Disclaimers in Chapter 1

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Destinies

by Slayerbelle



Chapter 4
"Predetermined Doom"


Cordelia didn't know how long she was out, but it couldn't have been very long. She found herself on the ground in front of the hotel. Wesley was just getting on his feet as well.

"Where are they?" she cried.

He was shaking his head. "Um, upstairs. I... I saw them, I wasn't knocked unconscious but I couldn't move. The man performed a spell on Angel... I'm not sure..."

Oh great. If that meant Angel was incapacitated somehow, and the fate of all would be dependent on her and Wesley... "Weapons," Cordelia said, and when they got to the closet she whipped out an ax and stake to arm herself.

The second floor was eerily silent, save for Wesley and Cordelia's running. She closed her eyes to see what specific room Aurora was in, but the vision was gone. "Damn," she cursed softly.

"What?" Wesley whispered.

"I can't see her anymore."

"Well don't worry because we found her."

Cordelia followed where he was pointing and saw the man standing in front of a room at the end of the hallway.

"Be careful, he's a powerful warlock." Wesley cautioned.

"Yes, I know that from the huge invisible push that knocked me out," she retorted.

The man turned around and saw them approaching. He was a tall man, dark, good looking. Cordelia thought he didn't look a day older than forty, but with all the immortal good looking guys around, that wasn't an indication at all.

"You know that won't work with me," he told them smugly.

Cordelia's fist clenched around the ax's handle anyway. "Yeah, well, we can always try."

Wesley stepped nearer. "Where is Angel?"

The man nodded to the closed door right behind him. "He's in there. With the traitor."

"What?" Cordelia asked. "But he'll just bust her out of there. What in the hell are you trying to...?"

Wesley picked up on her train of thought. "You did something to him."

"Not a very original thing, I'm afraid. But after watching you in LA for over a year, we managed to pick up a thing or two."

"What are you talking about?" Cordelia demanded.

The man smiled almost serenely. "Temporary bliss. It took me a while to perfect the spell, but now I have and here we are."

Cordelia felt a chill in her stomach. She sensed Wesley brace himself beside her. "If I didn't make that clear the first time, what the hell are you talking about?"

"A little something we picked up from watching you. Apparently there are special circumstances where bliss can cause Angelus to lose the soul, only to have it return after said circumstances wear off."

She turned to Wesley, getting pissed now that she felt like she was going to have to ask it a third time. "What the hell?"

Wesley gave her a look. "The actress. What's her name. She gave Angel a drug and it caused temporary bliss."

"Oh right. And then Angelus..." Cordelia's eyes widened. "You made a spell to make him lose the soul? Doesn't that totally betray the purpose of the original curse? Are you people demented or something?"

He smiled at her again, looking very sinister. "You know nothing about our purposes, Ms. Chase."

So many wheels were turning in her head that she was having trouble keeping up.

The man looked familiar. Did she know him from somewhere?

He'd just cast Angel a spell to lose his soul. And locked him in a room with Aurora.

Didn't he want to kill Aurora?

And then it all came crashing down on her, all at the same time.

"You look like Jenny Calendar." Realization number 1. "You must be like... a brother or something."

"Well done, Ms. Chase."

"You want to kill Aurora." Realization numbers 2 and 3. "But you want Angel to do it for you."

"Because Angelus would be all too willing to finish her off," Wesley continued. "How long does the spell last?"

"Twenty minutes." The man replied. "A very complicated spell. Didn't have too much time to test it. But we'll find out if it works, won't we?"

Twenty minutes.

Meaning Angel, when he returned to himself, would be finding Aurora's dead and bleeding body in the room locked in with him, and will remember that he caused it.

Cordelia felt the disgust rise up in her mouth, so strong she could actually taste it. "You'll destroy him," she said.

====

"I'm locked in a hotel room with a beautiful woman. What do I do?" he asked her.

Aurora steeled herself again, willing her body not to shake so much. Just minutes ago she was sitting on the floor, afraid that her slightest movement would jar Angel awake.

She knew once the body on the floor opened his eyes, he wouldn't be Angel.

She had tried reciting the ritual of restoration, maybe counteract the spell that had just been performed on Angel. But it was an incantation that fell flat. She not only didn't have the necessary materials (like that Orb, she knew there was an orb involved), she also was no longer a witch. Incapable of channeling the power. At the moment she was a twenty-four year old girl shaking at her impending doom, and that was all she was.

Something wet dropped on her palm. Was she crying? She was. She couldn't feel her face but she knew she was crying. She most likely deserved this. It was her last attempt at saving herself that led Angel to where she was. Led Angel right in the path the Kalderash wanted.

It wasn't fair. *They can't win this. They can't always win this.*

Angelus hovered over her, pacing around the small room. "You got to give a hand to those gypsies, Aurora. They know how to show their guests a good time."

Of course she'd seen Angelus before. She'd been around to see him lose his soul the first time, but never had the pleasure of meeting the monster face to face. She had nothing but love for Angel, but this -- this creature with the cold eyes was like another being entirely. She could feel he was different. "This isn't about you, Angelus. This is about punishing me."

It was in the eyes. Without the vamp face Angelus looked the same, except for the eyes. Which looked at her menacingly now. He grabbed her arms roughly and lifted her to her feet.

"That may be true, but as long as we're here..." He was against her face now, eye to eye. He smelled the same, like he was still Angel. Aurora felt her body betraying her, responding to the monster in the ways he wanted.

