1After a conversation with the always reassuring Gonzalo, Buffy decides she may have been a bit hard on Juanita, and goes into her bedroom to call Giles to get Juanita's number. She flips the light switch on and notices a blaze of light to her left. Buffy faces it, steps back and assumes a fighting position. Surely this is a demon teleporting into her bedroom to kill her with some magical device. Then the demon takes shape. "Cordelia?" Her jaw drops.
"Long time no see." Buffy's still slacked-jawed and disbelieving. "Am I still glowing? Sorry. I do that to impress some people. Obvious you're a bit beyond impressing. So. How are things? We sure are a long way from Sunnydale."
"You're floating." Cordy looks down at the ground.
"Oh. Sorry again." She puts her feet on the floor. "Is that better?"
"What the Hell are you?"
"What do you think I am?"
"Dead."
"One thing we both have in common. Well, one of a few."
"You're a ghost." Cordelia picks up Buffy's phone.
"Fraid not. Now Giles is one on your speed dial, right?" Buffy runs over, grabs the phone, slams it down and gets in Cordy's face.
"Get out of my room. Get out of my town." Cordy backs up into the wall.
"Such hostility. And things have been going so well for you. Well, they were until Spike's icky spawn decided on a whole revenge scenario." Buffy sees this as a taunt and throws a right cross. Cordy blocks the punch with her left forearm and grabs Buffy's left wrist before she can throw another punch. To Cordy's shock, she starts glowing again, and the glow extends to Buffy. After a couple terrifying seconds, Buffy frees herself from Cordy's grasp and leaps across the room as if electrocuted. She falls to the ground and looks up, feeling violated.
"You're evil."
"Which is why I turned white. Just like Willow did when she made all those Slayers. And to think I used to pick on her."
"You came here to kill me. You never could stand living in my shadow."
"And I'm supposed to be the catty one."
"You're lucky Willow's not here."
"Right. She's in South America with her super-girlfriend. Speaking of catty, don't you think Willow could do better? You know, I never thought I'd say that about her." Buffy feels itchy.
"What did you do to me?"
"I'm sorry. I didn't know. That only happens when a person's so full of rage and pain that . . . oh, now I get it." Buffy walks towards Cordy, but keeps six feet back out of fear.
"What did you do to me?"
"Nothing yet. We have to finish." She steps forward. Buffy steps back. Gonzalo opens the door.
"I heard noises. Is everything alright?" He looks at Cordy, and is very confused.
"Sure honey," Buffy replies.
"You can go back to watching soccer highlights," Cordy tells him. "And if you want, I can put in a word to have that team you own win tomorrow's game." Actually, he only owns ten percent of the franchise. But Gonzalo's shocked she knows. And that she's even here.
"This is Cordelia," Buffy informs her perplexed boyfriend. We went to high school together. We're just, catching up on old times." He looks at them for a few more seconds, realizes this is something that doesn't concern him, and closes the door.
"Not bad," Cordy tells Buffy with a raised eyebrows. "And you're right about the no-glowy," she adds. "The last person I cleansed fell in love with me and we did some stuff I don't think either of us want to think about happening." Cordy cringes at both the memory of sleeping with Connor and the idea of repeating it with Buffy. "Anyway, that's not why they sent me."
"Who's they," Buffy asks suspiciously.
"The Powers, silly. By the way, big fans. But they see some dark clouds on the horizon. Their words, not mine."
"And they sent YOU to help me?" Buffy laughs.
"They sent me to warn you. You have to bring the old gang back together. Especially Willow. Get everyone in Rome so you can go after Devlin."
"The punk who killed Vi?" Buffy still doesn't see him as a major player and assumes he'll die on his own taking on other Slayers.
"Christian Slater without the cuteness. What was Spike thinking when he made him? Why would a guy make another guy? Angelus made guys, but that always bothered me, cause it kinda meant - "
"Shut up."
"Yeah. Pretty icky. And you never saw the part where the two of them - "
"I said shut up."
"You know, I'm very disappointed in you. I come all this way to help you and you can't even be nice to me."
"So this Devon's - "
"Devlin."
"My new Big Bad. Now what? I track him down and kill him?"
"Pretty much."
"Wow. That's something I couldn't have thought up on my own Have fun on your ride back to Cloud Nine."
"He's different. Remember how in high school the best athletes were always unpopular girls who tried harder because they had to ta get attention? He's like that. He's not hot, the way we like our vampires. He's not really that strong. But he's got this geek brain that's really scaring my bosses. They say if you don't take him seriously, the little critter could take over the whole world. I know. It's a bit much."
