Chapter Ten: A Host of Friends, and Unfriendly Hosts...
"'I reserve the right to execute any henchmen who appear to be a little too intelligent, powerful, or devious. However if I do so, I will not at some subsequent point shout 'Why am I surrounded by these incompetent fools?!'" ― the Evil Overlord List
"Umm, sir?"
Xander looked back to the host in the foyer to the Paradise Saloon, curiously. "Yes?"
"Sir and Madame will have to leave their long arms with the Hat and Coat Check girl," the host said, looking almost regretful, "My apologies."
"Ah." Xander nodded and gave the man his very best and friendliest smile. Not the one that showed all the pointy teeth and the hairy, pointed ears. "No. We will not."
Cordelia looked at him hard, but didn't gainsay him.
The man blinked. "Um, sir? Paradise policy, I'm afraid."
"You heard the young man," a newly familiar and rich sounding voice said from behind Xander's shoulder, "We'll just waive that policy on my say so here, what do you say?"
The host nodded, smiling, as Xander turned. "Why, I say, yes sir, Mr. Halliday." He bowed slightly from the shoulders, "I was just – "
"And doing an excellent job of it, too," Brett Halliday said. "But, now, do you think that, given the way this young fellow shoots, that taking away his and his young lady's long guns will actually make anyone safer in the unlikely event that he decides to start trouble?"
"No sir, I really don't, now that you mention it," the host said. "Enjoy your time at the Paradise, Miss, Sir."
Xander nodded to him, and smiled as their little group followed Brett Halliday through the double archway and the bat-wings and into the saloon proper.
"Thanks, Mr. Halliday," he said, with Cordelia echoing him.
"Brett, son," Brett said. "Don't give me cause to question Rory's bringing up of you two, or I'll have to reconsider my decision back there," he finished, smiling.
"Yes sir, we wouldn't dream of doing that, Brett," Cordelia said, smiling back. "And, thank you."
Brett nodded, and looked to Kevin. "Why my esteemed Mr. Smith. What brings you from your fine establishment all the way down here to our little entrepreneurship?"
"Why, Mr. Halliday," Kevin said, formally, while giving him a genuine smile back. "Just scoping out the competitor, to see if there's any worthwhile innovations – or employees – that I might wish to steal for my endeavors." He made a show of looking around and added, "Nope. Don't see any."
Halliday laughed, and shook Kevin's and Glenn's hands. "Well, thank God for that. I hate being outbid for perfectly good employees."
"Kevin, Glenn, I hope my husband is being hospitable," a good looking woman said, coming up to them and slipping her hand through Halliday's proffered arm.
"Why yes'm, he is," Glenn said, doffing his hat. Xander and Kevin followed suit, Xander doing his level best to not have his eyes bug out or his tongue drag the floor.
Halliday might shoot him. Cordelia would kill him. Slowly.
While Xander hadn't exactly seen any ugly women since he got to this town, he had to admit, he also hadn't seen any that were capable of making Cordelia look almost plain. Not until now. Brett's wife was dark complected – a cafe au lait with a bit less than normal cream – and absolutely gorgeous. Better than movie starlet gorgeous. Miss America or Miss Universe gorgeous. She was wearing a dark red with black embroidery long dress of the type that you saw the daughters of Spanish Dons wearing in Zorro movies, with a low cut and ruffled front. And one of those matching head things... he guessed it'd be a hat.
He'd kill to see Cordy in that outfit. He'd have to buy her one.
"And I've told you before, my name is Veronique, not 'yes'm', Glenn," the beauty said, dimpling at him. Glenn him, not Xander him. If she dimpled like that at Xander him, he'd melt and –
– Xander realized he was actually babbling mentally, for Zeus sake, and reined himself in, with a monumental effort. Oh gods, just shoot him, stuff him, and mount him, now.
"Yes'm," Glenn and Kevin said in unison, smiling, and Cordelia laughed.
