Memories Of A Lost ParadiseBy DM Evans
Chapter Seven
Justine packed water bottles with nipple pull-tops and some snack bars into a child's back pack. She tossed the buffalo in on top to hide them. She fought to put it on Sorcha's back. It wasn't easy to avoid the flailing arms. "Shush, baby. I'm getting you out of here. I'm taking you back to Daddy."
Sorcha's blue eyes narrowed, her lower lip pushing out. "Daddy?"
"Yes, baby. But you have to be very quiet or they'll catch us."
Justine was shocked when Sorcha put her hand into hers. She unlocked the girl's neck restraint and lifted her up in her arms. Ethan was out and Eve was asleep downstairs in Justine's bed. She had told them about Lindsey joining them and they were thrilled. Too thrilled. Justine knew that they thought she had sold them out. Sorcha overheard their whispers and mockingly told her she'd be dead soon. Justine decided to believe the little girl.
Her heart hammered as she managed to get out of the house. She already had the dog in the car. She didn't have a baby seat so she just strapped Sorcha in, jumped in the driver's seat, kicked the car in neutral and coasted down the hill that was her driveway. She started the car at the bottom and raced out of town and into Wind Cave park. She sped as fast as she dared with the wild buffalo herds roaming around.
She dialed all the numbers Lindsey had given her but no one answered. She left messages for all of them, hoping that meant they were in the air and couldn't take calls. "We're going to make it, baby."
"Where's Daddy?"
"He's on his way," Justine said, hoping that was true. "We're going to make it."
Sorcha looked over into the back seat. "Grandma Joyce and Grandma Darla say we're in trouble. The bad man gonna do something."
In spite of herself, Justine looked in the rear view mirror. She had no idea what the girl was talking about. She saw no one in the backseat but had no doubts Sorcha did. "Do they know what kind of trouble?"
"Coming now."
Justine's palms sweated and she depressed the accelerator, hoping not to get pulled over. The car suddenly shuddered, metal screamed and the wheel jerked in her hand. Parts of her car started shredding away and then she slammed into a rock. It twisted the car, sending it airborne. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sorcha encased in a green glowing light. She was being protected, Justine realized as the car flipped and rolled. Finally, it came to rest on its roof. Every part of Justine hurt. Behind her, her poor dog whimpered. She felt blood dripping down her face. Sorcha was wailing but she couldn't tell if the girl was hurt then Sorcha fell silent.
Justine tried to ask Sorcha if she were all right. She tried to move and see for herself but she couldn't. She could barely breathe. Justine wondered if she were dying as she willed a tourist to see where the car had landed and call for help. A car approached after what felt like forever.
"Told you, Eve, the toy works just like a poppet," Ethan was saying and Justine wished she were dead.
"At least your shield worked," Eve said. "The brat's fine. What about Justine?"
Ethan reached into the car and removed Sorcha. Justine could just barely see him out of the corner of her eye. "She's done for. Just let nature take its course."
And with that, they left her to die, spiriting away Connor's child.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------"Any reason we're taking the long way to Rapid City?" Eve groused as Ethan drove.
They had used plastic police cuffs, the kind that looked more appropriate for trash bags than people, to restrain Sorcha who was busy entertaining herself by shrilling as loudly as she could in the back seat. Ethan debated using magic to shut her up. His magic had saved her from the crash and the terror of the crash, which had kept her in stunned silence, was fading, replaced by anger at being trussed up in the car.
"Because I'm going to head to Wyoming. We can drive there and catch a plane. The Slayer won't expect that...if you're even right about Justine betraying us to Angel and the Slayer through Lindsey." Ethan eyed his companion sourly. He should have known better than to work with Eve again. The last time had been enough to make him a marked man. Eve and the Senior Partners had given him scads of money to do this new job. He couldn't resist even though he knew the Slayer and Ripper would kill him so he was prepared to do the same to them. "We could be doing this all for nothing."
"Trust me, Ethan," Eve said over Sorcha's red-faced screaming. "Lindsey and I were lovers. I know him. He's not the kind to change his mind. He has to be setting us up."
"I'm not going to a hell dimension to raise this child, Eve. I'll do what I have to in order to prevent it." Ethan hoped she heard the ominous tone in his voice. He'd hurt her, no questions asked and sell the kid to the first person on his door with cash.
