What’s an acclimation?
I have no idea.
I hate to always be the one asking questions. Your turn.
“What is the time of acclimation?” Alec asked just as Kristoff did the same thing.
“The Akasha was created by the Sovereign as a place of punishment for members of the Court who deserved such treatment. Later, others were allowed to be banished to its confines, but since it was created to hold former members of the Court, it deals with them particularly harshly. There is a period of time during which the individual sent there may be resummoned to the Sovereign’s presence if it should so desire, but after that period is over, the individual loses his or her powers and becomes mortal.”
Did he just call God an it?
The Sovereign is not God, and it is commonly referred to by a gender-neutral pronoun, yes.
“What’s wrong with being mortal?” I asked, letting that point go for the moment.
“Nothing,” Terrin said, getting slowly to his feet. “For one used to such a thing. But for a member of the Court to be stripped of his or her powers in the Akasha is a life sentence. Not even the Sovereign itself could change that.”
“A life sentence? But nothing can die in the Akasha,” I argued.
“Exactly,” he said, his eyes suddenly serious.
“But why couldn’t she simply be summoned later, even if she was mortal?”
He shook his head. “I wish she could, but Diamond is immortal. If she loses that quality, she ceases to exist in any plane mortals touch. She would exist in the Akasha, but”—he spread his hands—“nowhere else.”
“Oh, my god.” I looked at Alec as I realized what he was saying. “She’ll be trapped in the Akasha forever.”
“How long do we have?” Alec asked as Kristoff pulled out a cell phone.
Terrin gave us all a long look. “Two hours and thirty-three minutes.”
Alec swore as Pia leaped to her feet, exclaiming loudly, “There’s no way we can have Ulfur summoned in that time!”
Alec? What are we going to do?
Be patient, love. Let Kris determine if the lichmaster will help us before you think about panicking.
Kristoff turned his back on us, speaking rapidly in French into his cell phone.
“I’m afraid there is no other choice,” Terrin apologized.
“But the lichmaster is in France! There’s no way we could fly there in time,” Pia wailed, moving over to her vampire.
Could a private jet—
No. Do not worry, mi corazón. If Kristoff can locate a lichmaster, we will be there in time, he said, obviously listening to Kristoff.
How?
We will take a portal.
To where?
To wherever we need. Ah. This sounds hopeful. Alec moved over to Kristoff, asking a question in French that Kristoff repeated.
I looked at Terrin, whom I was unnerved to find watching me. “You couldn’t have told us this earlier?” blurted out of my mouth, making me blush at the rudeness. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for it to come out that way, but really, a little more time would have been nice. Not that I’ve been proactive about getting Diamond out, so I’m just as guilty as you, but still. You, at least, knew the truth about her.”
“I began tracing your whereabouts as soon as Mare Disin realized what happened to her descendant,” he said gently. “You appeared to have traveled quite a bit in what is a very short amount of your time.”
“Yeah, but you’re some sort of an angelic bureaucrat, aren’t you? Couldn’t you just tune in your magic TV screen or whatever you guys have up in heaven, and see where I was?”
He gave a soft, but genuine, laugh. “I would give much to have a magic TV screen. Alas, the Court does not work that way. I traced you by means of bribery and several acts that I would prefer not bandied about.”
“Thank god,” Pia said, smiling at Kristoff. “We got the lichmaster, Cora. Very nice work, Boo.”
He rolled his eyes as Alec held out his hand for me. I expected him to look a bit happier, but he looked worried.
Is there something wrong with the lichmaster that Kristoff found? I asked as Pia and Kristoff dashed upstairs to toss a few things into a bag, and alert Eleanor to our change in plans.
No.
Then why do you look so worried? If the lichmaster will summon Ulfur, we can get Diamond out. Oh, do you think he will do the same thing that Brother Ailwin will do, and try to use us?
No.
I moved around to his front, examining his expression. His eyes were a pale, seawater green, his brows pulled together. Then what? I asked as I put my hand over his heart.
