Chapter 14

The opening in the door to the cupboard was so narrow that Spike had to lean on Buffy if he wanted to see anything, and he could feel how she tensed every time his arm brushed against her. They'd been waiting for what felt like forever and the schedule that they'd gotten from Vin was already off by twenty minutes. They had started to fear that the Master wouldn't show at all; maybe he had decided that this part of his daily routine was no longer necessary. He might be trying out some new more time-efficient schedule.

Armed with two stakes each and eager to get back home, Spike and Buffy kept as quiet as possible as they listened for anyone approaching. They both felt as though every second took an hour, and their muscles ached form tensing.

Just when Buffy sighed deeply and began to turn to tell Spike that they might as well give up, a door further down the corridor opened and at least three pairs of feet approached the cupboard. Knowing that they might just have one chance to complete their mission, Buffy and Spike exchanged a quick look and then nodded. With more force than was really needed they burst through the door and without stopping to let their targets react Spike grabbed a hold of one of the two minions' shirt and threw the dark vampire into the wall headfirst. Meanwhile Buffy immediately leaped at the Master with her stake raised, ready to kill. She reached him so fast that the other minion that was still free had no chance to stop her, and by the time he tried to get to Buffy Spike had already kicked him in the head, sending him sprawling to the floor.

If Buffy had thought that the Master would be an easy win, she was wrong. When she first kicked him he wasn't ready and lost his balance, but stayed on his feet and landed a punch on her jaw. After regaining her footing she got ready to kick him again, but the dark vampire that Spike was fighting fell into her. Angry and ready to scream in frustration she staked the vamp without taking her eyes of her true target. When the vampire's dust hit the floor she had already spun around and grabbed the foot of a tall floor lamp. Using it as a weapon she ran towards the Master, the lamp held in front of her as if it was a spear. It wasn't made out of wood so it wouldn't kill him, but if she managed to hit him with it, it would at least hurt and hopefully make him lose his footing for a moment. It was heavy though, especially in the end with the light bulb. She had no trouble holding it, but she lost her balance and some of her speed, and the Master had time to step aside. That was when she realized it. Neither he nor his minions had said a word since they'd been attacked, not even a surprised shout. Shouldn't the Master be calling out for aid by now? Maybe he was so self-assure that he thought that he'd have no trouble defeating them, but she doubted that he'd risk it. Something wasn't right.

In the corner of her eye she saw Spike kick the remaining vampire to the ground and getting ready to stake him. She was surprised that it had taken him so long, his opponent must have been stronger than she'd first thought. That moment of lost concentration was all the Master needed, and before Buffy had a chance to defend herself he was behind her with a knife at her throat.

"I would not do that if I were you," he hissed at Spike who froze and stared at Buffy who was frantically trying to get loose. But the Master's hold was too strong even for her, and he had pinned her arms tight to her body. The two stakes in her hands were useless.

"Don't be stupid," Spike said threateningly while he dragged the semi- conscious vampire to his feet. "You try to do anything of that sort and I promise you your death will be painful."

It was a cold stating of fact in his voice, like it wasn't really a threat but only the truth of what would happen. This only amused the Master though, and his grip around the Slayer tightened.

"You are telling me not to be stupid?" he said with a wicked grin. "You who actually believed that one of my minions would betray me? Who thought that I do not know about everything that happens in this building? In this town?" His grin grew wider as an expression of shock and disbelief that soon turned to anger crossed the blonde vampire's face.

"No," he breathed, so low that it was barely more than a whisper.

"Yes," the Master said and chuckled. He pressed the knife hard enough against Buffy's throat to break the skin. She had to press her lips together not to yelp, she wasn't going to give him that pleasure.

"Let her go," Spike said coldly, and put his stake over the minion's chest.

The Master snorted and looked almost disappointed.

"You do not actually think that I care about the life of that servant? He is nothing; he is just a thing that I own; a replaceable thing. And it would not do you any good, I have a dozen skilled guards waiting behind that door," he pointed at the door through which he had come in minutes before, "and all of them are on their own quite capable of killing you." He paused and forced Buffy to look at him when he continued again with a triumphant glow in his yellow eyes. "One has even killed a Slayer," he whispered into her ear, so softly she almost couldn't hear it. "I believe you've fought once before, and then you barely managed to get near him."

Realization showed on her face and Spike, who had no idea what the Master had told her, stared at her with a worried expression. When the door at the end of the corridor slowly started to open he was surprised to see Vin standing there, but Buffy wasn't. She just stared at their former ally with loathing and disgust plain in her eyes.

"Well, isn't this nice?" the bulky vampire said with a smirk. "My favorite little slayer and her pathetic pet. Wouldn't want to forget this moment for all the blood in the world." He casually approached the Master and respectfully bowed his head, but it was obvious in the way the Master nodded back that Vin was considered almost an equal. Almost.

Vin cleared his throat and kept on as if he had never stopped talking.

"You really thought that I'd betray the Mayor like that? He who will give me the power to rule over this dimension for an eternity once the walls are down. You two really are gullible." Vin reached out to grab Buffy around her neck. "In contrary to your boyfriend over there, I'm a real vampire, not some soft, love-sick fool."

Spike tensed and Buffy could see in the way his eyes narrowed that he had to restrain himself not to attack Vin. One sudden move from him and Buffy would be dead. But before he had the chance to do something stupid Vin let go of her and turned his full attention to Spike.

"Come on," he said tauntingly. "Why don't you do something? Or are you a coward? I must say I'm disappointed in you, I had expected more from the famous William the Bloody. Where's the anger, the cockiness, the attitude? I had so been looking forward to the moment when I got to beat you down in a fight, but now I'm not so sure I care anymore. You hardly seem worth the effort."

That was the last straw. Snarling, Spike dusted the minion and threw himself in the direction of Vin; game face on and yellow-eyed.

With a wide grin Vin grabbed a stake from inside his pocket.

"Bring it on."