Part 7
CARITAS
“Lorne, I need to sing and you need to read me”.
The words were out of her mouth before he’d even finished blinking at her sudden appearance in front of him. Caritas was heaving with customers and he’d been taking a well-earned break, nursing his Seabreeze and relaxing at the last remaining free table.
He opened his mouth to speak, took another long look at her, gulped part of his drink and then waved her into the seat opposite his.
“Cordelia, Sugar- been picking up bad habits have we”? He said referring to the not so distant past and Angel’s habit of dropping in to demand answers to his questions, usually without any of the pleasantries too. “Hello to you, too”.
“Hi” she said shortly, “so will you”?
“First tell me why, and you can you please drop the volume before you implode this gorgeous green head you’re so anxious to have help you”.
“I’m not shouting,” she told him oddly, looking around to see if anyone else thought she’d been too loud; she looked back at him, confused. No one was looking at her strangely, so obviously not.
“Not verbally no” he told her dryly.
“Oh, right” she grimaced and took the seat he’d indicated and cupping her chin in her hands leveled her hazel gaze on his face. “There’s something I need to know – I mean I think I already know what I need to know. But I need to know for sure”.
“Does that make sense”? She asked him finally, when he continued to look at her with a perplexed look on his expressive green face.
Lorne was busy thinking about whether he really wanted to know what was going on in Cordelia’s life right now and vibes or not, he just knew he was headed for hot water. His sense of smell might not be as sensitive as a vampire’s, but he sure as hell recognized the scent that was coming off her. Angelcakes, what have you been up to?.
“It makes perfect sense honey. But I’m just not so sure I can help you”.
Cordelia gaped at him, not believing he’d say that to her; they were friends weren’t they?
“Cordelia, you know I love you – who wouldn’t? And that’s the point; maybe I’m not the only demon that does” he said cryptically.
“So you’re saying I’m right”? Her belly fluttered while she waited for him to answer her. Silently pleading with him not to give her a load of crap that would take weeks to decipher and still leave her confused.
“I’m saying that you shouldn’t be asking me” he said firmly and signaled the end of the conversation by gracefully getting to his feet.
“But…” Dammit, she just knew this was going to be a waste of time! She looked up at him and he relented a little at the utter confusion on her face.
“Honey, I’m not a daisy to be plucked. Take my advice and go ask him”.
Lorne walked away, hailing old friends and welcoming new ones as he meandered his way around his club and patrons; a bright and cheery looking demon in a bright blue lounge suit that should have clashed horribly with his green skin and red eyes – but didn’t, strangely enough.
Cordelia stayed in her seat, fingers drumming on the table while she tried to take in just what Lorne had said and NOT said. Lips pursed and eyes narrowed while she reviewed her rapidly narrowing options. She was now more certain than ever that it had been Angel that had made love to her earlier and she was damn well going to force him to admit it.
“If he thinks for one damn minute that he can get away with just sneaking off like nothing happened”. Other patrons, mostly demons started to give her table a wide berth once they got a good look at her angry and determined face. “Well he can think again”.
Not that it was going to be easy. She couldn’t just haul his ass in and interrogate him considering he was bigger, stronger and every bit as stubborn as she was. No she needed to be subtler than that. She didn’t want to hear his denials; even knowing she would be able to see through them, she wanted to hear him admit it.
Not necessarily willingly though, or she’d have to wait until she was ninety. No, she had to push him to it and she knew just the way to do it too. She smiled, wickedly.
HYPERION
Angel cautiously walked down the stairs to the lobby from the upper levels of the hotel. His shoulders hunched defensively as if expecting an attack and he only relaxed when he realized she wasn’t there. Then he tensed again and quickened his steps. Why wasn’t she there?
The lobby and office areas were empty, no Wesley Gunn or a darkly furious brunette in sight or within smelling distance he realized after a few seconds of trying to locate his team. He stood with his hands on his hips in the middle of the tiled lobby and glanced around, searching for some clues as to why the hotel was empty during their peak business hours.
A thorough survey of desks and counter revealed nothing. No notes or messages of any kind to explain their absence. This isn’t right, something’s up. He had a sudden mental picture of a furiously tearful Cordelia, packing her bags in fury and leaving, never to return.
He literally pounced on the phone and rang her number. His hands were tightly clenched around the receiver, the knuckles white with tension while he waited for her to pick it “Pick up, pick up, dammit” he snarled and then when the answering machine came on; swore viciously and slammed it down again. He began to pace back and forth.
