Furious, Buffy advanced on Pragoh. “Call the bats.” Her voice was tight, leaving no doubt that she meant it or else.
Pragoh flinched. “You owe.”
“Call them.” Buffy stared the demon down until he cupped his face and closed his eyes. Then, despite her hatred of the punk vampire, she stood on the edges of Drusilla’s wings to help Spike hold her down for the count.
Buffy heard the thunder of wings before the flock of brilliant red bats swooped in. Huge, with saber fangs, they dove through the Hellmouth breach like hot knives through ice cream. When the last bat was gone, Drusilla gave up her struggle.
Spike rolled off Drusilla’s still body and stood up. “How long before she’s right again?”
Buffy jumped back when the leathery wings suddenly began to recede. “Not long.”
Within the space of a few seconds, the furry bat face smoothed into the perfect contours and porcelain complexion of Drusilla’s human countenance. Wing membranes seemed to evaporate as talons and claws softened into bare feet and delicate hands. Drusilla’s transformation occurred with astounding speed compared to the recovery rate of the human victims.
Must be a vampire thing, Buffy thought as Spike drew the tatters of Dru’s dress closed. He slipped out of his long coat and settled it over her shoulders when she sat up.
“I don’t like this party, Spike.” Dru’s head drooped against his chest. “The li’l red pawns tricked the queen and now they’ve gone and taken all the tea and crumpets.”
“But you won the game.” Smiling tightly, Spike caressed her cheek with the back of his hand.
“Get a crypt!” Disgusted with the vampire fawning, Buffy turned to assess the other ongoing dramas. Spike’s tenderness toward his vampire mate made her uneasy. She didn’t want to watch him lift Drusilla into his arms and whisk her away. They were monsters, not a gallant knight and a damsel in distress. She glanced back anyway, but they were gone, and she put the loathsome couple out of her mind.
“One more candle there should do it,” Giles said. He and Ms. Calendar put the finishing touches on the charcoal diagram they had drawn on the floor. Situated directly under the library, the large semicircle encompassed all the shimmering distortions visible against the cinderblock wall. All the breaches, Buffy realized, had occurred on the outer edge of the Hellmouth.
Giles and Ms. Calendar tensed when the fire dragon scampered toward the wall, but it had no interest in them. It stopped to look back at Buffy just for a second before it leaped through the barrier.
Bye, little guy. Buffy allowed herself a brief pout. She was glad the dangerous creature was gone, but it hadn’t hurt anyone. It had actually helped her save Willow.
Although we’re not home free on that one yet, Buffy thought, checking on her friends.
“Feeling better, Willow?” Xander asked. They were both sitting up, but he still had a grip on her skirt in case she made another break for it.
“A little.” Sighing, Willow rested her chin on the top of Cutie’s furry head.
“Except for lighting the candles and the incense, I believe we’re ready.” Giles brushed black dust off his hands. “Have all the creatures gone through?”
The moment Buffy was dreading was near, but there was no avoiding the inevitable. “Everything but the kur.”
“But he wants to stay with me,” Willow said.
Xander, Giles, and Ms. Calendar watched Willow, intent and worried but not knowing what to do. Nothing could make the necessary parting easier.
“Cutie has to go back where he belongs,” Buffy said, her voice gentle but firm.
“We belong together.” Willow tightened her grip on the creature. “Here or there.”
“Good. Kur girl go there.” The gray demon waved toward the Hellmouth breach. “Pragoh need prize.”
Xander frowned. “Did I miss the part where we all woke up in a box of Cracker Jack?”
Aghast at the implication, Buffy stepped between the demon and Willow. “What are you talking about?”
“You owe bribe!” Pragoh poked her with a stubby finger. “Big demons blame Pragoh for all this escape. Want something make them not be mad.”
Buffy grabbed Pragoh’s finger and leaned into his face. “Evil weakened the barrier and opened the Hell-mouth edition of Pandora’s box, and it’s your job to round up the strays and take them back. We don’t owe you anything.”
“Especially not Willow!” Ms. Calendar struck a long fireplace match and began lighting the candles.
Giles opened the metal censer and snapped an aromatic cone of incense into the holder.
