|
|
How to Treat Your
Lover
by Tami
Chapter 48
Chapter 48: Step 3 – Estrangement (Part 15)
Breckenridge, Colorado
The early evening mountain air was already frigid outside the windows, shuttered behind the heavy curtains. Inside, three fat candles sat on the nightstand, their light giving the room a warm glow. On the bed, two vampires lay entwined, fused at the mouth.
The blonde vampire kicked free of the cumbersome tangle of sheets as he rolled his lover over onto his back. The dark vampire opened his mouth, allowing the blonde to explore the recesses, but then turned the tables and rolled the younger vampire under him. His hand slid up his lover’s arm, caressing the smooth skin and linked their fingers together. The dark vampire swallowed the blonde’s groan when he thrust forward into the smaller body. Breaking the kiss, he moved lower to suck on the scar that marred the blonde’s otherwise perfect neck.
Spike groaned and pressed his head against Angel, nudging against him and clawing his nails down Angel’s back over the gryphon tattoo as he arched under his Sire’s touch. Suddenly, he found himself rolled over onto his stomach under his mate’s bulk. He growled and arched when Angel penetrated his body simultaneously with fangs and cock. Spike gripped the iron posts of the headboard until his knuckles turned white while Angel had a death-grip on his wildly bucking hips as he rode him hard, rubbing his throbbing erection against the mattress.
“Fuck, Angel! I need to cum, now!” Spike growled through clenched teeth. His response was his mate thrusting harder, subsequently rubbing his cock raw against the bed linens. Spike was afraid to even try and open his mind to Angel now. As animalistic as their coupling had become on this vacation with Angel’s voracious passion, Spike knew it would engulf him like a tidal wave crashing through his body.
Angel suckled at the rich blood that trickled over his tongue. He barely heard Spike’s growls over the roaring in his ears as he continually tried to bury his cock deep inside the receptive body under him.
“Angel, please,” Spike gasped, feeling his Sire fill him even as his blood poured into the other vampire’s mouth.
Spike’s voice registered in Angel’s brain, but he couldn’t break away to respond. All of his attention was drawn to the overpowering, euphoric sensation rushing through his veins. Those sensations drove him to surge deeper into Spike’s body, until he couldn’t move another inch. With his cock buried as deep as possible, Angel bit down into Spike’s neck until he hit his gum line with a growl.
“Jesus Christ, Angel!” Spike yelled as the orgasm ripped through him.
Retracting his fangs, Angel swallowed the blood in great gulps as he bucked against Spike and poured his essence into his mate. His body was still shuddering from the explosive climax three minutes later.
Spike collapsed when Angel released him and fell back on the bed. Spike dozed as Angel panted from the heady elixir. He could feel Spike’s blood rush through his body. It was almost like being alive. Angel stared at the ceiling waiting for his adrenalin to slow down. Sex with Spike was intoxicating, to say the least.
“Spike?”
“Mmm?”
“Are you okay?”
“Mmmhmmm.”
“Why aren’t you saying anything?”
“What can be said after something like that?” Spike mumbled.
Angel turned to look at Spike and saw the damage he’d wrought. The bite mark was already healing, but it would leave a jagged scar. He was
a clean biter, normally, but Spike’s neck was going to resemble that of an animal attack.
“God, Spike, I’m so sorry,” Angel whispered. He leaned closer and licked away the traces of blood.
“No you’re not. You enjoyed it too much, ponce,” Spike grumbled into the pillow.
“Okay, so I’m not completely sorry. I couldn’t help myself. I don’t know what came over me,” Angel said apologetically, lazily trailing his fingertips along Spike’s spine.
“I get that reaction a lot,” Spike teased and was rewarded with a slap to his bare ass.
**************************
Los Angeles, Hyperion Hotel, Day
“We’re back!”
Wesley glared at his translation of ‘The Champion Will Fall From Grace’. He looked up when he heard Fred’s voice and saw her, Gunn, Spike and Angel come into the lobby. He closed a book over the notepad and slowly stood up, stretching the kinks out of his back. He walked out of the manager’s office with a solemn look on his face and met the group at the reception desk.
“Geez, Wes! Have you been in there all weekend?” Angel asked, glancing at the office window and the books littering the desk.
“It was a rather tough prophecy to translate,” Wesley started to explain.
“What the hell happened to the hotel?” Gunn cut in as he surveyed the cracks in the walls.
“Uh, there was an earthquake . . .” Wesley started to explain the situation.
“Right, mate, I’m sure it was very exciting, but the story will have to wait until after I’ve had a few glasses of blood,” Spike cut in as
he dropped his bags and headed for the kitchen. “I can’t imagine why I’ve so ravenous.”
