A dangerous sorcerer named Felix Faust has come to Sunnydale, intent on raising an ancient demon to subjugate all of humankind. To succeed, he must perform a powerful curse to displace his enemies, transporting them from one time and place and exch...
Giles stared, frozen along with the others, at the line of vampires facing them from the other end of the street. Spike must have reported spotting Giles and the others gathering information at Willy's Bar, and deduced they would arrive here at the Harbinger Shop to seek help from its owner, Delvina. She had provided Giles exactly what he needed: the spellbook to reverse the Remnant curse and bring Buffy home.
Only for Giles to have his path painfully blocked.
Angel and his vampire horde grinned in triumph, knowing they had the advantage. Knowing they would soon taste the blood of Giles, along with his rival, Ethan Rayne, and his teenage assistants, Oz and Cordelia. Not to mention the intriguing human strangers now traveling with him.
As usual, the most delighted vampire was Dru, the psychic but delusional paramour of Spike, who had now switched her twisted allegiance to Angel. "Why, Angel. We're having a party," she said in a dreamy, childlike voice. "And you've brought me presents. It's a whole buffet of pretty little meals, all in a row."
Angel's voice was pure mockery. "I realize it's not quite evening, but I woke a little early. Think it was the rain. We don't get a lot of it in Sunnydale. Some people hate it. But I like it. The way it blots out the sun, making we wake up and giving me an early start to my night. And the minute I'm awake ... I'm hungry."
Giles surveyed the gloating smiles on the rest of the vampires. Even Spike looked supremely confident in his wheelchair.
"But enough about me," Angel dismissed. "What'cha got there, Giles? Planning to do some heavy reading? You wouldn't be trying to reverse that handy Remnant curse and bring my ex-girlfriend back, would you?"
Giles tightened his grip on the thick book, shifting his feet. He and the others couldn't hope to outrun the vampires, let alone return to the school or any other shelter in time to reverse the Remnant curse. Yet he saw no alternative. He could almost feel the gathered breath of the others flanking him, likely reaching the same conclusions.
"See, I really wanted to torment Buffy myself," Angel continued. "But the way things worked out so nicely, stranding her hundreds of years in the past, I'm sure she's suffering plenty. Knowing that while she's stuck there as a little footnote in history, I'm having the run of Sunnydale, doing whatever I want to the town ... and to her friends. And there's nothing she can do about it. Almost like having her buried alive."
Giles swallowed.
Angel lowered his chin, his gaze turning stone cold. "So how about you hand over that book, Giles? While you've still got hands?"
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Buffy hung from the X-shaped cross, helpless, as her captors watched the crest of the ravine in anticipation.
Buffy felt just as anxious as she tugged again at the ropes. Despite their thickness, she should be able to work herself loose, or at least scrape the hemp against the wooden X-frame until it frayed apart. But nothing she did made any difference. Avurkana had hexed the ropes to make them unbreakable for Buffy, rendering her as weak as a kitten. Unless someone released her, she would never get free. Meaning it was up to everyone else to stop these whacked-out wizards from destroying the entire world, while Buffy was hung out to dry.
