Chapter 21: I want to tell you what I know in case it is of use


“So this is the one?”

“Yes, this is the Slayer.”

“How long until she wakes up?”

“We have several hours at least.”

“And we have to wait until she is awake?”

Shadow gave the man in the business suit at condescending look. “Well, she can’t very well access the coffin while she’s unconscious.”

“We can’t access it for her and then hold her up to it or something?”

“Not unless you want to risk becoming infected with it instead of her.”

“What guarantees do we have she’ll even activate the damn thing? Its not like most people want to give up their bodies a force like this.”

“She’ll be curious about it and it won’t take much to activate it.”

“Curiosity isn’t much of a guarantee.”

“If you don’t want to risk it, you may go in there and try to hold her over the coffin, if you like.” Shadow snapped.

“Don’t get pissy. I just know the partners are anxious for this to take place.”

Shadow sighed.

The man’s name was Roger Wilmot. He was a liaison for the Senior partners at Wolfram and Hart. He was here to represent their interests in this project. Actually all he really seemed to do was wander around here in completely inappropriate business suits pretending what he had to say mattered. In truth, he was nothing more than an observer; he had no power and did not serve any purpose. Shadow wanted to kill him.

“I could use another drink.” Roger said. “I mean, if we have to wait several hours, why not?”

“Why not indeed.” Shadow answered absently. “If you will excuse me.” Roger’s voice stopped him before he could get too far.

“The Partners also want to know about the others.”

Shadow didn’t turn around. “I’m sure they are on their way here by now.”

“Don’t you think that’s dangerous?”

“How? Even if they managed to get here in time, which should be impossible, they won’t be able to breach this fortress, much less get past the Thunder Dragon’s army.”

“The partners don’t like wild cards.”

Shadow wanted to tell the man that he didn’t like ineffectual whiners in expensive suits, but he didn’t, instead he said. “Neither do I.”

“As long as we understand each other.”

Shadow was getting tired of this conversation fast. “I must go.” He said abruptly and then promptly melted into the nearest shadow before the lawyer could say anything else.

Once he was ensconced in the gray and black world that he called home, he allowed himself a sigh of relief. The simple purity and beauty of the darkness soothed his jangled nerves. Deeper into the blackness he traveled, far from where any light could find him; there he could be close to the one who created him.

‘Why must we tolerate these lawyers?’ He questioned. Speech was not necessary for It to understand him.

The reply was in his mind immediately. ‘Because they had access to money and resources we did not.’

‘Can’t we be rid of them now that we have everything we need?’

‘Patience, my son.’ Shadow could feel the tendrils of evil in his mind, invading him, seeping into him, making him strong.

Over a hundred years ago, a woman in what is now known as South Africa, found a powerful artifact while working as a slave in one of the mines. She managed to hide it from her masters and sneak it out, hoping it was worth something and she could sell it. She accidentally activated it while she was cleaning it up that night and while she never knew exactly what happened, it allowed the First Evil to take the corporeal form of a man for one night. While the woman lay asleep in her bed, he crept in and took advantage of her, impregnating her. Shadow was born 9 months later. The woman’s husband, outraged over her betrayal and refusing to believe her lies about a mysterious artifact that no one ever saw, had her killed after the baby was born, as was within his right to do. The man died two months later in ‘an accident’.

Shadow knew what he was before he left the womb. He knew his roll in this world would be to end the Balance and allow his Father to take control of it. He didn’t know what it would happen, so as soon as he appeared to be the age of majority he formed the Rogues. He used the mercenaries to sow Evil in the world. He did so subtly that most of the team members never realized the ramifications of what he did, but every place they left behind was usually destroyed not long after from Evil found within.

While most believed his ability to travel in the shadows was the extent of his gifts, he knew it was actually just a side effect of the real gift he had been given. It was only in the shadows, in the complete absence of light that he could be with his Father like this.

The Evil was all around him, inside of him. He could feel it coursing through his blood. It made him feel strong, powerful. It made him feel whole. He even carried part of it inside him at all time, he had since his conception, but nothing compared to this feeling of completeness he got from joining with his Father. The darkness inside him swelled, it was the closest thing he felt to pleasure.

