Immortal Born

by Lynsay Sands

  “See what it means to be without a life mate. The noise you have to constantly block out.”

  “Oh, I don’t think—” Allie stood up, but that was as far as she got. Stephanie was immediately before her, reaching for her head. The moment the young woman’s fingers touched either side of her temple, Allie’s mind exploded with chatter. Liam’s hope that he never had to leave this place and the friends he’d made. He was so happy and Mom wasn’t so scared here. Teddy’s thinking that he liked his new friend, and it would be nice not to be the only boy all the time. Sunita’s thought that with all the people here it was like Christmas. Gracie hoped she got to stay over again tonight; it was fun. Leonora was concerned that she might get distracted with the talk they were having and miss taking Allie’s vitals. Perhaps she should set a timer on her watch. Alessandro was disgruntled that Leonora had taken on the duty to keep an eye on Allie; he wanted to take his wife home and make love to her. Drina was concerned for Stephanie, and what they could do to make things easier for her. Harper was struggling with concern for both Drina and Stephanie, worry over the girl, but anxiety at how crushed Drina would be if things went wrong and they lost Stephanie to madness. DJ was wondering if Mabel would make it home before lunch, or stay at the restaurant all day. Victor was thinking he should have offered to help Elvi with the shopping, but he’d felt he should stay in case there was trouble. Dani was feeling guilt even in sleep, that there might have been some way she could have better protected her sister and kept her from being kidnapped and turned. Decker was worrying about the guilt he knew his wife suffered. Tybo was hungry and wondering if he got up to get something to eat, he’d be able to sleep again after. He needed to be up all night to play babysitter. Someone named Michael was considering retiring from the fire department, taking the job in security in London, Ontario, and moving his family there. Things hadn’t been the same since he and his wife had tried to kill Elvi. Someone named Karen was eyeing her dirty windows and debating whether to wash them today or—

  Stephanie took her hands away and Allie staggered as silence reigned in her head.

  “That is life around other mortals and immortals,” Stephanie said quietly. “An unending barrage of thoughts and feelings if the others aren’t constantly guarding their thoughts. This . . .” She paused and glanced around as silence fell over them, and then turned back and said, “That silence is life with a life mate. No noise to block out, no chatter. You can enjoy this in the company of another rather than having to be alone to avoid people’s thoughts.”

  Allie frowned. “So if I was turned I’d hear all that . . . noise all the time?”

  “No,” Stephanie assured her with a sigh. “You wouldn’t hear people’s thoughts at all at first. But eventually you’d start to pick it up. However, it would never be as bad as what I just showed you. Apparently, I’m especially sensitive. You’d just pick up stray thoughts here and there if people weren’t guarding their thoughts. And you’d learn to guard your own so everyone wasn’t hearing your thoughts all the time either. But having to constantly guard your thoughts can be wearing. It makes having a life mate very special. You can let your guard down around them. You can find that quiet while in their company, and not have to be alone to get it.”

  “I see,” Allie murmured, and thought she really did this time. Stephanie had only held her head for a few seconds. All those thoughts had bombarded her at once like shouts from a crowd. Or several televisions blaring around her at the same time, each one on a different channel. No wonder everyone worried that Stephanie would go mad. But even just a fraction of that kind of noise would get irritating quickly. She could see how immortals would prefer being alone. She supposed it did make a life mate special. No one wanted to be alone all the time, but if there was one person you could relax around, they would be like a lifeline.

  “But Elvi and Leonora already have life mates,” Allie said suddenly, her mind returning to her own problems and the need to turn to keep Liam. “They didn’t turn Victor and Alessandro, did they?”

  “No, they didn’t. And yes, they each still have their one turn,” she agreed. “But what if Victor or Alessandro die? Would you damn Elvi or Leonora to spending the next thousand years or so alone so that you could be turned?”

  Allie frowned and lowered her head, struggling with her answer. She didn’t want to curse Elvi or Leonora to being alone if their mate died, but she didn’t want to lose Liam either.

