"What in the hell was that?" Aubrey whined, once he was out of Rose's earshot.
"I told you that you are not to touch her, Aubrey," the demon rasped. "You may restrain her as needs be, but you will not touch her otherwise."
"A simple reminder would have done," Aubrey grumbled.
"That was a simple reminder." The sibilant esses seemed to linger after all else. "See that you heed the warning."
"I think she's going to be stubborn about doing our translation," Aubrey remarked, feeling that a change of subject was in order. He was beginning to think that their partnership was not quite as equitable as he'd first believed. "Do you want me to wait, or shall I bait the vampire now?"
&&&&&&
Spike crept silently through the attic space, his soft footfalls muffled further by ages old accumulations of dust. Easy enough to tell that no one had been up here in donkey's years.
He finally found the way out, a trap door rather than proper stairs. There was a folding step attached but if it had been disused as long as he suspected it would make a noise to raise the dead. Instead, he opted for lowering himself through the hole till he was dangling by his fingertips, then dropping quietly as possible the last few feet. So far, so good. No one in sight. He sniffed the air. This floor hadn't been used within recent memory either. All he could smell was dust, mingled with the aromas of beer and smoke that clung to his clothes.
Down to the main floor. Now there was the scent of something human, Morrison, he was pretty sure, but there was something extra that didn't quite fit. Time enough to sort it out later, he supposed. Now was the time to exercise extreme caution. He proceeded from room to room until he heard voices. Both masculine. Pretty boy must have a partner. He crept closer, listening intently and heard, ".., or shall I bait the vampire now?"
There was certainly no question in his mind who the vampire they were referring to was. He wondered that there didn't seem to be any traps, so far. Of course, they hadn't made allowances for the fact that Rose could make friends with about anyone, even a Q'xlzr demon. Time to listen some more.
"Yes, contact the vampire." That was the hissing reptilian voice. It had a familiar sound to it, but Spike couldn't quite put a finger on where he'd heard it before. "Him you may feel free to damage, Aubrey. But you will not harm Rose."
Definitely a good news, bad news scenario. But he was relieved to hear that Rose was not to be hurt.
There was a few minutes of silence, then Aubrey spoke again. "He doesn't answer the phone. Either he has not yet returned, or he's so drunk that he can't hear the phone." A pause. "I'm thinking he hasn't gotten home yet. I can't imagine that he would notice that his bed-warmer was missing."
Spike felt his blood begin to boil at hearing the git refer to Rose that way. It was all he could do to refrain from jumping right in with both feet. And probably get his ass kicked. Which wouldn't do Rose any good. Or him either, for that matter.
"Then there is nothing more to be done for the moment." That was the sibilant rasping voice again? Where had he heard it before? "Perhaps you should rest awhile, Aubrey. I will wake you in an hour or so, and you may once more try to get in touch with the vampire."
"I think I will." Morrison's voice was already heavy with sleep.
Footsteps sounded, coming nearer. Duck back out of sight, and watch. What the hell? It was Aubrey Morrison, and yet seconds ago, he'd sounded like he was nearly asleep. The faint whiff of the scent that wasn't quite right drifted by again. What was going on with Morrison, and what did he want with Rose?
&&&&&&&
The Q'xlzr was beginning to panic. The vampire was only supposed to take a look around, but he'd been gone for quite a while now. The little demon was beginning to deeply regret that it hadn't gone straight to the boss vampire. The minutes continued to tick away and it became even more agitated. Finally it decided to take matters into its own hands, so to speak. The vampire had taken the keys to the car, or it would have tried to drive, even though it had never done so before, it didn't appear to be that difficult. It considered its options and once more hit the road, as it were.
&&&&&&&&
Rose heard the footsteps approaching the trapdoor. She looked around for something she could use as a weapon, but the place was pretty barren. There was the chair by the table, though, she could lift that. She scooted it closer to the steps, just behind, waiting to brain Aubrey as he descended them. She raised the chair and swung as he came into view. And had the chair bounce back as though it had hit an invisible barrier. The recoil sent her back several steps, the chair falling from her hands, and it was all she could do to keep to her feet.
"For shame, Rose." Was it her imagination, or did Aubrey sound different? "That will not win your way into my good graces. And you will want to be in my good graces."
Rose looked at him quizzically. There was something wrong, or even more wrong here. Aubrey had been bad enough, but this was almost like there was someone else walking around in Aubrey's body. Possession? There didn't seem to be any other explanation.
"Who are you?" she asked. It seemed reasonable enough a question, since the person now facing her was most assuredly not Aubrey.
"You don't remember?" the stranger in Aubrey's body rasped. "I gave you the unparalleled opportunity to tie your fortunes to mine. With your acquiescence I would have had power over all, and I would have shared it with you. You no longer have the ability to gift me with your innocence, but you will be mine."
Rose felt a cold chill wash over her. There was only one being in all of creation who would be speaking this way to her, and she still got queasy at the mere mention of his name. Ahmed Al-Shere. Her knees threatened to give way, but even if the chair had been upright, she didn't think that sitting down would be a good idea. She back away a couple of steps, but Aubrey/Ahmed moved along with her, keeping pace.