"So another baddie wants to destroy the world. Nothing I haven't handled before."
"Not destroy. Rule. At least the evil demon part. You want to deep six that evil demon part, and he's the one thing standing in your way."
"Just him? So what's the problem?
Devlin stands in his motel room in Elyria, a small town forty miles to the west of Cleveland just off Interstate-80. He hunches over maps of Cleveland he's placed across the bed. Wood's house and the high school one mile east are circled in black marker. Possible sites for attacks are identified by red dots. He checks the phone book on the desk for more places of business. Leks stands outside with Kit watching the male vampires horse around in the parking lot.
"I can't even stay in my own room," Leks complains. "There's two beds, and he ain't gonna use even one."
"Your brother seems lonely."
"He likes it that way."
"Has he had girlfriends? Other than, you know, that Slayer?"
"Sure. But it always ends badly. Usually he gets dumped. Then he has to kill her. Unless she's human. But what's more humiliating than getting dumped by a human? I swear. Sometimes I wonder if he's really my brother. He's the exact opposite of Spike."
"They both fight good."
"Yeah. That's true. And don't get me wrong, Devlin can be wild when he wants to. But Spike- "
"Yeah. Spike," Kat says with a smile.
"No. Oh no. He tried to kill you., honey."
"I know. But he's just so sexy, beating people up like that."
"Beating vampires up. His own kind."
"But that's the thing. Taking on ten humans, no big deal. But ten vampires, who all want you dead. That takes guts."
"He sure didn't have guts like that when he fought Buffy," she responds bitterly.
"I thought that was The Name That Shall Not Be Mentioned?"
"By you guys. Me and Dev, we got a personal connection to her. Especially me."
"Why you?"
"You know."
"Ri-iight. Speaking of which, I'm gonna pay your brother a visit." She takes Elektra's key and enters.
"Elektra, I told you - oh. Hey Kat."
"Are you busy? I can come back later."
"No. It's cool. Sit down. Just not where any stuff is." He has papers strewn across the room. "I'm glad you're here. There's something I needed to tell you."
"Really." She walks up to him.
"It's about your new leadership post."
"Oh."
"And this." He opens the dresser drawer and pulls out two Uzis. "I bought this from our erstwhile gang allies before things went south. I obtained the parts to convert them to automatic. And the magazines."
"You want me to use those?"
"One of them."
"I've never - "
"It's easy." Dev picks up a gun. "Just like taking a picture. Point, and click. Then hold, until the magazine drops. Nothing to it." He hands her the unloaded gun to get a feel for the weapon.
"So this is all you wanted to talk to me about?"
"The FARC - these guerrillas in Columbia, they like to conscript teenage girls into their army. But a lot of girls choose to join. The life of a warrior seems to exciting. Plus, they get fed better than at home. Anyway, they form these elite strike units that penetrate deep behind enemy lines for surprise attacks."
"Teenage girls. Who fight. Like Slayers?"
"Like you. Like Elektra. You're special. You've been Chosen. Just like them."
"No. No no no no no. I'm not like Leks. I don't even know my parents."
"By me. I chose you. I chose you because I want you to stay alive. There are three kinds of vampires in the world today: fodder, Slayer killers, and guerrillas. The fodder doesn't matter. But the killers, they need the guerrillas to take some of the pressure off. Otherwise they die, and everyone dies, and we lose. Your role is just as essential as Leks's. You have to stay alive, and keep the other girls alive, and draw as many Slayers into Cleveland as possible."
"What?" That sounded an awful lot like being fodder. "Why would I wanna do that?"
"To torment them. You kill - and disappear. They get frustrated. They hate when the bad guy gets away. So they send more and more Slayers. And one night - " Devlin takes both guns as squeezes the triggers and points the guns across the length of the room. "The greatest massacre of Slayers the world has ever seen. Buffy's whole operation falls apart. All because of you. You'll be the biggest hero in the world. Vampires everywhere will speak your name with awe. Kat the Slayer slaughterer. Kat the warrior. Kat the legend."
"Wow." After a few seconds of awe, she comes to her senses. "Wait a minute. I can't do that."
"Why not? You've stayed alive this long. You know the city better than the Slayers. The only hope they have of stopping you is a concerted civic effort to root out all vampires. Which they have. But which they're losing. Have you watched the news? Thirteen year-old black boy shot fourteen times by four white cops. Sure, he was armed. But not at the time they shot him. Okay, that's not on the news yet. But when it comes out - " Devlin knew this detail from Elektra. He laughs. "Cops won't be working for the Principal no more." Kat knew he hired the guards for protection. But she didn't know they could serve a purpose if they failed to protect. It was genius. She takes off her coat.
