Janus

Part 19 of The Turning Series

Author: claudia6913

Rating: R

Pairing: Willow/Angel

Summary: What's Willow doing while Angel and Angelus are arguing?

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, it all belongs to Joss.

Distribution: If I've given it to you, take it, if not, ask and I'll more then likely say yes.  Previous chapters can be found on my site.  <a href=http://magical-worlds.us/claudia6913/index.php>Vampyre Haven</a>

Feedback: Yes please.  ghoztstarz@yahoo.com

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I watch, just as Angelus is about to sink his fangs into the bitch's neck, his eyes roll back in his head and he falls back onto the bed.  What the hell just happened?

"What did you do to him?"  I ask, my voice low and hard.  How dare she do something to him!

"I didn't do anything!  You were the one who was going to let him snack on me," Cordelia says, playing innocent.

I can smell the lies on her, the deceit.  It's still a bit odd to catch these smells, these differences in the air.  I don't know if I like it.  It seems everyone has been lying to me lately, including myself.  But my sense of smell isn't the only thing I've had to get used to.  Even right now, as I look between her and Angelus' still body, I can feel it - the demon.  It's crying out for blood, for vengeance.  A cry I know well.

Slowly, I move closer to Angelus.  He looks...dead.  Well, deader.  He already was dead, being a vampire.  It's disturbing.  I wonder if this is what I look like when I sleep.

Reaching through my bond with Angel, I can barely feel him.  He's almost lost to me.

"No.  No, you didn't do this," I say softly, reaching out to caress his cheek.  Please come back to me Angel.  I need you.

"See!  Right, so, about these chains...," she says.

"But, you did something," I say, ignoring her.  "You took his soul, pushed it away to make room for Angelus.  Why?"

"I didn't <i>do</i> anything!  I'm not a witch.  I wouldn't even know where to-"

"Shut up!"  I yell, cutting her off with a backhand to her mouth.  A trickle of blood trails down her lip where it busted.  I can't help but stare at it, watch entranced as it makes its way down to her chin.  Slowly, as if in a daze, I watch my finger gather it up.  Looking at it, I can't help but see it, smell it, feel the texture of it before I slowly slip my finger into my mouth.

The taste of it explodes inside of me.  It's powerful.  Potent.  Delicious.  Nothing like the blood of Angel.  His tastes of power as well, but older, deeper, and more subtle.  This, this I can feel the life in , rushing through it even as it falls.

What's happening to me?

"Liar," I say, looking back up at her.  She looks truly scared now.  I wonder what my expression was when I tasted the blood.  I can still feel it coursing through me, working its way into every part of me.

"I can taste the lies, smell them.  You're filled with them...and something else.  Now, I'll ask you one more time," I say quietly, changing to the mask of my demon.  "What did you do to Angel?"

Her mouth forms a tight thin line, defiant.  Fine.  We can play this game.  But we haven't the time.  I can hear the others filtering into the lobby.  I grab her throat, pulling her as close to me as the chains will allow.

"What.  Did. You.  Do?"

She doesn't say anything, just looks me in the eye.  This isn't the Cordelia I'd known in high school.  This is something else, someone else.  She smiles when she hears Wesley call my name.  Roughly, I let go of her neck.  She turns to me, her mouth quivering, tears forming at her eyes.  What is she doing?

"Wesley!  Wes!  In here, quick!"  Cordelia cries out.

"You bitch," I sneer, changing back to my human mask just as Wesley and Fred burst into the room.

Wesley and Fred stand just inside the room, looking wide-eyed at the scene before them.  Cordelia cries softly, asking for help.

"What is this?"  Wesley asks, moving Fred behind him.  "Dear Lord, why is she chained as well?"

I can see the horror in their eyes.  They probably see the blood at the corner of her mouth; see that Angelus isn't chained on his upper body.

"Where did the magick come from?"  I ask, ignoring his questions.  They aren't important, not right now.  I have to know if it was Cordelia.  I have to know what did this to Angel.  The need for revenge boils inside of me, making me relive the one and only time I'd ever taken revenge on anyone.  I can feel the guilt I had felt at one point in time.  I know I should not want this, I should fight against it, stop myself before I get too far, too full of it, but I can't.

"Don't!  Wes!  Please, you have to help me!  She's crazy.  She tried to have Angelus drink me!"  Cordelia cries out.

I level a look at her.  She's really just asking for it, isn't she?

"And how could he do that if he is unconscious?" I counter.  I need Wesley and Fred not to believe her.  I need them to trust me.  I move over to Angelus, lifting an arm, letting it fall heavily back down to the bed.

"Then why am I chained, huh?"  Cordelia asks, struggling.

"Yes, Willow.  Uh - Why is Cordelia attached to the bed like that?"  Wesley asks.

"Because I caught her in here, trying to release Angelus," I say.  I watch as they look between the struggling Cordelia, Angelus, and myself.  Finally, I can wait no more and I walk over to Wesley.  He flinches, but doesn't back away.

"Where did the magickal signature come from?"  I think I already know the answer.  It could prove to them either that I am telling the truth, or prove my downfall.

"This hotel, but you knew that, didn't you," Wesley says, eying me closely.

I'm torn between lying and telling them everything, but I owe them nothing, not right now.  The only things I care about are Angel and staying alive.  Right now, I could care less about the humans around me.

"Not until just recently," I say, looking at Cordelia.  I have a feeling those here won't believe me.  Why would they?  I'm nothing more than a demon in their eyes.

"What happened recently?"  Wesley asks.  He seems a bit nervous...afraid even.  I can smell it thick in the air, like a perfume.  I close my eyes, trying not to think of the blood that flows just under the surface of his skin, trying not to think of just how easily I could sink my fangs in and drink from him.

"She tried to kill me!  That's what," Cordelia says.  "The bitch tried to kill me!  I'd come in to check and make sure Angelus was still chained.  Next thing I know she orders him to kill me."

"She's lying," I say, even though she's telling the truth.  The truth would more than likely get me staked before it wouldever help me.

"We should have never agreed to let Angel keep her!  She doesn't have a soul.  We should stake her," Cordelia says.

"Try it," I say, readying for an attack.  This is not how I wanted this to go.  "Try it, but know this...she was trying to release Angelus.  It was she that took his soul.  So, go ahead, try to kill me, but you'll still have her in your midst."

"Let her go, Willow," Wesley says, reaching behind him.  He thinks I can't see it, the slow movement of his hand behind his back, but I can.

"You really don't want me to do that."

"Now, if you don't mind."

"No."

Quickly, I give him credit for that, he pulls a small crossbow from behind his back, and points it straight at me.  I don't want to hurt him, or at least, part of me doesn't want to.

"Let her go, Willow.  I'll not ask again."

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