“She want go!” Pragoh snapped, exasperated.
“No, the kur wants her to go,” Buffy countered. “She stays.”
“Only if Cutie stays too,” Willow said.
Buffy ignored Willow. Her plan required precision timing, but it wouldn’t work if Willow or the kur suspected anything. Until it was time to act, it was safer to let Willow believe she could keep her pet.
Huffing with indignation, Pragoh pulled his finger out of Buffy’s grasp. Then he poked her again. “You give girl or Pragoh not take back spell.”
“Spell? What spell?” Buffy looked at Giles.
“The spell he used to bind the school,” the Watcher explained, stunned. “We do not have the power to reverse it. No one will be able to enter or leave the building unless Pragoh lifts his containment spell.”
“So we’ll all die of starvation instead of monster measles,” Xander said.
“Nobody else is going to die.” Buffy fixed Pragoh with a no-nonsense Slayer stare. “He can take me instead of Willow.”
“Then you’ll die!” Ms. Calendar protested.
Giles placed a hand on the teacher’s arm to silence her. His expression of puzzled concern and curiosity suggested that he wasn’t sure what Buffy was doing, but he wanted to hear her out.
The demon was just as intrigued, and Buffy had his complete attention.
“I bet capturing a Slayer would please your big demon bosses,” Buffy explained. “Who knows? They might even give you a promotion.”
Pragoh’s nose twitched in agitation, as though he suspected a trap but couldn’t discern what it was. “Why Slayer go?”
“It’s my job,” Buffy said.
“Since when is ‘sacrificial lamb’ in the Slayer job description?” Xander asked. He still had a grip on Willow’s skirt.
Buffy addressed Pragoh. “I put my life on the line to protect innocents every day. Willow is an innocent.” Sensing that the demon wasn’t convinced, she added, “I’m expendable.”
Pragoh frowned.
“Look, here’s how the Chosen One thing goes down,” Buffy went on. “The instant Giles and Ms. Calendar seal the barrier, I’ll be as good as dead and another Slayer will be called. Just like that. No mess, no—whatever.” She wasn’t sure being trapped in the Hellmouth qualified as being dead, but her reasoning convinced Pragoh.
The demon pointed toward the wall. “Slayer go now.”
Chapter Nine
“She isn’t going anywhere,” Giles said.
Buffy flashed him an annoyed look. If Giles didn’t understand her motives or what she was thinking or planning, he should trust her enough not to interfere. He did.
“Not just yet,” Giles continued. “The bargain—an extremely bad one, in my opinion—is this: You remove the containment spell around the school, and then Buffy will do . . . whatever she’s decided to do.”
Buffy let the Watcher talk. His carefully chosen words implied that he knew suicide was not her intention. His calm, reasoned approach also lent credence to her proposal.
The short demon snorted, but he didn’t argue. He moved into the center of the corridor and faced the stairs, just as he had when he cast his binding spell. With his plump arms raised, he closed his eyes. After humming for several seconds, he mumbled an incantation, then hummed again.
Buffy watched Willow, looking for signs of unrest, but for now, she wasn’t a fligh
t risk. The kur was insensitive to Pragoh’s humming chant and at ease.
Pragoh abruptly stopped humming and turned. “All done. Now Slayer go.”
“I think not!” Giles stiffened. “Buffy stays right here until we know—for a fact—that the spell has indeed been removed.”
Losing patience, Pragoh stamped his foot. “Pragoh mad.”
“Tough.” Buffy glanced at Xander. She needed him to execute her plan, but that would wait. “Go check the doors upstairs, Xander. If you can get outside, we’re in the clear.”
“Uh—” Xander looked at Willow, afraid to let go.
“It’s okay. Nobody’s going anywhere until you get back,” Buffy assured him.
“Okay. See that you don’t.” Halfway up the stairs, Xander paused to look back. “I mean it.”
“I know.” Buffy smiled.
After lighting the last candle, Ms. Calendar walked behind Buffy and whispered, “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
Ditto that, Buffy thought as the teacher returned to the space under the stairs. Ms. Calendar picked up the old book and went to stand beside Giles. When the time came, they had everything in place to seal the Hellmouth.
