"Alec, you're nuts."
"So I've frequently been told."
"You can't blackmail God!" she repeated.
"The Sovereign is not God per se," Terrin said tiredly. "Why do I have to keep telling you that? It's an easy concept to understand, after all. It's not like trying to plumb the unfathomable depths of a woman's mind."
"That sort of a crack isn't going to do you any good," Cora said with a sharp look at the little seneschal.
He apologized, glancing at Alec. "Just out of curiosity, not that it will happen in even the most bizarre imaginings, but let us say the Sovereign was feeling gracious. What is it you wish for it to do?"
Yeah, what? Cora asked, evidently not having probed far enough to see his plans.
"My Beloved is a Tool of Bael," Alec said, gesturing toward her.
"She is," Terrin agreed.
"There is nothing I can do that will relieve her from that burden."
Terrin eyed first Cora, then him. "No," he said at last. "Such a thing is beyond your power. Or indeed mine, for what that's worth."
"Every low sort of being in the Otherworld and mortal world will desire to use her for their own gain," Alec continued.
"Where exactly are you going with this?" Cora asked, looking a bit disgruntled. "Because so far, all it's doing is depressing me."
"Patience, mi querida."
"I imagine that is so, yes," Terrin agreed. "If you expect the Sovereign to strip the Tool from Cora, however, I'm afraid you're doomed to disappointment. Such a thing is not within the bounds of even the Sovereign. For all intents and purposes, the Occio di Lucifer and Corazon are now perfectly joined, and will never be able to be separated again."
"Exactly," Alec said, smiling.
"What am I missing?" Cora asked him.
He turned to her, taking her hands in his, kissing each one of her fingers before answering. "We must eliminate the biggest threat to you."
"The Tool? But Terrin just said - "
"That is the cause, but not the threat itself." He kissed her wrist, the hunger within him roaring to immediate life, twisting his gut with a need so great it almost made him dizzy.
She thought. "You mean the people who would use me to access Bael's power?" She shook her head. "You can't possibly eliminate all of them, Alec. That must be hundreds of people."
"Thousands, and they are just interested in the effect of you being the Tool. We must go after the source, the true danger that threatens you."
"But . . ." Her face twisted as she tried to reason it out. "The Tool gets its power from Bael. So . . . oh!" Her eyes grew round as Terrin sucked in his breath.
"You cannot think - " the little man started to say.
"You want to take down Bael?" Cora asked, her eyes searching his. "The devil? You want to destroy Satan?"
He sighed. "Cora, why do you persist - "
"All right, all right," she said quickly. "I know he's not Satan, but he's as close as dammit. Alec, you're bonkers. You can't just go after the head prince dude of hell!"
"Why not?" He gave her a reassuring smile. Really, she was the most alluring woman. Even as she was standing there fully flabbergasted, he desired her. He wanted to sink into her heat, to absorb her warmth, to let all those dark corners of his mind be lit up by the glow of her being. "Normally the princes have a battle each millennium to name a new premier prince. For some reason, Bael did not allow that, and has remained on the throne, so to speak, for well past his time. I simply seek the Sovereign's help in removing him."
Terrin's jaw worked up and down a couple of times before he could speak. "The Sovereign does not concern itself with the doings of Abaddon."
"No?" Alec pulled Cora into his arms, his mind preoccupied with the lush curves of her body, with her scent, with the beat of her heart. He let her see just how much he wanted her, needed her, at that moment. Awareness flared in her eyes, and she swayed against him, wordlessly offering herself.
"It is out of the question. Wholly out of the question."
"It would be a worthy cause," Alec murmured against Cora's temple as he breathed deeply.
"The Sovereign does not get involved with mortal concerns. It leaves that to the vessels."
"Ah, but this is not a concern that deals solely with mortals." He kissed the line of her jaw, leashing the overwhelming hunger that rode him so hard. "You