Much Ado About Vampires

skin crawling. “I do not recall giving you leave to speak, woman.”

“And I don’t recall giving you the right to make me your Tool, and yet here I am!” I snapped in return.

“Cora, Cora, Cora,” Sally said in a disapproving tone. “Dear one, I realize you are not versed in the etiquette of Abaddon, but surely even you must realize that one simply does not snarl at Lord Bael without suffering the consequences.”

I had a horrible feeling that the word “suffering” was going to take on a very real meaning, one I was pretty darned desperate to avoid, so despite my desire to do otherwise, I kept the string of abuse I wished to hurl at everyone’s heads behind my teeth.

“Silence the woman if she continues,” Bael said in an offhand voice as a door was opened and I was tossed onto a bed, Ulfur dumped next to me. We were still immobile, so I couldn’t even roll over or shove Ulfur’s torso off my legs, but I could see Sally as she faced Bael near the doorway of the hotel room.

“Oh, I will, naturally, because you know, life is just too short to put up with people lipping off to you. Well, not my life,” Sally said with a giggle. I ground my teeth and wished I could fire some of Bael’s power right at her. “But you know what I mean—life in general. In fact, I had better silence her now, because she’s sure to scream and beg and plead and generally carry on, and I wouldn’t want to disturb you.”

“The day will never come when begging and pleading disturbs me,” Bael said with a gesture that had his two companions dissolving into nothing. “But you may silence the woman if you desire. She will not need to have a mouth in order to be unmade.”

“Hey!” I said, my skin crawling again at the casual way they both talked about what could only be torture. “I am right here! And I like my mouth! Sally, for the love of all that’s holy . . . er . . . for the love of . . . crap! All I can think of are appeals to your goodness, and you’re so utterly not good, the comparison would be obscene. I don’t know why you’re doing this, but I should point out that Alec will not tolerate you abusing me in any way, shape, or form. And I know Pia won’t let you do anything to Ulfur, either. What . . . er . . . what did you mean we would be unmade?” The last bit was directed at Bael, who ignored me to consult his cell phone.

“Do you know,” Sally said slowly, looking particularly thoughtful as she sat on my feet, making me bite back an exclamation of pain, “I believe Cora might have a point? That brings to mind something I should tell you, my lord.”

An unearthly wail rose high into the night, like the sound of a thousand souls in torment all crying out at once.

“Jesus wept, what was that?” I gasped, the hairs on my arms standing on end.

“Oh, dear, that would be just exactly what I was going to mention,” Sally said, tsking softly to herself. “That was one of Bael’s sweet wrath demons, Cora. Evidently the Dark Ones destroyed it. And although I would never presume to speak for the Lord Bael, I believe he’s referring to the fact that his Tools cannot be destroyed. Otherwise”—she gave a delighted little giggle—“he would simply kill you and be done with it.”

“You are the meanest person I have ever met, and I grew up in the San Fernando Valley—you haven’t seen mean until you’ve been deemed too lacking to join the popular girls’ clique,” I told Sally, even though I couldn’t see her where she sat crushing my feet.

“Flattery, my little dumpling of delight, will get you everywhere. Now, what was I saying? Oh, yes, about the unmaking. You can’t be destroyed, you see? Otherwise Lord Bael would simply squash you into a Cora-shaped smear on the carpet. But I imagine he doesn’t want you to be left sitting around annoying him, either.”

“I do not,” Bael agreed, obviously in the middle of texting something. My inner devil gave a little deranged giggle at the idea of Satan addicted to his smart phone. I wondered if he did Facebook. “The entrance the lich used to gain access to my palace in Abaddon in order to steal my Tools has been sealed up, so no others will be able to use it.” He glanced up, his gaze on Ulfur for a moment. “The lich will, of course, be suitably punished for his part in wasting my valuable time, but once I am satisfied that my vengeance has been wrought, it is better that the Tools be unmade so that they will pose no further threat.”

