Changing
Tomorrow 1
by
Danielle
** emphasis
// thoughts
Spike prowled the catwalk of the Bronze, utilizing the shadows to study his
prey. //So many tender morsels, so little time.// He grinned wolfishly as he
watched the youths at the table laugh and talk over the din.
The blonde
vampire had come out looking for a tasty treat to bring his dark princess
because she was too weak to hunt for herself. Dru was at home singing to her
dolls while Spike gathered dinner and planned the demise of the
Slayer.
Sure, their first confrontation hadn’t gone as he’d planned, but
at least he’d gotten the ‘Annoying One’ nice and ruffled before incinerating the
little bastard. That had been three days ago, and the vampire had decided to
fall back on what worked best. He’d find her weakness and come at it hard and
fast.
At the third table on the left sat the Slayer and two friends,
laughing it up like they didn’t have a care in the world. As he watched, she
left the Bronze with the nerdy redhead. Leaving the boy sitting all by himself.
Spike hadn’t anticipated this, but he wasn’t going to pass up a chance
to thin the herd a bit. Besides, his sire had offered him the boy. //What kind
of bloody name is Xander, anyway?// Whether that had been a ruse or not, Spike
was going to take Peaches up on it.
He glided down the stairs, ignoring
the pulsating crowd and focusing on the dark-haired human.
`*^~--.;'.--~^*`*^~--.;'.--~^*`
Xander had just paid his check
and was waiting for the end of the song before leaving. He had waited weeks for
this band to come to town and it was riveting. Willow and Buffy had ‘girl stuff’
to do, so it’s not like he was missing anything more exciting than hair braiding
and gossip.
He could use a little alone time anyway. Three nights before
on Parent Teacher Night, Xander had peered up from Angel’s chokehold and saw the
most beautiful creature he’d had ever laid eyes on. Completely shell shocked by
his reaction to the blonde vampire, the human froze when Angel and Spike had
hugged around him. He reveled in feeling the whisper of fabric against his face
and the taut muscle behind it. Spike’s unique scent pulled at him, and the human
could smell tobacco and blood. But the younger vampire hadn’t fallen for Angel’s
trick.
Ever since then, Xander had been using everything he had to block
out his strange infatuation with the evil fiend. His body and dreams betrayed
him, and he was beginning to think he was possessed again. The human rolled with
it like he did everything else on the Hellmouth. He’d deal. The past year had
seen life-altering moments like Jesse’s death, a hyena in living in his head for
a while, and bringing Buffy back to life. If those things hadn’t killed his
ability to laugh, nothing would. If Xander was still concerned over his ability
to lust after demons, he just needed time to get over it…
Lost in his
thoughts, he jerked when a cool hand rested on his.
“Buy me a drink,
mate?” A voice full of smoke and silk crooned in his ear.
A zing of
arousal shot to his groin before the terror registered.
The surprised
human turned to look into the cold blue eyes of Spike. His severe angled
features were twisted into a cruel gloat. Smoke billowed from the vampire’s lit
cigarette, adding to Xander’s prevailing sense of doom. //Man, I am so
dead.//
The human’s crush aside, the guy pinning his hand to the table
was by far the scariest vampire they had ever come across. The Slayer of Slayers
radiated coolness and a lethal power.
This guy was crazy, crashing
Parent-Teacher night and nearly killing Buffy. She’d told Xander later that her
mom was the only thing that had saved her. Not to mention that Angel had served
him up to Spike as casually as if he were offering to go halves on a pizza. And
here he was, no weapons, no Buffy, no escape.
Somehow, ‘terrified’
didn’t begin to cover what he felt.
“Uh…sure!” Eyebrows up, and in full
babble mode, Xander continued, “See that ‘X’ on the back of the hand you’ve got?
Not only is it a daring fashion statement: it also means they can’t serve me
alcohol—but I can get you an *excellent* Shirley Temple…” He grinned amiably as
his mind scurried through possible fight or flight plans. He was panicking, and
that didn’t help matters.
Spike released him to drape an arm around the
back of the human’s chair, fingers ghosting over the boy’s shoulder. Xander
tried to stand up, but the vampire used his other hand to shove the boy down
roughly.
“Call for help and I’ll make you watch me slaughter half this
sodding bar--” Spike’s tone was nonchalant and smooth, but the fingers that
swept to the back of Xander’s neck said he meant business. “--Before finding fun
and artistic ways to make you bleed. Now what say we get some fresh air?”
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