The walls between Hell and Earth were now completely knocked down.

Earth was rapidly being reformed into what he wanted it to be, what he desired. At first, that desire was to hide the sun forever; from the humans that plagued his planet, from Buffy who still remembered her humanity, from those who actually thought that they could stop him. Now…now he rethought that.

The first time the sun came out, surprising all those who were sun-allergic, it’d take care of about a fifth of his overpopulation – and annoyance – problem. Vamps were normally incredibly stupid; there was a reason only a few Masters ruled the Vampire World, and it wasn’t normally because of their fashion sense. The smart ones survived to rise to power, leading the far stupider ones behind them like flocks of sheep.

So with the rising sun, those still out would fry instantly. Oh, the sun would only remain out for a couple of hours a day, enough to ensure a portion of his vampire population went, and that the humans had something to live by. That was another change from his original plan, and it had nothing to do with his concern for their wellbeing.

Besides, it wasn’t like the sun could actually harm him now.

Angelus already received word that the new Slayer was trying to enter His World. She, her Watcher, and some ‘nice’ demon were trekking cross-country in a vain hope to stop what was put into motion centuries ago. The Watcher’s Council, bumbling and inept as always, obviously still didn’t care for their greatest weapon if they thought to send her into the Lion’s Den.

But then Angelus expected nothing less from them, and certainly nothing more.

Dismissing the thorn that was far away in England, Angelus returned to His World. The Council would be dealt with in time, sooner than they thought, actually. For the moment, they had their uses…or one use. For now, they controlled the slayer. Until she realized that she’d survive much longer – and with far fewer mishaps – without them, Angelus had no doubt that she’d do away with them herself.

And if she, herself, was inept, then he could wait for the next Slayer called. He had all the time in the world, now.

But His World needed to finish its remodeling first. The polar ice caps were melting; bleeding their water into the few rivers and streams he allowed to remain as such. The oceans already ran as blood, lapping their crimson current in worship at his feet.

The heat from His World simmered along his skin, there but not touching the cool body. Just as well; Buffy was affected by that heat, and she curled closer to his coolness for it. In her sleep, she’d sigh as she wrapped herself around him, resting her cheek against his chest. A low rumble escaped him at the remembered feeling of his hot lover. She stirred at his side at the sound, and Angelus scented her arousal, smirking as her blood raced faster through her veins, calling to him.

Ah, dear Buff. His hand rubbed small circles over her lower back, the sound of silken material on her silken skin an erotic hum that shot straight through him. He wanted her again, and was rapidly not caring that he still had duties to perform, that they were in the midst of a large crowed of worshiping demons. Still, there were several…difficulties he needed to lay to rest, and soon, with her before they progressed further. One more important than the others; his Darling and her lingering feelings for Angel.

The vampire with a soul, and the cool skin she so loved to cuddle next to; the growl Angel often let loose when they were patrolling, or when a boy approached her. All things that Angelus did unconsciously himself.

That pissed him off, Angelus admitted as he watched Buffy through hooded eyes as she scanned the room. The fact that he still didn’t know if she was accepting him because of all he’d done for her, all he’d given her, all he’d saved and destroyed for her…

Or if he somehow still reminded her of her precious loser Angel.

It didn’t matter, time was on his side now, he’d remodeled it so. Oh, Buffy would continue to age, at least until he found a way to make her as immortal as he was. But as time moved differently here, a hundred years would really seem like a month in normal Earth time. Still, he didn’t want to take the chance, he didn’t want to take any chances with her life, and already had several ideas he needed to further research.

Acathla’s lingering knowledge was proving to be very helpful.

Now that everything was in place, it seemed prudent to do that as soon as possible.

Angelus returned his thoughts to the present, and looked out over the vast ballroom, surveying those who would pay him tribute. It was his now, more so than yesterday thanks to those eight emissaries from Acathla, and the acceptance they granted. It was so odd, the way the power transfer worked; by sheer acceptance on the Third Day, Angelus retained his powers, having proven he was the Worthy successor.

That could never change, no matter if those Eight later decided to rescind that acceptance. This was permanent, it was forever, and it was his.

He was, in essence, their Dark Arthur; the Savior that the Noble Eight and all the other Acathlan demons waited for, and now, suddenly, their glorious Golden Age had arrived. Evil and Darkness in the form of Angelus; Angelus and his new Queen. Buffy fidgeted at his side again, and Angelus absently rubbed a hand down her back, smoothing the white material of her dress, before moving up her back, letting his large cool hand linger on her bare flesh.