“This is crazy, she doesn’t know so why would she…?” He rubbed his face with one hand, thinking furiously. Logically they were all out doing some kind of fieldwork or something, and he was probably just being paranoid.
He tried to relax and then with a shake of his dark head gave up the effort as useless. He needed to know for sure.
He didn’t care about logic, if he was wrong, well that was fine. He wrenched his leather duster of the rack and headed for the basement and the sewers. He had no real idea what he was going to do when he found her, especially if she was intent on leaving. He’d think of something. All he did know was that she wasn’t going anywhere.
He was back within seconds; the basement door still slamming shut as he hunted for the hated cell phone she was always on at him to take with him. Thinking for once that it might come in handy.
Finding it on top of her desk in clear view he put it inside his pocket and then vaulted over the counter, the basement door slamming behind him again.
LAYING LOW
Cordelia sat back on her palms and relaxed in the sun. It was past lunchtime and the usual crowd of office workers from the nearby commercial center had finally disappeared back to their stuffy offices and overbearing bosses. “Suckers”.
She’d chosen a clear patch of grass well away from any shade just in case and now surrounded by lots of normal people, all enjoying the park just like so her she allowed herself to relax.
Parents and with rowdy kids, teenagers in groups laughing manically, or young couples with nothing else on their hormone drenched minds but groping and kissing all frolicked around her. If there was a spot less likely to have a vampire lurking about, then she couldn’t think of it. Except maybe for a church, but she wasn’t that desperate.
She cocked her head to one side, watching a toddler fall on its diapered ass but her mind was other things. One of those things being an-about to be very angry vampire.
“And that’s a problem because…?” she muttered angrily to herself, annoyed at the convulsive shiver that worked its way down her spine, roughing her skin with goose-bumps even under the blazing heat of the sun.
“He deserves to be angry. No actually he doesn’t. I’m the one with the right to be angry here, not him”. The goose bumps ignored her rationalizing and stayed put, she rubbed her arms anyway.
“What, so I’m supposed to just forget that he made love to me, the most mind-blowing sex I’ve ever had by the way; and then disappeared without even a ‘thanks or just plain kiss my ass’? I don’t think so”.
She smiled with satisfaction just thinking about what his reaction would be on finding out that once again she’d ‘ditched’ work without any notice. Plus – and this was the bonus, he had absolutely no idea where she was; which was exactly the point and she just knew it must be driving him crazy.
Knowing him as she unfortunately did; he would have got up expecting to find her at her desk, chewing her nails and maybe tossing furtive looks his way. Either that or sitting there staring into space, distracted and confused with no idea who’d been her mystery lover of the night before.
“Hah, he’s underestimated his girl if he thinks I don’t know exactly who it was”.
His girl? “Pfft you know what I mean, not his”
A new voice intruded, “Talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity did you know that”? Cordelia looked up to find the grinning face of a strange guy looking at her with keen interest and wearing an expression that he obviously mistook for flirtatious challenge. Okaayy, so not in the mood.
“And eavesdropping on a private conversation became a sign of sanity- when exactly”?
He didn’t last long after that and with a brief sullen apology left her alone again. She puffed out a breath and checked her watch, then sighed heavily again. Hours to go yet before stage two could take effect.
HYPERION
The basement door banged open, startling Wesley and Gunn into spinning around to defend themselves from whatever had burst in the hotel so violently. They gaped when they saw Angel shrug out of his coat and toss it violently towards the rack. He never treated that leather coat with less than almost reverent respect.
He stalked with stiff angry strides into the center of the lobby and then stopped abruptly to look up towards the decorated ceiling. Then he took in a deep calming breath and held it. Wesley and Gunn shared a look, in an ‘oh shit’ moment of understanding.
“Cordelia took the day off” Wesley offered in explanation and just managed to restrain himself from asking for the same privilege, anything to avoid having to witness the coming storm.
“That’s nice Wes, really and its good that I’m kept informed of these things” Angel said slowly and succinctly, the sharp crackling edge of anger making his feelings known, in case they missed the same taut emotion on his suddenly expressive face.
Both men relaxed when he stalked forward and slammed his office door shut, then tensed again when the door was almost taken off its hinges as he stormed out again. His face was if possible even more thunderous and now he jerked a stiff thumb at his own wide chest. “I’m the boss remember”. He was shouting and he didn’t give a rat’s ass about that.
