{"id":13402,"date":"2024-04-07T12:49:26","date_gmt":"2024-04-07T11:49:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/goteamfiction.com\/?p=13402"},"modified":"2025-06-27T09:25:58","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T08:25:58","slug":"mercenary-hearts-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goteamfiction.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/07\/mercenary-hearts-13\/","title":{"rendered":"Mercenary Hearts 13"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chase Mansion.<\/strong> (Mon evening)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI must say, this is the best chicken and rice casserole I\u2019ve ever tasted.\u201d Giles expression reflected his pleasure. \u201cYou must offer my complements to your housekeeper,\u201d he continued, reaching for another homemade cheese roll with gusto.<\/span><\/p>\n

The girls grinned as they watched him. \u201cThat\u2019s the reason we decided to ask you here instead of turning up at yours.\u201d Cordy explained.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWell, thank you again for the kind invitation,\u201d he smiled across the kitchen table before taking an eager bite of the soft roll.<\/span><\/p>\n

About to settle down with a \u2018new\u2019 book earlier, Giles had not been happy when his phone had started to ring. He\u2019d been tempted to ignore it, then realised that in his line of work it just wasn\u2019t an option. Hoping his first free night in the last week wasn\u2019t about to go belly up, he reluctantly answered the phone.<\/span><\/p>\n

The surprise of Cordelia\u2019s voice quickly faded to be replaced with mild annoyance as she insisted he go over to her house \u2018asap\u2019.\u00a0 Obviously picking up on his reluctance, she turned quietly serious. Both girls had apparently \u2018bumped into\u2019 Angelus shortly after leaving the cinema. His irritation bled away as she continued. Things were said: \u201cReal important stuff, Giles.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Giles had immediately asked why on earth they hadn\u2019t simply come to him? Cordelia went on to explain that her parent\u2019s housekeeper had acquiesced to preparing a special dinner for herself and Tara. She then suggested that he could join them – if he hadn\u2019t already eaten.<\/span><\/p>\n

As it was, he hadn\u2019t gotten around to making himself anything, and when she revealed the contents of the menu, Giles was much more amenable.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was decided by Cordelia that they enjoy their meal and then talk after, explaining that it was her father\u2019s rule that they never talk business at the dinner table. The delay made Giles a bit anxious initially, but felt it would be rude not to stick to his wishes even though he wasn\u2019t there to play host.<\/span><\/p>\n

The three of them sat around a large wooden table that showed signs of frequent scrubbing, in the large modern kitchen. It turned out to be a surprisingly pleasant half hour, and he\u2019d soon found himself relaxing and surprisingly enjoying their company.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Once finished, Giles helped the girls rinse and stack the dishwasher and tidy the kitchen. Coffee was poured by Cordelia, who quietly stated that they were going to need it. Feeling a sense of foreboding after noting their grave expressions, he followed them into a large lounge.<\/span><\/p>\n

Being his first visit to the Chase estate, Giles found himself admiring the d\u00e9cor and furnishings. Cordelia\u2019s parents had impeccable taste. He wasn\u2019t as surprised by that, considering their daughter was always well-turned out. As was the way for most young females, skirts were a little too short in his opinion, although to be fair, Cordelia\u2019s clothing tended to lean more towards classical styles.<\/span><\/p>\n

The girls opted to share one of two generously wide couches, while he settled for a large and extremely comfortable easy chair. He lifted the large porcelain mug to take a sip of his coffee just as Cordelia opened the conversation with:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe vamps have souls, Giles.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

******<\/span><\/p>\n

Crawford Street Mansion.<\/strong> (Mon night.)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Lying on his back in bed with hands clasped behind his head, Angel stretched his long legs, crossing them at the ankles while ruminating on his earlier encounter with the beautiful brunette.<\/span><\/p>\n

He\u2019d been on yet another scouting mission, hoping to finally come across the lair of the Shousace. So far, they\u2019d both been unsuccessful. Angel had picked up her unique scent as he cut through the center of town and become instantly distracted. He\u2019d watched as she walked leisurely down the street, accompanied by the tall blonde girl Spike had attempted to rescue the other night, who\u2019d quickly nudged her after spotting him loitering.<\/span><\/p>\n

She had called her ‘Cordy’. After a little thought, he came to the conclusion that her full name must be Cordelia, which he had read was thought to be from the Celtic name Creiryddlydd<\/em>, which translated into ‘daughter of the sea’.<\/span><\/p>\n

