Chapter 246
Giles watched news coverage of the innaguration. There was talk about the bombing. The death toll so far was five, the bomber, two cops, two civilians. Others were in critical condition. President Wilkins was still alive. There he was with Faith and Edna Mae. Giles' group had the bug in place. At least they'd have a heads up as to what the new president was planning. Giles analyzed the situation. An indestructible sorcerer was the new president of this country. He might be a neccessary ally against the Master. Giles had been back to the cave, there were no skeletons left. If they had escaped, they would be killing people. But so far there were relatively few murders in Sunnydale. Willy was keeping most vampires supplied. If the Concillium Mortuum were back they might not want to attract the slayer's attention. The Master's minions would conserve their numbers, until they struck full force. Faith, Angel, Anya seemed like possible allies, but also possible enemies down the line. And Jessie was still unnacounted for. The Master was known to kill his subordinates for failure. Maybe he'd killed Jessie already. A part of Giles hoped for this, to spare Buffy from having to do it. But as Giles watched Richard Wilkins being officially sworn in, it was clear they were settling in for a long battle.