“You amaze me, you humans,” Alucard said. “All this way to save one lousy slab of meat? You’re not fearless; I can see that by the twitching of your lips, however slight. Which means you’re facing your fears. A noble thing.”

“Loyalty,” Johnis said. “Something you have no inkling about.”

“True. I would as quickly slit Teeleh’s throat as yours; he knows that. But I can’t.”

“Darsal,” Johnis snapped. “If you can’t lead me to her, you’re worthless to me.”

“So you come into my home with your precious water and play master.”

“I have no interest in being your master.”

Alucard sat down and turned back to a book on his desk. The torch cast light over an obscured title. “Your friends aren’t here,” the Shataiki said. “They left with a very precious possession of mine.”

“One of the books,” Johnis said.

“Do you know what the books can do?” Alucard asked, tracing a single black talon over the cover of the book in front of him. Then he told them, relishing his words.

“All seven and the rules which bind them are broken. Used together the original seven books can undo it all.”

“For evil,” Silvie said. “I wouldn’t think you’d need the books to ply your trade.”

“Not just evil.” Alucard turned his head and stared at them with red eyes, unable to hide the smirk on his jaw. “Good always wins. You wonder why? Because it’s more powerful. Evil ultimately leads to the discovery of good. Even the death of the Maker would end in some kind of good.” He spat a thick wad of green mucus at the wall, where it slowly slid down to the floor.

“But all seven books used together changes that. The glory is hardly imaginable. It would change everything.” Alucard slammed a fist on the desk. “Everything!”

“The Dark One seeks seven,” Johnis muttered.

“The Dark One.” Alucard chuckled, a phlegm-popping, raspy affair. “Unfortunately, only four of the books are here. Or should I say were here before your friends disappeared with them. A bad thing, because those four are needed to find the three books in the lesser reality.”

Johnis knew he was learning more than he could hope to understand in one sitting. Being here in this underground lair was maybe not as much a consequence of Billos’s indiscretion as part of their mission to find the books.

“What lesser reality?” Silvie asked.

“Open a book and find out. And it’s not the place your friends went off to, not unless they have all four and opened one, in which case we’re all wasting time.”

A faint clicking sound ran down the tunnel behind them. Johnis focused his thoughts on the task at hand. Darsal.

“She’s not here. Then why shouldn’t I just kill you and leave?”