Chapter 23 – Jealousy
She wouldn't tell us any more about Wolfram and Hart. She said that was for later, when we had begun to understand the Carnolan way of life.
When we finish our coffee, she suggests we might like to shower and change. I take a look at my attire, and realise I'm still in my pyjamas. And I'm just grateful that I chose something to sleep in that's more or less decent. I take the shower first, dressing before I leave the bathroom, and Spike follows while I do something with my hair. No hairdryer because I didn't pack one, but at least I find my brush, so I get to detangle it. I'm just finishing the make up when Spike returns, still towelling his hair.
"Where to?" he asks.
"She said we could go outside," I say, "so let's do that."
We don't see Lucy when we go downstairs, and we go straight to the front door. We stand on the doorstep and look around. I don't know what I expected, a single house, or a small group of homes, but it's bigger than that. Lucy's house has another on either side, and there are another three visible on the other side of the road. I step out a little further, and see no end to the buildings.
Lucy comes up behind me, and I decide to ask her about it.
"How big is this?"
"The enclave? I'm not sure about the actual area, if that's what you want to know. There are a couple of hundred of us living here just now, and a fair number of the houses are empty because of business outside."
"It's like a town," I comment.
"It is a town," she corrects me, smiling. "Would you like to have a look around?"
"Might as well," mutters Spike.
I take his arm, and he doesn't pull away. We walk along the sidewalk coming to an intersection and turn left. There's a small store, the sort that seems to sell everything, and opposite, what looks like a school.
We see a number of people as we walk, and their reaction is interesting. Lucy obviously commands respect, and we are objects of curiosity. Apart from Lucy, we see only another two women, one obviously pregnant, and the other with two small boys. The really spooky thing, though, is the way all the men look so similar. I assume it's just the way they are. Having said that, it's also obvious that they take care to make slight changes to hairstyle or facial hair to give themselves some individuality.
In the distance I spot what seems to be a parking lot. Since I haven't spotted any cars anywhere else, I ask about it.
"Cars aren't much use within the enclave," she answers. "Everything's pretty close, really. The cars are used when we leave. We're too small a community to be truly self-sufficient, and there are a lot of things we need from outside. And we've always had people working in the human world, passing as human, although recently, that's become much more intensive."
Well, logically, if that's where the cars are, that's where I'd expect to find the edge of the enclave, so I start to walk in that direction. Lucy doesn't comment at all, but I get the distinct impression that Spike understands my motive.
The sun is bright overhead, and it's pleasantly warm.
"Where are we?" Spike asks.
"Where is the enclave, you mean?" Lucy asks.
"That's what I said."
Spike is obviously still a little put out, and I can see that he's struggling to put all the new information together in his head.
"The enclave is in the middle of the desert. If you could find a way to leave, you'd find no roads for several miles in every direction."
"Not exactly desert weather, though," he comments. And he's right. It's very pleasant, but not the hot, dry heat you'd expect if we really were in the desert.
"The spell is designed to keep the enclave at a more comfortable temperature. Remember that our enclaves around the world are normally in areas where there are few people. The climate in those places is often hostile."
I glance at the vehicles, and realise that, yes, they seem to work with that story. They're all utility type vehicles, the sort of thing that could make good time where there aren't any roads. I drop Spike's hand, and continue to approach the furthest of the vehicles. As I get closer, I realise that the parking lot isn't as big as it seems. What I thought were continuing rows of cars is actually a mirror, and I keep walking towards it. There's something odd. I feel … something, and close my eyes to shake off the sensation. When I open my eyes, I can't see anything wrong, so I continue to walk. To my surprise, I walk into something hard.
It's the green Range Rover I just passed, and now it's in front of me. I scan behind me to find Spike, but there's no sign of him. Concerned, I look all around, and I spot him in front of me which doesn't make any sense at all. I turn around, and I can see the reflection of the Range Rover, so I move towards it, this time also taking note of my own reflection. Again, there's that feeling, something faint and odd, and my reflection's gone. Again, the car in front of me is real.
I walk back to Spike, interested to hear his reaction.
"What did you see?" I ask.
"I saw you walking one way, and the next second, you'd turned right around."
"Yeah," I reply. "That's what I thought."
