Cordelia had never seen anyone so upset about the disappearance of a rock. Their new watcher guy was pacing and saying things that were supposedly English, but sounded more like gobbledygook. Frankly, she was getting tired of hearing about it.
No one was going to turn her into a sacrifice. End of story.
With the exception of Spike and Drusilla who were still in their room, everybody else had gathered in the study to prepare for Willow’s mojo. Cordy curled up in one of the chairs having kicked her shoes off. She was eating the scrambled eggs and toast that Angel had whipped up for her after they came downstairs.
“Mmm, these are so good,” she smiled up at him as he sat next to her on the arm of the chair. “Want some?”
Angel brushed at his pant leg. “Watch the crumbs.” He smiled, continuing to watch her eat and dividing his attention to listen in on the watchers’ conversation.
Sitting in front of the fireplace, Buffy looked somewhat disgusted at the sight of her shoveling the eggs in. “What? I’m starving.”
“Guess that workout earlier really revved up your appetite.” Faith winked as she walked by. She stopped at Xander’s side where he was sprawled across the couch, sleeping with his mouth hanging open. Stretching, she whined a little jealously, “God, I could use a good workout.”
Cordelia swallowed the bite of toast she had been chewing. Looking back and forth at Faith and Xander, she realized what her friend was suggesting. She was surprised by the lack of possessive feelings about her former boyfriend. There was just a strong sense of weirdness that Faith might actually want him that way.
“Really?”
Faith answered with a frustrated little shrug. “Actually, I think I’ll head downstairs to the basement. It’s the only place I seem to get any action around here.”
“Wait up,” Buffy jumped to her feet. “This could go on forever and Will doesn’t need me for the spell.”
“Just so you know I’m in the mood to kick your ass.”
“What a coincidence. Me too.”
Though sparring with Buffy was not exactly the workout Faith had in mind, both of them would welcome the escape from all of this prophecy talk. Tuning back in to what Wesley was telling Giles, Cordelia saw they had not missed a beat. The two of them were still hunched over the documents scattered across the desk.
“Without the obelisk, it may be impossible to interpret the rest of the symbols,” Wes held up one of the rubbings for Giles’ examination. He pointed to one shaped like a bunch of wavy lines. “This one represents change. Perhaps a change from one state of being into something new.”
Giles had noted that symbol before, he said, but was not certain of the translation. It was a surprise to Cordelia that there was stuff the new guy could figure out that had stumped Giles. His words caught her attention.
Suddenly concerned, she asked, “Who’s changing into what?”
Both watchers turned toward her, staring at length as if searching for an answer that was out of reach. Finally, Giles gave Wes the nod to go ahead. The way he started to stutter made her nervous. It could not be a good sign.
“W-w-well actually…the problem is…we don’t really know.”
“Oh, well, that’s good.”
“It is?”
“Yeah,” Cordelia sighed. “I thought you were going to tell me that all of the potential sacrifices were supposed to change into something weird. Y’know, demony.”
Wesley and Giles did that creepy exchange of glances again where they looked like they were reading each other’s mind. Again, not a good sign. Oh, crap.
Sensing her concerns, Angel squeezed the bare thigh his hand had come to rest upon. More distracting than comforting, his voice seemed a little far away. “There must be a better interpretation.”
“Unfortunately, there are many interpretations,” Wesley scrolled the obelisk rubbings into a single roll and set it down upon the desk. “That last symbol is the key. It is too smudged to be certain. The human sacrifices play a key role in the Rites of Tavrok. A change occurs, but it is unclear whether the people themselves change or they effect some form of change upon something else.”
Cordelia looked up at Angel. “Huh?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Angel assured her that she was safe. His tone darkened as he looked up at Giles and Wesley. “You will figure this out. There are answers out there somewhere. Find them.”
Behind them, Willow cleared her throat. “I’m ready when you are.”
At the sound of her voice, Xander woke up. “What’d I miss?”
“You’re in charge of the stinky herbs,” Cordelia told him and then scooped another bite of scrambled egg into her mouth.
Willow’s spell took more time to set up than it did to cast. She needed the pictures of Isobel, which Angel provided, a map of Sunnydale, a charm that looked like a cheap bauble, and the requisite herbs. Wesley came up with the words for the spell from an old book he brought with him from England.
The spells in that book, he explained, could be performed by anyone knowledgeable enough to interpret and pronounce the words. However, the effectiveness when those with an innate talent for magic cast the spell was significantly increased.
“I’ve been practicing,” Willow assured them. “Some of the words are kind of tricky. I can do this, though. I think. Pretty sure.”
“Hello, show a little confidence.” Cordelia reminded her that she had managed to re-curse Angelus. “This should be a cinch.”
Willow looked more intimidated than inspired. “Everyone gather around the desk. I’ll start the chant, but I need everyone to look at the drawings and think about Isobel. This spell works by focusing our positive energy upon the person or object we seek.”
Think about Isobel? Ugh. Cordelia could not imagine much else that would cause her positive energy to turn negative. Just looking at the drawings made her want to rip them up into tiny shreds.
The chanting went on for a minute while Willow held her charm above the Sunnydale map, a crystal bauble dangling from a thin red string. Cordelia waved her bundle of stinky herbs in the air as instructed, keeping a hand over her nose to block out the scent. Suddenly, the crystal went from its gravity-dependant position to being pulled at an angle as if by an invisible force. The red string snapped, leaving the glowing crystal charm spinning atop one spot on the map.
Leaning in close, they all looked at the place the spell revealed they could find Isobel at that particular moment. “That can’t be right,” Cordelia saw that the crystal was pointing to City Hall.
“The mayor’s office? And in the middle of the day?” Willow gleeped in dismay. “But I did everything I was supposed to do.”
Wesley scratched his head. “I saw nothing wrong with your spell. Did anyone’s focus lapse? Your thoughts stray to something other than Isobel?”
Raising her hand, Cordelia admitted, “Maybe the vibiness of my positive vibes wasn’t as positive as it could be.”
Then, to her surprise, Giles also spoke up. “Perhaps the City Hall connection is my fault. Though I don’t believe I was thinking about it now, I was concerned about Fa—about some outstanding issues that have been left unattended recently.”
“Like what, unpaid parking tickets?” Xander shrugged. “Talk to my Uncle Ernie. He can tell you how to get out of them.”
“No, Xander. More important issues. However, none which concern this situation,” Giles told them.
Cordelia watched the crystal go dark and fall topsy-turvy to the map. “What does that mean?”
“It means that if Isobel was at the mayor’s office, she’s no longer there,” Willow said.
Angel swiped at the papers on the desk sweeping the map, drawings and crystal to the floor. An angry expletive followed. “Can’t any of you get a goddamn thing right?”
“I-I’m sorry, Angel.” Willow was shaking visibly. “I tried.”
“Hey!” Cordelia whacked Angel on the arm. “Stop being an asshole. She did her best. That might not be good enough, but she tried.”
He crowded her against the desk, still looking like he wanted to take someone’s head off. A nasty tone sounded in his voice. “Defending Willow now?”
Placing her hands on his chest, Cordelia moved them in a soothing motion hoping to calm him down. She saw the conflict in his eyes. The hints of gold that glinted amid the brown showing that the demon within him was wrestling for greater control. No matter that his soul was secure, she was learning that those demon aspects were still part of his nature as a vampire.
“We’ll find Isobel and her cronies,” she promised him. “Maybe we’ll have to settle for the old fashioned way instead of the mojo.”
Angel bent forward to rest his forehead against hers, his arms circling around her. “I want this over with. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you safe.”