5
Xander gulped, visibly and audibly, gawking at the woman who was staring him down. Not a human, a demon, and Xander quailed in reluctance while Spike looked on in impatience.
"I can't," Xander bemoaned. "Dawn, I just. I can't."
"It's one bloody snog," Spike snapped irritably.
"Well, you do it then."
"Well, she didn't bloody choose me, did she?"
Clarity clicked her tongue, making a disapproving noise from where she stood. "Not making a woman feel very welcome," She chastised.
Xander flushed a deep, red. Like Jade had, last time. Bloody hell. It was a bad idea to come here, if just for the reminders that plagued Spike at every sodding turn. Like he needed any more reminders of what was out of his reach, of what he was missing with each second.
"It's not-not you," Xander stuttered. "Trust me. If it was just, wow, then definitely, but I have a girlfriend. And I love her very much, and we're—"
Clarity snapped her tongue again, in sync with her finger shifting from side to side, reprimanding him. "I know many things. Tasted many. Love and lies, and you speak both. No need to sour your tongue with lies."
If possible, Xander reddened further.
"Your love, I do not doubt, handsome man." Clarity took a step towards him. "But eternal, requited love, that is not what you have. You have a desperate hold on a slippery slope, and you will lose it," Clarity blinked her long lashes. "You deny it?" She leaned closer.
Xander swallowed again, and there was undeniable dismay in his eyes. Spike had noticed it, only barely before, but he hadn't looked into it overmuch. Had more bloody things to be concerned with than Harris' uninteresting love life, even if he was with the Bit, something that Spike had had some hard time swallowing, but he could see it now. Dawn's attention was fading, and Xander was losing her. The simple growing apart bit or something like that. But he didn't have the care to analyze the sodding thing. It wasn't his concern.
"No, but…"
"There is always new on the horizon," Clarity's claws touched the underside of his chin. "You are so human. So simple. But you are loyalty itself, bizarre in your normality, and remarkable under the pretense of commonplace. The supernatural is drawn to you, and little wonder why. Even I," Clarity giggled. "I see the charm. But you are not for me." She added, almost sounding a little off-put. "Still. I want my kiss, and I want your taste. You are special, little average one."
Xander licked his lips, still hesitating.
"Dawn wanted you to help Jade any, bloody, way, necessary," Spike reminded him, his voice hard and irritated. Never mind Harris' feelings. Angel was looking a little disquieted that his qualities weren't the ones being sung praises of, prat felt himself a little underappreciated or what have you.
"Right," Xander nodded. "For Ja—Dawn," Harris corrected hastily, seeing the possessive, angry glint in Spike's eyes. "Okay."
Clarity's lips drew into a wide, approving smile and she wasted no time, wrapping her arms around the shorter man and pulling him into her embrace. Xander's hands stretched out, flat, as he awkwardly didn't know where to put them, and the seconds seemed long and drawn out before Clarity suddenly released him, her eyes black.
And then Xander's legs went out from under him, and he fell.
Right. Spike'd forgotten 'bout that. At least Peaches was close enough, and his fast reflexes allowed him to catch Xander before he crashed into a heap on the floor—which admittedly, would have been a tad amusing. Angel tried unsuccessfully to get Xander to stand up on his own, a vexed expression on the hulking vampire as he had to settle with holding up Xander instead.
Clarity was smacking her lips together. "Mhmmm. How delicious," She crowed, pleased.
"Whuhh," Xander groaned, looking woozy.
"Forgot to mention, snogging her weakens the knees a bit," Spike broke in, not quite apologetically. He got an single eye glaring at him in response.
"Forgaw to menshun!" Xander said indignantly, looking like he hadn't slept in the last couple of days. Jade had taken it a little better, Slayer stamina and all, but Spike still remembered that he had to hold her up, her head rolling up into his shoulder. It just had been the thing to do at the time, nothing romantic about it, but he knew now. Knew how he craved her touch, and what he wouldn't give…
"My turn now," Clarity giggled as she stepped over to the bowl, elated and filled with energy. She leaned in, her breasts nearly scraping the edge of the bowl as she let out a violet-misted breath, which sank into the shining water or somewhat. Her clawed fingers followed, and her eyes closed.
"I feel like shomeone didn't plug in my battery," Xander said with flickering half-closed eyes.
"Well, bloody snap out of it. You're driving, remember?"
