by Mel Odom
“Hurry!” Angel suggested.
Buffy kept her head down. A bullet smashed into one of the red, fuzzy dice hanging from the rearview mirror and shredded its cotton guts all over Buffy. The windshield spiderwebbed around the bullet hole.
Sledge twisted the key in the ignition. The Caddie’s engine turned over sluggishly. “C’mon, baby,” the private eye said. “Twenty years in this business and you ain’t never let me down yet. It’s no time to start now!”
Another bullet starred the windshield. At least three more ricocheted from the broad trunk.
Just as Buffy was about to abandon the car and attempt to escape on foot, though exactly where she’d have gone was a mystery, the engine spun and caught. Sledge put his foot down on the accelerator and the powerful V-8 slammed Buffy back into her seat.
“Oh yeah,” Sledge crowed in triumph. He roared across the parking lot, skidded over the short curb, and bounced out onto the street with squealing tires. Horns blared as he narrowly missed cars.
“So how did you know we were there?” Buffy asked.
“He’s got the building wired,” Angel said from the backseat.
Sledge nodded. “Zhiyong went through the building putting in his new systems, I went right behind him, tapping into those systems. He doesn’t know I’m there, but nobody does business in that building without me knowing about it.”
“Isn’t that against the law?” Buffy asked.
“In every state that I can think of, sure. But that building back there doesn’t exactly do biz with upstanding citizens. Me included.”
“Why did you help us?” Angel asked.
“I’ve always favored the underdog,” Sledge answered, glancing into the rearview mirror. “A vampire with a soul and the Slayer, I figure that’s probably about as underdog as you can get.”
Buffy and Angel swapped looks.
“Oh fer crying out loud,” Sledge exclaimed. “I work out of the shadows in this town, too. If you’re going to live here, you have to know who’s who and what’s what. And you mix in the right circles, you’re gonna hear about you guys.”
The Cadillac rushed through the streets like a runaway juggernaut, but Sledge drove with his fingers barely brushing the wheel. The private eye craned his head over his shoulder and looked back.
Buffy looked, too, spotting the two cars that raced after them. “We’re getting chased.”
“Only for a minute,” Sledge said. “See, those two guys are getting antsy. In a minute, one of them is going to pull up beside the other one and I’ll have them right where I want them.”
“You’re sure?” Buffy asked.
“Kid,” Sledge sighed, “I been working this town since before you were born. Mostly divorce cases and missing persons, but you think I ain’t seen weird before?”
Buffy looked into the madman’s gaze that was fostered in Sledge’s eyes. “You’ve probably seen weird before.”
“Tons of it. You wouldn’t believe some of the divorces I’ve worked.”
“They’re making their move,” Angel reported calmly.
“Yeah,” Sledge replied.
Buffy glanced back and watched the car behind the first one suddenly pull up alongside. The way was cleared because everyone in front of the rampaging Cadillac had pulled to the side of the street.
“See?” Sledge said. “I told you. Now hang on.” He stomped the brake and slewed the big luxury car around, barely making the right turn onto a side street. The Cadillac kept turning, coming around sideways. Sledge pushed himself up from the seat, taking up both pistols again.
When the two pursuit cars tried to take the corner, Sledge opened up with both pistols. The right front tire on the car nearest them suddenly went to pieces and threw rubber in all directions. Out of control, it slammed into the car beside it and both of them crashed into the diner on the corner.
Sledge casually slipped behind the wheel again. The tires shrilled as they took off.
“You realize,” Angel said, “that Zhiyong is going to know what you did.”
“Yeah. I figure, so what. I know what he did, too. And I don’t like none of it. This is my town. Maybe I don’t always see the better side of it with all the work that I do, but this is still where I like to hang my hat. I get the feeling that if Zhiyong gets his way, there ain’t going to be much of Sunnydale left.”
Buffy silently agreed.
“Pop open that glove compartment, darling,” Sledge suggested.
Darling? Buffy held her immediate response in check. Sledge had maybe saved their lives. Inside the glove compartment were a dozen CD jewel cases. “CDs?”