His fingers traced small circular patterns on the nape of her neck, and he smirked in triumph when she sighed, leaned into him. His gaze continued to look around him, noting the Acathlan demons, the ones from Earth who thought to retain their place in the power hierarchy, and the ones from other dimensions; those ones who just realized that Earth was now a free feeding ground. Except it wasn’t. He was in charge, he was their god, and no one from any other dimension could challenge or replace him.

He was immortal and invincible now, a true god.

These demons before him had waited centuries for one worthy enough, and now that they found Angelus, their King, he was already worshiped, emulated. He knew the petitioning would begin soon, knew that there were always those who wished something from the ruler of the land, always those who thought they could offer something to that ruler in exchange for wealth, power, or something else.

Angelus wanted nothing. Nothing he didn’t already possess. Nothing that wasn’t the woman by his side.

Shifting his gaze once more to Buffy, Angelus grinned in admiration at her attire. Whereas nearly everyone else dressed in dark colors, black and crimson bleeding into the next, his goddess dressed in white, shining through all the others with her beauty and spirit. The diamond cluster just below her breasts winked in the twilight of the room, sparkling over those who would worship her as they did him.

The lead blue demon from earlier, Lord B’wanna, approached Angelus, bowing deeply from his scaled waist, long reptilian tail swishing right to left, and finery ruffling with the movement. Buffy stood straighter when she sensed his approach, pulling away from Angelus much to the king’s displeasure. He growled at the loss of contact, and Buffy’s gaze swung in his direction.

Only her eyes betrayed her understanding of his growl, though her blood raced, and her heart beat at the sound. Oh, how she hated what he did to her, and how she hated that she enjoyed it. While she didn’t leave his side, she did keep her distance, and wouldn’t lean on him again. Not in front of these demons, not where it would show (his hers their) weakness.

Raising a carefully shaped eyebrow, Buffy let her eyes twinkle with amused awareness at his action. Her look said everything she wouldn’t, before looking at the approaching demon.

Sometimes Angelus was so predictable; even to one who only now was beginning to realize his true intent.

“My god,” B’wanna said, “I beg your leave. We have much to prepare for the arrival of the rest of your homeland. Please excuse us so that we many pave the way for their coming.”

Angelus nodded. “I grant you leave,” he told the blue demon, and watched as B’wanna looked up at him in acknowledgement.

“Thank you, my lord,” bowing to Buffy, his eyes downcast once more, “My goddess. It is indeed a great honor and pleasure to be allowed in your presence.”

Stiffening, Buffy stared at the blue-skinned bowing demon. What was she supposed to say? She had no idea, so merely nodded her head, hoping that was enough. It seemed to be, as the demon bowed lower, lifting his hands from his sides and holding them out for her to see.

“My goddess, I present you with this necklace. It’s made from the finest, rarest pearls our land offered.” Holding the long necklace out for her, but never meeting her eyes, B’wanna waited her acceptance.

“Thank you, milord,” Buffy said in a choked voice, hoping the demon thought it was out of appreciation and not total discomfort. She took the string of black pearls from the demon’s clawed grasp, and smiled down at him when he briefly looked up in acknowledgement.

“We live to serve, my goddess,” he said in a reverent tone, and, still bowing, B’wanna walked away.

“They adore you already,” Angelus said, as B’wanna disappeared from sight. He raised her hand to his lips, kissing her fingers. Aware of her reaction and the reaction of the crowd, he kept her fingers twined with his. He cared nothing for the latter – their responses were pointless – and everything for the former – Buffy was all that mattered. This, all this, was, nothing to Angelus; it meant so very little, and only that because it brought him her.

“Or they fear you,” she countered, turning to look at him. The pearls were clasped tightly in her hand, their coolness stark contrast to the heat of the room, reminding her of Angelus. She wasn’t sure what to do with them, or with him, but didn’t want to appear callous with the gift so soon after receiving it.

Shrugging, Angelus let out a low chuckle. “It doesn’t matter, does it? So long as they obey, and they will. There is no choice in that, not any longer.”

“No, you never give anyone a choice, do you.” Her eyes sparked silver as she stared into his own dark ones. Anger shone through, and he couldn’t help but love that it did. The quiet meek Buffy annoyed him. He’d change that.

