New Horizons: Chapter Thirty-One
By Annie
05-19-2002
Buffy eased her eyes open.
The room lay in darkness, Spike was still holding her tightly and she moved her head to look up at him, her mind still clouded with sleep. She smiled a little looking at his etched jaw line and pulled up to place a kiss on the curve of it. She frowned slightly to herself, pulling away, and looking at him closely.
Something seemed off.
"Isn't this just a pretty picture." a deep voice suddenly spoke to her left, by the window, and her heart jumped in her chest as she registered who's it was.
She whipped her head to look at the lord as he slowly emerged from the shadows. He had that sleek smile on his lips, impeccably dressed as always, as he stopped a few feet away from the side of the bed, looking down on the two with his hands on his back.
Buffy stared at him, she had instinctively moved a little so that she was placed with one arm protectively across Spike's bared chest and now the lord shook his head slightly.
"That I would see the day two enemies share a bed," he said, his voice as though painted with honey but she could hear the buzzing of the bees behind every word and her body was tensing, getting ready to act if he was to move.
"How the hell did you get in here," she hissed at him and he clicked his tongue.
"Oh, now, no cause for foul language," he said, the smile widening.
She wanted to get up and kick his head off his shoulders, anything to make him stop looking at her. Then something hit her.
"What do you mean, 'enemies'?" she asked and the lord laughed a humorless laugh.
"Darling girl, you didn't think that I was actually going to perform the ceremony to bring forth the Birth of Fire without doing my research, did you? I knew the prophecy would be discovered by others and that these others would probably try to stop me, and so I had to seek them out; as well as what means by which they intended to accomplish me failing my task. The skills I possess are much easier than using a mirror, though." he said with an evil glow in his eyes.
"Dark magic?" she mumbled in disbelief. "But."
"But what, my dear?" he asked.
She felt the confusion mix with the rising questions in her head, then she turned her gaze at him again and it hardened as she looked at him.
"What do you want?" she asked and the smile didn't leave his lips.
"Why, you, of course," he stated gently.
She stared at him, her heart starting to beat hard in her chest.
"That's nothing new," she said boldly but her mouth was drying up.
He laughed his low laugh again.
"No, I suppose it is not," he said. "But this time will be slightly different, in ALL aspects," He could see her eyes shifting slightly to Spike and the lord shook his head a little. "He can't save you," he said and she swallowed hard to get rid of the sudden tears. "He never could, you know," the lord went on. "He's just a weakened, pathetic excuse for a vampire and you know that, that's why it's so easy for you to use him.He's worthless."
Now she looked up at him, feeling the rage build inside of her at those words until she couldn't take it. She got to her feet on the mattress with a cry of anger and threw herself towards him. She landed with a hard thump on the spot where he a moment before had been standing. She spun around to see where the hell he had gone and her eyes rested on Sarah, sleeping in her bed.
Buffy blinked, surprised, as she got to her feet. She looked around her, concluding that she WAS in Sarah's room. Then the lord stepped forward, standing by the side of Sarah's bed and raising one hand, holding it above Sarah's chest.
Buffy stared at him, taking a step forward and feeling the heavy fabric of a skirt around her legs. She looked down, even more surprised to see that she was wearing a deep blue, velvet dress. She looked up again as the lord reached out a hand to her, bidding her to join him at the edge of the bed.
She ignored the gesture, but came up just the same.
"What are you doing?" she whispered as she saw how pale Sarah was.
"I'm showing you what will happen to her, to all off them, if you don't come to me without them," the lord answered her as he removed his hand from its position above Sarah. "She's dead," he then calmly stated and Buffy glared at him, then felt a stir of panic start near her heart as she once more looked at the lifeless body before her.
"I don't believe you," she stated as calmly as she could and he grabbed her wrist without warning and pulled her to his side, bending her down to feel for a pulse.
Buffy felt tears rise in her eyes as she concluded that there was none.
"Oh, my God," she whispered.
The lord let her go, nodding.
Then he put a hand on her forehead and all of a sudden she saw Jacob in his bed, fighting for air, his body twitching as he clasped his hands around his throat. She drew a sharp breath as his body suddenly went limp.
And then she saw Spike; he was sleeping. She looked down on him, smiling slightly and then a stake suddenly sunk into his chest, appearing from nowhere. She could hear him wince with surprise as his eyes shot open and they met hers.
