They arrived back at the Hyperion Hotel late in the afternoon. Buffy saw that everyone was gathered in the lobby. Dawn and Fred were working at the computer, Cordy and Wesley had their noses in some old books.
Angel looked up from the sword he was sharpening by his weapons cabinet. "How did it go?"
"We got in and out without being seen," said Buffy. "They are definitely preparing to do the ceremony tonight. In addition to the rent-a-cop doing guard duty outside at the gate they have armed guards inside." She took the plans from her father that they had picked up at his office on the way back, and rolled them out on the reception counter. She pointed to the eastern stairwell. "We saw one guy here, and there's probably another one in the other stairwell too. We saw half a dozen demon guards in the basement, and some of them had guns too."
"What sort of demons?" asked Wesley.
"Didn't recognise 'em." Buffy gave a description, with Gunn filling in a couple of details. Wesley didn't recognise the description.
"These your guys?" Dawn swung the TiBook around so Buffy and Gunn could see the picture on the laptop screen, from the Demons, Demons, Demons Database.
"Yep, that's them," said Gunn.
"Kragmoors," said Fred. "According to this they're your basic mercenaries. They'll work for anyone who can pay them. Considered highly reliable, once they've accepted a contract they won't betray their employers for any payment. They are loyal, up to a point, but they aren't original thinkers. They will not take heavy losses in combat without retreating. They mostly rely on intimidation.
"Diet… Yech, let's skip that… They're tough, they can withstand a lot of damage, but they are vulnerable to most standard weapons. Beheading, and sharp objects through their hearts will kill them almost instantly…their hearts are down low…about where their belly buttons would be, if they had belly buttons. Stabbing in other areas will mostly just make them mad.
"Some have adapted to using more modern weapons than your typical demon. They will use guns, but they mostly prefer old fashioned maiming with claws and teeth."
"Okay." Buffy flipped to the sheet of the plans showing the basement. "The ceremony takes place here. It looks like they're keeping their sacrifices in this room here." She pointed out the guarded room on the plan. "We hit them right after sunset. Two teams, one with me, the other with Angel…" Buffy outlined her plan. It was simple and straight forward. Angel and the others interjected from time to time to ask questions, or make suggestions but they were done quickly.
"Just one question remains," said Buffy. "Who's on my team?"
"I am!" said Dawn right away.
"No you're not!" said Buffy. She could see that her father was starting to object to that one too. "You and Dad are going to be spending some quality time together. You can go to a movie or something. I don't want either one of you anywhere near this." Buffy could see that her father was about to raise a fresh objection. "Dad, if we bring you, what do we do with Dawn?"
"But—"
Buffy cut her sister off. "No! That's final. You and Dad are not coming."
Buffy saw Dawn's eyes widen a touch, and the wheels start to turn behind her eyes. She had gotten the message. It was Dad that Buffy didn't want coming, and there was no way to leave him behind and take Dawn, so tonight Dawn got the job of babysitting their father.
Buffy looked back at her father. "I don't want you hanging around the apartment, or here either. That Morgan woman might try something again, so I want you away from anywhere she might know to look for you."
Hank felt at the pocket inside his jacket. "I was planning to take both of you to Stars on Ice tonight. It was going to be a surprise. I guess two of these tickets won't be wasted after all."
"Give me one of them," said Buffy. "If this goes off on schedule, I should be able to make the second half." She turned her attention back to Angel. "Which gets us back to my question. Who's on my team?"
"I guess you know Wes and Cordy best," said Angel. "I'll take Gunn and Fred."
"Sounds good," said Buffy. She looked at Wesley and Cordelia. "Do you guys have any sort of training area set up? I want to see what you've learned since you left Sunnydale."
The sun had almost set when they pulled to a stop in Angel and Cordy's cars where Hank had parked earlier that afternoon. Gunn looked back into the back seat of the GTX. "We're in the shade, you can come out now."
Angel tossed aside the blanket, and sat up. He had a quick look around. The entire street was shaded from there to their destination. He, Gunn and Fred got out of his car while Cordy, Wes and Buffy got out of hers.
