Chapter 9

Shannon set down the binoculars, shaking her head. "I don't think she's moved from that position once in the last two weeks."

"With a crossbow aimed at the door, looking for me." Angel frowned, his brow wrinkling in confusion. "And you're sure there are no references anywhere to a demon of her kind?"

Alexa shook her head, not even looking up from her laptop. "Not a species like her. A few really old mentions of a demon like her that followed vampires around, and was seriously interested in their kills. People think she collected the souls of the victims. But those only go up to the late seventeenth century. Whoever that was either was killed, went dormant, or has someone else doing their dirty work."

"Anything more recent, Alexa?" Shannon moved from the window to perch on the bed.

"One, 1735. 'A golden-skinned and golden-eyed demon was seen at the graveyard, leaving her mark on a gravestone. She's called The Collector.' That's it. Nothing more recent."

"Great. The most recent reference to a demon like that is well over two hundred years old!" Shannon scowled. "You sure there's nothing else?"

"I'm sure, Shay." Alexa closed the laptop, standing to stretch. "And I'm getting bored, holed up in this building, with no place to go, and precious little entertainment."

"We could go hit a few bars." Spike was leaning against the wall next to the door, looking as bored as Alexa felt.

"And go through the sewers? Not on your very long life, Spike. One, sewers equal gross factor. Two, she could have booby trapped them." Alexa shook her head. "I happen to like staying in one piece, without being a pincushion for some out of date weaponry."

Shannon shook her head, going back to the window. She frowned a moment later, reaching for the binoculars. "She did say she'd come back later, right, Alexa?"

"Yeah, why?" Alexa looked over at Shannon, raising an eyebrow in question.

"We're about to have company. She's on the move, and headed towards us."

"Lovely. Time for the welcoming committee to go down and greet her."

"That may not be neccessary." Shannon had slowly turned, her gaze fixed on the door. "Damn she moves fast! Spike, move it!"

Spike shoved away from the wall just in time to avoid the stake that came through the wall where his heart would have been if he'd stayed put. The end was tipped with a polished gem, and the whole thing was wrapped in silver wire.

"What the fuck?!" Alexa grabbed her katana up from beside the bed. "Shannon, about what you said earlier about a demon being an unlikely vampire hunter? I think that's a theory that needs revision!"

"No shit, Sherlock!" Shannon snapped back as the stake was pulled free of the wall from the other side. An eery silence descended over the room as they waited for the demon to make the next move.

Natalie listened for movement in the room, waiting patiently outside the door. The only sound she could hear was the pounding of two hearts. She'd missed the vampire next to the door, the woman who had been able to locate her earlier - a demon tracker, at the very least - having warned him before she could complete the strike. Irritating.

"You can't stay in there forever, Angelus." She often found her prey willing to talk themselves right into her traps, or at least, line of sight. "Why don't you come out, and we'll talk."

There was a snort from inside the room. "You just tried to stake Spike, and now you say you're willing to talk with Angel?" That was the woman who'd been in the lobby, and Natalie shook her head.

"I can be reasonable. I don't have to kill any of you to get what I came for."

"Really?" The voice was full of sarcasm. "And we can choose not to believe you. I'm sorry, try again."

"Or you can come in and talk to us. Without the weapons." That was the demon-tracking mortal. "Just set them down as you come in, and sit down next to the window like a good little demon."

Natalie's mind fogged a moment, and she shook her head, clearing it, only to find herself in the chair next to the window, all four between her and her weapons. The red-haired woman snickered, nodding to the brunette.

"Nice display of power, Shay." She turned her eyes back to Natalie, and her voice became colder. "And now, missie, you can make that introduction you neglected to earlier."

Natalie raised an eyebrow, remaining silent. This was not how she'd anticipated the game progressing. These two women were more of a neuisence than she had originally thought they'd be.

The red-head scowled at her continued silence, and looked over at the woman she'd called Shay again. "Could you put the lean on her, or something, Shay?"

Angelus came over while the woman was talking - she'd called him Angel earlier, curiously - and was staring at her choker. "What's in the locket?"

Natalie was startled. "What?"

He gestured to the locket on her chocker, the others turning their attention to his question. "What's in the locket."

"I don't know." She shrugged. "I don't care."

"How can you not know what's in the locket?" Alexa frowned in confusion. "Didn't you put in whatever's in it?"

The demon shook her head. "No."

Angel reached out to touch it, and it sprung open, making the demon jump slightly.

"It's not supposed to do that. It doesn't open for anyone."

"Apparently it opens for Angel." Shannon sounded annoyed, but she was watching Angel, and was surprised to see the flash of pain in his expression before he snapped the locket shut, and turned away. "Angel?"

Alexa blinked, looking over at Spike a moment, raising an eyebrow in question. He shrugged, and she sighed, turning back towards the demon. She was gone. "FUCK!"

Shannon turned back around, and she echoed Alexa's cursing. The demon was gone, and she'd taken her gear with her.

"And we still don't know her name!"