Oh, God, he thinks I killed him, she thought, feeling desperation claw inside of her.
Then he turned to dust, before her eyes, and was gone.
She sat up, her breathing hard as her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room. She was disoriented as she looked around her. She recognized the desk first, with the dark piles of notebooks in the shadows. She was in Spike's room again.
Then he slightly shifted beside her and she turned her head to him, the relief she felt at seeing him there was almost overwhelming and tears rose in her eyes as she sunk down with her head against his chest.
"Thank God," she mumbled as he put an arm around her, mumbling something incoherent before going back to sleep.
Then she felt her heart start to beat fiercely in her chest.
She moved her head to look down at herself and drew a sharp breath as she saw what she was wearing; a blue, velvet dress.
***
She almost winced, closing her eyes.
Then she opened them again, she knew the decision had already been made. Slowly she slid out of his arms and got off the bed. She went up to the pile that consisted of her clothes, pausing as the memories of what she had experienced, with him, only a few hours earlier washed over her. She drew a steadying breath as she reached down and dug up her shoes.
Pulling them on and lacing them awkwardly she then stood and turned to him.
"Always was a heavy sleeper, weren't you?" she whispered, smiling a little, before walking up to him and bending down.
She kissed him gently on the cheek, feeling like her heart was breaking she straightened her back and took a step away.
"Sweet dreams, Spike" she mumbled.
Then turned around and walked up to the door.
When she stepped into the hallway and silently closed the door behind her she realized she knew exactly where she was going. She went downstairs and opened the front door, stepping outside she drew a breath of the early morning air, closing the door behind her.
She bent her neck and looked up into the spaces of the sky, the view of the universe was spectacular.
She proceeded with walking down the steps and onto the sidewalk, picking up her pace as she rounded the corner of the block and then she started running.
Once I'm there I'll be able to stop him, she thought to herself, her mind working hard in her head as her pulse started working in rhythm with the thumping of her feet. Once I'm there I WILL stop this thing.
Spike opened his eyes, reaching out beside him and not feeling her there made his mind clear up twice as fast and he sat up, looking around the room. First he had a sinking feeling in his chest, she HAD woken up, realized what the hell she was doing, and gone back to her room.
But then his eyes landed on her clothes still in a heap on the floor and he realized her scent was still strong in the room; she had just left it.
He got out of bed; maybe she was just getting a drink of water or something. Still. He pulled his trousers on, grabbing the shirt and putting it on as well, not bothering with buttoning it. He went up to the door and then paused, hesitating a moment before walking back and picking up his duster from the floor. He looked at it, not sure why he had done that in the first place. Then shrugged before walking back to the door, opening it silently and stepping out into the hallway.
He drew a small breath, then smiled as he followed her scent to the stairs and down them to the first floor. What made him come to a halt was when he realized where the trail then led: the front door.
His mouth was going dry and he felt a sudden gush of fear in his chest.
What was she doing? Why the bloody hell had she left without waking him? Without waking THEM?
He spun around and raced upstairs, shouting for Sarah and Jacob to get up as he pulled his duster on. He hardly had time to explain as they frightened and wondering met him in their opposite doorways.
"Just get dressed and go to whatever place we were supposed to go!" he yelled at them, Sarah looking seriously scared that he was loosing his mind.
In a way he felt he was.
"But." she started and he switched to game face, shaking his head at her.
"No!" he growled. "She's left for some reason and I'm bloody well gonna find her before anything happens to her."
With that he turned and ran down the stairs again, he almost tore the door off their hinges before racing off into the night, following in her footsteps.
Come on, Buffy, come on, he thought as he stopped for a moment, deciding which way she had taken, then he scented her and was off again. I won't loose you like this again. Not AGAIN!
Buffy stopped at the edge of the woods she had been running through, staring at the well-lit mansion towering over her. She drew a breath and then walked the rest of the way to the front doors. She looked up at them, loathing them both with all her heart for ever being built and then she reached up and grabbed the small iron chain to ring the bell.
The door to her right slid open with a small creak and she cocked an eyebrow at that.
"You get an A plus for the spooky effects, lord Dumb-Ass. Now let me kick you two ways to Sunday and then we can call it a night," she grumbled to herself as she carefully stepped inside.
She took another step forward and the door slid shut behind her.
She sighed.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" she called in a singsong voice, crossing her arms over her chest.
"My lady," his voice whispered in her ear and she turned her head to him, trying to mask her surprise.