Angel glared pointedly at Spike’s back and then cleared his throat when his three companions looked in askance at him.
“What?” he shrugged and shook his head. Just then the low sounds of a guitar and a woman’s voice could be heard from the courtyard. “Who is that singing?”
“Oh, Lorne is seeing a client in the garden,” Wesley explained absentmindedly.
“She’s good,” Angel commented as he headed for the double doors. He walked out and stood in the shadows of the terrace.
A young woman with long blonde hair sang, “I fell so far . . . a light went out in my heart. You’re gone . . . now I’m left alone in the dark.” She stopped and turned to Lorne, “Do you see anything?”
“I see you’re plenty scared. It’s alright. Keep going,” he replied.
She continued to sing as Angel went back into the hotel just in time to see Fred come down the stairs with her cell phone. She’d apparently gone up to her room and put her luggage away.
“Are you crazy? It’s the best state in the Union,” she was saying. “What’s wrong with Texas? Texas doesn’t hate the black man. Texas loves the black man. Well, most of Texas, anyone with a brain, at least. What’s so great about California?”
The doors opened behind Angel and Gunn walked in from stowing his luggage in his truck, talking on his cell phone. “Everything: it’s got the climate, the ocean . . .”
“The earth that opens up and swallows you whole,” Fred interjected.
“The Lakers, the music,” Gunn cut in as they walked across the lobby towards each other, still talking on their phones.
“The traffic, the smog,” Fred added.
“It’s got you,” Gunn smiled as he stopped in front of her.
Fred closed her phone and smiled back. “Okay, you win.”
“Hi,” he grinned foolishly.
“Glad to see you’re using the company phones for such important calls,” Wesley grumbled.
Gunn closed his phone and asked sardonically, “Did you want me to pay for that?”
“Oh, leave off, Wes. Let the lovebirds have some fun,” Spike said as he joined them with his fourth glass of blood in hand. He’d spent the last several minutes in the kitchen drinking blood as soon as the microwave could work its magic.
Just then, Lorne popped his head in the door. “Ah, guys? I think there’s something you should . . . ah, can you come here for a sec?”
Spike, glass in hand, followed the group out to the courtyard. He and Angel stayed in the shadows of the entrance as the others crowded around the terrace.
“Everybody, this is my friend, Kim,” Lorne said as he put his arm around the girl’s shoulder. Addressing her, he assured her, “It’s all right. They’re professionals. Just take it from the chorus.”
Kim started to sing, “My heart is breaking in two . . . no love, no light left, no you . . .” Suddenly, her face morphed into that of an ugly, gray-skinned demon and she growled, “I’ll hack your eyeballs out and rip your children in two!” Green drool started to drip from her mouth. As quickly as it appeared, her face morphed back to human.
“It’s okay. I got you. It’s all right,” Lorne whispered to her as he hugged her. Turning to the others, he commented, “Catchy finish, huh?”
“Kim, if you would come in to the office, we’ll discuss . . . you’re situation and have it cleared up in no time,” Wesley suggested.
Kim carried her guitar into the hotel and set it down the round settee in the lobby before following Lorne and Wesley into the office. Fred hurried to make the woman a cup of tea as the others piled into the small office.
“Kim is good people,” Lorne explained to the room. “She came to see me a couple of years ago.”
“He put me on my true path,” Kim filled in.
Lorne smiled indulgently. “She was throwing her life away in medical school when she should have been a singer.”
“Yeah, who needs more doctors in the world when you can have singing demons,” Gunn commented.
“Well, the demon part is new,” Kim said.
“She hooked up with the band a couple of weeks ago and . . .” Lorne started to explain.
“They were mellow, organic types. They never touched drugs or played a diminished chord,” Kim cut in. “Then they started changing. Stevie, the lead guitar player, grew a seventh finger like overnight.”
“Seventh?” Spike brows rose.
“He already had six. I just thought . . . I don’t really know what I thought,” Kim shook her head. “And Raw, the drummer, suddenly sprouted that spiny thing on his back.”
Wesley and Fred wore gloves as they bent over a microscope sitting on the desk.
“And they started playing this beyond industrial trash noise funk day and night. And then it happened to me. Well, you all saw it. Am I going to turn into that?”
“No. You’re human,” Wesley assured her as he looked up from the microscope. “They’re not. What’s happening to you isn’t permanent. It’s just an infection.”
“Which you can get rid of by taking twenty milligrams of Cylenthium powder twice a day for a month,” Fred added.