"Neither am I. I thought originally about recruiting Andrew for this but changed my mind. He despises Connor for stealing Dawn and letting her die that he'd probably do anything to get back at him. He's murdered before." Eve shrugged.
"So why'd you drag in the lawyer instead?" Ethan slowed for Bighorn sheep crossing the road.
"Andrew's a moron. He'd last about ten seconds in Quor-Toth. We'd be better off sending the brat in alone. Hell, Justine would probably have killed him on principle in the first twenty-four hours. I thought Lindsey's desire to destroy Angel would bring him to us. I'll pay for that." Eve gave Ethan a funny look. "Why are you slowing down?"
"Change of plans. Casting that spell to destroy Justine's car knackered me. Unless you're up for a long drive while I sleep, maybe we should get some rest," Ethan said.
Eve dug her nails into his shoulders. "With Angel and company on our trail?"
"I'll fall asleep at the wheel. They won't expect us to hide out here." Ethan gestured at the sign for Custer State Park. "They'll be looking on the highways and cities for us, not in the middle of the bloody forest. Night's falling and I don't fancy trying to find a hotel to crash in in the middle of this god-forsaken nowhere in the dead of night if we find we're too tired to go further. It's not like they can track us."
"And what about the screamer?" Eve stabbed a finger over the car seat at Sorcha.
"The same spell we used to get her past security at the airport. I can't cast it and drive. Just tuck her hands away so the dim bulb taking money at the gate won't see the cuffs. No one is going to pay any mind to a squalling tot. Crying is what they do," Ethan said. "We'll release her once I cast the spell and no one will know she's not our daughter out on a weekend camping trip."
Eve leaned over the seat and shoved Sorcha's hands into the backpack Justine had given her, zipping it up until it nearly cut her skin. It would look like Sorcha was digging in it, just enough to fool the minium wager handing out park passes. "Where are we going to camp?"
"We aren't. When I had to spend forever watching Justine at the dismal pub in Hot Springs, I read over all the tourist trap literature just to kill time. There are plenty of actual hotels in the park. We won't have to sleep with the bugs," Ethan said.
"Thank God," Eve said, handing Ethan a twenty to pass to the gate keeper.
They drove inside with Sorcha squirming and crying in the back seat. Ethan headed for the Peter Norbeck Visitor Center so he could get a map and find a place to stay. His hands quivered with exhaustion on the steering wheel. It hadn't been easy to use a Hot Wheel car like a poppet to wreck Justine's car while simultaneously protecting Sorcha from harm. He needed a rest and figured a state park was plenty big enough to hide them if someone was actually after them.
"Sit up, you little brat," Eve ordered.
Ethan looked in the rear view mirror and saw Sorcha on her back, her tennis shoes pressed to the back window. He braked hard, seeing one of her hands pulling free of the back pack. "Bloody hell, Eve, she's loose. Catch her up and try not to let her blacken your other eye."
"Shut up," Eve said, leaning over the seat.
Sorcha whacked her with the back pack and kicked at the window. The glass groaned and she kicked again with her unnaturally powerful legs. The glass shattered and she shrieked as flying bits tore into her. Sorcha swarmed upright and went right out the window, backpack and all.
Cursing, Ethan whipped the car off the road and he and Eve scrambled out. He got between Sorcha and the highway. All she needed to do was get to the visitor center and it was over. He almost had her, long strands of her hair caught in his fingers but she nearly broke his wrist with that whirling backpack. The child made for the woods. Ethan raced after her, his lungs burning. He regretted every cigarette he had ever smoked. Eve was doing even worse. She wasn't dressed for a foot chase in the woods.
Still, Sorcha's little legs were no match for his. She stumbled and nearly fell, barely catching herself. Ethan grabbed for her, realizing too late she had picked up at rock from the trail. She tossed it and he found out the hard way why the Senior Partners wanted her so badly. Eve had warned him the child was already in Slayer training and her accuracy was lethal. The rock shattered his nose. Ethan dropped, dazed, unable to see or breathe. He felt blood gushing down his face.
When the stars cleared and he could draw a ragged breath, he saw Eve on her ass, nursing her ankle. He figured her dress shoes had done Sorcha's work for her. He limped over to her, seeing the brat disappearing up the trail.
