“But they won’t heal me to Magnus, will they?”

That startled a laugh out of Katricia. “No, of course not. Oh, God, wouldn’t that be a fix?”

Allie turned to scowl at Magnus, and it was he who asked, “How long must we remain joined to ensure she heals around me?”

“No one’s really sure,” Katricia admitted slowly. “I mean, it’s different for different women. We all have varying healing speeds depending on how much blood we have available in our system and what’s going on.” She paused briefly and then added, “I have heard of women who waited only ten minutes and were fine, and others who waited twenty and yet the healing wasn’t done and it grew back.” Smiling wryly, she confessed, “Breaching mine was so painful I waited half an hour my first time just to be sure I didn’t have to go through it again.”

“I waited half an hour too,” Drina announced from somewhere beyond Katricia. “And I’d suggest that for you, Allie. The nanos will heal it right away because it is a bleeding wound, but might be slow about it because they are spread out so thin taking care of the other repairs they’re still tending.”

Magnus felt Allie stiffen at the sound of Drina’s voice and wasn’t surprised. Neither of them had realized the other woman was in the hall as well.

“I thought I was done turning?” she whispered now to him.

Magnus shook his head. “The majority of it is done, the more painful stuff. But the nanos will be working to finish off less crucial fixes or changes for the next while, perhaps weeks. You’ll need to take in extra blood while that’s happening.”

“Oh,” she said unhappily.

“I agree with Drina,” Katricia said, reminding them of their presence. “I’d go with half an hour to be safe.”

“Okay,” Allie said unhappily, and then added, “Thank you.”

“Anytime,” Katricia said lightly, and then said more seriously, “Really, Allie. I’m sure you will have a lot of questions as you adjust to being immortal, and I’m happy to help. Just ask and I’ll do my best to answer.”

“That goes for me too,” Drina called.

“Thank you, guys,” Allie said sincerely. “I appreciate that.”

“Okay, then. Have fun,” Katricia said as she closed the door.

The last comment had been said in a wry tone that suggested it wasn’t likely. Magnus understood that thoroughly. He had to remain inside Allie for half an hour. Well, perhaps only twenty-five minutes now, but he wasn’t sure how long he’d been in her already so would say thirty rather than risk having to do this again. The point was, however, he needed to maintain his erection to remain in her. If it shrank too much it would slide out no matter what he did, so they had to keep him at least mildly excited. But if he got too excited and passion overwhelmed them . . . well, an orgasm would certainly put an end to the exercise. So, it was going to be a terrible balancing act.