When Kim looked confused, Lorne explained, “It’s a mystical antibiotic. I’ll get you some.”
Fred held up a glass slide. “I thought your saliva was suspect, what with being green and all – no offense, Lorne. Under the microscope it showed traces of Penloxia.”
“Oh,” Lorne said.
“They’re Wraithers?” Spike inquired.
“What’s that?” Kim asked.
“Demons that can make themselves look human for a time,” Wesley replied and showed her an entry in one of the many books scattered across the desk. “Ten days, two weeks and then they revert back to what they really are.”
“I wonder why they would want to look like musicians,” Gunn inquired.
“For the chicks,” Angel replied, “Musicians always get the chicks!” When everyone looked at him, he scoffed, “What? They’re going to appear as dentists? Let’s take them out. Where are they?”
“In a rehearsal space,” Kim replied. “It’s an old loading dock behind the Shop ’n Go in Echo Park.”
“Percy?” Spike prompted.
“You’ll have to kill them. It’s the only thing you can do with Wraithers. You, Angel and Gunn can go. Fred, stay here and watch the shop. I have some business to take care of.”
“I’ll just stay here with Fred and Kim until you get this all sorted out,” Lorne offered.
“Guys, shouldn’t we call Cordelia and the Groosalug back into action? I mean, if one of us gets hurt, say, killing Wraithers for example. We’re going to need some backup around here, right?” Fred suggested.
“Nah, I don’t want to disturb her. It’s the first real break she’s had in years,” Angel replied.
“Besides, it’s only a couple of Wraithers. What could go wrong?” Spike added.
“Three, actually,” Kim interjected.
“See, piece of cake!” Angel said excitedly. “I’m up for it! Who’s with me?”
**************************
Loading Dock in Echo Park
The band played their industrial-punk music while a couple of girls danced in front of the stage.
Suddenly, a trash can shattered one of the windows beside the stage and the music abruptly ended. Gunn stepped through the broken window with a crossbow in hand, followed by Angel and Spike who were holding a large comforter over their heads to shield them from the deadly UV rays.
“Dude! You’re paying for that window,” the singer yelled.
“No, I’m not,” Gunn replied.
The drummer stood up behind his drum kit. “Wait, are you the A&R guys? This isn’t even the whole band. We got a killer chick who sings! Hey, don’t worry about the window, Holmes.”
“We’re not the A&R guys. We’re just here to kill you,” Angel announced.
“Ah, dude, they want to kill us,” the drummer sounded bummed over it.
“Okay, but they’re still paying for the window,” the singer said.
The drummer leapt off the stage and Gunn hit him, sending him stumbling back against the stage as the groupies let out a scream.
“Get out of here, you stupid bints!” Spike yelled as he jumped into the fray.
Gunn raised his weapon as the three Wraithers squared off against him. The demons suddenly came to a halt.
“Oh, come on! Take it like a demon!” Gunn whined.
Twin growls sounded and Gunn turned to see that Angel and Spike were snarling at them in full vampire visage. They leapt at the stage from opposite sides, tackling the three demons to the ground. Then, they started to pummel the demons like there was no tomorrow.
Gunn stared in shock as his friends turned the stage into a fighting arena. He kicked the occasional Wraither when it came his way, but Angel and Spike were tossing them around like rag dolls. Gunn shot one of the Wraithers in the throat with an arrow. All was quiet as Spike and Angel each tossed a demon aside.
Still in vampire visage, Spike tossed an arm aside, “That was fun. I haven’t had a good brawl like that in ages.”
**************************
Los Angeles, Holtz’s Mansion
“Mr. Wyndham-Pryce, how nice to see you again,” Holtz said as Wesley was caught up by two of his men upon entering the room.
Turning to see the intruder, Justine demanded, “What the hell do you want?”
“Don’t be rude, Justine. He’s our guest,” Holtz admonished. He signaled the men to release Wesley and leave. “And in the throes of a very difficult decision, I’d imagine.” He used his knife to cut off a slice of apple and offered it to Wesley.
“No thank you,” the former watcher declined. “I don’t want to see anyone get hurt: your soldiers or mine.”
“I share your hatred of violence, Mr. Wyndham-Pryce and I’ve made out a good deal of it in my lifetime than Angelus has in his.”
“Angel,” Wesley clarified.
“Whatever you wish to call him,” Holtz shrugged. “I will never agree that he has somehow been absolved from the past by the presence of his soul.”
“He’s a vampire, end of discussion,” Justine said as she stepped closer to Wesley, brandish a knife. “And I bet you a dollar this one’s here to stab us in the back.”