"Give it up, honey," Brett suggested. "I'm afraid these two may be incurably courteous to beautiful women."
"Not that, Brett," Glenn said. "It's just that I get so tongue tied around your wife, I figure it's best I keep my man of few words face on."
"And I figure it's the easiest way to stay un-shot," Kevin said.
"Oh, get on with you two," Brett said, laughing. "Go gamble or harass my hostesses or something."
"Yes sir, gladly sir," Kevin said, putting his hat back on after one more bow and a 'ma'am', to Veronique.
"Oh, those two," Veronique said, laughing. She looked at Cordelia and Xander curiously.
"Wife, allow me to introduce Rory Harris' nephew, Alexander, and his promised young lady, Cordelia," Brett said.
"Pleased," Veronique said, holding her hand out. Xander followed Cordelia's lead and managed to do the genteel handshake thing without drooling or embarrassing himself.
"Xander, ma'am," he said, amazingly without babbling or stumbling over his tongue. "Only Cordelia's dad ever called me Alexander. Or my grandmother."
"Xander," she said, looking them over. "Oh," her eyes widened slightly. "The young man and young woman who've been the talk of the town all afternoon and evening. I am pleased, and charmed."
Cordelia beamed at her. "I didn't realize winning a shooting contest or two would give us quite so much notoriety," she said. "And we didn't even take Grand Prizes, except for Xander in long range."
"And yourself in shotgunning, dear," Veronique said, her eyes dancing. "I wish I'd been there to see you taking small strips off of that idiot at entries, and then winning the shoot. Goddess knows I've wished I had done that to a few of these overly male 'little woman' types around here more often."
Xander raised his eyebrows at the 'goddess' phrasing. Cordelia blinked, but said only, "He annoyed me."
"Never a good thing to do, or a healthy one," Xander said. "Not with Cordy."
"You might not recognize her," Brett said, "Considering that the last time you met, she was oh, around ten or eleven. But Cordelia is Elena Consuela's great niece."
"Ah? Oh, of course," Veronique said. "Consuela will be so happy that you're here. I'll have someone call her out once you get settled in."
"Thank you," Cordelia said. "I'll be happy to see her – it's been several really long years."
"Tell you what," Brett said, "You see to that, and I'll see to giving our young celebrities the grand tour."
"Of course," Veronique curtsied to them – and was matched by Cordelia in a return curtsey to Xander's amazement, and swept off.
Brett proceeded to show them the place and its amenities. Xander had to admit, he was impressed. This place would have looked ritzy even in modern day Santa Barbara... The place was gorgeous. And probably expensive – he wondered how many banks the old, well, not so old, cutthroat had had to rob to afford this much elegant opulence.
"Xander!" Cordelia hissed, swatting him. He blinked and gave her a curious look, his eyebrows raised. She yanked him down to whisper in his ear, "You made Harmony a Saloon Girl? And Aura – and Aphrodesia! And Lishanne!"
"Hey," he whispered back, starting to grin. "I didn't do it. Blame the Scriptwriter. Does seem oddly appropriate, though."
"Oooh... I am so not talking to you any more," Cordelia said, letting go of his collar. Xander grinned, looking around. Sure enough...
"And up here are the bulk of the gaming tables," Brett said, showing them up the stairs. He'd registered their whispered conversation, but had left it to them, not exercising his undoubted curiosity.
"So I see... "
They found Vin, and Chance, at one of the rearward poker tables. When they were seen in return, Vince looked at his hand, pushed in his chips, and said, "Call." And then threw his cards in to the sounds of a number of groans.
He raked in the pot into his hat, along with his already high stack of chips, bills, and coin, and added, "Excuse me for a short while. But keep my chair warm – I may be back," and stood.
John T. did likewise, throwing his cards, and Vince, a disgusted look as he tossed his hand in. "Me too. And don't bother warming the chair – I'd do better just planting the rest and waiting for it to grow."
"Well, you seem to be making a profitable stay of this," Xander said.
"I'm getting by," Vince said, smiling.
