Part 6 – Rueba de las Almas
“You voted against releasing Angelus? Why do I not believe that?”
“Believe what you want, you fucking whore, but I didn’t want Angelus freed,” Lilah shouted at Cordelia. “Without a soul, he couldn’t feel the pain of loosing his son. Without a soul, he couldn’t feel the guilt when we fucked with your mind. I want the son of a bitch to feel pain. But now, the monster is on the loose and apparently we have no idea where he is.”
“Wolfram and Hart had been keeping tabs on him?”
“Apprarently,” Lilah spat. “But a couple of our people turned up dead a few weeks ago. I guess Angelus knew someone had been watching. I don’t know much beyond that. Except that some Indian looking man seems to have taken up residence in our offices. He wears a necklace all the time. Has a bunch of small glowing beads on it.”
“I find it hard to believe you haven’t done any snooping,” Cordelia said.
Lilah spat at her while trying to keep pressure on her leg wound. “The bosses have buried me in work and deadlines. They didn’t like that I voted no. Now they’re making me do secretarial shit.”
“I’m crying on the inside,” Cordelia said. Kneeling beside the bloody lawyer, she poked the arrowhead into Lilah’s gut. “This is my best friend we’re talking about. If for one minute I think you lied to me, or kept some key bit of information from me, I will come back and I will kill you.”
Cordelia shoved Lilah flat against the floor. Without a second glance, Cordy tucked the crossbow out of sight and left, followed closely by Gunn and Tara.
“Was she telling the truth?” she asked Tara as they piled into Gunn’s pickup.
“I think so,” Tara said. “Her mind was clear. I don’t believe she was hiding anything.”
Gunn put the truck in gear and took off. “What the hell was that?” he asked Cordelia. “I know that woman’s a bitch, but I wasn’t expecting you to shoot her.”
“I heard once the threat of pain is oftentimes worse than pain itself. I needed her to know that I was fully capable of inflicting it on her. Besides, it got us some information, didn’t it?” Gunn reluctantly agreed. “Now we go through the books and see if we can narrow down who that Indian man is.”
**************
“Hello Cordelia,” a silky smooth greeted from behind her.
Cordelia turned to find Angelus standing in her bedroom doorway. Dressed in tight black leather pants and a midnight blue silk shirt, Cordelia could almost let herself forget who this was.
“How did you get in here?” she gasped, all the while staring below his waist.
“You let me in,” he said innocently. Angelus smirked when he saw where she was looking. “See anything you like?” he asked as he gyrated his hips. “I know I do.”
Although she wanted to run, Cordelia’s desire to stay overrode the flight instinct. She was powerless to move as Angelus slowly sauntered over to her. He gently fingered the straps to her black thigh-length dress.
“I know I like this a lot,” he whispered to her. His right hand dropped down to just below her knee. Slowly, too slowly, it began to make its way upward. His hand continued to move until he found the object of his desire.
“No knickers,” Angelus teased gently. “I didn’t take you for that kind of girl. Nice to see that you’re ready for me.”
“No,” she denied softly.
“Yes, you are. I can smell you.” Angelus took a slow, deep breath. “It’s surrounds you like a fine perfume. I can also feel you.” Cordelia gasped loudly as two fingers slowly entered her.
“You’ve wanted this for a long time,” Angelus insisted. “Why else would you be wet and waiting? Admit it, you’re just a horny little slut.” Angelus smirked at her shocked expression. He was easily able to block the hand meant to slap him.
“Just lay back and let Angelus do the work,” he ordered softly. Cordelia was shocked when she seemed to obey. “That’s my girl,” he whispered. Angelus took hold of the dress straps and pulled them off her shoulder. “Lift up,” he said.
Cordelia obeyed once more. Angelus slowly slid the dress down her body, his mouth leaving a trail of kisses over her breasts and stomach. “Good girl,” he told her. Cordelia watched in a daze as Angelus painstakingly began to undo the buttons on his shirt.
“Fuck that,” Cordelia cried as she grabbed his shirt and ripped it open. Buttons flew everywhere, as her hands took on minds of their own. They made several sweeps across his chest before finally settling on his belt.
“Off, now!” she shouted. Angelus grinned at her eagerness. He liked a woman that could be assertive. That’s why he stayed with the syphilitic whore for so long.
Cordelia batted his hands away when she decided he was taking too long. The belt was undone in moments and was promptly thrown away, hitting a bedside lamp and knocking it to the floor.
“Pants, off, now,” she said more to herself than him. Angelus adjusted from his kneeling position above her to allow Cordelia to pull his pants down. She jerked down hard on them, leaving angry scratches on Angelus’ sides. The vampire moaned at the sensation. This he liked.