He smiled at her and she felt her eyes widen at the sight of the small and sharp fangs his drawn back lips uncovered.
"Are you a." she started but he interrupted her.
"Not quite, my dear," he said, chuckling. "But we can't have a.what do you call it? A 'Big Bad', is that it?" he kept chuckling as he took a step away from her, and then he grew serious. "Well, then, we can't have a Big Bad looking like a human, now can we?" he asked as his face seemed to sink in slightly, the shadows across it deepening and she stared at him, disbelieving.
"What the hell are you?" she asked, more than clearly appalled by his appearance.
"My dear," he said and smiled. "I'm a prankster who just lured his victim into his trap," he then added as he moved his hands slightly and she felt how her whole body froze, she couldn't move. "But then, I have a feeling you won't laugh very much over this."
***
The sky was starting to grow gray as dawn approached rapidly. Mist was sweeping over the lake and even though she could barely see it through the shadows of the rising twilight she could hear the clucking of it, the small waves lapped against the large dock to her left, she was placed in a cage, which she found incredibly humiliating, and she had been granted her ability to move again. She had tried to break the bars, but with no success, which for certain had to do with some kind of spell.
She looked around her at the men in black hooded robes that were chanting outside the bars.
Then she turned an icy glare at the lord, who was standing not far away to her right, now also in a robe, scarlet red, with a thick hood thrown over his head, hiding his face partially.
"VERY original," she grumbled, looking at him with heartfelt detest before adding coldly: "That doesn't help."
The lord smiled slightly.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"It doesn't hide your face enough, you idiot," she said sharply and he laughed, throwing his head back and thus making the hood tumble off it.
He looked like a sick and dying old man now, his hair was showing white in it and the deep etchings in his face made his skin look dead, almost clayish. His eyes were sunken in and they looked even more disturbing than before, now they turned to her.
"Better?" he asked.
She glared at him before straightening her back as she looked around at the chanting men surrounding her.
"Stop it!" she snarled at them, hating the feeling of the cage, the feeling of being trapped.
They snapped the books they were holding in their hands closed at the same time and simultaneously took a step back, filing in a line and then walking over to the lord.
"Wow, if it's that easy then maybe I should try another command: let me out of this damn cage," she said, once more turned to the lord, who merely smiled his haunting smile. "Did you hear me, let me the bloody hell out of this God damn cage!" she yelled and the smile widened, his eyes now glowing with glee.
"Such a tongue you have, child," he said, approaching her and stopping far enough away from her for her not to be able to reach him. "Did your lover teach you to swear like this?"
"He has nothing to do with how I talk, you creep!" she hissed at him, pain shooting through her at the memory of that last kiss.
"You're breathing harder, my dear," he now stated, smirking. "Did I hit a soar spot? Is it because of me stating the obvious, him being your dirty little secret that is eating and eating away at you inside, or is it because of the question, that you know has some truth in it and you can't face it, pet?" he added and her eyes grew wide at the sound of him taking the well known nickname in his mouth.
The lord took a small step forward.
"I bet it's both. And the thought of his cold hands on you, his dead body resting close to yours, his cold lips on your own, it's making you burn up, isn't it, love? And you can't STAND yourself.can you.love?"
Buffy's eyes had hardened the first time he called her that, now her hand shot out through the bars, grabbing a firm hold around his throat and starting to press she said:
"If you EVER even DARE to take that word into your mouth again, I swear to you these bars won't be enough to hold me back." Then she pulled his face hard against them as she added: "And as for William," before she clamped down her hand harder on his throat, her eyes not leaving his and the hatred burning in her gaze making the lord seem to pause for a moment before he made a small gesture with one hand and she loosened her grip without realizing it, another small movement sent her flying to the other side of the small cage, crashing against the bars.
"I apologize," he said, now smiling faintly again as he corrected the collar of the robe a little with one hand. "I didn't know the Slayer was actually able to CARE for a vampire."
She got to her feet, spinning around to face him again.
"He's more than that," she said in a low voice as she looked at the lord, her gaze hard.
The lord chuckled at that, shaking his head.
"Is he now?" he asked and then raised his head. "Well, he's right on time, too, it seems."
Buffy felt her heart leap in her chest, as her eyes grew large hearing those words. Then she spun around to look at where to lord was gazing and there he was.
"Perfect," the lord said silently. "Absolutely perfect."