Spike halted by the trap to the basement. He'd heard voices, but had been too far away to identify them, although he could hear enough to tell that one of them was feminine. Probably, possibly, hopefully Rose. He stopped and listened.
"There is nowhere you can hide, Rose," the demon hissed. "You are not going anywhere. You will do the translation for me, and then, if you are cooperative, you may yet win your way back into my favor. If you are not, you will still be mine. The choice is yours. Partner or slave?"
"You can't make me help you," Rose quavered. Her knees were knocking so, she thought sure he could hear. "And whatever you want those translations for, I'm sure it can't be for anything good."
"Good and evil are for the masses." A negligent wave of the hand. "We will be beyond that. I will, at any rate. It is up to you whether or not you rise above them."
Despite her terror, Rose nearly smiled at that. She'd once thought herself above humans, then had willingly become one. But that was one piece of information that she felt was best kept from her captor. Then, she saw something else that almost brought a smile to her lips. Someone else was silently creeping down the steps behind her jailer. She could only see the lower half of the person, but it was a familiar sight, and the swishing folds of the leather duster proclaimed his identity more than anything else could. But she should say something, keep the thing's attention firmly directed to her.
"You can't keep me here forever," she said. "My friends will rescue me. And as for your translations, you can..," She groped for the proper word or phrase. What would Spike say? "You can stuff your translations."
Spike did grin despite the gravity of the situation. How could she possibly think that she disappointed him? Rose was a constant source of joy and delight to him.
"We are arranging to have your plaything brought here." Obviously the demon was still unaware of what was creeping up on him. "I think you may prove more than willing to spare him pain."
Rose's eyes blazed in sudden anger. "If you hurt Spike, I'll kill you myself." Her posture changed from defensive to offensive.
"I believe you made the attempt once before, child." Ahmed Al-Shere's voice coming from Aubrey's body was still more than somewhat eerie. "As you can see, it failed. If you try again, it will merely make things go harder with you." The voice dropped a tone, became what was obviously supposed to be seductive. "You willingly lie with a vampire, a soulless creature of the night. How can you find me so repugnant after that? And I know that you find this body attractive. Aubrey noticed the way you looked at him when you first met."
"Spike has a soul," Rose informed him. "Why do you think I even for a moment considered consulting with you in the first place? Because I love him, and I wanted him to have what he once had."
"A vampire with a soul?" The demon was taken aback. "A unique creature indeed, but still unworthy of your affections, both emotional and physical."
Spike was almost on him now. He made a flying lunge at the human/demon admixture and suddenly found himself sailing across the room, his impromptu flight checked only by the existence of the wall. "Bloody hell," he growled. "I told you once, demon, to stay away from my bird. Seems you don't listen too well." He made another pass at the thing, with the same painful results. He pulled himself to his feet again, beaten but not bowed, when the demon-mage made a gesture.
"Stay," Ahmed Al-Shere said negligently, and Spike found himself rooted to the spot.
An enraged Rose flew at Aubrey/Ahmed fists flailing valiantly but ineffectually. He caught her in a rough bear-hug, pinning her arms to her sides. "Much better," the harsh voice purred. "Having you throw yourself into my arms." He lowered his head, obviously intending to kiss her.
"If you kiss me, I'll throw up," Rose warned. She wriggled uselessly, trying to free herself. Then, she remembered something that she had seen somewhere, a movie or t.v. show. She brought her knee up sharply.
The reaction to her action was eminently satisfactory. She was released so abruptly that she nearly lost her balance, while her captor lay on the floor, clutching at himself and groaning in pain. She went over to Spike, but could get no nearer to him than a foot or so, there seemed to be some magical barrier between the two of them.
"You clear off now, pet," Spike directed in urgent tones. "Your little demon friend is out waiting in the car. Oh shit, I've got the bloody keys."
"I can't drive," she reminded him. "And I'm not leaving you behind, Spike." Her expression brought to Spike's mind one that Red had called her resolve face.
"You can still find a way back, luv." Spike continued to argue, even though he was pretty sure that it was a lost cause. "Go get help, someone who can get me loose from the demon's trap."
Hearing Spike mention the demon brought to her the fact that her erstwhile victim couldn't be expected to stay down forever. She went and got her chair again. She brought it swishing down over her head, only to have it bounce off like the first time.
The Aubrey/demon struggled to his feet. "You have made a poor choice, Rose," he hissed. "Now see the price you will pay for such untoward behavior." Another wave of his hand, and a few muttered, but unintelligible words. Spike's head snapped back in such a way that if he had been human, he would have had a broken neck. Invisible blows rained on him for several minutes. Spike took it stoically enough, although the expression on his face suggested that if he had his freedom, there'd be hell to pay. Rose, however, was another story.
"Stop, please." Tears were rolling down her cheeks. "Please don't hurt him anymore."
Another wave of the hand and the magical pummeling stopped. "Aubrey was correct," the demon observed. "You can be reached through the vampire. I can resume the chastisement as easily as I stopped it. What will you do to keep me from harming him again?"
"What do you want me to do?" Rose asked, while Spike groaned in a misery that was not entirely physical.
&&&&&&&&
The Q'xlzr gave up on the vampire. It found a passing car and headed back to Wolfram and Hart. Time to get the boss vampire. It knew it should have done that in the first place.