Each time he took her bound them closer together. Cordelia’s passion and spirit were irresistible and he was too weak to resist taking every advantage to make her fall for him the way he had for her. The love she proclaimed made him happy in a way that proved the curse was broken, but there was something missing. Physical proof. The visible sign that she belonged to him.
Angel could not stop thinking about it last night. Even while they made love, especially then, because it stirred up every instinct he had to claim her. He held back. Kept his urges buried deep. Possessing a permanent soul did not seem to cancel out his demon aspects so much as further integrate them.
Wesley had not missed the flirtation in Faith’s voice. However, this was not the time to address it. The council’s file on her was quite thick and included all manner of activities including a defiance of authority figures, the death of her previous watcher, and tendency to push herself to the limits. He hoped her arrival in Sunnydale was a way of reaching out and seeking help.
According to the information he had gleaned from Rupert Giles on the subject, Faith remained a wildcard. They were at disparate odds about Faith’s involvement with the town mayor. If the man was half as corrupt as they believed, the danger to her was significant. Her willingness to walk the line combined with her innate recklessness gave him cause for concern.
“Turn here,” Faith called out to him as they reached the turning at State Street and Jefferson Avenue. He had seen the far edge of the cemetery from the road, but its entrance was actually off Jefferson.
He parked the motorbike in the parking lot next to the church ruins. “Quite a lot of damage from the earthquake,” he observed.
“Cor and Angel were here when it happened.” Climbing off, she removed her helmet and shook out her dark hair. “They’re the ones who found the stone.”
“So I understand,” Wes nodded. Removing his own helmet, he took hers and put both of them down on the seat. He opened up the storage compartment taking out a legal pad covered in notes and a rolled up section from the rubbings Giles had done of the obelisk’s symbols.
As they headed toward the cemetery where the earthquake had opened up a trench, Wesley made an attempt to learn something about the relationships that his slayer had formed. “You have been very protective of Cordelia Chase.”
Faith looked like he had punched her, shock apparent at the unexpected question. “Not protective enough. Bev died on my watch. Cor got kidnapped.”
Cringing inwardly, he tried to soothe her ruffled feathers. “I meant to say that you seem to value her friendship.”
“What kind of fucked up friend am I?” she said sourly, kicking at a hunk of dried mud with her boot sending it hurtling across the pavement. The random violence calmed her down. In a steadier voice, “Cor says things for what they are. Cuts through the bullshit, if you get me. I like that.”
Wes nodded thoughtfully. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
They reached the trench and saw a gaping hole in the ground where the obelisk had once been, but had recently been removed. Faith crouched down to pick up the tattered end of a rope, her gaze following the heavy tracks of truck tires leading back toward the road.
“Looks like someone hauled it away.” Faith dropped the rope. “Think the church folks found it and wanted it gone?”
It took a moment for her words to filter through the silent curses going through his head. Wes needed that obelisk. People were not supposed to cart off ancient objects. He suspected that the church pastor had nothing to do with it. Whilst a man of God might not want a strange stone pillar in his cemetery, there was nothing on it that shouted demon-worship to the ordinary layman.
“No, I doubt this was related to the church. Perhaps the local archeological society or museum,” he suggested.
“You don’t really believe that.”
Wesley did not, but wanted to remain hopeful. “We can verify it with a few calls. It would be considered a significant find. If we’re lucky, I could still arrange access.”
“Well, fuck.”
Remembering that Faith preferred to cut to the bottom line, Wesley told her another more likely possibility. “This obelisk is important to the Rites of Tavrok, to the final fulfillment of the prophecy. The ceremony involving the sacrifice of these Pure Ones requires that stone.”
“So you think that banished guy, Nic, had his minions haul it off last night?”
Compared to the other theory, this one made more sense. “The appearance of the obelisk was one of the prophesized signs. We can only assume that Nicolau and the rest of this demon-worshipping sect are doing everything in their power to meet their goals. Chances are that the obelisk is safely hidden in preparation for the rites to be performed.”
They started to walk back to the parking lot. Faith pointed to the mud tracks on the pavement, refusing to give up. “Think we can follow those?”
Back on the motorbike, they turned south along Jefferson Avenue following the muddy trail until it vanished at the crossroads at Thousand Oaks Drive. “Damn.”
Having studied the map of Sunnydale, Wesley realized that the truck hauling the stone pillar could be headed anywhere in town. Since it did not take a northerly route out of the cemetery that ruled out the highway as their destination. Which meant that the obelisk remained in Sunnydale. Unfortunately, Thousand Oaks ran East to West across the entire town. Their destination might be anywhere.
“Does this screw everything up?” Faith’s tone suggested that she already knew the answer.