“We know that dog, don’t be getting’ all riled up” tried Gunn in a placatory tone, he shared another look with Wesley and jerked his head towards the vampire with a clear question on his dark face. “What’s up with him” he mouthed. He could guess but urgghh, the vibes around here lately needing translating they were so thick and fast.
Wesley gave a tiny shrug and shot his own gaze at the empty desk where Cordelia should have been sitting. Gunn nodded, damn he hadn’t been wrong then. He shivered- things were getting too weird around here. Barbie and Angel having cat fights, next thing is they’d be… no, don’t go there, he told himself and thrust the thought out of his head with a rough shake.
Angel hauled back on the reins of his temper hard and forcibly smoothed out the rage from his face. Rage caused by worry about her. He’d not been able to get a lead on her anywhere and the apartment had been almost empty of her scent so she’d not been there for a while.
He’d even checked out her closet to see if there were any big empty spaces signaling that she had taken off. He was being paranoid was all he could think of at the time but so what, better to find out soon enough to go after her before she got very far.
But there had been no telltale signs and Dennis had been sure she wasn’t planning something like that. That more than anything had calmed him down and stopped him from wanting to tear the whole town apart looking for her.
“Where is she”? His face was calm but the voice was still another story, dark and brooding undertones still heralded thunder. Then another thought hit him and he narrowed his eyes to look at his friend with laser like thoroughness. “Did she sound- upset”? He waited tensely for the answer that might give him a clue if he needed to go chasing after her.
“No she sounded her normal sunny self” Wesley was happy to report and watched Angel’s shoulders relax with almost desperate relief. Then not being able to deny the need for truthfulness carried on. “But she was seriously upset about something last night”.
“She was” murmured Angel painfully as a sinking feeling invaded his belly. Then shaking himself free of a severe dose of guilt, he walked over to stand beside the counter and look at Wesley. He didn’t need to ask why she’d been upset and so wasn’t touching that one. “Did she mention where she was going today, why she needed to take the day off”?
Wesley was starting to lose patience with the whole confusing unsettling situation, “No she did not. She’s taken days off before, Angel. What is with the sudden concern”?
Angel looked away his gaze turned inwards as the memories from the night before clouded his vision and made the sudden ache to see her unbearably strong. He turned away without replying to Wesley’s question. What could he say? True Wes but not normally the morning after I chased off her date and then took his place in her bed- all without her knowing.
“Did something happen between you two last night that I should know about”? Persisted Wesley, his own eyes narrowed on the retreating black clothed back of the vampire he considered a friend– unpredictable and dangerous as hell, but still a friend.
“No” replied Angel without looking around, This is between me and her. If she’s upset I’ll deal with that, but I am not losing her – she’s mine.
There was nothing like the fear of losing something to make you realize just how important it was to you. Not that he’d needed another reminder he was already well aware just how precious she was; had known since he’d returned from the darkness Wolfram & Hart had thrown him into.
But he’d gradually come to realize something new and last night had crystallized that knowledge into pure fact. ‘Friends’ wasn’t good enough. He wanted it all, every part of her was his and it was too late for the nice stuff, like giving her an option. He was going to claim her for himself and she was just going to have to get used to that idea- fast.
Gunn interrupted his possessive thoughts by calling out in a humor-filled slightly sarcastic voice. “So boss, dontcha wanna know how the lead panned out on the dating agency”?
“Oh sure – is that where you were then”? He turned back and tried to look interested, knowing he was failing miserably when they both gave him identically sardonic and slightly offended looks.
“Yeah, Cordy’s lead gave us what we needed and were close to closing the case” said Wesley, waiting for some sign of genuine interest.
“Well that’s just great, good job guys I’ll leave it with you” so much for the interest then. Gunn snorted and giving up walked off to fetch his axe for the daily oiling he gave his ‘beauty’.
“Such trust is overwhelming” Wesley responded sarcastically, not willing to let it go like a dog with a bone.
“Have you guys got nothing to do”? He was trying for stern and a change of topic. It only aggravated him more knowing he was fooling no one. Whatever happened to the days when his silences were considered to be intimidating?
CORDELIA
Unlike Angel, Cordelia was well aware of where the guys were up to on the agency case. She waited until the sun had finally gone down and then rang the hotel. After five rings, Angel picked it up and smiling smugly in satisfaction, she disconnected without speaking.
