“It won’t work,” Stephanie said when he remained silent and simply waited. “She is already attracted to you and feels unaccountably safe with you, but she won’t trust that or allow it to develop into love. She’s afraid of love after what it did to her sister and mother.”
Magnus was startled at the mention of a sister, but held his tongue again. He knew it was better not to interrupt.
“Stephen’s abandoning Stella and making her flee on her own has not helped either. Allie will not be wooed. She is afraid of what love can do to her, so is afraid to love.”
Setting down the cup he’d been rinsing, Magnus turned off the tap and dried his hands on the dish towel as he turned to face the young woman.
“Except the boy. She has given up everything for him,” Stephanie said slowly. “She does love Liam . . . and would do anything for him.” She paused briefly, and then nodded. “She’ll come to trust and love you in time if you can keep her close, but you’ll have to use the boy to do that.”
Movement to the side drew his gaze to the table. Elvi, Victor, DJ, Mabel, and Alessandro all still sat there and every one of them was watching Stephanie with concern. But the movement he’d noted was the arrival of another couple, who now hesitated in the archway between the dining room and the entry, their attention locked on Stephanie with equal concern. Drina and Harpernus Stoyan. Magnus had met Drina on several occasions, and had known Harper for centuries. He knew they had taken Stephanie into their hearts and home as a teenager, sharing her care with Elvi and Victor while Dani and Decker had hunted for Leonius Livius, the monster who had turned both sisters. They were all family to the young woman now, filling the holes left by losing contact with her birth family.
“Oh, stop looking so worried. I was just giving Magnus some pointers to help him claim his life mate,” Stephanie said suddenly, sounding half amused and half annoyed.
Magnus turned to her again, unsurprised to see that the pulsing glow was gone from her eyes. They were simply a pretty green again and she looked as normal as any other young woman.
“Thank you,” he said solemnly.
“No problem,” she said lightly, and started to turn away, but then paused and swung back to warn, “Don’t let her see the passion life mates enjoy until she agrees to be your life mate and turns.”
“Why?” Magnus asked with surprise.
“Because she would run,” Stephanie said abruptly and with certainty. “Once she has promised to be your life mate and taken the vows, she will keep that promise, but if you let her experience life mate passion before she does . . .” She shook her head. “It would scare her silly. She would take Liam with her and flee. If that happens, she will be dead within a matter of hours, and Liam will be left to Abaddon’s mercies.”
Turning abruptly away, Stephanie moved around the counter and through the dining room, murmuring, “I have a headache. I’m going back up to bed to lie down for a while.”
Everyone remained still and silent as they listened to her mount the stairs, and remained that way until they heard a door close and the muffled sound of her mounting the stairs to the attic rooms. Only then did they lower their gazes to exchange worried glances.
“She has the sight,” Magnus said quietly.
“No,” Elvi said tightly. “She just can’t shut out the thoughts of everyone around her. Immortal or mortal, our thoughts bombard her constantly unless she’s in her room. Harper fitted it out special with several different linings to help block our thoughts and it seems to work. But it means she spends a lot of time alone, which is worrisome.”
Magnus hesitated, but then decided to let it go. He was quite sure Stephanie had the sight, that she could see the possible futures of those around her. But these people were already worried about the young woman and he didn’t want to add to it. Turning back to the sink, he finished rinsing the coffee cups, but his mind was on what Stephanie had said. If he showed Allie the passion life mates enjoyed, she would run . . . apparently to her death. Unless he got her to promise to be his life mate first. And wooing would not work. He needed to use