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What, I ask you, do you say to a statement that you are someone&039;s only arded the part about Eleanor also filling that role, because Alec obviously didn&039;t want her That thought kept ly content for about thirty seconds, until I realized that if I didn&039;t do the job, Alec wouldn&039;t have the choice - he&039;d have to Join with Eleanor just to save hi froood ie

On the other hand, that whole "for the rest of his life" part had ht? Because I did the saving thing, already Twice, if you count having Alec yanked out of the Akasha"

"Third ti by the look she slid the vampire next to her, she didn&039;t really believe what she was saying

"Yes, you did already save ers withdrawing from where they&039;d slipped down between rateful It is enough This problem with the council is not yours, Cora I will find a solution"

Alec&039;s words disturbed reed with him It rankled that no one there believed that I would exert ht this onvampirish, but dammit, I was involved now, and I wasn&039;t so closed-minded that I couldn&039;t adapt to a situation

My inner devil rejoiced, andparty I told her to go jump in a lake

You are distressed, Alec said, the words as soft as his touch on my mind Do not let yourself be, cielito I will find a way out of this situation

I didn&039;t answer hi sense of injustice to bother pointing out the obvious

It took a half hour, but we explained the happenings of the last two days to a rapt Pia and Kristoff By the end of it, Eleanor had evidently worked out the worst of her te me nasty looks, but she appeared to have accepted the fact that she wasn&039;t going to end up with Alec as her boy toy

Unless, of course, I didn&039;t want him

"So your friend is still there?" Pia asked when Alec finished by detailing our arrival at their house "In the Akasha, I h Alec says time operates differently there, I can&039;t help but think that at soerialto think about her disappearance I left a voicethat I was going to take a little ti to fly out to Hawaii to join Dermott at his real estate conference, but it&039;s been two days now If anyone from the office calls Dermott, he&039;ll be bound to notice that his wife isn&039;t there with hihtful "As I see it, we have two proble Diah You siot you out"

"Alec has offered to finance that, yes," I said with a grateful glance at hihtly mussed from our sojourn in the mouse-infested room, a rich brownshivery inside, as if he were rubbing his cheeks alongelse

Eleanor glared at enerous of hi the sarcasm in Eleanor&039;s voice

"I can save ain, his fingers gently stroking the curve of et sent back to the Akasha, what&039;s going to happen to Cora?" Kristoff asked

Alec&039;s fingers stilled

I frowned "What do youas your protector Who will assume that role if he&039;s banished to the Akasha? " Kristoff&039;s eyes were a pale blue as he watchedlint to her eyes "She is awhat did you call it? Earwax of Lucifer? "

"Eyeball!" I corrected her "I&039;m the eyeball of Lucifer, not the earwax!"

"Eye of Lucifer, actually," Alec corrected

"H pleased with herself

She&039;s totally going to try to use hed Perhaps, but ill not allow that

Hrht not be concerned, but I ns she would try to use ood question Is there anyone else who can protect Cora if Alec is banished?"

"Like Alec," I said, straightening up froainst him, "I can take care of myself"

"Can you?" Kristoff asked "Can you protect yourself against a wrath deers once again stroking gently down i who captured Ulfur?"

"If I had to, I un 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 thehoainst hi it would do no good to lie to myself and the others "He&039;s pretty bad"

"That&039;s an understate to pressure her," Alec told his friend, a frown between his brows

"Yes, god forbid someone should actually want to save you It&039;s far better to force that on a person, instead," Eleanor said acidly

Kristoff ignored the co to point out the obvious Her life is tied to yours now You need each other"

I was about to protest, but Kristoff&039;s words resonated in low kindle Alec did need me I&039;d never before been vital to anyone&039;s life, and yet here was the answer to everything I&039;d ever wanted - someone who truly did need me

He&039;s a vampire, my devil pointed out, just to see what I would say to that

But he&039;s not a bad vampire! I answered her I kne that the pain that had driven hih 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 neededthat is personally repugnant

You need me

I want you, yes I desire you above all wo you feel as if you had no choice I will find the uard you

You needreluctantly Yes, I need you

"I think - " I started to say, but a bell pealed fro to see as at the door "I won&039;t be but a - ack!"

Pia backed into the rooht feral, leaped across the roorabbed 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&039;t that the o? I asked as Alec slowly rose, re 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&039;s body language

"Hello again!" Eleanor said brightly "Interesting things have happened since you were last here Would you like to hear about the And e I wonder how much the domain &039;alecisajackass com&039; would cost?"

"I have co Eleanor a disbelieving look

"OK, that is really going to get old fast," Iat hiument with you, Dark One," Brother Ailwin told hiressive 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 Kristoffhis teeth like that, I told Alec I had gotten toto Alec so he could use me to blast the bad monk, but Alec hadinto a flanking position to help Kristoff

Move to the s, Cora

Why?

You&039;ll be out of harm&039;s way

IBael, but I am not such a coward or a winantly

"Release ain

That is not what I aive me the Tool of Bael" Brother Ailwin shot lare "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 soet so much as the time of day," Eleanor snarked

"Look, I&039;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&039;t So you can just knock off the guilt trip, because it&039;s not going to work!" I told her

She sniffed and looked away

Brother Ailwin clapped his hands together "Brother Godwin! Brother Es brown monk&039;s robes, ropes bound around their middles Their hair wasn&039;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 ?