THIRTEEN

"What are you doing here?" Angel demanded as Wesley closed the front door, blocking the sunlight from entering the house. "I told you to go back to the hotel and wait for us."

"You really didn't think we were going to let you go up against her alone, did you?" Gunn asked, nursing his sore jaw. "We thought you would need our help. It seems we underestimated her. I hit her three times in the chest and it didn't even slow her down."

"Bullets have little effect on vampires," said Nick. "It would seem that's an ability she inherited from her sire."

"I guess coming here during the day wasn't such a good idea," said Angel. "As it is, it turned out to work against us rather than for us."

"Which begs the question, why are we still alive?" Wesley asked. "She can obviously withstand sunlight. Which means the two of you would be at a distinct disadvantage. And she handled Gunn and me as if we were nothing more than children to her. So why didn't she kill us when she had the chance?"

"She's after Tannara, not us," said Angel. "That stake injured her. She's probably off somewhere waiting to heal so she can go after the elder."

"That's just my point," said Wesley. "You two couldn't leave the house. She incapacitated Gunn with one hit. And she had the perfect opportunity to kill me despite her injury. So why didn't she?"

"Who cares?" questioned Gunn. "Just be glad she didn't."

"It might make a great deal of difference," said Nick. "She knows that we know what she's up to. And by not killing us when she had the chance, she must know it risks us going to Tannara and telling him about her if we haven't all ready."

"Precisely," said Wesley. "Besides, if she's as dead set on killing the elder as you claim, it wouldn't matter to her who she has to kill to accomplish that goal. Anyone who got in her way should have been seen as an obstacle to her mission. So why let us go and risk alerting her target that she's after him? She must know he would fortify his position once he learns of her."

"That may not matter," said Angel. "I've fought some tough adversaries in the past but nothing like her. I've never seen anyone with her speed and strength before. Even in full daylight she was more than a match for us."

"Let's search the house," said Angel. "Daphne might have gotten away but there's still the matter of the help she hired. They're probably tied up somewhere in this house. We need to get them out of here in case she decides to come back for them."

They all split up and began to search the house. When they finished, there was no sign of anyone but the four of them. The house was completely empty and by all indications had been for some time.

"That's odd," said Wesley. "If she were planning to use them to boost her strength before she attacked Tannara she would have most likely kept them nearby. Where do you think they could be?"

"Good question," said Nick.

"Gunn, pull the van around to the side of the house," said Angel. "We need to get back to the hotel and decide on our next move. It will take some time for her wounds to heal but if she has the healing powers of an elder that won't be long."

"On my way," said Gunn, heading out the front door.

* * *

"Ouch. Hey, take it easy."

"Oh, stop whining, you baby," said Cordelia as she tended to a cut on Gunn's jaw. "It's not much more than a scratch."

Nick and Angel's injuries had nearly healed by the time they returned to the hotel. Besides a sore jaw which, thankfully, wasn't broken, Gunn had a small cut on his jaw where Daphne had hit him.

"That ring she was wearing must have cut me when she hit me," said Gunn. "I'm lucky she didn't break my jaw. That woman has some serious strength on her."

"She is half vampire," said Nick. "Most vampires can exhibit tremendous strength, especially during moments of intense feelings. And fighting for your life is one of the most intense."

"Yeah, we've seen that firsthand with Angel," said Cordelia, closing the first aid kit. "All in all I'd say you guys were pretty lucky to get off with no more than you have. From what you said she could easily have killed you all, including Angel and Nick."

"So why didn't she?" questioned Wesley.

"That's a good question," said Nick. "In 800 years I've seen my share of people out on a vendetta. And most of them don't hesitate to kill anyone who gets in their way, just was Wesley said. It doesn't make sense she'd just walk away like that."

"Well, you did say she was after the elder," said Cordelia. "Maybe she just thought you weren't that much of a threat."

"No, Nick's right," said Angel. "She would definitely have seen us as a threat. As Angelus I've been in that situation myself a few times. And I would never have let someone walk away if they could have warned whoever I was after. Something isn't right here."

"Well, things are rarely that cut and dried with LaCroix," said Nick. "He almost always has his own agenda for everything."

"You think this LaCroix might have sent the Dhampir after Tannara?" questioned Angel.

