|
|
Ireena sat with the old clan woman, talking to her about what was needed to perform the ritual to strip one’s power. They had all the ingredients, all that was needed was the word for them to begin. The oil in the lamp had all but burned out, and the small kitchen of Ireena’s house was thrown into shadows. Dark, cold shadows that whispered thing of uncontrollable evil.
She stiffened, hearing a noise upstairs. Her niece, Arianna, was asleep up there. Ireena frowned. She sensed a great deal of animosity towards the Slayer and her friends coming from Arianna and wondered at it. It was directed mostly to the Slayer herself, sharp words had been exchanged between those two. But it was almost jealousy, which probably had something to do with Angel. Ireena wasn’t sure if Arianna had a crush on him or if she was still angry about him being responsible for Janna’s death. She had, after all, been the girl’s aunt.
But Janna had been Ireena’s sister, and her death had affected her deeply. She had vowed to get revenge on the monster that had ended her life, and in a way she had. Angelus suffered in that he was no longer in control of Angel’s body. He was in hell and could not wreak havoc on the world.
In that way, she had her revenge.
Ireena helped the old woman to bed and turned the oil lamp off. She felt a pair of eyes on her as she moved through the kitchen, but when she looked there was nothing but darkness. She sensed a vampire but there was nothing it could do, it was not invited in. She shrugged it off slightly and walked upstairs.
From the shadows of the kitchen, Leonna stared evilly after the woman, plans forming in her mind.
“Tonight. It’s going to happen tonight,” Buffy announced suddenly at the meeting the next afternoon. The gypsies looked at her, wary.
“How can you be so sure?” Ireena asked.
“I can feel it, the air holds this sort of tension. It’s really wigging me out,” Buffy replied. It was true, she could sense the battle would take place tonight.
“You don’t know, you’re just guessing. We need more than--” Arianna was cut off by Buffy’s angry words.
“Don’t start again. I know it’s going to happen tonight. Leave it at that, ‘kay?” she said. She turned to the other members of the clan. “I don’t need any of your help. You guys come around the battle you’re bound to either get hurt or killed. All I need from you is the spell to be done. Are we clear?”
They nodded, happy to not have to participate in the fighting. The next hour was spent on working out the details of the fight. Ireena would be the only gypsy present, it was decided. She would make sure nothing went wrong. Which it probably would. At least they were taking some precautions.
They ended at around three in the afternoon. Faced with time on their hands, the group went back to the inn. Cordelia announced at once that she was in for another day of sun bathing and Willow decided to accompany her. Buffy lost track of Xander and Oz, they had wanted to explore the town. Buffy sat leaning against tree where she had first seen Leonna, watching Angel play with the two young children they had encountered on their first day. She smiled softly, watching them wrestle in the grass.
“He’s wonderful with children,” Katrina said as she came up from behind Buffy. Buffy swung her head around and gave Katrina a friendly grin.
“Oh, I know. I’ve never been able to see him with kids before,” Buffy said as Katrina sat down next to her. They watched in comfortable silence for several minutes.
“Frightened about tonight?” Katrina asked softly. Buffy shook her head.
“Not really. I’ve never actually been able to really prepare for a fight before, except for the Master. Well, that was kind of panicking. But as long as nothing goes really wrong I’ll be okay and I just totally jinxed it, didn’t I?” Buffy sighed, laughing softly. Katrina joined her.
“Don’t worry about it, Leonna won’t stand a chance.”
Buffy turned to gaze at Katrina, taking in her profile. She was attractive, fair skin and dark hair. She reminded Buffy of Jenny Calendar. “Is there anything going on with you and Giles?” she blurted out. Katrina sighed softly.
“No, Buffy, there is not. I cannot get involved with him...it will only end in heartache for both of us,” Katrina replied quietly. She seemed resigned about the subject, like she had spent a lot of time thinking about it. Buffy wondered at her words.
“How do you know?” Buffy asked.
“Watchers never fall in love with Watchers. It’s a lesson I learned long ago.”
“The hard way?” Buffy asked. Katrina nodded.
“Yes, unfortunately. Just like all of life’s important lessons,” she paused for a moment. “What you and Angel have is very precious. Hold onto it and cherish each other. I don’t have to tell you to not dwell on the past, you obviously learned that.”
Buffy smiled, feeling a new sense of respect and compassion for the woman. She would be sad to see her go. “Do you have to go back to England when this is over? I mean, couldn’t you stay as a research assistant for Giles or something?”
“As much as I would like to,” Katrina replied. “My place is with the Council.”
