[Reviews - 174]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Microsoft Word Chapter or Story | ePub eBook Chapter or Story | Printer Chapter or Story

Has been viewed 4453 times

- Text Size +




Author's Chapter Notes:
Thank you to everyone reading this. I love reviews so....!
Luv, Spuf
DANCE OF THE MATES


Chapter 18: ‘A Little Gift’




Buffy stared at the ‘old’ reprobate, Ethan Rayne, in shock. She barely was able to choke out her next sentence:

“What the hell do you mean by ‘you’ Rayne!” she hissed at the smirking devil.

She tried to pull her arm away from the master magician, but he held tight.

“Oh, don’t get prissy, Miss Summers,” Ethan chuckled wickedly. “I’m not after you for your nubile little body, rest assured. It’s the killer in you that I want. If I need physical release, I’ll hire it and…”

“Oh geez,” Buffy groaned, “too much info, Rayne.” The blond slayer felt like she was going to be sick.

“Be that as it may, Slayer,” Ethan whispered as he leaned into Buffy’s face and grinned maliciously, “I want, no, I need the killer in you. I’ve always wanted my own personal killing machine Miss Summers. You fit the bill, nicely. I just wish I could figure out a way to bring your ‘mate’ on board. What a coup. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and her loving mate, William the Bloody. On a double bill and under my control.”

Buffy grimmaced at the closeness of this monster’s face to hers. With another groan, she muttered, evilly, “two words, Rayne. Breath mint.”

Ethan Rayne began to laugh, a low, gutteral sound in his throat. He grinned at the lovely little slayer and replied, “always with the quips, eh, Summers? It’s nice to know that even in defeat, you’re a virtual one woman show.”


“I’m hardly defeated, asshole!” Buffy hissed back at the sick, twisted man who held her arm.

Rayne let loose of the captive slayer and stood up from the bed, quickly. He sauntered to the bedroom door, turning only to give Buffy one parting shot.

“Always the brave little toaster, eh Summers?” Ethan asked with a quirked brow. His sarcastic tone, the twisted smirk on his face? It made Buffy want to hurl.

“Do not be fooled, little one,” he said evenly, “I will win this one. When this is over? You’ll be under my control, completely. I would think about this, girl,” he added smugly, “if you want to find your demon lover undusted in the end. If you give me your loyalty? I’ll spare your vampire’s unlife. And yours,” he finished with an evil grin. Then, he was gone from the room.

“Asshole!” Buffy hissed from her position on the bed. She pulled at the invisible chains that her so called best friend, Willow, had instilled on her.

‘Spike,’ Buffy called out into the darkness beyond her window.

‘I’m here,’ her mate replied, his voice weak with want of his Buffy.

‘Rayne, he’s offering haven for us. In his own fucked up way that is,’ she added, resentfully.

‘Angel says not to trust Rayne,’ Spike answered. ‘The bloke would stab you in the back just as soon as he could.’

‘And Angel’s such a good judge of character?’ Buffy silently asked her mate. ‘I mean, Darla, for the love of Pete?’

‘True,’ Spike had to chuckle despite himself. ‘But I’m believing Peaches on this one, Princess. He’s got a good eye for the bad guy, most of the time anyway. It’s the women that turn his head,the ponce.’

‘Too right,’ Buffy joined in her mate’s silent laughter.

“Spike! Dammit!” Angel hissed from the outer edge of Giles’ lawn. “Quit dissing me and let’s make some plans here!”

Angel was getting just a tad weary of his Grandchilde and his smart mouth. Frankly, it still rankled the elder vampire that the shit upstart had stolen his girl, Buffy, right out from under his nose.

“I have got to get me a steady girlfriend,” Angel sighed heavily. “Maybe a demon girl, like Cordy? But not Cordy, of course, she’s married to Wesley. Besides, I couldn’t afford the snit’s charge card bills.” Angel smiled to himself, but then scowled at his errant Grandchilde.

‘Broody’s callin’ sweetheart,’ Spike explained to his Buffy. ‘I’ll be back in a moment. Love you.’

“Sunrise,” Angel mumbled as he looked to the eastern horizon. “It’ll be here, in two hours or so. We need to get back to the wolf boy’s place. Talk some plans with the others. Come now, boy,” Angel ordered Spike, matter-of-factly.

