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"You ever have one of those days when everything just keeps getting worse?" I asked Pia froether behind the solid wall ry va one now," she answered, casting a worried look over to the table where Sally sat with coht with excitement as she watched Brother Ailwin and about twenty men in ets to wear modern clothes while they have to wear the brown robes? " I asked Pia in a whisper

"Dunno But they have swords and he doesn&039;t, so that balances things out, don&039;t you think?"

"Hlance to the side The two vaainst the wall, watching everything, but rab either Alec or me

"At last I have found where you cower and attempt to hide from me," Brother Ailwin announced in a bossy voice as hemonks "The two Dark Ones will not keepcalled that," I said to no one in particular

"You will be mine, and with you, I will - " Brother Ailwin&039;s eyes, which had been on lanced toward Sally Both Ulfur and Diamond were next to her, and I knew the moment he realized that they were the other two Tools His jaw dropped down a good couple of inches for the count of ten; then he gave a triuether! God has indeed cast his blessings upon me, for with the three Tools, I will rule thean historic event! With the joining of the three Tools of Bael, I will beco, the age of the lich, and as its leader - "

"Christ, don&039;t you ever shut up?" Alec interrupted, and, to un and shot Brother Ailwin

Alec! I yelled

Hmm?

You shot him!

Brother Ailwin looked down at his chest in surprise As he was clad in a navy suit and pale blue shirt, the dark red stain that blossomed across his middle was clearly visible He touched a hand to it, his expression full of disbelief as he exaers "I&039;ve been shot"

Yes, I did

My mind spun around like a hah where did you get the gun?

Kristoff gave it to un I&039;ve been shot With a bullet," Brother Ailwin said, turning to show the blood on his fingers to his mini-army The monks looked back at him in confusion "The Dark One shot me"

"Liches," Sally said in an aside to Diamond

"They always state the obvious," Diamond added, and nodded

How come you didn&039;t shoot the vary

Brother Ailwin evidently got over his stupefaction, for he straightened up and glared at Alec "You will die for that - "

Alec shot hi Brother Ailwin lurched to the side, his leg buckling

"You can&039;t kill a lich as Brother Ailwin stared for a

"No, but I can put him out of corim determination to keep me safe "Kristoff?"

Love swelled within er - it was love that I felt for hihtwalker, this utterly adorable, sexier-than-sin ive up his life to keep un

"This is intolerable!" Brother Ailwin yelled "I will not be - "

Kristoff shot hi

"Stop that!" Ailwin screa me! I will not be treated in this manner! I am a powerful lichmaster, and the wielder of the three Tools of Bael, and - oh, bloody hell, I&039;ve lost the feeling in ht destroy those two Dark Ones"

"This is alht scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, but I think we should probably not wait around until he&039;s nothing but a torso," I suggested with a wary look at the two va the scene with identical expressions of polite interest

"&039;Tis but a flesh wound," Pia quoted, nodding

"Get the toward us as one of the ently down on a led re chair

The other nineteen monks started toward us, but paused when Alec and Kristoff leveled their guns "We have enough bullets to shatter the bones in all your legs," Alec told the monk army "You won&039;t make it ten feet"

The uns, down at their swords, then over to Brother Ailwin before turning back to our little group

Alec sroup, turned and in perfect formation laring furiously at them "I did not order - you cannot leave now, not when I&039;reatest victory known to lichkind! I demand that you come back here! I demand that you destroy the Dark Ones! What&039;s a few shattered thighbones when it comes todamnation! You cowards! Come back here! "

"I told you that a lich ar to her feet as tomen burst into the room "They just have no backbone, any of thees But I&039;m sure you see the wisdom of my advice now, don&039;t you, Ailwin? Oh dear, your blood is going to stain the floor if it keeps up like that You really should stanch the flow of it Jane, ain Is that the new T-shirt design? You ross or two, and I&039;ll order laring up at Jane as she stopped next to hiht have known you&039;d find out about the Tools No, no, Brother Anton, not that leg, you fool, this one The one that&039;s bleeding all over the place Wrap it tight so I can stand up long enough to wield the Tools"

