"It's just me," Kristoff said, heaving the door aside before waving them out. "Julian's gone. You can come out."
"Oh, thank god. There's a mouse in there!" Cora said, giving a visible shudder before hurrying out of the room.
Kristoff looked past Alec to the shadows, where the rat stopped cleaning itself to consider them. "Indeed," was all he said before Alec helped him push the door back into place.
"I assume, since you're not escorting me out in handcuffs, that the messenger didn't convince you to turn me over to them?" Alec asked as they trooped back upstairs.
"Did you think I would?" Kris asked, a smile on his lips.
"It would have been sweet revenge."
"We don't want revenge," Pia said as they entered the same sitting room they had been in earlier. She held out a cup to Cora, plying her with food as the two women sat opposite each other. "We never have. That's why we had Eleanor's remains found and brought back to life. Even before that, we didn't want it. Kristoff spoke on your behalf after the council had you banished, but those new vampires who took Rowan's and Andreas's places on the council are bastards. Well, and that Sebastian guy, who I have never liked."
"He's had a hard time of it. He's still recovering from being tortured by a demon lord," Alec said with a little smile at Cora as he sat next to her on the couch. She ate three ginger cookies rapidly. I'm sorry, love, I didn't know you were hungry, or I would have asked Pia to feed you.
It just kind of hit me when I saw all the goodies. Is that lemon pound cake? It is! I love lemon pound cake!
Alec pushed the plate of cake closer to Cora, who murmured something to Pia before taking two slices.
"Oh, Kristoff told me why Sebastian's such a big pain in the butt, but that doesn't make him any easier to take. Cora, if you like the pound cake, you have to try the cream cheese pinwheels. I get them from a little bakery in town, and they are to die for. I've always said that if you're going to eat for two, you might as well eat what you like. And by 'eat for two' I don't mean I'm having a baby, so you can just put your eyeballs back in, Alec. I meant being responsible for feeding a vamp gives you a bit more license to indulge."
"My eyeballs were in no danger of popping out, thank you," he said drily, leaning back, one arm draped over Cora's shoulders as she and Pia consumed just about every last bit of food. "Where is Eleanor?"
"Still pouting in her bedroom. She had some not very nice things to say about you, which I'm afraid I encouraged."
Cora looked surprised. "Why did you encourage that? "
Pia smiled at them both. "Because she didn't know that Alec wasn't down here, so she was more than happy to stay upstairs and nurse her grudge in private. Which meant she didn't see the messenger."
"What did Julian say?" Alec asked, needing to know the worst. He had to protect Cora from whatever penalty the council would mete out on him.
"The council knows you're out, of course," Kristoff answered, sitting next to Pia on the love seat. "They assume you'll come here. I told them I would tell them if I saw you."
Alec's eyebrows rose. "You lied?"
"Of course. But that's not going to fool them for long, Alec. Julian didn't outright accuse me of having you hidden away, but he did notice your car, and he's not stupid. He'll be back. And when he does . . ." Kristoff's gaze shifted to Cora.
"Why do I have a feeling that what you're not saying is something I'm really going to dislike? " she asked him.
Alec tangled his fingers in her hair, idly stroking her neck as he mulled over the possibilities. "I will have to leave."
"Yes, but that's not the answer," Kristoff said, meeting his gaze with one that spoke volumes. "They'll simply follow you."
"Do they have some sort of special vampire tracking ability?" Cora asked, worry uppermost in her mind. "Will they be able to find you quickly, I mean?"
"Not if I don't wish to be found, no. But Kristoff is correct that they won't give up - they'll continue to track me until they find me and return me to the Akasha."
"Well, don't let them," she said, sounding indignant at the thought. "I went to a lot of trouble to have that Guardian pull you out of there. Maybe if you talked to them - "
Pia and Kristoff were shaking their heads right along with him. "We tried that," Pia said, wiping her fingers on a linen napkin before sitting back. "We talked ourselves blue in the face, but they absolutely would not listen. They maintain that Alec's actions have indirectly caused the deaths of Dark Ones, and that he should pay for that. That's why we resurrected Eleanor."
Cora's shoulders dropped as she leaned into him, delighting his senses with her warm, feminine feel and scent. "Maybe you could hide, then, somewhere that they won't find you."
"It's possible," he said, wondering if she'd consent to shut herself away with him.
"Possible, but not reasonable," Kristoff said, frowning. "They'll find you, Alec."
"There is one solution," Pia said, her hand on Kristoff's leg. She glanced at him before continuing.