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Venus only spent a few minutes checking up on Buffy and her condition, then made her way back home. She entered the warehouse with a deep, playful laugh, calling out to Lorenzo and Tessa that she was back from her recent spying episode.
The two centuries-old vampires, Venus, and Cordelia met in the basement of the factory, seated on or around the worn oak table in one corner. Venus quickly gave her report on what she had found out, then settled back in her seat, looking fairly amused.
Tessa smiled at this. "Things couldn't have worked out better in Buffy's case," she boasted. "No opposition from her, plus Miss Stefanie Marks seems to be getting weaker every day... We can't possibly lose with those odds."
During Tessa's speech, Venus removed some empty syringes from her purse, shoving them across the table towards Lorenzo. "In the meantime," she said, "my supply is running out. Care to give me a refill?" For the past twenty-some years, Venus had been getting "high" on vampire blood, which made her a sort of undead hybrid. She wasn't bound by the same rules as others of her kind, which made her a formidable opponent.
The only problem was that without getting a fix every eight hours, Venus would cease to live. And Lorenzo enjoyed holding that over her; it made her easier to command. Leaning forward, he said, "I'll give you what you want, Venus, but you have to do something for me first... I'm not entirely convinced that Stefanie won't find some way to win. I want her out of the picture. And since the lovely Cordelia here has failed, I'm giving you that assignment now."
Venus drew in her breath. "When do you want me to go?" she asked, a trace of bitterness in her voice. "And how would I go about it?"
Lorenzo gave a quick nod towards Cordelia, who in turn said, "Steffi's staying with her Watcher for the time being. I'll show you where... Your job is to travel there during the day and wait until the other occupants have gone out."
"Then you catch Stefanie off guard and expose her to sunlight," Tessa put in excitedly. "Let her worst enemy and ours do the rest... It's that simple, Venus."
"Except for one thing," Venus added. "What if the people she's staying with don't go out?"
Lorenzo leaned forward with a grin. "Oh, but they will. You just leave that to me, my little Goddess." He stood, starting to walk from the room. Only he stopped just long enough to offer a parting remark. "But if you fail me, I won't be as lenient as I was with Cordelia," he warned...
The day seemed to pass much too slowly, Stefanie thought. Jenny tried her best to keep the slayer entertained, but it didn't help much. If anything, the highlight of Stefanie's day was taking a nice warm bubble bath.
Giles didn't arrive home until shortly after nightfall, carrying several journals with him as he walked in the door. He took a few moments to get settled in before he began with the explanations.
"From what I've been able to gather, Tessa has been around for the past five centuries," Giles started. "Before she became a vampire, she was a wayward princess in old England. Which is probably what drew this vampire king to her."
"What's she known for?" Jenny asked, handing her husband a cup of his favorite herbal tea.
Giles sighed deeply. "I couldn't find many records of her, which means they were either lost or Tessa tends to keep a low profile. My guess would be the latter... In the meantime, I suggest we focus on Lorenzo, her creator."
Stefanie leaned forward, interested. "Well, what horrible deeds did you dig up on him?" she asked in a monotone voice.
Giles cleared his throat before continuing. "Well, it appears that Lorenzo originated in Italy over six centuries ago. His sire was killed shortly after, and Lorenzo escaped to England. He spent the next few generations building a family of sorts. However, most of his offspring haven't had the best luck in surviving more than two years... There's mention of three who have though: Tessa, a performance artist simply known as The Goddess, and a gambler from the Old West whose whereabouts are unknown."
Stefanie paused a moment, contemplating this. "This Goddess person... Who's she?"
Giles sighed again, removing his glasses to rub at his eyes. "That's the most curious thing. I only found one reference of her in connection with Lorenzo, and apparently, that's all there is. There's no mention of her hunting techniques, where she is nowadays, nothing. I can't even say if she or this gambler are still around."
Stefanie nodded. "Well, any info is better than none," she assured him. "At least now I know what I'm up against." She stood, pacing the room a moment before settling in front of a mirror. "Did you find out everything you could about Lorenzo?"
Giles paused a moment, watching as his wife took a few steps towards the crib to check on Ivory. "I'm fairly sure I did," he replied getting to his feet. "Shall we call it a day then?" he started.
Just then, he heard Jenny gasp out loud from her spot. Simultaneously, Giles and Stefanie turned to look at her. After a moment of staring into Jenny's startled eyes, Stefanie asked, "What's wrong?"
Jenny pointed shakily, as if one movement might make the illusion shatter. "The mirror," she managed to get out.
Stefanie waited a second before turning to look, as Giles moved in behind her. And both of them were also startled by what they found. Stefanie felt tears stinging her eyes at the sight, for it was somthing she hadn't seen since her last day as a mortal. She blinked once to make sure she wasn't imagining it, but it remained nonetheless.
Stefanie's reflection, albeit still hazy, was returning...