Angel called to mind Shakespeare\u2019s King Lear, whose favorite daughter, Cordelia, was the youngest of three daughters. Her elderly father had exiled her as a response to her honesty when he\u2019d asked for professions of love from his daughters -to determine how to divide the lands of his kingdom between them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cordelia’s sisters, Goneril and Regan, gave deceitfully lavish speeches professing their love, flattering his vanity.\u00a0 Seeing right through her sisters’ feigned professions of love, Cordelia had refused to do the same. Lear deemed her answer: “Love, and be silent” as too simple. He\u2019d asked her, “What can you say to draw a third more opulent than your sisters? Speak.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Cordelia had replied, “Nothing, my lord. Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave my heart into my mouth. I love your majesty according to my bond; no more nor less.” Unlike her father and sisters, Cordelia had been able to differentiate love from property. Feeling outraged and humiliated that she wouldn\u2019t publicly lavish love on him, King Lear had banished Cordelia from the kingdom.<\/span><\/p>\n

Angel quickly decided that name suited his own Cordelia. She, too, seemed to say what was on her mind without considering if it was what you wanted to hear. He liked that.<\/span><\/p>\n

On recalling the withering expression from clear hazel eyes as she stared him down, Katherina Minola, a girl from a different play, also came to mind. She could effortlessly fit that character too, grinning in amusement at the thought.<\/span><\/p>\n

Angel then mulled over their conversation. The watcher had been busy. He wasn\u2019t sure how he felt about it. A small part of him wanted to rip out his throat when thinking of the fear it had brought to Cordelia\u2019s beautiful eyes, even though she\u2019d hidden it pretty well. But she couldn\u2019t mask the scent of it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even with the gypsy curse, Angel still got a heady buzz of excitement whenever he came across it. Having a soul didn\u2019t mean he wasn\u2019t still a demon.<\/span><\/p>\n

Angel hadn\u2019t missed the shimmer of growing attraction in her beautiful, expressive eyes. If he concentrated hard enough, he could almost feel the hot burn of her small hand pressed against his solar plexus, her slim fingers unconsciously kneading as she talked.<\/span><\/p>\n

That had felt good.\u00a0 Almost too good<\/em>, he thought, his mouth quirking at the corner as he remembered his unbidden physical reaction. Yet another advantage to be found in wearing a heavy and thankfully concealing duster.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe it wasn\u2019t such a bad thing that Cordelia now knew, he decided. At least there was a possibility that now being aware of his soul, she might manage to get past the fact that he was a vampire. But only if it turned out that it was just fear of harm that had stopped her.<\/span><\/p>\n

He also had to consider how she\u2019d felt about his reaction towards her friend, the witch. Ancient magicks had the same scent and his knee jerk response to it, no matter how mild, had still been unsettling. It made him wonder how he\u2019d have reacted if there had also been any hint of gypsy blood in the mix.<\/span><\/p>\n

After revealing the curse bestowed on them by the gypsies, Cordelia\u2019s mouth had dropped open in shock. Even the witch \u2013Tara, he recalled, looked surprised, sensing the magicks but not the reason it was there, obviously.<\/span><\/p>\n

The conversation soon petered out, the atmosphere becoming awkward after a few questions were asked. He\u2019d quickly decided not to reveal his and Spike\u2019s occupation. From past experience, Angel knew that nugget of information probably wouldn\u2019t go down too well.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the upside, after he\u2019d retrieved the dropped stake and handed over, much to their surprise, they\u2019d agreed to let him accompany them to her car when he offered.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cordelia had bluntly commented that he most likely wasn\u2019t the only creature of the night roaming Sunnydale looking for a free snack.\u00a0 Angel couldn\u2019t help the amused smile that stretched his full lips as he thought about it. If they ever did get together, she\u2019d certainly keep him on his toes.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Angel couldn\u2019t remember the last time he\u2019d smiled so much as he had lately.<\/span><\/p>\n

Damn, he really<\/em> liked her sass.<\/span><\/p>\n

Back<\/a> \/ Part 14<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chase Mansion. (Mon evening) \u201cI must say, this is the best chicken and rice casserole I\u2019ve ever tasted.\u201d Giles expression reflected his pleasure….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-to-be-continued-fic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/goteamfiction.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/goteamfiction.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/goteamfiction.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goteamfiction.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goteamfiction.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13402"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/goteamfiction.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13402\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13459,"href":"https:\/\/goteamfiction.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13402\/revisions\/13459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/goteamfiction.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goteamfiction.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goteamfiction.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}