The door swung open and Al leapt in, dragging me behind him like a rag doll. Once we had cleared the door, Al released me and I felt a protective circle form around me. Al was standing in the middle of the room in his typical crushed green velvet frock. He was fidgeting with the lace around his cuffs and looked completely unconcerned.

The smell of vampire incense was thick in my nostrils. "What the hell, Al?" I yelled from my magical imprisonment.

Al grinned at me. Why the heck had he kicked in the door? Did he think he was "crouching tiger, hidden demon" or something? A simple opening-spell would have saved him all the theatrics. I looked around the room and saw a vampire that was clearly undead, holding Ivy. It had to be Marco. Her body was limp in the master vampire's arms and my face went cold when I saw the bleeding wound on her neck.

"Ivy!" I screamed.

Marco looked over at me and hissed and then brought his attention to Al, the more serious threat. Al smiled and I watched as he misted and started to form into some other monstrosity. Once the mist had cleared, I saw another undead vampire with pale skin and long dirty blond hair. The man that Al was mimicking was grotesque. His eyes were black and he was dangerously thin. His cheekbones stood out at rough angular jaunts and he looked like nothing more than a skeleton.

Marco's face drew into a scowl and he dropped Ivy. "Matthew, it can't be?" he exclaimed in disbelief. He took a couple steps back and I watched as the undead vampire tried to make sense of what he was seeing.

There were three other male living vampires in the room, one of them was the man we had encountered in the hallway. A small movement caught my eye and I glanced over my shoulder to see a young girl with black hair like Ivy's.

Al shot two balls of green light from his hand and they both connected with two of the living vamps. They went down and started howling in pain. The vamp that had confronted us in the hallway and Marco were the only two left. Al smiled wickedly at the living vampire who looked like he might have just crapped himself. "You," he said with an air of superiority. "You have been a nasty little leech. You should mind your own business."

"Al, the vampire breaking up our make out session isn't the problem here," I yelled. "Marco's a bigger threat!"

Al scoffed and took a step towards the living vamp. There was a blur of motion and in an instant; Marco was clawing at Al's neck. His nails dug into Al's flesh and a chunk of skin fell to the ground. Al reacted with a similar speed and brought a large fist into the master vampire's face. Marco's head snapped back and he flew backwards several feet before hitting the ground. I expected him to get back up but the vampire looked like he was down for the count. Damn, was that all it took? How had I managed to fend Al off all those years?

A red light shimmered around Al and I saw the wound on his neck vanish and his normal dress and features reappeared. He straightened his green frock and turned slowly to face the sole remaining living vampire. The vampire was cowering in the corner and was holding the young girl to his chest. "Don't come near me or I'll snap her neck," he screamed. "I can do it!"

Al's gaze was lowered and his goat slitted eyes were hidden in shadow. The words "avenging demon" went through my mind and I shivered. I was glad he was on my side. Well, sort of.

"Don't let him kill her Al," I said. Damn, I was useless. I looked over at Ivy who was still in a heap on the floor. I hoped she was okay. "And don't kill the vampire either." Al shot me a questioning look and I shrugged.

Al's eye twitched and the vampire fell to the ground, writhing in pain. His fingers reached out towards the ceiling as if he were trying to dig his way out of a grave. Served the bastard right, I thought. If he was going to hang out with perverts, he could stand a little abuse.

The protective bubble around me fell and I ran to Ivy. I knelt down beside her and lifted her head into my lap. "Ivy, Ivy, are you okay?" Her eyes fluttered open and she looked at me. "Rachel?" she asked. "What happened? Did you stop Marco?"

"Yes, I mean no," I corrected. "Al took him out." Ivy's expression went blank. "And what about Kara?" she asked. She must have meant the kidnapped vampire. I looked over and saw the young vamp securely attached to Al's leg. She was crying and Al was looking down at her with disgust.

"Oh my god, thank you so much," she sobbed. "He was awful. The things they were going to do to me…" Her words trailed off and I couldn't help but smile at the strange scene. Who would have thought someone would be thanking Al.

Al shuffled his foot and dislodged his leg from the girl who was fast becoming a puddle. "This is your fault Rachel. If anyone hears about this, your debt to me is going up."

