He put an arm around her, kissing the top of her head. You have nothing to fear, love. I will not allow anything, mortal or immortal, to harm you.
You know, that sort of an attitude could be cloying and very annoying.
But you understand my need to protect you and cherish you, he said, making it a statement and not a question.
Something like that.
Jane the lichmaster seemed to be suffering the same sort of surprise as Cora. “A horse. Yes. Well. Can it take a corporeal form?”
“For short periods, yes,” Pia answered. “Ragnor?”
The horse’s form solidified. Cora pressed against Alec. Not because I’m afraid, she told him.
Of course not.
She snorted, then smiled when everyone looked at her. “A ghost horse. So . . . yeah. Um. Do I need to do anything for this ceremony?”
Jane eyed her. “Are you related to the summonee?”
“No. Well, not unless you consider the fact that we’re now both—”
“She is not related,” Alec said quickly. Beloved, this woman is a lichmaster. I don’t think we need to tell her that in a few moments she’ll have two of the three Tools of Bael in her presence.
Oh! I didn’t think of that. She seems so nice. But you’re probably right. I’ll just keep my lips zipped on that subject around lichy people. How come she doesn’t recognize what I am, like Brother Ailwin?
Probably he’s much older than her, and has either seen a Tool or knows what signs to look for.
“‘Now both’ what?” Jane asked Cora, obviously curious.
“Both . . . having had contact with his boss. Alphonse de Marco, that is,” Cora said with a toothy smile.
“Ah. Shall we proceed?” Jane drew a circle in the dirt floor, chanting as she did so. She directed Ragnor to stand in the middle of the circle, which the horse did, then held out a small silver dagger to Pia. “The lich is to be bound to you, yes? He will initially be bound to me when I summon him, but directly after that, we’ll transfer him to you. This blood bond should help that transfer. If you would prick yourself with the dagger and squeeze six drops of blood into the circle, following with six strands of your hair. Then blow on the horse six times. I shall do the same.”
“They have to blow on the horse?” Cora asked Alec.
“Blood, hair, and breath. They are the three common elements in summoning spells.”
He could feel her turning that over in her mind, one part of her warning her to run as fast as she could from the concept of magic, the other part of her, the curious part, fascinated with the whole proceeding.
It took longer than he hoped it would take, requiring three separate summonses and an hour and a quarter before the air in the circle shimmered, pulled itself together, and resolved into the form of the former ghost.
“Ulfur!” Pia squealed, starting forward toward him. Kristoff pulled her back before she reached the circle at the same time that Jane called out a warning.
“Do not touch him yet! We must first bind him to me quickly before his master can summon him back, and then we will transfer him to you. By my blood I bind you, by my body, I bind you, by my breath, I bind you.” Jane slapped her hands together, the sound reverberating with the intensity of a small bomb.
Too late. Cora clapped her hands over her ears. Jesus wept, what was that?
The sound of a lich being bound. It is done at last, and by my reckoning, we have less than an hour to summon your friend.
But won’t de Marco just summon him back?
He can’t, Alec answered.
Why not? Cora nodded toward Jane. She just did.
Jane summoned Ulfur because Pia had a connection to him in the form of his horse, who he was bound to in death. De Marco has no such link; thus he has no way to summon Ulfur from Pia.
Well, that’s a relief.
The transfer to Pia went quickly after that, and in no time Kristoff was writing out a very large check while Pia repeatedly hugged a teary-eyed Ulfur.
“I will never be able to thank you for what you’ve done,” he said, holding Pia’s hands before turning and making a formal bow to Kristoff. “For what you’ve both done. I will be eternally grateful that you released me from my bondage to de Marco. But I must tell you—”
“I think we’d better be leaving,” Alec interrupted with a telling glance to Kristoff, who nodded and shooed Pia toward the side door. “Beloved?”
“Right here. Nice to see you again, Ulfur. We have a lot to talk about, but I’m sure Jane is anxious to get Eleanor up to speed on her Web project, so we’ll catch up back at the hotel, OK?”
Ulfur opened his mouth to say something, but evidently caught the undercurrent of tension, and simply nodded.
