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.