"I said you'd be deflected by the end of the enclave," Lucy reminds us.
"But," Spike says, his eyes narrow slits, "If that's what happens out there, then people are going to think they're travelling north, and they're actually going south. Must cause a lot of confusion."
"Well, the effect is a bit different on the outside. It has something to do with the angles involved, I think, but on the outside, the effect is more subtle. People are just 'encouraged' to walk around the enclave. So, they might end up a few hundred yards away from where they think they are, but their ultimate direction of travel will remain unchanged."
"Clever," he murmurs, and I'm really not sure whether or not he's being sarcastic.
We return to Lucy's home after that, and when we go inside, Lucy excuses herself, saying that she needs to see to some business.
"Just one thing," Spike says, as she turns to go. "Your boys said they were representatives of the Carnolan Government. When do we get to meet someone from your government?"
Lucy smiled at that. "Oh! Well, you already have. You see, I'm the current First Minister of the International Government."
"You mean," I interrupt, "they let non-Carnolans into their government?"
"More than that, actually. The most basic stipulation for membership is that members should have borne a Carnolan son. So, all members of the Government are actually human women."
She goes into a room which turns out to be a comfortable living room, and through that to what looks like some sort of office. She opens a drawer, and selects a document from the pile there.
"Here, this might help a bit. Our government's pretty low-key compared to human governments. That gives a few details of how things work. I'll answer more questions when I get back, if you like."
She ushers us out of the office and closes the door.
"I'm not going to lock that," she says, "but I'd appreciate it if you didn't go in without me. There's nothing there that could really harm anyone, but there are private records of some individuals, and those people wouldn't be happy to know that their personal details were treated carelessly. Within the limits of personal privacy, I will supply you with whatever information you need."
She beckons us to follow her, and we go into the kitchen. She opens the fridge and points out the range of food there, telling us to help ourselves. I hadn't realised it before, but I'm hungry, something my stomach decides to make known by growling.
As soon as she's gone, I open the fridge again, looking through it for something tasty. Spike reaches over me, and pulls out a tray of eggs. He leaves them by the cooktop, then reaches into one of the adjacent cupboards to pull out a pan. If I didn't know better, I'd have thought he actually knew where things were kept.
"Omelette?" he asks.
"Yeah," I answer.
"See what we could add to liven it up a bit then," he requests, finding a bowl and starting to break eggs into it.
I do as he asks, finding some mushrooms and a red pepper. On another shelf are some green onions, so I help myself to a couple. I take them to Spike who finds a chopping board and a knife, gesturing to me to get chopping.
"Spike, how do you know where things are kept?"
"Don't know, not as such. Just, there's not that many possibilities if the kitchen's well thought out. And this one is. Obviously, you're going to keep pans close to where they're used, and there're only so many drawers to keep the knives in."
"Oh."
A few moments later, we're sitting down to omelette with bread and salad and I've even found a diet Coke to go with it. We both eat quickly, and when we've finished, I sit enjoying the feeling of hunger satisfied.
"So, Pet," Spike says as he pushes his plate away from him. "What's the next step?"
"I don't know," I admit. "Let me see. They brought our bags from the hotel. I wonder if my cell phone's still in my purse. Wes must be worried if he hasn't been able to get through to us. I thought we'd try to call him."
"Seems like a plan," he admits, and he leads the way upstairs.
My phone's where I left it, and I take it out, only to find that there's no signal. I show Spike, and he shrugs.
"Could just be too far out in the desert," he offers. "Or it could be the magic. No way of knowing for now."
"So, we're on our own," I say, my mind going through the possibilities. "Seems we don't have any choice other than finding out what we can. We just need to widen our research to find a way out of here."
"So, fancy a walk?" he asks. "Not going to find out a lot in here. Natives seem friendly enough. Maybe we should see what we can find out without a chaperone. This," he waves the paper Lucy gave us, "seems to be a bit on the dry side. Maybe try it for bed time reading. Should send us to sleep right quick."
"The thing is, what are we trying to find out? Are we looking to find that the Carnolan are actually a species that deserves to continue, or looking for a way to destroy them?"
"I don't know, Pet. Seems, with the bargain you made with Lilah, maybe you don't actually have a choice."
