PART NINE:

Spike could feel Nareia's body getting lighter by the second, and her skin had taken on an unhealthy shade of dust-brown. He knew she wouldn't last much longer, and was surprised that she had lasted as long as she had.

"It's just clipped the heart, it's not all the way through it," Nareia explained, her voice coming to him weakly in his mind. "How's Angel? And shouldn't you take that out?" she asked, mentally imaging the stake in his chest.

Spike grunted. He let go of Nareia with one hand, and pulled the wooden stake out of his chest, grimacing in pain as he did so. He looked quickly over his shoulder at the arena behind him. Angel was faltering with their retreating strength. He relayed this to Nareia in his mind grimly.

"Also, all the vamps seem to be ignoring us now, so I guess that's one up on us," he added sarcastically.

Spike knew something had to be done, and fast. He was too weak to do anything himself, he needed blood. And Nareia was on the verge of dust. He had to protect her. Angel wasn't looking too happy either. For once, Spike was at a total loss.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Angel tripped over his own feet, and fell onto the sand. As he fell, he turned his head, and could see Spike kneeling, holding Nareia in his arms. His childe was crying. Angel could feel the combined strength of the younger vampires leaving him, and he knew what had happened. He closed his eyes in pain. This was all his fault. He hadn't saved anyone at all, instead condemning them to a second death, or a first, in Willow's case.

He heard Buffy coming up behind him, and flipped over and up onto his feet. Maybe he could weaken Buffy enough to get away, and help save the others. He knew it was small hope, but it was hope.

Grimly, he grabbed a long spear from the side, and snapped it over his knee. He approached a grinning Buffy, twirling it in his hands threateningly.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Willow sat in her chair, watching Ripper as he stood at the doorway, watching Angel fight. The spell she had planned was set out in her head, all she had to do was get into a suitable place to perform it. She grimaced inside. That could be easier said than done.

Busy with her own thoughts, Willow jumped when Ripper touched her arm. "Come on, Willow, there's something I want you to see," he dragged her up.

Willow shrank away from his touch, but didn't fight, pretending to be meeker than she was. Inside, she was elated. This was what she had needed.

Ripper escorted her to the door. When they got there, Willow looked out to see Angel lying on the ground, Buffy standing over him, brandishing a stake. Quickly looking around at the crowd, the redhead could see Spike, with Nareia in his arms. Willow gulped. She hoped there was nothing seriously wrong with the vampiress, she liked Nareia.

Steeling herself, Willow drew a deep breath. Ripper had loosened his hold on her arm, too engrossed in Buffy to take much notice of the redhead beside him. The crowd cheered, masking the quiet chanting that Willow was doing under her breath. She finally, after what had seemed like a lifetime to her, came to the end, and shouted out the trigger words, "Sol emico!"

From the middle of the room, a bright light appeared, and rays of it spread quickly, creeping into every crevice. Willow covered her eyes until they got used to the unnatural brightness. She could hear all the screams of the vampires, as they either burst into flames, or the immortal ones rolled about in agony.

Willow slowly opened her eyes, and gazed about at the scene in front of her. Angel was still lying on the sand, but Buffy was no longer standing menacingly over him. Instead she was doubled up, staggering about the arena.

Willow pulled herself together, and ran out into the arena, towards Angel. "Come on, get up, it can't last forever," she helped him to his feet. Willow gasped at the wounds on his face, and he favoured his right side.

"What, how…?" he stammered.

Willow shook her head, "There's no time to explain. Come on, we have to get Onet's talisman."

Angel squinted at the redhead, and pulled her toward him as Buffy stumbled about. They both noticed a cylindrical object jutting out from the back of her trousers. Angel frowned, but grabbed it, and then dragged Willow up the stairs, shoving non-flaming vampires out of the way with growls.

The two staggered to where Spike was still kneeling with Nareia. The blond vampire looked up as they approached, "They staked her, the bastards. She got staked." His face was distorted in an agony much more profound than that of the writhing vampires around him.

Angel looked at the vampiress's face. It was very brown, and her body was almost translucent. "There's not much time. You'll have to carry her, Spike."

Spike nodded at the stern but soft voice of his sire, and stood up slowly, holding Nareia still in his arms. "I can't go very fast," he pointed out, and Willow noticed the bloodstain on his chest.

"Come on, we have to get out of here, or else we won't be going anywhere. It'll be day soon," she insisted, and Spike once again nodded dumbly. He strode through the mass of vampires, keeping Nareia as still as possible. Angel and Willow followed closely behind, holding onto each other for support.

The four staggered through the sewers back the way they had come, and finally made it the ladder. Angel's strength was returning to him slowly, and he and Willow helped the drowsy Spike to lift Nareia up to the street.