"Don't listen to him," Chance said, disgustedly. "He's cleaning up. The rest of us are getting by less and less."
"Well, he did say he needed the money," Cordelia said, winking at Vince. "And I'll just bet the host had a real hard time classifying that thing," she added, looking at Vince's mare's leg.
"He purely did, young Miss," John T. drawled. "And a truly entertaining discussion it was, too."
"I'm suspecting you may have a low sense of humor, John T.," Xander said, grinning. "And are easily amused, to boot."
"He's been accused of both things," Brett said. "I suspect they may even be true, although I wouldn't say that to his ugly face."
"Snerk," Cordelia said, "Don't look now, but... "
"Oops. And on that note, I'll make a hasty escape," Brett said, grinning. "And leave these two to you and Vin here's gentle and tender mercies."
"Why, you just do that thing, you old bandit," Chance said. "Ugly face, indeed."
"Don't listen to him, John," Cordelia said. "I think you have a very distinguished face."
"Yup," Vince said, rolling a smoke. "They carve things like that on mountains." John T. glared at him.
"I hear the two of you had a small altercation with a few old friends," John T. said, apparently deciding to ignore the quietly smiling Vince.
"Not so small, and not really friends," Cordelia said. "But, yes."
"Not a problem," Vince said, lighting his smoke. "I'll be escorting them around from here on in."
Xander stared at him, both touched and amused. "We will be wanting to leave you sleeping on the mat outside our room when we go to bed," he said.
"I'll take it under advisement," Vince said, winking at John T.
"We seem to be developing a host of friends," Cordelia said, dryly, "A veritable host of friends." Xander grinned at her, recognizing the El Dorado quote.
Heh. And he hadn't thought she'd paid any attention to most of the movie fests.
"Well, it certainly does beat a host of enemies," the young blonde woman who'd been standing near and behind Vince's chair said.
Xander looked over at her and blinked. He managed not to glare, nor to have his jaw fall open.
'Darla?' Still Small blinked also in the back of Xander's mind. 'The mind reels and staggers.'
Darla gave Xander a frankly sexual looking appraisal, almost visibly licking her lips. And she looked like she was breathing, too. And warm, judging by that slow flush...
"Have those too, honey," Cordelia said. "And I'd truly hate to think we were gaining another." She took Xander's arm possessively. Vince and Chance watched the exchange with skeptical amusement.
"Easy honey, I'm not rustling," Darla said, smiling. "Just window shopping. I can see he's taken."
Cordelia nodded, her smile thawing a bit.
"Darla?" Xander said, finally. Cordelia gave him a sharp look, as did Darla.
"Darlene," she said. "And I don't believe we've met." She cocked her head at him, honest curiosity replacing the appraisal.
"Xander Harris," Vince said. "And this is his young lady, Miss Cordelia."
"Ah. The winners." Darla said. "Well, I can see you four have catching up to do. I'll see you later," she said, placing a hand on Vince's arm and smiling at him before moving off.
"Sorry, Vin," Cordelia said.
"Easy come, easy go," Vince said, smiling at her. "No harm done."
"Just out of curiosity," Xander said, "You have seen her outside in the sunlight, right?"
Vince looked at him curiously, and nodded. Xander nodded back. "Just checking," he said.
"Cordelia?"
The four of them turned to see Cordelia's aunt bustling up in a rustle and sweep of skirts. Xander blinked, a slow half smile starting to replace the frown that Darla had given him.
Add another one to the GMILF sweepstakes. Or MILF, anyway. Rachel Westin herself. Or, rather, Elena Consuela Alonza de la Rosa, here. If Cordy was really related to her in this universe instead of it being just a convenient Scriptwriter fiction, he could see where Cordelia got her beautiful and exotic looks.
"Cordelia!" Cordelia's Aunt Rachel Westin look alike swept Cordelia into an enthusiastic embrace, then held her out to look her up and down. "And young Alejandro." She glanced at the rest of them, did a slight double take, and smiled. "And John T. Chance. Bide a moment, John T.. I have a niece to visit with."