When the First had told him to seek out the Slayer, it hadn’t told him why. Yet, Shadow never questioned his Father, to do that would be like questioning himself. As soon as he met her, Shadow recognized something in her. He looked deep into her emotionless hazel eyes and saw something familiar staring out. He asked her to join his team immediately. From then on he watched her, studied her. He couldn’t see it very often, in fact she didn’t even seem aware that it was there, but every now and then he caught a glimpse of it.

Eventually he took her into his bed, she was a competent lover in every way, but he did not love her, he just needed to be closer to her, closer to what she carried inside of her. He researched it, he researched her, and he questioned mystical elders and other magick practitioners. In the end he found out that it was all because of how she was brought back. When she returned, she remembered her Heaven, it was kind of like bringing a piece of it back with her, to counteract that and keep the balance, the Powers tried to add a little darkness. Of course their plan failed. A memory of heaven wasn’t a source of light on Earth and all the Slayer was left with, was darkness.

In time Shadow took her with him into the shadows. She never remember afterwards, but he took her into the darkness with him. She communed with the First by his side, the only one in existence who could share this with him. She was like his sister in all things, because she too, carried part of the First Evil within her.




They had taken the vehicles as far as they could, luckily it was already dark when they had to leave them and continue on foot. Giles had marked the location of the fortress in his computer so finding it wasn’t a problem. Getting inside, however, was going to be.

“I thought there would be more guards.” Raven said. There were ducked down on top of a snow-covered ridge. The moonlight reflecting off the snow provided the only light.

“Don’t worry, it’s going to be hard enough to sneak past those snipers, we don’t need anymore guards.” Xander told her. “Any more guards and this would be impossible, right now it’s just improbable.”

“I know a few cloaking spells I could try.” Willow suggested, but she barely even looked up from the laptop she had focused all of her attention on since they left. She had been trying to find all the data that Giles never got around to telling them about before he died.

“Won’t they have a ward in place to alert them of any magicks being used?” Spike questioned.

“What if we used a distraction?” Helena offered.

“What do you mean?” Angel asked her suspiciously.

“Well, a ward won’t tell them where the magick is coming from, just when it is present, so if we send something else in ahead of us and cast the spell on that…”

“…they’ll chase after it, leaving us free to sneak in with the cloaking spell.” Willow finished excitedly, finally looking up from her computer.

“That’s still pretty risky.” Xander frowned. “What if they capture the distraction before we make it in?”

“Then we get discovered and the world ends.” Willow answered him. She sighed and then went back to the computer.

“Are we all going to go in?” Oz asked.

“Do you think its wise to split up?” Mimoko asked back.

“What could we use as a distraction?” Raven asked.

Everyone began talking at once except for Illyria who watched the proceedings.

“We aren’t getting anywhere arguing here.” Spike said loudly.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to split up again.” Myoko told her sister.

“I don’t know if it could be done another way.”

“We could always just try to go with the full frontal attack maybe throw them off balance.” Xander said.

“What about a Trojan Horse attack?” Oz suggested.

“What would you recommend we use for a horse?” Pixie giggled.

“Helena and Pixie could pretend they captured us.” Xander tried again.

“That’s not going to happen.” Angel snapped.

“WAIT!!!” Willow’s head shot up and her eyes almost glowed with excitement. “I have it! One of the reports from Giles explains there’s a small tunnel on the far side of the mountain range.” She pointed across the valley.

“That will take another half a day to get to, then we’d have to wait for dark again.” Spike argued.

“Not if we cross along the mountain peaks, then we could reach the far side in a few hours.” Helena spoke up.

“How do you figure that? Most of the humans couldn’t travel that far in the snow and even if they could there could still be problem of elevation sickness.” Angel questioned her.

“I can get us a guide to help us.”

“I don’t think there is another village around for miles.” Oz said doubtfully.

Helena tilted her head to the side with a small smile. Oz and the others looked in the direction she indicated and there sat three young snow leopards. All of them eyed each other distrustfully, but they sat there obediently waiting for instructions.

“I don’t like it.” Angel said. “There has to be another way.”

“Fine, then tell me what it is.” Helena challenged him.

“You still haven’t explained how the humans will survive the trek, we don’t exactly have the right supplies for this.” He challenged back.

Finally Illyria spoke up, walking towards the leopards slowly. “You control these creatures?” She asked Helena.

“They sense the power of their god, the will do as I ask.” Helena answered her, dubiously.

“And they will know how to get across these mountains to the tunnel?”

“Yes.”

“Before sunrise?”

