Chapter 7

Alexa looked up from her laptop as the door to the hotel opened, and a young woman dressed all in black came in. She was alone in the lobby, the two vampires upstairs sleeping through the middle of the day, and Shannon in the kitchen looking at what there was in the way of food.

"Can I help you?" She closed the laptop, tilting her head with curiosity,

The woman pulled the hood of her trenchcoat down, shaking out her brown hair. "I'm looking for Angelus. Is he here?"

"Not at the moment. Can I give him a message for you?" Alexa set the laptop to one side, wishing she had her katana with her, or that Shannon would come out of the kitchen. The woman made her uneasy, watching her through unblinking green eyes.

"No need. I'll come back later." She turned to go, pulling up her hood once more.

"Wait! I didn't catch your name!"

There was a chuckle from the woman. "I didn't give it."

Shannon came out of the kitchen as the door swung shut behind the woman. "Who was that?"

"Damned if I know." Alexa scowled, pulling her laptop back into her lap. "She came looking for Angel, though."

Shannon frowned. "Wierd," she muttered, and Alexa raised an eyebrow.

"What? People looking for Angel, although by definition wierd, aren't all that unusual. Not if you've watched the show, anyway, which you and I have."

"No, it's not that." Shannon paused. "She was a demon, but there was something off about her."

"Wait a minute. What do you mean, she's a demon?" Alexa gave Shannon an odd look. "And how would you know that?"

"Remember those years I was in Tibet?"

"Yeah. What does that have to do with you knowing that chick was a demon?"

"Patience. I'm getting to that." Shannon gave Alexa an exasperated look. "I was being trained how to control my powere. I can call demons, and I can tell when a demon is nearby."

"Right." Alexa's voice was flat. "Shannon, there are no demons back home like there are here."

"That doesn't mean we don't have them." Shannon shrugged. "And our world has demon callers and other magical people."

"And now we're in demon central with a demon magnet. Great."

"Now who's the pessimist?" Shannon snickered at the scowl on Alexa's face. "Seriously, Alexa, I'm not a demon magnet. Not unless I want to be."

"Which means that one showed up all on her own, doesn't it?"

"Mm-hmm." Shannon nodded. "I wonder what she wanted to do with Angel?"

Natalie Wolfe settled onto the roof of a building across the street from the hotel, a crossbow set up on a tripod, loaded with a wood-shafted arrow. Her eyes melted from green to gold, and her skin took on a mottled pattern the same shade as her eyes. She checked the stone tip of the arrow, making sure it was still smooth and unchipped. Or else this would be a pointless exercise.

"Which one of you is going to be first, Angelus? You or William?" she whispered. "A century of tracking you, six months setting things up for the capture, and your friends have to come out of nowhere and complicate things."

She almost snarled when her cell phone rang, and she pulled it out, answering it with a growl.

"Natalie. Have you caught him yet?" The man's voice was annoyed, and she rolled her eyes.

"Patience, MacInnis. These things take time. The hunt is almost over, and you will have them back soon."

"How soon, Natalie? I'm growing impatient."

She couted backwards from ten before she answered. It was like working with a small child. "Another month at most."

"You had better get them back for me. I've never lost a soul from my collection before, and I'm not about to let it out that I have now."

"MacInnis, you lost Angelus's soul a century ago to a gypsy spell. You're getting sloppy, and I can't fix all of your mistakes." She glanced over at the hotel as the door opened, and shook her head. It was one of the women, not her prey. "And as for William's, you can't always argue with the Powers That Be."

"Just get them back, Natalie, and don't argue semantics with me. I made you, I can unmake you just as easily." There was a click as MacInnis hung up the phone.

"I would love to see you try, MacInnis. Your creation has gotten stronger than you know," Natalie muttered, turning off the cell phone before she put it back in her pocket. She looked to the hotel again, and froze. The woman who'd come out was looking straight at her.

The woman nodded deliberately, before stepping back inside. She had known exactly where Natalie was, and the demon cursed. This was not a good sign. "He doesn't pay me enough for this."

Shannon ducked back inside, shaking her head. "She's out there, on the roof of the building across the street. I don't know what she's doing, but she's not looking for Angel to have a friendly cup of coffee." She paused. "Did she ask for Angel, or Angelus?"

Alexa frowned a moment. "She said she was looking for Angelus. Do you think she's a vampire hunter?"

"A demon?" Shannon shook her head. "I don't think so. It's possible, but not probable."

"Right." Alexa turned off her laptop, and headed upstairs.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting my katana in case the brunette demon walks back in," Alexa threw over her shoulder as she went down the hall on the second floor. "She gives me the creeps!"