Disclaimer: Angel/Angelus, Spike, etc are not mine. They belong to those who created them. The spellings of name escape me at the moment. And Alexa, Shannon, and others not recognizable as coming from the Angelverse are my creations, and only the people who own the universe can snitch them. If they wanted to.

Author's Note: This is a sequel to the story Hello Spike. If you have not yet read that, please do. It is at the following URL:

If you don't read that first, you might not enjoy this one as much.

Summary: Shannon is being held by a nasty little demon, and her powers are blocked. Angel is currently not home, and Angelus is annoyed that he's not allowed to go munch on humans. And something isn't quite right about the demon they have captive. Can they solve the puzzle and rescue Shannon before more trouble shows up? And what do Cain and the other evils of this story have up their sleeve?

Prologue

1735, Ireland

It was dark in the small room as John worked. Not that it bothered the demon as he prepared the gold-skinned female body on the cot. A ruby rested on her chest, glowing softly with an inner fire. One of the souls from his lovely mistress's collection

He smiled slightly as he looked over his creation. A perfect physical copy of Mariam in all her demon glory. The form he so adored, and she so rarely showed. And all for him, at least where it was most important.

There was a wimper from the chair at the head of the bed, and he turned his attention to the woman bound and gagged there. Beautiful, loyal, and an excellent lover, but still only human. Fragile. His fragile Isobel.

He caressed her cheek, a gentle smile on his face. "Don't fret, Isobel. It won't hurt long. And then you'll be beautiful forever." He wouldn't tell her that her soul would take the place of the one he was borrowing from Mariam's collection. He couldn't bear to think of her taking on the duties he would have to give his creation.

To have her go out and collect the souls of new-made vampires, and those who died to feed the half-breed demons? No, he couldn't do that to his sweet Isobel. She wouldn't last very long, and then he'd have to do this all over again.

He carefully picked up the knife waiting on the cot next to the cold, still not yet living body. He carefully cut away a lock of Isobel's thick, dark hair, resting it in a small bowl. Pressing his lips together, he slashed his palm, holding it over the bowl to let the warm blood flow into it, sullying the brown curl. He poured the mix over the gem on the body, whispering the first of the incantations.

Another incantation was spoke as he opened Isobel's hand, using her blood to trace the sigals he needed onto the gold-skinned body. John took a deep breath, stepping behind Isobel. She began to scream behind the gag as he lifted her chin with one hand. Her frightened eyes met his, and he whispered a goodbye as he slashed her throat from ear to ear, letting her slump forward onto the demon-body, her blood bathing the gem, and the golden-toned skin.

If he had blinked, he would have missed the first shallow breath his creation took. He lifted away the light body of the human woman, picking up a deep bowl from where he'd left it, the water inside still warm. Bringing it to the cot, he lifted a rag to wipe the new-made woman clean of her birthing fluids, sticky and red.

"Where am I?" The demon-woman looked at him, confusion in her eyes. The ruby fell into her lap, forgotten, still glowing, though the light was subtly different now. "Who am I? And who are you?"

"You're in our home. You are Isobel Willow, and I am John MacInnis."

"Our home?"

"Yes." He smiled, his eyes lovingly tracing every line of her face and body. "Come, love, let me show you our room." He stood, holding out his hand to her.

"Our room?" She looked up with puzzlement in her eyes a moment before understanding bloomed as the knowledge and memories that were integrated into her settled into place. She took John's outstretched hand with a smile, following him out of the blood-stained room, ignoring the bloodless body and the glowing ruby that tumbled to the floor.