Title: Owner of a Lonely Heart

Author: Yugure

Rated: PG-13

Genre: Supernatural/Drama/Angst/Romance

Disclaimer: If you think Slayers et al belongs to me… please run, not walk, to your nearest mental health facility.

Author Notes: I don't think this'll be done in time for Halloween. Maybe next year's Halloween. Sorry. sheepish look

Chapter 7

Lina had just enough time to raise her head up from the table before the stranger in her apartment wrapped its left arm around her waist, lugged her off the chair, and pressed a knife to her throat. The chair skittered away and Lina was left leaning against the intruder. The blade rested over her jugular vein, and it bounced as she carefully swallowed the spit and taste of fear that filled her mouth.

"Where is he!" the dark stranger whispered fiercely, voice rough and masculine, his lips nearly grazing Lina's ear. "Where is that son of a-"

"Who the hell are you talking about?" Lina replied, trying to move her mouth as little as possible, as every movement caused the blade to bite a bit more.

"You know who I'm talking about," the trespasser snapped. "The demon-spawn. The abomination. Zelgadis."

"Why should I tell you anything?"

"Because I've got a knife at your neck, you stupid woman! Tell me where he's gone to and I'll let you live!"

"First of all, I don't know where he is, I'm not his keeper. Second of all, even if I did know where he was, I wouldn't tell you."

For a while the only sound was the intruder's heavy breathing, cascading over Lina's ear in hot waves. Lina experimentally tried to pull away but the intruder's arms tightened their grip immediately.

"He'll come for you, I know he will," the stranger finally said. "All I have to do is wait."

"What are you going to do, hold me hostage in my own home?" Lina snapped. She could tell, without even moving, that the person holding her was infinitely stronger than she was, and was pretty sure she wouldn't get very far if she tried to run. She glanced at the phone on the kitchen wall, then at the drawer where she kept her knives. Like hell she was just going to sit by and let this guy do whatever he pleased.

The stranger did not reply but guided Lina into the living room and shoved her onto the couch. Immediately Lina sprang up, intending to grab something, anything and hurl it at the man, but a peculiar thing happened.

The intruder held up his hand, whispered a word in a language Lina had never heard before, and suddenly Lina found herself confined to the couch. She couldn't move her legs although her arms were working fine, which she used to grab a pillow and throw into his face. The man batted it aside.

"What the BLOODY HELL did you do to me!" Lina shrieked, not scared but considerably angry.

"Old shamanistic magic," the guy replied offhandedly, as if he couldn't really be bothered to answer her question. He work neck to toe black, but his head was left uncovered, which was a rather strange thing to see an intruder do. Lina could not see his face well, for he always kept it turned down or away, and the room was without light except the moon glow that filtered in from the windows and doors. He slunk over to the glass doors leading to the deck and slumped against the cool surface. He didn't even deign to look at her again, although Lina continued to grab everything in reach and throw it at him, although the entirety of her ballistics included two more pillows, a remote, and a couple magazines.

"Okay, okay. If vampires exist, I don't see why magic can't," Lina said, crossing her arms and glaring at the stiff back. "Fair enough. But what do you have against Zel and, more importantly, WHY THE HELL AM I INVOLVED, DAMMIT!"

"Be quiet."

"What? Excuse me?"

"Stop your incessant talking! It's giving me a headache!"

"Oh ho, Mister I-can-throw-magic-around-like-a-bad-mo-fo! Can't your magic help you with that? And for that matter, why the whole sneaking up on me and holding a fricking knife to my throat? Huh? Huh?"

"For dramatic purposes," the guy mumbled back, shooting Lina a look that could freeze water. "I thought you'd more readily give me the answers I need if there was a sharp pointy object at your neck."

"Yeah, well…" Lina shrugged, starting to feel like she was in control. It always helped to have the other person on the defense. If she could just keep him talking… "So why are you after Zel, anyway?"

" 'Zel'…" A rueful smile tugged at the corners of the man's lips. "I used to call him that, too. He used to hate it."

"You… you knew Zel?" Lina felt something go "flop" in her tummy. This night, reality had already tilted 90 degrees and felt like it was going to turn again.

"You could say that. He was my brother."

Zelgadis sat alone in his apartment, a hot cup of coffee cradled in his ice-cold hands. One of the reasons he loved coffee so much was its ability to instill a little bit of warmth in him. Sylphiel had already gone to bed in her own room.

Sylphiel was what was known as a "human servant", a living and breathing human bound to her master vampire. It was a human servant's duty to take care of matters occurring during the day when their masters were asleep. Some ran companies, those humans belonging to entrepreneur vampires. Sometimes, human servants were sources of food in dire circumstances, although generally they were exempt from such things and more often than not helped arrange meals for their masters. Zelgadis had had many human servants over the course of his "undead lifetime", and Sylphiel was merely the latest. She was a competent helper but very much not Zelgadis's type.

She had been terminally ill, a small, sickly child who spent most of her days in a hospital bed. They had met purely by accident and Zelgadis had felt great pity for her. Through mutual consent, Zelgadis bound her to him, which cured her of her illnesses but allowed her to remain human. She was exempt from disease although could be easily killed by accidents and would die of old age like all mortals.

Zelgadis loved her, in a way very much like he loved his sisters when they were still alive. It was because of this that Zelgadis took her in, perhaps to make up for what he had done. She would never, could never be the emotional companion he needed, even if she had been of the D'Amaro line.

But Lina… Lina, he could see loving into eternity.

Zelgadis groaned and thumped his head on the table. Lina's questions from earlier that evening had pried too deep for him to ignore, had touched at the heart of the matter that caused Zelgadis so much pain.

She was so much like her mother. Zelgadis could recall the image of Elena Inverse as if he had only gazed upon her face yesterday. Elena had been 20 when Zelgadis first approached her, and although she had denied him what he so deeply desired, he continued to watch her, as he had her ancestors. He had watched her go from awkward youth to self-assured adulthood to blushing bride and, finally, to glowing mother-to-be. Elena had been… something special…

Yes, Zelgadis had been in love with Elena. After Olivia, there had only been emptiness, until he met her, the first female Inverse in the D'Amaro line. It had broken his heart when she refused to come away into the night with him. He did not even know his heart could still be broken, that he could feel such hurt again, that he even had a heart.

And here she is, Lina Inverse, the pinnacle of perfection, a true descendant of the D'Amaro line.

How many times had he approached her, now? Twice; on two different occasions he had seen her, but only once had he asked her the important question and received one answer. Before, Zelgadis made it a point to ask three times over the course of several years, certainly not in the same week. It was a matter of romance, a matter of custom, but his experience with Lina had thrown things off course. He wanted to be with her more than simply three nights of a lifetime. Things were… different now.

Did it matter anymore?

Oh, to hell with it. It didn't.

Zelgadis left his now cold coffee on the counter, grabbed his favorite leather jacket, swung it over his shoulder, and left the apartment.