Much Ado About Vampires

warm next to mine, making me want to just curl up against him and forget everything else.

Eleanor glared at me as I leaned into him just a little. “How very generous of him.”

“So that just leaves Alec to save,” Pia said, ignoring the sarcasm in Eleanor’s voice.

“I can save myself,” he answered, his hand sliding down my back again, his fingers gently stroking the curve of my hip.

Eleanor snorted.

“And if you get sent back to the Akasha, what’s going to happen to Cora?” Kristoff asked.

Alec’s fingers stilled.

I frowned. “What do you mean, what will happen to me?”

“Alec is acting as your protector. Who will assume that role if he’s banished to the Akasha? ” Kristoff’s eyes were a pale blue as he watched me.

“That’s right,” Eleanor said, considering me with something other than hostility, a speculative glint to her eyes. “She is a . . . what did you call it? Earwax of Lucifer? ”

“Eyeball!” I corrected her. “I’m the eyeball of Lucifer, not the earwax!”

“Eye of Lucifer, actually,” Alec corrected.

“Hmm,” Eleanor said softly, looking pleased with herself.

She’s totally going to try to use me to blast you to smithereens, I warned Alec.

He laughed. Perhaps, but we will not allow that.

Hrmph. He might not be concerned, but I made a mental note to keep a close watch on Eleanor for signs she would try to use me against him.

“That’s a good question. Is there anyone else who can protect Cora if Alec is banished?”

“Like Alec,” I said, straightening up from where I was slumped against him, “I can take care of myself.”

“Can you?” Kristoff asked. “Can you protect yourself against a wrath demon?”

“Well . . .”

“Leave it, Kris,” Alec said, his fingers once again stroking gently down my side.

“Can you protect yourself against the Ilargi who captured Ulfur?”

“If I had to, I might,” I said hesitantly, thinking about the gun de Marco had wielded. My leg had healed, but even so . . .

“Kristoff,” Alec said with a distinct note of warning in his voice.

“What about Bael himself? He makes frequent appearances in the mortal world,” Kristoff said, pounding home the point. “How will you protect yourself against him?”

“Bael . . . he’s . . .” I stopped, knowing it would do no good to lie to myself and the others. “He’s pretty bad.”

“That’s an understatement,” Kristoff said drily.

“Stop trying to pressure her,” Alec told his friend, a frown between his brows.

“Yes, god forbid someone should actually want to save you. It’s far better to force that on a person, instead,” Eleanor said acidly.

Kristoff ignored the comment. “I’m simply trying to point out the obvious. Her life is tied to yours now. You need each other.”

I was about to protest, but Kristoff’s words resonated in my head in a way that made a warm glow kindle. Alec did need me. I’d never before been vital to anyone’s life, and yet here was the answer to everything I’d ever wanted—someone who truly did need me.

He’s a vampire, my devil pointed out, just to see what I would say to that.

But he’s not a bad vampire! I answered her. I knew now that the pain that had driven him almost past sanity would have been enough to excuse all his actions, but despite that, he still carried guilt about it. He had committed sins, but had paid his penance a thousandfold.

He needed me.

Do not let Kristoff make you feel you must do something that is personally repugnant.

You need me.

I want you, yes. I desire you above all women. But I could not live with making you feel as if you had no choice. I will find the means to hide you away, with a protector other than me to guard you.

You need me.

He sighed into my head, the words coming reluctantly. Yes, I need you.

“I think—” I started to say, but a bell pealed from the courtyard.

“Hold that thought,” Pia said, hurrying to see who was at the door. “I won’t be but a—ack!”

Pia backed into the room as Kristoff, with a growl that sounded downright feral, leaped across the room, skidding to a halt when a man lunged forward, grabbed Pia, and pressed a wickedly long, slightly curved dagger against her neck.

“Do not make a move, or your Beloved will be without a head.”

Isn’t that the monk guy who was here a little bit ago? I asked as Alec slowly rose, reminding me of a panther on the prowl.

I told you that he was no monk.

“Brother Ailwin,” Kristoff said, his voice filled with threat as he stood about eight feet from Pia, his hands at his sides, but anyone would have to be a fool not to read Kristoff’s body language.

“Hello again!” Eleanor said brightly. “Interesting things have happened since you were last here. Would you like to hear about them? I’m thinking about detailing my experiences on a blog. And maybe a Facebook page. I wonder how much the domain ‘alecisajackass. com’ would cost?”

“I have come for the Tool!” Brother Ailwin announced after giving Eleanor a disbelieving look.

“OK, that is really going to get old fast,” I muttered, glaring at him.

“Release my Beloved,” Kristoff demanded.

“I have no argument with you, Dark One,” Brother Ailwin told him in a dramatic tone, pausing to add in a much less aggressive voice, “and will, in fact, be able to summon that lich for you later, since the bank transfer went through. Would you prefer I summon him here, or in town?”

I think Kristoff may crack a tooth or two if he doesn’t stop grinding his teeth like that, I told Alec. I had gotten to my feet, as well, intending on moving to Alec so he could use me to blast the bad monk, but Alec had moved very slowly behind the couch, obviously getting into a flanking position to help Kristoff.

Move to the windows, Cora.

Why?

You’ll be out of harm’s way.

I may be afraid of mice, and I may not be up to tackling Bael, but I am not such a coward or a wimp that I have to be kept out of the way, I said indignantly.

“Release my Beloved,” Kristoff said again.

That is not what I am worried about.

“I will if you give me the Tool of Bael.” Brother Ailwin shot me a look that had me upping the wattage in my glare. “It is her I have come for.”

“Oh, sure. Everyone wants her and the soul she stole from me. Not to mention my man. But let someone resurrect you into lich form, and you can’t get so much as the time of day,” Eleanor snarked.

“Look, I’m sorry that you were resurrected after I was born, and thus my soul is stuck to me, but I did not steal Alec. He said I didn’t. So you can just knock off the guilt trip, because it’s not going to work!” I told her.

She sniffed and looked away.

Brother Ailwin clapped his hands together. “Brother Godwin! Brother Esmund!”

Two men appeared out of nothing, both clad in long brown monk’s robes, ropes bound around their middles. Their hair wasn’t tonsured, but other than that, they looked straight out of a medieval fair. One had a short beard, while the other had a bad case of acne.

“Now, see, those are monks,” I told Alec. Are they ghosts or something?