  “Fortunately for you, you’re a possible life mate for someone here,” Stephanie announced, regaining her attention.

  “What?” she asked with surprise, her head lifting again. When Stephanie simply nodded, not willing to repeat herself, Allie hesitated and then asked, “You said possible life mate. What does that mean? Am I or aren’t I?”

  “It means you are, if you accept it and agree to be this immortal’s life mate. If you can’t accept it, then you were just a possible life mate and the immortal in question will have to hope to encounter another who will be more agreeable.”

  “What about him?” Allie asked, and then added, “It is a him, right?”

  Stephanie nodded.

  “Well, what if he doesn’t want me to be his life mate?” she asked. “Does he have a choice?”

  “Of course he does,” she said with amusement. “But I’m quite sure he’d be willing to accept you as a life mate and turn you.”

  “Oh.” Allie stared at her nonplussed, and then said, “But I don’t want to be a life mate, I just want . . .”

  “To be turned?” Stephanie suggested dryly. “And you think it’s fair to ask someone to turn you when you aren’t willing to be their life mate? That they should resign themselves to living the rest of their very long life alone just to help you?” Stephanie shook her head and said solemnly, “Perhaps you should think about how much you want to remain Liam’s mother. And what you’re willing to do to get that. Because, frankly, I’d rather see Liam raised by Elvi and Victor, or one of the other couples, then see you damn someone to spending eternity alone.”

  Turning on her heel, Stephanie left the room, taking her juice with her.

  Allie dropped back into her chair as she listened to the young woman mount the stairs, but her mind was going over what Stephanie had said. Liam would soon be able to read and control her. She’d like to think she could teach him not to do either, but it was asking a lot of a child to resist a temptation that adults would have trouble resisting. Just look at how Tybo had taken control of her in the pizza joint when she hadn’t immediately fallen in with their plans. He’d said and probably believed he’d done it for her own good, to save her and Liam, but the truth was he hadn’t even really tried to convince her that they meant her and her son no harm and were trying to help. Not at that point anyway.

  No. Liam wouldn’t be able to resist using his abilities against her, and she couldn’t be a proper mother to him as a mortal once he gained those abilities. But he was her son. She loved him more than anyone or anything in her life. She’d basically given up her career for him, or as good as, accepting fewer and fewer jobs for fear the vampires had been tracking her somehow through her work or emails. There hadn’t seemed to be any other explanation. The last job she’d taken was more than four months ago, just before she’d been forced to flee their last home and run to Toronto. And she’d spotted the immortal in the grocery store just days after she’d started emailing back and forth with the new client. Allie hadn’t contacted them again since reaching Toronto, however, so the only way Abaddon could have traced her there was through her job at the blood bank.

  Sighing, she turned to face the table and crossed her arms on the wooden surface. She would have to become immortal to keep her son. If she did that, and if the Enforcers managed to find and catch Abaddon, she could go back to designing websites and build a good life for herself and Liam here in Port Henry. But if what Stephanie said was true, there was only likely to be one person who would be willing to turn her, and he would want her to agree to b
e his life mate in exchange for turning her. What did that entail exactly? Companionship, maybe? An end to having to be alone? She could manage that . . . if he was nice, and if Liam liked him.

  That thought brought her to the subject of who this immortal might be who thought he was a possible life mate. The answer seemed obvious now that she allowed herself to look at it. Stephanie had said life mates were special because they couldn’t read or control each other. There was only one person she knew of who fit that description. Everyone else she’d encountered had been reading her repeatedly since waking in the Enforcer house. Everyone but— “Magnus.”

  “Yes?”

  Allie swung around abruptly, her wide eyes landing on Magnus as he pushed the kitchen door closed behind him. She’s been so distracted with her thoughts that she hadn’t heard him enter. But there he stood, big as life, his hair wind tossed, his cheeks ruddy from the wind and cold outside, and his arms weighed down with several bulging bags marked Walmart.

  “Allie?” he asked, eyebrows raised. “You said my name. Did you want something?”