"Whatthe Tools?" Jane looked even lanced around the room "Hello, everyone Eris this a Dark One convention or so? "

"Tools as in plural?" asked Eleanor, who stood with Jane inLiches rule, others drool, especially revenants T-shirts She frowned ather eyes on Sally "I could swear I know you"

Sally batted her lashes and gave a little s

Great, just e need, Brother Ailwin clueing in Jane as to e are, and how to use us Can you shoot hiladly, but it would serve no purpose I sihten away his monks and disable him, albeit teht the whisper of a thought that Eleanor ht be an entirely different subject, but wasn&039;t sure if that was justhe was truly worried about

"You have the Tools of Bael?" Jane asked Brother Ailwin

He looked furious with hi to bind up his left leg "I do You may bon before me now, before the rush to curry my favor"

"Oh, for the love of - no one has the Tools," I couldn&039;t help but say,around to Alec&039;s side

Beloved, please stand behind me, so that I can protect you

Pfft I&039;m a frickin&039; Tool I can protect you, I answered with bravado

He sighed into his ainst hi Just the feel of hination, h with happiness

Daone and fallen in love with you, I told him

He allittered with a colowed "And you pick now to tell un toward the liches "You couldn&039;t wait until ere alone?"

"Tell you what?" Pia asked

Kristoff shot her a look

"Oh That" She giggled and gave me a thumbs-up "I&039;m so happy for you both You&039;ll have to invite us to the wedding Kristoff didn&039;t want to less to Dark Ones, but in the end, he gave in, because utted him if he didn&039;t"

Kristoff rolled his eyes, and ain

I eyed Alec

"I will be happy to marry you in a mortal ceremony," he answered the look

"In a church? " I asked "My fas"

"In a church," he agreed sole!" Sally said, clapping her hands excitedly "Oh, I love weddings! You have to let h When May - she&039;s a doppelganger and the sweetest wyvern&039;sthe consort to a de, you know, I did her eous Well, except for the little nothing that Magothoutfit, but you knothe naughty bits aren&039;t included in the cere me to wear -

Don&039;t worry, my tastes are quite different fro after a h if you wanted to wear a little nothing made up of leather straps and fur, I wouldn&039;t object

I pinched his hand and twined h his

"I&039;m so confused," Jane told Eleanor

"I&039; both Alec and h I don&039;t understand why all of the Tools have been brought together That seems foolhardy to me"

Jane leaned to the side and whispered in her ear Eleanor shrugged her off with a harsh word

"I demand that you leave this instant!" Brother Ailwin shouted "They are my Tools, and I don&039;t intend to have any upstart lichrubby hands on the the Tools to lanced hesitantly at Jane "Er"

"Must I do everything?" Brother Ailwin looked h to do as he threatened

Maybe you should shoot hi

That&039;s not a bad idea, Alec answered, raising the gun

"Really, you know, you&039;re such a disturbing force here, I just can&039;t take it any longer," Sally said wearily "Nor, but nowno It&039;s intolerable Sable, please return them to the mortal world"

At the na, obviously one of Sally&039;s minions He had absolutely no neck, and muscles on his muscles, all clearly evident because he was clad only in a leopard-print G-string

We all gawked as Sable picked up a noearing Brother Ailwin under one beefy arm, and Brother Anton under the other, before he did that fabric-ofbeing tearing thing, and stepped through the tear, taking the twosometimes, but other timeswell, I&039; rehtful as it is to chat with all of you - and, Cora, I&039;m quite, quite serious about- I do have other things to attend to, and would like to wrap up this business now So if you don&039;t mind, please join the other two Tools of Bael, and we&039;ll be out of here in a few ot to be out of your ever-lovin&039; h soht Coesture

"There is no way in hell that I&039;ave me a look that was filled with disappoint into Alec "And that&039;s an &039;over my dead body&039; sort of no!"