"You're brilliant."
"Bite me." At first she takes this as an insult and slaps him, then realizes it was a request. She bites his bare right shoulder. He closes his eyes and leans his head back. "Oh god, that's good." He goes bumpy and they stare at each other. He puts her on the open bed. She wriggles with excitement. He takes out a knife. That struck her as strange. "Don't worry. I'll be real gentle." She was willing to be adventurous and try something new and kinky. Dev puts his hand on her bare stomach and makes a cut just below her navel. He leans down and licks up the blood. Kat gets excited, thinking this is a prelude to something. But Dev stands up and walks away. "Thank you."
"What the fuck," she exclaims as she gets up. He tosses her jacket to her.
"I'm sorry. I can't afford distractions. "But, thank you. I needed that."
"Ooookay. See ya." She backs towards the door. Dev realizes he may have freaked her out and rushes over.
"It's not that I don't want you. It's that I do. But I need to deny my desires before battle. All of them. That way, I can explode on the enemy. Like I did with Vi. You understand, right?" Kat can see the effect her presence has on him, and grins. Perhaps he fights better frustrated. She puts her right index finger to her stomach wound and sticks the finger in his mouth."
"So. Is that worth a dead Slayer?"
"Better."
"Two?"
"You'll see." Kat leaves the room. Outside, Elektra's trying to convince the other vampires not to eat a nice family that's pulled in for the night.
"If you lay a finger on them, I will kill you," she vows. Vi throws a star into the neck of a vampire approaches their car. He yelps in pain. Everyone backs away. "That was quick," she says to Kat.
"We laid on fingers," she replies with a twinkle in her eye. Elektra smells the blood in her mouth and sees her wound.
"Kinky. Me, I don't care for foreplay. Hey boys! I know another way we could pass the time."
"So Elektra was sired by your sire," Gretchen says to Spike as they sit on the porch. He's clearly uncomfortable with her. "Then why does she call you dad?"
"I bit her, Dru fed her."
"So you killed her?"
"Yes," he concedes.
"You killed a lot of people. Thousands. Tens of thousands."
"Spike's been a very bad boy."
"How many of them did you bring back?"
"Not many."
"So this Devlin was special?"
"Yeah. He had talent."
"And you can just tell who has talent?"
"Sometimes. Shouldn't you be inside with the girls?"
"You never explained how you let that demon get away." Spike's pretty beat up from the fight.
"Things got rough. It was dark. Both of us had better things to do, I suppose." He takes out a cigarette.
"No smoking."
"Bloody hell! We're outside."
"It's Robin's rules."
"Like the one about someone keeping an eye on me, in case I decide to go solo?"
"Does it look like I could stop you?"
"Let's just say I'd rather not find out." She can be quite intimidating, even for Spike.
"She's definitely some sort of spirit," Willow says to Buffy on the phone.
"A good spirit?"
"I'd have to look it up. The glowing's a good sign."
"Try experiencing it up close."
"It's always feels weird the first time a woman gets inside you." They both think about this a bit too long. "Can we forget I just said that?"
"Please."
"Anyway, she came to tell you we should get the Scoobies back together?"
"Basically."
"But then we'd be doing less evil-fighting. Besides, Roma's got no bad guys. Except for that Bishop who let all those boys get raped in Boston. But that's not our problem."
"You're in Brazil. Giles leaves tomorrow for Moscow. Xander flies to Madagascar on Friday. I'm going to London on Monday."
"And Kennedy's going to Buenos Aires on Saturday. We're busy."
"But it's not the same."
"It's better. Not that I don't miss you. And Xander. And Giles. But we're doing a lot more good this way."
"We are weaker apart than together."
"You think he's gonna kill Xander? Or that the Teenage Whore will?" That's their nickname for Elektra, who has her own demeaning nickname for Buffy. Willow does worry about Xander getting seduced again by an evil demon.
"I'm sure she's too young for him. Also, he knows better now."
"Yeah. These days he does a complete background check before going out on a date."
Elektra had no such need. Nor did she feel a desire to play against type. Lying on the floor of the motel room are seven exhausted, sleeping male vampires. The eighth is under Lex, and having the time of his life. He finishes, and she falls next to him. "You are so fucking amazing."
"Yeah, I know."
