Part 10:

"The demon's name is Lurconis," Faith told Willow over the phone. "Ethan here says that he doesn't know what the tribute will be, but it's gonna be big and it's gonna be tonight."

Willow, Oz, and Xander had arrived at the library, the latter making use of the ice bags that Giles had thoughtfully stored in the little fridge in his office.

"Lurconis, got it," Willow said. "We'll look it up immediately."

"Great." Faith looked over to where Ethan stood, fidgeting under the stares of Giles (who insisted on being called Ripper) and Buffy. Angel meanwhile seemed more focused on Buffy than anything else, their bodies constantly touching in a way that caused the room temperature to rise. Joyce just seemed bored, ignoring Snyder's antics with an air of supreme indifference as she chewed on her bubble gum.

Faith thought about inquiring after Xander, if only for Cordelia's sake, but then decided against it. They had more important stuff to take care of than that boy's latest stupidity. She did not know what he had done, but approaching Buffy and Angel when they were quite obviously not right in the head was stupid enough all by itself.

"Found something," Willow's voice chirped through the receiver a few minutes later. "Lurconis. A demon that empowers people who give him regular tribute. And the tribute ... oh."

"Red? What is it?"

"Faith ... Lurconis eats babies."

Faith's face fell as her blood ran cold. Babies?

"It ... it doesn't say how many," Willow went on. "Faith, we have to stop them."

"We will. Okay ... so, Red, if you wanted to get several babies without too much trouble ..."

"Babies?" Cordelia asked, having heard only Faith's part of the conversation.

"Lurconis eats babies," Faith told her, her face grim. Cordelia paled.

"Oh my god."

"The hospital," Willow guessed. "The nursery."

"We're on our way."

#

They arrived at the hospital a short time later, not even the crazy ones among them making any trouble once they learned that a demon was going to eat babies if they did not stop it. They came too late, though, finding the nursery empty.

"Shit!" Faith looked around. "They're gone."

"The nurse says she saw nothing," Giles said, coming over. "Dozy cow."

"And now what? They could have taken the little guys anywhere. We don't have a clue where this Lurconis guy is hanging."

"Maybe you guys should go looking for it," Snyder proposed. "Look up the demon and ... I don't know, kick the crap out of it. I'll stay here in case the babies ... you know, come back."

"You little ponce," Giles got in his face. "Are you afraid of a little demon?"

"Listen, Rip-face ..."

"Snyder pees his panties," Buffy singsonged, smiling broadly at her former principal, exposing her elongated fangs. Snyder shrunk back from the sight.

"This is getting us nowhere," Faith sighed. "We've got to find this Lurconis before ..."

"Lurconis dwells beneath the city," Giles suddenly said, looking confused.

"Down in the darkness," Angel went on. "Filth to filth."

"Okay, you guys have been wigging me out all night, but still ..." Cordy looked back and forth between them. "What was that all about?"

"I ... I know this." Giles slapped his hand against forehead repeatedly. "I read this somewhere. Lurconis translates as ... glutton, I think."

"He is in the sewers," Angel helped out, looking more like his broody self that he did all night. "I heard rumors about him once."

"Great, the sewers." Cordelia threw her hands up. "Only a few thousand miles of dingy tunnels to search through for six little babies and a demon. No sweat."

"There should be a sewer entrance somewhere nearby," Angel said. "If they went in through there Buffy and I can pick up the trail."

"You can pick up another vampire's trail?" Cordy asked, remembering that Ethan had said something about his employer having vampire bodyguards. "That's great. And disturbing, too."

"We can follow them if they're fresh," Angel grinned again. "But I think the scent of the babies will be stronger than theirs."

Faith looked at him as he said that, saw the glint of hunger in his eyes, the demon inside him looking out from behind his dark orbs. Buffy had an almost identical look in her own eyes. All of which did not exactly manage to make her feel any better about the situation they found themselves in.

#

"They're on their way," Willow announced to the room, not receiving much in the way of feedback. Oz remained stoic as ever, handing Xander a fresh bag of ice. Xander, in turn, just gave a nod, not saying anything either.

"I guess we can just wait then," Willow went on, sitting down beside them, "and hope for the best. What were you thinking?"

Xander needed a moment to catch up with her rapid change of topic, finding himself on the receiving end of a glare from his childhood friend.

"What?"

"You know Buffy isn't too fond of you right now. And you must have known that something strange was going on, seeing as how they were behaving ... the way they did. Why didn't you stay out of trouble for once?"

Xander opened his mouth to say something, then shut it again. What could he say? At this point in their relationship, with all the things he had fucked up, he simply was not sure if Willow would believe him if he told her the truth. Looking back it had been pretty stupid. There must have been a better way to separate Buffy and Angel from that guy without nearly getting himself killed.

In the end he just shook his head, saying nothing.

"That's just great," Willow huffed. Looking around for anything to distract her from Xander her eyes fell on a book. Quite a few books actually. Books were always good for distracting her.

"According to Faith Ethan said that the cursed candy should wear off by tomorrow, but maybe we should look into that to make sure."

Having nothing better to do Xander and Oz both grabbed a book, following her lead.

#

"Carol. Hi. Yeah. Call Dave on the public works committee tomorrow about sewer maintenance and repair. I have some concerns regarding exposed gas pipes, infrastructure, ventilation. And, uh... cancel my 3:00."

Mayor Richard Wilkins put away his cell, thankful that it worked this deep underground, and also thankful that he had found a competent new secretary on such short notice. None of which made him all that glad to be stuck in a sewer, though. Sadly Lurconis was not in any shape to come to his office, where all this could be conducted much more civilized. Well, some things could not be changed. He owed a good portion of his current power and position to this demon and he would pay his tribute. He was a politician who kept his word.

His six vampire helpers were preparing the babies. Wilkins took a moment to smile at each of them, always having been fond of kids. It was just too bad that these little guys would not be able to grow up to be productive members of society. Well, it could not be helped.

"We are ready," the vampire closest to him announced. His name was Henry and he had proven himself a barely competent henchman. Wilkins was kind of sad that Mr. Trick was obviously opposed to working for him again. That vampire had had a certain amount of competence and style.

"Lurconis should be here shortly," he said, checking his watch. "Then we can ..."

"Excuse us," a new voice suddenly said, "but can anyone join this party?"

Looking up the Mayor saw a group of people standing in one of the access tunnels, a group he had taken steps to assure would not be here to interfere tonight. Angelus and the two Vampire Slayers stood side by side, wearing almost identical anticipatory grins.

Was he imagining things or did Angelus and the blonde girl look ... hungry?

TO BE CONTINUED