By Annie
05-19-2002
Buffy eased her eyes open.
The room lay in darkness, Spike was still holding her tightly and she moved her head to look up at him, her mind still clouded with sleep. She smiled a little looking at his etched jaw line and pulled up to place a kiss on the curve of it. She frowned slightly to herself, pulling away, and looking at him closely.
Something seemed off.
"Isn't this just a pretty picture." a deep voice suddenly spoke to her left, by the window, and her heart jumped in her chest as she registered who's it was.
She whipped her head to look at the lord as he slowly emerged from the shadows. He had that sleek smile on his lips, impeccably dressed as always, as he stopped a few feet away from the side of the bed, looking down on the two with his hands on his back.
Buffy stared at him, she had instinctively moved a little so that she was placed with one arm protectively across Spike's bared chest and now the lord shook his head slightly.
"That I would see the day two enemies share a bed," he said, his voice as though painted with honey but she could hear the buzzing of the bees behind every word and her body was tensing, getting ready to act if he was to move.
"How the hell did you get in here," she hissed at him and he clicked his tongue.
"Oh, now, no cause for foul language," he said, the smile widening.
She wanted to get up and kick his head off his shoulders, anything to make him stop looking at her. Then something hit her.
"What do you mean, 'enemies'?" she asked and the lord laughed a humorless laugh.
"Darling girl, you didn't think that I was actually going to perform the ceremony to bring forth the Birth of Fire without doing my research, did you? I knew the prophecy would be discovered by others and that these others would probably try to stop me, and so I had to seek them out; as well as what means by which they intended to accomplish me failing my task. The skills I possess are much easier than using a mirror, though." he said with an evil glow in his eyes.
"Dark magic?" she mumbled in disbelief. "But."
"But what, my dear?" he asked.
She felt the confusion mix with the rising questions in her head, then she turned her gaze at him again and it hardened as she looked at him.
"What do you want?" she asked and the smile didn't leave his lips.
"Why, you, of course," he stated gently.
She stared at him, her heart starting to beat hard in her chest.
"That's nothing new," she said boldly but her mouth was drying up.
He laughed his low laugh again.
"No, I suppose it is not," he said. "But this time will be slightly different, in ALL aspects," He could see her eyes shifting slightly to Spike and the lord shook his head a little. "He can't save you," he said and she swallowed hard to get rid of the sudden tears. "He never could, you know," the lord went on. "He's just a weakened, pathetic excuse for a vampire and you know that, that's why it's so easy for you to use him.He's worthless."
Now she looked up at him, feeling the rage build inside of her at those words until she couldn't take it. She got to her feet on the mattress with a cry of anger and threw herself towards him. She landed with a hard thump on the spot where he a moment before had been standing. She spun around to see where the hell he had gone and her eyes rested on Sarah, sleeping in her bed.
Buffy blinked, surprised, as she got to her feet. She looked around her, concluding that she WAS in Sarah's room. Then the lord stepped forward, standing by the side of Sarah's bed and raising one hand, holding it above Sarah's chest.
Buffy stared at him, taking a step forward and feeling the heavy fabric of a skirt around her legs. She looked down, even more surprised to see that she was wearing a deep blue, velvet dress. She looked up again as the lord reached out a hand to her, bidding her to join him at the edge of the bed.
She ignored the gesture, but came up just the same.
"What are you doing?" she whispered as she saw how pale Sarah was.
"I'm showing you what will happen to her, to all off them, if you don't come to me without them," the lord answered her as he removed his hand from its position above Sarah. "She's dead," he then calmly stated and Buffy glared at him, then felt a stir of panic start near her heart as she once more looked at the lifeless body before her.
"I don't believe you," she stated as calmly as she could and he grabbed her wrist without warning and pulled her to his side, bending her down to feel for a pulse.
Buffy felt tears rise in her eyes as she concluded that there was none.
"Oh, my God," she whispered.
The lord let her go, nodding.
Then he put a hand on her forehead and all of a sudden she saw Jacob in his bed, fighting for air, his body twitching as he clasped his hands around his throat. She drew a sharp breath as his body suddenly went limp.
And then she saw Spike; he was sleeping. She looked down on him, smiling slightly and then a stake suddenly sunk into his chest, appearing from nowhere. She could hear him wince with surprise as his eyes shot open and they met hers.
