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"Pia does not have the knowledge to defeat a premier prince She would not be able to control the power of the co who can topple a premier prince, and we must simply point out that it must do so, or risk its own existence"
"You&039;re threatening to use the Tools against heaven, but you couldn&039;t against Abaddon? How can you do that?" Cora touched his face in such a gentle expression of love, it almost unri the need to feed from her, to make love to her, to hide her ahere no one but him could ever feast their eyes on her She was his, and he would do whatever it took to keep her safe
She would have argued more, but Kristoff and Pia arrived at that moment, in possession of a sleek black car
"As you do not need arding your request," Terrin said with a long look at Alec "I will return here in an hour That should leave us time to rescue the vessel"
Terrin disappeared into the evening just as Eleanor, bored -shopping, wandered up
"OK, what did weout of town, heading for the caves "And don&039;t ask , because Cora looks stunned, Terrin looked sick to his stootten into the crea," Eleanor added with thinned lips at Pia
"Yes, you do, very char," she hurriedly added
Should we tell them? Cora asked as she leaned into Alec
Yes, but not until we are private
She looked surprised for a aze slid over to where Eleanor sat on his other side Oh, you don&039;t want her knowing?
I&039;d prefer not, no
Gotcha And I agree I think we need to watch out for Eleanor, Cora told hi the discussion concerning the Tools I swear she intends on paying us back
Perhaps She seems sincere in her desire to return to the Underworld
Yeah, but what&039;s to stop her frooes?
We shall see Do not worry about the situation, Beloved I will not let her harm you
Fortunately for Cora&039;s friend, it took a short tin says that the cave is closed to the public," Pia said, pointing at a sign headed with GROTTE CHAUVET-PONT-D&039; ARC
"It is," Kristoff agreed, stepping off the path and pushing his way through the undergrowth
"Then how are we going to meet theoh Side door, huh?"
A eo ahead while he took up the rearguard position
"Do we need a rear guard?" Cora o in front of hilance at her ass "Yours will if you keep wiggling it at led, but stopped him, her eyes ith concern Now, Alec, I don&039;t want you to feel like you can&039;t tell et panicky inside I&039;m not claustrophobic, myself, but my mother is, and I remeo into our tiny little base nervous in a cave, you know
He debated telling her that he wasn&039;t the least bit claustrophobic, that he wasinto a situation where he couldn&039;t defend her properly, but decided he enjoyed the feeling of being coddled I assure you that you&039;ll be the first to know if I panic
Good She gave hied into a quick kiss before hurrying off thein this part of the cave, along with long black cables that snaked across the floor, no doubt there to bring electricity and air down to the lower depths, where the cave art was located
The low echo of voices reached the in a sed roo one side of the rooainst the his as a tall, thin black woe down vest and hard hat popped up out of an inky hole on the far side of the rooood, you&039;re on tiroups who don&039;t understand that my time is very valuable these days If you think it&039;s easy to convince people that a union is really for their benefit, well, you&039;re wrong You must be Christopher"
"Kristoff I take it you&039;re the lich the woman with open disbelief If anyone looked less like the sort of person who controlled liches for her own end, it was the woman before them She had close-cropped hair and wore a faded blue T-shirt that read Liches Are People, Too "Ermdid you say union? "
"Yes, I&039;m Jane Woodway, the head of the Liches International Union The union encoroup dedicated to the preservation and betterment of their members I am not a lich ht for higher wages - well, actually, any wages, since liches seldom receive compensation for their services - health benefits, education, and job placeoal that one day all liches will stand in such a way that n victorious over those ould subjugate our lich brothers and sisters!"
Jane&039;s voice rang out with fervor, echoing off the low stone ceiling
"Eryes" Kristoff pursed his lips for a moment while they all considered the lichmaster
"I like you," Eleanor told her
Jane eyed her "You are an unbound lich, yes? Would you like to join the union? We have need for o back to h it does seem like a worthy cause What sort of work do you need done?"
"You wouldn&039;t happen to know anything about Web sites, would you? We&039;re trying to start a social network for liches called Lichbook, but our Web person got sucked up by that fiendish Brother Ailwin, and we haven&039;t had tiht be able to lend a hand with that," Eleanor allowed before turning to Alec "I still expect you to find a way to send me home, if I do stay for a bit to help out this nice woman"
He bowed "I will do all that I can to make you happy, Eleanor"
She snorted in derision, but said nothing ht be able to have a little respite to take care ofhers
She&039;s not what I expected, Cora told hi, are you?
Not yet, no Thank you for asking, though
OK, good Just let ht the day would never dahen he wouldn&039;t need her, but luckily, she was too involved in watching the union lichhts
"Now, if you&039;re quite ready, I&039;d like to get the suet back toa rally to be held in Monte Carlo next month, and you wouldn&039;t believe how far off track the planning cootten Liches," Jane confined to Cora, who stood nearest her, "are absolutely horrible when it coanization"
"Are they?" Cora asked "Then it&039;s good they have you"
"Yes" Jane beaet started? "
Alec had seen a few ceremonies over the centuries, but never one to effectively steal a lich from one master to another He assumed there would be a certain amount of ritual, however, and he wasn&039;tPia for so of Ulfur&039;s
"I&039; we have is this," Pia answered, pulling out a s askance
"No, it&039;s Ulfur&039;s horse A very nice Sus, so we bound the horse to this so we could bring hinor, we need you now"
Cora scooted closer to hi its head up and down a couple of times before it tried to take a bite out of Kristoff
"Don&039;t even think about it," the latter told the horse, who just laid back his ears and snorted
Is that what I think it is?