Wesley just looked at her, unfazed. “Who did you lose?”
“What?” Justine asked, taken aback by the question.
“You’re in Holtz’s army, ready to kill others and die for the cause. You must have lost someone very important to you,” Wesley surmised.
“That’s none of your business,” Justine scowled.
“Her twin sister Julia was murdered by vampires,” Holtz replied.
“You’ve lost family. I’m sorry,” Wesley said in all sincerity as he stepped closer to her. “Angel and the people I work with are my family. When I say I don’t want to see anyone get hurt . . .” he suddenly grabbed Justine’s knife hand and twisted her around so that her back was to him, grabbing her throat with his other hand, “I mostly mean them.”
Holtz held up a hand to stop the rest of his group from interfering as Justine gasped for breath in Wesley’s grip.
“I don’t stab people in the back,” Wesley said menacingly as he tossed her back to Holtz.
“You’re an honest man,” Holtz stated as he took the knife from Justine. “I trust you, and you can trust me.”
“Funny that I don’t,” Wesley said.
Sitting back down, Holtz continued, “Your problem isn’t with me right now. Your problem is with Angelus and that abomination he’s mated to. You know you have to do something about it. You know that if you don’t, I will.” He stood up and moved closer to Wesley. “Don’t misunderstand me, I won’t attack and endanger other innocent lives unless I’m forced to. But I will make that demon pay for what he did to my Caroline and my children.”
“How long do I have?” Wesley asked.
“I’ll give you one day. You may not trust me, but I trust you to do what’s right. Twenty-four hours, after that . . . anyone standing in my way will get hurt.”
Wesley left the mansion without another word.
**************************
Los Angeles, Hyperion Hotel
“So, Sammy’s at the Flamingo, and Frank, Dino, Peter, Joey and Shirley are all front row center. Well, Sammy starts singing I Did It My Way, and then he stops and says ‘I can’t sing this song in front you, Frank.’ The crowd loves it. They’re laughing. So, then Frank calls out, ‘Hey, you’re short, you’re one-eyed, and I heard somewhere you’re Jewish. Don’t be intimidated!’ The crowd goes wild,” Lorne said, regaling Fred and Kim with stories of the Rat Pack. He broke off as the door opened and Spike, Angel and Gunn strode in. “So, how’d it go?”
“The Wraithers are no more,” Gunn replied.
“We tore them apart,” Angel said.
“Literally,” Spike added.
“Well, okay then, I think it’s safe to escort Kim home,” Lorne said. He helped her up and walked with her out of the hotel.
**************************
Los Angeles, Night
Wesley walked down the sidewalk heading for home. A child ran out of a house to greet his father as Wesley passed by on the way to his apartment. After the father took his child back inside, Wesley stopped dead in his tracks.
“Oh, for God’s sake,” he whispered and then louder, “I know you’re better at following people than this.” He turned around and after a moment Justine stepped out from behind one of the trees, lining the road. “So, what’s your game?”
“I just . . .” she stepped closer, “Need to talk to you. I’m alone. He doesn’t know that I’m . . . I want to talk to you about him.”
“Holtz?” Wesley clarified. “He’s a great guy, not overly tall. Is this where you offer to help me behind his back?” He turned and started walking away.
“Do you believe in anything? Or is it all just a big scam to you?” Justine asked as she followed him.
“You’re a soldier, fight to the death kind, I respect that. You work for a man you think is noble and good, I respect that, too. Trouble is he’s not.”
“You work with a vampire.” It sounded more like an accusation.
Wesley turned to face her. “Who in fact is noble and good. Quirky, but there it is. Holtz talks about justice and it’s stirring, but what he wants is revenge. He’s driven by it, blinded by it, and if you, me, or anyone else gets in his way, he’ll kill for it.”
“You’re wrong,” Justine insisted. “You don’t know him. Everything he’s done for me, for all of us . . .”
“It sounds like a nice little cult,” Wesley said.
“He gave you his word,” she said. “He’ll keep it. You’re the one who’s blind.”
“How so?”
“What you’re about to do to your friend? I imagine it’s easier to hate Holtz than yourself.”
“There’s enough to go around for both him and me,” Wesley said blandly. “Be careful,” he warned before walking away.
**************************
Los Angeles, Hyperion Hotel, an Hour Later
Wesley walked into the lobby and saw Spike at the reception desk perusing a medieval weapons catalog.
“Where are Fred and Gunn?” Wesley asked.
“Out, getting food,” Spike replied, not looking up from his catalog. “That girl can put it away.”
“And Angel, Lorne?”
