“What makes you think that?” Magnus asked, and she was surprised by how gentle his voice was. It made her suspect some of her own confused emotions were showing.
Sighing, she admitted, “Because after the town house burned down, the owner’s body was found in a freezer in the basement.” She shook her head. “I don’t know if he attacked her and Stella killed him in self-defense, or what. I hope that’s what happened. But whatever the case, he ended up dead in the freezer and she just moved in and lived there with his corpse.”
Realizing how strident she had sounded there at the end, Allie forced herself to take several deep breaths to calm herself.
There was silence for a moment, and then Magnus asked, “How did the fire start?”
“Hang on,” Sam protested. “We’ve skipped a bunch here. We know Stella ran from the rogues to Kelowna, then had to flee there for Calgary where you two became friends. But what happened when she told you all this stuff? I mean, did you believe her?”
Allie snorted at the question. “I thought she was crackers . . . until she showed me her fangs.” She grimaced at the memory. “That was a shocker. And terrifying. Being forced to acknowledge that vampires existed was bad enough, but learning that my best friend was one?” She shook her head. “It rocked my world, and this time I was the one who rushed off. Stella begged me to stay, but I said I needed to think and fled like the hounds of hell were on my heels. I mean, she was a vampire, for heaven’s sake.”
Considering she was sitting at a table with a bunch of vampires, Allie wasn’t surprised when they all glanced at each other rather than her. Sighing, she paused and sipped at the remains of her cold coffee to wet her mouth, before continuing. “Stella gave me the exact same amount of time to myself that I’d given her. She showed up at about four in the morning on the third night. Suspecting I wouldn’t open the door, she used my key as I had done at her place. I had given her one when she gave me hers,” she explained, and then shrugged. “It seemed the thing to do. Besides, I didn’t have close family or anyone to worry about me. It was reassuring to know someone could get in if I suddenly collapsed or something.”
The women nodded. The men peered back at her solemnly, so Allie continued. “She was upset. Somehow instead of it being about my distress at what I’d learned, this talk became about her horror and shame. She said I was the best friend she’d ever had. That she loved me like a sister, and that I was the only one she trusted or believed might give a shit about her and her baby.”
“What about Stephen?” Sam asked with a frown.
“Stella didn’t trust him. She said their sire had seemed to have some strange hold over Stephen. That they’d spent a lot of time together. Not at first. At first Stephen had avoided him like the plague, and when he was forced to be in his presence, he always came back acting strangely manic and stressed. She said he’d usually pace and fret and then make love to her, but it was different than it used to be, almost desperate. But then one night one of the men came to fetch him. Their sire wanted to see him. She said he was gone all night, not even returning at dawn. It was the next evening before she saw him again and he wouldn’t talk about what had happened.
“Stella said Stephen was distracted after that, and cold. She said he started going out on raiding parties with the other men, and staying away from her. He even started tormenting their victims like the others. They’d both been a little crazy after the turn, but learning she was pregnant had seemed to snap them both out of it, at least briefly, but he was changing, becoming as cruel and heartless as the others, and it scared her. It made her glad they were leaving. She felt sure he’d be all right again once they were away from the others. Only he didn’t leave with her, and she didn’t really believe the excuses he gave for why. She said he was no longer the man he’d been before he died and became a