"Not unless we want to run into a ditch," Angel said with amusement.
"I'm with this guy," Harris slurred.
Spike arched an eyebrow. "What did we bring you along for, I forget."
Xander's eyes bulged open. "Kishes!"
"Well, I don't want any," Spike said indignantly. "Maybe Angel—"
Angel was kept from answering that retort by Clarity clearing her throat.
"Lovely, interesting boys," She cooed. "So different. Not friends, not pals. Soldiers of the same fight," She giggled. Her fingers had been withdrawn from the bowl, and Spike felt his unbeating heart nearly leap to his throat, conversation forgotten.
"Where is the Mok'Tagar demon with Jade's soul?" Spike demanded.
"She hops," Clarity said. "All over."
A growl sounded in Spike's throat, frustration and impatience, and she raised a finger.
"But I have her next locations. She's free, finally, you see. She wants life, and party. She wants to walk among the humans she doesn't belong with." Clarity's eyes returned to their normal, silver irises, looking at the three of them. "I can give you where she'll be, but she'll teleport away if she so chooses."
"We'll deal with that," Spike snapped, though a 'how' evaded him. Just bloody hoped they'd find a way. "Give us where."
"You think fitting the missing piece will reset the game, but it is not so easy. The way down this path will have its own losses." Clarity warned him.
"And if we head back and sit n' stew, waiting for Jade to stumble upon us?" He demanded.
Clarity blinked, slowly, regarding him calmly. "It is no easy task to say," She said simply.
A vexed snarl tore from him. "Then I'm going after that soul. And I will give it back to her."
Clarity looked at him for a long moment. "So you say," She said finally. "But things are so often out of our hands."
"Ow, ow, bloody ow," Spike snapped as they rushed back through the streets.
"At least you're not carrying dead weight," Angel grumbled, wincing from the sun's not so-gentle slather. They'd gotten what they came for—he bloody well hoped—and left the demon back in her shop, with the hope they could find Lyth at one of the locations. Sooner better than bloody later. And Clarity'd invited them all to stay and wait out the sun, but there was no sodding time to wait.
'Cept now his bloody skin was sizzling.
"Least he bloody covers you up a bit," Spike shot back, shifting his jacket over his head.
"The only not dead weight around here, I'd like to menshun," Xander announced from where he was slung over Angel's shoulder.
"He's not an umbrella," Angel sounded disappointed. "And he keeps moving his arms."
"This ish very uncomfortable," Xander snapped back. "I'm just glad I can move my arms. Like the resht of me, they feel like rubber."
Spike rushed to the car with renewed vehemence as it came into view. The streets were still mostly empty, though the demon bodies were not numerous. One for the Bollganeg demons. He'd been looking for Lorne, making sure the green-skinned demon hadn't gotten caught after the fact, but there'd been nothing, and Spike was grateful. Wherever Lorne was, at least he knew how to look after himself. Angel was likely disappointed that they hadn't run into him, as Spike suspected it was one of the reasons that Peaches had come along. No time to lament it now, he shoved the keys into the car and started it, pulling the special shades in place, first in the front and then towards the back. Angel dumped a noodly like Xander in the front seat.
"Can you drive yet?" Angel asked. "I'm not looking forward to a sunburn all the way to Las Vegas."
Las Vegas. That'd been the first place on Clarity's list, and Spike bloody well hoped it wasn't going to be a long chase. Of course that's where the broad would go, ready to party with a conscience that wasn't hers. Jade'd told him the story once, and he knew enough of Mok'Tagar Demons himself. They usually stuck to their own selves in their own dimension, but some would flee to this one, until the old folks tracked 'em down and brought them back to their own kind. They'd be able to sense where their child, whatever was, but the way their faces grew, it was hard to see them. So they did that whole soul-detecting thing. Knew who was theirs by the glowing lack of a soul.
Hence why Lyth had spent so much time in Haven. Hiding. And now she had what she wanted after who bloody knew how long, and she was going to use it like a get out of Jail free card. Spike trembled with hatred each time he thought of it. Wasn't bloody hers, he thought with a venom. Lyth'd stolen what hadn't belonged to her, and Spike was going to make her pay for it, pay for every single second Jade had spent without her soul. The lives she'd taken.
"Depens," Xander said. "Do we have to make it one piece?"