"We have to get her back," he said, wiping blood off his face.
"If we don't, we're dead," Eve said and he had no reason to doubt it. "You can't leave the car there. The cops will tow it and we'll be in just as much trouble when we get her back with no car."
"I'll move it to the visitor center. You go after her. I'll catch up. She's just a kid. She can't outrun us forever," Ethan said, having a bad feeling about going into the woods with night falling. He was a city boy. What did he know about hiking or in this case, mad dashing through the woods? He had the urge to sell the girl to the worst of the bidders just for spite.
Chapter Eight
"I still can't get a hold of Justine," Lindsey said as they piled their luggage into one of the two SUV's they rented."Maybe she's out or they won't let her answer." Buffy had a bad feeling about this. She knew it wasn't something so innocuous. Nothing in her life was ever so simple.
"Or I made a mistake in thinking Eve would trust me to change my mind," Lindsey said, dragging a hand through his hair.
"If they think you and Justine betrayed them." Gunn's lips thinned. "This can be bad."
"Maybe we should try and call the hospitals just in case," Willow said, an apologetic look on her face.
"There's not many out here. It shouldn't take long," Lindsey said.
A call to 411 gave him the short list of numbers. Lindsey started with Black Hills Regional. "Hello, yes, I'm calling to see if my cousin, Justine Cooper was brought into the emergency room tonight? I have reason to believe she might have been in an accident...she is?"
At the questioning upswing in Lindsey's voice, Buffy felt her knees go weak. Angel took hold of Connor's arm, steadying him.
"When was she brought in? How is she?...I see, where was the accident? What about her daughter, Sorcha? A three year old...there was no child in the car? All right, thank you. I'll be there soon to be with her." Lindsey flipped his phone shut.
"What happened?" Angel snapped before Lindsey could gather his thoughts.
"Justine was in a severe car accident. She's in surgery right now," Lindsey replied.
Buffy grabbed his arm, shaking him. "But Sorcha wasn't with her?"
"No child in the car," Lindsey reiterated.
"Where is my daughter?"
Buffy's eyes snapped over to Connor. His body shook. He sounded so broken. She didn't think he'd survive intact much longer.
"We know it was not by chance that Justine was in a wreck just hours after we put this plan into motion," Wes said. "It's likely that Sorcha is with Eve and Ethan."
"So where do we start looking?" Cordelia asked.
"Lindsey, they told you where the accident was," Angel said and Lindsey nodded. "We start looking there. If Justine was running, she probably had Sorcha with her."
"Shouldn't some of us check out Justine's place in case they went back there or if she didn't have the kid?" Gunn glanced over at Angel.
"Could be a bloody waste of time," Spike replied, slipping a cigarette between his lips.
"Not necessarily. There are only two direct ways down to Hot Springs, the interstate and the long scenic way. Thing is, Justine wrecked on the scenic road but she was closer to Hot Springs than to Rapid City. It would probably be quicker to fly like bats out of hell down 79 and then cut through Hot Springs, check out her house then go to the crash site. It's longer but the highway is faster."
"Couldn't we push it down the scenic trail?" Willow asked.
"Only if we want to end up over the hill. Tourist RV's won't be in the way in the dark...maybe, but if we do, then we'll be stuck for miles unable to pass. The scenic road cuts through the Hills, hair pin turns, narrow dangerous roads. There's only so fast you can go especially in Roll-over mobiles like the Suvies," Lindsey said. "And like I said, she crashed closer to Hot Springs. If we take the highway, we can get there faster. We have no idea which way Ethan and Eve would have gone if they were even at the crash site. But if they were, Angel, Spike and Connor can track them from there."
"We'll go the highway." Angel's voice brooked no argument. Buffy wasn't sure she agreed but had to concede Lindsey had a point. He had explained on the plane that he had vacationed in the Black Hills several times and he seemed to know the area. "We don't have time to lose too much of the night. Spike and I only have so many hours before we become useless to you."
Buffy herded Lindsey into the SUV with her, Angel, Willow, and Connor while Wes, Gunn, Spike, and Cordy took the other. Lindsey made Angel give up the driver's seat, which he did with ill-grace. However, he knew Lindsey at least knew where he was going, in theory and Buffy knew the lawyer wasn't going to skimp on speed, not with them in the car to push him, should he be having a change of heart.