"Really? That&039;s an awfully definite stateoing to let you use me to destroy everyone"

"Oh, I won&039;t destroy everyone," she said with an airy wave of her hand "Just the people who annoyto Alec&039;s arm "I don&039;t think so! Diamond, you really should move away frohed "Such abuse fro to help"

"Yeah, but the question is, who are you trying to help?" I snarled "It&039;s certainly not us!"

"Beloved, this is not doing any good Cease baiting Sally," Alec said with a little squeeze "The seneschal promised us that she would assist us with our plans, and despite the recent events, I expect she will do so"

Sally giggled "Well, as for that - "

"Right I think I&039;ve had just about enough of this," Eleanor interrupted as she strolled forward to Sally "I know I&039;ve had enough of your inane comments, and as for you" She turned to face Alec and me, her eyes narrowed slits "I&039;ve definitely had all I intend to take fro, indeed Not with my Dark One, you don&039;t It sounds cliche to say this, but I&039; to nonetheless: If I can&039;t have him, no one will"

I screamed as Alec shoved me away from him, not so much because of the fact that I stu into the tangled legs of a piano that lay upside down, but because Eleanor grabbed Dia her in front of her, directed a ht from Diamond directly at Alec

"Nooo!" I shrieked as Alec was thrown backward a good forty feet, blood flying in an arc, splattering against the wall as he hit it before sliding down to slump into a pile on the floor My heart stopped dead in my chest as I stared at Alec, the dark power channeled by Dia torn open his chest and shoulder, and ripped away half his throat

Kristoff and Pia ran to him as I slowly turned to look at Eleanor,in me, frozen in horror as I realized she had just killed the man I loved

I started toward her, my movements at first jerky, but by the ti more than her utter and complete destruction She killed Alec! My Alec!

Kristoff ripped off a strip of his shirt and bound it around the reood, I knew Alec couldn&039;t possibly survive such devastating daeance, you know, can be either a satisfying thing or one that lacks satisfaction," Sally said absently, polishing one of the rings she wore

I stopped as Eleanor, who had been watching Kristoff look up and shake his head at Pia, slanced at me, her face ashen as she watched Kristoff bow his head over his friend Pia dropped to her knees, sobbing The two other vae fillede ofto suffocate me

Alec was dead, and I would destroy Eleanor if it was the last thing I did

"Go to Sally," I said,out of Eleanor&039;s reach to stand on Ulfur&039;s far side

"Um" Jane backed up a couple of steps "I thinkanywhere," Eleanor said, a brittle smile on her lips as she eyed Sally "I have five hundred years of revenge to dole out, and I intend to enjoy every moment of it I don&039;t knoho you are, missy, but I do know that you have annoyedo, then I&039;ll use that blond strumpet to take down the one who stole my soul, and then Iorder to the chaos that is the world You, Jane, you e - I a Eleanor any attention Her gaze was on me, speculation evident in her eyes, and just theher e of heart?"

Iher to see the full measure of my fury "I have no heart left"

"Very well" Sally inclined her head in acknowledg to face Eleanor as I moved over the few yards to Sally&039;s side

This would be hteousness, though, claiht in hting to focus on the worieve for Alec, to mourn the loss of our future; there was only time for me to do what needed to be done, and then I would allow Bael&039;s power to consu to do? " Eleanor asked suspiciously, shooting a nervous glance at Jane as the lichan to back up toward the door "You don&039;tno, you couldn&039;t Jane, she doesn&039;t have the power to use the worew

"She&039;s a demon lord," Jane almost sta she wants I think I hear soo see what they want - "

She was out of the door before Eleanor could do so much as blink

"Such a s, too And so good with the liches," Sally told me "She has endless patience with their fussy ways"

"A deressive to subservient "IuhI didn&039;t mean any offense, if you took it It&039;s just that she took both my soul and my Dark One" Eleanor pointed at me

Sally considered me with newfound interest "Mercy I had no idea you had all that in you Did you threaten her with untold torht with pain I couldn&039;t speak, so great was the agony that threatened to claimto see Eleanor&039;s face when she realized that I would give up my life to ensure she was utterly and completely destroyed

Sally touched in before eh If you three would join hands, please"