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Cousin Arabella by Lilachigh

Chp. 9 I don’t belong to you!


Many, many thanks for all the great reviews. They truly help.



Buffy broke away from the friendly hug she was giving the big green Frovlax demon as Arabella, his wife, flashed into game face. Buffy stared at Spike and his cousin and as she looked, Spike’s face, too, changed and his demon self appeared.

“Yes, Div’vid, old mate,” he hissed as he stalked forward, his red shirt fluttering in the night breeze. “Never mind Buffy leading you astray, what are you doing kissing my girl? I knew I should never trust you around a pretty woman. Especially a pretty woman who belongs to me!”

Div’vid bellowed and lowered his emerald head, ready to charge. “It’s you who can’t be trusted! You’ve been pawing at my wife all night! Making advances, touching her, holding her - ”

“Kill Buffy, William!” Arabella snapped. “Kill both of them.”

Div’vid turned a startled face in his wife’s direction. “Bella, sweetheart, I promise I haven’t done anything.”

But the two vampires were advancing, step by step.

“This is ridiculous! Stop it right now!” Buffy finally lost her temper. “I came here as a favour to Spike. And I’m just tired of tip-toeing around, being careful not to upset all your little family apple-carts. Of being piggy in the middle. I really have had enough of the whole jealous vampire scene.”

She snatched a stake out of her purse and stood between the three of them. “Nothing is going on with me and Div’vid, Spike. And if there was something, which there isn’t, then it’s nothing to do with you! We’re not - we’re not a couple! I certainly don’t belong to you. And Arabella, you should wash your mouth out with soap, not trusting your husband. He’s a really sweet guy. So just stop it, all three of you!”

Arabella gazed at the stake in horror and snapped back to human face. “Slayer!” she spat. “You’re the Slayer! I’d heard rumours about William and the Slayer but I never ever believed them.”

Div’vid swept his wife protectively to one side with a huge green hand. “A Slayer in my house! William, you brought a Slayer here, on our anniversary! Are you mad? How dare you!”

But Spike wasn’t listening. He prowled forward, eyes glittering. “You’ve always been jealous of me. You wanted Drusilla once, didn’t you? I remember you trying to get her away from me. You kissed her. I saw you. Now you want Buffy! And I saw you kissing her! You can’t deny it.”

Div’vid circled round him. “Of course I deny it. Buffy kissed me! Okay, I admit I kissed Drusilla - once! That was before the puppies! We were all very drunk. It doesn’t count,” he roared.

“I’m sodding well sick of great, tall, hulking demons taking my women away from me! First Dru and her Chaos demon with his slime and his antlers, and now you with your cow’s ears and bad breath wanting Buffy. Well, it ends here!”

“Spike! Snap out of it. I am not your woman and will someone please tell me what the hell is the story behind the puppies,” Buffy pleaded, but no one was listening.

“Stop them,” Arabella said suddenly, clutching Buffy’s arm. “They’ll kill each other.”

Buffy shook her off and glared. “I thought you wanted Spike to get rid of your husband? Wasn’t that your plan?”

Arabella tossed her head and pouted like a spoilt child. “Oh, that! I thought he might kill you. That would be fun. I didn’t really think he’d try to kill Div. You must mean a lot more to him than you think. I just wanted Div’vid to pay me a bit of attention. It’s all business, business, business these days and that disgusting regurgitating every night has been driving me mad. But now - look - he’s changed colour. He’s going yellow! Once that happens, he’ll fight to the death, whoever it is.”

Buffy glared at her again as, with a roar, Div’vid swung at Spike who ducked under his arm, jeering. “You’re a vampire and he‘s your husband. You stop him! And quickly. We’re drawing a crowd.”

Even as she spoke, the doors to the ballroom opened and a gang of demons surged out, drawn by the shouting and the smell of a fight.

Buffy backed up against the low marble wall of the fountain. She was aware that the atmosphere had changed. Spike and Div’vid were blissfully unaware of the crowd, circling each other, trading blows and punches, and shouting insults that seemed to mostly be about Spike being a Red and supporting Manchester United football club and Div’vid being a Blue and supporting Manchester City.