They made their good-byes to both Eleanor and Jane, using the time spent traveling back to the hotel at which they’d agreed to meet Terrin to fill in Ulfur on the recent happenings.
“I never thought other lichmasters would want to use us in that way,” he said after hearing about Brother Ailwin’s failed attempt to take Cora. “Oh, god, we’re going to have to live with that forever, aren’t we? Not to mention the fact that every lichmaster and necromancer who knows what we are will summon me away from you, Pia.”
“Well, as to that, Alec has a plan,” Cora said, giving him a worried look. “I won’t say it’s not crazy as a coonhound, but it’s the only thing we can think of to fix the situation.”
“A plan?” Ulfur asked, looking slightly worried.
“What plan?” Kristoff demanded to know.
“Crazy as a coonhound? Oh, it sounds completely up our alley,” Pia added, patting Kristoff’s arm. “Dish!”
“It’s quite simple, really,” Cora said as she leaned into him, her scent teasing him, as it always did. “Alec is going to destroy Bael.”
The silence that met that statement wasn’t particularly flattering to his ego, nor was the “He what? ‘Crazy as a coonhound’ is the understatement of the year” comment as issued by Kristoff. But Alec was a man driven, and he knew that if he wanted to have any sort of future with Cora, he’d have to do the impossible.
It was just a matter of organization, and if there was one thing he was good at, it was making plans.
Chapter Fourteen
“Cora . . . this isn’t going to hurt, is it?”
I gave Ulfur a reassuring smile. “Of course not. It just makes you kind of tingle, like you’re almost touching an electric fence wire. Why would you think it hurts?”
His lips twisted. “Everything else does. Why should being the Tool of Bael be any different?”
I stared at him for a few seconds as Pia cooed over him. Another one who is in pain. What is with you guys?
Alec was startled for a moment. Another one? You can feel my pain?
I did before we Joined, yes. Shouldn’t I have?
No. Once I realized we had a sympathetic link, I made sure to keep those emotions from you.
I thought of the anguish, the endless well of torment, that bound him so tightly it would have driven anyone else stark raving mad, and said nothing.
“Are we all here? Excellent. I’ve taken rooms for the summoning,” Terrin said as he bustled out of the elevator of the hotel at which we’d arranged to meet. He shooed us toward it, glancing at his watch to add, “We have slightly less than twenty minutes, so we really should get started.”
“What exactly does a summoning consist of?” Pia asked as we all squished together in the elevator. “I’ve never seen a Tool being used before. Is there something we should do? Do I have to order Ulfur to do anything now that I’m officially his lich . . . er . . . mistress?”
“Yes. You should be running far, far away,” Kristoff muttered under his breath, shooting Alec a crabby look. Kristoff hadn’t taken very well to Alec’s plan to overthrow Bael. None of them had, really, although in the end, they all agreed that if Ulfur, Diamond, and I wanted to live any sort of normal lives, Bael had to go.
That didn’t
mean that Kristoff hadn’t pulled Alec aside as soon as we got to the hotel, and had what appeared to be a heated discussion in German.
“Do you speak German?” I had asked Pia, watching the two of them as they stood in a corner of the hotel’s lobby, Alec standing with an implacable expression, while Kristoff, gesturing wildly, evidently vented his spleen.
“No. Which, I have to say, right now I’m really happy about, because I have a feeling Kristoff isn’t being very nice to Alec, and I really would hate to have to yell at him for that, since he was so sweet about paying for Ulfur.”
We watched for another minute, Ulfur joining us. “Are they angry at me?” he asked.
“No. Kristoff doesn’t seem to like Alec’s plan, and I don’t think Alec likes being yelled at.... Oh, now that was just uncalled for.” Kristoff had, with an angry word, turned away from Alec, who put out a hand to stop him. Kristoff shoved Alec back.
“Ouch,” Pia winced as Alec returned the favor, shoving Kristoff, who stumbled backward over an ottoman, smacking his head on a table. She sighed. “I suppose we should intervene. On the other hand, maybe they just need to work things out between themselves.”
“Probably.” Are you all right?
Yes.