Angel went around to the trunk of his car, and pulled out a couple of equipment bags. One went to Fred, and the other to Cordelia. "Okay. Let's go."
They all moved off down the street to the hole that Gunn had cut in the fence, and squeezed through. They moved quickly across to the window.
Buffy jumped up first, and then caught the two equipment bags when Angel tossed them up to her. He then boosted up Fred, Cordy, Wes and Gunn. Buffy caught their hands and lifted them up through the window. Angel jumped up last. They all moved out to the hallway.
"Okay," said Buffy quietly. "See you all downstairs." She took Wesley and Cordelia to the left, while Angel, Gunn and Fred went right.
Buffy moved silently down the stairs to the landing. She stopped and listened. She could hear a muffled chanting coming from below. It sounded like the ritual had started. Wesley's research had shown that the summoning spell for Chalajuaxis was a long one. It started at sunset, and culminated with the sacrifice at midnight. It was also very dangerous for Chalajuaxis' disciples to begin the spell, and then let it get interrupted. The demon didn't like being disturbed, and then not getting its sacrifice.
Buffy peered over the railing. The guard was seated right where she'd seen him before. Buffy spent half a second considering trying to sneak closer, before she jumped over the railing. She landed on the floor directly in front of him, grabbed his collar, and hit him in the face with a quick punch. He slumped back unconscious.
Wesley and Cordelia came down the stairs right behind her. Cordy pulled a couple of the plastic ties police used when they were out of handcuffs out the bag and she and Wesley quickly bound the guard's hands and feet with them. Cordy put a piece of duct tape across his mouth. Wesley took his gun. He checked the action, and ejected the clip to make sure that it was fully loaded. He replaced the clip and slipped the gun into his belt. He went through the doors onto the ground floor.
Wesley came back a half a minute later. "Ground floor's clear. Gunn tells me Angel got the guard in the other stairwell. Time for step two."
Buffy nodded, and continued down the stairs into the basement. Very little of the fading daylight was filtering down the stairwell to here. Buffy could barely see. She was thankful for the growing volume of the chanting, it made it less likely that anyone would hear them if they tripped over something.
Their plan hit its first snag at the bottom of the stairs. The door was closed, and when Buffy tried to open it, she discovered it was locked as well. It had a window in it, and Buffy cautiously looked through. The corridor on the other side was pitch black. There was no help for it. Buffy grasped the door handle and waited for a particularly loud part in the chanting before she pulled.
The splintering door frame sounded much too loud to all of them, but now was not the time to wait to see if anyone had heard it. They ran down the hallway to the door at the opposite end. This door didn't have a window.
Buffy felt her cell phone vibrating as they reached the door. She pulled it out of her pocket and checked the caller ID. It was Fred. "They're in position," she told Wes and Cordy. "Signal them."
Cordy took out her phone and hit the speed dial for Angel, while Wes pulled a couple of crossbows out of their bag. He loaded both, and handed one to Buffy. He also gave her a short sword for her other hand.
Buffy had been silently counting the seconds from when Cordy had called Angel. On ten she kicked open the door.
Buffy went low through the door, with Wesley behind her. There was a Kragmoor demon right beside the door and she sank her sword into its stomach while it was still turning to see what the noise was.
Buffy raised her crossbow, and scanned the room, from left to right, looking for demons with guns. They had to take those out first. She spotted one and fired her crossbow bolt into its heart. She heard the sound of Wesley firing, taking out a demon on the right.
Buffy's eyes continued to scan the room while she reloaded. She couldn't see any more demons with guns. The camp lanterns had been replaced by torches, and there was a circle of people in white robes gathered in the center of the room, chanting. Some of them were looking around to see what was going on, but they hadn't given up their ceremony yet. She could see Angel and Gunn by the door at the far end of the room. They had taken out more of the Kragmoors at their end. Buffy could see that there were already six of the demons down.
One of the demons charged at Buffy with a sword. She fired her crossbow at it but her shot missed its heart. She parried its attack with her sword, and sliced off its head. She heard Wesley's gun bark twice, and another demon fell dead, with two holes in its head. The two remaining demons dropped their weapons, and fell to their knees.