Fear on Ulfur’s behalf gripped my guts at his intentions about punishment. I heard Ulfur gasp in horror, but he said nothing, evidently feeling the less attention that was focused on him, the better.

I agreed and, in an attempt to draw Bael’s attention to me, asked, “But what’s this unmaking stuff? I thought Terrin said there was no way to separate the Tools from us?”

“There isn’t, sugar, there isn’t,” Sally said, rising and patting my squashed ankles. “I’m afraid when Lord Bael unmakes the Tool inside you—and he needs to find the Agrippa who made the Tools in order to unmake them—then you’ll be unmade, as well. Sad, of course, but what can you do? We can’t have you Tools running around where anyone can take advantage of Lord Bael. That would be unthinkable.”

“Oh, completely,” I said with acid sarcasm. “Sally, you amaze me, you really do. You look so nice, but you truly don’t have a heart, do you? It doesn’t bother you one single damned infinitesimally small bit that you’ve betrayed Ulfur and me, does it? You honestly do not have one single iota of sympathy for us, or even care that he, that man who is essentially the devil, is going to torture and destroy us. It just doesn’t matter a fig to you, right? ”

“Dear one, I am a demon lord,” she said with a gentle smile. “Heartless is what we do best. Besides, Lord Bael would never tolerate someone who had compassion as a prince of Abaddon. It’s just not done.”

I closed my eyes for a moment, my heart sick. I had to figure out a way to get Ulfur and me away from them . . . or at least survive long enough for Alec to finish off the second wrath demon so he could come save us. I’ve never been a big fan of women needing a man to save them, but I was willing to recognize there was a time and place for it, and if ever I saw one, this was it.

“To get back to this unmaking business,” I said, trying to stall for time. “What exactly is an Agrippa, and —”

Bael had no issue with cutting me off. “My time is valuable, Sally. What is it you wish to say to me?” he asked, putting away his phone and making a slight gesture of annoyance.

“As Cora mentioned, she’s a Beloved.” Sally pointed to me. “And he’s a lich, and his lichmaster is the Beloved of another Dark One.”

Bael frowned. “That is of little concern to me.”

“Not in the sense of it being a threat to you, of course not,” Sally said soothingly, undulating her way over to him, smiling her perky, tooth-filled smile. I wondered how she—even as evil as she obviously was—could stand doing so to a man who more or less exuded terror. “No one can threaten you, you’re so very powerful.”

I couldn’t swear from where I was lying, but she may very well have batted her eyelashes at him.

“If you have a point, make it. I have much work to do to locate the Agrippa who made the Tools,” Bael said, looking anything but impressed.

“Now, you know me, sugar—my poor little brain simply cannot cut to the chase the way yours does,” Sally said, and this time I was sure she was flirting with Bael. She touched his hand as she all but cooed up to him. “However, I know you’re a busy, busy man, so I will simply point out that where there are Beloveds, there are bound to be angry Dark Ones, and where there are angry Dark Ones, there is the Moravian Council. And I know that, given the nature of the relationship between you and the council, you do not want to antagonize them.”

What was this? Did the vamps have some sort of a hold over Bael? If so, why had Alec not mentioned it before? I wanted badly to ask him. Alec? How are things going?

Argh!

That well, huh?

We destroyed the form of one of the demons, but the other . . .

I felt his pain as a blade slashed his arm. I winced, feeling guilty for distracting him when he needed to be focused.

Sorry. Radio silence until you’re done there.

Bael said nothing for a moment, his gaze turned inward before he finally said, “I will see to them, myself. One of my lieutenants is still with them, so I will simply ensure that they understand their minions are beyond their help. You will take these two to my palace, and await the arrival of the Agrippa.”

Sally bowed her head. “As you desire, my lord. I live, as you know, to do your bidding.”

I waited until Bael closed the door as he left before I hissed to Sally, “You are going to be so sorry when Alec gets through with you. And I am not Alec’s minion!”

Sally rolled her eyes and headed for the bathroom. “Must powder my nose. Be back in a mo.”