Magnus wasn’t just beautiful, he was big and built. He’d been wearing a full suit and a winter coat when she’d first encountered him and Tybo, but today he was wearing jeans and a white T-shirt that stretched lovingly over his wide chest and looked ridiculously sexy on the man. He was tall, towering over her by a head, and his shoulders were huge. They had to be at least twice as wide as her own, but probably more, she guessed.
He had big hands too, Allie noted as her eyes slid down his chest to where his hands rested on his hips. Somehow the pose just emphasized his slender hips, and she allowed her gaze to drop lower.
“Please do not point your hairspray there.”
Allie blinked and raised her eyes quickly to Magnus’s face at those husky words. He was smiling crookedly. She unthinkingly smiled back before he reached down and gently nudged her hand holding the hairspray up and away from his groin.
“Just in case you accidentally press the button,” he explained gently. “I would rather not have a wet spot there.”
Allie wasn’t sure whether to be upset that he didn’t seem worried about her weapon doing more than give him a wet spot, or embarrassed that her hand had moved with her eyes, making it obvious what she’d been looking at. In the end, she settled for exasperated with the bunch of them, and raised her hairspray and lighter again but turned it out toward the others as she scowled around the room. “So who are you people and why are Liam and I here?”
Rather than answer her, the room fell silent and then a cluck of irritation sounded from the doorway, drawing her gaze to the small blonde pushing irritably past the man named Lucian. It was the woman who had been outside with the boys, Allie realized. The white hat was missing now, but she was still wearing the white coat, though it was undone and hanging open as she crossed the room toward her with a look that was half exasperated and half welcoming.
“For heaven’s sake. I know men aren’t the best at communication, but I thought that between the four of them they could manage to explain things and reassure you so that you knew you were safe and among friends.” Pausing before her, the woman smiled widely and held out her hand. “Hi. I’m Katricia Argeneau Brunswick, but you can call me Tricia. I’m the wife of Teddy Brunswick, the police chief of Port Henry. I’m also a law officer myself, and mother of Teddy Jr., who your son helped make his first snowman just now. And you, of course, are Liam’s lovely mother, Allison.” Expression becoming more serious, she added, “You have done a brilliant job with him, by the way. He’s a wonderful boy, so sweet and polite.”
“I . . . Thank you,” Allie said finally and, after the briefest hesitation, slid the lighter into her pocket so that she could shake the hand Tricia was still holding out. “It’s nice to meet you.”
Tricia beamed at her as if she’d done something particularly clever in putting the lighter away. “The boys are waiting for me in the kitchen. I promised them cookies and hot chocolate to warm up. Care to join us so I can answer all those questions these primates haven’t?”
Allie noted the irritated expressions creeping over the men’s faces, and had the situation been different, she might have laughed. Instead, she merely murmured politely, “That sounds nice.”
“Good.” Tricia slid an arm through hers and urged her toward the door saying, “Come along, then. You’ll love Sam’s kitchen. It’s big and gorgeous. Makes me jealous every time I see it. I’m working on talking Teddy into enlarging and renovating ours. Teddy senior, not junior,” she added, and then confided, “I think it’s working.”
Allie found herself relaxing under the woman’s cheerful chatter. She knew it was purely to put her at ease, but it was working, she acknowledged as Lucian moved aside to let them out of the room.
Walking her up the hall at a meandering pace, Tricia grinned at the hairspray still in Allie’s hand and said, “I use that brand too. It’s good. Holds the curl well and makes the best flames too.”
“You use it as a makeshift flamethrower too?” Allie asked dubiously.
“Not so much anymore now that I walk the beat in Port Henry. It’s pretty quiet there. But I used to be an enforcer in New York and hairspray and a lighter are lightweight and came in handy when we were cleaning out nests of rogues,” she said cheerfully.
The woman was smiling so widely Allie couldn’t help smiling as well, but said, “Everyone keeps mentioning rogues. What are they?”
“Good Lord, they didn’t tell you anything at all, did they?” Tricia said with a disgusted shake of the head. “Rogues are basically immortal criminals, ones who have broken our laws and need tending.”
“With death by makeshift flamethrower?” Allie asked. She knew vampires, or immortals as these people seemed to want to be called, were incredibly flammable. Stella had passed on that tidbit in the months before she died. Of course, Allie had seen the proof of it herself when Stella died. She’d gone up like gasoline-doused tinder when the house exploded and Allie was sure one blast of a flamethrower would be a death sentence to an immortal.
“Only when cleaning out nests of rogues,” Tricia assured her solemnly. “In those cases the head rogue is usually a very old immortal who has gone mad and turned a bunch of innocent unsuspecting mortals. Unfortunately, they usually aren’t kind about it, and then they make the new turns do things that drive them mad as well.” She shrugged. “Often it ends up that the whole nest has to be cleaned out.”
“‘Cleaned out’ meaning put down like rabid dogs,” Allie suggested quietly.
“It’s pretty much what they are in such cases,” Tricia said with an unapologetic shrug, and then drew her to a halt as they reached the kitchen doorway. Eyeing her expectantly then, she asked, “Is it not glorious?”
Allie started to look around, but stilled as a shriek drew her gaze to the boys by the sink. In the next moment, Liam was streaking toward her down the length of the long white kitchen. The boy was still several feet away when he leapt at her, flying through the air so that she had to drop the hairspray to catch him. She was aware of, and grateful for, the bracing hand Katricia put on her back as Liam crashed against her chest, otherwise she might have toppled over. This leaping jump was something he only did when he was very happy, and not something a mortal child could have done. It always took her a little aback, but now she was relieved to see it. It reassured her that he was okay.
“Mom, you’re up! I have so much to tell you. I drank blood from a bag, and Teddy’s mom made us pancakes and— Are you feeling better?” he stopped his rapid fire chatter to ask with wide concerned eyes. “Teddy’s mom said you were over the weather and we should let you sleep in this morning. Are you off the weather now?”
Allie stared at the child in her arms, her heart just melting with love. He was such a beautiful, precious little boy she just wanted to squeeze him silly. Which she did now, pressing him to her chest and turning from side to side a little.
“Yes, my sweet, I’m feeling much better now,” she assured him, pressing a quick kiss to his forehead, before leaning back to look over the color on his rosy cheeks. “Did you have fun outside?”
Guilt immediately flashed across Liam’s face, followed by worry as he said, “Yes. I told them I wasn’t allowed to go outside. But they said it would be okay. It was safe here and you wouldn’t be upset. Are you upset?”