It’s what comes after, he said after a few minutes’ silence.
After?
Yes. His gaze slid over to where Terrin was examining the pictures on one wall. But I believe I see a way through it.
Chapter Thirteen
Cora was uncharacteristically calm about the idea of taking a portal to Avignon, surprising Alec when, as she landed on the foam padding set up on the receiving end, she whooped and said she wanted to do it again.
“You are the strangest woman I have ever met,” he said as he helped her to her feet, guiding her out of the way as the air sparked a few times, indicating another body was about to emerge through the permanent tear in the fabric of space that the portalling company maintained for the use of its customers.
“You told me that already,” she answered, applauding when Pia appeared out of nothing and hit the padding with a whomp. “And the judges go wild!”
“Thank you. I think,” Pia said, accepting the hand he held out to her. “I did try for a reverse gainer, but I’m not sure if I pulled it off or not.”
“Seriously, tens across the judges,” Cora assured her before turning to him. “Screw private jets—I want to portal everywhere from now on.”
“Most people only use portals when they have no other choice,” he warned her.
Eleanor appeared, screaming as she hit the padding. “Goddess above, I never want to do that again. Urgh.”
He helped her to her feet, as well.
“Why don’t they use portals?” Cora asked him.
He gave a little shrug. “Some beings don’t like it. Dragons and elemental beings will do just about anything to avoid using a portal. Some of the Fae are opposed to it on the grounds that it desecrates their beyond. Others, like some spirits, cannot use it unless they are in corporeal form.”
“I completely understand their feelings,” Eleanor muttered, brushing off her pants.
Cora stared at him for a moment before turning to Pia just as Kristoff materialized and hit the padding. “One in ten words, maybe.”
Pia laughed. “Believe it or not, I understood all of it. Give it time, and you will, as well.”
“Uh-huh.” Cora’s mysteriously dark eyes considered him. “You’re not any of those things that you mentioned, though. Are you?”
“No, I’m not, and I don’t have an issue with using a portal per se, but it is also expensive.”
“Really?” She moved aside as Terrin appeared about ten feet off the ground, arms and legs flailing as he dropped to the pad. “How expensive?”
He told her the price for all six of them to be transported from Florence to Avignon.
“Jesus wept! I could buy a house for that! A nice house!” she gasped.
“Am I here? All of me?” Terrin asked.
Alec hauled him to his feet, brushing him off, since the seneschal appeared to be somewhat disoriented by the portal. “You’re here. Where to, Kris?”
“The lichmaster said she’d be waiting for us at the Chauvet caves.”
“Caves? I love caves!” Cora said, her eyes bright with excitement as she took his hand. The fact that she did so automatically warmed him like nothing else had in . . . well, since his beloved mother had died. She had been the only person who touched him with genuine love . . . until Cora. He wondered if she loved him. He wondered if she knew he was quic
kly falling into that state.
“Caves? That ought to be interesting,” Eleanor said.
“Do we have to meet there?” Alec asked Kristoff.
The latter gave him a sympathetic look. “She wouldn’t budge from there. Evidently that is where her headquarters are.”
“I’ve heard of that cave,” Pia said as they exited the portalling company’s building, and emerged into the soft darkness of the evening. “Isn’t it where they found those pretty cave paintings?”
“I believe so,” Kristoff answered, shooting him another look before he hurried off with Pia to rent a car.
“Caves,” he muttered, disgusted with the turn of events.
“What’s wrong with caves? They’re awesome fun. I love the ones with the stalactites dripping limewater, making all sorts of creepy shapes. Kinda reminds me of ectoplasm, really, not that I’ve ever seen it, because I don’t believe in ghosts.... Oh.” She blinked at him, a wry smile making him want to kiss her senseless. “I guess I need to change that, huh?”
“There are many types of spirits,” the seneschal said, consulting his watch. “But none, I believe, take on the form of wet stalactites. We have slightly over two hours left.”
