Part 6
~And then there was the time we tried to eat Elvis.~
Another snort of laughter tore from the brunette’s lips, as Angel’s eyes veered off the road to catch the mirth dancing in her eyes in his rearview mirror.
Muffling her snort, Cordelia tried to avoid Angel’s scathing glance by ducking lower in the back seat of his convertible.
~Please don’t tell me you were the one who killed the king.~
~He’s DEAD?~
She bit back her smile. ~You didn’t KNOW? Come on Angelus, seriously though. Angel tried to eat Elvis?~
~That means he never told you about his bout with that spooky little writer girl from Yorkshire with a fetish for dark places and an avid interest in mystisim?~
An eyebrow arched? ~Writer girl?~
~Found her carrying her drunk brother home once. Really wanted to eat him, but the fucking idiot was pissed drunk and she had the audacity to snark at me about my lack of manners and bookish knowledge.
So I helped her carry him into this this nearby pub, in hopes she’d let me eat her. She apparently could control her liquor better then her prick of a brother. So when I got drunk, we got to talking and I ended up confessing about my damned undeadness instead.
Had that effect on most people it seemed. Left me there with some crap about reshaping some inane little character of a dark brooding man with a mysterious past and an even shadier future living in a dark desolate manor on the top of a rained out hill.~
Her mouth dropped open. ~Oh my god!~ The reference was eerily familiar.
~Although, I thought of fucking going back and eating her after all, since the desolate moron ended up being called Heathcliff instead. That’s about as fucking prissy a name as Angel!~
~Emily Bronte! She wrote Wuthering Heights because she met you! In a pub!~
~Just about.~
She glared at the back of Angel’s head. ~He never told me!~
The demon snickered. ~There are a great many things, the soul hasn’t told you Hazel.~
Instantly, Cordelia’s sense of curiosity was roused. ~Name three.~
~His hunger, his weakness, his fantasy, just to name three.~
~Fantasy?~
The demon smirked wickedly. ~Oh if I only had forever to tell you beautiful.~
Angel’s fantasies. Cordelia was suddenly very eager to find out what kind of cravings went through her boss’ head as she contemplated her next question. Dare she ask?
~Pick a player.~
Her nose wrinkled. ~Eyow! You mean there’s one of everyone? Even Giles?~
~Fucking vampire here Cor. Go figure. Pick one. Buffy and Angel. Darla and Angel. You and Angel?~
Instant color rose to her cheeks as she bit her lip. ~To name three?~
~Want to see my favorite?~
Her eyes watched her two friends in the front seat guiltily.
~Close your eyes baby, let me show you what makes you beautiful to me.~
Unable to resist the purring seduction in Angelus’ voice and the irrefutable pull of her own curiosity, Cordelia closed her eyes and let him spin his little dream sequence.
Willingly.
~Spare me the demonstration this time Angelus, I so don’t want to give Wesley and Angel a show.~
~Do you trust me?~
~No.~
He chuckled. ~You will. Now shut up and let me talk.~
Angel was turning towards their street, when the scent in the air drifted up around him. Nostrils flaring to draw the rich aroma into his lungs, Angel struggled to pinpoint the source and its identity. It was familiar. Almost intimate. Almost like…
His eyes widened and he nearly swerved off the road.
“ANGEL!” Wesley gripped the dashboard as the vampire nearly missed a lamppost, the tires of the Plymouth screeching while the Angel tried to get the car in control.
Cordelia was thrown against the door with a shriek and finally the car skidded back into its own lane in a wake of screaming curses and horns from the other drivers.
Shaken from her mental images and breathing hard from the shock of their almost accident and partly from Angelus’ ‘eloquent’ story telling Cordelia stared at the dark head of the vampire driving the car, his knuckles white as they gripped the wheel.
“ARE YOU INSANE?”
Angel nearly twisted around to glower at the audacious woman with half a mind to slap some sense into her. “ME?!”
“Yes you maniac! This is NOT your Playstation! You can’t wrap us around a lamppost and start your game over!”
The vampire was fighting the urge to reach back and shake the girl as he concentrated on not doing exactly what she was ranting about. The delicious taste was still strong on the back of his tongue and the distinct scent of her arousal had gone straight to his groin.
