He awoke in a white room, laying on his stomach. The crash! My spine, is it okay? He tried to feel behind him, but his hands were bound to the bed.
"Oh, you're awake!" exclaimed a surprised nurse. "I'll send for Dr. Kass."
N'Donnai, exhausted, simply lay there and waited. And waited. The desperate, nervous feeling in his stomach was only worsening with every passing moment. If the crash had injured his spines, then he was in danger of losing the rest of his power. He'd be helpless, and worse yet, he'd lose his position as leader of the Pack.
Finally, after an eternity of waiting, he heard the door open. "Welcome back, son," said a voice N'Donnai assumed was the doctor's. "We almost thought you weren't going to wake up."
"What happened?"
"You were hit by an oncoming car. The driver fled the scene before the ambulance got there, and the car was stolen, so we don't know who is responsible. Your girlfriend is just fine—just some minor cuts and some bruising—but you suffered some deep lacerations to your face and torso and legs, I assume from the glass. You lost a lot of blood and you've been asleep for three days now."
N'Donnai reached for his power, but felt nothing, and that scared him. "The injuries to my…torso…how bad are they?"
"Pretty bad, son, especially on your back, which is why we have had to keep you on your stomach. Most of the skin was ripped off…but you should recover fine, with minimal scarring and no nerve damage. All I can say is that you were damned lucky."
"I had these weird growths on my back, along my spine. I was going to go have them checked out by my doctor, but…."
"I didn't see anything unusual. You should get some sleep, son. All this exercise isn't good for a recovering body."
"Okay," said N'Donnai quietly. His spines had been ripped off; he had no power anymore. He was as good as human without his power. His clan would cast him out, and he lacked the strength to lead the Pack now. Kelya would take over; she would lead well.
He wanted to kill the other driver for sentencing him to mortality. Without his spines, N'Donnai would now age like a human, and eventually, in perhaps sixty years, he would die like a human. He'd been alive for five hundred years, and sixty was an eye blink for such as him. But he no longer had any motive to kill Rey. He was human and had more to fear from his own blood kin than from her. Should he ask for her protection? When Kelya assumed leadership, she would attempt to kill him, no question there. The challenge to her authority needed to be removed. Even if he only had sixty years, there was no reason to throw them away.
The nurse poked her head into the room. "You have a visitor," she said.
"Okay," he answered.
The Slayer walked in. With her mother.
"Why, hello N'Donnai," said Buffy coldly.
He glared at her.
"Rey said that you were very nice to her. Was that before or after you tried to kill her? I won't let you take her from me, demon. I beat you once, I could beat you again," she threatened.
"Yes, I imagine you could. Considering my condition at the moment, it wouldn't be much of a fight though."
Buffy laughed. "You'll heal up in a day or two. You Seku have remarkable recuperative powers."
"Nope. Not anymore I don't," said N'Donnai, steeling himself. He was about to throw himself on the questionable mercy of the Slayers, past and present, that he'd tried to murder. "I lost my spines in the accident." He smiled mirthlessly. "I'm as human as you are now."
"Let me get this straight…you have no power?" asked Buffy.
The ex-demon nodded.
"Well, then you're screwed."
"Yeah, that's about the size of it," he agreed.
Buffy seemed to consider something for a second before leaning close to her daughter and whispering something in her ear. A week ago, I could have heard that. Rey nodded to something her mother said.
"You are under my protection, N'Donnai. If you disobey any order I give, I stop protecting you, and you end up very dead. Understand?" Her voice was hard as diamond, and finally he could see what made her a formidable foe on the streets.
"Call me Nick; I can no longer claim the name N'Donnai, as I am hardly 'the fierce one' anymore."
"Have it your way, Nick. Don't worry, I will protect you from you kin. But I won't ever make the mistake of trusting a demon spawn like you again," she added vehemently.
"I no longer have any reason to lie to you Rey," he said.
Rey merely glared at him. "You'll be in the hospital for a few days longer since you lost your healing powers, so I'll keep an eye on you after school. After all, it is my job to protect humans and slay demons.
"If I can't make it, Alexis will come. I'm warning you right now not to try anything with her. She's a witch and an accomplished martial artist; she could incapacitate you any number of ways. So, like I said, I'm warning you, even though you don't deserve it," she said acidly.
"Just by becoming human, you think I've become stupid as well?" asked Nick, disbelieving. "I didn't survive for five hundred years by making bad decisions. Don't worry Slayer, I'll be just fine." No thanks to you, he added mentally.
