"Which manuscript is that?" the Watcher asked curiously.
Willow flipped the book shut, keeping one hand
inside to mark her
spot. My heart sank as I noted the book's
title. "Demon Legends
and Lore," Willow dutifully read. Her eyes
widened as the
implication set in. She sank down into her
chair, stunned.
I hated seeing her so upset, and though my
heart wasn't in it, I
tried to lighten the mood a little. I forced
a smile and tried to sound
glib. "Couldn't you have at least married
a human? I mean..." I
trailed off, not able to come up with anything;
my brain was too
busy trying to figure out a way to keep Willow
out of harm's way. If
this Dalton guy was a demon, I didn't want
to even chance an
encounter with him. Especially without Buffy
present. Maybe I
could convince Willow that this would be a
great week to go visit
her grandparents in Toledo...of course if
Dalton followed her then
she would be completely alone. Scratch that
plan.
The book started to slide from Willow's hand
and I grabbed it,
trying not to lose the bookmarked page. I
handed it to Giles and
knelt down next to my best friend. I put my
arm around her and
hugged her to me as Giles calmly scanned the
excerpt from the
book. When at last he put it down, he removed
his glasses and
rubbed his temples as if he had a migraine.
This was not a good
sign. I tightened my embrace on Willow, hoping
that I was being
something of a comfort. When Giles finally
looked up he had a
somber expression on his face. "All right.
Do you...eh...want the
long version or the...uh...the short version?"
By the time Giles finished, Willow was a nervous
wreck trembling
in my arms, and I wasn't much better. I stroked
her hair, unsure of
what to say. I vowed that I would not let
her out of my sight until
Dalton was found and destroyed. I didn't care
how long it took. I
would not leave her side in her hour of need.
"So what do we do now?" I asked. "We can't
just sit here and wait
for him to find her. Does it say anything
about any weaknesses or
something we could do to defeat him? There
has to be something
we can do."
"I'm afraid that's all there is. I can keep
looking through these other
documents and see if I can find anything..."
He trailed off as we
heard the sound of footsteps approaching the
Library Door. He
grabbed one of Buffy's training clubs and
quickly maneuvered so
that he could strike fast should the need
occur. Willow held her
breath as we tensely waited for the advancing
being to make an
appearance. What was only moments felt like
hours until the
library door swung open...and Buffy walked
in. Giles dropped the
club and took a deep breath.
Buffy took one look at the three of us and
realized that something
major was going on. "Okay, guys. What sort
of thing are we
dealing with, here?" she asked. Giles pulled
her into his office to
tell her so that Willow wouldn't have to sit
through it again.
Unfortunately we could still hear every word
as he explained the
situation and they began to discuss plans
for keeping Willow
protected.
I sat down on the floor and pulled Willow down
into my lap,
rocking her as if she were a child. Tears
dribbled down her
cheeks as she cried silently. Her breath came
in short gasps as
she tried to calm herself down.
"Hey, Wills," I spoke softly. "Don't worry,
we'll get you through this.
It doesn't have to end the same way..." A
small strangled sound
emerged from her and I realized what I had
said. "It won't end the
same way. We're gonna beat it. I promise."
She glanced up at me, tears still formed in
her eyes. "You have to
leave me, Xander," she murmured. "I can't
have you near me. I
won't put you, or Buffy, or Giles, in danger."
"You're not getting rid of me," I assured her.
"I can't speak for Buffy
or Giles, but I would rather die than live
knowing I wasn't there for
you." I meant for them to be comforting, but
my words had the
opposite effect. Her tears spilled forth and
she tried to push away
from me.
When I didn't let her go, she started struggling
harder. "Let me go,
damn it!" she demanded, shocking me a little
with her vehemence.
Buffy leaned out of the office to see what
was going on. I looked
at her helplessly as Willow broke free from
my arms and
scrambled to get away. Buffy stepped forward
and grabbed
Willow's arm. "Will, it's all right. Xander
and I are going to get you
home and I'll stay with you..."
"NO!" Willow insisted. "Just stay away from
me! I won't get you
killed--I won't!" She pulled away from Buffy
and fled from the
library. I leapt to my feet and tried to run
after her, but Buffy
stopped me.
"Stay here and see if you can help Giles find
anything more on
Dalton. Let me go after her. I'll calm her
down and get her to allow
us to stay with her, 'kay?"
Much as I wanted to go after Willow myself,
Buffy was right. I
could probably do her more good here. Buffy
would be better to
be with her should Dalton's goons make another
attack.
Reluctantly, I nodded and returned to the
books as Buffy rushed
to follow Willow.