"Wes, keep them covered," said Buffy. She started toward the circle of chanting people. Angel was moving toward them as well. She hadn't been able to see them clearly before, but as she got closer Buffy could see that the kids for the sacrifice were already stretched out naked on the floor, their hands and feet bound together with ropes, and gags over their mouths. For a moment she thought she might be too late, but she saw several terrified eyes looking toward her.
The rhythm had gone out of the chanting, but the robed people were more afraid of what Chalajuaxis would do to them if they quit than they were of the armed people who had defeated their demonic bodyguards so quickly. They weren't going to stop of their own accord.
There were twelve white hooded, robed figures around the wheel of victims, and one in the center of the circle, dressed in red. Buffy stepped through the circle, and raised her sword to the throat of person in the center. She could feel Angel entering the circle behind her, watching her back to make sure none of the chanters tried anything. "You've got a choice," said Buffy. "You can die now, or you can stop, and maybe be able to run and hide before Chalajuaxis finds you. You have three seconds…two…one…"
"Stop!" Buffy was mildly surprised that it was a familiar woman's voice that spoke. The chanting died out around her. Lilah Morgan lifted her hands and pulled back the hood of her robe. "It seems that I seriously misjudged you Miss Summers."
Buffy reached out and pulled the knife out of Lilah's belt, but she kept her sword tip pressed against her throat. "That you did." She nodded toward the wall, and raised her voice. "Now all of you move over there and get on your knees, facing the wall, hands on your heads!" Buffy could see that several of the chanters glanced at Lilah for directions. "She's not giving the orders here people! Move! Now!"
It took a second, but the first of the chanters broke from the circle, and the others quickly followed and did as they were told. "You too," Buffy told Lilah, and pressed her sword a little harder against her throat. Lilah moved off after the others.
Buffy left Angel guarding the chanters while Fred and Cordelia quickly bound their hands behind their backs, and relieved them of the knives in their belts. She tossed the knife she'd taken away from Lilah to Gunn. "Free the guys. I'll do the girls."
Gunn started to move around the outside of the circle, cutting the ropes tying the guys' wrists and ankles together while Buffy went back into the center of the circle and did the same for the girls, using her sword to first free all their wrists, and then moving around the outside to free their legs. Some of the kids managed to get their own gags off, as soon as their hands were freed, but Buffy and Gunn had to help most of them. Soon there were a dozen boys and girls sitting huddled, whimpering and shivering on the floor, trying to cover their nakedness with their hands.
Buffy was tempted to go strip the robes off the chanters, but she realized that she should have thought of that before they got them all tied up. "Do you know where your clothes are?" she asked one of the calmer looking girls.
The girl pointed to the door to the room where they had been held captive. "Th—they—they made us get undressed in th—there."
Fred and Cordelia instantly went to the room, and came back soon after with arm loads of clothing. It took a couple of trips to bring back all the clothes, and a couple more for the shoes and socks. There was a scramble as the kids tried to find their own clothes, and put them on. Buffy noticed when they were done that most of the underwear was left behind, and that some of the kids were wearing pants that were too small, or too big for them. No one volunteered to switch.
Buffy checked her watch. They were pretty much right on schedule. She took out her phone and dialed a number. "We got 'em, you all set? … Okay, they're on their way." Buffy closed her phone and put it back in her pocket. "Okay, Fred and Cordy, take them out," said Buffy. "Anne's waiting for you out front."
Buffy watched as Fred and Cordelia herded the kids toward the exit. They had arranged with Anne to have some transportation standing by to take them back to the Teen Center, once they were freed. Once they were all gone she turned her attention to the two demons that Wesley was guarding. They had their hands bound behind their backs too now. Gunn had joined him. "What do we do with these?" she asked. Captive demons wasn't one of the things she usually had to deal with.
"We could just kill 'em," said Gunn. "They are demons."
"We surrendered to you!" said one of the demons. "You would dishonour yourselves if you killed us now."
"You guys consider yourselves honourable, huh?" asked Buffy. She did a quick review of what Dawn's research had turned up on these guys in her mind. It did seem to fit. "So what would the honourable thing be for us to do with you?"