Now that he was naked, Cordelia took the initiative. Kneeing him in his side, Cordelia flipped him onto his back. “Just lay back and let Cordelia do the work,” she said with a smirk. Cordelia then raked her fingernails down his chest, leaving angry red trails down to his waist. The guttural moan he emitted sent shock waves through her.
“You think you’re evil?” she taunted. “I can do worse.” Cordelia wrapped a hand around his erection and began to slowly stroke him. Angelus arched his back so far, Cordelia thought he’d fold backward.
“For the love of God, woman,” Angelus moaned. “Cordelia, you need to wake up.” Angelus looked her directly in the eyes. “Cordelia, you need to wake up.”
***************
Cordelia shot awake. A large demonology book that had been resting on her chest fell to the floor beside her bed.
“Cordelia,” Willow said. “You need to wake up. I think I found something.”
Cordelia stared up at Willow in confusion. Breathing heavily, She tried to calm herself enough to understand what Willow was saying. “What?” she asked in a ragged breath.
Willow stared down in concern. “I said I might have found something about this guy you told us about. The Indian dude?” She saw recognition flash in Cordelia’s eyes. “Cordelia? Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” Cordy lied. “I’m fine, just a weird dream. Let’s go see what you found.”
****************
Angelus splashed cold water over his face. Looking in the mirror to the spot where his face should be, he was vaguely amused to see water droplets trickle slowly in midair.
He grabbed a towel and dried his face roughly. That dream was…intense. That foreplay had been more exciting that any he’d ever experienced. But it had all been a fantasy, hadn’t it?
It also went to prove, at least in his mind, why she was the perfect Queen. She was strong in will, perhaps even stronger than himself. She had been assertive, commanding, and he liked it.
But perhaps she had been that way merely because he imagined her to be.
No, Angelus thought. Nancyboy knew well enough what the woman could be like. Strong, independent, yet playful.
He was getting a hard-on again. And so soon after a wet dream. The last time he had one of those, Angelus was 12 and dreaming of Betty McCormack. Damn, that woman had an effect on him.
Angelus reached and grabbed his silk shirt off a hanger. There would be time to imagine later. He had business to attend to now. Putting on the shirt, he went back into his bedroom.
On the floor lay the pale body of the ‘gift’ Kelemoke had given her. The little minx had come at him with a knife. Angelus had to admire her courage. Of course, that hadn’t stopped him from snapping Hannah’s pretty little neck like a twig. It was a shame really. The girl had been a great fuck. He really liked the way she screamed when he entered her.
She was one in a million. Angelus laughed at that. Who was he kidding? He’d just find himself someone new when he went out tonight.
Angelus grabbed a black bag from beside the bed and then put on his coat. So little time, so much to do. Well, if Angelus got going now, he should be able to finish up by morning. If not, he didn’t have anything pressing to do tomorrow morning.
Whistling ‘The Goldberg Variations’, Angelus blew a kiss to Hannah’s cold body. He was gone to make a house call.
*************
Willow placed a large tome in Cordelia’s lap. On the page was a drawing of a necklace with tens of beads on it.
“What is this?” she asked.
“I think it’s the necklace that you were told about,” Willow explained. “In many Native South American cultures, there are stories of men who traveled through the forests of Columbia, Venezuela, and Brazil. They wore these necklaces.
“The Spanish called them ‘fantasmas’, meaning ghosts, since these men seemingly had the ability to disappear at will. Many of the Natives also used a Spanish phrase to describe them, since many tribes believed these men harnessed another ability. They called them ‘Rueba de las almas’.”
“What does that mean?”
Willow looked away for a moment before answering. “It means The Stealer of Souls.”
**************
Lilah Morgan limped off the elevator when it reached the Wolfram and Hart parking garage.
All day she’d been in pain because of what Angel’s whore did to her. On top of that, she’d got her ass chewed because she’d yet to file a report of the Davidson case. If Lilah had known that voting ‘no’ would have reduced her to secretarial chores, she’d have kept her fucking mouth shut.
Pulling out her keys, she hit the button on the chain that unlocked the door to her Mercedes. Opening the door to the car, she tossed her briefcase in. Lilah never heard Angelus come up from behind her until it was too late.
Holding the chloroform soaked towel over her mouth, Angelus grinned as Lilah slowly lost consciousness. Opening the back door, he tossed her in a heap across the seat.
“Now Lilah, we’re going to go to your place and discuss what you and my Queen talked about last night. I hope you have some wine stocked, because later, I was hoping you’d join me for dinner.”
Angelus climbed behind the wheel of Lilah’s baby. “Damn!” he said. “I love a stick shift! Makes me feel all manly.” Angelus peered at Lilah in the rearview mirror. “I guess that’s why you got it, huh?”
Angelus started the car and popped it in reverse. “I wonder how fast this thing hits 60?” Angelus shrugged his shoulders. “Only one way to find out.” Throwing the car into gear, he hit fourth by the time he hit the street.