“Lorne took that woman home. I haven’t seen him since and Angel’s in the shower,” Spike said finally looking up at Wesley.
Wesley squeezed his eyes shut at the image that popped into his head. “Thank you for the image I now have to scrub from my mind, Spike.”
“Glad to be of service, mate,” Spike smirked as he got to his feet, grabbed his jacket and a stake before heading for the door. “Now that you’re back, I’m going out to patrol. Unlike you lot, I can’t sit around and wait for a case to fall in my lap. If the poof asks, send him out to help.”
Wesley opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it. Even if he did warn Spike about the possible dangers Holtz and his small group posed, he didn’t think Spike would appreciate the gesture. He watched Spike leave and then went back to his books.
Twenty minutes after Spike left, Angel came down the stairs. Seeing no one in the lobby, he poked his head in the manager’s office. “Where is everybody?”
“Fred and Gunn went out for food. Lorne still hasn’t returned from taking that girl home,” Wesley replied.
“Have you ever heard of a time-traveling demon by the name of Sahjahn?” Angel asked.
“No, who is that?” Wesley asked.
“He brought Holtz here. I’ve seen him around a couple of times. Like in that alley when Holtz had his crossbow trained on me. I don’t know him from Adam. Maybe you can hit the books?” Angel suggested.
Angel and Wesley turned to see Fred and Gunn come in the front door ladened down with food cartons.
“Hey, where’s Spike and Lorne? They better show up before Fred eats their hoagies,” Gunn teased.
“I will not!” Fred retorted then confessed, “I already had two – unless they really aren’t here?”
“Lorne’s still out. Where is Spike anyway? I left him down here when I went to take a shower,” Angel asked confused.
Gunn shrugged and bit into his sandwich. “His loss.”
Angel turned to Wesley. “Where did you say he went?”
“I don’t know. He didn’t say exactly. I think he went on patrol or something.” Wesley started to collect a stack of books. “You know, I’ve got some more reference materials for your demon at home. I’ll just call it a night, go home and scan through them.”
Angel noted Wesley’s odd behavior, but let it pass for the moment. “Okay, but call me if you find anything.”
“I’ll see everyone tomorrow then,” Wesley said and scurried out of the hotel before anyone can question him more.
“I’m going to go see if I can track down Spike. He probably got restless and needed to get out and hunt something. Can you guys stay here and hold down the fort?” Angel asked.
Angel was headed towards the coat rack in the lobby to grab his jacket when the front doors opened and Holtz strode in. Suddenly, several others from the vampire hunter’s crew materialized from different places around the lobby. Two of them even came halfway down either side of the staircase. The three AI members looked around, visually marking Holtz’s entire posse.
Angel finally glared at Holtz. “Why don’t you come right on in?”
“How has life been treating you?” Holtz asked gruffly.
“Just fine,” Angel said as his eyes darted around measuring Holtz’s members as they closed in, raising their weapons, all them trained on him.
“So, where’s your friend? The one with bleach blonde hair,” Holtz asked in feigned interest.
“He’s gone out. I’m sure he’ll be all broken up when he finds out he missed your visit,” Angel replied sarcastically.
“I’m sure he’ll turn up somewhere. It looks like you made a nice life for yourself here: cozy little enterprise, nice group of friends, found someone you care about,” Holtz said.
“Are you here to fight or shall I make some tea?” Angel said casually.
Addressing his men, Holtz ordered, “I want to keep Angelus alive – but not well.”
At his command, Holtz’s men attacked, Angel and Gunn fought back. Angel tossed one opponent into the weapons cabinet, breaking the glass doors. Then, Angel systematically worked his way through a throng of Holtz’s men. Making his way to the cabinet, he tossed a sharpened baseball bat to Gunn and picked up the broadsword Spike had gotten for him for Christmas. It had quickly become his favorite weapon. He used the sword to fend off the enemy’s attack. Neither he nor Gunn were out to kill, just disable them.
When one of them raised a wooden staff to stake Angel after the vampire was knocked to the floor, Fred shot him in the back with a crossbow bolt. When she picked up another bolt to reload, one of the other members tackled her to the floor.
Gunn was beaten back into the manager’s office by two of Holtz’s men. They pinned him back against the desk. Gunn used one of Wesley’s many books to beat one of them over the head and raised his leg to kick the other in the face knocking the man back where he hit his head on the doorjamb and knocked himself out.
Holtz quietly turned away and walked out the front door as Angel sent his last opponent flying over the reception desk. He glanced over to where Holtz stood only to find the space empty and the door swinging shut. Walking over to one of the fallen men, he pulled the body off Fred and helped her up.
