Groaning loudly, he collapsed onto the bed next to a half-full box. He was sore and tired and still had no clue why. The trouble was, now he wanted even less to bother Buffy with it, in light of that night's happenings. Resisting the urge to sleep, Riley forced himself to get up after a few more seconds.
The room seemed to spin. It certainly wasn't a natural illness, he was fairly certain of that. Not only had it started with Adam's downfall, but he had a steady ache in his shoulder where he had removed the controlling chip.
Riley stumbled to the door. As much as he hated it, he was going to
have to tell Buffy and the others. Because he could be of no help to them
if he was dead.
After making it to the top of the stairs, finding the exit hadn't been that difficult. As it turned out, he was on a large cargo ship, docked at what appeared to be a fairly small harbor. He snuck to the edge of the boat, not wanting to have to answer questions that he didn't know the answers to, and, after a little searching, found a way onto land.
Sunnydale Harbor, a sign read. Why does that name sound so familiar? His mind was really fuzzy, all his past seemed like a blur. Shaking his head, he did the only thing he could do.
He started walking.
Cordelia and Willow arrived at Giles' house just in time to hear what the two men had discovered. Willow listened bravely, though Giles insisted that she sit down and made her some hot tea.
"By the 1970s there was only one Bhijah demon remaining," Wesley started, referring to the book only to confirm as he spoke from memory. "He was one of the most fierce ever -- probably why he survived while the rest died out. He was probably worried about dying himself because he decided that he needed a child.
"Disguising himself as a human--Bhijah have, well had, all sorts of magical tricks of deception--this last demon slept with a human and had a child. By this time, the woman had figured out that she had been tricked. It turned out that she was a very powerful witch."
Willow gasped. "Tara's mom."
Wesley nodded. "I'm afraid so. As little as I know about her, it all fits. The girl was born half-human, half-demon. The demon side was not pretty. The mother devised a spell that would hold the demon side at bay until the girl's 21st birthday.
"She was in the process of trying to find a stronger spell when the demon hunted her down, determined to kill her and take the child. The witch was able to kill the Bhijah, but the spell that she used to do it sapped so much of her energy that she died soon after."
They were all silent for a few minutes, trying to give Willow time to let it sink in.
"Her birthday is in two weeks," said Willow softly. "The demon side must be beginning to get back some control."
"That's very possible," said Giles gently. "Have you noticed any strange behavior before now?"
"No," she said. "No, wait. Last night she made a big deal out of wanting one of the spell books I had borrowed back. I'll bet anything that that's the one she was looking for in Buffy's room."
"What kind of spell was she doing?" asked Cordelia.
Willow shrugged. "She told me she was just organizing her books, so I don't know. It was a book on power centers."
Giles looked concerned. "She must be doing a very powerful spell if
she needed a book like that. This is looking worse all the time."