His answer was as terse as his mood, so I didn’t push him, simply waited for Kristoff, who had leaped to his feet and was now yelling in Italian at Alec, to get done so we could continue on. By the time they had done so, and Ulfur inquired worriedly about the level of pain involved with being one of Bael’s little playthings, the two men had worked out most of their animosity without, thankfully, any blood having been drawn.
Terrin eyed Alec as we rode up in the elevator. “I spoke to the Sovereign on your behalf.”
“And?” Alec asked, one eyebrow rising in question.
Terrin sighed. “The Sovereign wishes it to be known that it does not involve itself in situations not of its making, or which lack a direct impact on its purview, which, despite your threat, this does not fall under.”
Alec swore under his breath. My stomach clenched with worry, causing Alec to pull me up next to him, his arm around me.
“That’s all it had to say? It doesn’t get involved in situations like ours?” I asked, alternately wanting to cry and to yell at the head of heaven that it had to help us because we were the good guys.
“No, that’s not all that was said. It made mention of a few other things, one in particular which I think you might find pertinent.” Terrin’s eyes twinkled with amusement.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“It was in the form of a personal addition to Alec.”
“And that would be?” Alec asked.
Terrin smiled. “Bring it on.”
Alec snorted in derision.
“Bring it on?” I asked, astonished.
“That’s what it said, yes.”
“Bring it on!” Fury roared through me at the words. “What the hell sort of thing is that to say? Bring it on? I don’t think I like this Sovereign at all. Just wait until we get Diamond out. We’ll see who’s got the attitude then!”
“Cora, I don’t think—” Pia started to say, but I interrupted her.
“Your precious Sovereign wants us to bring it on? Well, we’ll just do that!”
Terrin looked shocked as Alec pulled me tighter against him, saying in a weary voice, “Mi corazón—”
“I will not stand here and let some jerkwad flip us that kind of crap, Alec!”
“Jerkwad?” Terrin asked on a gasp.
“Oooh,” Pia said, her eyes big.
Alec’s eyebrows rose as he considered me. “I had no idea you were so aggressive.”
“I’m not aggressive, not overly so,” I said, pushing up my sleeves, just as if I were going to battle that moment. “But I don’t tolerate being pushed around by anyone, not you, not Bael, and not some half-assed leader of a group of pansy angels and cherubs and . . . and . . . and whatever else they have in this lame version of heaven!”
Terrin blinked.
“Why don’t you tell us what you really think, Cora?” Kristoff suggested with a hint of a smile.
Before I could do just that, we arrived at the floor where Terrin had taken a suite. I marched into the room feeling as if I were a dog with my hackles up, annoyed beyond anything that our sole hope for help had dismissed us without so much as batting a heavenly eyelash.
“Bring it on,” I growled to myself, and added a few more thoughts as Terrin arranged Ulfur and me on either side of him.
Beloved, muttering curses to yourself is not going to help our cause.
Perhaps not, but it sure makes me feel a whole lot better. Besides, our cause is lost at this point. At least it is until we show the Sovereign that we mean business.
Not lost, no. We have yet to hear what the Sovereign will do to help us, although if you continue invoking curses upon its head, you risk losing that help.
I stared at Alec as Terrin put one hand on my shoulder, and one on Ulfur’s, closing his eyes to chant softly to himself. Didn’t you hear Terrin? He said the Sovereign refused to help.
He stated the Sovereign’s policy toward mortal involvement, yes. He also mentioned that wasn’t all that was said. I imagine Terrin is waiting until your friend is safe before revealing what form the aid we seek will take.
I really hate it when you are smarter than me, I groused, giving him a quick glare that melted instantly at the burning heat shimmering in his forest green eyes.
I’m not smarter, love. I simply have more experience with Otherworld officials like this one. And if you keep looking at me like that, I will take you off to the nearest bed and ravish you exactly as you are imagining at this moment.
Oh, that would be lovely.... My attention, unfortunately, was demanded by Terrin at that moment, so it was with reluctance that I gave up imagining licking every inch of Alec’s body, and focused on the task at hand.