“Are you hurt?” he asked.
“I don’t think so,” she replied uncertainly.
“Call Wes,” Angel told her.
Fred staggered towards the phone as Angel caught sight of Gunn stumbling out of the office, all bruised and battered.
“They got you good. You might want to sit down and put some ice on that,” Angel cringed at the sight of Gunn’s injuries.
“Wesley isn’t picking up,” Fred said as she listened to the ringing.
**************************
Los Angeles, Wesley’s Apartment Building
Wesley got out of his car and walked towards the building carrying his books. It had the number 2337 beside the door. He pushed a button the keychain, locking the car doors behind him. As he placed the keycard next to the panel to open the door to his building, he heard a moaning sound and turned to see someone with their arms wrapped around their stomach, stumbling towards him through the park across the street. Holding his books in one arm, he pulled a gun out from under his jacket with the other and aimed it at the person until they came closer, revealing it to be Justine.
“That’s close enough,” Wesley warned.
Justine fell to her knees on his sidewalk and looked up through a disarray of hair and tears. “He’s everything you said. It’s true.”
“Justine?” Wesley inquired as he lowered the weapon and stepped closer. “What happened?”
“He didn’t keep his word,” she replied. She let out a pained laugh.
Wesley put the safety back on and holstered his weapon. Justine, arms still wrapped tightly around her stomach, staggered to her feet and moved closer.
“He took everybody and he went after that friend of the vampire’s. When I questioned him . . .” her face was bruised and bloodied. “Bastard! I’ll kill him for this. You have to get out of here.”
Wesley caught her when she stumbled against him. “You have to get to a hospital.”
“No, I just have to do . . .” she whispered just before she pulled out a knife and sliced it across the side of Wesley’s neck. Wesley dropped his books and fell to his knees, pressing one hand over the cut. He watched as Justine took his keys and drove off in his car. Blood seeped through his fingers as he collapsed on the ground.
**************************
Los Angeles, Hyperion Hotel
“He’s not answering his home, pager or cell phone,” Fred said as she hung up.
“Where is he?” Angel wondered aloud.
One of Holtz’s men inched along the floor with a hand pressed to his side.
“Shouldn’t we be getting these guys to a hospital or morgue?” Gunn asked.
“No,” Angel said harshly. “Holtz knew Spike wasn’t here when he walked through that door. He was stalling.”
“Buying Wesley some time to get away,” Fred added.
“Holtz is the key. I want Holtz. If I find Wesley with him . . .”
“Angel, we don’t know the whole story here. I don’t think you should get too pumped . . .” Gunn said.
“I’m not interested in what you think, Gunn!” Angel barked. “Holtz is out there. Spike is out there somewhere, unaware of what’s going on.”
“I know this is life and death. I’m just saying, let’s get . . .” Gunn started to say.
Angel grabbed Gunn’s shirt collar with both hands and pushed him back. “Angelus killed Holtz’s family and he’s looking for a way to make me pay for that.”
“You better get your damn hands off me!” Gunn yelled.
Fred rushed up and tried to get between them. “Stop it! Stop it, both of you! This isn’t helping, damn it!” She finally succeeded in pushing the two men apart. “Back off! There is only one thing that matters right now, and that’s finding Spike and Wesley.”
Gunn and Angel stood still, staring at each other for a moment, daring the other to make a move. Suddenly, Angel brushed past Fred and Gunn and pulled one of Holtz’s men up off the floor by the collar.
“Where is Holtz?” Angel demanded.
“You think I’d tell you?” the guy spat.
Angel threw him clear across the lobby and picked up the next guy. He pushed the man up against the wall and pulled Fred’s crossbow bolt out of his side.
Brandishing it threateningly, Angel warned, “I’m going to count to three and then I’m going to bury this in your face.”
The guy blanched and said, “2239 Santa Elena. It’s a big Victorian in Silverlake.”
Angel let the guy drop to the floor and walked out the door without another word, picking his broadsword up off the floor as he went.
Watching Angel leave, Fred addressed Gunn, “We better find Wesley before he does.”
“We should start at his place,” Gunn agreed as they hurried out the door.
**************************
Somewhere in Los Angeles
Spike fought with a group of vampires in a cul-de-sac. They attacked him from all directions. Every time he knocked one down, two more popped up to take his place. One of the vampires pushed Spike into a trash can. Spike reached over and turned the wheel at the tap, releasing the gasses from within. The vampires shrieked in surprise and were momentarily disoriented. Spike used it to his advantage and managed to knock a couple of them to the ground, dusting them, but two more vampires grabbed him and third vampire jumped on his back.