On edge with anticipation, Buffy watched the stairs for Xander and reviewed all the steps of her plan. Her thoughts were so focused, she almost didn’t sense Angel moving toward them through the basement corridors. Every nerve in her body sizzled as she turned to greet him.
“Angel!” Giles exclaimed, surprised when the vampire suddenly appeared by the storeroom.
Angel didn’t respond to the Watcher. His dark eyes captured Buffy’s gaze and held her with the intensity of his caring. When he stood over her, the cosmos took a breathless pause. Buffy clung to the intimate moment. Things didn’t always work out as planned, and it might be their last.
“When did you get here?” Giles asked. “Into the school, I mean.”
Angel dragged his attention away from Buffy. “I’ve been hanging out in the tunnel for the past hour. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.”
“You could say that,” Buffy agreed. “The Hell-mouth sprang a few leaks and a horde of low-life demons flew the coop.”
“That explains why the building was sealed,” Angel said.
“Yes, to prevent the contamination from spreading.” Giles looked up sharply. “How did you get in again?”
Buffy was way ahead of the librarian on that one. The fact that Angel was inside the building meant that Pragoh’s containment spell was no longer in effect. Without being obvious, she took stock of all the players. Fate had replaced Xander with Angel, a switch that could prove critical. The vampire was stronger, with a higher tolerance for pain.
“I walked in after Spike and Drusilla ran out,” Angel said. “Drusilla looked a little frazzled.”
“Turning into a giant bat takes a lot out of a person,” Ms. Calendar said.
With the pests gone and the containment spell broken, there was no reason to delay. Buffy plotted her moves while Giles, Ms. Calendar, and Angel talked, taking it for granted that they would know what to do and when to do it. Her life and Willow’s depended on it. Once she set events in motion, they would all be committed.
“Drusilla turned into a bat?” Angel raised an eyebrow. “I can see how that would make for a bad day.”
And it’s going to get worse for some of us.
Without a whisper of warning, Buffy charged Pragoh and pushed him toward the wall. Grabbing his horns, she lifted him off his feet and kicked him through the distortion into the Hellmouth.
“Open the book!” Giles called to Ms. Calendar.
A gazillion and one down, and one to go, Buffy thought as she grabbed Willow by the arm. She pulled the startled girl toward her, then pushed, driving Willow into Angel. The vampire instinctively threw his arms around her.
“Hold on to her, Angel,” Buffy yelled, “and do not let her go!”
“What are you doing?” Willow’s frightened confusion was a fleeting concession to her humanity. When the kur’s fear kicked in, her face contorted with rage. “Let me go!”
Buffy glanced at Giles.
He nodded, understanding with no words spoken.
Buffy sprang forward and wrenched the kur from Willow’s grasp.
“No!” Willow stretched out her arms as Buffy spun and ran for the barrier. “Give him back! Buffy!”
Angel tightened his hold around Willow’s waist and chest. She fought with the ferocity of a mother tiger defending her cubs, twisting to wrench free, kicking and scratching.
Buffy yanked the blue scarf off the spitting beast and held it at arm’s length as she ran. It had two rows of short, sharp teeth and a pitiful ear-piercing howl. It snapped its jaws, clawed her arms, and flailed furry feet.
Swinging the smoking censer, Giles studied the spell in the book Ms. Calendar held open.
Unable to free herself from Angel’s grip, Willow changed tactics. “Buffy, please don’t. He’s so cute and helpless. Please—”
Buffy blotted out Willow’s plea and kept her eye on the wall. When she reached it, she rammed the kur through the shimmering crack.
“No!” Willow’s tortured scream reverberated through the basement.
Buffy stood facing the Hellmouth, tense and breathless from the emotional exertion. The sound of Willow’s suffering was almost more than she could bear, and the cadence of the Watcher’s chant was a numbing balm.
“Terra, vente, ignis et pluvial,” Giles recited, swinging the censer in an expanding arc.
“Easy, Willow,” Angel said, his voice low and soothing. “It’s going to be all right.”
Willow wailed and pounded on the vampire with her fist. A prisoner of the psychic link until the Hell-mouth closed, she was inconsolable.
“. . . numina vos obsecro.”