Oh, God, he thinks I killed him, she thought, feeling desperation claw inside of her.
Then he turned to dust, before her eyes, and was gone.
She sat up, her breathing hard as her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room. She was disoriented as she looked around her. She recognized the desk first, with the dark piles of notebooks in the shadows. She was in Spike's room again.
Then he slightly shifted beside her and she turned her head to him, the relief she felt at seeing him there was almost overwhelming and tears rose in her eyes as she sunk down with her head against his chest.
"Thank God," she mumbled as he put an arm around her, mumbling something incoherent before going back to sleep.
Then she felt her heart start to beat fiercely in her chest.
She moved her head to look down at herself and drew a sharp breath as she saw what she was wearing; a blue, velvet dress.
***
She almost winced, closing her eyes.
Then she opened them again, she knew the decision had already been made. Slowly she slid out of his arms and got off the bed. She went up to the pile that consisted of her clothes, pausing as the memories of what she had experienced, with him, only a few hours earlier washed over her. She drew a steadying breath as she reached down and dug up her shoes.
Pulling them on and lacing them awkwardly she then stood and turned to him.
"Always was a heavy sleeper, weren't you?" she whispered, smiling a little, before walking up to him and bending down.
She kissed him gently on the cheek, feeling like her heart was breaking she straightened her back and took a step away.
"Sweet dreams, Spike" she mumbled.
Then turned around and walked up to the door.
When she stepped into the hallway and silently closed the door behind her she realized she knew exactly where she was going. She went downstairs and opened the front door, stepping outside she drew a breath of the early morning air, closing the door behind her.
She bent her neck and looked up into the spaces of the sky, the view of the universe was spectacular.
She proceeded with walking down the steps and onto the sidewalk, picking up her pace as she rounded the corner of the block and then she started running.
Once I'm there I'll be able to stop him, she thought to herself, her mind working hard in her head as her pulse started working in rhythm with the thumping of her feet. Once I'm there I WILL stop this thing.
Spike opened his eyes, reaching out beside him and not feeling her there made his mind clear up twice as fast and he sat up, looking around the room. First he had a sinking feeling in his chest, she HAD woken up, realized what the hell she was doing, and gone back to her room.
But then his eyes landed on her clothes still in a heap on the floor and he realized her scent was still strong in the room; she had just left it.
He got out of bed; maybe she was just getting a drink of water or something. Still. He pulled his trousers on, grabbing the shirt and putting it on as well, not bothering with buttoning it. He went up to the door and then paused, hesitating a moment before walking back and picking up his duster from the floor. He looked at it, not sure why he had done that in the first place. Then shrugged before walking back to the door, opening it silently and stepping out into the hallway.
He drew a small breath, then smiled as he followed her scent to the stairs and down them to the first floor. What made him come to a halt was when he realized where the trail then led: the front door.
His mouth was going dry and he felt a sudden gush of fear in his chest.
What was she doing? Why the bloody hell had she left without waking him? Without waking THEM?
He spun around and raced upstairs, shouting for Sarah and Jacob to get up as he pulled his duster on. He hardly had time to explain as they frightened and wondering met him in their opposite doorways.
"Just get dressed and go to whatever place we were supposed to go!" he yelled at them, Sarah looking seriously scared that he was loosing his mind.
In a way he felt he was.
"But." she started and he switched to game face, shaking his head at her.
"No!" he growled. "She's left for some reason and I'm bloody well gonna find her before anything happens to her."
With that he turned and ran down the stairs again, he almost tore the door off their hinges before racing off into the night, following in her footsteps.
Come on, Buffy, come on, he thought as he stopped for a moment, deciding which way she had taken, then he scented her and was off again. I won't loose you like this again. Not AGAIN!
Buffy stopped at the edge of the woods she had been running through, staring at the well-lit mansion towering over her. She drew a breath and then walked the rest of the way to the front doors. She looked up at them, loathing them both with all her heart for ever being built and then she reached up and grabbed the small iron chain to ring the bell.
The door to her right slid open with a small creak and she cocked an eyebrow at that.
"You get an A plus for the spooky effects, lord Dumb-Ass. Now let me kick you two ways to Sunday and then we can call it a night," she grumbled to herself as she carefully stepped inside.
She took another step forward and the door slid shut behind her.
She sighed.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" she called in a singsong voice, crossing her arms over her chest.
"My lady," his voice whispered in her ear and she turned her head to him, trying to mask her surprise.
