He nodded in agreement and then the sound of creaking wood caught his ear. They were standing almost under a large archway into a spacious entry with double doors on one end and a curving staircase at the other. The creaking was someone descending the wooden staircase, he realized as a redhead hurried down to join them.

“Dani, love.” The newcomer enfolded Dani in a warm and welcoming embrace, rocking her slightly from side to side. “It’s been too long, dear.”

“Only since last summer, Elvi,” Dani protested as she hugged her back.

“As I said, too long.” The woman Magnus now knew must be Elvi Argeneau smiled at him over Dani’s shoulder, and then pulled back to tell Dani, “Steph should be down in a minute. She has been excited ever since she heard you were coming.”

“Oh, I—” Dani began, and then paused as a squeal drew their attention to a young woman bounding down the stairs at speed. She was almost a carbon copy of Dani except that her blond hair was up in a ponytail. Dani’s sister, Stephanie, was Magnus’s guess, and he watched with interest as she rushed to them and threw her arms around the doctor with another happy squeal.

“Dani, Dani, Dani! I was so happy when they said you were coming too.” Stephanie pulled back to eye her in question as she added, “But I can’t believe you were willing to take time off work to do it. You never do that.”

“Well, Allie needed help, and it meant getting to spend some time with you, so . . .” Dani shrugged and then kissed the young woman on the cheek. “It’s good to see you, sis.”

“Good to see you too,” Stephanie chirped, and then glanced around, her expression becoming concerned as it landed on Allie. Releasing Dani, she crossed to peer down at her, murmuring, “This is her?”

“Allison Chambers,” Dani said quietly before Magnus could respond. Moving to join them, she added, “She’s had a rough time of it the last couple of days and needs a blood transfusion.”

“She’s had a rough time of it for most of her life,” Stephanie said, her voice somewhat distracted and her eyes pulsing with a glow that brightened and then darkened before brightening again. “But she’s given up everything for . . .” Pausing, she turned and stared past Magnus and then smiled and breathed, “Liam.”

Magnus turned to see the boy standing a couple of steps back with Teddy, watching them with interest, and then Teddy nudged Liam and said, “That’s Stephy. She’s weird sometimes, but cool. You’ll like her.”