“Yes.”

“You are limber enough to travel as fast as they can?”

“Yes.”

“Which is faster than the humans or the vampires?”

Helena hesitated. “I believe the vampires could keep up, the humans would slow us down.”

“You can fly.” Illyria turned suddenly and addressed Pixie, who for the first time looked unsure.

“Yes…” There seemed to be a title or honorific hovering on the edge of her lips.

Illyria smiled coldly and stepped forward. “You know me, don’t you?”

“You are destruction. I have heard the tales from my people.”

“Yet, I have never sensed another of your kind since I was reborn. I thought they were wiped out.”

Pixie raised her eyes defiantly.

Illyria’s smile widened. “As I thought, your race is hiding somewhere.”

“We don’t have time for this.” Angel said impatiently.

Illyria turned to face him. “You are right.” She met Spike’s eyes. “We will travel with the Wolf and these two to the tunnel. Willow and Xander will fall back with the Hogoshas. They will only slow us down at this point.”

“Would that be so you can pick us off?” Angel asked her.

“Don’t be foolish. I have chosen to stay with you since Wesley’s death. I would have killed you many times over by now if I so chose.” She paused. “I have found there is more to existence than domination.”

“Oh, that’s just incredible.” Angel turned towards Spike. “We need a better plan. I personally like the distraction idea.”

“No. She’s right.”

“What? Are you crazy?”

“She’s right, Angelus.” Spike stated again, firmly.

“Are you seriously going to walk into the same trap twice? First they separate us, then they start killing us.”

“Its not a trap. Illyria is right. Its time you start trusting the people around you, Mate.”

“That thing killed Fred.” Angel spluttered. “Maybe you can forget that because you didn’t know Fred as well as I did.”

Spike stepped up to him and almost growled. “Don’t you ever say that to me again. I adored that girl.”

“I am getting so tired of saying this.” Willow muttered. “Not the time for a pissing contest guys.” She said loudly.

“Yes, Fred is gone and Illyria is here, but it wasn’t intentional. Illyria didn’t know Fred and she didn’t plan to kill Fred.”

“Oh, so that makes it better?” Angel raised his voice.

“Guys.” Willow’s voice was much sharper this time.

“How can you say it wasn’t intentional?” Angel continued, ignoring Willow.

“She was being reborn into a vessel. She didn’t choose her vessel.”

“She wanted to be reborn so she could slaughter and destroy things. She wanted to enslave the world!”

“Ok, that’s enough.” Willow flicked her wrist and a barrier of air two feet thick came up between them, pushing them apart, but it still didn’t stop their argument.

“Kinda like you were planning to do with Acathla.”

“That was…”

“Oh, spare me the soul speech. I know better, Angelus.”

Angel’s jaw clenched. “And I bet you propose we trust the other two, as well.”

Illyria spoke up. “This one is here to put a stop to this.” She pointed at Pixie. “I know this race from before. The nature spirits are close knit and they detested my kind.” Pixie did not respond and Illyria turned back to Helena.

“And this one is as in love with him,” She pointed to Xander. “As he is with her. It is so thick around them I can almost taste it.”

“Um, could you please NOT taste my emotions? Thanks.” Xander was embarrassed.

Illyria glanced at him sideways, but spoke on. “Love is a powerful motivational force.” She said solemnly. Spike met her eyes and they nodded at each other.

“Ok then.” Angel said. Even the Hogoshas who barely knew him could tell this was hard. “We should get moving soon. I for one, don’t want to get caught out here when the sun rises.”

“So that’s it? That’s the plan?” Xander asked, sounding almost panicked. “I’m not so sure I like this plan.”

“They’re right Xander.” Willow told him. “They need to get in there as fast as possible.”

“And what are we going to do?”

“We hold the retreat line. I’ll work on a spell to hold them back at the monastery.” She looked worried. “Just in case.”

“Now Red, I didn’t mean for you to abandon us up here.” Spike told her with a slight grin.

“No one is abandoning you. I will take one of the trucks and drive around to the tunnel.” Raven stepped up and spoke with determination. “I will wait there for you.”

Spike opened his mouth to argue with her, but he closed it when he saw there would be no changing her mind.

“I’ll be waiting with you.” Xander agreed. “I’m not so good at sitting around waiting.”

“Well then, looks like we have a plan.” Spike said with finality.