Good just as she’d expected, Wes and Gunn where both out. Angel never answered the phone unless there was no one else to do it, which meant he was alone. She looked around the small diner she’d chosen to make the call from, it was pretty busy now unlike earlier, and a family had already taken her table with two sullen teenagers in tow.
She took a deep breath and reached for her cell phone; suddenly what felt like a herd of elephants started to trample through her middle and she dropped her hand with the phone in it.
“Sheesh enough with the nervous nelly routine. He deserves this and there’s no way he can get mad at me after the trick he pulled”.
She quickly realized she’d gathered an audience again and so sighing deeply she walked to the exit and outside into the evening air. Everything was in place. The plan was ready to go but those pesky doubts had come back with a vengeance.
Angel put down the phone with a distracted frown pulling down his brows. He was definitely not in the mood for crank calls. Half an hour later his cell started to ring from across the lobby and inside the pocket of his duster where he’d left it earlier.
Quickly snagging it from inside his coat before the thing could ring off he pressed answer and put it to his ear. All he could hear at first was a rushing wind and a few panting breaths. Then he managed to pick out a whimper and froze. He recognized that husky tone.
“Angel are you there” her voice yelled and he instinctively yanked the phone to a safer distance with a wince, then eyes widening he put it back to his ear. “Yeah, what’s going on- are you running”?
“Well yeah and so would you” the phone was taken away and the obvious sounds of pounding footsteps on something metallic became deafening.
“Who are you running from? Where the hell are you?” Angel was yelling now too and it was frustrating at hell, not to mention terrifying that he didn’t even know if she could hear him. He was already running for the door with his car keys in his hand, ready to dive out and come after her. Only problem was – dammit he needed to know where to go.
“Angelino Heights, by … stadium there’s an … bridge thingy… to the right. Hurry Ok… demon….” The signal already breaking up- finally faded out.
He dropped the phone from his ear and literally dived through the door, not even noticing the glass crack under pressure from his shoulder. He had a vague idea where she meant and wasn’t going to waste time consulting any damn map. Demons? What the hell was she doing to get caught up with demons? Explanations would have to wait- first he had to get there.
RACING TO THE RESCUE!
Angel drove like a madman, barely even slowing down for traffic before finding a side street or alley to bypass snarl-ups. People where forced to dive out of the way of the roaring black car to be left shaken and with raised fists after he’d gone past. He didn’t care he had places to be.
When he got to Angelino Heights he was forced to slow down and look for some kind of ‘Bridge Thingy’. Finally he spotted an old industrial area. The chain link gate was closed but he could see Cordelia’s jeep just beyond it- bingo! The tyres spun and spat grit as he turned the wheel sharply to climb the incline to the gate. He didn’t stop to open it- just ploughed through.
He heard the sounds of violent pursuit before he’d even gotten out of the car and sprinted with all of his considerable power towards them. Cordelia had been right it was a bridge like structure or more accurately a group of two story units with an interconnecting metallic bridge linking the three of them in a triangle.
He stood in the center and waited for a better indication of which direction to take. Suddenly to his left came a series of bangs and snuffles, grunts and yells that soon echoed around the ‘courtyard’. They hadn’t even had a chance to die away before he saw Cordelia burst out of the door from one of the unit, slam it behind her and sprint across the bridge.
She’d obviously been running in circles trying to keep ahead of her pursuers. He didn’t stop to wonder about that or why she’d been here anyway, just ran towards her yelling her name. She stopped her frantic running and skidded to a stop and grabbing the railing looked down at him.
Her beautiful face was flushed with exertion and temper but otherwise she looked fine- more than fine. Helplessly his eyes ran down the length of her that he could see. Tight jeans molded to her hips and thighs; her light fitted jacket was slate gray and underneath he could glimpse a tight black vest-top that curved lovingly around her lush breasts.
It was first time since he’d made love to her that he’d seen her and now despite the dangerousness of the situation he couldn’t help but remember what had been an unforgettable experience.
The awful hard knot of burning fear in his belly started to dissipate- God the whole way here he’d had visions of her being torn apart by various unknown evils before he could he get to her. Right then the release of tension was almost dizzying in power.
“About time too- I’m getting frickin’ dizzy here, Angel. Next time how about not stopping for a Frappercino” she complained in a high frazzled voice.