It is
Cora whistled to herself A ghost horse OK Horses can be ghosts Don&039;t you think I&039; this really well, Alec?
I think you&039;re accli yourself to the Otherworld very well, yes Are you, by any chance, the one who is freaking out?
No! Not over a ghost horse Cora looked at Ragnor as the horse snuffled her front She put out a wary hand to pat it, but her hand passed right through its neck OK,the top of her head You have nothing to fear, love I will not allow anything, mortal or immortal, to har and very annoying
But you understandit a state like that
Jane the lich the same sort of surprise as Cora "A horse Yes Well Can it take a corporeal fornor?"
The horse&039;s forainst Alec Not because I&039;m afraid, she told him
Of course not
She snorted, then shost horse Soyeah U for this ceremony?"
Jane eyed her "Are you related to the summonee?"
"No Well, not unless you consider the fact that we&039;re now both - "
"She is not related," Alec said quickly Beloved, this woman is a lichmaster I don&039;t think we need to tell her that in a few moments she&039;ll have two of the three Tools of Bael in her presence
Oh! I didn&039;t think of that She seeht I&039;ll just keep my lips zipped on that subject around lichy people How conize what I am, like Brother Ailwin?
Probably he&039;s much older than her, and has either seen a Tool or knohat signs to look for
"&039;Now both&039; what?" Jane asked Cora, obviously curious
"Bothhaving had contact with his boss Alphonse de Marco, that is," Cora said with a toothy smile
"Ah Shall we proceed?" Jane drew a circle in the dirt floor, chanting as she did so She directed Ragnor to stand in the middle of the circle, which the horse did, then held out a ser to Pia "The lich is to be bound to you, yes? He will initially be bound to me when I summon him, but directly after that, we&039;ll transfer him to you This blood bond should help that transfer If you would prick yourself with the dagger and squeeze six drops of blood into the circle, folloith six strands of your hair Then blow on the horse six times I shall do the same"
"They have to blow on the horse?" Cora asked Alec
"Blood, hair, and breath They are the three co spells"
He could feel her turning that over in herher to run as fast as she could froic, the other part of her, the curious part, fascinated with the whole proceeding
It took longer than he hoped it would take, requiring three separate summonses and an hour and a quarter before the air in the circle shiether, and resolved into the for forward toward him Kristoff pulled her back before she reached the circle at the sa
"Do not touch him yet! We must first bind him to me quickly before his master can summon him back, and then ill transfer him to you By my blood I bind you, by my body, I bind you, by ether, the sound reverberating with the intensity of a small bomb
Too late Cora clapped her hands over her ears Jesus wept, as that?
The sound of a lich being bound It is done at last, and by , we have less than an hour to summon your friend
But won&039;t de Marco just summon him back?
He can&039;t, Alec answered
Why not? Cora nodded toward Jane She just did
Jane summoned Ulfur because Pia had a connection to him in the form of his horse, who he was bound to in death De Marco has no such link; thus he has no way to summon Ulfur from Pia
Well, that&039;s a relief
The transfer to Pia went quickly after that, and in no tie check while Pia repeatedly hugged a teary-eyed Ulfur
"I will never be able to thank you for what you&039;ve done," he said, holding Pia&039;s hands before turning anda formal bow to Kristoff "For what you&039;ve both done I will be eternally grateful that you released e to de Marco But I ," Alec interrupted with a telling glance to Kristoff, who nodded and shooed Pia toward the side door "Beloved?"
"Right here Nice to see you again, Ulfur We have a lot to talk about, but I&039;et Eleanor up to speed on her Web project, so we&039;ll catch up back at the hotel, OK?"
Ulfur opened his ht the undercurrent of tension, and siood-byes to both Eleanor and Jane, using the tireed to s
"I never thought other lichmasters would want to use us in that way," he said after hearing about Brother Ailwin&039;s failed atte to have to live with that forever, aren&039;t we? Not to mention the fact that every lichmaster and necromancer who knoe are will summon me away from you, Pia"
"Well, as to that, Alec has a plan," Cora said, giving him a worried look "I won&039;t say it&039;s not crazy as a coonhound, but it&039;s the only thing we can think of to fix the situation"
"A plan?" Ulfur asked, looking slightly worried
"What plan?" Kristoff demanded to know
"Crazy as a coonhound? Oh, it sounds co Kristoff&039;s arm "Dish!"
"It&039;s quite simple, really," Cora said as she leaned into hi to destroy Bael"
The silence thatto his ego, nor was the "He what? &039;Crazy as a coonhound&039; is the understatement of the year" comment as issued by Kristoff But Alec was a man driven, and he knew that if he wanted to have any sort of future with Cora, he&039;d have to do the ianization, and if there was one thing he was good at, it wasplans