Sledge shook his head. “Nope. Those are DVD. Strictly state-of-the-art stuff. I not only kept an eye on Zhiyong, but I recorded everything he’s been doing.” He pulled one of the disks out. “I suggest you start with this one. It’s definitely interesting.”
In the school library, Buffy stood in front of the TV/DVD player Giles had brought out to view the disks Art Sledge had given them. Cordelia watched quietly, tacitly avoiding Buffy. Angel stood on the other side of the room.
Silently, they watched Zhiyong enter a hidden room behind his personal office. The doorway was secreted in the wall.
The hidden room held nothing except shadows.
Zhiyong carried the wooden crate Buffy recognized from the docks earlier that day. He sat the crate on the floor and knelt beside it. His lips moved constantly, but Buffy didn’t know if it was a prayer or cursing. Sledge’s spy equipment hadn’t contained audio.
Again, as they’d watched three times in a row, Zhiyong held his hands over the top of the crate. Slowly, the fragments of the statue lifted from the crate and reformed. Incandescent red light glowed from the statue as it reassembled.
In less than a minute the statue was whole again, as if it had never been broken. Gently, Zhiyong carried the statue to the small wooden altar at the back of the room. He remained kneeling before it, his lips moving constantly.
“Well,” Giles said just before Zhiyong got up and left the hidden room on the recording, “we definitely need to find out what that dragon represents.”
Buffy silently agreed. “Have you had any word from the others?”
Somberly, Giles shook his head. “Not yet. But I’m certain we will. In the meantime, I’d suggest we all get busy.” He crossed over to a table. “I’ve a few dozen books over here I thought we might begin with.”
Chapter 23
“OZ SEEMS AGITATED,” SHING SAID QUIETLY. Xander lounged in a back booth at Happy’s Pizza, waiting for the order they’d turned in. Shing sat at his side, picking at a vegetarian pizza slice he’d bought for her from the buffet. He glanced at Oz, who stood near the front of the building at the pay phone. Oz didn’t look happy.
“He’s talking to Giles,” Xander said. “That’s not going to be a happy speech. We’ve got demons and gangbangers in Sunnydale. Not a good time to be had by any.”
“Perhaps we should go meet your friends.”
Xander shook his head. “Pizza’s five minutes away. And you know how these last-minute-save jobs work out if you don’t do something about it.”
Happy’s Pizza was pretty dead. Only three other people waited at the small tables out front. The pizza was never great, but it was generally hot and was on time. Pictures of Happy Tilson, the owner, a beefy man with a waxed mustache and a chef’s hat, decorated the walls. Xander sometimes worked there as a delivery driver. The place was so laid back they didn’t say anything about Shing’s swords and pistols. Or maybe, since she was dressed as she was, the workers thought she was a television extra on her way home. Home from where, Xander had no clue.
Shing looked into Xander’s eyes and Xander felt happier than he’d felt in a long time. “No,” she said in a low voice, “I don’t know how these last-minute-save jobs work out.”
Xander tentatively slid his hand across the tile tabletop and covered hers. “You know,” he said, sliding a little closer, “the hero meets the girl a
nd everything gets all hectic, then she rides off into the sunset and he’s stuck kissing his horse.”
“It sounds terribly sad,” Shing said. A slight smile touched her lips.
“Depends on how you feel about the horse, I guess.” Xander grinned.
“You are funny. You make me laugh.”
“You look good laughing.”
Shing looked away from him briefly. “I’d almost forgotten how it felt to laugh.”
“So,” Xander said, “how long has it been since you’ve had a really good laugh?”
She gazed at him with those golden hazel eyes. “Years,” she whispered.
Years? The answer jolted Xander and he almost asked how many years, but he breathed in her lemony fragrance and leaned closer. Before he knew it, her lips were brushing his and skyrockets were going off in his head. He pulled back, breathing hard and a little embarrassed about the intensity of the kiss.
“Wow,” he gasped.
“Yes,” she replied. “Wow.”
“It’s been a while since I’ve been kissed liked that.”