After he’d realized what it was.
Now all he wanted to was to get his demon out of her head, so he could find out what the hell he was telling his seer, to make her that aroused.
“Random question soulful, did we have the dream about the Plymouth and Cordelia’s red bikini before or after you moved to LA?”
And Angel swerved again.
***
Wesley was already yawning, although, it was still early in the evening. Sundown had come and gone.
The watcher looked over his shoulder as Cordelia got out of Angel’s convertible; the irate vampire already stalking past him and into the hotel.
If the picture of Cordelia frowning down at her dusty sweater wasn’t unsettling for Wesley himself, the watcher might have just pegged Angel’s sudden need to get away from her, akin to his own. But she was their friend.
And it wasn’t his demon revealing secrets in her head.
“Don’t drag your feet Geeky.”
With an irritating demon that goaded him every chance he got. “Shut up Angelus.”
“Shit, that’s all anyone ever tells me. What’s the matter, you worried Cordelia might actually see the hard-on you’re sporting?”
And Wesley spun around, his blue eyes flashing with fire. “For the first and last time, Angelus; Cordelia is my friend.” The possessed brunette blinked at him in surprise.
“Unlike you, I still have motor control over my own bloody body. I do not need borrowed hormones to remind me I’m alive and for the record, the woman is indeed beautiful. The sardonic crudeness you add to her have nothing to do with the effect she has on men. And I’m a man; something you cannot be.”
Cordelia eyed the conviction on Wesley’s face before he spun around and marched into the hotel, much like Angel had, leaving her suddenly silent demon and herself staring after him in wonder.
~Think I hit a nerve.~
The woman stood in the small driveway and swallowed the sudden welling of grateful emotion in her throat.
~Oh for the love of all that is sacred! You find HIM endearing!? Little puny geek boy?~
~You know I’ve known Wesley for a very short time, but that sounded too much like him standing up for me.~
~Men will stoop to anything to get into the good books of a woman.~
~God, can you not soil every happy thought in my life? I don’t know WHY I thought I could like you!~
~I’m gorgeous?~
~Angel is gorgeous, you’re just the devil whispering in his head.~
~Thanks for the compliment.~
With a dejected sigh, Cordelia sat down on the front steps of the hotel and watched the darkening sky start to sparkle with stars.
~Fucking hell Hazel. I didn’t want to make you miserable or make you sit here on the fucking steps making the both of us look like a couple of moony idiots!~
The brunette suppressed her smile. ~Wow. That almost sounded like an apology.~
~Fuck off.~
She chuckled. ~Can you really blame me Fangless? I mean think of it, I came to this godforsaken city with just one dress and one pair of heels and money enough to buy one drink at a bar with the only option of becoming someone’s bitch. And if it hadn’t been for Angel, I’d probably be standing on a sidewalk as we speak.~
~Remind me to kiss the gallant fool.~
~And it was Doyle who convinced Angel to actually keep me. He used to say I had a good influence on the broody dork. That somehow I made him human.~
~We can never really be human Hazel.~
~And I don’t forget it, because hello! Blood lust. Still.~
Her eyes turned misty at the memory as she replayed the scenes of her past in her head, partly for his benefit and partly because she needed herself to remember them.
~Angel might never know just what he did for me. Just like Doyle will never know what he did for me when he gave me the visions. Why he picked me.~
~Between kissing the fucking soul and you; I’d say he had good taste.~
She snickered, almost wishing there were potent arms to hold her while she relived her memories.
~And even though Wesley and I are new at this, I can’t help but trust him; you know. Like I know Doyle is gone, but there’s someone else who will know the answers; maybe not all of them. But someone who’ll know where to look.~
~Didn’t anyone tell you, they need all the elements to make great drama? Beauty, bravado and brains.~
~What does that make you in the equation?~
~Every story needs a villain.~
She laughed as she wrapped her arms around her knees. ~You give yourself way too much credit Fangless.~
~I’m pure evil.~
~You’re not a villain Angelus; you’re Angel’s demon.~
And she could feel the twitching defiance to a fact he couldn’t deny or acknowledge.
