Chapter 74: Barter

"Buffy, Savannah, wake up."

"Tired. 'S cold," Savannah mumbled. "Window's open. Close…" She stopped. She wasn't in bed. She wasn't even lying down. She opened her eyes, the lids gummy. A blast of bitter wind made her gasp, frigid air filling her lungs, knocking sleep from her. She was looking at a car window, partly rolled down. Forest beyond. Deep, dark forest, the trees so close she could reach out and her hands were bound behind her back.

She twisted, looking for Buffy, Dawn and Clay. Joey sat in the driver's seat, she sat next to Buffy in the rear seat. Buffy too was just coming around. "Where is Aunt Dawn and Uncle Clay?" she asked, struggling to get free, realizing she was bound hand and foot. "Where are they?"

"Back at the hotel. They didn't want them."

Buffy opened her eyes and looked around. "What's going on?"

"Joey here is exchanging us for Noah," Savannah said.

"I have to. That's what they demanded yesterday. I had until tonight to bring you two or they'd kill him. That's why I tried to get you two to leave. If you'd taken off, they couldn't expect me to do it." A whine crept into his voice, as if this was all Buffy and Savannah's fault. "I tried to warn you off."

"No, you didn't," Buffy said. "You made a halfhearted suggestion that we leave town, but you didn't really want us to go. You just wanted to be able to tell yourself you tried and—"

"Did you hear the last thing Clay said to you?" Savannah asked.

Joey didn't answer.

"Do you think that was an idle threat?" Buffy asked. "Knowing Clay, do you really think it was an idle threat? He and Dawn will track you down. This has nothing to do about me being the next Alpha. This has to do with me and Savannah being family. His sister-in-law and his niece. Both whom he loves just as much as he loves his wife."

No answer, but Savannah and Buffy swore he went a few shades paler, gaze darting away, lips tightening.

"You remember what Clay did to that mutt? You were there," Buffy said.

"I wasn't—"

"Not at the scene, but around at the time," Buffy said. "His friend at the time." When she emphasized the word friend, his lips tightened more. "You know what he did and why he did it. But a whole generation of mutts has grown up since then, a generation that considers that ancient history, and isn't afraid anymore. You know Clay won't accept that. He can't. If they've forgotten, then he needs to remind them. He needs to prove he still deserves his reputation. What better way than to repeat it, only not using a mutt this time … but an old friend who betrayed him."

Joey went white. Then green. Then red, his jaw setting as he swiveled to face me. "You don't need to threaten me."

"No?" Savannah said.

He looked over the backseat at Savannah and Buffy. "No. Why do you two think we're just sitting here?"

"Because you're waiting for Travis Tesler to—" Buffy said.

"The meeting place is half a mile away, the meeting time a half-hour from now. I stopped here because I've changed my mind. I can't go through with it."

Buffy's gaze went as hard as his. "Bullshit."

"Bullshit? Do you see Tesler? Why would—?"

"You stopped a half mile from the meeting place," Savannah said. "Then you woke us up. If you'd changed your mind, you'd have put the car in reverse and gotten the hell out of here, leaving us asleep as long as possible. Instead …"

Savannah trailed off as she and Buffy both understood.

"I want my son back," Joey said. "I need him back. You are a mother, Buffy. You should understand."

"You want me to barter ourselves voluntarily for your son," Buffy said.

"You both are strong. Fighters. One a Slayer turned werewolf. The wolf in me can tell you are meant to be Alpha. I saw you, Buffy, with him this morning, play fighting. He wasn't letting you win. You're a better fighter than I've ever been or could ever hope to be. And even though Savannah is not a werewolf, being a Slayer, she is capable. And I expect she is as I expect you've trained her."

"So, you're saying Savannah and I should walk into captivity and fight our way out," Buffy said.

"You're smart." Desperation edged his voice now. "Clay listens to you and he never used to listen to anyone but Jeremy. My dad said Jeremy was always talking about you and Dawn. Though usually more you. He thought you'll be Jeremy's choice for successor. A female werewolf as Alpha? For Jeremy to even consider that, you must be—"

"Freaking amazing," Savannah said. "A Slayer and a Slayer turned werewolf. Is that how you're going to play this? Yes, I'm as smart as my mother. I've had to be. To be a Slayer I had to be smart or I could have ended up dead by now. And mom and I are smart enough to know you don't give a rat's ass whether or not we can escape Tesler. You just want us to volunteer so you'll feel okay about this. If you turn us over, he'll kill us before we get a chance to fight."