Spike shifted to his demon and growled his outrage. He pulled his arms close to his body, knocking together the vampires who had grabbed him. They collided and released him as they favored the lumps starting to form. Using the diversion, Spike flipped the third vampire over his shoulder and staked him when he hit the ground. The other two vampires engaged Spike in a switch-hitting fistfight. The fighting technique was familiar. Having fought with Angel in the same way, Spike easily deflected the blows to an extent.
In the midst of fighting, Spike triggered the release of a concealed stake from the device attached to his wrist. He dusted one of the vampires and dodged the other who came at him. The vampire ended up putting himself through a plate glass window. Spike staked him. Another vampire attacked Spike from behind. He spun around and punched the vampire before throwing him into a billboard. When the vampire fell to the ground, Spike staked him.
Spike made a cursory inspection of the alley to make sure there were no other vampires, and noticed the shadow of a duster at the mouth of alley. Shifting back to his human visage, he cautiously moved closer to the shape. Upon hearing a heartbeat, he became puzzled.
“Do I know you, mate?”
“We haven’t been formally introduced. But I know of you,” a gravelly voice responded as a modified sawed-off shotgun was raised and aimed straight at Spike. “You’re Angelus’s pet.”
“I think you got that wrong. I’m no one’s bloody pet,” Spike scoffed only to hear his unknown assailant cock the weapon.
“No. I’m pretty sure I have it right, William the Bloody,” the voice said menacingly.
“I see you’ve researched me. Well, if you’ve come looking for an autograph or something, I’m afraid I don’t have a pen on me,” Spike said as he made a reach for his pocket.
The person watched him warily as he retrieved his cigarette and lighter. “I have waited two hundred years to repay Angelus for the grief he has caused me. Even went so far as to make a deal with a time-traveling demon to see it happen. Only thing is, when I finally get here, I discover that the demon that killed my wife and children has been cursed with a soul and his demon bitch is dead. Not only that, but he’s created other soulless spawn like himself.”
“I’m nothing like Angel,” Spike denied. He didn’t understand why everyone continually compared him to his Sire. His Sire didn’t have the death of two slayers under his belt.
“You are a vampire, correct?” the gruff voice asked.
“Well, yeah,” Spike agreed. On that, he agreed that he was like Angel, but the other maladies that plagued Angel’s life? He wasn’t taking credit for falling hopelessly in love with a slayer, and he wasn’t cursed with a soul that forced him to pay penance for his past evil deeds.
“That’s all I need to know. You are important to Angelus,” the man said as he stepped into the light, revealing himself.
When it finally dawned on whom his antagonist was, Spike inquired, “Holtz?”
He didn’t know the man personally, but he saw him in the alleyway behind Caritas and Angel filled him in on the vampire hunter who had chased Angelus and Darla across Europe and France. He glanced at the weapon that was aimed at him. It looked like a shotgun from all outward appearances.
“Maybe if I kill you, Angelus will finally know the grief that has been a part of my existence,” Holtz said.
Apparently, Holtz hadn’t done any deep research on the Aurelian clan and his relationship with Angelus in particular. Otherwise he would have discovered that the current status of their relationship was a fairly new development.
“Well, if you do that, you better make sure that soddin’ thing has some wooden bullets in it,” Spike snarked.
“Oh, I am well aware that iron won’t kill a vampire. I’ve killed enough through the years I hunted Angelus and his demon bitch. Whenever I caught one without the other, they would always turn on each other. Will it be the same for you?”
“Sorry to break it to you mate, I may be dead but I’m not as coldhearted as my whore of a Grandsire,” Spike replied.
“Have you gained a soul as well, William the Bloody?”
A soul, indeed. Spike scoffed. “What the soddin’ hell would I want a soul for?”
“Very well then,” Holtz said as he aimed his weapon and pulled the trigger.
Spike tried to leap out of the way, but the stake grazed his arm. Stake? Spike rolled over on his back and looked up at Holtz standing several feet away holding what appeared to be a shotgun, but it was rigged to fire stakes instead of bullets. As Spike took a moment to study the new weapon, Holtz loaded another stake in the chamber and cocked the weapon. The mechanism acted just like a shotgun minus the bullets.
**************************
Somewhere in LA between the Hyperion and Spike’s Location
Angel had hijacked one of the vehicles of Lilah’s commandos and drove off after the cavalcade. Scenting Spike through the open window, Angel broke from the convoy that had been following Holtz’s supposed path and went after his mate. His boy’s scent stopped at a block of derelict buildings. Angel hit the brake so hard, the vehicle bounced on its suspension. He got out with his broadsword and a stake in hand and carefully made his way down the block until he came to a cul-de-sac between the buildings.