Ivy's eyes widened. "You have another mark?" she asked. I could tell she was trying to be calm but the dismay in her voice was evident.

"No," I assured her. "I don't know what Al thinks he is getting out of this but it definitely isn't another mark."

Al rumbled and came up beside us. He put a hand under my arm and lifted me up. I wanted to stay on the ground with Ivy to make sure she was okay and shot him a dirty look. Ivy brushed herself off and with some effort, got to her feet also.

"I heard noises, I thought something happened and the two of you had entered the room without telling me," said Ivy.

I nodded in understanding. "No, we stayed outside. One of the guards came out and found us…." I stopped myself. I had almost said "found us kissing," but I didn't want to admit that to Ivy. Hell, I didn't want to admit it to myself. "One of the guards found us but we left without incident," I finished.

Ivy's pupils flared but she didn't question my response further. Al was looking around the room and shifting from one foot to the other. "I'm feeling a bit peckish," he declared. "How about I kill these pieces of slug dung and we go grab a bite to eat. Do you know of any good restaurants in the area? I haven't had a good bite to eat since I killed Pierce."

Horror swept across Ivy's face. "He killed Pierce?" she asked. There was a hint of accusation in her voice as if I had something to do with it.

"Pierce's soul is in a bottle," I reasoned. "Al will bring him back to life when, uh. Hey Al, when are you going to get Pierce another body?"

Al's jaw clinched and he crossed his arms across his chest. "We'll have to iron out the details of the runt later. I'm not in the mood to discuss it right now."

An uneasy feeling flitted through my stomach as I remembered Al swimming in my thoughts. Had he seen Pierce and me having sex? Probably. I didn't like the idea of Al using another body to give Pierce life but I didn't like the idea of Pierce spending the next century in a bottle either, even if he was just making cookies. Maybe I could find him and release him. He could go back to being ghost. That wasn't so bad, was it? He had been dead before.

A pang of sadness went through me at the memory of Pierce. Al must have seen it because his expression hardened. "Rachel, he isn't going anywhere. We don't need him to follow you around as long as you are with me." It might have been my imagination, but Al's tone almost sounded hurt. He was right though. I didn't want to discuss this now.

"Well, we can't kill these guys. Let's call the IS and then maybe we can go find a bite to eat," I said.

Al's expression eased and Ivy dialed the IS. They arrived at the scene ten minutes later. Al acted every part the "boyscott" and had himself disguised as the Al-Pierce hybrid I had seen earlier. Actually, I sort of liked the look on him. He still had a tall muscular frame but it was a bit leaner. He had Pierce's blue eyes but slightly longer hair that fell a few inches down his neck in soft waves. His complexion was also lighter. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Once the IS had left, Al and I walked down the street to a small Chinese restaurant on the corner. I had invited Ivy along but she made some excuse about something she needed to do at the church. I couldn't really blame her. I was surprised she didn't put up a bigger fight about me spending time with Al. Maybe Glenn had something to do with her new laid back attitude.

Al hummed happily alongside me as we walked down the street. When we got to the restaurant, he hurried ahead of me and even opened the door for me. The rest of meal and conversation was surprisingly normal. Al ordered the beef chow fun and I had steamed dumplings. Towards the end of dinner, Al toasted the success of our first run together.

"Thanks," I said in sincere appreciation.

Al raised his eyebrow at me. "I do enjoy working with you. Perhaps you can come with me next time I try to snag a familiar. You could be quite useful," he said with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes at him. "No thank you. Hey, do you even need to procure fine familiars?" I asked with a trace of mockery in my tone. "What about this construct business? It seems to have worked out okay so far. How much demon money do I have anyway?"

Al finished the last bite of his beef and put his fork down on his plate. He was silent a moment and I started to fidget with my napkin under the table. "I'm not just going to give up my trade. There are several prospects that I am keenly interested in right now."

I sighed. Of course he wouldn't change. I felt foolish for even asking.

"But," Al continued, "Working with you could be quite lucrative. And you would be lucky to have me as a partner. Perhaps it is something I could consider." He looked straight at me. "Assuming you cooperate and help us achieve a more comfortable standard of living. Life in the ever after can be quite dismal without the few luxuries available to us."

I grinned and leaned over the table to kiss Al on the cheek. "I think that's something I can manage," I said.