It was a few hours before dawn, and it took them all that time to return to Spike's crypt. Once they had lain Nareia on the bed, and Spike had collapsed beside her, Angel sank into the unoccupied sofa.

Willow's face was white and drawn, but she did not sit down. Instead she woke Xander and Anya. Very quickly, she told them what had happened, and sent them off to find blood, "We need lots of it. All three of them are injured badly, and I don't think Spike will be able to hunt for a while."

Xander frowned, "But we don't have any money to get any with, Wil."

Willow scowled, "Then steal some, Xander. We don't have time for morals. If these three die, then we die, and a whole lot more people do as well."

Anya nodded in acknowledgement, "We'll get the blood. Come on Xander." The ex-demon dragged her boyfriend out of the crypt.

Willow sighed as she looked towards the bed. Nareia was still there, but the redhead didn't think she could hold out much longer. She turned to Angel, to see him taking his shirt off, his jacket already discarded on the arm beside him. The dark vampire winced, and Willow took one look at the wound in his side, and ran to the cupboard where the herbs were kept.

On her way back, she stopped to fill the kettle, and to tell Spike, "Take your shirt off. No dithering about it, just do it," she added at his surprised look.

He complied, and soon Willow was patching up the two male vampires as best she could.

"What about Nareia?" Spike asked softly. "Can't you do anything about her?"

Willow shook her head, "I want to wait until the blood gets here. If I do anything now, and there isn't any blood, it might arrive too late to save her. Best leave her be for now." Willow laid a hand on Spike's tense arm, and smiled wanly at him. He looked back at her with haunted eyes, and turned to sit beside the vampire lying on the bed.

Willow down next to Angel on the sofa. "There's nothing we can do for now," she told him softly.

"I know. You did well, Willow. Thank you," Angel returned quietly, his left arm hugging her.

Willow rested her head on his shoulder, and there they sat, waiting for Xander and Anya to return.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Xander and Anya came back a few hours later, bearing bags of blood. "Fortunately, the first butcher's we came to wasn't too hard to break into," Xander said, holding out the blood.

Willow grabbed it, and handed a few bags to Angel, who, for once, did not mind drinking in front of humans.

The rest she took to Spike, who tore into a bag rapidly, and then quickly demolished a further two. Once he had finished, Willow looked at him, "Are you ready?"

He swallowed, and nodded. "I'll help," Angel's voice came from behind Willow, "I can help hold her."

Willow nodded and bit her lip. Then she signalled to Spike, and the two vampires rolled Nareia gently onto her front. Willow tore off Nareia's blouse, and they could plainly see the stake sticking out of her back.

Willow chewed her lip, and took hold of her dressing and bandages, at the ready. Angel put his hands either side of the wound, and Spike took hold of the stake. Closing his eyes, the blond vampire began to gently pull it out.

Willow, Xander, and Anya held their breath. Spike's face was a picture of concentration, and, if he had been human, he would have been dripping in sweat. As it was, his hands were perfectly steady. Everyone knew that one tremble could mean the second death of the vampire on the bed.

Spike could feel the stake moving with his hands, and he could sense the pain Nareia was feeling. But he also knew where the stake was located, and knew that it was almost out. Suddenly, his hands jerked away, and everybody gasped, expecting Nareia to now be a pile of dust. But she wasn't. Instead, Spike was sitting on the bed beside her, with a cocky, albeit shaky, grin on his face, holding the bloody stake in his hand.

Willow recovered from her shock fast, and rushed to cover the gaping wound produced by the removal of the stake that Angel was currently trying unsuccessfully to cover. Willow made quick work of the bandaging, and soon Nareia was rolled back onto her back.

"Nareia, love," Spike whispered in her ear, "look what I found in you." He held up the stake.

Nareia's eyes opened, and she looked up at the stake, and Spike's serious face, "Good job too. I wouldn't have wanted that to stay in me for too long." She smiled faintly.

"Here," Angel handed her a blood bag, already opened. Nareia drank from it weakly, but her strength began returning after her second bag.

"Hmm," she smiled softly, "sleep, I think I could do with that now."

"I think we all could," Angel added, looking at the exhausted faces of Spike and Willow. "Xander, Anya, could you…"

"Yes, we'll keep watch, make sure nothing bad happens to you," Anya waved her hands in the air, and walked off to the table, Xander following, but not before rolling his eyes.

Willow smiled and promptly collapsed on the sofa, shortly followed by Angel doing so on the other. Spike was already lying carefully beside Nareia, and not a sound came from their bed.

"Well, it seems we missed out on a lot of fun last night," Xander said, looking at the sleepers.

"Hmph," Anya replied.

"Yeah, maybe you're right. I think we got the better part of the deal," Xander reflected, and got up to get something to eat.

Part 10