"By all means, ma'am," Chance said, smiling broadly. "Always a pleasure to await your pleasure."
"If it wasn't for your letters and occasional telegram, I would have given you both up for dead, sweetheart," Elena said. "You are looking wonderful. And young Alejandro is looking very handsome."
"Thanks, Aunt Elena," Cordelia said, hugging her back, smiling.
"And it's Xander, ma'am," Xander said, getting a not entirely unwelcome and entirely enjoyable hug of his own.
"Nonsense. You are an Alejandro if I ever saw one, and I'll have no arguments," she told him, hands on hips. "Xander is such a silly name for such a good looking and skilled young man."
"It is, really," Cordelia said, grinning at both of them. Xander glared at her sidelong. It, predictably, rolled off like water.
"You I'll let call me that," he told Elena. "Mostly because I know better than to try and stop you," he added, smiling.
"Well, of course you will," Elena said. "And, it is John T., here, of all places." Chance got the hug treatment too, and looked like he was enjoying it all too much as well. Xander didn't blame him.
Trust John T. and Rory to nail down two of the best looking women in Southern California, next to his Cordelia and Brett's wife. Not that Xander would even dream of begrudging it to them.
Chance was not someone he ever wanted to have pissed off at him, anyway, for any reason, ever. The man was just too damn big, and far too good with that Winchester.
And rapidly becoming a friend, too, naturally.
They had retired downstairs to the elegant main bar in the Paradise's huge Royal Salon, as Brett had introduced it to them. He hadn't been being overly grandiose, Xander had to admit. It was pretty royal looking.
He'd spotted, and vice versa, Tor and Heidi sitting at one of the Salon's rear poker tables, satisfying him that Jack hadn't killed them out of hand for backing him and Cordy at the bath house. Tor had given him a one finger salute from the brim of his hat, and Heidi a half smile, when they'd seen him.
Xander was surprised at the sense of relief that had flooded him at that knowledge. Then again... Tor and Heidi hadn't had to risk their asses pulling the two of them out of a tight spot. Especially not when it involved crossing their pack, and two of their employer's sponsor's pet thugs.
He'd have felt bad if they'd gotten killed over that.
While Elena, Cordelia, and John T. visited a very short way down the bar, Xander leaned back against it sipping at a very, very excellent Irish Whiskey and talking quietly with Vince, just soaking in the atmosphere and watching the house. Apparently, one of the things their Esteemed Sponsor had done was adjust his alcohol tolerance – not that he'd ever really tested it back home: hey, seventeen, for crying out loud. While he had kept himself to two beers and a couple of glasses of wine with their dinners, and one glass of good whiskey and soda as an after dinner drink with Kev and Glenn, not much at all.
Still he'd of expected to feel more than just a very slight, tiny buzz and a very mild tingle from that. He doubted his shooting or his reflexes were impaired...
Of course, he would doubt, wouldn't he? He made a mental note to not have any more, and to not get into any gunfights after this. Not that he'd planned to, anyway.
While he and Vin were shooting the breeze about nothing much, and everything important, he spotted Kevin, err, recouping his entry fee – and then some – at one of the other poker tables. And Glenn at the other bar across the room. Glenn tipped his drink to him, and Xander returned the silent toast.
Chance had his carbine, also. Apparently, having a Deputy Marshall's badge exempted you from the ban, or else the host hadn't wanted to argue the point with him. He mentioned as much to Vince.
Vince laughed quietly, and quirked an eyebrow. "Would you?"
"Oh, hell no," Xander said. "I'd treat it like the question of 'where does the eagle land?'"
Vince raised the other eyebrow, and Xander elaborated. "Anywhere the hell he wants to."
Vince chuckled. "You are not wrong there." He looked curiously at Xander, and said, "Not gambling?"
"Not one of my vices, really," Xander said, sipping his Irish.