The summoning was much briefer than that conducted by the Guardian Noelle, presumably because Ulfur and I were there to give Terrin’s summons a bit of an oomph. Whatever the reason, no sooner had he spoken the few words of summoning than the air shimmered and gathered itself up into the form of a woman holding a bright pink marker in one hand, and who was saying over her shoulder, “Now, if you restructure the focus group to include participants who haven’t been strung up by their toes, you’d have a better idea of what torments really work, and what sort of a bias the group has.... Why, hello, Cora!”
Terrin’s shoulders sagged in relief as he released his hold on our shoulders. “Thank the stars. Welcome back, Diamond.”
“Terrin! It’s been forever since I’ve seen you. You look marvelous, as ever.” Diamond smiled happily at him, her smile growing when she spotted Alec. “Oh, and it’s that nice Dark One of yours, Cora. But I wish you hadn’t summoned me out just as I was presenting my workshop on better torture methodology.”
She gave me a hug, then stepped back, her head tipped to the side as she gave me a once-over. “Something is different about you. You look . . . changed.”
“Yes, well, we found out we’re—you, Ulfur, and me, that is—now officially Tools of Bael. You’re the Voice of Lucifer, I think, and something like that is bound to have an impact on appearance.”
She looked startled for a moment at that statement. “I’m the Voce di Lucifer? How . . . oh, that chalice, the pretty one in the basement? How very curious.” She gave Pia and Kristoff a wary look. “I hope you know those two people very well, Cora, because if what you say is so—and really, I have no reason to doubt it, since no one would joke about being a Tool of Bael—then all three Tools are present in one spot, and that could be a very bad thing if those two people are not at all trustworthy.”
“They are,” I said with a smile, and made the introductions, briefly explaining the relationship between Ulfur and Pia.
“Mercy, a Zorya?” Diamond said, looking thrilled to her toes. “I’ve never met one of you, but I’ve always
wanted to. Is it true you control the light of the moon?”
“Former Zorya,” Kristoff growled as Pia answered, “Yes, although I can’t anymore, now that I’ve been stripped of my Zoryaness.”
“Too bad,” Diamond sighed.
Terrin, obviously drained by the summoning, straightened himself up and announced that he would return to the Court to notify Disin that Diamond was once again in the mortal world.
“Thank you, although I really was having the most interesting time in the Akasha,” she said, giving him a hug, as well. “Tell Great-grandma that I’ll pop in to visit her one of these days, just as soon as I can. Oh, I suppose I should call Dee and let him know I’m all right. He’s probably beside himself with worry.” Diamond pulled out a cell phone and wandered into a bedroom, humming softly to herself.
“She has no idea how close she came to being stuck there permanently, does she?” I asked, looking after her.
“She does; she just assumed we’d get her out in time,” Terrin said, his dark gaze slipping from me to Alec, who stood watching the little man with his arms crossed over his chest.
“Sounds like her. So, are we going to have to beat down the gates of heaven, or is your Sovereign dude going to do something to help us?” I said, giving Terrin a firm look that should have warned him I was going to brook no nonsense. “Alec says you’re keeping something from us, that your boss will help us, but frankly, I don’t think so. I think we’re going to have to show your precious Sovereign that we are a force to be feared.”
Terrin sighed, making a tired gesture toward Alec. “I don’t know how I can stand in the face of such a threat. As it is, your Dark One is correct. The Sovereign, while unable to violate the protocols of the Court of Divine Blood, is nonetheless sympathetic to mortal causes, and for that reason, has ordered me to contact, on your respective behalves, someone who has experience with both Bael and Abaddon.”
“Who’s that?” Pia asked, looking as curious as I felt.
“Me,” a feminine voice said from the doorway.
We all turned to see a pretty woman with fluffy blond hair and a candy-apple red wool power suit standing at the door. “Ooh, two Dark Ones and their Beloveds! How exciting! I never get to see Dark Ones anymore. Terrin, my dear, you look positively ancient in that suit! What have I told you? You’re a summer; you should be wearing lovely peaches and grays and creams, not those dreary browns that you insist on wearing all the time. Have you used that microbead skin care kit I gave you for your birthday? You haven’t, have you? I can see you haven’t. Honestly, why do I go to the trouble of trying to help you if you are just going to resist all of my advice?”
Much Ado About Vampires do-10 Page 18