“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 time. 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?
No, but—
We must eliminate the source of the threat. We must destroy Bael. We have no choice. And since I can’t do that by myself, we’re going to need help. The only being powerful enough to do so is the Sovereign.
“But . . . why don’t you just wait until we get Diamond out, and then you can use all three of us against Bael?” she asked, stroking his chest in a way that left him growling with desire. “Surely that would be easier than trying to blackmail the Sovereign-who-isn’t-God?”
“I would if it was possible, but I am a Dark One. By my very existence I have a tie to Abaddon. It’s impossible for me to destroy that to which I owe my existence.”
“Well, then, someone else will have to do it,” she said, obviously distressed. His heart swelled with love at the thought that she was worried the Sovereign would be angry at him. No one—not in all the long centuries of his life—no one had ever worried about him. “Kristoff . . . oh, I suppose he can’t, either. Pia, then.”
“Pia does not have the knowledge to defeat a premier prince. She would not be able to control the power of the combined Tools. No, my love, there is only one being who can topple a premier prince, and we must simply point out that it must do so, or risk its own existence.”
“You’re threatening to use the Tools against heaven, but you couldn’t against Abaddon? How can you do that?” Cora touched his face in such a gentle expression of love, it almost unmanned him.
“I have no ties to the Court,” he said with a grim smile, fighting the need to feed from her, to make love to her, to hide her away where no one but him could ever feast their eyes on her. She was his, and he would do whatever it took to keep her safe.
She would have argued more, but Kristoff and Pia arrived at that moment, in possession of a sleek black car.
“As you do not need me for the summons, I will go and speak to the mare Disin regarding your request,” Terrin said with a long look at Alec. “I will return here in an hour. That should leave us time to rescue the vessel.”
Terrin disappeared into the evening just as Eleanor, bored with window-shopping, wandered up.
“OK, what did we miss?” Pia asked some minutes later as they were driving out of town, heading for the caves. “And don’t ask me how I know we missed something, because Cora looks stunned, Terrin looked sick to his stomach, and you, Alec, you look like the cat who’s gotten into the cream. Spill.”
“I look charming,” Eleanor added with thinned lips at Pia.
“Yes, you do, very charming,” she hurriedly added.
Should we tell them? Cora asked as she leaned into Alec.
Yes, but not until we are private.
She looked surprised for a moment; then her gaze slid over to where Eleanor sat on his other side. Oh, you don’t want her knowing?
I’d prefer not, no.
Gotcha. And I agree. I think we need to watch out for Eleanor, Cora told him, as Eleanor had looked oddly interested during the discussion concerning the Tools. I swear she intends on paying us back.
Perhaps. She seems sincere in her desire to return to the Underworld.
Yeah, but what’s to stop her from wanting a little payback before she goes?
We shall see. Do not worry about the situation, Beloved. I will not let her harm you.
Fortunately for Cora’s friend, it took a short time to reach the cave area.
“That sign says that the cave is closed to the public,” Pia said, pointing at a sign headed with GROTTE CHAUVET-PONT-D’ ARC.
“It is,” Kristoff agreed, stepping off the path and pushing his way through the undergrowth.
“Then how are we going to meet the . . . oh. Side door, huh?”
A metal door set into the wall of rock was unlocked, by arrangement with the lichmaster. Alec allowed Kristoff to go ahead while he took up the rearguard position.
“Do we need a rear guard?” Cora murmured as he gestured for her to go in front of him.
He couldn’t help but glance at her ass. “Yours will if you keep wiggling it at me like that.”
She giggled, but stopped him, her eyes warm with concern. Now, Alec, I don’t want you to feel like you can’t tell me if you get panicky inside. I’m not claustrophobic, myself, but my mother is, and I remember how she used to have panic attacks whenever she had to go into our tiny little basement. There’s no shame in feeling nervous in a cave, you know.