"You ever have one of those days when everything just keeps getting worse?" I asked Pia from where we stood huddled together behind the solid wall made up of two large, angry vampires.
"I think I'm having one now," she answered, casting a worried look over to the table where Sally sat with composed grace, her eyes bright with excitement as she watched Brother Ailwin and about twenty men in monk outfits pour into the room.
"How come Brother Ailwin gets 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't, so that balances things out, don't you think?"
"Hmm." I slid a glance to the side. The two vamps from the Moravian Council stood leaning against the wall, watching everything, but making no attempt to grab 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 he marched into the room, trailed by two lines of sword-bearing monks. "The two Dark Ones will not keep me from you this time, Tool."
"I really hate being called that," I said to no one in particular.
"You will be mine, and with you, I will - " Brother Ailwin's eyes, which had been on me, widened as he glanced 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 triumphant crow and pointed at them. "The three Tools of Bael! Together! God has indeed cast his blessings upon me, for with the three Tools, I will rule the mortal and immortal worlds! Brothers, you are witnessing an historic event! With the joining of the three Tools of Bael, I will become the most powerful being to ever exist! A new age is dawning, the age of the lich, and as its leader - "
"Christ, don't you ever shut up?" Alec interrupted, and, to my utter amazement, pulled out a gun 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 examined the red on his fingers. "I've been shot."
Yes, I did.
My mind spun around like a hamster wheel for a few seconds. Oh. Well done. Although where did you get the gun?
Kristoff gave it to me. He thought we might need it.
"That is a gun. I'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't shoot the vamps?
It wouldn't have done anything but make them angry.
Brother Ailwin evidently got over his stupefaction, for he straightened up and glared at Alec. "You will die for that - "
Alec shot him again, this time in the leg. Brother Ailwin lurched to the side, his leg buckling.
"You can't kill a lichmaster, can you? " I asked, watching as Brother Ailwin stared for a moment at his leg.
"No, but I can put him out of commission for a bit," Alec answered, his mind filled with grim determination to keep me safe. "Kristoff?"
Love swelled within me. I couldn't deny it any longer - it was love that I felt for him, this bloodsucking fiend, this nightwalker, this utterly adorable, sexier-than-sin man who I knew would literally give up his life to keep me safe.
With a sigh, Kristoff pulled out a small gun.
"This is intolerable!" Brother Ailwin yelled. "I will not be - "
Kristoff shot him in the other leg.
"Stop that!" Ailwin screamed as he fell to the ground. "Stop shooting 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've lost the feeling in my left leg. Brother Anton, assist me to a chair so that I might destroy those two Dark Ones."