Hurry, Giles, Buffy begged, wishing she didn’t have to listen. Then she saw the gray arm.
Pragoh was trying to come back!
Pragoh want a prize? Buffy fumed as she positioned herself in front of the distortion. She had no qualms about breaking a deal with the little devil—none at all. He had made his bad bargain when he’d asked for a bribe. The instant the gray demon’s snout appeared, she let fly with a kick and punched him back in.
“. . . nos a recente malo resoluto.”
“The spell’s broken, school’s open!” Xander’s excitement stalled at the base of the stairs. “When did Mr. tall, moody, and annoying get here?”
Buffy watched in disbelief as Pragoh tried to scramble through the leak again. He thrust an arm and leg out with his head. Buffy put her hands on his horns and pushed, but he resisted.
“Uh, Buffy,” Xander said. “Giles’s eyes are bulging. You don’t think one of those critters—”
Buffy knew exactly what to think. Giles couldn’t interrupt the incantation to warn her—
“Omnia vasa veritatis!”
—that the Hellmouth was going to close!
Now! Buffy let go of the demon’s horns and jumped back as the barrier sealed. She had narrowly missed having her hand severed. Pragoh’s snout, arm, and leg fell on the floor, gushing green blood.
Willow sagged against Angel and wept. The psychic connection to Cutie and her heart were broken. The vampire held her close, saying nothing. Only time could turn her raw wound into a tolerable scar.
“We did it!” Raising victorious fists, Ms. Calendar grinned and hugged Giles.
“It would appear so.” Giles nodded at Buffy, his eyes brimming with relief.
Buffy smiled back, but the good feeling for a job well done was tainted. Everything had worked out exactly as planned, leaving only one loose end. Willow didn’t hold grudges as a rule, and on an intellectual level, she knew that Buffy had had no choice. Still, her sorrow over Cutie’s loss was so deep that it might be the exception to Willow’s generous ability to forgive.
That’s another injury time will heal or not, Buffy thought with a glance at Angel. Unlike men who trea
ted distraught women like embers that were too hot to handle, he held Willow close and murmured reassurances, giving her all the time she needed to cry it out.
Xander peered down at Pragoh’s remains. Flesh and gore smoked, burning away into a pile of ash. “The Hellmouth’s demon dogcatcher is dead.”
“It was his own fault for trying to pull a fast one,” Buffy said. “Extortion is a crime.”
“So if the seals fail—” Xander turned to fire off a few words of apology. “No offense, Giles, but if they do, who’s going to come and take the mini-invaders away?”
“I’m pretty sure the Hellmouth has a long line of varmint hunters,” Buffy said. “Pragoh wasn’t the least bit skeptical about how a dead Slayer is automatically replaced with a new one. I bet another demonic pied piper is being chosen as we speak.”
“Brilliant deduction, Buffy!” Giles looked proud, but Buffy wasn’t sure she should take his surprise as a compliment.
“We should probably collect all this accoutrement and get it out of here before Principal Snyder decides to inspect for rabid termites.” Handing the book to Giles, Ms. Calendar began extinguishing the candles. “He has to explain this away somehow.”
“I don’t suppose he retained a trace of lackadaisical good nature?” When Giles caught everyone’s incredulous stares, he sighed. “No, I suppose not.”
“Maybe I should take Willow upstairs,” Xander said. “Away from the scene of the crime.”
“Good idea,” Buffy agreed.
“And I must get back to the library to record the details of this incident while they’re still fresh in my mind.” Giles shouldered his bag. “Your input would be helpful, Buffy.”
“You’ve got it,” Buffy said. “Later.”
She stood back until everyone but Angel was gone. Even though she and the vampire were in love, they couldn’t get by feeling awkward—until the kissing started. She stumbled into the dialogue first this time. “You missed all the fun.”
“Playing Batman with Drusilla in the Batcave?” Angel grinned. “Not my idea of a good time.”
“I’ve had better mornings too.” Buffy desperately wanted to feel his embrace and the softness of his lips on hers. With him standing so near, the temptation was overwhelming but not enough to countermand the other things she had to do. “I, uh, have to go see how my mom’s doing.”
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