"I'll kill a Slayer for you, cover you in her blood and lick it off," he vows, cuddling with her.
"Sure you will." She turns around to face him. "You were great." He smiles. She throws him down to the floor. Leks doesn't cuddle. "Now I need to rest. The sun's already up." She pulls the sheets over her head and goes to sleep, still not quite satisfied.
"Wake up sleepy head," Kelly says to Spike as she flips on the lights and runs down the stairs into the basement. "Time to go to work." Spike sees the sunlight coming in through the window.
"Do you have any bloody idea what time it is?"
"Seven-thirty."
"In the morning! Wake me when it's seven-thirty at night."
"We have to find that rat bastard you sired while he's still asleep. You can sense him and all, right?"
"Not on an empty stomach." It's been over a day and Wood still hasn't fed him.
"I think I heard a mouse down here. You can have that." Kelly had never been a fan of Spike back in Sunnydale. She grabs him and pulls him out of bed.
"Okay, okay. Can I at least get dressed?"
"Sure." He grabs his shirt. "And bring the blanket."
At ten, Devlin's alarm goes off. Someone gets up in the next bed. Dev grabs him by the throat. "Hey! Easy, partner." Dev looks down and recognizes the face.
"Oh." He lets go. "How did you get in here?"
"Leks gave me her key. She's in the boys' room."
"And you weren't interested in being there with her?"
"She's not my type."
"Oh. Dev smiles, then gets a little nervous. "Neither are you. I like 'em taller. No offense."
"None taken. I've always been the man in my family with the smallest gay following." Even the Master had fans among the leather set.
"I'm Sister Ray."
"Like the Velvet Underground song?"
"Yeah! You're a fan?"
"Of course. I'm a New York punk from the old days. But I thought the younger vampires never have any taste."
"Tell me about it. Nothing but techno and rap-rock." Dev realizes they made a connection, then gets nervous again, then realizes how he can seize this opportunity. Ray looks at the clock.
"In the morning? Who gets up at these hours?"
"I have someone to pick up. Go back to bed. We'll talk when I get back about tonight."
"Can't we talk about tonight tonight?"
"We could, if you didn't have an especially important part to play." Now Ray won't be able to get back to sleep. Dev puts the blanket over his head and runs out to his car, which has windows that tint extra dark in response to sunlight.
Robin's truck doesn't have this feature. So Spike lies on the flatbed, covered by his blanket. If he senses Devlin, he's supposed to hit the back window. He knows this is as much about humiliating him as finding a Slayer killer. Kelly follows the map Robin drew, extending out from their house in a loose spiral. Spike estimated he could sense Dev from five miles away. Wood estimated Spike was exaggerating, so he based the path on a two-and-a-half mile radius, intending to cover the entire greater metropolitan area. Dev comes into the center of town when Kelly and Spike are in the eastern suburbs, so they miss him. He pulls up to the downtown bus station. Waiting nervously under an awning is Val. She smiles when she sees his car. He opens the passenger door and she literally leaps in, then hugs Dev and kisses him on the cheek.
"The trip was hell. But I'm so glad to see you!"
"Me too." He races to the on ramp for I-90 West. "So how does it feel to kill a Slayer?" Granted she only shot one, and with the help of two other vampires she killed afterwards.
"It is sooo empowering! I feel so strong. Like I can do anything!"
"I felt the same when after I killed my first Slayer." He smiles. Dev relishes how killing a Slayer can make a vampire feel like a Slayer does when she is first called. As Buffy empowered the Potentials, he intends to empower more than a few vampires.
"So what am I doing all the way out here?"
"I need a girl who can handle a gun."
"To shoot another Slayer?"
"Not exactly. Around the Hellmouth, things get more complicated."
Kelly gets within five miles of Elyria, but that's way out in the boonies, and it's been a long day of driving. All that's achieved is tiring out and pissing off Spike, which is fine by Robin. At nightfall, they group heads to the high school in Tremont a mile east of Robin's house. Spike informed Wood and Gretchen that Devlin liked to draw an enemy out and then attack their base. Spike assumed Dev would take the house for the base, but Wood also sees the school at risk, and decides to cover all bases. While they are gone, the house is protected by four police officers with tranq guns and tasers. Spike, the two Watchers and the six Slayers sit and wait. Kelly eventually convinces Wood to let Veronica and her do a quick sweep of the Hellmouth, which they find eerily deserted. Even the demons have taken flight.
