| Title: Queen of the Night Author: Starlett Chapter 29 "So, explain this to me again," Angel said, drawing out a chair and sitting with as much care as an old man. "What's to explain?" Gunn asked. "You boink Cordy, she stays alive." "Yes, but...." Angel started. He ran his hand through his hair nervously, mussing the already spiky 'do. "You know about tantric sex, don't you?" Wes asked. Angel shrugged. "Sure. It's not the sort of thing vamps get into--most of us prefer a less life-affirming brand of sexuality. But it's hard to live more than 200 years and not pick up on things." "Right. So what you need to pick up now is a book. Because it sounds like you have some studying to do," Lorne said. He waggled his eyebrows. "And, boy, talk about a final exam." Angel looked at Fred, who smiled at him over Connor's sleepy face. "Remember when I came downstairs and saw you and Cordy training?" Angel nodded, obviously feeling awkward. "Yeah, you said that strange word about warriors." "Uh huh," she said. "I was right. You two are evenly matched. Your fire, her courage. Your spirit, her heart. The Powers seem to like you together." She smiled. "It's so romantic." "Uh, right," Angel flinched. He put his forehead in his hand. "But what about the curse?" he asked weakly. "That's the only thing we're not sure about," Wes said quietly. "Otherwise, it seems like it will work." "Would bliss be a problem with Cordy?" Gunn asked, his voice serious. Angel didn't look up. "It already is." "Ah," Wes said. He cocked his head thoughtfully. "I wonder.... Angel, can you think of a time when you might have experienced bliss that wasn't sexually related? Like, a moment where you felt overwhelmed with happiness or love or joy?" Angel looked at him strangely. "Why would you ask that?" "I know that I often experience bliss that has nothing to do with the sexual act. It's one of the best things about being human, don't you think? Those moments where things are suddenly clear, where time stops, where your heart is full?" "Like the first time I heard Aretha," Lorne said. "Yeah, or when my sister said her first word," Gunn added. Fred nodded. "When I landed back in LA after all those years in Pylea." Her eyes filled with tears and she rested her face against Connor's downy head. Angel cleared his throat. "Okay," he said. "The other day, after we fought that Brazilos demon. I came upstairs to change clothes and Cordy was feeding Connor. It was just...." He breathed a long sigh. "Exactly," Wes said. "In that moment, you forgot everything but what you were feeling. You experienced bliss, Angel, don't you see?" His voice rose with excitement. "The meditation and physical training you've been doing with Cordy, it's based on ancient ritual. You are so closely linked already, it was probably enough to start the process of anchoring your soul." He looked around the room. "Now all you have to do is take the next step." Fred started to laugh. "What's funny?" Gunn asked, laying the gleamingly sharp scythe carefully aside. "Well, it's just.... I haven't known you guys for long, but I do know that avoiding sex has been tops on Angel's list for years. Now, not only are you not supposed to avoid it, you actually have to seek it out." Wes grinned. "As you said, Fred, it is quite elegant." "Elegant," Angel grunted. Suddenly his eyes widened. "I get to have sex. With Cordy." Gunn laughed and slapped him on the back. "No, man. You *have* to have sex with Cordy." Lorne got to his feet. "You wouldn't believe what your aura is doing right now, bro," he said. Angel glared at him. "Not one more word about this," he said. He looked at each of them, his face fierce. "Thank you for the information. Please keep researching. But as for what happens between me and Cordy from now on, that's our business." Lorne snorted. "As if. Don't forget, my room's down the hall from yours." He looked at Gunn, "Bet she's a screamer," he said archly. Gunn nodded sagely as he put the cap on the honing oil. "With that mouth? Count on it." "Guys," Angel growled. Ignoring him, Wes closed his book and stretched. "I'm starved. You want a pizza or something?" "Mmmm, pizza," Fred said. "Here, daddy, take your baby. He wants his crib." Angel walked around and squatted in front of Fred. "No privacy. No respect," he grumbled, easing the sleepy baby from her arms. Fred brushed her hand over his shoulder. "They love you both so much," she said. "You're family. Families tease each other. But they also go to the wall for each other." She smiled. "I'm glad you and Cordy are together. It's perfect." Angel looked down at his sleeping son, now cradled in his arms. "I just want her to be happy." "Oh, Angel, look at you. You're a hero. It's obvious that you love her. How could she not be happy?" He glanced up at her, a worry line appearing between his brows. "What if she doesn't want me?" Fred snorted. "She'd be a fool. And we both know, Cordy is anything but a fool." "Yeah," Angel breathed. "Okay." He stood and waited for Fred to get to her feet. "I guess she and I need to talk." Fred grinned. "You want tips on talking to girls, you just let me know." "I may take you up on that." They walked out into the lobby where Gunn was putting on his jacket. "They got a wait on deliveries. Gonna go down and pick it up. Anyone want to ride shotgun?" "I'll go," Lorne said. "I need to pick up some stuff at the convenience store. This hotel just does not stock the right kind of soap," he said, arching his eyebrow at Angel. "You're lucky it has soap