glowing red. "Do not think that my generosity with you in the past will affect my punishment of this insurrection."
"It's mutiny, I think. Isn't it?" Sally asked Diamond.
Alec lurched over to Cora's side, wrapping one arm around her protectively. Do not fear, Beloved. I am here to protect you.
My fear is for you, not me, silly, she answered, but with her words came a warm rush of love so great it almost brought him to his knees in profound gratitude. You idiot man, you.
"Death will seem like heaven by the time I'm done with you," Bael snarled at Sally, impotent to act, clearly bound by his own power that Sally was using against him. The three Tools stood in a semicircle before her, their hands touching, providing an arc through which the power was focused directly at Bael, bathing the demon lord in a blue-black light.
"Here, Alec, sit in this." Pia dragged the mangled remains of a chair over toward him. He didn't spare it so much as a glance.
"Your death, when it pleases me to end your torment, will be my most exquisite act yet," Bael promised her, his voice stretched thin as he fought the bonds of his own power. "I will make you wish that no woman had ever pushed you from her body!"
Diamond giggled.
"Oh, Bael, and I hoped we could do this without threats and name-calling," Sally said, sadly shaking her head.
"Hope has deserted you," Bael growled in a voice that made Alec want to push Cora behind him.
"You think?" Sally tipped her head to the side, and smiled. "You know, for one of the most powerful beings on the planet, you're awfully careless about what goes on in Abaddon, specifically . . . but no, you probably aren't interested."
"Careless? I am never careless. Every action, every detail, has been part of my master plan." Bael looked almost insulted at such an accusation. "Do not allow your ignorance to confuse lack of attention with indepth schemes the like of which you will never understand."
"Really? " Sally gave a one-shouldered shrug. "So then you knew all along who I am?"
Alec heard something in her voice that had him (painfully and with much stiffness) turning to look at her. Kristoff's eyebrows were raised, indicating that he, too, had picked up on it. He glanced at Cora. She seemed perfectly in control, her expression serene.
Bael's eyes narrowed until they were little black slits. "Your role in my plan has always been minor, and thus, your origins concern me not."
"Oh, you say things like that and I just can't resist showing you," she responded with a light, tinkling laugh, and for an infinitesimally small fraction of a second, a golden flash of light blinded Alec. It was gone before he could even blink, but he knew by the expression of profound disbelief on Bael's face that he hadn't imagined it.
"You . . . that can't . . . how . . ." Bael got a grip on himself and took a deep breath, obviously in preparation for what was likely to be a group-wide curse. Alec couldn't risk Cora being injured, and lurched toward the demon lord to stop him.
"Silence!" Sally commanded, her voice a whipcrack that was almost painful to hear. Alec hesitated, glancing at her. "As delightful as it would be to chitchat more, Diamond has things to do, and Cora's Dark One appears to be under the misimpression that he is well enough to stand, so I'll cut this short and simply say that Bael, known also as Beelzebub, premiere prince of Abaddon, ruler of seven hundred legions, by this light, by my virtue, by my being, I do banish thee."
Bael's scream of pure hate was a horrible thing to behold, the rage in it so great, it slammed through the room with the impact of a small bomb. Alec staggered backward, doing his best to protect Cora from it despite the pain that seared through his still damaged body. He gritted his teeth, fighting to keep from losing consciousness, determined with every atom of his being to protect her or die trying.
So melodramatic. Are you going to be like this when you get a cold? Because my ex-husband used to be the biggest baby in the world whenever he got sick or hurt, but he has nothing on the sort of thing you're thinking right now. As if I'd let you die.
You seem to be confused about our roles, he answered, slowly straightening up as the