Much Ado About Vampires

Alec, I hate to distract you, but you have incoming. You have to get out— now.

Incoming in what form?

Bael.

He swore profanely. Are you and Ulfur away from here?

I wanted badly to tell him that he needed to come rescue me, but knew he had enough on his plate with the remaining wrath demon. We’re . . . fine, I lied. Where’s Diamond? Is she OK?

She hasn’t left the bedroom. Christ!

What?

Just as I thought the words, another unearthly howl tore through the night.

That was close, Alec said, and even several floors away, I could feel his exhaustion.

You killed the demon? Good. Now get the hell out of there before Bael finds you.

I will come to you. Where are you? Are you with Sally?

Yeees, I said slowly. About that—

Stay with her. We will escape with Diamond. Christ, I think he’s here. I will find you as soon as I have Diamond safe.

He shut off communication before I could warn him that Sally wasn’t as benign as he believed. I hesitated to do so with Bael right there about to pounce. “I think we’re on our own for a little bit, Ulfur, while everyone gets away from Bael. You doing all right?”

“Yes,” he answered, his voice pained.

“I don’t suppose you can move?”

“No. I wish I could.”

“You and me both.”

“Cora—”

“Yes?”

He hesitated a few seconds. “I’m sorry that I got you involved in this. With Bael, and being made a Tool. I had no idea there were others outside the exit from Bael’s palace.”

“Well, it’s not like you had a choice in the matter, is it? I mean, didn’t de Marco force you to steal the Tools?”

“Yes,” he said, his voice filled with misery. “But I’m still sorry.”

“And I appreciate that. Don’t be so quick to give up, though. We’ll get through this. First things first—we have to get away from Sally. There’s got to be some way we can knock her out, or blast her with Bael’s power or something. If I could just put my hand on you, I might be able to channel the power through you. . . .”

“There, so much better. I just feel absolutely stark naked if I go out without lipstick,” Sally said as she emerged from the bathroom, fresh as could be. “Now, shall we get going? Lord Bael wants you to be taken to his palace, but the nearest entrance to that is in Paris, and that is a nightmare trip I just don’t even want to think about. My palace, however, has a presence in the form of a lovely little Louis the Fourteenth villa in the town of Privas, which isn’t too far from here. I’ll take you there first, and then we shall proceed to Bael’s Black Palace.”

“We’re going to your villa?” I asked, hope blossoming. “You can’t possibly carry us all that way.”

“Of course not,” she said, laughing.

She’d have to remove the immobility spell. She’d have to let us up to walk, and then . . . I sighed with relief. Then we’d escape. “Well, I have to say, as much fun as it has been being a human blob, I really do welcome the chance to move around. I’m starting to get a cramp in my calf.”

“Oh, I’m not going to be able to take the spell off you,” she told us, making a face that looked as sincere as hell. “You’d try to escape, and Lord Bael would be most angry with me if I let you do that.”

“You just said you couldn’t carry us,” I protested.

“And so I won’t.”

My hopes plummeted. “But then . . . how are you going to get us to your villa? Do you have henchmen like Bael?”

“Thousands of them, but they’re busy wreaking havoc and destruction, so I’ll just have to do this myself.”

To my astonishment, she reached out into the air, and with a jerking motion tore . . . well, tore what I assumed was the fabric of space. It gaped open like the wall of the hotel room was a photograph on a sheet that had been ripped apart, a swirling blackness beyond it.

“Madre de Dios,” I swore, shrieking as Sally, with a strength that belied her tiny little form, grabbed me with both hands and flung me through the rip in space.

Chapter Sixteen

Alec absently wiped the blood that dripped down his arm and off his fingers onto the material of his pants, very aware of the heat building in his left arm as the shoulder-to-elbow slash made by the wrath demon’s claws slowly healed itself. “This way,” he said, holding up his uninjured hand to help Diamond down the last few yards from the balcony where they’d made their escape. “I think this alley leads to . . . you can’t possibly be serious.”

“Oh, I am, I assure you. You wouldn’t believe how cutthroat the real estate business is in northern California! You think the demon lords are bad? They don’t have anything on—”

“Hush,” Alec said, lifting his hand in warning as he turned his head, straining to catch the words of the two men who ran past the entrance of the alley.

“. . . Sally, said she . . . Corazon . . .”

“I think Alec’s comment referred to those two men, not your experience in real estate, Diamond,” Kristoff said as he leaped to the ground, holding up his arms for Pia, who followed him with a whomp.

“Nice catch, Boo,” she told Kristoff with a kiss as he held her in his arms. He smiled and looked like he wanted to kiss her with much more thoroughness, but obviously realized in time that the back alley of the hotel, with the premier prince of Abaddon on their heels, was not the ideal place for romance.

“What two men?” Diamond asked, brushing off her legs. “Dratted hotel. Don’t they dust their drainpipes?”

“Why would they mention Cora and Sally, unless . . . bloody hell.” Alec stopped talking and started running, fear snatching at his breath as he ran.

“Where is he going?” he heard Diamond call. “Ow! I can’t run in these shoes! Hey, you don’t have to shove me!”

“They have Cora,” Kristoff growled, obviously trying to hurry the women. Alec didn’t wait for them to catch up to him; he shot out of the alley. Down the street a few blocks, a black sedan pulled out and sped off into the night. Alec swore under his breath, spinning around to head for the car park next to the hotel. Kristoff and the two women emerged from the alley as he passed. He didn’t pause, just grabbed Diamond and slung her over his shoulder. “They’re heading west, to the highway,” he called as he ran, ignoring Diamond’s protests that she could walk. “Be quiet, woman—you’re too slow. I won’t risk Cora for the sake of your shoes. Kristoff, keys?”

Alec knew it didn’t take much time at all for them to reach the car and set off after the two Dark Ones, but he felt every passing second as if it were an hour. How the hell had the bastards found Cora? And why hadn’t she told him they were around?

Mi querida, are you safe? he asked as he slammed on the brakes to avoid plowing down a couple who weaved into the street, obviously a bit too flushed with the fruit of the grape. He spun the wheel and drove around them, partially on the sidewalk, until he reached the highway that ran to the north out of town. He had no idea which way the two councilmen had gone, but was betting on the more populated north than the south. Corazon?