“You’re still so innocent, my love,” Angelus murmured as his hand traced the side of her face. “So innocent about men and demons, about love. About me. There’s much for you to learn, so much more for me to teach you. We have all the time we need now, Buffy, with nothing to separate us.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Buffy said with false bravery. “You sucked the world into Hell just for me. Lucky me.”

Angelus said nothing to that, simply continued to look at her, watch that knowledge sink in, watch her again hazel eyes shimmer with silver as she realized the truth in her own words. He could admit it to himself, only, that what she was thinking was absolutely right. Maybe, someday, when she accepted him and her place at his side, without the threat to her precious friends…maybe then he’d admit it to her, too.

Buffy stared at him and got it, finally got it all. All the little pieces, all the hints and flashes of insight, all came together now, and she understood.

“Oh, my…”

The only way to have her all to himself was to refashion the world around him, so she needed him as much as he needed her to need him. And as long as there were the Scoobies, the Watcher, and the Mom to remind and censor her every thought and action, Angelus would always be fighting all of them for her. Fighting as much as he was, even now with her acceptance of him, her feelings for Angel. He was under no delusion that in these past three days she suddenly had a complete turn around and loved Angelus now, not Angel.

No, Angelus wouldn’t accept anything less than her all; especially when it came to his alter ego. So, yes, he sucked the world into hell, but it gave him all the time he needed to win her without useless posturing – that wasn’t working with her anyway – or looking weak. That wasn’t him – begging, weakness, changing for her. No, he changed circumstances. He changed entire worlds, but never himself.

He didn’t know how to do that, but he was willing to make compromises, limited compromises were all he could ever manage, but he was willing to do so, for her.

Compromise…and change other things if it meant having her all to himself.

Now there wasn’t a chance she’d reject him; she couldn’t because he’d made it so. Now he held all the aces. He could relax and actually woo her gently without looking weak, vulnerable, and powerless. Was that love? It was his love, Buffy thought as her gaze silvered with emotion. It was his possessive love, his passion, his fixation on her. His need to see to all her needs, and that those needs involved him on the most basic and fundamental level imaginable.

What did that make her feel? She loved Angel with everything in her; she loved all of him with everything she had. Even, in her naivety, his demon. And now she had his demon, now that was all she had of (lover, friend, confidant, soul’s mate, mate, passion, need, complete, hers, all hers, only hers) Angel.

Angelus was all she’d ever have left of Angel, and Buffy wasn’t sure that was enough. She wasn’t sure how it could be, but she was sure that she had feelings for Angelus, too. What those feelings were, she didn’t know, but they were all mixed up with those of Angel. When she loved the soul, she loved even the shadows of that soul, and now that those shadows consumed the body, the being, she didn’t know what to feel.

Her weakness was Angelus as much as his was her. That was fact. That was now a well-known fact. Everyone here knew that, or would, shortly.

Buffy’s eyes widened with that realization, the second such in a matter of hours. It all came together now, the realization of the power she held over Angelus, and this, why he’d done it.

“You did this,” she breathed, trying to think. “You did all this…but why? Me – why? Oh, God.”

Buffy couldn’t breathe suddenly, couldn’t make herself accept her realizations. No, she couldn’t think more on that, not now not yet, because she was exhausted with all her revelations about the master manipulator who managed to make her mind fixate on him as much as her body. It’d only been days, three days, and already she felt like months, years, had passed; as if time moved differently now, when days ago it hadn’t.

She needed to sleep, regroup, see her mom; let her mommy hold her as she cried. Listen to Xander and Cordelia bicker, and watch Oz and Willow cuddle. Listen to Giles as he went on and on about something or other Buffy had no clue about.

She wasn’t going to get that. Buffy wanted to ask to see her family, but knew Angelus’ moods, or at least could sense some small thing about them. And the mood he was in now was focused completely on her. He didn’t care about this power, or not directly. But he did care what she did and didn’t do. And he cared that she only do what she wanted to do when he wanted her to do it.

“Daddy,” Dru called, as she approached the couple, breaking into the beginnings of what was probably going to be yet another fight between them. A fight that neither would let be known publicly because that, too, showed weakness.

Buffy and Angelus briefly looked up at Drusilla as she stopped in front of them, several feet away, her hand coming out to trace the dancing lights that surrounded the couple. “Pretty star,” she whispered, just loud enough for the two of them to hear. “Your power shines with daddy’s.”

