then as the cuff stopped swelling and the machine began to beep. A moment later, numbers popped up on the readout and Leonora quickly entered those on her clipboard too.
“Look at that. The same pulse rate as I got,” she said with satisfaction. “I haven’t lost my touch.”
Allie smiled faintly at the proud words and then sat still as Leonora set the clipboard aside and quickly removed the cuff.
“The numbers are all good,” Leonora assured her as she set the portable blood pressure apparatus on the table next to the clipboard. “No need to bother Dani.”
“Good,” Allie said wryly, and then glanced past her to Magnus when he appeared with two cups of coffee in hand.
“I thought we might go into the salon and talk, if you like,” he suggested.
Allie nodded and stood to follow him out of the dining room.
The salon was a room across the entry from the dining room. She had no idea where it got its name. It just looked like a little living room to her, but she settled on the couch and accepted one of the coffees with a murmured, “Thank you,” then watched Magnus close the double doors, sealing them off from the others.
Magnus turned back to the room after closing the door and then hesitated before moving to sit on the couch on the far end from Allie. He would have liked to sit closer, but didn’t want to make her uncomfortable. Aware that she was watching him, he sipped at his coffee, and simply waited. He expected her to ask why he couldn’t read her and was trying to come up with an explanation without mentioning life mates, something he was sure she wasn’t ready for, when she suddenly asked, “How were you turned?”
Magnus was so startled by the question that for a minute he was speechless. It was the last question he’d expected.
“Was it like Stella? A rogue attacking and turning you?”
“No,” he said firmly, and then felt a wry smile creep over his face before he admitted, “Actually, I was turned accidentally, like Elvi.”
“Elvi was turned accidentally?” she asked with surprise, and then admitted, “I just assumed she was turned by her husband, like Leonora said she was turned by her Alessandro.” The admission had barely left her lips before she frowned and asked, “How do you get turned accidentally?”
Magnus’s smile widened at her disgruntled expression. “For Elvi, it was in a bus accident. The bus landed on its side and apparently a wounded immortal was seated on the opposite side and ended up hanging from his seat belt above her, bleeding into her open mouth while she was unconscious.”
“Oh,” Allie breathed, her eyes wide. “So, the blood just has to get into the person. Even swallowed? It doesn’t have to be injected into their veins?” Before he could respond, she added, “Stella didn’t know how she was turned. She couldn’t remember.”
“I am not surprised,” he said quietly. “The turn is often quite traumatic. It isn’t uncommon for turnees to come out after the turn short of memories.”
She nodded, but asked, “So is that how you were turned too? An accident where blood dripped into your mouth?”
“No.” Magnus grimaced. “I actually did it to myself without meaning to, or even realizing I was doing it.”
“How does that happen?” she asked, sounding half amused and half disbelieving.
Magnus smiled wryly at the question, and then took a moment to figure out where to start his explanation. Finally, he decided the beginning was probably best. “I was born in 779 a.d. in what is now called Denmark.”
Allie’s eyes went round as saucers and her jaw dropped at this news.
Magnus grinned at her expression, then leaned forward, placed a finger under her chin, and pushed it up, closing her mouth. “You will catch flies.”
“It’s winter. No flies,” she muttered, and then shook her head and asked with disbelief, “Are you telling me you’re a Viking?”
Magnus blinked in surprise. He’d expected her amazement to be about his age, not his nationality. “We were not called Vikings back then. Or ever. We called ourselves Ostmen. We went ‘a’viking,’ which basically translated to overseas expeditions or raids. But it could be exploring too. And we usually did that in the summer between planting our fields and harvesting them.”
“Oh. Okay,” she said. “But you were a Viking.”
He nodded rather than trying to clear that up again. She looked far too enthralled with the knowledge that he was what people now referred to as Vikings. If she liked