~Why the fuck won’t you tell Angel you’re dying?~
At his blatant change of topic, Cordelia smiled almost knowingly, before letting out a slow breath and for the first time thinking of the convulsing pain, which she knew, was slowly and steadily killing her.
She supposed it was only fair he’d twist the hardest truth in response to her straightforward statement about his existence.
~Tit for fucking tat Hazel. Now why the hell won’t you tell soulful the damned visions are killing you.~
Her lower lip was caught between her teeth. ~Because I’m his seer.~
~He can find himself a new toy to be his damned seer.~
The irrational anger built in her belly before Cordelia could suppress it, the instant flaring of it almost startling Angelus.
~I’m Angel’s seer!~
Angelus sighed slightly, his questions answered by just that statement.
~Fucking hell Cor. He’s not going to be peachy or happy about this. No matter how damned scared you are of your importance to his life.~
~I’m not scared!~
~Look in the damned mirror you beautiful idiot! You’d probably see the terror and jealousy on your face at the prospect of someone else taking your place.~
Her teeth ground together. She didn’t like Angelus at all. She didn’t like that he knew her so deeply already. Her fears were her own and that’s how it had always been with her. Her fears. Her choices.
Now she had this raw, brusque voice in her head constantly testing her boundaries and convictions. She now understood why Angel was always brooding. Angelus kept questioning everything he was.
~Tell him.~
~No.~ She rose to her feet, glaring out into the darkness of the night as if trying to intimidate the taunting voice of Angelus in her head.
~Fine then I will.~
Her eyes widen as she spun around and took the first step towards the hotel. “NO!” The young woman shook with struggling control as she shook her head vigorously, willing Angelus to give in.
“You can’t tell him! You will keep your…MY mouth shut about this okay! You will NOT tell him a thing.”
“Unscrupulous demon here Cor. Why the hell would I keep your secret?”
She stood there trembling with the indecision to just tell Angel and let him worry and hold her in his arms so she won’t have to fight this all alone and die alone if she didn’t.
But at the same time she couldn’t bear to see what this would make Angel do. She knew it in her gut like she knew she liked Gucci over CK; the first thing Angel would do, would be to look for a way to take her visions from her.
And then who’d she be?
~I never knew you to be so riddled with insecurities Hazel.~
~Shut up!~
~Oh I am SO scared.~
~I’m not telling. End of discussion.~
~Sorry I don’t share the same fucking sentiment so I’d have to go with my next question. What’s it worth to you Hazel?~
And her spine straightened as she realized what he was suggesting. What were her visions worth to her? He couldn’t be serious! He knew what they were worth! She was silent because of what they were worth.
~You’re emotionally blackmailing me?!~
~Duh. I’m suggesting a bargain.~.
~No fucking way! I’m not bargaining with a clinical psychopath!~
Her eyes widened when she heard her own voice call out Angel’s name.
She ducked behind a pillar shielding herself from the windows. “Oh god! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! Okay! Fine. What do you want!”
~Well….it’s got to be worth at least a really good feel and a couple of orgasms to keep quiet, babes. I do so love the way they feel in your body.~
~WHAT! NO!~
She took another step towards the door and her eyes widened.
~YES! Fine!~ When she got control her of feet, she took a shuddering breath, her fingers pressed into the throbbing ache in her temples.
~Oh god fine! I’m humiliated enough already, what’s another round of emotional Cordy bashing.~
And Angelus couldn’t help feeling intrigued at her need to keep this from Angel. ~And I expected more opposition. You disappoint me Hazel. I thought you had more stamina than the soul.~
~Fine. Let’s just get this over with.~
And yet her feet stayed glued to the ground. ~Oh come on Hazel. If it was mindless self-violation I wanted, I’d have you on your back the entire day instead of resorting to cheap tactics. I want another day with you.~
And the seer was thrown for a loop. ~Another day? What the hell for?~
~Oh for fuck’s sake do we need get into the whole I’m an evil vampire occupying a hot sexy body I can use to my whim and why speech?~
~Bullshit! I can almost feel the conniving twist and turn of your mind Angelus. What the hell do you intend to gain out of this?~
~Come along for the ride Hazel and let me show you.~
The insane whim of actually finding out what he had in mind was clouded by the sense that there was nothing to convince Angel to let her keep his demon for another day. Her own curiosity over why Angelus was doing this for more time was almost enough to make her agree.