“What do you want, Dru?” Angelus asked, letting his childe’s words hang between the three of them. He didn’t release Buffy’s hand, nor did he look at Drusilla, all his attention still on his lover. Her eyes slowly reverted to hazel, and he knew she’d closed off from him, and from herself. That, too could be changed.

“The human lawyers want to speak with you; they said that they have a proposal for you,” she giggled, “Want you to help them, want to help you.”

Angelus nodded, knowing that he’d have to greet the new ‘ambassadors’ from Wolfram & Hart eventually. He’d have to postpone his next lesson with Buffy for a bit, but this was important. He didn’t trust these lawyers, and wasn’t entirely sure what they thought an alliance between him and Wolfram & Hart could further.

Gods didn’t exactly form alliances. They already had everything.

“Send them over, Dru,” he instructed, glancing briefly at his childe as she all but danced away. When Buffy went to follow Dru, to leave his side, Angelus tightened his grip on her hand. “I thought we agreed, lover, that you wouldn’t leave my side unless instructed?”

“I-but…you want me here?” Buffy wasn’t sure that that was what she was going to say.

She didn’t think he’d want her by his side while he conducted his business, while he saw his petitioners. She was an ornament only; the beautiful slayer whom Angelus had captured in his quest to destroy and rule the world. Wasn’t she? Yes, yes she was, Buffy knew that, she was nothing but his prize, nothing but his trophy for a world well destroyed. She was…

No, she wasn’t. She couldn’t delude herself, not now, not any longer. She knew, now, with her recent insights. She knew that her original assumption of him was false – what it was now, she wasn’t sure, but Angelus wasn’t out for death and destruction as she originally thought.

He didn’t suck the world into hell. He’d remade it to suit his needs; keeping her by his side for always. She got that, really she did. But to actually want her with him as he made decisions that affected the world as she remembered it? What was he playing at, Buffy wondered as she stilled, eyeing him in confusion.

“What new game are you playing here?” She murmured, but didn’t expect an answer…he didn’t give her one. But she didn’t have the chance to try and figure it out, because she sensed Dru approaching again, and knew it was show time.

“Time to play the part,” she mumbled, back at Angelus’ side. He remained silent, and wasn’t surprised.

This was her first real performance, and she intended to shine. Angelus may have won several key battles in their little war – the battleground was definitely his – but Buffy wasn’t about to give in just because of that. She’d win, and it’d be on her terms.

A handsome looking couple walked behind Drusilla, and Buffy forced her attention from Angelus to them. They looked human enough, she noticed, her Slayer Sense wasn’t tingling, but with so many demons in the room (world) it was difficult to tell. Still, the closer Dru led them, the more Buffy was certain that they were human. Humans helping demons; humans willing to help Angelus.

She knew there were some out there who tread the line, Willy for one; but these two didn’t seem the type to cater to demons out of fear or some slim profit. No, they seemed to wield power, or at least hold the key to wielding it.

Looking closely at the couple, noting the expensive cut of their clothes, the way they held themselves, the way they watched: her, Angelus, the room, everything around them. It was obvious to Buffy that they were used to being in control, used to holding all the cards. She smirked at that, at them and their naiveté, at their inexperience with this changed world. Buffy hated (wanted) Angelus; she hated that she was trapped here with her family below as prisoners, but he’d bought her loyalty with that gambit.

So long as he was in charge, with her friends and mom below, Buffy would do whatever he wanted, whatever was in her power to ensure their safety.

Starting with being Angelus’ perfect lover.

It was survival of the fittest, baby, she thought with a small smirk aimed at him, and she intended for her and her friends to survive. Even if it slowly killed her in the process. Even if it alienated her from those friends and family, even if, simply by default, it brought her and Angelus closer. There wasn’t a choice here; Angelus was too good at taking that choice away from her.

“So be it.” The game had already begun, and Buffy needed to do some serious catching up.

Her last thought before she remade herself, and prepared for the next battle, was of her precious Angel. She missed him so; missed his touch, his half smile, his laugh. Missed how he held her, how he comforted her. God, she missed everything about him. The feel of his hair, the touch of his lips, the strength in him that seemed so gentle around her.

Angel, who didn’t deserve what she’d done to him…but that was all old ground.

She couldn’t dwell on that; it’d drive her crazy to the point of distraction, and she’d lose the war between her and Angelus. Angel wanted her to survive, that she knew. He wanted her to live; he wanted her to do so at all costs – she had to believe that or it’d make everything moot.

Before…after the incident at the docks with Dru’s men, he’d said that he couldn’t bear it if she died. That without her his life didn’t mean much, and he’d always protect her.