Despite his concerns, they had Harris behind the wheel, Spike and Angel crawling into the back, glaring at each other and making it very clear that they weren't huddling from the sun together, very much pressed to the opposite side of the car. Four sodding hours, it'd be.
And if the Mok'Tagar Demon wasn't there by the time they'd get there…
Spike pulled his blanket closer around him. Couldn't think like that. Couldn't think of whatever Jade was doing now. Could only hope she was somewhere, alone. With no-one to hurt her or get hurt by. While her arms healed. An' he should be with her. He bloody knew that. Sending her off, so barely defended, bloody hell. Guilt and regret were sodding everything that plagued him.
The jerky movements of the car didn't matter. Spike didn't think he could sleep much either way. The stops were near unbearable, the downsides of travelling with a sodding human. Needed food, needed a sodding loo break, needed this and that, while Angel and Spike drank from the cooler's blood in the back of the car. 'Least it was only four hours, though it felt like an eternity.
Xander was still munching on a pretzel as they approached Las Vegas. Bet there was lots of sodding partying going on, being near after New Years, but at least Clarity had given them a specific location, her powers somewhat more clear now that their quarry wasn't in Haven.
"Last time I was here, we had to rescue Lorne," Angel was reminiscing. "And, I lost my destiny."
"Shame, that," Spike said with mostly sarcasm and little concern. "Thought you already fulfilled it—being a giant sod and all that."
A glare from Angel was cut off by the car being jerked up and down.
"Bloody hell, Harris," Spike snapped irritably.
"Sorry," The man muttered. "Speed bump. I'm still a little jelly-like."
"Jelly-brained," Spike retorted back. "Get us closer to the door. Don't fancy burning up anymore today." 'Least his skin had finally begun to lose that red tint from their earlier sodding soiree, and it wasn't so tender. The blood helped, soothing his new aches and hopefully the old ones.
"Do casinos even open this early?" Xander asked as he piled out of the car, following a bit more clumsily and slowly after the two vampires.
"Yeh, being a bloody zombie starts early enough. Gotta rope people in to spending their entire days in front of the slots," Spike called back from underneath the overhang, slapping at the collar of his shirt where it'd begun to smoke a tad. A smoke. He'd made Xander get him a couple of low brand kinds from one of the stops they'd made, and he jammed one into his mouth. Had enough time. Would make some, anyway.
"Likely that some are still going from last night," Angel commented.
"It's ten in the morning," Xander protested.
"I'm just saying. Sometimes there's perfectly good reasons to spend. Hours. In front of a slot machine. Basically drooling. But not. Really drooling," The vampire said back, scratching self-consciously at his neck.
"We've got to stick together," Spike said, breaking into focus mode. There wasn't any room for sodding error. "Broad has a thing for face-changing rings. Not to mention she can rip her skin off and re-grow it fairly quick. Should be able to find her by scent. Likely."
"Likely?" Xander echoed incredulously. "Are you saying that you're not even sure what she looks like?"
Spike growled. "I said, broad likes playing looky-loo games. I should have an idea."
The hours did not pass quickly. No, they were like bloody grains of sand that kept falling back up to bollix the whole hourglass system up. The windows outside got brighter, and then darker, and the sun was falling back down again, and Spike was nearly beside himself with impatience. Angel had tried to force him to sit at a table for a bit, take a break and have a drink, but that had lasted only minutes until Spike had tried to walk up in the middle of a game, unable to pretend.
Now he sat at the slot machine, sitting there and doing nothing. None of the other 'zombies' seemed to notice, however, so involved they were with pulling a lever, he got barely a second glance, except from some of the more dressed up women who walked past him on their way to the adjoining club room. And he saw them all. They giggled and smiled coquettishly as they noticed his eyes on them, and more than a few tried to talk with him, but Spike's clipped answers and clear disinterest got most of them moving on so Spike could survey the new batch.
He knew what to look for, mostly. Knew the demon's preferred form, if not her natural one. She wanted to be a looker, wanted to steal the show, and though there were a few, all glammed up and dolled for a stroll through Vegas, Spike spared them hardly more than a hard glance and a deep exhale. Human, human. Human. Demon, but not the kind he was looking for. A vengeance demon, how quaint. Spike wondered who she was drawn to, for she noticed Spike, as well as Angel and Xander, but stepped past them all, in the confidence of a few gossiping women, one talking about how her fiancé had run off after having his bachelor here the previous week. Still, it didn't concern Spike. If it wasn't the Mok'Tagar Demon or Jade, then he didn't care who they were.
