Abaddon nodded, a small smile playing about his lips. “Which they continued to do with you after she killed herself.”

Allie stared at him, thinking of how useless Stella’s sacrifice had been, and then thinking of herself and all the money she’d wasted running, all the fear and anxiety she’d experienced . . . because he’d wanted to what? Fuck with her head? See her run? It made anger writhe inside of her like snakes in a basket. It made her want to hurt him back, and she said, “Lucian set up a trap and caught your men. They’re all dead.”

“That was expected,” he said with a shrug of indifference. “They were just pawns. Sacrificed so that the security at the house would ease and give us a chance to snatch Liam away.”

“Which failed,” she pointed out, and saw irritation flicker over Abaddon’s face. When he didn’t say anything, she asked, “How did you know Liam and I were still at the house when the tracker left?”

“Stephen and I happened to be looking through the garage window when Dani and Decker got in the car. You and Liam were not with them.”

“You were already at the house?” she asked with dismay.

“We tracked you to the house that very first night and had been watching it ever since,” he said with a faint smile. “But the security there was too tight to take the boy. So, I had the men ride up and down Main Street while you were in the restaurant in the hopes of spooking the Argeneaus into taking you away. Whether they drove back to Toronto, or flew, they’d have to leave the house by car and the plan was to run your vehicle off the road and grab Liam. But when I saw Dani and Decker leaving and the tracker moving away on the tracking app on my phone, I knew it was a trap. I ordered the men to follow.”

“And sent them to their deaths,” Allie said quietly.

“They were pawns,” he repeated. “Pawns are meant to be sacrificed.”

“And what is Stephen?” Allie asked. “Just another pawn? I bet he doesn’t even know he’s an immortal, not a vampire.”

“He does know. I told him everything,” Abaddon assured her firmly. “I have been honest with him from the moment he agreed to be my life mate.”

Allie gaped at the man, and then turned to Stephen and asked with disbelief. “Seriously? You tossed over Stella for this asshole?”

“He’s my life mate,” Stephen said simply.

“You were a possible life mate,” Allie corrected. “That’s what they told me. I was a possible life mate and could refuse.”

“But you did not refuse, did you?” Abaddon pointed out. “Which brings me to my question. Who is your life mate?”

“Why?” Allie asked warily.