When Angel came out of the building, the scene in front of him made him stop dead in his tracks. Holtz stood a few feet away from a fallen Spike with a weapon raised. Holtz reloaded, cocked the weapon and aimed it at Spike.
“My aim is usually not so far off its mark,” Holtz mused aloud. He watched as the blonde vampire got to his feet.
Spike touched his wounded arm and came away with blood on his fingers. “What the bloody hell did you shoot me with?”
Holtz held up the weapon for display. “Do you like it? The twenty-first century has such wonderful technology. Who knew they would come up with something like a shotgun? The centuries have come a long way since the era of early mechanized crossbows. Of course, it still wouldn’t have killed a vampire, so I had to modify it to do so. In two hundred years, you’d think they’d find a better way to dust a vampire than wooden stakes, but alas . . .”
“SPIKE!” Angel yelled in warning, but it was too late. Spike turned at the sound of his voice just as Holtz pulled the trigger. One moment, Spike stood there looking at him with the most vivid blue eyes, and the next, he fell to the ground with a wooden stake in his body.
All the color drained out of Angel’s face as he stood there in a state of shock, staring in disbelief at Spike’s body on the ground and glanced up at Holtz standing a few feet away with his weapon aimed at Angel. Behind Holtz, the air shifted and Sahjahn materialized.
“I could kill you right now, Angelus. But, I’d much rather see you suffer as I have suffered for the past two centuries. There is no greater agony than seeing your loved ones all dead. There is nothing worse than watching your child turn to dust right before your eyes.”
“Finish him!” Sahjahn yelled behind Holtz.
The vampire hunter ignored the demon. “I told you, you would pay for what you had done to me. I aimed it at strategic point of the body. It’s only a matter of time before he turns to dust. One inch the wrong way and it could very well be his last,” Holtz warned.
Angel’s eyes widened in horror at what Holtz had done. He chanced a quick glance at Spike’s prone body and then back at Holtz. He and Spike didn’t exactly have the easiest of relationships. They fought more than anyone Angel ever encountered in his long life. But he chose to be mated to Spike. The blonde vampire was the only one who truly knew him, the only one that understood him, even when Angel was the one who was souled. And now, in this alley, at this time, he could lose the one connection to his past, present and future.
Angel and Holtz locked eyes for one long, silent moment. Then, Holtz nodded as if in agreement to some unspoken exchange, turned and walked away.
“You were supposed to kill him! That was our deal!” Sahjahn yelled at Holtz’s retreating back. When he got no response, he dissolved and disappeared.
Alone in the alley at last, Angel rushed over and fell to his knees at Spike’s side. He was almost afraid to touch him for fear that that one small movement would jar Spike’s body and the blonde would turn to dust right in front of him.
“Spike, oh God,” Angel whispered in a choked voice. “Oh God, baby boy. I’m sorry. I tried to keep you safe. I never wanted Holtz to find out about you or our connection. I never wanted this.”
“Angel . . .” Spike breathed. His Sire’s rambling was giving him a headache on top of the pain in his chest. His elder was such a glutton when it came to blaming himself for circumstances beyond his control. Sure, Holtz was after Angel and would use any means to get to him, but Spike didn’t blame Angel for that. This moment would have happened sooner or later. And if it hadn’t been him, Spike was sure it would have been one of Angel’s pet humans. If he thought it was bad now, it would be nothing to the guilt his
Sire would feel if it had been someone like Fred or Cordy that had paid the price.
“I’m here, Spike. I got here too late. I couldn’t stop Holtz.”
Ignoring his Sire’s distress, Spike slowly opened his eyes and looked up at his salvation. Angelus brought him into this world. He was shot because of his Sire’s past deeds. That whole ‘sins of the father’ bit was actually real.
“Angel . . . get this thing out of me,” Spike growled with all the annoyance he could summon.
Angel shook his head in denial even as he tentatively reached for the stake. Unnoticed tears trickled down his cheek as his fingers wrapped around the stake. He squeezed his eyes shut, afraid to watch his childe/mate/lover turn to dust when he pulled it out. Taking a few unneeded breaths for courage, Angel tightened his grip and yanked the stake out of Spike’s body. It took a moment to realize that Spike was screaming from the pain of the removal and hadn’t died on him. Angel opened one eye and peeked to ensure Spike was still there and then tossed the offensive stick away.
“Spike, come on. Get up! Spike!” Angel called out, shaking him. It looked as if the younger vampire had passed out from the pain.
“SPIKE!” |
