded slightly as she added, “And then that night in early December came.”
“That night?” Magnus asked with concern.
Allie nodded. “We’d gone to the movies and then a late dinner. We were walking back to my car when Stella suddenly grabbed my arm and began to move more quickly. It was a moment after