At nine pm, Elektra meets with her eight conquests while Dev brings together the six women and Ray. "Not all of you will be returning tonight," she says to the boys. "But I will. And for those of you who survive . . . "
"By this time tomorrow, all of you will still be here. But I won't," Devlin begins.
"There is nothing sexier than a vampire who has just killed a Slayer. You will be able to do things beyond your wildest dreams. Or even beyond MY wildest dreams. And that's saying something."
"You win by surviving. Slayers must kill to keep of their spirits. Every day you live is like a little defeat for them."
"I will take one Slayer. My brother Dev takes another. The other girls and Ray take two more. That leaves two for the eight of you. Four on one. If you can't kill a Slayer with those odds, then you don't deserve to live."
"Kill a Slayer, they send more. Kill a Watcher . . . they may send another. Kill that Watcher . . . they probably won't. No Watcher means no leadership, no tie to the adult world, to the cops and the community. The Slayers will be on their own. Like you. Except they're not designed to function on their own. But you are."
"I know some of you are thinking of running."
"No," several men yell.
"It's okay. It's natural. But if you run from these Slayers, you'll just be running towards some other Slayers. They are everywhere. They are as bloodthirsty as you are. And they won't stop until every vampire is dead. Or until you stop them. The only way to survive is to do what I did - stand up, fight and kill."
"I'm not looking for any heroes tonight. Just soldiers. Vampires willing to play their part in the mission."
"What better place to make a stand? What better time than now, among your friends, among people you trust? What better time than when you are strong and together and they are weak and divided? Cleveland is yours by right. Take it back!"
The vampires then piled into five cars and went their separate ways. Devlin led the women to a bar in the Seven hills neighborhood on the southern edge of the "Hellmouth District" and five miles south of the school. The plan was very simple. Four women would enter with their vampire faces exposed, shocking patrons, who would further be shocked when each of the women partially drained a man. When Dev hears the gasps and screams, he enters, blocking those racing for the exits, and fires his two pistols in the air, then points the guns in a fleeing couple's face. "Everyone remain calm and nobody dies! On your knees!" The people slowly comply. "Except for you four gents. You can just lie there if you want," he jokes about the victims. Dev pistol whips one man to show he means business. "Barkeep! I want you to call the police and tell them four vampires have attacked your fine establishment." He points a gun at the man. "Go ahead! I promise they won't think you're crazy. Also, after you call, I will begin releasing some of the hostages. Make that most of the hostages." Devlin still has his human face, so they assume he's not a vampire. What would a vampire need a gun for, anyway?
"I'm bored," Susan tells Wood.
"Can we do another sweep of the 'Mouth," Katie asks.
"Can we stay loose by beating up Spike," Jessica wonders.
"Yeah," Olivia adds with a smile.
"No," Wood responds.
"No point getting Slayers hurt," Spike quips, trying to hide his alarm. Kelly senses his fear of the adolescent mob and finds it remarkable how the tables have turned. Everyone was scared of him in Sunnydale. The phone rings.
"Finally," Katie exclaims.
"You heartless, insolent twit," Spike scolds. "That means someone's died."
"Or that we get to save someone," Veronica responds.
"Since when did you care about people dying," Kelly asks. Robin talks things over in the other room with Gretchen. Spike enters. They both look at him as if he's an intruder.
"I thought I'd go in the adult's room. Wut happened?"
"Four vampires and a man with a gun," Gretchen reports.
"Devlin."
"Time to go," Robin tells Spike.
"No. He'll be gone by the time we get there. I have to wait until he's closer."
"Then we send Sue and Katie," Gretchen decides. "They're itching to get out."
"Okay," Wood agrees, upset that she didn't let him make the call. Wood emerges and tosses Katie the keys. "1746 Rockside Road. Head south until you hit it, then take a left."
"How many?"
"Four."
"No problem."
Devlin had emptied the bar of everyone but the four bitten men and four female hostages, then raced off to his next destination: a restaurant in Mount Pleasant, three miles southeast of the school. He headed north on Interstate 77 and made a call to his sister, who was outside a restaurant in Mount Pleasant, three miles southeast of the school. "So they got a table and everything," he asks.
"Even asked for the wine list," she replies. "Can I start the killing?"
"Always impatient. Have fun. But not too much."
"Just enough juice to get me where I'm going." Elektra reenters the restaurant and bites the maitre'd, draining and killing him. "Let's go boys," she says before walking out, ostensible to scout the Slayers and give warning.
"He's that way," Spike reports. "But he's moving."
"To the west," Gretchen asks.
"Yes Gretch."