  “Yes. No. I was just—” Waving one hand vaguely, she stood and moved around the counter into the kitchen to take some of the bags from him. “It looks like you’ve been busy.”

  “Yes. Well, I was not sure what you and Liam might need,” he admitted as he bent to remove his boots. “So I got a variety of things. Toothbrushes, shampoo, some clothes. Though I wasn’t sure about sizes,” he admitted as he straightened again. “So I got several different sizes of each item. I can return the ones that do not . . .” He paused abruptly and tilted his head to take in her expression. “What is it?”

  “You went shopping for Liam and me?” she asked, her wide eyes moving from the bags to him and back.

  “Well, I know you have those Go bags, but they did not appear to have a lot in them. I thought perhaps you might need a few things, so . . .” He shrugged, looking suddenly uncomfortable. “But maybe I was wrong and you did not need anything.”

  “No. I mean, yes, the bags don’t have much in them. Just essentials, really—a change of clothes, maps, some power bars, water, a blanket, and a first aid kit . . .” She shrugged, not bothering to mention the other items.

  “Oh. Good. Then this stuff might be useful,” he said, offering her a smile. “It would have been easier if I could have taken you with me, but you were supposed to take it easy, and with Leonora checking your vitals every hour . . .” He shrugged, but then added, “If I have forgotten anything or there is something else you wanted, we can probably go shopping tomorrow.”

  Allie managed a smile. “I’m sure this is fine. Thank you.” Turning, she walked to the counter to set down the bags, asking, “How much do I owe you?” and then immediately frowned as she recalled that her purse was back in the apartment they’d fled. Not that there was much money in it. She really was damned near broke. There was an emergency stash of a couple hundred dollars in one of the Go bags, and maybe as much in her purse back in Toronto, but her bank account was empty. Four years on the run had eaten up her savings and investments.

  “Nothing,” Magnus answered as he set the rest of the bags down next to the ones she’d taken from him. Shrugging out of his coat, he moved into a small room off the other end of the kitchen, adding, “You did not ask me to buy these things. They are a gift.”

  Allie followed him, but paused in the doorway to peer around. It was a small vestibule with cupboards, a coat closet, and a door leading out into what she could see was an attached garage.

  Closing the closet door, Magnus turned and stopped when he saw her standing in the doorway. He peered at her silently for a minute and then asked with concern, “Is something wrong? Did something happen while I was gone? You seem off, and—”

  “No. I’m fine. I just . . .” Waving a hand, she grimaced and admitted, “I’m not used to gifts. I guess I feel guilty for accepting them.” It was true, but wasn’t really why she probably seemed off to him. Her mind was still fixated on her need to become an immortal and his being the one person likely to be willing to turn her.

  “You have nothing to feel guilty about,” he said firmly.

  “Yes, well—” Much to her relief, chatter erupted in the kitchen then and she was able to drop the subject. Turning, Allie stepped back into the kitchen to see that not only had the children returned from their bathroom break, but Elvi and Mabel were coming in from outside, their arms laden with grocery bags.

  “Elvi’s been shopping,” Mabel announced dryly when she spotted Allie hurrying toward them. “Fortunately for her, I pulled in right behind her and was able to help her drag them in.”

  “Be careful, kids. Don’t drop anything,” Allie warned as her son and the other children started relieving the women of bags. The moment the children were out of the way, Allie reached for a couple of bags and then turned to set them on the counter, only to stop when she saw the Walmart bags still there.

  “Liam, we need to get these bags out of the way and up to our room,” she said, setting the bags she held on the counter next to the sink.

  “What are they?” Liam asked, handing her the bags he’d taken to set down as well.

  “I’m not sure,” Allie admitted as she led him back to start grabbing the Walmart bags. As she handed Liam a couple of the lighter bags, she added, “They’re some things Magnus bought us, so say thank you.”

  “Thank— Oh, wow! Is this for me?”