"Is Justine going to die?" Connor asked as Lindsey threaded through Rapid City towards S-79.
"Don't know. She was lifeflighted in. The nurse wouldn't tell me more, not without proof I'm family," Lindsey said.
"Then Sorcha could be hurt." Connor curled up on himself as much as the seatbelt would let him.
Buffy reached over and took his hand, pulling him against her in the back seat. Angel looked back at them, pain in his eyes. "They don't want her hurt, Connor. They need her alive and healthy. Ethan probably has magic that insured her safety. That's why Eve hired him."
"But we don't know that. Your dream isn't coming true. Justine won't be going to Quor-Toth with Sorcha and Lindsey," Connor said, his voice thin, stretched, ready to break. "If that's changed, for all we know they no longer want her."
"I doubt that," Angel said. "They want her and that alone will keep her safe for now. We have to think positively."
Buffy saw Connor was in no condition to do that. She pressed his cheek against her shoulder, stroking his arm as Lindsey left the outskirts of the city behind.
"Your friend said she cast a spell that makes the Suvies invisible to radar," Lindsey said. "Here's hoping she's right."
The engine roared and they rocketed toward Hot Springs, Wes's SUV drafting along behind them.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Sorcha's knees hurt and bled from where she had fallen and scraped them. Her fingers were raw from climbing the rough rocky trail but she knew she couldn't stop. Aunt Buffy hadn't wanted her to watch the big girls train with her but Sorcha was sneaky. Granny Emma, who watched her at school, was always so busy with other kids or too tired and Sorcha knew how to sneak out and watch Aunt Buffy. She heard about ignoring pain and always keep going. It hadn't ever made sense until now.
It was like the practices she did when she got to wear her karate outfit, only for real. She knew bits of branch and rocks were her friends. The older people couldn't keep up with her. She was faster and she kept throwing the rocks and sticks when they got close. She was always good at that, too good. Aunt Buffy didn't like her throwing things but Sorcha knew this was the right thing to do.
Night was coming. It was scary. Sorcha didn't fear the dark but she was alone and there were strange smells and sounds in the woods. She ran until she came to the end of the bluff. She closed her eyes, trying not to look down. It was too far, too many sharp scary rocks. She turned and saw the bare rocks with lots of hidey-holes. She had to just get to it. They were so high up and she could hear the old people trying to climb after her. Their breathing was hard and panting like Aunt Buffy after she trained the older girls.
Sorcha loped away from the edge of the bluff, wending in and out of the pine trees. She tried to jump for the high-up ledge and missed. She jogged back down the wooded path and saw the man not too far away. His eyes were dark and scary. Sorcha took a running leap at the ledge. Her fingers caught it, the rough stone biting into her skin. She whimpered and pulled herself up. She peeled off her backpack and wedged herself back into a hidey hole. There were more rocks and she grabbed one.
"Did you see that jump?" Ethan wheezed.
"She's a freak. Why do you think Wolfram and Hart wants her, Ethan?" Eve turned on him. "Get her down."
"How do you propose I do that?" His eyes narrowed. "Grow wings?"
"You're the wizard," Eve snarled. "Don't tell me you don't have some sort of spell."
Sorcha heard the cross tone in the woman's voice. She wanted to hit her with a stone but she knew she couldn't waste it, not until they got closer.
"I'm better with potions and complicated spells. I'm not good with the gesture and say a magic word," Ethan said contritely. "There's one...but that might bring the rocks down on top of us."
"Well, we've got to do something." Eve tried to see if she could climb up and Sorcha hit her with a rock. Eve fell. "Little bitch."
"I'll see what I can work up. Help me find the ingredients for the spell," Ethan said.
Sorcha watched them go. She knew they wouldn't go far. She was safer where she was than trying to run. They couldn't reach her here. She opened her backpack and took out the white buffalo. She snagged the water and snack bars and began to eat. She hugged the buffalo to her with one hand as she sucked at the water. She tried very hard not to cry. She knew Aunt Buffy and Daddy would come for her. They had to.