Joey shook his head. "He doesn't want you two dead. This isn't about status or reputation. If it was, he'd have asked at the last for Clay, not you two."

"So, what does that tell you?" Buffy asked. He looked at her as if he didn't understand the question. "Tesler wants us. Females. Do you think he plans to woo us with roses and candlelight?"

"Well, no. I guess he…"

"You guess what?" Savannah asked.

His gaze slunk to the side again, "It's my son's life, Savannah, Buffy. And if Tesler wants you two, that means he won't kill you. You'll both get a chance to escape. There will be time for Dawn and Clay to get here."

Savannah and Buffy could only stare. "You're saying we should let him rape us, for as long as possible, because it will kill time until our white knights can arrive?" Buffy asked.

"It wouldn't have to be rape," he mumbled.

"You really think I would let him have sex with someone who just turned sixteen," Buffy said. "Or are you suggesting I seduce him…?"

"Willing or not willing. I am sure your sister and brother-in-law would understand. That you did what you had to and they'd forgive you."

"For—forgive mom?" Savannah said appalled. "They would forgive her for being raped?"

"No, I meant it would be okay."

"Why did they ask for me?" Savannah wondered. "I'm sixteen. Unless he does…"

Savannah and Buffy looked at each other. "Teleport, honey. Go find Uncle Clay and Aunt Dawn!" Buffy said via the telepathic link.

Savannah didn't want to leave her mother behind but with her hands trapped behind her back it was not like she could easily take her with her either. She focused her magical energies but something felt off like her magical energies were drained. "I can't. I think whatever he drugged us with has cut me off from the majority of my magic."

A flicker of movement in the woods caught Savannah and Buffy's attention, their rage congealing into terror. They were still bound and helpless, having spent their time threatening and fighting the only person who could save them. Now Joey would shove them out the door and speed away without a backward glance and they'd—

A porcupine poked its head from the trees and looked quizzically at the car. Around it, the forest stayed motionless.

They still had time.

When Savannah and Buffy turned back to Joey, the fear and rage had frozen over, cold and hard now, their brains and their path now clear.

"Do you really think Tesler is going to give Noah to you?" Buffy asked. "Ever? Why should he? You've proven you'll do anything he asks in the faint hope of getting him back." She realized that was why Tesler wanted Savannah. He must have known that Savannah was her daughter and that Buffy would do anything to protect her.

"Which will keep him alive." His gaze lifted to Buffy's. "Maybe they won't let him go today or tomorrow, but as long as it's to their advantage, he'll live."

"So, you're willing to do whatever it takes to keep him alive?" Buffy asked. "Including tossing them me, to be raped, tortured and possibly killed in front of my daughter? Just so your son can live another day?"

"And then what?" Savannah wondered as he looked blankly at her. "And then what? We make this sacrifice and we distract them, and you will use that time to…"

"I-I'll figure something out."

"Of course, you will," Buffy said. "You may not be stronger than them, but you're definitely smarter. You'll outwit them." He nodded. "Bullshit. If you were smarter than them, we wouldn't be sitting here. We'd be up at that meeting point, and Savannah and I'd be slumped in this seat, pretending we were doped up and out cold. Clay and Dawn would be lurking downwind in the forest. Travis Tesler would arrive. You'd make the exchange. You'd take Noah. Tesler would grab us and we'd kill him while Clay and Dawn killed his brother. The end."

Joey stared at Buffy. He blinked. He swallowed. His lips formed an "oh," but all that emerged was a faint sound of pain. And with that, Buffy's hate evaporated, leaving only a thin film of disgust, even that bringing a stab of guilt.

"You won't figure out how to free your son," Buffy said. "They'll wring everything they can out of you, and then they'll kill you. The only way to rescue him is to trust us. Starting with untying us, so if they show up, we're not completely helpless."

He hesitated only a split-second before giving a defeated nod, and doing it.

"It would have been easier if we'd skipped the whole 'drugging and kidnapping' scenario, but it's too late for that, so the first thing you need to do is get us out of here before they find us," Buffy said.

Headlights off, he restarted the car as Buffy kept talking.

"Once we reach the highway, you'll call Tesler. You'll say your plan failed," Dawn said. "You bought Malaysian food, hoping to hide the drugs in something spicy and unfamiliar, but Clay wanted plain American fare. You're going to try again when we go out for drinks later. You'll call him when it's done."