  Allie glanced over to see that the bags she’d handed Liam were now on the floor and he was holding up a brand-new navy blue winter coat with red and white stripes across the chest and matching navy blue insulated pants. The boy was staring at the coat and pants like they were the most beautiful things he’d ever seen. She looked at Magnus, surprised to see that he appeared uncomfortable.

  “Yes,” Magnus said, and then cleared his throat and added, “Well, Victor mentioned maybe taking you kids out tobogganing after lunch, and I thought you might need something a little warmer than that jacket you were wearing when we—” His words ended on a startled oomph when Liam dropped the coat and pants and launched himself at the man, leaping up to catch him around the neck like a monkey.

  “Thank you, Magnus!” Liam shouted excitedly, hugging the man as he caught him before he could fall.

  “You are more than welcome,” Magnus murmured, hugging the boy briefly back before setting him down. “Now, why do you not go hang that up while I help your mother carry the bags upstairs?”

  “Show him where the coat closet is, Sunita,” Elvi instructed as she began to set down the rest of the bags she carried.

  Sunita, Grace, and Teddy rushed Liam off to the vestibule with the closet, chattering excitedly now about going tobogganing.

  “Thank you,” Allie said quietly, meeting Magnus’s gaze, and then she turned away and headed for the stairs with the bags she’d grabbed. She was aware that Magnus was following with the remainder of the bags, but her mind was distracted with what Stephanie had said. He was probably the only one who was likely to be willing to turn her, and she needed to be turned to continue to be Liam’s mom.

  But what would he expect in return? What did being a life mate entail? She had no idea how to broach the subject with him. Or if she even should. How was this kind of thing usually done? She had no idea.

  “Where are we putting this stuff?” Magnus asked as he followed her into the room. “Did you want to set the bags on the bed and sort through them now so you can see if there is anything you need that I did not consider?”

  “Yes, that’s fine.” Allie set her own bags there even as he did. She then opened the first bag and started to retrieve the items inside, very aware that Magnus was hesitating to leave.

  “I was not sure which shampoo you would like but that one smelled pretty. If you prefer a different kind, I can return it and get another.”

  Allie glanced to him with confusion, and then followed his gaze to the bottle of shampoo in her hand and realized she’d been staring blindly
at it for a couple of minutes. Shaking her head, she turned and set it on the dresser. “No. It’s fine. Thank you. I just—” Whirling back, she blurted, “You can’t read me because we’re possible life mates.”

  Eleven

  Magnus stared at Allie for a moment, and then turned to close the bedroom door. It would seem they were going to have the conversation he’d been agonizing over during the last two hours as he’d shopped. He’d worried about how to broach the subject, along with where and when, but it looked like it was happening now and here.

  Taking a deep breath, he faced her and opened his mouth to begin the speech he’d come up with on his shopping trip, only to close it again as she asked, “That’s true, isn’t it?”

  He nodded.

  “Stephanie said Liam will be able to read and control me in the next year or so. She said that he’d use that against me. Not on purpose,” she added quickly in the boy’s defense. “But he wouldn’t be able to resist controlling me if he wanted something bad enough, and then it would become just what he did.”

  “More than likely,” Magnus agreed, sorry to have to say so, but it was true. He suspected there wasn’t a child alive who could resist using such an ability.

  Allie glanced down at the bags on the bed. “She said once the others realized this was happening, he’d be taken away from me. Because I couldn’t be an effective mother.”

  Magnus hesitated and then said, “It would be no reflection on you, but immortal children need parents who can—”

  “I don’t want to lose my son,” Allie interrupted in a voice so quiet he might have missed it if his hearing wasn’t enhanced.

  Magnus hesitated, unsure what to say.

  “But you could turn me, couldn’t you? Then Liam couldn’t read or control me and I wouldn’t lose him.”

  “I could,” he allowed slowly, beginning to worry that she would ask him to do just that, no strings attached. If she did, he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t agree. Stephanie had said he had to use the boy to get her to agree to be his life mate, but it just seemed so heartless. She was his life mate—how could he deny her?