“Me too.”
Xander felt her hand in his, slightly cold to the touch, yet strong and callused like an athlete’s. But it was in no way the same as holding hands with a jock. “So, have you ever felt chemistry like this before?”
“Chemistry?” Her brow wrinkled.
“The way certain things,” Xander said, fumbling, “uh, chemicals just kind of attract each other.”
“I don’t know chemicals.”
Xander thought frantically. C’mon, words, you’ve always been there for me before. “Kinda like recipes. For baking cakes. Gunpowder, maybe.”
Shing smiled. “Ah, alchemy.”
Xander considered her answer. “Okay, I guess calling it alchemy is fine.”
“No.”
“No?”
“No, I’ve never felt an attraction for another like this before.” Shing glanced down. “And I shouldn’t let it be happening now.” She tried to draw her hand from his. “It wouldn’t if I wasn’t so weak.”
“You’re not weak,” Xander said, gently hanging onto her hand. “I’ve seen you fight. You’re one of the best fighters I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen the Slayer kick butt everywhere.”
“Thank you,” Shing said. She looked at him again, and there were unshed tears in her eyes.
“What’s wrong?” Xander asked.
“This feeling,” Shing whispered. “I’ve never felt something so strong and so true. Yet, in my heart, I know that it cannot be.”
“Why?”
“Because we come from two different worlds, Xander.”
“They say opposites attract.”
“I should never have stepped over that line.” Shing looked at him, squeezing his hand again. “But it was so easy with you, and I have been lonely for so long.”
“Me too,” Xander said. “But there’s nothing wrong with us getting to know each other a little better.”
“Oh, no,” she said. “There is plenty wrong with that.”
Xander shrugged. “I’ve been wrong before. It’s kind of the family motto. Or curse. You pick.”
“I’m here to combat the evil Zhiyong tries to bring into this city,” Shing said.
“So am I,” Xander said. “See? Already we’ve found something in common.” He smiled.
Then someone slapped him in the back of his head. “Hey, Harris, what’s kicking, man?”
I’d know that voice anywhere, Xander thought, turning to look at the speaker.
Victor Marquez stood beside the booth. He was a little taller than Xander and about twenty pounds heavier, all of it honed in a gym lifting weights. During the last five years of school, he’d taken every opportunity possible to make Xander’s life miserable. Luckily, their paths didn’t often cross.
“Look,” Xander said with stern politeness, “I’m here with a date and I’d like a little privacy.”
“Yeah,” Victor said, grinning, “well, homes, people in hell want ice water, too. Don’t mean they’re going to get it.”
“High school visiting hours are over,” Xander said. “Real life is going on right now and I’d appreciate it if you’d just move along.”
Victor’s eyes narrowed the way they always did when he wanted trouble. “You threatening me, Harris?” His three buddies all cracked up, like it was the funniest thing they’d ever heard.
Xander swallowed hard, totally uncomfortable. Despite everything he did with Buffy, all the sheer evil he faced, dealing with the high school crowd wasn’t easy. Demons and gang members are crawling all over Sunnydale, and Victor Marquez has to come into Happy’s Pizza tonight?
“I said, are you threatening me, Harris?” Victor asked again.
“The answer to that would be no,” Xander said.
Victor nodded happily. “Now that’s a good thing. Keep your fat head from getting all busted up.”
Xander didn’t say anything and tried to avoid eye contact.
Victor leaned heavily on the booth table. “Hey, homes, how is it you’re out with some fine looking fox like this? All dressed up like she’s gonna be on Xena or something.” Then he smiled sarcastically at Xander. “Or is she some kinda damn loser you’re dressing up to get yourself all revved up?”
“I really wish you wouldn’t say insulting things like that,” Xander said.
“Why? Now we got to go back to this whole threatening me issue.”
“Not threatening,” Xander replied.
“You get yourself all worked up, homes, maybe gonna get your head busted.” Victor put his face close to Xander’s.
The clerk at the counter dinged the bell. “Harris, you’re order’s up.”