"Thought you won those big rifles in poker, your girl said?"
"That wasn't gambling," Xander said, deadpan. "That was poker." Vin chuckled again, and nodded. "Besides," Xander said, "I was not only younger and stupider then, but we needed the winnings badly enough I was willing to risk it. Had to find some way to live, and something to live on."
"Without working for a living."
"Poker is hard work," Xander said.
"Is if you do it right," Vin said, agreeing. "Was wondering. What cartridge does that long lever action of yours take? Don't believe I've ever seen that caliber."
"Ah. .40-82 Winchester Express," Xander said. He dug a round from each out of his vest pocket, and passed them to Vince. "Standard round, unlike the custom .40-140-3 ½ the long rifle takes. But the '86 barrel has a tighter than standard twist to stabilize longer and heavier bullets."
Vince looked the long, tapering round over curiously, and bounced it in his hand, testing the weight. He whistled softly. "Nice. And custom loading, definitely." He raised his eyebrows, "Around three hundred grains?"
Nod. "Two eighty-five, but I have three hundred and three-fifty grain loads as needed."
"Uh huh," Vince handed the round back to him, and dug one of his from his belt, passed it over. "Custom, also. .45 handgun basic cut to one and six tenths, formed, and trimmed and loaded to the max length for the '92 action with a hundred and ninety grain flatnose. Necked to forty-one caliber. Hits harder than most '92 chamberings."
Xander examined it curiously. He'd wondered, during the shoot, looking at the rounds in Vince's belt loops, but hadn't gotten around to asking. It resembled a fatter and longer version of one of the .22 Remington Jet rounds his Uncle Rory had for one of the pistols in his collection.
"Interesting," Xander said, passing it back. He grinned, "Not gonna ask something dumb like, 'how's it shoot?', 'cause having seen your shooting, I doubt you'd own an inaccurate gun or round."
"It gets by," Vince said, and Xander laughed.
"Where's your new Big Fifty," he asked. "In the coat check?"
"Safe keeping in the hotel lockup," Vince said. "Not carrying it 'til I can get out and sight it in tomorrow."
"Good plan." Xander grinned to himself. Regular guys hang out and talk cars and girls. Gun people hang out and talk guns and shooting. Especially shootists...
Tools of the trade, and all.
Xander caught something out of his peripheral vision, and turned his head to look, his eyes narrowing. He saw Darla – the Darlene girl – heading towards the doors at the back of the Salon on Tector Gorch's arm. With Lyle following a bit behind.
'Uh oh,' Still Small Voice said. 'Shades of Jesse. And irony, thy name be Darla... '
Yup. And ironic or not, you just can't let someone be eaten by a vamp...
Not if you can do anything about it. Xander caught Cordelia's eye, and signaled towards the exiting trio with his. She followed his gaze, and scowled.
Xander picked up Cordelia's rifle off the bar top and handed it to Vince. "Hang onto this for me, would ya? I need to seek out the sign of the crescent moon out back," he said.
Vince raised his eyebrows and Xander added, "And yes, I can go to the outhouse alone. I do have my handguns, this time." He smiled, and Vince nodded.
He headed back following, and behind him he heard Cordelia saying something about being back in a bit to Chance and Elena, but he wasn't really listening back there...
Up ahead, it sure didn't sound like Darla, or whoever she was, had clue one that Tector and Lyle were vamps. Or that she even knew what a vampire was. So much not of the good. At least that Trick character wasn't around, not inside anyway. Xander had looked, automatically.
Thou shalt always be aware of the vamps in thy surroundings. Catechism of the Hellmouth.
Xander stopped at the door leading to the egress, giving it a twenty Mississippi count before exiting after. He hoped like Hell that the Gorch brothers weren't stupid or hungry enough to just drain her right at the door as soon as it closed behind them...
Cordelia caught up to him at about seven Mississippi, with her J.P. Sauer. He glanced over at her and said, quietly, "Didn't mean you needed to come along."