Avignon at night was enchanting, and Alec was possessed with the urge to watch Cora’s face as she explored all the delights contained within it, but that would have to wait until after she was safe.
He became aware that Cora was watching him closely. He kissed her just to take that speculative look off her face, then kissed her again because once again he couldn’t get enough of her sweetness, ignoring a rude comment by Eleanor as he did so.
You don’t like caves?
No.
Claustrophobic?
He didn’t answer.
I’m sorry. That’s got to be the pits. You don’t have to go into the cave if you don’t want to.
“You’re being silly,” he said, releasing her lower lip when Terrin made a polite little cough. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I am a Dark One. I fear nothing.”
“Big talk,” she said, but, with a glance toward Terrin, did nothing more than smile and take his hand, sending him wave after wave of reassurance and comfort. It’ll be all right. You’ll see.
“Well, as long as I’m here, I might as well windowshop,” Eleanor said, moving across the street to browse in a store window.
“The mare you mentioned—she is anxious to have her grandchild out,” he told Terrin, amused by Cora’s attempt to soothe him, but not willing to hurt her feelings.
Terrin looked faintly surprised. “Of course. Wouldn’t you?”
“It seems to me that she is in a very difficult spot. In a matter of two hours, she will lose her descendant forever to the Akasha.”
“Yees,” Terrin drawled, his gaze sharpening upon Alec.
What are you doing?
Trying to solve two problems at once.
“It also seems to me that without Cora’s help Diamond cannot be saved in time.”
“What do you want?” Terrin asked baldly.
Yes, what do you want? Do you think he can help you with the vampire council thing?
No. Alec smiled. “And the Sovereign . . . surely the Sovereign must be aware of the situation? I assume the mares keep it informed of all that goes on?”
Terrin’s suspicious expression tightened. “I am told they do. What reward is it that you expect? I can reassure you that the mare Disin will be most grateful—”
“It’s not the mare’s help I seek,” he interrupted smoothly.
Terrin’s eyes opened wide at the same moment that Cora probed his mind, gasping into his head. Jesus wept, Alec! You can’t blackmail God!
The Sovereign is not God, and I’m not blackmailing it. I’m simply ensuring we receive its help.
“The Sovereign does not take kindly to being used,” Terrin said, scorn dripping from his voice. “If that is your intention, and I see by the expression on your Beloved’s face that it is. I don’t know what it is that you want the Sovereign to do, but it won’t do it, I can assure you that.”
“Then Diamond will remain in the Akasha,” he said blithely, brushing off a bit of nothing from Cora’s arm. “Love, I believe we have time to do some sightseeing after all.”
Cora gaped at him, her mouth open just enough that he gently pressed his fingers under her chin to close it. “Alec, you’re nuts.”
“So I’ve frequently been told.”
“You can’t blackmail God!” she repeated.
“The Sovereign is not God per se,” Terrin said tiredly. “Why do I have to keep telling you that? It’s an easy concept to understand, after all. It’s not like trying to plumb the unfathomable depths of a woman’s mind.”
“That sort of a crack isn’t going to do you any good,” Cora said with a sharp look at the little seneschal.
He apologized, glancing at Alec. “Just out of curiosity, not that it will happen in even the most bizarre imaginings, but let us say the Sovereign was feeling gracious. What is it you wish for it to do?”
Yeah, what? Cora asked, evidently not having probed far enough to see his plans.
“My Beloved is a Tool of Bael,” Alec said, gesturing toward her.
“She is,” Terrin agreed.
“There is nothing I can do that will relieve her from that burden.”
Terrin eyed first Cora, then him. “No,” he said at last. “Such a thing is beyond your power. Or indeed mine, for what that’s worth.”
“Every low sort of being in the Otherworld and mortal world will desire to use her for their own gain,” Alec continued.