As they talked, Joey nodded constantly, first anxiously agreeing with anything Buffy said, praying Buffy had a clue what she was talking about, then nodding faster as he realized she did.

"Put the car in reverse … and let's get out of here."

He did. And they didn't.

The tires spun, the small car burrowing deeper into the snow-covered lane. Buffy and Savannah scanned the dark forest anxiously as the whine of the engine buzz-sawed through the silence. He put the car in drive, then reverse, but it only rocked back and forth, getting more entrenched.

"Keep it in reverse," Buffy said as she and Dawn swung open the doors.

They stepped out. It was like putting their feet into a bucket of ice water. Apparently, dressing them for the weather hadn't been one of Joey's concerns. They still wore jeans, a long-sleeved jersey and sneakers.

"Here," he said. "Switch. I'll get out and you two—"

"No," Buffy said.

There was no time for that, not with the sound of their escape attempt echoing through the forest. Buffy and Savannah tramped to the front of the car, cursing Joey under their breath, this time for his rotten choice of transportation. They planted themselves in front of the car, pushed … and felt it push back.

"Rev—!" Buffy started to yell over the whine of the engine, before catching herself and mouthing and pantomiming "reverse."

Joey nodded frantically, reached for the gear shift and—

Buffy smelled Travis Tesler before she or Savannah saw him, and Buffy's own body recognized the scent before her brain could process it. Buffy whipped her head around to see him making his way through the trees.

"Need a hand, honey?" he called.

It was then that Savannah wheeled around and put herself between Tesler and her mother.

Another scent flitted past on a crosswind, and Buffy wheeled as Eddie came up behind them. To their left was a distant third figure, closing in, the three surrounding Buffy and Savannah and cutting off their escape routes.

They turned to the car. Joey hadn't noticed the mutts yet. His hands still gripped the wheel, his head bobbing to tell them he had it in reverse now, so go ahead and push.

Buffy looked at Tesler. The bubble of panic rose, then popped, evaporating as her muscles tensed, the fight-or-flight response kicking in, her brain veering wildly between the two. She nudged Savannah and the two of them put their hands on the hood, braced themselves … and gave a tremendous heave of Slayer strength. The car jumped up and out of the rut, accelerating backward a dozen feet before Joey hit the brakes.

That's when he saw Eddie coming up behind Buffy and Savannah, and Tesler, just beyond his driver's side door. Joey waved frantically for Savannah and Buffy to get into the car, but with the fact Savannah couldn't teleport they knew couldn't make it.

So, they waved just as frantically as Joey, mouthing "Get Dawn and Clay!" then spun and raced toward the one figure who hadn't yet emerged from the shadows. They heard the brothers coming after them … then the roar of Joey's car as he sped off.

As Buffy and Savannah barreled through the trees, they saw the third werewolf ahead. The figure was as slight as a woman and no more than five foot six. The gait, though, was masculine. His head stayed down as he tramped through the snow, in no hurry to get to the clearing and see what waited there.

When he heard Buffy and Savannah, he lifted his head. They knew who he was—had known it from the moment they'd spotted his figure in the distance.

His face was young and smooth, with light brown hair hanging into dark eyes. He reached up and impatiently swiped his hair back as he squinted at me, his night vision still poor, his first Change barely behind him.

Noah Stillwell. Joey's captive son—not bound and forced forward at gunpoint, but on his own, ready to help his pack mates take down their prey.

When he realized who was running straight at him, his hands flew up awkwardly, as if he hadn't yet decided whether to stop them, attack them or fend them off.

With scarcely a falter in Buffy and Savannah's stride, Savannah grabbed the front of his jacket, yanked him off his feet and flung him to the side. They couldn't imagine either brother stopping to help the fallen boy, and they didn't, but the path was narrow and as Noah scrambled up, he got in their way, a chorus of grunts and curses echoing behind them. Buffy and Savannah hunched over, picking a path where the snow lay thinnest over the ground and running full out.

Savannah debated telling her mother to run full out, leaving her behind. But she knew Buffy would never ever do that. She had known that since Buffy had found her in the compound. When Buffy had come back for her. She knew that no matter what Buffy would never leave her behind again. So, she didn't.

They darted through the trees, steering for the thickest part to hide as much of themselves as possible. Gradually, the sounds of pursuit faded, and then stopped altogether.

Buffy and Savannah didn't kid themselves. They hadn't lost them—they could easily follow their scent trail. They'd just stopped chasing them. They were miles from any populated place, running through the frozen Alaska wilderness dressed in a shirt and sneakers. Their pursuers would regroup and come up with a plan to track and capture them.