Spike slumped in sorrow and looked longingly up at his Buffy’s prison. He was getting weaker by the minute, Spike was and he knew it. Buffy was feeling it too, the blond vampire had no doubt of that.

“Angel,” Spike began in a firm, but quiet tone. “If Buffy and I don’t get together, soon? We’ll die, for good I mean, right?”

“Yes,” Angel replied simply, trying to cover the pain that this very thought illicited in his soul. “Neither Buffy, nor you, can survive for much longer without the other. It’s the way of the ‘claim’ boy. You two might have thought about that before you brashly threw caution to the wind and claimed each other.”

Angel frowned at his shorter, blond relative, in exasperation. Spike raised up to his full 5’10” heighth and stood his ground with his Grandsire.

“I’d rather truly die for want of Buffy then unlive without her,” Spike growled up at his imposing elder. “Just because you never had the balls to take her, totally, for yourself,” he continued coolly, “don’t think that I’m that much of a coward, Angelus.”

Spike turned from his maker’s maker and walked slowly, closer to the Watcher’s house. He looked up at the window of the bedroom where he ‘sensed’ his mate was being held.

‘I’m lost without you,’ he cried out to his wife, his silent words echoed between them.

‘Me too,’ Buffy replied, desperately.

“Let’s go, Spike,” Angel ordered in an unusually subdued tone, for once. “None of us are going anywhere. Not until your mate is back in your arms,” Angel promised, yet again.

Spike followed his Grandsire, reluctantly, out from Giles’ lawn. He stopped, every few feet and sadly looked up at the light in the second floor window, where his mate was being held against her will.

Back at Oz’s place, Angel and Spike walked into a totally dark, empty apartment. The wolf boy was not home, but then neither were Wesley, Lindsey or Gunn.

Angel glared at Spike and headed into the kitchen, where the fridge had been stocked with plenty of blood for the two vampires. The broody vampire returned with two bags of the blood, one for Spike and one for himself.

“Eat,” Angel grunted at his Grandchile, “you’ll do no good to Buffy if you starve to death. By the look of you, you haven’t had a meal in days and…”

“So now you’re going to play Granddaddy, eh Angelus?” Spike mumbled as he took the bag of blood from the older vampire. “All worried about my bloody health? This is a change, oh Soul Boy, for you to worry about your ‘family’ like this.”

Spike tore the bag open with his teeth and drank the nourishing liquid, hungrily. He watched the remorseful expressions on his grandsire’s face as he drank.

‘Old man’s right,’ Spike thought to himself as he drained the last drop. ‘I can’t help my Buffy if I’m weak from lack of food.’

Tossing the bag into the kitchen trash, Spike reached back into the fridge and pulled out two beers for him and Angel. He handed his elder his bottle and flopped down on the chair across from him.

“She’ll die first,” Angel muttered, resentfully after he pulled the beer bottle cap off, with his teeth.

Spike bolted from the chair, his fear and pain was written all over his face.

“She can’t!” he cried harshly. “If anyone goes first? It’s me. I can’t live without her, Angel, I can’t…”

“I know that boy,” Angel sighed heavily, “and neither of you will die, I swear it. We just need to get this finished. I’m hoping that Gunn and Lindsey are finding some ‘alternatives’ to our problem. Wesley is off studying and doing research, that I know. If anyone can convince Giles and the others, diplomatically, that is? It’s Wesley.”

Buffy watched Giles, warily, as he entered the room she occupied. By the look of her Watcher’s gait, it would seem that he was an old man of eighty or so. Giles seemed to have aged twenty or thirty years, in a few days.

“He’s going to screw you over, you know that, right?” Buffy stated evenly as Giles sat in the chair next to her bed. “Rayne I mean, he’s out for ‘something’ Giles. And it’s not to be best buddies with you again.”

“We need him,” Giles muttered, without any sign of conviction, whatsoever. His blue eyes looked so sad and Buffy almost felt sorry for her surrogate father.

“Rayne wants me and Spike, Giles,” Buffy continued, matter-of-factly. “He wants his own personal mercenaries, which means my mate and I. I wonder why Giles? Do you know?” Buffy almost smirked at the older man, but held it back. She could tell that her Watcher was suffering, emotionally, that is.

“When I was Ripper,” Giles began, cautiously, “back in College? Ethan and I, we were best mates. He grew darker and darker by the day and…” Giles’ voice trailed off and he hung his head sadly.