She shivered. It was getting cool and she didn't have a jacket. Things howled in the night. She didn't know what they were. She pressed back into the rock then smiled a little, seeing two familiar faces sitting with her on the rocks. Both her grandmothers spent lots of time with her. Sorcha knew they were dead. That didn't matter. They visited often, even more now that Aunt Buffy and Aunt Willow didn't get all upset when she mentioned them. Mommy visited, too, but she spent a lot of time with Aunt Buffy and Daddy, trying to tell them things but they couldn't hear her, not like Sorcha could. She knew Mommy was trying to tell them now where Sorcha was but she didn't think they'd hear her. Still, they would come. They would find her. She'd just stay safe in the rocks with her grannies and if the bad people came again, she'd just toss more rocks at them until they went away again.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Angel wasn't surprised that there were no clues at Justine's other than Sorcha had been there but they had already knew that. Maybe he shouldn't have insisted on going there first. At least now they had three of Justine's heavy blankets in the back of the SUV, in case the sun rose and he and Spike needed to shelter under them.
They were flying through Wind Cave Park, still under Willow's spell to make them invisible to the police. It was a bit flatter here, easier to make good time, and he knew they were going in the right direction. He couldn't say how, since there was no way of picking Sorcha's scent out of the air. She would have been merely riding in the car, not imprinting on the place.
"Buffalo!" Buffy shrieked and Lindsey slammed on the brakes, jerking the wheel.
The SUV's wheels hit the berm but they scooted around the huge animals that had claimed the highway as their own. As they slowed down, shaken by nearly slamming into the buffalos, Angel caught Sorcha's scent.
"Stop here!" He was out of the SUV even before it came to a full stop. Buffy was on his heels. "Look there, a car went off the road here."
"Sorcha was here," Connor said, jumping out of the SUV. "The car... here, glass and metal everywhere. I smell blood."
"Justine's," Angel said, even though he couldn't tell if it was hers alone. Connor didn't need to know that. The look on Spike's face told Angel he was on the same page. Angel whirled, hearing something coming up behind him. A black and white dog limped up to Willow who squatted down, cooing at it.
"Awww, poor baby, are you hurt?" She held out a hand and it sniffed her, then licked the offered appendage.
Spike sniffed. "The mutt's Justine's. I can smell her and the kid all over the beast."
"She must have been in the wreck, too." Buffy peered into the darkness. "Where do we go from here?"
"That way." Connor pointed north along the road, the direction they had already been headed in.
"You sound so sure." Cordelia shivered, unaccustomed to the coolness of a South Dakota evening.
"I am," he replied, grimly.
"How?" Buffy looked at him curiously.
"Mom says she knows where Sorcha is," Connor said, going back into the SUV.
"Um, son, your mother isn't here." Angel glanced between Buffy and Connor nervously.
"You're wrong. I'm not delusional. Mom talks to me a lot," Connor replied, his eyes narrowing.
"I think you're making a case for being delusion, kiddo," Spike said.
"No, he's not. Sorcha has seen her, too." Buffy put a hand on Connor's back. "I thought she was just making up seeing Grandma Darla and Grandma Joyce, to make herself feel better about not having any grandmothers. Sorcha knew Mom, of course from pictures, so her telling us what Grandma Joyce looked like didn't mean much Then she saw a Watcher's diary with a photo of Darla. Sorcha pointed right to it and said, "That's grandma.' We've all seen ghosts before. Cordy, you had a ghost roommate. If Connor says Darla's giving him directions, I say we believe him."
"That's good enough for me," Angel said, hoping Buffy was right, that his son wasn't having a hallucination. North made sense at any rate. It led back to Rapid City and the airport and freedom.
They piled back into the SUV's, Willow taking Justine's dog, and they headed north.
Chapter Nine
"Okay, that was a mountain lion," Eve said, edging closer to the fire."Afraid of a little kitty?" Ethan snorted.
"You've never seen the one in the White Room," Eve shot back.
Sorcha didn't understand much of what they were saying. All she knew was it was cold, dark and she was scared. The loud cries of the cat made her shake. Where were Daddy and Aunt Buffy? They were supposed to be here by now. She was almost out of rocks to throw. She was so tired and her belly felt funny after eating all the snack bars in her back pack. She clutched the buffalo closer, trying to suck warmth from its soft body as she watched the flames. If she edged out on her ledge, she could feel the heat of the fire but then it was too easy for Eve and Ethan to try and get her. Grandmother Darla had come back just long enough to say Daddy was coming and then both grandmothers faded away. It made them tired showing themselves to her as Sorcha knew well.
