They were all silent for a moment, pondering how close a call it had been. Magnus was an experienced soldier and could handle himself in a battle, but wasn’t arrogant enough to think he could take on a dozen rogues with the help of just Tybo and come out unscathed. Especially when he would have been distracted with the need to keep Allie and Liam safe.

The silence in the room was pierced by the buzz of Mortimer’s phone. The man glanced at it briefly and then announced, “Dani’s left the hospital and is on her way.”

Magnus nodded, knowing he was referring to Decker Argeneau Pimms’s wife, Dani, who was a doctor. She’d been at the hospital handling an emergency when they’d called her last night. It seemed the emergency was finally resolved and she could now come examine Allie and be sure that she was all right.

“I will also have her take a look at the boy to be sure he’s all right,” Mortimer decided.

“The boy is fine.” Magnus turned back to the window again to watch the trio playing in the snow outside.

“The boy is Liam. My son. Where is he?”

Magnus turned sharply at those words, his eyes widening as he found Allie standing in the office doorway. She looked a little better than she had when he’d laid her in the bed upstairs last night, but was still incredibly pale. She was also swaying slightly on her feet, he noted with concern.

“Where is my son?” Allie repeated grimly, her eyes sliding anxiously from man to man. “What have you done with him?”

Magnus was the first to recover from his shock, or perhaps Tybo and Mortimer were merely leaving him to deal with Allie since she was his possible life mate, but whatever the case, he was the first to speak.

“Liam is fine.” Magnus crossed quickly to her side, intent on reaching her before she fainted or passed out again. The woman’s lips already had a slightly blue tinge denoting a lack of oxygen, a sure sign that her blood levels were low. “He is safe and well. You are both safe now. No one can get to you here.”

“But where is he?” she growled with frustration.

“He’s outside playing with—”

“Outside?” The word was a bare breath of horror.

“Yes,” Magnus said, confused by her upset.

“But he can’t be outside. It’s daytime,” she protested, and whirled to leave the room, only to stagger as the swift movement set her off balance.

Magnus caught her at once, sweeping her off her feet to keep her from falling. He then carried her quickly to the window and set her down in front of it.

“Look. He is fine,” he said, pointing out the window.