"Fine," she replied shortly, and walked out of the room, leaving Nick alone with Buffy.
"You tried to kill me once," she said.
"I failed."
"Yes. You had plans to kill my daughter—don't bother denying it. A mother knows these things—and I know you.
"It was my intention to kill the Slayer. To protect my people."
"You know, I left Sunnydale because of you. I couldn't kill you, and I couldn't stop you. Even at the peak of my strength, you could match me, and I was afraid. I still remember our last fight," she said, musing aloud. "We fought to a stalemate, but then I managed that lucky throw of a knife. I thought I'd hit your heart, that you'd die then. But you didn't die, and now you're back to make my daughter's life miserable."
Nick hung his head, remembering Rey. Not as a Slayer, but as a girl. She was very pretty, and protective and strong. She impressed him very much. "I only wanted to protect the Pack. I mean, they were the only family I had, the only ones who accepted me. I didn't even know your daughter, Buffy, I just knew that she was, as the Slayer, a danger to our life."
Buffy sighed. "You do hurtful things, Nick. You lie and you kill, and you don't think twice about it. If you attempt to ling in the human world, you must change yourself. Rey, I know, will help you, but the choice to change is up to you."
"Yeah," he said, feeling intimidated. Feeling for all the world like the eighteen year old boy he looked like. Adapt or die, right? That was one of the laws of the jungle…evolve or be left behind.
Buffy turned to leave as Nick spoke again, softly.
"This stuff isn't in the stories or legends about my people, but I thought you should know. We guard our secrets well, but I'm telling you this now because Rey will need to know it. The power of a Seku demon is nearly infinite, and they are nearly immortal. So long as they possess their horns and spines, they cannot die.
"Buffy, if you had wanted me dead all those years ago, you would have had to remove my horns and spines. I'm glad that you didn't. I never would have met Rey." Nick smiled a slightly dreamy smile as the Slayer's mother left the hospital room, closing the door behind her.
**
Rey rose from her chair as she saw her mother close the door to Nick's room. "Well?" she asked.
"Buffy shrugged. "I honestly don't know, Rey. As well as he seems to be reacting to the loss of his power, I think he's hiding his pain. He told me that he only wanted us dead because we were a danger to his Pack. Now that he's human he has no reason to kill, because he has no one to protect."
Rey was relieved. She was still angry, but she was happy to know that there was hope for Nick, that he wasn't evil. She just couldn't seem to get him out of her thoughts these days. Not just because he was gorgeous or because she felt sorry for him. It was a feeling she couldn't name, and couldn't identify.
"At least there's hope," said Rey.
"Yes," replied Buffy. "I think he is becoming more and more human every minute. I doubt he was ever truly evil, not like Darla or Angelus."
"I'm going home to work on some homework. Alexis said that she'd stop by in a couple of hours to cast some wards and give him something for his wounds."
"Okay, honey. Be in bed by eleven, got it?"
Rey smiled. "Got it, mom. I'll see you later," she said as she headed for the parking lot. She'd have a lot to do in the coming week, and she had to get prepared.
**
Nick was different. He could feel it in every bone and muscle of his body. He felt weaker than ever, even though his back was healing. Nick could only assume it was from undernourishment. He couldn't bring himself to eat the strange human food when he'd once absorbed loose energy directly from the air around him. The nurses had stuck a tube in his arm to give him the nutrients his body needed, but he was still very weak.
His heartbeat was human paced, faster than the pulse he was used to. All in all, he felt very human. Not like a Seku drained of power, but human. It was like his biology was changing in response to his loss. Besides the weakness, Nick felt wonderful and complete in a way he never had before. He didn't know why this had happened, but he accepted it as true. What other explanation could there be?
Lost in thought, he didn't even hear Alexis Harris come in. She had inherited her mother's red hair and power as a witch, and certainly none of her father's sense of humor. Nick actually liked her. Had he still be Seku, he would have killed her, but, being human, he was allowed to like her.
Nick smiled up at the witch. "How's it going?"
Alexis peered at Nick's back. "You're healing well. How do you feel?"
"All right, but it's odd…I just can't seem to shake the feeling that I'm different," he responded. Oh well, better to ask her straight out. "Am I becoming human?"
Alexis looked into his amber eyes. "Do you want to be?"
"I don't know. I don't like feeling this powerless. Is this what being human feels like?"
The redhead shook her head. "This is what being sick feels like, Nick. But if you'd like, I can cast a spell that can tell me if you are a human or not."
