Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Nancy Holder by The Evil That Men Do

Author:The Evil That Men Do [Do, The Evil That Men]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2012-06-29T10:37:59+00:00

Chapter 10

XANDER RACED INTO GILES’S APARTMENT AND slammed the door. Heads swiveled toward him, and Angel, in a pair of clean, tight jeans and an Oxford sweatshirt, stopped on the stairway from the loft.

“I was, recognized,” he said, gasping a bit.

Buffy, like Mark, was rolling in sweat clothes. She said, “By who? Autograph hounds?”

“They saw us come in here with Mark,” Xander explained. “I can’t give you names and astrological signs, but they’re on their way here.”

“We have to leave,” Giles said. “We can get to my car.”

Buffy took Mark’s hand. It was thin. His face was long and pinched. “We’ll take you to another place, okay? You’ll be safe.”

“They’re going to find me sooner or later,” he said tiredly.

“No. They. Are. Not.” She shook his wrist.

“C’mon, be strong for me. I want to protect you, but there’s only so much of me.”

She threw a look at Willow, another at Xander. They were depending on her to find Oz and Cordy. She felt guilty sitting here. She should be out. She should be doing something.

I have so let them down. I’ve let everybody down.

She said, “Mark, listen to me. I need your help. I really do.”

The boy did not look up to the job. Buffy put her hands on his shoulders and bent down. He was small for his age. She wondered if the other boys teased him at school.

He buried his face in his hands. Buffy was sorry. Very, very sorry. But this was no time for him to lose it. She had to get him out of there.

Firmly, she put her hands around both wrists and began to half-pull, half-drag him out of the apartment as she looked at the others.

“Giles, if I were you,” she said, “I’d grab anything I really treasured. When they can’t find Mark, there’s a really good chance they’ll take their frustrations out on anything and anybody.”

Giles looked around. Nodded. “You’re quite right, of course.”

“Oh,” Willow moaned. “We’re never going to get to rescue Oz.”

“Or to eat,” Xander added, then stirred himself. “Or to save Cordy, I meant. First priority. Oz. Eating would be, let’s see, third.” He glanced guiltily at Willow. “Not that saving Oz is second in priority to saving Cordelia. No way. I mean —”

Buffy watched Giles go up the stairs to his loft bedroom. She said to Xander and Willow, “You guys ready to roll?”

“Sure,” Willow said.

Buffy looked at her best friend and wondered why she should be surprised that Willow’s eyes were swollen and her face was blotchy. It was obvious she’d been crying in the kitchen.

When Willow saw her looking, she snapped, “Just leave me alone, Buffy, all right? I know you have plenty to worry about without worrying about me.”

“Will,” Buffy said, wounded. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing. Just that you have plenty of time to give Angel kissage and not nearly enough to look for my boyfriend. So thanks a lot.”

Buffy was overcome with shame. Willow didn’t even know that Buffy had been at Angel’s when she had been shot.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.