"That's where the house is."
"Don't call me that."
"Sorry luv."
"He'll be in for a nasty surprise," Wood predicts, breaking up the two bickerers. And he thought Gretchen would be keeping the peace between Spike and himself. The phone rings.
"Round two," Spike announces. Wood runs in to see the Slayers. Gretchen walks in just in time to see Jessica and Olivia run out.
"What happened," she asks, upset that he didn't consult with her first.
"One dead at this fancy place on Chagrin Boulevard." Dev chose it because he liked the street name. "Bitten by a young woman."
"Elektra." As Jessica and Olivia run east, Elektra races west at a far faster pace and along a slightly different route. The Slayers miss her by two blocks. Meanwhile, Devlin meets with four men on Canal Road in the Angle, a neighborhood at the western edge of downtown, one mile north of the high school.
"Ready for some fun," he asks them.
"Just don't hog the Slayers for yourself," one of them jokes. Dev can tell they're eager, which he finds funny since this is a suicide mission for them, though they don't know that. He points up at their target, a gym on the third floor of an office building.
"Suit up." The four of them go bumpy. They climb the stairs and burst in on the unsuspecting members. Dev pulls out his gun and shoots up all the mirrors for fun. The other vampires start beating on the muscle heads. One of the guys hits a vampire with a twenty five pound barbell, knocking him down. Dev picks up a fifty pound barbell and breaks the man's skull. He then hurls the weight across the hundred foot-length of the room to demonstrate his prowess. The other vampires take the cue and start using weights as weapons. Dev grabs a 45 pound weight and throws it, like a discuss, through the window. It lands on the roof of a car. "That should get their attention."
"He's there," Spike announces when they get the third call from the police. "I can bloody feel it."
"Then go get him," Wood suggests.
"Sure. Come along," he says to Kelly and Veronica.
"Stop," Robin orders. "He attacks the base, right? We'll stay here just in case."
"Five vampires. Against only me. Bollocks for the vampires," Spike confidently announces before heading off.
"What's taking them so long," a vampire whines.
"Can we start killing," another one asks Dev.
"Why not? No point being on guard." The vampire doesn't realize Dev's being sarcastic and bites a female member they prevented from escaping. Just then, Spike scales the building and enters through the shattered window.
"Workout's over."
"Aw man," a vampire bellyaches. "Where are the Slayers?"
"Kill him, Leks'll go down on you if you do," Dev promises. He snaps a wooden rod in half and tosses them to two vampires, who go for the kill based on the pledge. Spike grabs one stick, flips it around and stakes the vamp wielding it, then spins round, weapon in hand, parries the thrust from the second vampire and takes him out. Spike looks at the other two vampires, causing them to flee. Then he looks for Dev, who predictably leaped out the window while Spike was briefly engaged, his trench coat billowing in the air. Spike does the same, leaving the terrified and awed exercisers behind.
While Spike is on foot, Dev takes the Mustang south, under I-90, then turns left and goes under I-77, bringing him into Tremont. He passes Lincoln Park, which is across Starkweather Avenue from the school, and pulls into the parking lot, where Elektra waits, perched on top of a lamp post twenty feet in the air. She jumps down to the ground. "What took you so long?"
"No Slayers. Just Spike," he reports as they briskly walk to the building.
"So he's out of the picture."
"We have to be quick. And we have to handle Slayers."
"I'm always up for a challenge." Dev takes out his phone and calls Kat.
"Time to go," he tells her before hanging up and ripping open the door, which is locked from the outside. This sets off the alarm until it's closed.
"After you," his sister insists.
"They're here," Wood announces, briefly hearing the alarm.
"So much for Spike," Kelly says derisively.
"So now we get to kill 'em," Veronica adds with a smile. "Not some flunkies, but THEM." She feels honored to have the chance to slay Vi's or Rona's killer. Kelly grabs the Scythe, Veronica takes a stake, Wood and Gretchen grabs axes and swords, and they're off, listening for footsteps. Gretchen looks up.
"They may be in the ducts."
"That only happens in movies," Wood assures her.
"They're that way," Veronica says. They rush down the darkened hall. Two vampires become visible sixty feet away. Everyone closes. Elektra's fanged out, but Dev prefers to keep his human face on as much as possible. At twenty feet, the male figure looks familiar to Gretchen. But it's dark, so she can't get a good look until he's almost at arm's length. Then a chill radiates down her spine and her heart practically stops.
"Hermann?" It's the first time she's laid eyes on her brother's face in twenty seven years.