“I didn…” he started to defend himself and then stopped. Typical Cordelia always needing to complain about something as an excuse to unload some fear or stress. “Forget that- look just jump and let’s get you safe”.
Once she was out of harms way he’d deal with whatever it was that was chasing her and then they could go home- simple. They were both startled when the door she’d exited was crashed into from the inside. Someone or something was trying to get out and from the looks of the flimsy door it wouldn’t hold for long. Cordelia threw it an irritated glance and then looked back down at Angel still standing below her.
“C’mon, Cor jump – I’ll catch you”. He shouted up to her with an edge of desperation back in his voice. The previous tension returning now that her supposed safety was yet again back in jeopardy.
She seemed to hesitate and for just a second the thought flashed though his head that something about this didn’t add up- but then there was another crash, much louder than the first. The door started to splinter and the snarls coming from the other side got more and more excited as they caught the strong scent of their prey.
“Cordelia!” he growled at her, losing patience with her and not caring that it clearly showed.
She jumped and shrieked when a large arm poked through the door only half a dozen feet from her. She turned back to look down at Angel with her eyes wide and frightened. She held a hand to her fast beating heart and her breathing was rapid and shallow.
“Okay but first I want to know about the other night”.
“WHAT”? He couldn’t have heard that right, no way was she risking her safety over something so unimportant- was she? He could smell the demons now as the musk of their hungry excitement increased in strength. Shit- they did NOT have time for this.
“I mean it, Angel. No jumping until you tell me the truth”. She had that ‘born stubborn’ look on her face that always made him want to bury his head somewhere and wait for her to go away- not that that was an option this time.
“Are you outta your tiny mind- JUMP” every single word splintered with frustrated disbelief.
This just wasn’t happening. He jerked his head around checking out the bridge and took a few steps back to see if there was a good landing spot. If she wasn’t going to jump down then he’d jump up.
“Tell me” Cordelia demanded in a hard voice.
Shit this wasn’t going to work- he was going to ruin it. No fucking way! Not after all the planning and money she’d put into this. She looked back to the door and saw another bunched fist punch through as the wood started to split down the middle. She took a deep breath-opened her mouth and gave a very loud, long and dramatic scream.
Angel saw the door give way too and her scream ripped through him with guilt-sharpened talons. “Goddamit you are driving me… ALL RIGHT! Yes it was me- now for gods sake…”.
She fell back a little, staring at him with shock evident in the wide hazel depths of her eyes. She guessed that believing really was different that knowing cos although she’d been expecting it, his answer shocked her to the core.
Dimly she heard him growl her name again, his voice hoarse with horror and then absently watched her mystery lover from the night before step back even further obviously getting ready to jump up. She shook her head to clear her thoughts – she didn’t have time to analyses it now.
“STOP” she yelled out with one finger pointing at Angel and one hand held palm up towards the demons now stepping through the ruins of the door. “We’re done here” she informed the gray skinned horned demons with utter calm assurance. A façade; as she was feeling anything but calm.
Angel heard her and froze as the tiny seed of suspicion bloomed into certainty. Then confirmed when the demons simply looked down at him, shrugged nonchalantly and then turned around to climb back through the door they’d made such a show of beating down.
“You played me”? The words were little more than a deep rumble in his chest but she heard them anyway.
Cordelia felt his gaze like twin pints of fire on the side of her face as she watched her paid labor leave the scene. Her heart was beating thick and heavy in her chest and she didn’t need a vision to know that he was beyond something as simple and straightforward as anger.
She wanted to turn around and yell at him that he’d deserved it for the night before, and while she still believed she was in the right – just then she knew it wouldn’t cut any ice with him. This was why she’d been having doubts – not because she didn’t want to know. But just knowing deep down that the method she’d used to find out would likely drive him past the point of even his double damned self-control.
Angel clenched his fists so hard the knuckles creaked but it didn’t affect the pressure cooker feeling in his head one iota. “Get down here, Cordelia” he tried to keep the rage out of his voice but ended up sounding strangled with it instead.
“I found out what I came here to find out- now I’m going home” her voice drifted down to him. Her expression was remote when she finally looked at him.
“I don’t think so”. That unflinching denial had her eyes widening and her own anger deepening. Who did this Asshole think he was- god or something?
“I don’t really care what you think. I’m going home so you can just get over it. For the final time, Angel. You do not tell me what to do, got it?” Her voice was rising with each word. The numbness of being hit with the truth fading now as anxiety, followed by her own temper set in.