"Please. I need to know for sure."
"All right. Just be quiet for a second…." Her voice trailed off as she began her spell. Nick had no idea what it entailed, but it just seemed as though Alexis sat there. Maybe she was concentrating really hard or something. Then a bright light flashed, like the flash from lightning, blinding one instant and gone the next. Nick blinked a few times to clear his vision.
"Well?" he asked.
"You are not human. Not completely, anyway. You look very much like Rey does to the Sight. But I can tell you with complete conviction that you no longer have any trace of the demonic about you. I'm not sure what happened, but I think that you are something new. You have an aura very much like the Slayer's, which leads me to believe that your powers are connected."
"Me and Rey? Connected? By what sort of power?"
"I'm not completely sure. All I can do is interpret the aura, but from what I can tell, enhanced strength and perhaps some rudimentary psychic power. If you start hearing voices when no one is speaking, let me know, because you might be turning telepathic."
"I used to be, you know. With my kin. I could feel what they felt, but I don't feel anything like that now."
"But the power does lie in you," said Alexis with conviction. "It is likely that it will awaken again."
"This is all so strange," said Nick. "I mean, I figured that I'd always be a demon, even after the accident. But I'm not. I'm something new and the closest thing to my power is a woman I tried to kill. I think it's rather ironic."
"Yes, I suppose it is." She smiled kindly. She didn't tell him that this transformation was likely due to her healing spells. They had to be modified for a non-human body, and somehow, they must have changed his body to the form the spell was most familiar with—human. Spells had a tendency to be unpredictable when modified. "Anyway, turn over. I have some fresh salve for your back."
Nick did as he was asked and rolled onto his stomach. He felt Alexis applying the salve to his skin, feeling warm and tingly. When she was finished, she replaced the bandages and rolled him onto his back. "It's healing very well. They should let you out of the hospital tomorrow."
"Good," replied Nick. "Is Rey coming to visit later?"
"I think so. She's on Spring break right now, so she'll probably be here in an hour or so. Be patient."
"What?"
"I said, be patient. She'll figure it out soon enough, this connection between the two of you…. Neither of you can deny it. I think you are half in love with her already."
Nick smiled ruefully. "Maybe," he said.
"Well, my work here is done. I'll see you around, Nick."
"Bye Alexis, thanks for everything."
"Anytime," she called as she walked out.
Nick sighed, sat back, and awaited Rey's return.
**
Rey walked into Nick's hospital room only to find him half naked in the bathroom. "Oops!" she said, averting her eyes. Not that she wanted to; with a body like that, she wouldn't mind watching him all day. "Are you decent?" she called.
A faint rustle that must have been the hospital gown came from behind her, followed by a voice. "Yeah, I'm good."
Rey turned around…only to fall into Nick's light brown eyes. Wait a second…brown? But Seku demons have yellow eyes! What was going on?
"How are you feeling?" she asked.
"Better than this morning, but still not up to par. Alexis says that my back is nearly healed, and that they'll probably let me go home tomorrow."
"Home?"
"I have an apartment on 10th street. It's the only home I have left now." He smiled sadly.
He's so beautiful, she thought. His black hair and brown eyes, and his tan, muscular body that was the perfect height for her 5'8 frame. "How come you're wearing you contacts?" she suddenly asked.
"Huh? I'm not," he replied, confused.
"But…weren't your eyes yellow?"
"Yeah."
"Look in the mirror. They're brown now," said Rey.
"It's okay, I believe you. My whole body had changed, why should my eyes be any different?"
He's so beautiful, Rey thought again.
"Huh?" asked Nick.
"What?"
"Did you just say something?"
"Nope." God, why did he have to be a demon?
"I'm not a demon any more, Rey," he said, answering her unspoken question out loud.
"You heard me? Heard what I was thinking?" she asked. He nodded. "Great, just what I need, a telepathic ex-demon. What more could a girl ask for?" Nothing, her brain supplied. Shut up, she snapped back at it.
Nick smiled at her inner monologue. He could almost see the psychic connection that stretched between them, like a bridge connection their minds. And thoughts could pass over it with ease, if he let them. God, I love you, Rey, he sent across their bridge. She spun around and looked him in the eye.
"What?"
"I love you. You are like…a part of me, and I'm a part of you. We compliment each other. I know you feel the same way about me."
"Yes," she answered, unthinkingly. She didn't worry about the repercussions of admitting that, the just leaned close to him and kissed him sweetly on the lips. "I will love you forever."
END