"And there's Lilah's hold over you."
"Yes, well, that's as may be. But you've always got an option on that."
"What?"
"Simple. Kill me. Asked the Watcher to do it if things went that way, but if he's not around, it'll be up to you."
"Not going to happen. I've been there, done that, killed someone I cared about, sent him to Hell. Not going there again. We'll find another way, even if I have to chain you up somewhere."
The look of pain on his face is unmistakeable at the reference to Angel.
"I was a different person then," I remind him. "Just a child, really. And I mean it. I'll chain you up if that's what it takes."
"Not that that's not an inviting possibility, but you don't want to be saddled with me if I'm a liability. If that happens, maybe I'll find a way to do for myself."
I don't answer that. I can't. I'm still holding out the hope that Willow can do something about it.
"I wonder if there's a landline?" I ask, forcing my mind back to the present. I head back out of the bedroom, and down to the kitchen, then check the living room, and even open the office door. No phone in sight. I check the kitchen, and it's the same story. Whatever else we're going to do, it looks like we're going to have to do without checking in with Wes, at least for now.
"We'll have to let Lucy know that we need to contact him, or he's likely to come looking for us."
"You think he will?" Spike asks.
"Yeah, I do. Either that, or he'll go and stir something up with Lilah, and that could be even worse."
"So, you up for this walk then?" he asks me, and I nod.
This time, we walk in the opposite direction. Again, we see some Carnolans, apparently going about their business. It's different, though. Before, when we were with Lucy, people looked at us, but there wasn't really anything in it, and I can only assume that was due to Lucy's influence. Now, it's noticeably different. The men are watching me carefully. I can feel their eyes on me, and it's not a comfortable feeling. I glance at Spike, and I guess he noticed too. He's glaring at the man ahead who's looking at me particularly carefully. He's right in our path, and he seems to be waiting for us to get there.
"Miss Summers," he says when we get close enough.
"Hello," I answer. "This is Spike."
He ignores that, not taking his eyes off me. "My name is Winston. I'd really like to get to know you. Can I offer my services as a guide to our town?"
"Thanks, Winston," I answer. "But Spike and I'd like to have a look around on our own for now. Maybe later."
He glances towards Spike, before returning his attention to me. "The invitation is open whenever you care to take it up. Of course, it would be much more interesting if you dropped the human man. I'm sure you'd find that I would more than make up for any loss."
"Well, Spike and I sort of go together. So, if he's not welcome on this tour you're offering, I guess I'm not either."
I take a tighter hold of Spike's arm before walking off. It's only then that I feel just how tense he is. I glance at his face, and his lips are pursed and his brows wrinkled.
"Jealous?" I ask.
"I am not jealous." His voice is indignant.
"Looks like it," I offer.
"Why don't you go and make eyes at Mr. Dark and Smarmy over there. He's guaranteeing you won't miss me."
I stop walking, and pull him to face me. "Spike, I'm not looking for anyone else. I've spent years since Sunnydale, trying to find someone to take your place. And, you know what that taught me? There isn't anyone who could take your place. No one. Spike-replacement doesn't exist. And, now I've got the real thing, why would I even want to look?"
His body relaxes a bit at that, and then there's that new expression. The one that says he's not sure about himself any more.
"You sure about that, Pet? You sure you've got Spike back?"
"I'm sure," I answer. And to prove it, I stand on my toes, put my hands on his shoulders and kiss him. I'm not sure what I intend, not even sure I gave it any thought. I just do what seems natural, and once my lips are on his, the rest just follows like it hasn't been years since all those times after I came back from the dead. His response is exactly what it should be too, and in no time, lack of oxygen is becoming an issue.
We pause, forehead to forehead, panting for air. Spike gestures over his shoulder towards where Winston is still standing. "You've made your point, Love. Now, is this all for his benefit or should we take it somewhere more private?"
I look at him for an instant, wondering if he really thinks I'd do that just to make a point. Then he grins, and I know he's teasing me.
"Somewhere more private, I think," I answer, gently punching him in the ribs as I do so.
"Oh, in for some pain, am I?" he asks, his eyes glinting at me.
"Quite probably," I answer, spinning us both round to go back the way we came.