"I'm almost ready. The question is what happens next?" Ethan's hawk-like eyes pinioned Eve. "If I hand her over, who gets sent to Quor-Toth with her? I'm half tempted to just leave her there and save my own skin."
"Think it's that easy? You made a deal with Wolfram and Hart. You don't get to just change your mind," Eve said. "There has to be a mage we can trick into going in Lindsey's place. Warriors to replace Justine are a dime a dozen."
"Amy Madison, I know her through a mutual acquaintance," Ethan said after a moment's contemplation. "She made it out of Sunnydale and she even has a score to settle with the Slayer's witch. Toss a little money on as the cherry and I think we can get her on board, at least long enough to whisk her into hell."
Sorcha listened and didn't understand but from the tone she knew it was bad. She picked up the biggest of her remaining rocks, setting her buffalo aside. She edged out into the cool wind listening to the coyotes sing. She took as best an aim as she could and waited to see if they were going to try and attack.
Ethan handed Eve back the notepad she had taken from her purse. Sorcha had watched him scribbling in it in the firelight. "We're going to cast a spell to bring her down and knock her out in one fell swoop. It takes two. When I point at you, you read from the pad. Got it?"
"Got it."
Sorcha listened to Ethan chant. It reminded her of Aunt Willow and Uncle Roo. She knew magic followed chanting. He pointed at Eve and she started reading. Sorcha winged her rock, hearing something break when it hit. Eve fell down, gagging and crying. Ethan knelt down, trying to pry her hands away from her mouth.
"Bloody hell. She knocked out your front teeth. You sure you don't want to leave her to the coyotes?" Ethan said and Eve just moaned.
Sorcha saw the look in Ethan's eye and became very afraid.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Buffy remembered why she never went on hikes with Giles, Sorcha and Connor. She didn't like the woods. Roots reached up and grabbed feet. Leaves could be like ice, slick and treacherous. And everything looked the same. Getting lost was too easy to do, so the bottom fell out of her stomach when Connor screamed for Lindsey to stop the vehicle inside of Custer Park.
He would have been out of the rental and into the woods in a heart beat if Angel hadn't restrained him. "We need the weapons," Angel told him. Buffy could see the irritation in Connor's eyes. She knew what he was thinking. He was a weapon and that was especially true against someone like Eve and Ethan. Of course, Ethan could have a magical trump card and Eve could be carrying a gun for all anyone knew.
"Where are they?" Cordy asked.
"In the forest," Connor said.
Angel nodded. "They went that way." He pointed. "The scent trail is strong here."
"We're going into the woods at night without a flash light?" Cordelia's incredulous tone grated on Buffy's raw nerves.
"Willow, think we can have a little foxfire?" Buffy popped open the weapons trunk.
"Way ahead of you." Willow waved her hands over head. "Lux."
Several balls of glowing light blossomed in the night. Angel let Connor go and the boy bolted into the woods, snagging the sword Buffy tossed to him. Angel and Spike loped off after him, Buffy right on their heels. She knew Wes, Willow, Gunn, Lindsey and Cordy couldn't keep up, not at the ground eating pace Connor was setting. She was barely able to stick to him. He moved like he was made for the woods and she remembered what Angel said about Quor-Toth being a wild place without urban settings. This was Connor's comfort zone as much as it was her nemesis.
Behind her, Willow chanted and she saw the others picking up the pace. Buffy had seen Willow do that once before, goosing the adrenal glands. The normals of the group would be able to run faster but they would burn out faster, too. She just hoped they didn't burn out before they found Sorcha.
Connor moved like the mountain goats they had seen in the park. He was the only one not tripping over rocks and roots, like he was anticipating them. Buffy feared he was too in the zone, that he was so concentrating on his daughter's scent that he wouldn't see danger until too late. Her lungs felt scraped raw and her legs burned as she forced herself up the mountainside. How had Sorcha gone so far? Her poor little niece, how terrified she had to be. The sounds of the coyotes were unnerving Buffy, as mundane a creature as coyotes were. She couldn't imagine how it was for the child. She knew they could hurt a three year old child.