Always.

Well, my love, Buffy thought, taking in deep breaths of the heated hell air. Help me now. Help me know what to do, what to say, how to act. How to win against Angelus. And how to survive. I don’t deserve your help, not after what I did to you. But I need it. I need you.

Focusing her gaze to the couple now only a few feet from her, Buffy adapted a disinterested smile, wrapping her hand tighter around Angelus’. Let him think what he wanted about that gesture. Buffy needed his strength, because she needed to survive. To do that, she had to use that strength against him; and if some small part of her pretended it was Angel by her side, then no one really needed to know that.

The battle began when Buffy focused on the man and woman as they halted behind Drusilla.

The man was handsome, Buffy noted, well dressed, his short dark curly hair complimenting his light eyes very nicely. He was shorter than Angelus, but held himself with an air of confidence that said height didn’t matter. And he was staring at her. ‘Fuck,’ she thought, knowing she was caught staring right back, blushing at being so, and turned to look at the woman, knowing full well that Angelus knew she was staring, too.

‘Everyone wants her.’
‘Of course, she’s the goddess; she’s beautiful and strong, smart and loyal. Everyone is naturally drawn to her.’

The woman’s eyes skimmed over Buffy, obviously dismissing the slayer with a glance. Sure of herself, confident in her abilities and her body. Buffy’s smile widened. She had no idea of the stratagem she’d placed herself in, no idea that there was one. Too bad, but that was life. It’d changed three days ago, and people needed to adapt.

Buffy had.

“Angelus,” the woman purred, extending her hand for him to shake. He didn’t, and she slowly lowered it with a small shrug. “I’m Lilah Morgan from Wolfram & Hart. This is my…partner, Lindsey MacDonald.”

Angelus nodded, still silent.

Lindsey looked from him to Buffy, obviously wanting an introduction. Still, he bided his time and said instead, “Our Senior Partners have a proposition they wish to discuss with you, my lord, one that will bring us both what we want.”

Angelus laughed then, cold, cruel, mocking, and eyed the younger man. “I have everything I want,” he said with a sneer, “What could they possibly think they can offer me?”

“Why don’t we discuss it?” Lilah asked, still ignoring Buffy. “Someplace a little more private.” She looked around the room to indicate what she meant, and Lindsey agreed with her, wanting to be farther away from all these demons than he currently was. Representing them was one thing, mingling with them on so permanent a basis was quite another.

“We can do so here,” Angelus said in a bored tone. “But make it quick. I have better things to do with my time.”

Buffy couldn’t suppress her chuckle of amusement at his comment, and caught Lindsey’s attention. He smiled at her, wondering who she was, and why she was at Angelus’ side. From the files Lindsey read, the only person ever to hold that place on even a semi-permanent basis was Darla. But she was dead, so who was this blonde?

Angelus noticed Lindsey’s focus, too, and looked at the handsome lawyer. “I’d suggest, boy, that you keep your eyes to yourself before you lose them.”

Gaze swinging back to the vampire, former vampire, Lindsey nodded, and filed that comment away. Still, he couldn’t help but continue to wonder about her, and her place in all this, about Angelus’ comment. And while he listened to Lilah go on about their plans, a part of his still focused on the blonde.

“Wolfram and Hart,” Lilah said smoothly, still gazing solely at Angelus, “Believe we can reach a mutual agreement about this dimension. You changed it, its course, its destiny, its entire being. They want a sharing of information.”

“Really?” Angelus asked, finally turning the full force of his attention on the pretty lawyer. His hand banded around Buffy’s, and his tone still held an air of boredom. “And they think they have something to offer me?”

Taking that as her cue, Lilah stepped closer, her smile turning from predatory to seductive. She didn’t touch him, and that was just as well, for Buffy would have killed her had Lilah. As it was, Buffy’s back snapped straight, her nails digging into Angelus’ flesh in an attempt to control her anger. At both of them, Lilah and Angelus; Lilah continued on about ‘mutual agreements’, and ‘productive meetings’, and whatever. Angelus wasn’t stopping her oh-so apparent come-on, and that made her angry to a degree Buffy didn’t want to think on.

“We’re very dedicated at the firm,” Lilah was saying. “And we’d love to have you as our newest…client.”

