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Willow's eyes went wide as she saw the rendering of Inneresser. It was a crude woodcarving, but unmistakable.
"Is this what you saw tonight?" she asked in a small voice.
"Yes," Giles said as he stood and began to pace.
"I know him."
Giles stopped. "Wh-what do you mean?"
"He was in my nightmare. That's probably not a good sign, right?" she said trying to lighten the mood.
Giles frowned and resumed his pacing.
Willow continued to scan her computer screen. "It says that the demon, after it… eats the heart… he absorbs the magick of his victim."
Giles nodded. "I just don't understand why Raven would have summoned him. What was to be gained?"
"I think I know," she said. "Apparently, it works in reverse too. Whoever defeats Inneresser gains the demon's powers."
"Perhaps you were meant to be there so that you could destroy him and accelerate your growth as a wicca." The Defenders, it seemed, were willing to risk her life and countless others to gain a head start on a few years study.
"But I wasn't there… and Inneresser's more powerful now, isn't he?"
Giles nodded grimly. "You're somehow the key to all this… if we can just figure out-"
"Giles?"
"Yes?"
"My German's not very good, what does Stadtsteig mean?"
"Uhm… let's see… stadt means town and steig means… rose, I think…" His voice trailed off… "Rosetown… or… Rosenberg."
"I was afraid you were going to say that." She was pale. "The mage that banished him two hundred years ago… his name was Viktor Stadtsteig… coincidence is probably too much to ask for, isn't it?"
"Do you know your family's genealogy?" Giles asked not wanting to hear the answer.
"Not really, but… I do have some relatives from Austria… Oh, God. I'm this mage's descendant, aren't I?"
"Not necessarily," Giles said, although he knew it was a lie. The more they found out, the closer Willow was pulled toward the center. "Does it say how he destroyed the demon?"
Willow kept reading. "It looks like a local witch summoned Inneresser, in order to defeat him and glean his power - just like Raven, but she was killed almost immediately, just like Raven. Several other warlocks tried to destroy him, but they all fell, each time Inneresser grew more powerful."
Giles swallowed hard, could this get any worse?
Her voice shaking, Willow continued. "It doesn't say how he did it, but…"
"But what?"
"Finally Stadtsteig was able to defeat the demon, but the transference of magicks was too great… The influx of so much raw power ravaged his body." Willow stopped and gathered herself before continuing. "The mage went insane, whether from the pain or the magick, no one knows. Six weeks later, his wife, unable to bear her husband's suffering, killed him before taking her own life."
Both were silent as the meaning of what they'd just learned sunk in.
"Is this how Buffy feels?" Willow said softly. "I mean, when she reads a prophecy about her and…"
"This isn't a prophecy, Willow."
"Isn't it?" she said sadly.
"No," he said firmly refusing to accept the possibility. "You have to leave here."
"What?"
He moved quickly, his mind ticking off the possibilities. "You can visit relatives somewhere, until this is all over."
"I think I'm meant to be here," she said softly.
His eyes blazed. "No!" he yelled. "You'll leave early tomorrow."
"What if I'm the only one who can destroy him?"
Giles shook his head. "There's another way."
"What if there isn't?"
"Willow…" He couldn't bear the thought of her suffering, couldn't fathom a life without her.
She crossed the room slowly and took his hand in hers. She fixed his eyes with a solemn look. "Giles, I can feel it. It's supposed to be this way."
"No!" He shook his head violently.
"Giles…"
"I can't lose you," he said his voice hoarse with emotion. "I won't." His fear quickly changed to anger, to passion... to desire.
Beyond all reason, he had to have her. Now.
If he could have screamed and kissed her at the same time, he would have.
It was need. It was panic. It was desperation. He grabbed her hard, pressing his body against hers. His lips crushing, bruising. The kiss was powerful, starving. His hands held her arms still at her sides. He was unrelenting, devouring.
His tongue plundered her mouth, feeding… needing. His hands ran up her inner torso, searching, touching, wanting to feel all of her. His fingers passed over the soft swell of her breasts - brushing against them in the rush to savor all of her.
He forced her body up to the wall, her back pressed hard against the doorframe.
He grabbed her head with his strong hands and demanded entry with his passion. So fierce was his desire, she struggled to catch her breath.
His tongue vanquished her mouth - possessing it, setting fire to every nerve. He moved his mouth from her lips to her neck, licking, biting his way to her collarbone.
His hips rubbed against her stomach, grinding, insinuating. Her stomach dipped with each thrust, her heart pounding.
She ran her fingernails along his back, making him moan with pleasure. He grabbed her wrists and held them in one his hands. He forced them over her head and rucked up her nightshirt with his free hand - teasing the flesh of her thigh.
She gasped as his fingers touched the inside of her leg, the sound spurring him on, his arousal growing.
And then, all at once, what had been aggressive became tender. The demands became silent pleas.
His mouth sought hers again, his tongue gently ran along her lips, all the need he felt for her held within this kiss. Yesterday and tomorrow, forever and a day. All that he was, would ever be, he gave to her in that moment.
He wanted to erase the memory of every kiss that had come before. He needed this moment, this kiss to defy all others, to burn with a fire so strong that everything, every sensation was eclipsed by its power. If everything in the world stopped, if time itself ceased to pass, she would know the strength his love. Boundless, timeless - he claimed her as his forever.
Suddenly transcendent, they were so more than bodies pressed together.
Searing across their very souls, the connection was made. A devotion so profound no man, no beast, could put asunder. A place so pure, death itself had no meaning.
In that instant, that perfect moment, his love for her and hers for him, outshone the brightest star in the heavens. And the angels wept.