at all." Lorne rolled his eyes. "Oooo-kay." He straightened his already-perfectly-straight lemon-yellow blazer. "For someone who just got the green light on the hot, monkey love, you sure are cranky." "Come on, Connor," Angel said. "Let's get you upstairs before your Uncle Lorne says anything else you shouldn't hear." He glanced at Wes as he started up the stairs. "Thanks," he said, catching the other man's eye. Wes nodded. "I'll keep researching. But if this is it, Angel, we may have found a way to save her." A smile bloomed over his face. "It's simply wonderful." "For you, maybe. Makes me nervous as heck." Wes laughed. "Like falling off a bike, my friend." "I never learned to ride a bike," Angel said, shaking his head. "'Bout time you learned, then," Gunn called from the doorway. "Yo, Lorne Green, quit primping and get yourself to the car." "Coming," Lorne called. "Angelcakes. Don't worry. It'll work out. Always does, you know." "Right," Angel said, disappearing up the stairs with his sleeping child. Title: Queen of the Night Author: Starlett Chapter 30 A noise somewhere in the house had Cordelia looking up from the book she'd been reading. Either Mr. Zhou was back from the grocery store or some hungry demon had gotten in through the garage. Probably the former, since the quiet "whump" of full grocery bags hitting the counter was the only sound coming from the other room. She set the book aside, her fingers tracing the leather cover. It was one of a ten-volume set Zhou had ordered from the Watcher's Council bookstore, which traced Angel's history from birth to just before he came to L.A. She was relieved to see the next edition wouldn't be published for a few more years. Fame was certainly seductive, but seeing her name in a geeky Watcher's book was hardly the kind of notoriety she was looking for. She had deliberately skipped the chapters on Darla. Having met her personally, she didn't feel she needed an education on her preferred style of dress (skanky) or her preferred mode of killing (brutal). It was Angel she wanted to know more about. Now *he* was a brutal killer, she mused, turning the book over to study one of the pencil drawings again. Like the portrait she'd seen earlier, Angel's face peered at her from across time. This picture, however, showed him in full vamp mode. The drawing was incomplete, the copy showing speckles of what she assumed was dried blood on the paper. One of the passages she had read discussed the fact that, while Darla may had sired Angelus, he was the real star of the family. He'd devised more methods of torture and death than the Council could chronicle, mostly because the people they'd sent to study him had joined his extremely long list of victims. The last week had stacked up to be one of the most disquieting of her entire life. Her mornings were devoted to reading the Watcher's texts on Angelus. In them, he came to life before her eyes, her Angel turned dark, dressed in blood-soaked linen and silk. She learned that he preferred young women, especially virgins, for their untrained responses and honey-like blood. He made death a game, courting them for weeks with beautiful lies and angelic smiles. He was cold and calculated, sensual and erotic. When he finally succeeded in getting them into bed, he gave them hours of pleasure, days of pain, and a humiliating, horrible end. And after he killed them, he often went after their families. He had decimated entire villages simply by following a bloodline. Cordy swallowed, remembering the Angelus she had met. He was a terrifying creature, not just for his power, but for his obvious sexual prowess. He charmed women mercilessly, with his hungry eyes and hard, experienced hands. If she hadn't known who, or what, he was, she would have fallen for him herself. The older man, the college boy, the one who could teach her things about her body that she hadn't even dreamed of. Add to that her afternoon study of tantric ritual, which was designed to elevate the act of sex into an hours-long, bliss-soaked experience. Not seconds of bliss, or even minutes. But hours. She left the sessions feeling frustrated and terrified. If she agreed to do this--and it seemed she really didn't have a choice--then she willingly put herself into the arms of a man who could end her life in seconds. Or turn her last days on earth into the most artful kill of his centuries-long career. She got up and ambled through the dining room and into the kitchen, pleased to be leaving the grisly thoughts behind. "Whoa, you feedin' an army?" she asked as Mr. Zhou unloaded the last of about ten bags of groceries onto the counter. "I thought we might have a little celebration." He pulled several stalks of bok choi out of a bag. "Celebration?" Cordy asked, trying to get her mind back to the present. "Yes, your study with me is over at the end of the week. It seems appropriate that we might have a few people over to celebrate." "A party? Really? Cool!" She took a 10-pound bag of jasmine rice from the grocery bag and set it on the counter. "Who's coming?" "It's a surprise," he said, eyes twinkling. "Cool. I love surprises." She shoveled mangos into the produce drawer of the refrigerator. "As long as they don't involve demon goo." "I certainly hope not," Mr. Zhou replied. "So, when is this party?" Cordelia asked, grimacing at the raw ground pork and dropping the slimy package in the sink. "Tomorrow night," Mr. Zhou said. "You and I will prepare the food." "Cook? Me?" He laughed. "It will be good for you." |