Xander moved off to talk to the cat girl. Spike shook his head at him. Who would have thought that Harris would be in love with a creature like that? Spike just hoped he matured since his relationship with Anya. That Helena bird was likely to rip his head off if he played with her emotions.

He turned away from the two of them, suddenly feeling like he was peeping on a private moment and met Raven’s eyes.

“I’m so glad you’re ok.” He said after a moment.

She raised her eyebrows. “You thought I couldn’t take care of myself?” She said, but the hint of smile gave away her amusement.

“Well, you are only a girl.” Spike said, managing a straight face with her eyes opened wide. “And a small girl at that.”

“Don’t make me knock you on your ass right before you leave, vampire.” She stepped up to him. “It would be a real bitch to walk that far with wet pants chafing at your skin.”

“Hey now!” Spike jumped back. “You know how sensitive my skin is!”

The playful manner left her. “You need to survive this.” She told him solemnly.

“I will.”

“I would like to see you happy, I hope that you are able to save her.”

“Thank you.” Spike looked down. “Raven, I…” He began anxiously.

“No. I don’t have any regrets.”

His eyes got very shiny and he shook his head. “I regret that you aren’t happy. I regret that it’s because of me you aren’t.”

“That’s good.”

He looked at her incredulously. She smiled. “I didn’t say I wanted you to be perfectly happy.”

He couldn’t help but laugh as he pulled her in for a hug. “I do love you.” He whispered.

“I know you do.”

“Excuse me, guys.” Willow’s hesitant voice broke them apart. “I’m sorry, but I need to talk to Spike before he leaves and they look ready to leave.”

“That’s ok. You’re words are probably more important for his life than mine.” Raven said graciously before walking away.

“What’s up?” Spike asked Willow.

“I finished reading the prophecy and there’s something you should know.” Spike waited for her to continue. “If Buffy is infected before you get there…”

“She won’t be.”

“Spike.”

“No. I’ve seen what it does, I won’t let that happen to Buffy.”

“And the facts are, it probably will.” Willow said firmly.

“I won’t be able to kill her.”

“If you’d shut up and listen you won’t have to.” She snapped at him. He looked at her shocked. “According to the prophecy Buffy should be strong enough to fight it off, but only if she’s whole.”

Understanding entered Spike’s eyes. “So I have to get all those little pieces of Buffy back together.”

“She’s let you in. You’re the only one she’s let in.”

Spike sighed. “I honestly don’t know if it’s possible.”

“Well, are you ready to just give up and let her die? Because if you are, then you can save yourself the walk.”

“Easy Red. Down girl. I’m not giving up on her. I just don’t know if she’ll every be able to be whole again.”

“You have to believe she will be.” Willow told him intently. “She needs your strength and hope if she has any chance at all.”

Spike nodded.

“We need to leave.” Illyria said.

Spike hugged Willow quickly then turned towards the others. “Let’s go meet our deaths, shall we?”

“You know that’s a lot more frightening to those of us who are alive.” Pixie grumbled. With that they turned and began to wade through the snow.

“Bye-bye.” Willow called.

“Have fun storming the castle.” Xander added.

“Think they’ll make it?” She asked.

“It would take a miracle.” He answered. They exchanged looks then started back down the other slope towards the vehicles.



Buffy woke up very groggy. Her head hurt and when she opened her eyes nothing looked familiar. She lay there for a few moments trying to remember where she was and what happened.

Shadow.

He betrayed her. For the first time in a long time she felt something very much like anger. She willed herself to calm down, knowing from the past that her emotions usually didn’t benefit her in any way.

She sat up and took in her surroundings.

She wasn’t restrained in any way. She was in a large room that looked like a throne room. There was a large dais in the center and on it sat the coffin.

Buffy stood up. She looked around. No guards. Nothing.

They must not have thought she would wake up this soon. She stared hard at the coffin. That coffin was supposed to be the key to all of this and they made the mistake of leaving her alone with it.

She walked over to it to get a closer look. It seemed so very simple to her. She would damage the coffin and that would ruin all of their plans.

True, Shadow would probably take her life for this, but her life wasn’t worth much any way. Not anymore.

For a second something very much like pain struck her with an image of Spike in her mind, but she controlled it. There was no time for such nonsense. Even if there were Spike wouldn’t want her to miss this chance. If she could still save the world then maybe everything that happened to her wouldn’t be in vain.