Buffy and Savannah decided the best way to lose their pursuers was to teleport. But Savannah was still unable to do so. Buffy wondered if it was the drug Joey had slipped Savannah, but rather the cold. After all Savannah wasn't a werewolf, she was still human. The cold affected her easier than it did werewolves. So, they decided the next best thing was for Buffy to Change and for Savannah to climb on and ride.

They just needed to get a little farther from them, before Buffy tried to initiate the Change. They'd gone about twenty more feet when bobbing lights ahead had them plunging into the undergrowth. Once they were hidden, they peered out.

They could see a cluster of three distant lights, bobbing at waist level. Flashlights? A fourth joined the group, then a fifth and as they squinted, then Buffy and Savannah heard the faint rumble of engines. Snowmobiles.

Buffy remembered what Dan had said—that the Teslers had two other mutts in their group, currently in the Lower 48 setting up trade routes. Could the Teslers have recalled them when they had killed Dan? Possible, but if he had, they would have accompanied Noah and the brothers to the exchange. Far more likely, this was a group of humans. And if it was, then Buffy and Savannah would run to them for help.

Still, the small chance it was the mutts meant they slid cautiously from the bushes. The headlights bounced along like giant fireflies, the engines a low and steady rumble.

As Buffy and Savannah walked, the lights moved farther away. Did snowmobiles have rear lights? They had no idea, but they were clearly heading in the opposite direction. Buffy and Savannah broke into a slow jog.

The lights kept moving, no faster than them. Yet the engine rumble seemed to get louder, as if they were catching up.

Buffy and Savannah stopped. The hairs on their necks prickled as they looked around. The forest shimmered under the moon, a dusting of new snow glimmering on every branch. Quiet had fallen—not the unnatural silence that preceded the appearance of the beast, just an odd hush, as if even the night animals were careful not to make too much noise.

The lights stayed exactly where they were when the sisters stopped. As if they were waiting for them…

Whoever was out there couldn't see them from there. Surely, they'd stopped coincidentally.

Buffy and Savannah stepped forward. The lights didn't move. They took another step. Still they only bobbed in place. They could hear the engines, also seeming neither closer nor farther, but the rumble oddly muffled.

Buffy and Savannah didn't hear any sound of pursuit, though, and that was the important thing. They carefully moved toward what seemed to be a break in the forest. They could see the lights flickering through the last curtain of trees.

Buffy and Savannah stepped to the edge. A laugh came from the other direction. They wheeled. No one was there. The clearing stretched as far as they could see—a ribbon of white bordered by trees. Not a clearing, but a road. The sisters grinned. They turned back toward the headlights … and found themselves staring down an equally long expanse of winding empty road, with no sign of the lights.

The rumbling of engines continued. They started following the road, looking for a place the snowmobiles could have turned off. Then they spotted the lights again, moving deeper into the woods on the other side.

Buffy and Savannah glanced each way, assuring themselves no one was around, then started across. A crack ripped through the night, loud as gunfire, and they spun, realizing they were in the middle of the road, too far to dive for cover on either side.

A long, bubbling laugh sounded off to the sisters right, barely audible over the dull roar of the engines. They peered into the night.

Another crack came. Not from their left or their right…

They looked down. The laugh sounded again, the bubbling burble of water flowing over rocks. With a third crack, a spider web of fissures shot through the "snow" at their feet.

This wasn't a road. It was a river. And Buffy and Savannah stood in the middle of it.

They looked around, keeping the rest of themselves perfectly still. The "engines" continued to rumble, water, running fast and free somewhere in front of them. They could see those lights dancing in the forest, and the babble of water still sounded like laughter—taunting laughter now.

Buffy and Savannah told themselves it was Tesler and his buddies with flashlights, but that creeping feeling down their backs said otherwise, recalled the lights leading them through the forest two nights ago. There were no humans here. No werewolves. No mysterious beasts. Just something… else. Something primitive, capricious and cruel. Some magic, deep in the forest, that cared little for their survival. And whatever that magic was, it was what had caused Savannah to not be able to teleport.

The lights danced for a moment, then winked out.

The ice beneath Buffy and Savannah's feet groaned. They took a careful step. Then slid their other feet forward as slowly and carefully as they could, shifting their weight—

With a tremendous crack, the ice under them gave way and their legs plunged into the water, the cold so unbelievable that their brains shorted out, their gasps ringing in their ears. Then they felt ice under their fingers and under their cheeks and they snapped to. Buffy and Savannah lay half on the ice, blessedly solid—

Without even a warning crack, the piece broke away and dropped into the river, they still clung to it. They felt the water surge over them, so cold it was an ice pick to their brains. And then, nothing.