“I figured as much, I just had to ask,” Buffy said. Angel came over to join them at that point. He sat down next to Buffy and wrapped his arm around her thin shoulder blades.
“You two look like you’re having a deep discussion,” he said.
“Katrina’s just giving me some advice,” Buffy replied and leaned in to give him a gentle kiss. Katrina stood and wiped off the back of her jeans.
“I’ll leave you two alone,” she said as she headed for the house. Angel leaned back, breathing in deeply. Buffy sighed and lowered her head to his lap. She stroked his leg softly and he ran his fingers through her golden hair as they admired the beauty of the countryside around them. After a time Buffy turned her head so she could look Angel in the eye.
“Ready to kick some ass?” he asked her. She nodded.
“I’m itching for a good fight. Maybe Spike will join in the fray, I really want to hurt him.”
Angel gently traced his finger along the curve of her jaw. “Promise you’ll come back to me,” he said softly. She gazed deeply into his eyes.
“Cross my heart and hope to die. Actually I don’t, that would kinda suck. But you know what I mean,” she smiled. Angel nodded and leaned down, planting a soft kiss on her forehead that sent chills up and down Buffy’s spine. She closed her eyes and inhaled, taking his sweet scent in. She was actually terrified about the battle that had yet to come, she was sure something would happen to screw things up royally. She was so afraid that she was going to lose him, but she didn’t dare tell him that.
Angel knew, though. He could feel her fear as if it were his own. It was his own, actually, he was equally worried that something would happen to her. He would do everything in his power to protect her, his martial arts skills were back to where they had been when he was a vampire. He just hoped they would be good enough to fight whatever Leonna threw against them.
Buffy got a mischievous smile on her face. They ended with Angel slightly on top of Buffy. She gave him what
was meant to be a quick kiss--she didn’t want to ‘offend’ anyone. But
Angel would have none of it and soon they were having some serious
smoochies. They didn’t even come up for air until they heard someone
clear their throat. They broke off, slightly annoyed, to find Arianna
looming over them. She had her hands on her hips and looked at Buffy
with murder in her eyes.
“Can I help you?” Buffy asked coolly. Arianna’s eyes drifted to
Angel.
“The elder woman needs to speak with you,” she replied, her gaze still
fixated on Angel.
“Oh. Come on, Angel,” Buffy said as she stood. She helped him
to his feet.
“Sorry, Angel can’t go with you. She wants to speak to you
alone. I’ll take care of him for you,” she said with a gleam in her eye.
“I’ll bet,” Buffy muttered. She gave Angel a long kiss--just in case
Arianna was going to try something--before turning and heading to the house.
“So, Angel,” Arianna said flirtatiously, turning to gaze at him. He
stared at her blankly. “Want to go for a walk?”
“Not really,” he replied, avoiding her gaze.
“Sure you do. We can be alone. I’ll make you forget all about
Buffy,” Arianna said seductively, placing her hand on Angel’s forearm.
He jerked it away.
“Highly doubtful. Why don’t you go run along and find some other guy
to seduce,” Angel suggested as he walked away. Arianna stood gaping at
his retreating form. No one had ever been able to resist her before.
It was all Buffy’s fault.
“So you’re sure you can kill her?” a voice said from inside Leonna’s
room. Spike paused at his own door, suddenly curious about the
conversation. Leonna’s voice answered, full of confidence.
“Of course I can kill her. That’s not a problem. All you need
to do is make sure that stupid spell they want to use fails.”
“Already taken care of,” the woman’s voice promised. A third voice
entered the conversation, this one sounding slightly unsure.
“Are you sure this will work?”
“Positive. Stop worrying about it. Leonna will take care of
the Slayer and I’ll have my way with Angel before you kill him.
Everything will work out,” the second voice said, calming the third’s
apprehension. Spike wondered who was in the room. He could tell
they were human, he could hear their hearts beating from the hallway.
He couldn’t believe Leonna had allowed two humans in her presence and that
they were still breathing.
“You’d better go, someone might miss you. If you fail, your lives
will be mine,” Leonna said menacingly.
“How will you be able to claim them if the Slayer kills you?” the second
voice asked hotly. Spike felt Leonna’s anger at the comment.
“Be careful, my sweet. Betray me and you shall pay. Dearly.”
The door opened and two young woman stepped out. “Whatever,” the
dark haired girl muttered.
“Oh, and Arianna?” Leonna’s voice called from the room as she appeared in
the doorway. “Say hi to Angelus for me.”