"Our clan will ransom us."
Buffy remembered that in medieval times, captured soldiers—especially the nobles—were often ransomed. "Sounds promising…what do you think you're worth? And before you answer that, let me tell you that I'm only interested in hard human currencies. No kittens!"
"Kittens?" asked Gunn.
"For some reason the Sunnydale demon underground switched over to a kitten standard a year or so back," said Buffy. "I have no idea why."
The demons had started conferring quietly in their own language.
"Hey!" said Buffy. "If you're going to talk, talk something we understand."
"I was just finding out what the exchange rate was this week," said the demon spokesman. "Our clan will ransom us for $10,000."
Buffy suspected that that was just an opening position. They could get a lot more. "We'll talk," she told them. "I guess these two are going back to the hotel. Get 'em out of here. Take the west stairwell, and take the guard there out with you."
Wesley nudged the demons to their feet, and then away toward the exit. Buffy turned her attention back to the group still on their knees facing the wall, with Angel guarding them. She walked over to Lilah Morgan. "How much were you paying the Kragmoors?"
"What?" asked Lilah.
"How much were you paying them?"
"Ten demons, five thousand a week each, for two weeks service. Half paid in advance."
"So, they've collected $50,000 from you. I knew he was lowballing me…I think I'll give Anya a call, have her handle the negotiations."
"Negotiations?" asked Angel.
"Our demon prisoners tell me that their clan will ransom them," said Buffy. "They offered 10,000 but I don't think we should let them take any profit from this little venture. I'll sic Anya on 'em."
"Anya the Vengeance Demon?"
"Also Anya the cutthroat business person," said Buffy. "And she knows how to do business with demons. She'll get us the best deal." Buffy looked down the row of prisoners. "So what do we do with these?"
"I say we leave that in the tentacles of Chalajuaxis," said Angel. "I'm sure it will be much less forgiving of them than we will."
"What about her?" Buffy nodded toward Lilah Morgan.
"Hmm…Wolfram and Hart may have the clout to keep Chalajuaxis from killing her, but it will probably be expensive for them," said Angel. "They don't like it when their people cost them…She might be better off throwing herself at Chalajuaxis' mercy. It might have more."
Buffy put the tip of her sword under Lilah's chin, and lifted it up so that she was looking Buffy in the eyes. "Okay, listen up. If you live through this, I want you to understand something. You go near my father, or my sister again, and I promise you will die. If my father should die of anything other than natural causes at an advanced age, I'll assume you had something to do with, and you will die. Do you understand me?"
Lilah nodded.
"I also want you to understand that I have a lot of friends," said Buffy. "Many of them are not human, some of them are older and harder to kill than a vampire like Angel here. They will know about my promise to you, and if for some reason I am not able to keep it personally, they will keep it for me. Do you understand that?"
Lilah nodded again.
"Okay. On your feet, all of you."
The prisoners all got to their feet. Some of them had a little trouble doing it with their hands still tied behind their backs. Angel picked up one of their equipment bags, and Buffy grabbed the second. She put her sword into it, and then took one of the torches that was illuminating the basement room. "Take 'em out." she told Angel, and nodded toward the east door.
Buffy stopped when she reached the door. Angel went ahead with the prisoners. Buffy put the bag back down, and started pulling out glass bottles. She threw them around the basement room. They shattered on impact, spreading their contents across the floor.
Angel shouted down that everyone was clear. Buffy tossed the torch into the middle of the pool of gasoline. She grabbed the bag and ran down the hall.
Wesley, Gunn, Cordelia and Fred were waiting by the cars when Buffy and Angel got back to them. The two Kragmoor demons were sitting in the back of Angel's GTX, their hands still tied behind their backs, and held in the seats by the seatbelts.
Buffy looked back toward the building. Flames were starting to show in some of the ground floor windows. "You know, if those demonic cults would just switch over to modern lighting, there'd be so many fewer fires. Torches are so dangerous. I think we should get out of here before the Fire Department shows up."
Angel and Gunn got into his car, while the others all got into Cordelia's. They were a couple of blocks away before they heard the sirens.