She wasn’t angry that he’d made love to her- she was angry that he’d left afterwards without a word. Like she was some kind of coyote woman or something. Rage sparkled in her eyes. No way was she the one at fault here.
“Last time, Cordelia. Get your ass down here. If I have to come and get you- you won’t like the results”.
“Oh purleaze- like I’m supposed to be afraid of you- er why? Vampy thing not-withstanding your soo easy to manipulate- Dumbass”. She watched with satisfaction as his eyes narrowed to dangerous slits of obsidian fury, shooting dark sparks at her even from the distance of two storeys.
It took a second for her to realize where the hell that awful vibrating snarl was coming from, she even looked around for the source before her eyes jerked back down to where Angel had been standing. Only now he wasn’t there. Oh shit Chase! You couldn’t just keep your mouth shut till you got home safe
She backed away from the railing and checked out both doors. Which one would he choose to come at her from. Crap- she had no idea which direction he’d taken. He’d simply moved too fast. Duh – vampire ya know supernatural speed- don’t play dumb the one you just insulted the hell out of. “Oh shut up” Cordy muttered irritated with that inner voice that always piped up when it way to late.
The door on her right crashed open, the-until now unbroken one. She backed away nervously licking her lips and eyeing him with wide-eyed fright. Backtracking wouldn’t work; he knew her too well to believe her if she tried to laugh it off; and besides, she didn’t want to. A part of her, okay a tiny part of her, was thrilled with his reaction. She raised her chin defensively but wasn’t insane enough to stop retreating.
He looked as dangerous as totally pissed could be. Every line of his body shouted aggression and a willingness to pounce. She wasn’t certain she could avoid that pounce and so didn’t want to set him off.
“You pretended to be in danger just so that I would admit to something you wanted to know- couldn’t you have just ASKED ME?!” He rasped at her, the suppressed anger so strong it raised goose-bumps all along her arms and made her feel chilled to the bone.
“You would’ve denied it”. She told him calmly lowering her chin now that he was so close, watching his face carefully for signs of imminent snapping.
“You could have TRIED” he snarled at her. Halting to glare with his dark eyes boring into hers.
“I did but then I found you had some floozy with you- so not going there. Yuck, once in the dark was enough”. Oops, SHUT UP will you she screamed at herself- too late.
She turned and ran like fuck for the door, not even bothering to try and open the broken pieces but simply diving through the gap and almost falling down the stairs that lay immediately on the right. She’d barely set foot on the second step when the rest of the door simply disintegrated behind her.
The sound of splintering wood and screeching metal propelled her down the rest of the stairs so fast she nearly ended up on her ass. Panic gave her feet wings and she literally hauled herself back up and carried on down.
Finally there was only one flight left and she simply grabbed the post and used it to swing around to face the right direction without slowing down at all. Her heart was pumping with fear and adrenaline and the dull roar in her ears cut out any betraying sound she might have heard. Crap- she hated not knowing how close or not he was.
He was standing at the bottom waiting for her. Only he didn’t actually show himself until she was almost on top of him. She had no time to stop of take evasive action. He was simply there. But she did have a little something in her pocket. Without giving herself any time to think- unfortunately. She pulled it out and used it.
Superhuman reflexes were all that saved him from getting two eyefuls of mace but enough of the noxious stuff got through that he had to grab his face as pain exploded behind his eyes like droplets of fire.
“Oh shit- I’m so sorry, Angel are you okay” she felt so bad she dropped the canister immediately and held a hand out toward him, the other one covering her mouth just under wide, shocked hazel eyes.
The growls erupted so loud and long she backed off but still didn’t run not until she saw the full fang face he was now wearing in all its savage splendor. His forehead had become lined with ridges that widened already high cheekbones. Highlighting feral eyes lit with topaz fire above glistening fangs in a snarling mouth.
“Oh hey- put those away”. Okay, this was getting so far out of hand it was unbelievable. C’mon this was Angel stalking her in full vamp face. This is so not happening she wailed to herself silently. Prudence got her moving more than anything else.
“Look I’m sorry about the mace I admit it- I wasn’t thinking but it’s your fault too. You’re the one always on at me to defend myself and when I do….” She gave up when he kept on coming and spinning on her heel started to run again.
He let her; she wasn’t going to get far no matter how fast she ran. Run rabbit, run rabbit run run run…