Isn't that the monk guy who was here a little bit ago? I asked as Alec slowly rose, reminding 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's body language.
"Hello again!" Eleanor said brightly. "Interesting things have happened since you were last here. Would you like to hear about them? I'm thinking about detailing my experiences on a blog. And maybe a Facebook page. I wonder how much the domain 'alecisajackass. com' would cost?"
"I have come for the Tool!" Brother Ailwin announced after giving Eleanor a disbelieving look.
"OK, that is really going to get old fast," I muttered, glaring at him.
"Release my Beloved," Kristoff demanded.
"I have no argument with you, Dark One," Brother Ailwin told him in a dramatic tone, pausing to add in a much less aggressive 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 Kristoff may crack a tooth or two if he doesn't stop grinding his teeth like that, I told Alec. I had gotten to my feet, as well, intending on moving to Alec so he could use me to blast the bad monk, but Alec had moved very slowly behind the couch, obviously getting into a flanking position to help Kristoff.
Move to the windows, Cora.
Why?
You'll be out of harm's way.
I may be afraid of mice, and I may not be up to tackling Bael, but I am not such a coward or a wimp that I have to be kept out of the way, I said indignantly.
"Release my Beloved," Kristoff said again.
That is not what I am worried about.
"I will if you give me the Tool of Bael." Brother Ailwin shot me a look that had me upping the wattage in my glare. "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 someone resurrect you into lich form, and you can't get so much as the time of day," Eleanor snarked.
"Look, I'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't. So you can just knock off the guilt trip, because it's not going to work!" I told her.
She sniffed and looked away.
Brother Ailwin clapped his hands together. "Brother Godwin! Brother Esmund!"
Two men appeared out of nothing, both clad in long brown monk's robes, ropes bound around their middles. Their hair wasn'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 monks," I told Alec. Are they ghosts or something?
Liches, like Eleanor. Brother Ailwin is a lichmaster.
"Take the Tool," Ailwin ordered the two liches, who started toward me, but Alec leaped in front of me.
"Like hell you will," he growled.
"Halt!" Brother Ailwin cried, spinning Pia around so we could see her face. The point of the dagger slid a tiny bit into her neck, making her eyes open wide. She stared at Kristoff, who obviously was only barely restraining himself from smashing Brother Ailwin into monk pulp. "One move from either of you, and I'll remove her head. You, woman. Come here."
"How do you know I'm a Tool?" I asked, then closed my eyes for a moment. "I cannot believe I just said that sentence."
"I can," Eleanor said.
I took a deep breath and asked, "How do you know that I'm a Tool of Bael?"
"You are glowing," he said simply, and added as an afterthought, "And I heard that one of my rivals had a lich who stole the Tools, but they were later imbued into three inpiduals. You are obviously one of those inpiduals, and with you at my side, I will have no difficulty in destroying the other lichmasters."