They came to hurtling downstream underwater, caught in the current. Buffy and Savannah fought, twisting and writhing, but it was like tumbling through space. They had no idea which way was up. The agony of the cold was indescribable and their barely functional brains could only stutter through half-remembered statistics.

Buffy and Savannah finally got their eyes open enough to see the way up—faintly lighter than the other directions. They propelled themselves toward it. Up, up—

Their fists bashed against solid ice.

They kept bashing, so close to freedom. But it was like trying to break a window with a feather. Having super strength didn't matter. The water kept them from getting up enough momentum to break the ice.

They were trapped and there wasn't a damn thing they could do about it. All their strength, all their powers, all their instinct to survive—all useless. Buffy of course would live, being immortal had its advantages, though this wasn't one. She would be frozen alive in the cold water. Savannah on the other hand would slowly die either from drowning or freezing to death in the frigid waters.

Buffy and Savannah opened their eyes too slits again and saw one patch of ice overhead that was lighter than the rest, as if they could see the snow through it. They swam toward it, fighting the current, barely moving but keeping at it, inch by inch. They knew that patch was probably an illusion—the reflection of a star through the thick ice. They knew they probably weren't even going to make it that far.

Buffy and Savannah reached up. Their hands broke the water's surface, and then came down on an edge as sharp as a steel blade. They gripped it, but the ice shattered under their fingers.

Buffy and Savannah pushed their heads up, out of the water, gasping. The air felt like red-hot pokers shoved down their throats, the pain nearly making them black out. But they lifted their heads above the water until they caught their breath, then felt along the edge of the icy hole. They found the thickest spot and managed to get their chests up onto the ice, but when they tried to push out farther, the ice groaned and cracked.

"Hold still!" a voice shouted.

Buffy and Savannah turned their heads to see a figure running along the river's edge. It was Noah, stripping off his jacket as he ran. Buffy and Savannah tried to wriggle farther onto the ice.

"Hold still!" he yelled. "If it breaks, you both are going under and you both aren't coming back up." He stopped parallel to them, then shimmied out on the ice until he got as far as he deemed safe. He tested it, rocking back and forth, and then crouched. Holding one cuff of his jacket, he tossed it toward Buffy.

"Savannah first," Buffy croaked out. "She's human."

Noah nodded and reeled in his jacket. Then he tossed it out again toward Savannah. The other sleeve sailed out like a life-rope … and fell six inches short of her hand.

Savannah wiggled, trying to reach it, but he yanked the jacket back with an angry "Stay still."

Moving on his stomach, he inched farther out, then threw it again. This time, it brushed Savannah's fingers. She caught the edge of the cuff, something she could tell by sight alone, her fingers too numb to feel the fabric between them.

Savannah managed to get enough of a grip to tug herself nearer, then wrap it around her wrist. Noah pulled bringing Savannah out of the water. Once Savannah was safe, he repeated the endeavor throwing the jacket at Buffy who caught it. He then pulled again as Buffy kicked, wriggling onto the ice, hearing it crack behind her. Noah kept pulling, carefully, then he heaved. The ice cracked and fell away.

Noah backed up and dragged Buffy to the riverbank where he had taken Savannah just moments earlier. "Okay," he said as Buffy came to rest next to her daughter, huddled at the edge. "We need to—"

"What'd you pull out of the river, boy?" a voice echoed from the forest. "Is that my girls?" Tesler stepped from the woods, his brother at his heels.

Noah straightened. He turned from Buffy and Savannah, and there was their chance to escape. Leap up, knock Noah down and run … and they were no more capable of doing that than if they'd been bound hand and foot.

Mother and daughter huddled there, shaking violently. They tried to concentrate, but it was like standing on the precipice to oblivion—it took everything they had just to stay conscious and breathe.

"They fell in," Noah called back. His voice had changed, concern falling away, the timbre deepening, like a teen boy with his buddies. "Stupid city bitches. They ran out onto the river and fell through. If you want them alive, you're going to need to get them back to the cabin, pronto. They need to get out of those wet clothes."

Tesler bent over the sisters, teeth and eyes glittering. "Well, then, that's what we'll have to do. I wasn't planning to keep either of them in them for long anyway."