She looked around for a weapon or blunt object to strike at it with, but didn’t see anything. There were crystals all over the top of it. Buffy decided that maybe if she broke the crystals off of it that would disrupt its power. It was a long shot, but worth the risk. She reached out to try and pull one of the crystals off. Just as she touched it something opened towards the top and a gust of air blew into her face. Buffy jumped back coughing violently, but she can felt the substance moving deeper into her system. She immediately shoved her finger down her throat trying to induce vomiting in a vain attempt to remove the substance from her, but she could feel it invading her body. She tried to fight it off, but it was a losing battle. The essence of the Thunder Dragon was much stronger than Illyria’s essence and it quickly overcame her, pulling her down into unconsciousness.



Outside, deep in the night, Spike, Angel, Illyria, Oz, Helena and Pixie are almost across the ridge. The journey was slightly more difficult for Oz than they anticipated, the wolf was a lot lower to the ground and it made it harder for him to get through the deep snows, but with help he got through it ok.

Down at the bottom on the other side, less than an hour away the tunnel sits. They are making good time and Spike is feeling confident they will make it.

“Shadow is mine.” Spike said to the others. “ I want to bleed that Wanker dry.”

“That’s fine with me.” Angel responded.

“How do you plan on killing him?” Helena sounded amused.

“He will just hide if you get close.” Pixie added.

“The Watcher found a way to follow him into the shadows and I will too.” Spike said confidently. “I’m certain my new bag of tricks that Blue gave me will help out.” He stopped walking suddenly and growled.

“What is it?” Angel turned immediately.

“I think it was Buffy, something pissed her off nice and good.”

“Is she in danger?”

“I don’t know. It was only a flash for an instant. It’s gone now.”

”We must hurry.” Illyria stated. “There may not be much time left.”

The moved on, more quickly than before.

Spike stopped again. “NO!” He yelled.

“Spike?”

“Something’s wrong. For a moment I felt pain and resignation.”

“We must keep moving.” Illyria urged, but no one listened, they all just focused on watching Spike.

Suddenly he bent over. “Buffy.” He cried.

At the same time Illyria let out a cry. “No.”

“What is going on?”

“I think we’re too late.” Oz answered him.

“The Thunder Dragon has been released. It is being reborn in the vessel.”

Angel walked over to Spike. “Are you ok?”

Spike straightened shakily. “We have to hurry. That thing is eating her alive.” He took off as quickly as he could in the snow.

“Spike, it’s already infected her. We’re too late. The only option we’ll have is to kill her before it takes over completely.”

Spike turned and fixed Angel with a cold stare. “No one is touching her. I can bring her back. I can beat this thing.”

“Spike.” Angel’s voice held warning.

“If you try to hurt her, I will kill you.” Spike told him.

They all worried looks, but none of them said anything. Not knowing what else to do they followed Spike.



“Success.” Shadow said with a smile. “In a few short hours she will awake and be the most powerful being in the world and she will belong to me.”

“Yes, just remember your promises to Wolfram and Hart.” Roger reminded him.

“How could I forget?”

“The Council’s team was spotted on one of the far ridges not that long ago.”

“Yes, then they split up. They believe they found a back way into our fortress.”

“Did they?”

“Well, they will be able to get in through there.”

“And you’re just going to let them in?”

“Not all of them. Just the vampires, the treacherous members of my team and the other Old One.”

“The wolf is with them too.” Simon’s voice growled out from the corner.

“He really doesn’t concern me.”

“I repeat, you’re just going to let them in?”

“I’m going to have to echo that statement.” A new voice called across the room.

“Ah, Major Finn, I wondered when you were going to get done staring at my Slayer.”

Riley’s eyes narrowed hatefully, but refused to let Shadow bait him. “Is she supposed to be unconscious like that?”

“I believe it is her body’s way of trying to slow down what is happening to it. It thinks of the Essence like a poison or toxin. Since she is part vampire she doesn’t need her bodily systems the way we do, so unconscious she can slow them down in an attempt to slow down its possession of her.” Simon answered.

A vein on Riley’s forehead was clearly pumping furiously. “And will that work?” He almost yelled at his former prisoner.