She wondered if they would ever reach the top, especially since it was beginning to go grey out. Daybreak would be here soon. Suddenly the two vampires and Connor really started pouring on the speed. Buffy figured they had to be hearing something she couldn't. The rest of the group was lagging behind now, the path too steep for Willow's augmentative magic to help. Then she heard it, the sound of a man's voice chanting then a thud like something hitting ground. The man yelped and there was the crashing of someone moving through the woods away from them.
When she burst into a clearing, she saw Ethan, nursing a bleeding hand, running into the woods with Eve behind him. Buffy saw blood in the fire light then saw movement. She watched as Sorcha bounded back up the rocks as nimble as a baby mountain goat and shoved back into a crevice. At least she was safe. That left her free to worry about Eve and Ethan and she was torn between letting Angel and Connor tear them apart and doing some violence herself.
Before she could decide, Angel and Spike turned from the fight, grunting and sizzling. Buffy saw the bottles of holy water the couple had packed with them up the side of the mountain, in with stuff that Buffy knew from seeing Willow's bag of magical herbs, oils and whatnot's. She went for Eve and found herself rolling in the pine needles as Eve yanked out a pistol and shot at her. Buffy was instantly glad the others were still struggling up the mountain behind them. Eve might want Sorcha alive but Buffy had no illusions that she would kill her and anyone else in her way.
Buffy threw the stake she had out of habit, even as she went down. Her aim was off but it was enough to startle Eve. The other woman dropped the pistol, which was obviously too big for her to begin with. It landed near Spike. Ethan tossed the last of his holy water at Angel then shouted something that might have been in Latin.
As he dove for cover, the ground shook. Buffy had been through enough earthquakes to know what magic Ethan had just wrought. Her eyes canted up at the rocks her niece was hiding in. The granite shook and started to slide. Hunks fell, scattering the combatants, just as Spike snagged Eve's gun. Buffy jumped straight up, catching a tree branch as a boulder thundered down at her. She tried to ignore Sorcha's screaming but couldn't.
When the shaking stopped, Sorcha's hiding place was covered in rock. Screaming wild and wordless, Connor leapt over the camp fire and was on the fleeing Ethan. Buffy heard Connor shriek as blue lightning encased him. She knew that spell, too, and knew it could be deadly.
The magic died instantly as Ethan made a surprised and painful sound. Buffy saw Connor's fist was gone, his hand pushed into Ethan's chest up to his forearm. The look in the young man's eye rooted Buffy, terrified her by the purity of his fury. Eve picked up Connor's fallen sword to ram it into his back.
"Connor!" Buffy screamed. Picking herself up out of the pine needles, she launched herself at Eve, inadvertently getting between Eve and Spike's gun.
Connor twisted and the blade didn't hit his spine or his kidney, Buffy hoped, but it did catch his side and poked out through his belly. Connor collapsed on top of Ethan. Buffy grabbed Eve away, tossing her like a rag doll. Eve's arms windmilled as she sailed in an arc but she didn't hit ground. Buffy watched as Eve disappeared over the precipice. Her heart caught for a moment; in all likelihood she had just killed the woman. Spike ran to the edge and looked.
"Damn, that's a long way down. She exploded like a rotted melon," he said.
Buffy tried not to picture it, even though she couldn't imagine anyone more deserving. She went to her knees at Connor's side, trying to stop him from pulling the sword out of his body but she wasn't fast enough. "Oh, damn!" She looked at the two terrible wounds and tried to think of what to do next. She took off her windbreaker and jammed it over both wounds best she could.
"Get...Sorcha," he said.
"We'll get her. I have to stop this bleeding," Buffy said, watching Angel leap to the top of the rock formations in one smooth move. Spike joined him. Together they threw the dislodged boulders, uncovering the child's hiding spot. She heard Angel telling Sorcha it was all right and she felt the tears prick her eyes when he leapt back down with Sorcha who had a backpack in one hand and a stuffed buffalo in the other.
"Buffy, how is he?" Angel asked.
"Daddy?" Sorcha whimpered.
"Angel, don't let her look," Buffy said, hearing the rest of their friends finally cresting the hill.
Angel took Sorcha away and handed her off to Wes but only because Willow blew past him to look at Connor. Buffy watched as Willow cast a spell that would help slow the blood flow. It was spell she had learned in Wales and it had been a lifesaver previously.
