Wedding Bell Blues—Chapter 3

“And wait no more.” Giles said, entering the back door. “I saw the spell. What was left of it. Tara, what were you thinking?”

“I’m sorry, Giles. I never thought that this would happen. Aren’t they all protection spells?”

“Some are. Some are to draw power, recharge the psyche, so to speak. Some are for amplification of good intent and good will. They are all positive spells, but spells nonetheless. I can’t imagine what it did to the spell you were casting. What spell were you casting, by the way?”

“It was so Xander and I wouldn’t have sex until our wedding night.” Anya said proudly.

“What will it do?” Buffy and Giles said simultaneously.

“Well, I don’t know exactly.” Tara handed Giles the paper with the spell on it, and he read it through.

“It seems that it is a chastity and purity spell, to prevent s-sexual congress between the couple until the end of the spell. Tara, is it safe to assume that you set a time frame on the spell?”

“Of course. As soon as Xander and Anya say ‘I do’, the spell will dissolve.”

After quickly relaying what happened with the glowing purple orb during the spell, Tara said, “I felt the magick go through me.”

“Me too,” Anya added.

“Oh dear Lord.” Giles removed his glasses, and cleaned them thoughtfully. “So you and Tara were affected, correct?”

Both girls nodded.

“Spike and I both felt it. And there was a glow,” Buffy said.

Giles’ head snapped up, and he looked closely at the guilty blondes. “And where were you?”

“We were meeting in the alley to patrol. Slayer?” Buffy said, proud of her quick thinking. “We were talking about where to start when the glowy stuff started and we felt the magick in the air. It was easy to turn around and open the door.”

“I see. Er, Anya, why do you think that you needed such a spell?”

“Because it’s bad luck to have sex and orgasms before the wedding. Willow and Tara both said so. No bad luck for me. Had some before, took me a hundred and fifty years to get rid of it.” She smiled; not noticing the rolling eyes and grimaces all around the table. “So I asked Willow to cast it, and she wouldn’t. Tara finally said that she would, after I asked her.”

“I wouldn’t have done it if I would have known about the glyphs…. I won’t do it again, Giles, I promise.”

“Good.” Giles put his glasses on, and scooted back from the table. I think we can go home and go to bed right now, and research this in the morning. Nothing will have happened by then, we hope.“

“Yes, I certainly hoped that this worked, because I just want to go home and have multiple orgasms to relieve my stress.” Anya grabbed her jacket, and hurried out the front door, limping slightly.

“Come, Tara, I’ll give you a lift home. Buffy, are you and Spike still going to patrol?”

“Just a quick one tonight, Giles. I’m tired. Tough day at the office.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow morning before work then, for training.”

She nodded, and went to lock the front door of the shop while he and Tara left by the back door.

She turned to find Spike close behind her. “So, pet, would you be wanting to finish what we started in the alley?” He ran his finger down her arm to the palm of her hand, where he drew little circles with his fingertip.

She looked at him, wondering what was in his mind. “I don’t know, Spike. We need to patrol, I need a good night’s sleep, and I need to be home earlier than last night. All these late nights are making Buffy old.”

“You’ll never be old. You only get more beautiful every day.”

“I feel old sometimes. Like I should be retiring or something. But Slayers don’t retire.” She gave a mirthless laugh. “They need a tee shirt for that, don’t they. Anyway—maybe later, before we go home.”

“All right, pet. I’m in your willing hands. Point me toward the bad guys.”

They held hands as they shut off the lights and left the shop, the remnants of the spell still on the workout room floor. They didn’t notice the purplish glow around them as they crossed the circles, nor did they see it rise and settle over their shoulders like shrouds. All they could see was in the other’s eyes—they held all they needed to know, or wanted to.