Something gold, yes. It looked like a flattened disk when he showed it to me.
Before or after you were cast into the Akasha?
After.
Sins of the saints . . . Ulfur must have stolen all three Tools.
You think he's an Occio, too?
No, it sounds like he's the Anima di Lucifer. That used to be a dragon-shaped aquamanile. Which means that this woman must have been holding the third Tool.
"And you just met? " Diamond interrupted my thoughts with a pointed look at where I still held Alec's hand.
"Yes." I pushed away the spike of jealousy, focusing on what was important. "Diamond, when we were at the house and you were in the basement, what were you doing? "
"Taking pictures. You know that."
"No, I mean right at the moment when suddenly we were zapped here."
"Oh." She looked thoughtful. "I was examining a very pretty goblet I found that had rolled beneath the stairs. It looked valuable, and I was going to bring it up to show you, when poof!"
"Goblet?" I asked Alec.
He nodded. "The Voce di Lucifer. All three of you were holding a Tool when Bael banished Ulfur."
"Bael?" Diamond froze. "The demon lord Bael?"
"Yes." Alec looked at her with speculation that was mirrored in my mind. "Do you know him?"
"Me? Merciful sovereign, no! But I know of him, of course. Everyone does," she explained, her hands fluttering in the air as she spoke. "Are you saying Bael sent us here?"
"That's what we think," I said slowly. "Diamond, how come you know about the demon lord guy? Why didn't you see him at the house? Why aren't you freaking out about being here? And why were you so happy to go off to a breakfast of the damned without so much as wigging out one tiny little bit?"
"What is there to wig out about?" she asked with a bright smile shared between us. "It's the Akasha, not Abaddon, Cora. I've never seen a demon lord before, so I didn't know he was at the house, although it did feel as if there was a very old entrance to Abaddon somewhere on the premises. As for being here, well, I've always wanted to see the Akasha, and here we are! It's so very fascinating, don't you think? And the people here are so nice. Almost desperately pleased to have someone to talk to, if you know what I mean. Margaretta told me there were some informational meetings I could sit in on if I liked to see how things were done here, which sounds super fun, don't you think?"
She's deranged, I told Alec, staring at her in astonishment.
It's tempting to agree, but I don't think she is. I think she's . . . hmm.
She's what?
I'm not quite sure. She appears human, but that could be just a glamour. Whatever she is, I don't believe she's mundane.
Mundane?
Mortal.
I pinched his fingers. Are you saying I'm mundane, buster?
You are mortal, yes, he said with a mental leer. But you're anything but mundane in every other sense of the word.
Warmth washed through me, which I strove to keep him from feeling, but I knew by the smug smile in his mind that he felt it nonetheless.
I seriously needed to get out of here and away from this man before I lost all my wits and ended up like Jas. "I think that this is just about the worst place I've ever been in, Diamond. I've asked Alec to help us get out of here, in fact, and I think maybe you should help us think of a way out."
"Oh, that's no problem," she said, waving away something so minor as permanent occupation in the Akasha. "My great-grandmother is very resourceful. I'm sure she'll figure out something to get us out of here."
Mentally, I shook my head at that comment, but so long as she wasn't worried about being stuck here, I wasn't going to push the point.