“I just bet,” Buffy seethed and then watched as Angelus smiled thinly at the transparent lawyer. Her temper rising with every blatant move Lilah made towards Angelus, Buffy was unaware of several windows shaking, pitchers tipping over, and vases shattering. All she felt was her temper, the wave of anger that rolled over her and outwards as she imagined several inventive ways to dismember Lilah Morgan.

Taking a tight reign on her temper, and breaking free of his grip, which tightened around her hand the more her nails dug into his, Buffy stalked off, intent on killing something. She wasn’t sure why she was so mad, it wasn’t like she didn’t know what Angelus was like. But considering what he went through just to have her with him, here, all to himself, Buffy thought he’d have the decency to…

But that was her first mistake. Thinking Angelus had decency. He didn’t, and she knew that. Bastard. Make her warm up to him, thinking that maybe things would be okay because he went to all this trouble to be with her, to keep her here, alive, safe, his. And at the first chance he got, whore himself out to the first willing female.

Arrogant bastard, thinking he could-

“Well, well, what do we have here?”

Buffy turned at the sound, suddenly aware of her surroundings. Damn him! Again, he worked her up so badly she wasn’t paying attention to where she was, and now she was lost. She needed a damned map to find her way around this place.

Three vamps stood before her in a loose semicircle, obviously waiting for the chance to attack her. Stupid, stupid creatures, never attack a brassed of slayer, and never initiate it!

‘Didn’t they see the ceremony? She was with him, wasn’t she? Standing there by his side as his queen.’
‘Aye, aye,’ he nodded. ‘She was there, and everyone with a brain knew who she was. Some vamps,’ he shook his head. ‘Some vamps shouldn’t ever be turned.’

“Looks to me like it’s the slayer, boys,” one said, and Buffy rolled her eyes.

“Looks to me like someone needs some new lines. Please someone give these guys new lines!” She was weaponless, alone, lost, and angry. The three before her were so dead.

“Ooh, the little girl has a sharp tongue,” another said with a scowl on his vampiric features. “Makes me wonder what else she can do with that tongue!”

“Things you’ll never find out,” Buffy snarled back, as she waited their advance.

“Feisty, I like it,” the first one said, stepping forward.

“Damn, and in formalwear, too,” she groused. Was this ever not her day. Ducking under the poorly thrown punch, Buffy ran to the end of the hall, skidding in her heels to a stop by the end table. What it was doing there she didn’t know or care, but simply broke a leg off, and whirled around, her arm already shooting outwards to stake the vamp that followed her. He exploded into dust just as his friends arrived to back him up.

“What,” Buffy taunted when they stumbled to a halt. “Didn’t think the slayer actually slayed?”

With a growl, the first vamp attacked. Buffy stumbled over her dress, crashed backwards into the wall, and took a punch to the face. Damn, that was going to bruise. She’d just brought her arm up, stake gripped firmly in her hand, when she heard another growl, felt that all too familiar tingle race through her, and knew that Angelus had arrived.

The vamp pinning her to the wall was ripped off her, and tossed to the side as if nothing more than an annoying gnat. His friend stood there, stunned, and had his head twisted off for his troubles, the second pile of ash to decorate the floor. Buffy wordlessly handed the stake to Angelus, and he took it from her, eyes pinning her to the wall more effectively than the now charging vampire ever could have. Without looking, Angelus threw the stake directly into the vampire’s heart, turning the third to dust.

“Who are you?”

Both ignored Lindsey as he asked that, still staring at each other. Buffy with the sinking suspicion she’d somehow broken a rule, Angelus with a furious look that didn’t bode well for her. Her temper still triggered, Buffy pushed off from the wall, and stalked the few paces separating them.

“Say it,” she hissed into the silence, eyes pure silver, rage making the walls shake.

Lilah and Lindsey didn’t matter; they’d followed Angelus the moment he left their presence without a word, not a minute after the petite blonde left his side. They watched, fascinated at the byplay between the couple, the small girl and the large powerful god. Whatever dynamics played between them, it was intense, consuming, and bound them closer than anything either lawyer had ever seen.

“Do you need me to, lover?” he asked, anger coating his words, his eyes a swirl of colors that had nothing to do with power, and everything to do with anger. His cool hand moved up to cup her face, but he said no more.

“Lilah, Lindsey, I’m sure you know the way back to your rooms, yes?” The lawyers nodded, watching as Angelus led the girl away, his firm grip on her arm not going unnoticed.

“Who is she?” Lindsey asked, and it was a question he wanted answered more for his curiosity than for anything the Senior Partners could possibly need to know.

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