"I like your duster," the bartender said.
Nikki snorted. "You look like you weren't even born when I bought this. You a fan of the retro look?"
"No, it's classic. Some things never go out of style."
"Thanks," Nikki said.
Nikki glanced at the mirror behind the bar, and saw Cath and Jenn walk in. She turned back to her beer without acknowledging them.
The bartender gave her a sympathetic look. "The other girls here told me about your girlfriend. She sounds super scummy."
Nikki shrugged. "She's not the first girlfriend to step out on me. I'm a hard woman to live with."
"But cheating on you with your best friend? And then showing up together at your favorite bar? That's pretty low. For both of them."
The bartender leaned closer, giving Nikki an eyeful of her cleavage. "Do you ever hope something bad would happen to them?"
Nikki said, "Nope. What's your name? I don't think I've seen you here before tonight."
"I'm Anya. I'm new. But seriously, don't you ever wish-"
Nikki grabbed the bartender's wrist, applying enough pressure to break a human's bones. She put on her best Don't Fuck With Me expression, and spoke in a low whisper. "Anyanka, it's gonna be a different kind of vengeance tonight. I'm walking out of here with my arm around the prettiest girl in this bar."
The demon looked scared as she came out from behind the bar, but that could just be a ploy to throw Nikki off guard. Nikki watched her closely until Anyanka stood beside her. Nikki wrapped her arm around Anyanka.
As they walked past Cath and Jenn, Nikki trailed her hand up Anyanka's chest and grinned.
Once she made it out of the bar, her sense of triumph vanished. Playing these kinds of games was normal for temperamental adolescents. But for a woman in her forties with two kids, it was just kind of ridiculous.
The chilly air bit into her skin. Nikki pulled the duster closer around her and said, "Here's the deal. I've got an apocalypse coming up soon. I don't want to start a fight with one of D'Hoffryn's kids. If you keep your vengeance wishes and murders out of New York, I'll stay out of your hair. Sound good?"
Anyanka nodded, but didn't wink out or walk away. She just stood there looking at Nikki expectantly.
"What?" Nikki said, when the silence stretched out too long for her liking.
"Aren't we going to have sex?"
Nikki couldn't remember the last time someone propositioned her so bluntly. "Uh, no. That wasn't my plan."
"What kind of vengeance is it for you just to walk out of the bar with me? Real vengeance requires sex or bloodshed, and you said bloodshed's off the table." Anyanka paused. Her voice broke a little as she said, "Lloyd's been kicking my ass in the carnage department lately, and Hallie stole a vengeance wish right out from under me today. It feels like nothing's going right for me now. Sex always cheers me up-doesn't it make you happy, too?"
Anyanka had such an artless manner for someone who spent her life manipulating people into making wishes. Or perhaps the artless manner was just another form of manipulation.
There were a million reasons not to do it. But the kids were with her mom this weekend, so Nikki had the house to herself for once. How many more chances was she going to get for rebound sex before the world ended?
"Ok," Nikki said. "We'll go to my place. But this is a one-time only deal. I don't need any relationship drama."
Anyanka said, "That makes sense. Human relationships are always terrible, anyway. There's always one person getting heartbroken and the other one getting disemboweled at the end."
"I want to see the real you, not the human illusion," Nikki said. "I like things to be honest."
Anyanka blinked and the pretty brunette facade faded away. If she guessed that Nikki had a demon kink, she kept it to herself.
***
Nikki bit down hard on Anyanka's thigh; one perk of sleeping with a demon was that Nikki didn't have to hold back her Slayer strength.
Also, Anyanka had apparently learned a thing or two in the thousand-or-so years of immortal existence. Like the exact place to flick her tongue to send Nikki over the edge.
When she came back to reality, Anyanka had curled up next to her. Nikki ran a hand up Anyanka's thigh.
Anyanka said, "This apocalypse-is this one of those human-only apocalypses, or will it affect demons, too?"
Nikki wanted to say that this was the weirdest pillow talk she'd ever had, but that wasn't remotely true. Not by a long shot. "It's one of those entire-universe-destroying apocalypses. No exemptions for demons."
"Oh," Anyanka said. It was kind of hard to tell with her demon face, but Nikki thought she saw some concern there. "Maybe I can talk to D'Hoffryn, and we can start steering wishes in a helpful anti-apocalypse direction."
"Sure," Nikki said. "I'd appreciate that."
These kinds of deals with demons violated everything that the Slayer was supposed to stand for. The Council would be livid if they knew.
But the mission was what mattered, and sometimes that meant acquainting herself with strange bedfellows.