"You actually thought I wouldn't?" Her eyebrows arched at him. "We so need to discuss our partnership skills, Jerk," she said.
"Oh, I knew you would," Xander said, smiling. "Just hoped you wouldn't."
"As if."
Xander snickered and opened the rear exit door, drawing the stake from behind his back as he went through, low, quiet, and fast.
The two vampires and Darla were at the end of the alleyway behind the saloon when they stepped through and looked around. Darla was saying something along the lines of, "Well, I hadn't known you planned a three way party, but that's all right. It will be extra, though."
Neither vamp had vamped out yet, thankfully. And neither noticed them until he and Cordelia had almost caught up.
Lyle heard something, or saw something from the corner of his eye or just smelled them or whatever. He vamped out, growing fangs, brow ridges, and yellow, lambent eyes. Tector, a bit behind him with Darla, turned at that and vamped out as well, shoving Darla out to the side.
"Stay put, darlin'," he said. "We'll want dessert." He grinned and added, "Hey, look, Lyle. Appetizers."
"Right friendly town," Lyle said. Darla caught a good look at both of them and screamed, freezing up against the wall she'd hit.
Better if she'd run like hell, but hey. Civilians.
Both Gorch's were wearing Remingtons in low slung Mexican style bandido gunbelt rigs, and had some sort of bird's head gripped Colts in twin cross draw Doc Holliday style shoulder rigs. Tector didn't reach for any of them, as he approached, even as he saw Xander's stake.
"You shouldn't go outside with strange men at night, girl," Cordelia said to Darla. "And these two are stranger than most."
"Stupider and uglier, too," Xander said.
Tector jerked at that, and grinned nastily. "Well, if it isn't the Sunnydale Kid," he snarled out as he came in, fast, but not vampire fast. He avoided the stake in Xander's left hand, slapping it away as he approached and –
– Xander's hand blurred out from behind his hip, coming out with the big Hamilton-Grover five-and-a-half inch.
Tector had just enough time to laugh and get out, "Guns don't hurt – " as Xander stepped in and pushed it up against his body to contact range and pulled the trigger.
"– us, boy."
Then his face went all odd looking, well, odder, and got a bit frightened. Xander thumbed back the hammer and fired again. Flames started suddenly, burning outward from the double hole in his gut, and he suddenly burst into flaming dust.
"Muzzle blast, dumb ass," Xander said. He knelt to recover his stake from where it'd fallen nearby. "Don't leave home without it."
"TECTOR!" Lyle shouted, and Darla made incoherent noises.
"Hey, Ugly," Cordelia said. She stepped up beside Xander where he was definitely outside her line of fire, and wouldn't be deafened by muzzle blast. Thankfully. A twelve gauge was loud. She pulled the trigger and a load of probably double-ought hit Lyle high in the chest. He staggered.
She pulled the other trigger as the Sauer Drilling came down out of recoil, and Lyle staggered again as a slug hit him in the middle of the bloody mess that his chest was now.
"That won't kill you, but I'll sure bet it hurts," she said. She was stepping back to break open the action as Xander moved in with stake and pistol.
Xander vaguely registered a dark shape step up behind Lyle as he moved up. There was an odd sound, and then Lyle arched backward, and suddenly burst into dust with the weird screaming hiss of an escaping demon.
"Wh-whu-what the hell?" Darla said, stammering in shock.
"Uh, umm, a trick of the light, my d-dear," the suddenly not quite as dark shape said.
"Giles?" Cordelia said, incredulously, stepping back up beside Xander, her reloaded drilling in hand.
"Well, I see you've already learned how to deal with some of the local varmints," Tor's voice said, from back the way they'd come out...
"Yeah, was just an awful shock when we started to catalog the native wildlife," Heidi said.
"I'll just bet it was," Xander said, his voice dry. He glanced around, but apparently Giles had taken advantage of their turning toward Tor's voice to split. Disappeared into the darkness, like Batman. Or Angel.