Bargain or no bargain. And Angelus had just given her a taste of the amount of information about her vampire boss. Things she couldn’t ask.
~They’ll never agree.~
~Run away with me.~
“WHAT!!!” She scoffed at the idiocy of the idea. ~Have you lost your mind!~
~Where’s your sense of adventure Hazel?~ The demon leered. ~A night on the town. My treat.
~You don’t HAVE any money!~
~But I know where he keeps the plastic.~
And an eyebrow shot up in alarm and piqued interest against her will.
~Come on Hazel. You and I both know you want to.~ A smirk twisted her lips. ~I’ll buy you shoes.~
Her eyes closed and she groaned softly, tired and confused after the last twenty-four hours. She remembered the look on Angel’s face while his mouth was wrapped around her fingers and her heart skipped a beat.
There was something there. Something she’s never seen on her vampire and she knew Angelus held a lot of answers to her own questions. Now that she was unwillingly comfortable with his voice in her head, could she give him that much control over her own inhibitions?
Cordelia Chase was no coward.
But was she willing to put up with his twisted fantasies enough to find the answers?
~Duh.~
~I hate you.~
And the smirk was back, this time accompanied by a purr.
“I aim to please Hazel. So you in?”
***
Adrenaline pumping through Angel’s veins he gulped down the mug of blood before wiping his mouth with the back of his sleeves.
Without the taunting, ever hungry voice of Angelus, Angel couldn’t drown out his own voice which was concurrently goading him and berating him of taking advantage of Cordelia while she was obviously being manipulated by his demon.
But he hadn’t been prepared dammit.
He hadn’t been prepared with his own emotions on the issue of his seer.
There was so much he needed to remind himself and to reassure the insane need to rid Cordelia of his voice in her head. He knew his demon’s fascination with her. It was the root of his own need to keep her close.
Her goodness was damned enticing and he had little doubt Angelus would bring up the subject.
And Angelus was telling her first. That was something Angel just couldn’t stomach.
Grabbing the phone off the hook, he dialed the number and waited until the voice picked up. “Giles?”
“Yes.”
“Why the hell are you still at home?”
There was an incensed sigh on the other end. “We have a bit of a situation at hand. Although, I hadn’t completely forgotten your plight; I myself have to assist Buffy with a problem.”
“What the hell else could be worse than this!”
“We do live on the hellmouth Angel.”
“I need that spell Giles!”
“As much as it pains me to help you Angel, but this is about Cordelia, not you. So I have sent Willow along with Spike. I believe they should be with you in another half hour or so.”
He frowned. “You sent Willow with Spike?”
“There are a great many things you are not aware of Angel since you’ve been gone.”
Why was it that Angel always felt like he was an adolescent fourteen year old whenever this man talked to him? Condescending, righteous bastard. He hadn’t killed the woman. Then his stomach tightened and he held the bitterness back.
He was as responsible for his demon’s actions as he was for his own. Which made him even more thunderous at his demon taking advantage of his seer, emotionally and physically.
“Pick the short version Giles. I don’t have time.”
“Spike is working with her, for now. His motives not entirely noble, but he’s been invaluable on occasion.”
“Still chipped?”
“Indeed.”
Angel allowed a pause before he spoke again. “Thanks Giles.”
Angel sat behind his desk and rubbed his hands over his face slowly after he hung up. Could this get any worse?
“Nice pad Peaches? Where’s the bloody jacuzzi?”
He looked up and met a pair of cocky blue eyes as a red-haired witch peeked out from behind the leather clad blonde vampire.
It had just gotten worse.
With a lamenting un-needed sigh Angel stood up and walked out to look Spike in the eyes. “You got the spell?”
The British vampire held up the folded piece of paper in his hand and smirked. “You got the cheerleader?”
Angel turned and looked at Wesley.
The watcher frowned. “I thought she was with you.”
And now it had gotten past worse.