"Where's Eve?" Lindsey asked.
"Over the cliff." Spike jerked thumb in the general direction. "Question is, that do we do with him?" He kicked Ethan's corpse.
Lindsey strode over and looked down at the dead man. He peeled off his shirt and picked up the sword carefully, wiping down the hilt. He put it in Ethan's hand and closed his fingers over it then tossed the sword over the cliff, too. "Put him over the edge. I'll come up with story to cover this."
"Are you sure?" Wesley asked.
"I used to do it for a living. We'd better call for search and rescue and get Connor off this mountain top." Lindsey nodded at Connor.
"Already on it," Cordy said, wiggling her cell phone. "Let's just pray for reception up here."
"Is she...okay?" Connor asked Buffy. She hadn't even realized he was holding her hand. His fingers felt like ice.
"She's fine. It's you we have to worry about." Buffy looked skyward. "And Angel and Spike."
"Buffy, take Sorcha. Spike, give me a hand with Ethan." Angel took the dead mage's feet. Spike grabbed his arms and together they chucked him after Eve.
"We can't wait for rescue," Buffy said. "I don't know that Connor can last that long. Willow's spell slowed the bleeding but it won't fix the wound. I know Connor heals like a Slayer but this is bad."
"I know," Angel said, grimly. "That's why I want you to take Sorcha. Spike and I have to get off this mountain before the sun comes up. I'll carry Connor out."
Buffy nodded and took her niece back from Wes. "Sorry to leave you guys with this mess."
"You just go. We'll work with Lindsey on the explanation for this," Wes said.
Buffy didn't wait for Angel and Spike. She saw Spike helping Angel lift Connor into a fireman's carry. They raced down the mountain. Buffy kept waiting for her foot to find that root or rock that would send her careening down the mountain, snapping Sorcha's neck in the process. Going down was even harder than going up. Her knees ached like someone had baseball batted them, her head felt like it was being jarred off but soon the SUV's were in sight. She was flying on pure adrenaline and by the time she got to the vehicles she was shaking. Angel laid Connor down on the grass. He and Spike had begun to smoke. They didn't have time to situate the blankets better. They piled into the cargo hold under the blankets together, nose to nose. Buffy laid Sorcha on the back seat.
"Stay here, baby, I'll be right back," she said and Sorcha just nodded.
Buffy slithered out of the vehicle and checked on Connor. He was unconscious and deadly white but he was still breathing. She yanked him closer to the other vehicle and opened the door. She propped his legs up, hooking his knees on the floorboards, hoping to slow blood flow to them, keeping it near his heart, hoping she was remembering right about how to treat shock.
She got back into the car, pulling her niece into her lap, just holding her. She couldn't make her mouth move. She jumped when Willow laid a hand on her arm. Her friend seemed too exhausted to even stand and she wondered if Willow had actually flown down off the mountain.
"We're going to tell the cops that it was a murder-suicide. Ethan threw Eve off the cliff then stabbed Connor when Connor tried to stop him. Then Ethan jumped himself. We were all friends out for a camping trip that went wrong," Willow said.
Buffy nodded. "Thanks. Connor?"
Willow looked over at the other rental. "I don't know. Oh, there's the ambulance."
Buffy got out as the police and ambulance arrived. She and Willow told their story, told the police where to find the rest of their friends and watched as the ambulance spirited Connor away. She wanted them to take Sorcha, too, to make sure she was all right but didn't know how to fit it into the lie. Sorcha just clung to her silently and Buffy had to trust she was okay. She told the police what little she knew, pretending she and her niece hadn't actually witnessed it. Told a lie about the two Good Samaritans who carried Connor down the cliff and disappeared before the cops arrived while Willow relaid that through her telepathy spell to those on the mountain. It was the only thing that made sense as to why none of them had Connor's blood on them but her.
The cops made Willow take them up the mountain and let Buffy take her niece home. Buffy gave Justine's address as a friend she was staying with then strapped Sorcha into the back seat the best she could without a car seat, grateful the cops had bigger things to worry about than noticing her lack of child restraint. She drove for Hot Springs as Sorcha snoozed. The vampires in her cargo area were spookily silent and Buffy could only imagine Angel's pain and fear wondering if Connor was still alive. She felt it herself.