Angel was more intrigued by the Vengeance demon, suggesting they keep an eye on her, and Xander had gotten a glum look on his face when they'd mentioned the whole 'vengeance' part, no doubt thinking of his dead honey. Spike wondered if that was the reason for some of the rough spots between Harris and Dawn, then found he didn't care very much to think about it for long. It was human affairs, and none of his, even if it included the little Bit. She could handle herself. Spike was no big brother. Been near one once. Messed up a few times since then.
Pretty big, just recently. Dawn taking a liking to Jade or not, she wouldn't take very well to Spike hurting big Sis's feelings. In front of her generals, no less. Still. Buffy was good at hiding her feelings about Spike from everyone else, acting like she gave no damn. Give her more bloody practice, is all. He covered his own fear that he'd made a grave mistake with resentment. Whether or not he got Jade back, Buffy wasn't the end all. Sometimes being with her was drinking poison. Killed him, just slowly. And he'd died enough.
Truth was, he didn't think it'd be that easy if he never got Jade back. Hard to practice apathy with no distraction. Not that Jade was a distraction, bloody hell. Spike ran his fingers through his mussed curls, digging hard into his scalp. He was beginning to think Clarity was just covering her pal-o's back and sent them in the complete wrong direction, and it frustrated him near to the point of tears. He just didn't know. He was stumbling through it all like a sodding blind man.
Harris and Angel had taken turns leaving him. Probably didn't trust him with no supervision, although what could Harris do if Spike fancied a fight? But seeing as Spike wasn't trying to blend in, the others had done their part to ask around.
It was Xander who returned now, drink in hand, and his cheeks slightly flushed. Spike bit back the urge to snap at him. Wasn't the bloody time to get plastered. Had a sodding mission at hand, but he supposed the sod was trying to get over whatever Clarity had brought to the surface. Either way, Spike spared only a quiet, irritated hiss, keeping his eyes once more on the entrance.
"There's a back hall to the club," Xander informed them. "Those staying at the hotel can enter through that, instead of going through the casino. She might have gotten in that way."
Spike was on his feet in a single, fluid gesture, graceful and quick and earning a few impressed looks from the onlookers. Not those on the machines, of course. Didn't even look up. "Need to check it then," He said brusquely, frustrated that they hadn't discovered that earlier. What if she had been and already left?
"Let's go," Angel said, as if he was Big Boss, but Spike followed him without complaint. Xander nodded his jerky head and the three of them entered the club.
Spike sat by the bar, leaned against the stool so he could see the whole area best he could. There was an upper level, and Spike scanned it best he could. The music was loud, and the place was packed. So many smells flashes, it was hard to look through it all. Bloody hell, they could be here all night. His hand slammed down so hard on the counter, he nearly spilled the drink of the person sitting next to him. He got a disgruntled glare for his trouble, but shot one back, just as icy, and the lug of the man turned back 'round without a word.
For the better, he supposed. As tempted as he was to pick a fight—he bloody needed something to calm him down, he was so twisted up and stiff—he couldn't afford being distracted.
He needed to sit, watch and wait.
Xander found her first. Sodding Xander, but it was a accident, of course. He'd did a round 'round the place and then sat down beside Spike after Spike had flashed his yellow eyes and fangs to convince the already malcontent man that he should move on, and Xander had taken the empty seat.
"You know," Harris was saying, drinking miserably from his straw. "I'm not going to say it hasn't been amazing with Dawn. It really has. She's really grown up and all. Used to have a crush on me. I was her hero, you know. Guess that kinda evolved from a crush to an actual like like, and you know, I'm not saying I was like, liking her when she was really young, like child young. Not that I guess I really knew her when she was younger, I guess. I mean, before the whole fourteen years, but even then Buffy'd would have had a problem with that. Anyway. I was her hero. And she was always cute, and then she just turned into the sophisticated young woman and now she's studying arts and stuff, and she's graduating soon, and I guess I should be glad that she's kind of turning her back on the whole Slayer thing. She's not staying at the base as much anymore, staying at dorm instead, and I thought, hey, I could do this, maybe. Be less Slay-oriented and more real-world, but I mean, how do you just turn your back and pretend not to know what you know? And I know that the whole world knows about vampires now, but you'd be surprised by how many people give you a giant 'huh' look when you mention it, like you're the one crazy and they're not the ones with a sack over their head."
