Willow sat on the bed in her hotel room.  She didn't trust Lionel Luthor, not at all.  She didn't know what he wanted with Clark, but it couldn't be good.  She wondered why someone like Lionel would be interested in a teenage farm boy. It just didn't make sense.  That's what worried her; she simply could not figure out what his motives were.

 

    Willow chewed on her lower lip, lost in thought.  He had asked her to spy on Clark.  Could she really do that?  She barely knew Clark, but from everything that she had seen, he was a great guy.

Even if she wasn't, could she really do something like that?

 

    Willow didn't like the idea of making a deal with the devil, especially since she wasn't entirely sure what the devil was after.   Lionel had seemed so confident that she would take his offer.  

Remembering the say he had smirked at her made Willow shudder.  He was creepy, bad, and quite possibly evil. 

 

    What could possibly be in that book that Mr. Luthor thought she would take him up on his offer. 

Perhaps he simply thought that everyone was as morally corrupt as he seemed to be.  But Willow didn't think that was it.  He truly believed that once she knew what the book contained she would change her mind. 

 

    She knew that she should just tell him to fuck off. But she couldn't.  She had to know what Lionel had been talking about.

 

    Willow reached over to grab the phone, and shakily punched in the number to Giles apartment, hoping he would be in.

 

    "Hello?"

 

    Willow breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the familiar British accent.

 

    "Giles?  It's Willow." 

 

    "Ah, Willow.  I'm glad you called.  Have you gotten the book yet?"

 

    "Um, no. Not yet.  I'll be meeting with Mr. Luthor tomorrow."  Willow wasn't sure why, but she felt the need to keep what had happened earlier a secret.

 

    "Actually, that's kind of what I called you about.  I mean, I also called to tell you that I plan on staying here longer than I planned. I really like it hear Giles. I've met some really cool people, and there's some weird stuff going on here that I'd like to investigate, something to do with the meteor shower.  I know I was supposed to be coming back, but I don't think that Sunnydale will fall apart with out me, it's not like I'm the Slayer or anything."

 

    Giles chuckled softly. "Willow, you're babbling again.  It's fine if you want to stay in Smallville longer. Just be careful. Now, you say that you called about the book?"

 

    "Oh, right."  Willow paused. "I was wondering just what it was about the book that was so important. I mean, how careful do I have to be with it?"

 

    "Well, as I told you before, I've been searching for the book for years. It has a lot of powerful spells in it. But I renewed my search for it just this past year.  Willow, I don't want you to tell Buffy, because I don't want to get her hopes up, or to make her go through the emotional upheaval now that she's with Riley; but I'm fairly certain that this book holds a spell that will make Angel's soul permanent."