Xander looked at Victor. “I’ve gotta go.”
“Why? Your momma calling you or something?”
Xander made himself smile. “Yeah, I think I hear her.”
Victor laughed, then looked at Shing. “Maybe your girl don’t want to go with you. Maybe she’d rather stay here, get a real man on the menu instead of taking mystery meat.” He paused, smiling at Shing. “How about it, Star Wars ? You want a real man in your night?”
“I don’t want you anywhere near me,” Shing replied coldly.
Now that kind of bluntness, Xander thought, that tells you she hasn’t been to high school around here. A sick feeling started in the pit of his stomach.
“That was the wrong damn thing to say,” Victor bellowed. “I ain’t gonna be dissed by no hootchy-looking—”
Before he could stop himself, Xander hit Victor in the face hard enough to knock him back. Now that—that was just stupid! He stood up from the table, watching Victor get to his feet, blood running down his nose.
“Big mistake, homes,” Victor snarled. He wiped at his bleeding nose, then pulled a lockblade knife from his pocket. “Now I’m gonna carve my name on your face.”
Shing suddenly stepped in front of Xander. “No,” she said. “You’ve been disrespectful, and you have received what you had coming. No more. You won’t be allowed to harm him.”
“You planning on stopping me, girlie?” Victor challenged.
When Shing went into motion, Xander hoped she left Victor alive. She drew one of the swords in a fluid motion, stepped forward, and swung quickly. The first swing sheared Victor’s knife blade with a metallic ting, leaving a short stump. The second swing didn’t seem to touch Victor at all. Shing stepped back and sheathed her sword before the broken knife blade hit the tiled floor.
Then the loose folds of Victor’s shirt covering his stomach fell away, cleanly sliced from the rest of the garment. The skin beneath was unblemished.
A dark stain spread across the crotch of Victor’s pants.
“Victor,” Xander said coolly, “I’d have that bladder problem checked, buddy. Never too early to start having that prostate looked at.” He glanced up and saw Oz cradle the phone and start toward them.
“Are we okay here?” Oz asked.
Victor’s t
hree buddies nodded and moved back.
Oz looked at Xander. “We’ve got to roll. Got a whole dead-by-dawn deadline to beat now. Giles didn’t give me all the specifics, but it sounds pretty heavy.”
Xander retreated to the counter and grabbed the pizza boxes. The guy at the counter looked totally stunned. Xander passed by Victor. “You’re going to get a chill if you keep standing there. Then we’re talking shrinkage problems on top of embarrassment.”
He joined Oz and Shing outside as they were getting into Oz’s van. When they returned to Sunnydale they’d driven down to the open market and found it still parked there. They’d ditched the Camaro with the keys in the ignition, knowing that it would disappear in seconds and never be seen again.
As soon as Xander crawled into the backseat with Shing, Oz pulled out of Happy’s Pizza parking lot. Xander felt incredible. Shing was incredible. The thing she’d done with Victor had been incredible. He’d actually punched Victor in the nose, which was incredible. And the pizzas smelled incredible. It was just simply an incredible night.
Then he noticed that Shing and Oz were both quiet and withdrawn. “What’s wrong with you guys?”
“If Zhiyong is already planning to attack before morning,” Shing said, “I may have already waited too long.”
“Willow hasn’t made it in,” Oz said as he drove swiftly. “Giles checked over at the Rong residence and found out Willow and Jia Li took off after Lok some time ago. Nobody knows where any of them are.”
“She is in danger,” Shing insisted, “if she is around Zhiyong or those he is searching for. He will not allow himself to be stopped.”
So, Xander thought, maybe the night is going to be a little less incredible than I’d thought.
After the Black Wind gang members had gathered up the last corpse from the mine shaft revealed on the other side of the cave, Willow waited ten minutes to see if they would come back. She breathed shallowly, shaking all over from the strain of being silent and wondering if she could get out of there alive. And free. Free is important.
When the ten minutes passed and she sat alone in the dark cave, she added another five minutes to be even more certain, then two more before she felt comfortable enough to move.