Riley hated the fact that he was here. He hated that this had gotten so far out of control. The government should be in charge of the procedure. The Fyarl should be back in the laboratory for testing and Shadow should not even exist at this point. Instead they had been compromised and not wanting to be left out of the new Power the US government had formed a deal, brokered by Wolfram and Hart of course. They were to be the only government who wouldn’t be destroyed by the Thunder Dragon. They would even set the laws and mandates for the rest of the world. Finally bringing it the order it needed.

They also decided Riley would, along with seven hundred Marine and Special Ops forces, would oversee the proceedings. If things didn’t work out as were planned, if the Thunder Dragon was not the all powerful being it was supposed to be, Riley was to take command of the fortress and kill Shadow and the lawyer.

“It may slow it down slightly, but nothing can stop it.” Shadow told him confidently.

“And what about Spike?” Riley asked him. Riley was sure of only one thing in his life, Buffy and Spike were never to be underestimated.

“He will enter the tunnel with the others, when they are far enough in we will seal off their exit and surround them. They will be trapped like rats.” Shadow smiled. “I’ve even left them a little welcoming present.”

“I want my troops part of the team that captures them.” Riley told him.

“You don’t want them killed outright?” Shadow asked him, the constant mocking tone really grated on Riley’s nerves.

“No.” Riley didn’t even hesitate. “My orders are to recapture Hostile 17 and Illyria.”

“And you think we should just turn them over to you?”

“It is in his contract.” Roger spoke up. “The US President was very clear on that.”

Shadow practically gritted his teeth. Just a little bit longer and she would awaken, and then he could kill these humans.

“Something is happening.” Simon said. He had been monitoring Buffy through a camera placed in the throne room.

The others gathered behind him and stared out the screen.

“What in the hell are those?” Riley asked, horrified.

“They arrived with the coffin. A little bonus.” Riley looked at Shadow as he spoke. “The Thunder Dragon’s personal army.”

“You command those things?”

“No, they serve only the Thunder Dragon. They brought the coffin, they waited for the Slayer to become infected and now they are protecting her.”

Riley stared at them all filing in and surrounding Buffy’s lifeless form, filling the large room.

“My God how many of them are there?” He exclaimed.

“About thirty-five hundred.”

Riley gaped at him. Those things would tear through his men in seconds.

“Is something wrong, Major?”

“I don’t like the idea of no one controlling those things.”

“Think of them as insurance policy. This way we can all be certain that none of us will break our partnership.” Shadow smiled at both of the men who now looked decidedly ill.

“Would you like some more to drink Roger?” He asked with evil glee.



It was when they finally reached the tunnel they noticed Pixie was gone.

“When the hell did she get away?” Spike yelled.

“I was in the front following the cats, you can’t blame me for this.” Helena snapped.

“The last time I noticed she was here was when we stopped.” Oz said breathing heavily. They hadn’t stopped since Spike felt Buffy get taken over, more than an hour before. Spike had urged Helena on at such a frantic pace they had practically rolled down the mountain’s face.

“Bloody hell.”

“She will not betray us.” Illyria said.

“How can you be so sure?” Angel demanded.

“She will not betray us.”

Spike shook his head. “Fine, it’s too late to turn back now. Only way left to go is forward.” With that he squeezed into the tunnel and began moving forward.



“Ah, our guests have arrived.” Shadow said eagerly. “My men are closing of the tunnel now.”

“What did you mean you left a ‘welcome present’ for them?” Roger asked. Riley had gone to supervise his troops role in their capture.

“The Watcher actually believed he had been able to sneak a spy into our midst. He was a fool.”



When the tunnel opened up the scent of blood filled Spike’s nostrils. They were in a large storage room, well lit, metal sides. Definitely not something one would expect to find in a large stone fortress. His eyes searched the large space for the source of the smell while the others poured out.

“Looks like they might have been expecting us.” Oz commented lightly, but he was tensed up ready to fight.

“Who was that?” Helena asked.

“Robin Wood. He must have been Giles’ informant.”

“Where is the rest of him?” Angel asked.

“There are men approaching.” Illyria said suddenly. A door opened up and a large group of men started coming in.

“Back in the tunnel.” Angel said quickly.

“Its already be closed off.” Riley’s voice echoed through the room. “I’m afraid this is it for you.”



Author's Note: Happy 4th of July. The next chapter is already written and I just need to fine tune it. I'm hoping to get it up before my trip to New Orleans on the 12th, but I also start a new job this week. So we'll see.... And BIG THANKS to Demonica for reading this over for me.