But the other demons were looking at Buffy, their eyes glowing red and they certainly didn’t seem friendly, fluffy folk any more. There was a low growling and grunting that could only spell trouble.

“William! Stop it at once!” Arabella shouted as Spike’s fangs tore a strip off of one of Div’vid’s prettty cow ears. “He’s your boyfriend - stop him hurting my husband!”

“For the hundredth time, he’s not my boyfriend!” Buffy yelled, jumping back as the flailing bodies surged towards her. “He’s an evil thing who just happens to be around when I need him - sometimes! I like him - a bit, I suppose - but that’s it!”

Arabella’s sapphire eyes narrowed. “You keep saying that. But you’re lying! It’s not what your bodies say when you’re together. It’s not what his mind says when you’re not nearby. All the time he’s thinking of you, feeling for you. And your eyes say the same thing. Oh, your mouth says no, but the feelings in your heart shine out of your eyes and they say yes. No wonder Drusilla left him. I didn’t understand before, but I do now.”

Buffy winced as the fighting got louder and nastier. She didn’t want to think about what Arabella had said. She just wanted to get Spike away from Div’vid and his cousin. She wanted to get him home, somewhere quiet where she could think about things and hold him and -

Crash! The two bodies hurtled into a glass topped table sending it smashing into splinters.

“Oh this is ridiculous,” Arabella stormed. “I’m going to have to ruin this dress and I only bought it yesterday! Men!!”

With a gesture that Buffy was forced to admire, she shook her long brown curls loose from their ribbon, rushed forward with a swirl of blue velvet, threw up her hands, gave a theatrical little gasp and collapsed into a graceful faint between Spike and her husband.

Div’vid swayed in mid punch, then with a cry he bent over his wife, patting her hand and smoothing the hair back from her forehead. “Bella, Bella, my dearest girl. Oh dear, oh dear, help someone. Buffy, quickly, help me. Bella’s fainted.”

Spike’s face shimmered back to normal and he looked down in concern at his cousin lying at his feet. Buffy wondered if she could applaud. She might hate Arabella, but she had to admire her handling of this situation. Spike’s cousin reminded her of Cordelia - she’d been another girl who’d always known exactly how to handle men.

“Wish I could,” Buffy muttered. “If I’d have fainted, they’d have just stepped over me to get on with their fight!”

But she realised, that although Arabella - who was now being carried away in his arms by a concerned Div’vid - had stopped Spike and her husband fighting, the demons and vampires were still slowly surrounding Buffy.

“Spike!” she snapped. “I think I’ve got a problem over here.”

“Bloody hell, Buffy. It’s a party. What on earth are you waving a stake around for?” He crossed the terrace in two swift strides and stood back to back with her, facing the oncoming demons.

“Excuse me! You were the one vamping out and fighting Div’vid to the death just because you thought he was kissing me!” Buffy hissed over her shoulder. “The tails and horns rent-a-mob only arrived when the scrap started!”

“To the death? Bollocks, Slayer. It was only a scrap. We were enjoying ourselves!”

“Enjoying yourselves! You were killing each other! And that was all your cousin’s fault. God, she’s a manipulative bitch! Sorry, I know she‘s family, but - god. she’s a manipulative bitch!”

“Bella? A bitch? Hey, you were the one kissing her husband, remember? Bloody hell, she’s even collapsed under the strain, poor love. Not everyone has your strength, Slayer. Mind you -” he reached behind him with one hand and squeezed her waist. “Not complaining here! I like you just the way you are.”

Buffy shook him off. If he thought he could get round her by touching her - well, yes, he probably could get round her by touching her, but - “Remind me to tell you just how much I hate you, when - if! - we get out of here alive!”

Slowly they moved along the terrace towards the steps that led down into the garden. The mob of demons padded after them: the snarls were getting louder, there were a lot of red eyes glowing and Buffy caught a glitter of claws and scales appearing amongst the posh dresses and jewellery.

A thin black vampire at the front of the crowd hissed at Spike. “What are you doing, protecting her, Spike? She’s a Slayer! You fighting against your own kind now?”

Spike vamped out and Buffy heard a deep growl come from inside him. “She is my kind!” he snapped. “She’s my woman. You want her, you take her over my dust.”


to be continued





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