He smiled at her and she felt her eyes widen at the sight of the small and sharp fangs his drawn back lips uncovered.
"Are you a." she started but he interrupted her.
"Not quite, my dear," he said, chuckling. "But we can't have a.what do you call it? A 'Big Bad', is that it?" he kept chuckling as he took a step away from her, and then he grew serious. "Well, then, we can't have a Big Bad looking like a human, now can we?" he asked as his face seemed to sink in slightly, the shadows across it deepening and she stared at him, disbelieving.
"What the hell are you?" she asked, more than clearly appalled by his appearance.
"My dear," he said and smiled. "I'm a prankster who just lured his victim into his trap," he then added as he moved his hands slightly and she felt how her whole body froze, she couldn't move. "But then, I have a feeling you won't laugh very much over this."
***
The sky was starting to grow gray as dawn approached rapidly. Mist was sweeping over the lake and even though she could barely see it through the shadows of the rising twilight she could hear the clucking of it, the small waves lapped against the large dock to her left, she was placed in a cage, which she found incredibly humiliating, and she had been granted her ability to move again. She had tried to break the bars, but with no success, which for certain had to do with some kind of spell.
She looked around her at the men in black hooded robes that were chanting outside the bars.
Then she turned an icy glare at the lord, who was standing not far away to her right, now also in a robe, scarlet red, with a thick hood thrown over his head, hiding his face partially.
"VERY original," she grumbled, looking at him with heartfelt detest before adding coldly: "That doesn't help."
The lord smiled slightly.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"It doesn't hide your face enough, you idiot," she said sharply and he laughed, throwing his head back and thus making the hood tumble off it.
He looked like a sick and dying old man now, his hair was showing white in it and the deep etchings in his face made his skin look dead, almost clayish. His eyes were sunken in and they looked even more disturbing than before, now they turned to her.
"Better?" he asked.
She glared at him before straightening her back as she looked around at the chanting men surrounding her.
"Stop it!" she snarled at them, hating the feeling of the cage, the feeling of being trapped.
They snapped the books they were holding in their hands closed at the same time and simultaneously took a step back, filing in a line and then walking over to the lord.
"Wow, if it's that easy then maybe I should try another command: let me out of this damn cage," she said, once more turned to the lord, who merely smiled his haunting smile. "Did you hear me, let me the bloody hell out of this God damn cage!" she yelled and the smile widened, his eyes now glowing with glee.
"Such a tongue you have, child," he said, approaching her and stopping far enough away from her for her not to be able to reach him. "Did your lover teach you to swear like this?"
"He has nothing to do with how I talk, you creep!" she hissed at him, pain shooting through her at the memory of that last kiss.
"You're breathing harder, my dear," he now stated, smirking. "Did I hit a soar spot? Is it because of me stating the obvious, him being your dirty little secret that is eating and eating away at you inside, or is it because of the question, that you know has some truth in it and you can't face it, pet?" he added and her eyes grew wide at the sound of him taking the well known nickname in his mouth.
The lord took a small step forward.
"I bet it's both. And the thought of his cold hands on you, his dead body resting close to yours, his cold lips on your own, it's making you burn up, isn't it, love? And you can't STAND yourself.can you.love?"
Buffy's eyes had hardened the first time he called her that, now her hand shot out through the bars, grabbing a firm hold around his throat and starting to press she said:
"If you EVER even DARE to take that word into your mouth again, I swear to you these bars won't be enough to hold me back." Then she pulled his face hard against them as she added: "And as for William," before she clamped down her hand harder on his throat, her eyes not leaving his and the hatred burning in her gaze making the lord seem to pause for a moment before he made a small gesture with one hand and she loosened her grip without realizing it, another small movement sent her flying to the other side of the small cage, crashing against the bars.
"I apologize," he said, now smiling faintly again as he corrected the collar of the robe a little with one hand. "I didn't know the Slayer was actually able to CARE for a vampire."
She got to her feet, spinning around to face him again.
"He's more than that," she said in a low voice as she looked at the lord, her gaze hard.
The lord chuckled at that, shaking his head.
"Is he now?" he asked and then raised his head. "Well, he's right on time, too, it seems."
Buffy felt her heart leap in her chest, as her eyes grew large hearing those words. Then she spun around to look at where to lord was gazing and there he was.
"Perfect," the lord said silently. "Absolutely perfect."