“You’re not Ripper anymore, Giles,” Buffy said softly. “You are Rupert Giles, ex-librarian, Watcher extraordinaire. Ethan Rayne may still be walking with the dark forces, but you are not. Why are you doing this Rupert? Can’t you just let me happy now?”

Buffy tilted her blond head and looked into Giles clear blue eyes, sadly. She knew this man, her protector for years, loved her like a daughter. And yet? He would not even let her make her own decision as to who to love.

“I love Spike,” Buffy murmered, honestly.

“It’s a spell,” Giles muttered, stubbornly. “That ‘thing’ has you in his thrall and…”

“Get out,” Buffy hissed harsly. “I thought I told you to get the hell away from me, at least for a while. Right now, Giles? I hate the sight of you. All of you.”

Giles stood up and shuffled out of the room, never looking back at his captive Slayer.

Spike woke up first, still lying, half prone on the huge old chair in Oz’s living room. He glanced around and spied Angel, still asleep on the couch.

Apparently, Oz had come home, during the early morning hours and made his way into his own bedroom. The wolf boy’s door was closed and it had been opened when Spike and Angel returned just before sunrise.

Looking at the clock on Oz’s wall, Spike saw that it was close to 9:30 AM. The curtains in Oz’s apartment had been carefully close, tight, to block the offensive rays of the sun.

A heavy knock on the door jolted Angel from his sleep and caused Spike to jump up from the chair. Angel stretched and headed over to the door to investigate.

“It’s us,” Gunn’s voice came from the other side of the door. “We’ve got a little ‘gift’ for you Angel,” the man chucked deeply.

Angel looked at Spike who nodded and watched as the older vampire opened the door. A very pleasant sight met the two vampires’ eyes.

Riley Finn, bound and gagged, and blindfolded, was pushed into the middle of Oz’s living room. The Initiative officer stumbled into the room and fell onto the floor, on his knees.

“Looky who we ‘caught’ just before his first class at Sunnydale U.” Lindsey pointed at Riley who was still on the floor. “Someone’s going to be tardy to English Lit.” The handsome employee of Angel began to chuckle, wickedly.

Angel leaned down and grasped Riley by the collar of his shirt, dragging him up. With his right hand, Angel ripped the blindfold, then the gag from Riley and glared into the human’s fearful brown eyes.

“Remember me?” Angel snarled at the hated mortal.

“Unfortunately,” Riley hissed back, then glared over at Spike, viciously.

“She’s going to reject the claim, demon,” Riley snarled at the blond vampire, smugly. “Rayne, Giles’ friend will…”

“Ethan Rayne is no one’s friend, asshole,” Angel growled and flung Riley onto the couch. “He’s got one friend in the world, himself,” the dark vampire added with a menacing voice.

“You weren’t here for the Halloween party a couple of years back, Captain,” Spike interjected in a deep, gutteral tone. “Rayne has no loyalty to anyone, or anything. He only wants Buffy for himself and if he touches one bottle blond hair of my woman’s head? I’ll rip his guts out and shove them up his arse!”

“But first,” Spike added, snarkily, “I think I’ll rip your guts out and shove them up your arse, Soldier boy.”

“You can’t do a fucking thing to me, demon,” Riley hissed at Spike, reminding him of the chip. “You’ll nearly stroke out if you even think about harming me in any way.” Riley grinned, in evil glee, at his rival.

“I think I’ll take that chance,” Spike mumbled as he closed the gap between him and his enemy. “It’ll be worth a migraine to beat the shit out of a worthless asshole like you.”

“Besides,” Angel began, evenly, as he grabbed his Grandchilde’s arm, rather gently for a vampire. “Spike won’t even have to break a black painted fingernail on you.”

Angel stepped in front of his blond ‘childe’ and leaned over Riley, menacingly. Riley slumped back into the couch, his brown eyes bright with terror.

“I’ll rip you apart, limb from limb, GI Joe,” Angel growled, his mouth in a sadistic smirk. “I’ve got no chip in my head, boy,” he continued, “just a soul. And when dealing with a sadistic, fucking moron like you? What’s a soul gonna’ stop me from doing?”


A/N: I just had to write a chapter of this story, tonight to keep it going. It’s getting closer to the end, hopefully. Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing. Luv, Spuf





You must login (register) to review.