Xander looked past Tor and Heidi to where Vince and John T. were standing, Vince now with Cordelia's Winchester back over his shoulder, and Chance leaning against a wall, his Winchester on his hip, pointed up. Darla ran over to Vince, leaning up against him with her arm around his waist – not under his gun arm.
Somehow, neither man looked all that shocked by men who vanished into clouds of dust. Unlike the shaky and freaked out Darla...
He grinned at Vince. "Thought I said I could take a leak alone."
"The Paradise has indoor plumbing," Vin said.
Xander and Cordelia both looked pointedly past Vince and Chance, raising their eyebrows.
"Silly us," Glenn said. "We figured you didn't have enough help taking a piss just with these two. And your girl to hold it for you."
Cordelia started laughing.
"Damn sure showed us," Kevin said. "Ma'am." He touched a finger to his hat brim, and they both turned and strolled back to the rear exit, now entrance door.
"Gather the local wildlife is not a major shock to you two, either," Heidi said.
"Seen a few strange things here and there," Chance allowed. "Especially down across the Rio."
He tucked his rifle into the crook of his arm, and started rolling a cigarette. Vince followed suit, only one handed.
"What he said," Vince stated.
"Well, it sure the hell is to me!" Darla said. "What in God's name were those two... things?"
"Vampires," Xander said, deadpan. "Didn't you read Bram Stoker?"
"B-b-bu-bu- " Darla took a deep breath and got her voice under control, her eyes almost anime wide. "But that's a novel! Fiction!"
"More of a how to manual with fictional characters," Xander said. "At least, I think they're fictional characters."
"Getting hard to tell these days," Cordelia drawled.
"It surely is, honey."
"There's a manual?" Tor said, raising his eyebrows.
"We're always the last to hear," Heidi said, looking disgusted.
"Hell, I didn't know you could read, Tor," Xander said.
"She helps me with the big words like 'cat' and 'the'," he said, pointing at Heidi.
"Well, thanks, you two," Cordelia said. "You four."
Tor shrugged. "Looks like you got it well in hand. Later." He draped an arm across Heidi's shoulders and they headed past Vince and Chance and back into the Paradise.
"What he said," John T. said. "So, this town have a lot more of that kind of wildlife?"
"If it does, I am the hell leaving," Darla said. Cordelia grinned at her.
"'Least one more I know of," Xander said. "He works for Mayor MacReptile also."
"Won't help, girlfriend," Cordelia said. "I'm told that there's at least a few almost everywhere there's lots of people."
Darla shivered, and pressed in closer to Vince. "I'll take the gal in and buy her a drink or two."
"Or three," Darla said.
"More than two, we'll have to negotiate, or you're buying your own." Vince winked at Cordelia and Xander.
"Dude mentioned that three of the Interim Mayor's help weren't ever seen outside in daylight," Chance said, quietly as Vince and Darla headed in. "We weren't sure exactly what it meant, but we figured they bore keeping an eye on."
"Yeah." Xander said. "Pretty sure that Trick character is one also. He just gives off that vibe, you know?"
"Not sure what a 'vibe' is, son," Chance said, "But I catch your drift."
"Wood through the heart, cut off the head completely, or," Cordelia looked sharply at Xander, "Shooting them at contact distance with something big. That is what I saw you do, right? And what was that about muzzle blast?"
"Yup, was," Xander said, nodding. "And, gunpowder burns, especially smokeless. But black powder burns pretty good too. But it doesn't all burn – and a whole lot of white-hot burning gases and unburnt and burning powder comes out the end of the barrel. "
Chance was nodding at Xander's explanation. "It surely do."
"Ah. And vampires burn," Cordelia said, nodding.
"Pretty easily, too, considering I lit one up with a zippo, once," Xander said. He looked to where Lyle had been standing, and back to Cordelia. "With a pattern that tight, though," he said, "You could probably aim for the neck and decapitate him."
"I'll remember that," Cordelia said, looking down at the 26" barreled drilling.