"And I get it. She wants that. She's feeling like she's in Buffy's shadow all the time, but now she's the one with a real world education, gets to finish her degree like Buffy never got to, and she wants to spend more time with her study buddy 'Philippe' because he just 'understands what I'm talking about, Xander, we connect on an intellectual level, you understand'?" Xander's voice became mocking and high-pitched. "So, like, I'm not going to be jealous or anything. I'm the one spending time with young Slayers all day. But I could be jealous. I have every right to be jealous of blonde Mr. Swiss with the huge muscles. But I'm not. She could be jealous of the Slayer girls, but she has no reason to. Because I would never. Not that she would ever, but sometimes I feel like I'm holding her back, and of course I don't want to, but like what is she going to see in me? And I can understand the brush-offs and all that, but it still stings. I mean. I used to be her hero. Me!" He glanced back at Spike. "You know what I'm saying?"
"Good. Bloody. Lord, Harris, I haven't been listening since you first opened your mouth. What the bloody hell are you going on about, anyway?" Spike had forcibly torn his gaze away from the crowd to look at the one-eyed man staring sullenly into his cup.
"Nothing. I'm just saying. No reason to be untrusting, here. She's all the way in Toronto, studying with Philippe, but there's nothing going on. Just like there's nothing going on with me over here, just because there's beautiful women everywhere, and damn, that woman is gorgeous." Xander let out a long drawn sigh, his gaze flickering up through. "So hot. Not that I'm looking, or anything."
Spike rolled his eyes, disinterestedly following Xander's ogle. And there she was. In the thick of it all, bumping and grinding and dancing. Wearing her normal face, a wide smile on her face.
One she didn't deserve to have.
Bloody bitch.
"Xander," Spike snapped, his tone so icy that Xander looked at him immediately, likely equally surprised that Spike hadn't made up another nickname. "That's her. Bloody her."
Startled, Xander looked back. "The brunette? The one with the nice—"
"That's her." Spike glanced up to the balcony, where Angel had been sniffing around, trying to catch sight of the hulking vampire. Spike spun around to the bartender. "Two Bronxes. An' make it snappy, mate." He said it curtly and quickly, slapping some wrinkled bills on the glass counter. Xander's eye widened with surprise, perplexed.
"You chose now to start drinking?" He questioned.
"Not for me. Take these. Walk over to her and get 'er talking while Angel an' I close in."
"Get her—get that—I mean. Not that I don't have experience with talking to beautiful women. I've had plenty. I'm a lucky guy. But someone like me doesn't walk over to someone like that and get anything but a cold shoulder."
The drinks came and Spike shoved them towards Harris. "I don't sodding care how you do it," He all but snarled. "You're a foppish looking sod, but maybe she'll find the eyepatch at least interesting. Jus' don't let her think you're a gay pirate or somethin' along those lines."
"A gay pirate!" Xander echoed indignantly, then lowered his voice as he caught the attention of a few onlookers, who were likely now viewing him with a different outlook. "I'm telling you, this is going to go south—"
"I don't care, Harris!" Spike snapped. "Just keep her distracted. She sees me, this is sodding over. Keep her distracted until Angel an' I can come in."
"What's going to keep her from teleporting away?" Xander's one eye bore into his.
"I just—I got it bloody covered, already? Now hurry up!" He sent the man on his way, anxiously glancing back into the crowd to make sure that Lyth hadn't seen him—or worse, teleported away, sitting in the stool and stewing for a moment longer. He'd sent Xander away under the pretense of being under a bloody time constraint, and although that wasn't far off the track—they didn't have a great deal to waste here, most of it was that Spike didn't have an answer to his question. Didn't have a sodding plan there.
How to keep her from just popping away? Sod if he knew. No magic, no Willow. No sodding Willow. She could leave any time. See them coming, and off she goes. He wasn't sure how well she could teleport even if they managed to grip onto her, but he didn't want to find out. No, he had nothing. Just hope. That's it. Hoping that somehow, she'd hesitate. Violence was likely not an option, so he'd have to rely on the few other things he was good at. Sodding talking his mouth off. Had to convince her to give up the soul.
He pushed off from the stool, wading into the crowd. He could see Xander had approached the Mok'Tagar, a slightly uneasy expression on his idiotic face. Hopefully Lyth would just think it was nerves, and not anything alterior.
