ran when you screamed, and went back into its home.”
“You think so? ” She shifted, obviously trying to peer into the darkness. “Maybe. Why are you hiding something from me? I’ve admitted I’m your Beloved—aren’t you supposed to let me have a lifetime membership pass into your brain?”
He leaned back against the wall, his hands on her wonderful ass as she tightened her legs around his hips. “Are you giving me complete access to your thoughts and feelings, as well?”
That stopped her. He could feel how disgruntled she was over the thought that he could keep things from her, but knew she couldn’t demand he allow her into his mind willy-nilly unless she honored those same terms.
He frowned at that thought. Just what, exactly, did she have to hide from him? “A Beloved should never keep things from her Dark One,” he said primly.
“I’ll be sure to pass that along to the next Beloved I see. Is your back getting tired?”
“No, although if you slid down a bit, I could at least kiss you. Unless you wish to take off your shirt so I can kiss your bare breasts?”
He felt her thinking that over, but she sighed, instead and cautiously unlocked her legs from their death grip on his hips, slowly lowering herself to the ground.
“Do you mind?” she asked, squeezing between him and the door.
“Not at all. The rat doesn’t live who will make it past me to you,” he said.
She froze. “RAT? You think there are rats in here?”
Cielito
She screamed into his mind at that thought, but made an effort to breathe. He couldn’t help but smile into the darkness at the fact that she thought nothing about facing down one of Bael’s wrath demons, but was almost prostrate with terror at the thought of a few rodents.
“Distract me,” she ordered his back.
He started to turn, intending on taking her into his arms.
“No, not that way! You have to stand guard. Distract me while you watch for attacking beasts. I suppose we should talk about Eleanor.”
“I’d prefer not to.”
“I hate to say it, but I’d rather not, as well. What a chicken I am. Tell me . . . tell me about your past. Jas told me that vampires are either born that way or made. Which were you?”
“My father was an unredeemed Dark One; thus I was born that way, as well. What do you want to know about my past?”
“Well . . . how old are you? You look like you’re my age, but I have a feeling you’re older than you look.”
“I was born in 1336 in what is now Dachau, Germany.”
“The place where the concentration camp was?”
“Yes. It is a lovely area, despite that blot on its history. I have a summer home there that I think you’ll like.”
“Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
“None left living. My mother had several children before my father seduced her.”
“Sounds like Daddy had some issues.”
“Several, not the least of which was an inability to remain with any woman longer than a few weeks. He died in a fire in the eighteenth century.”
“Really? I didn’t think you guys could die.”
“We can be killed, yes. We don’t die of natural causes, however, and it’s not easy to end our lives, but in my father’s case, the building he was in collapsed on him, trapping him in the fire. Even a Dark One cannot stand up to that sort of thing.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, and he knew she honestly was sorry about the loss of his father.
“Thank you. I was not close to him, but he was my only living family member. I felt his loss.” He didn’t say more, but she read it in his mind nonetheless.
Her arms went around him, her cheek pressed against his back.
“What’s a lichmaster?”
“Hmm?” Cora’s question interrupted his contemplation of how much time they had, and whether he could convince her that the room was mouse-free enough to make love to her. “It’s someone who controls liches.”
“Like Ulfur?”
“Yes. In fact, it’s Ulfur that Kris and Pia are trying to save.”
“Ah, is that how you knew who he was?” she asked, snuggling up against his back.
He might be hungry, object to being hidden like he was a criminal, and dislike the closed-in feeling of the small room, but he’d happily stand there to the end of his days to protect Cora, if she continued to rub herself against his back that way. She was so obviously his Beloved, the one woman put on the earth to be with him, he was surprised he hadn’t recognized her from the first. “Yes. He was in Pia’s charge before de Marco stole his soul and used it to have him resurrected as a lich bound to him.”
“Poor guy. Do you think that monk can summon Diamond, too?”
“From the Akasha? No. That would take a Guardian, and unless he has one on call, he wouldn’t be able to organize a rescue for your friend.”
“Well, I’m going to have to do something about her soon, Alec. She’s been in there for some time now, and if nothing else, my ex-husband will be worried about her.”
“Time passes differently in the Akasha than here,” he said, not liking the feeling of obligation she felt toward the other woman, but aware that it was now his problem, as well. “We will contact the Guardian who summoned us to have her do the same for Diamond.”
She pressed her face against the back of his neck, her breath warm on his flesh, sending little rivulets of fire into his veins. “That’s got to be expensive.”
“It is.”
“You’d do that for me?” Her hands slid around his sides, her fingers spreading wide on his belly.
“Of course. You’re my—” He stopped, but she knew what he was going to say.
“That’s still nice of you. Alec, do you think we could go to a mouse-free room? You’re driving me wild with all those thoughts of licking me, and tasting me, and biting me, and oh my god, yes, I really like that one! Can we do that? Right now?”
He laughed, turning to face her, about to say that he would be happy to indulge her every fantasy, but at that moment, the door behind her started to move with a low grating sound.
“It’s just me,” Kristoff said, heaving the door aside before waving them out. “Julian’s gone. You can come out.”
“Oh, thank god. There’s a mouse in there!” Cora said, giving a visible shudder before hurrying out of the room.
Kristoff looked past Alec to the shadows, where the rat stopped cleaning itself to consider them. “Indeed,” was all he said before Alec helped him push the door back into place.
“I assume, since you’re not escorting me out in handcuffs, that the messenger didn’t convince you to turn me over to them?” Alec asked as they trooped back upstairs.
“Did you think I would?” Kris asked, a smile on his lips.
“It would have been sweet revenge.”
“We don’t want revenge,” Pia said as they entered the same sitting room they had been in earlier. She held out a cup to Cora, plying her with food as the two women sat opposite each other. “We never have. That’s why we had Eleanor’s remains found and brought back to life. Even before that, we didn’t want it. Kristoff spoke on your behalf after the council had you banished, but those new vampires who took Rowan’s and Andreas’s places on the council are bastards. Well, and that Sebastian guy, who I have never liked.”