"No, that doesn't make sense," said Nick. "LaCroix is many things but he's not stupid. Even if he has some sort of vendetta against Tannara he wouldn't risk violating the covenant even to satisfy that vendetta. And she as much as admitted she was after Tannara. There might be something else going on here that I wasn't told about."

"Like what?" asked Wesley.

"It could be anything," said Nick. "LaCroix rarely lies. He doesn't feel he needs to. But he will often omit certain things if it suits his purpose. Selective honesty is something he mastered a long time ago."

"None of which helps us right now," said Angel. "We still have to find this Dhampir and stop her from reaching Tannara. Despite what LaCroix may not have told you, we still know that she's after Tannara. And if our encounter with her is any indication, she's more than capable of completing this mission of hers. We have to find out where she went and stop her before she can reach him."

"That could be a problem," said Gunn. "It's going to take time to check with my sources to see if they know anything. And if she heals as quickly as you say, we might still be looking for her when she goes after Tannara."

"I'd still like to know what happened to the people she hired from the temp agency," said Wesley. "She still might be planning to use them before she attacks Tannara. We need to get them away from her before she kills them."

"The trouble is we have no way of knowing where she might be keeping them," said Nick. "She might have another house as a backup. If that's the case, they might be dead before we can get to them."

"I might be able to help," said Cordelia. "When I first came out to Los Angeles I wasn't getting very many acting gigs. Well, none, actually. I had to support myself somehow. So I worked at that temp agency for a while. I figured it would be a good way to support myself until my big break came. And since it was a temp job it wouldn't be any big loss if I just quit without notice. That happens a lot with those places."

"How does that help us?" Gunn asked.

"Well, most people who hire temps do it over the phone," said Cordelia. "Or they have a standing agreement with the agency. They just call in and tell them what they need and the agency sends them over."

"And that helps us how?" questioned Angel.

"Most of the transactions are done with credit cards," said Cordelia, rolling her eyes as if everyone should all ready know this. "And an address where to send the bills to. It's possible the address is different from the one where you guys went. A lot of people have more than one house and they will often hire people to get their second house ready."

"That's a good idea," said Nick. "Do you think you could get them to give you the address they have on file? Most of those places don't like to give out personal information on their clients."

"Oh, I might be able to get it," said Cordelia. "Assuming my friend still works there. I have a friend who used to do a lot of the booking for them. She was like me. An actress waiting for her big break. We got to know each other pretty well. If she's still there I'm sure I can talk her into giving me the address."

"Get on it," said Angel. "We have to find Daphne as soon as possible. Every minute we waste gets her that much closer to Tannara."

"Be back in a jiffy," said Cordelia, heading to Angels' office to call her friend.

"What if she can't get the address?" Wesley asked. "What do you plan to do then?"

"We'll have to warn Tannara about Daphne," said Angel. "I think he was like us. He didn't think she'd be that big of a problem. We have to let him know she's a lot more powerful than we originally thought."

"Which means he'll need more than the ordinary vampires he has with him now," said Nick. "It might be a good idea to take up residence at his house for a few days. So that we'll be there when she attacks. We've fought her before. We'll be better prepared for her than the others will."

"Will he let you do that?" Wesley asked. "Your being a Stryx and all. I would think he wouldn't be too overjoyed at having a Stryx living in the same house with him."

"He might if he knows how dangerous she is," said Angel, "and that Nick and I probably have the best chance of stopping her. Besides, he knows Nick is here to help. Apparently LaCroix told him all about Nick so I don't think it should be much of a problem."

"Yes, he does, doesn't he?" Nick said thoughtfully.

"Okay, I got the information, but I don't think you're going to like it," said Cordelia coming back into the room.

"Like what?" Angel asked.

"Well, my friend still worked there," said Cordelia. "Apparently she hasn't had any more luck finding acting jobs than I've had. Anyway, she said the workers were paid with a company credit card from some company called Tidewater Industries."

"Tidewater?" questioned Wesley. "I've never heard of it."

"Some kind of moving company or other," said Cordelia. "But that's not the bad news. Tidewater is a subsidiary of a much larger corporation."

"Which corporation?" Angel asked, getting a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Wolfram and Hart," said Cordelia.

"Wolfram and Hart?" questioned Nick. "Isn't that the corporation you told me about? The one with all the demonic activity?"

"Yes, it is," said Angel.