Sodding hope. It was all he had.
He moved through the crowd, losing his grace in exchange for haste, knocking more than a few shoulders by as he looked for the hulking vampire. Frustration and a knowledge of the ticking clock increased his anxiety, and he was about to give up and return to Xander when he felt the presence behind him.
"Find her?" Angel asked, quietly, but Spike could hear him just barely over the din. He twirled to look at the hulking vampire, who was regarding him with a curious, almost worried expression. Yeah, yeah. Spike knew he was slipping, letting Peaches sneak up on him.
"Yeh," Spike burst out. "Goofy's talkin' to her now."
"Alright," Angel let the white-haired vampire take the lead. "How do you want to do this?"
"Just stay close."
"And I thought, wow. She could really use a drink. Well, not use a drink. I mean, not that you need one. Appreciate one? Maybe?" Xander was giving her a crooked, anxious smile.
And there was Lyth. Hair all curled, done up, her eyes sparkling with some sort of silver eyeshadow, matching the shiny dress she had on that hid little and displayed much. She was looking at Xander as one might glance at a clumsy puppy. There was a hint of irritation, but amusement overwhelmed it. She tilted her head, regarding him. "You're a little inept, aren't you? Oh, that was rude." A frown crossed her features before an apologetic expression could take place. She narrowed her eyes then, in a brief confusion, then shook her head. "Whatever. You want to go to my room?" It was a casual, easy offer. Xander's eye widened.
"Well, uh, uh.." His eye twitched, as if he wanted to look over to Angel and Spike for support, but thought better of it. Didn't want to tip his hand, as he sodding shouldn't. "Yes," Harris gulped. "Sure."
"Great." There wasn't much inflection in the word. "It's here, in the building. Come on." The vampires were careful to keep in the crowd as Xander and Lyth began a slow swing, dropping their glasses off on a tray. Lyth worked the two of them to the far edge of the room, displaying her violet bracelet.
"He's with me," Lyth said, unapologetically, to the bouncers, who looked a bit regretful, but nodded, letting them through. Spike and Angel were careful to keep their distance, then rushed over as soon as the doors closed.
"Need t'get through there, mate," Spike said, with little patience.
The large bouncer looked at him dismissively. "Need a purple wristband. For hotel guests only."
"Can't make an exception?" Angel asked, not sounding overly persuasive. Didn't need to. Spike knew his grandsire well enough to know that the hulking vampire was itching for a fight just as much as Spike was.
"No." The bouncer growled, the other guard crossing his arms in front of his chest with added emphasis. Spike shrugged.
"'Ave it your way, then." He rushed the bouncer, smacking his head against the wall. Spike got a slap to his already aching chest for his trouble, but he ignored it, kicking aptly at the man's kneecap and earning a pained grunt. Again, he slammed the man's head into the wall, and this time, woozy and eyes flickering, the bouncer wasn't so quick to rise. His heart was beating, he was fine, though aptly knocked out. Spike thought back to both when he wouldn't have worried about leaving a human alive, and when he hadn't been able to so much as try to hurt a human and had the worst pain he ever felt in his noggin. He looked across his shoulder, where Angel was choking the other guard, his arm like a log across the man's throat. Heartbeat slowed, breath came in rasps, and Angel let him fall to the ground.
Angel gave him a satisfied look. "Wouldn't be as much fun if we were just let in." Angel fancied himself a rule breaker sometimes. Thinking he was all big scary and intimidating when he spent most of his time rescuing kittens out of trees, but Spike just gave him an answering grunt. Was at least refreshing, having someone there who matched his movements, knew what he was thinking of doing before he did it. Angel had his back, and as weird as it was, Spike was glad for it. Hell, been like that for years, really, although with a lot more animosity—or maybe the same, soul or not, that didn't change—than they did now. They almost had a respect, an understanding for each other from time to time. And they fought well together.
But so did he and Jade. Despite the vampire's strength and speed, Angel was no replacement for her. In many. Ways. Her smiles, the way her eyes shone in the midst of the fight. Bloody hell, in so many ways.
But she wasn't here. Angel was. An' even though he still could hardly believe Angel of all people was tagging along, Spike'd make use of him. Make use of anyone, if it meant getting Jade back. And first things first. Corner Lyth, get that soul.
Get that soul, and they'd be that much closer. He'd be that much closer, to getting Jade back. To fixing it all.