“Where exactly are you going with this?” Cora asked, looking a bit disgruntled. “Because so far, all it’s doing is depressing me.”
“Patience, mi querida.”
“I imagine that is so, yes,” Terrin agreed. “If you expect the Sovereign to strip the Tool from Cora, however, I’m afraid you’re doomed to disappointment. Such a thing is not within the bounds of even the Sovereign. For all intents and purposes, the Occio di Lucifer and Corazon are now perfectly joined, and will never be able to be separated again.”
“Exactly,” Alec said, smiling.
“What am I missing?” Cora asked him.
He turned to her, taking her hands in his, kissing each one of her fingers before answering. “We must eliminate the biggest threat to you.”
“The Tool? But Terrin just said—”
“That is the cause, but not the threat itself.” He kissed her wrist, the hunger within him roaring to immediate life, twisting his gut with a need so great it almost made him dizzy.
She thought. “You mean the people who would use me to access Bael’s power?” She shook her head. “You can’t possibly eliminate all of them, Alec. That must be hundreds of people.”
“Thousands, and they are just interested in the effect of you being the Tool. We must go after the source, the true danger that threatens you.”
“But . . .” Her face twisted as she tried to reason it out. “The Tool gets its power from Bael. So . . . oh!” Her eyes grew round as Terrin sucked in his breath.
“You cannot think—” the little man started to say.
“You want to take down Bael?” Cora asked, her eyes searching his. “The devil? You want to destroy Satan?”
He sighed. “Cora, why do you persist—”
“All right, all right,” she said quickly. “I know he’s not Satan, but he’s as close as dammit. Alec, you’re bonkers. You can’t just go after the head prince dude of hell!”
“Why not?” He gave her a reassuring smile. Really, she was the most alluring woman. Even as she was standing there fully flabbergasted, he desired her. He wanted to sink into her heat, to absorb her warmth, to let all those dark corners of his mind be lit up by the glow of her being. “Normally the princes have a battle each millennium to name a new premier prince. For some reason, Bael did not allow that, and has remained on the throne, so to speak, for well past his ti
me. I simply seek the Sovereign’s help in removing him.”
Terrin’s jaw worked up and down a couple of times before he could speak. “The Sovereign does not concern itself with the doings of Abaddon.”
“No?” Alec pulled Cora into his arms, his mind preoccupied with the lush curves of her body, with her scent, with the beat of her heart. He let her see just how much he wanted her, needed her, at that moment. Awareness flared in her eyes, and she swayed against him, wordlessly offering herself.
“It is out of the question. Wholly out of the question.”
“It would be a worthy cause,” Alec murmured against Cora’s temple as he breathed deeply.
“The Sovereign does not get involved with mortal concerns. It leaves that to the vessels.”
“Ah, but this is not a concern that deals solely with mortals.” He kissed the line of her jaw, leashing the overwhelming hunger that rode him so hard. “You yourself said that if the three Tools were brought together, they could be used to devastate the mortal world.”
“Mortal world,” Terrin emphasized.
“And what—” He paused just long enough to claim Cora’s sweet, sweet mouth. “What is to stop someone from using the combined Tools against the Court? Or, for that matter, the Sovereign itself?”
Cora giggled into his mind. You’re devious, do you know that? It’s a good thing that he can’t read your mind like I can, or he’d never believe this bluff. The idea of you threatening to destroy heaven—honestly, Alec, how can you even say what you’re saying to poor Terrin with a straight face?
I’m not bluffing, mi corazón.
He caught her gasp in his mouth before lifting his head to meet the gaze of the seneschal.
“Down that path would lie destruction for many,” Terrin said slowly, his gaze calculating.
“It would be preferable to the alternative.”
Alec, you’re . . . you’re . . .
Insane, yes, I know. But it’s the only way to save you, Cora. You can’t stop being a Tool of Bael, and although I can protect you to a certain extent now that we’re Joined, we will live our lives looking over our shoulders. Do you want that?
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