"Now what is that, gypsy? Is that fear?" he taunted.

"I'm not afraid of you," she retorted.

"That's not what your body's saying, sweetheart." Angelus tightened his grip on her arms and pressed her back against the wall. "Let me tell you what your body says."

"It's saying 'Let go of me, you psycho.'"

He laughed, and pushed her again, banging her head against the wall. She let out a small sound of pain, and she knew he loved it and she hated herself for it. "You like this, don't you, sweetheart? You always wanted to be this close to me."

Aurora felt the back of her head aching, but dared not utter a sound when he started nuzzling her neck. He was smelling her. She braced herself for the teeth against her skin, but apparently it wasn't time yet.

A window of hope. She knew it was a spell that was going to wear off soon. If she could just get him talking the whole time...

"Now, here's what your body's telling me, gypsy." He whipped his head from her neck and was in her face again. "You want me to thank you."

Her eyes widened, and before she stopped herself she was issuing the quick denial. "No, I don't--"

"Because there aren't any saints anymore, are there, Aurora?" he said, pinning her to the wall by the shoulder with one hand. "Nobody does anything for free. Especially not you."

"You don't know anything about me," she managed to say.

His other hand clamped over her mouth for a second, only to shut her up, and then he let go. "You didn't watch over the pathetic soul boy your whole life from the goodness of your heart, gypsy. You want my gratitude. You think you did a spanking good job, and you want the credit and the glory."

The other hand traveled to her neck, and she had to strain against it to reply. "You're not the one I was watching over."

"I'm not arguing metaphysics with you, gypsy." He was looking at her neck now, his hand against it, fingers scratching her skin.

Did he know what he was sent here to do? Aurora's heart leapt, panicking, and she knew he felt that change in her circulation.

"Don't do it," she coughed out. "You're falling right into their trap."

It began to dawn on him then. With a push, Angelus let go of her briefly, took a step back. And started laughing. Air flooded into Aurora's lungs and she wheezed, not even realizing until then how hard he had been choking her.

"You Kalderash people... you are just priceless! If I could just have you all in little jars and just watch you torment each other all day..." He was amused, looking at her as she slumped against the wall now, no defenses except her resolve. At least she still had her resolve. She was not afraid of Angelus -- at least in her head -- and she wasn't going to beg for her life.

She had prepared herself for that much, at least.

"So that's what they do to people like you, Aurora. They get someone like me and to turn you into creatures of the night."

"You can just kill me." she said coldly. "I'm not afraid."

The demon was still amused. "But that's not the point, is it? That's not what I'm here for. And look at why I'm here, gypsy. I wouldn't go congratulating myself about my righteous work, if I were you."

*Angelus does this. He hurts people like this. Don't take it personally.*

She lifted her chin defiantly at him. "I did what I'm supposed to do. I have no regrets."

"Really now?" He took a step closer to her. She didn't have the strength to fight back, but she braced herself anyway. "Not even the gypsy teacher?"

"I mourn Jenny Calendar's death every day."

"As you should, sweetheart. You were very involved in it."

It was almost the same way her father said it years before, in a tone laden with pain and disappointment. She tried to swallow back the memory. If she started dwelling on it again now and was vamped, she would dwell on it forever.

Though she was never punished for anything Angelus had done in that span of time, she had always felt that her family deemed her responsible. They talked about it only once and then dismissed it, but she felt the flak. To her father, she apologized. To herself, she justified it with the good that loving Buffy did for Angel.

To Angelus, now, she said nothing.

He didn't expect an answer. "Not even your own fate."

"You decide my fate tonight, Angelus. The regret will not be mine."

All she heard was a growl and a whoosh of air, and in a second she was on her feet again, against the wall, his hand on her throat. "There's something you have to understand about the world, Aurora. We all share the blame." He yanked her away from the wall now, almost off her feet. "Remember this. I decide your fate in this room, but you brought all of us here. You predetermined your own doom, and you'll get your wish."

Angelus didn't puncture necks when he fed, he tore at them. Aurora felt the searing pain on her skin. She gasped, finding herself unable to scream. She remember how she used to be strong. She had fought off vampires before, without even a thought. Now it took all of her strength to clench her fists and pound at the invicible enemy.

Against her chest, her heart was fighting. Trying to give her enough to fight back, but all it was doing was giving Angelus bigger gulps.

*I should do something.*

And she tried. Her free hand moved upward in a sorry attempt to do something, anything. Her heart was desperate now, it was pounding in her ears, she could feel blood rushing out of her. Hands in fists, lips mouthing words, mind remembering all the spells she could use to save her life...

Drums, drums in her ears. Her heart fighting, pounding, demanding she do something.

Did she scream? Or did she just hear that in her head?

And then silence. The drums stopped. It was like she reached the peak and started falling... not crashing to the ground, but fluttering, like a leaf. Her heart slowed down, so much that she wasn't aware of it anymore.

Cool air hit her neck. Angelus had let go of her, had he not been holding her she would have fallen to the floor. There was a white haze over everything she could see, and numbness in everything she could feel. She was aware that she was moving. Angelus had lain her down on the hotel room bed.

He hovered over her now, knowing full well that she was barely alive but still conscious. "There's another thing your body told me it wants, Aurora. And that's me."

He used his fangs to tear a gash in his wrist. "You want me to live forever, don't you? Give it a try, see how much you like it." She tasted his blood on her lips, through her teeth. She felt so cold.

And then the drums came again. A banging, very insistent, but soft... going on somewhere far away.