Thralls

Disclaimer: I do not own Angel or BTVS.
Title: Thralls, chapter 3

"Wes, that is Xander up there! Someone we both know. And Angel isn't acting right. He's gone all Angelus-y. But, your suggestion is to leave all of them alone, up there, with him all gameface?" Cordy showed her teeth in a very credible snarl, fingers hooked into imitations of claws as she held them over her head. The Englishman and the Irishman both leaned back out of range and nodded simultaneously, swallowing nervously. Leaving Angel alone was a very good idea.

Doyle swallowed again, keeping a sharp eye out for any further escalation from Cordy. He would never have believed he could be almost as scared of a human woman as he was of the vampire that had been known as the scourge of Europe. The Sire of William the Bloody. He shivered involuntarily.

"Precisely. It is the only sensible thing to do." Wesley squeaked, bravely clearing his throat and running a finger around his collar. When she continued to frown at him, he readjusted his glasses and cast his eyes in Doyle's direction, seeking much needed back up. The half-demon's eyes widened and he gulped as Cordelia's attention was diverted back to him. He tried to save the situation from complete disaster.

"Well, love, you see there isn't any alternative, not now. It's too late. This is the time he'll be settling in with the one he picks..." Doyle tried to explain. He winced when the princess' gaze fixed on him, blazing.

"Hold on." She held up a finger, it's delicate, lacquered nail gleaming a soft peach. "You said one. There are three men up there with him. What, exactly, is going to happen to the other two?" Her jaw was set.

"Uhm." Wesley joined him breaking out in a fine sheen of sweat. Doyle thought he might faint.

Her eyes narrowed to flashing beams, lips pushing out belligerently. "Someone had better start talking or I am going to march up there and ask Angel myself." She warned them.

"That would be a huge mistake, princess." Doyle muttered. "Huge, big, very bad mistake."

"Immense." Wesley agreed, nodding his head. "A terrible, terrible mistake."


"Better not to." Doyle added.

"Then you two had better start telling me what I want to know." Her finger pointed at first one then the other of them. "Lay it out, on the line. Clearly. I want to understand every word."

Doyle and Wesley exchanged panicked looks. Wesley opened his mouth, but no words came out. Doyle rolled his eyes and went for it, fingers crossed.

"Uhm. He, Angel, is bonding to one of them, most likely. Usually, when a vampire takes on a thrall, it's only one. One vamp, one thrall. The bond is a...." He looked helplessly at Wesley for assistance, but the other man's fiery blush told him not to hold his breath. "...uh, an intimate relationship, deep, and binding on both thrall and vampire. They share blood, and life, and...sex." He lowered his voice, then rushed on. "Everything. So, there isn't any real chance that all of them are going to live through it. If a vampire takes on a new thrall and there is an old thrall, the old one is often killed. Eaten sometimes."

"What! Eaten!?" Cordelia screeched. "And you want me to stay down here and let that happen? Let Angel kill Xander? Snack on him? And how come I've never heard any thrall talk before? No warning from either of you? Hiding information from me? Like I am not a full partner in Angel Investigations! Like I don't keep things running around here?!"

"Calm down, princess." Doyle pleaded. "We weren't keeping anything from you. It isn't a common practice, not any more, it's sort of an old custom, and certainly not followed much in America, not when the vampires here are more solitary, there aren't any courts here, and there are fewer American vampires, besides."

Wesley chose that moment to chime in. "In the European court-covens, where there are groups of vampires joined by blood-ties, it is more typically practiced. The courtiers almost universally have a thrall, rarely they have two. No one keeps three, sorry, Cordy. It just isn't done." Wesley cleared his throat. "The Watcher's Council has documented the practice. But, as an institution, it is not well known. The dynamics of the relationship of Master vampire to thrall have been observed only from a distance. Interference, trying to get too close, is quite dangerous. No watcher has managed to collect enough information."

"I am not happy." Cordelia chanted through her clenched teeth. "You haven't answered all my questions. *Is* Angel going to kill them? Maybe *Xander* if we don't go up there and do something about it?"

The two men exchanged another glance. Then Wesley nodded. "Quite probably." He froze when Cordelia turned her eyes on him.

"And why aren't we going to do anything about it?" She prompted with deceptive calm.

"They *can't* live without him. They are bound to him, however it happened. If he rejects them they will die. None has ever survived rejection. Nothing we can do about that."

"Did you not just tell me no one has gotten close enough to know that for sure?" Cordelia yelled suddenly, making both men jump. "Are you the same men who leap in against all odds to save human lives from demons and evil vamps?"

They had the grace to look ashamed. Doyle tried to explain.

"Princess, you aren't listening. The only way they are going to live is *if he chooses to keep them*. I have never heard of a vampire keeping three thralls. And Angel, he isn't the type. To the best of my knowledge he's never made even one thrall. Never had one in the past. He won't keep three." He shrugged, holding his hands out towards the fuming young woman. "I am sorry about your friend."

"You think he's going to kill all of them. And you aren't going to do anything to stop it."

"Perhaps it would be best. The alternative is being bound to him, until he tires of them." Wesley said gently. Cordelia glared at him. "It is not an easy life. Think Cordelia, would Xander want to live that way? Used by a vampire in whichever way the vampire wanted?"

"I'll tell you one thing, WWP, he would rather be alive than dead with no chance to break this curse." Cordelia shot right back, waving a hand in front of their faces. "And we are talking about Angel here. Hello, vampire with a soul!"

"It is not a curse." Doyle retorted automatically, then grimaced, wanting to put his hand over his mouth, and shove the words back in, as the sharp eyes returned to him.

"Oh? Do tell. Well, you may explain it all to me, and I do mean all, once we go up there." She pointed to the third floor, at Angel's rooms. "And make sure he doesn't kill any of them. After that we will have tons of time to talk."

"We can't!" Doyle wailed, giving up on changing her mind. "He'll kill us if we disturb him."

"It is not like you to be this wimpy." Cordelia said warningly. "Now get up, you two, and let's go."

It was abundantly clear she was going to go, whether or not they went with her. Reluctantly both men got to their feet and shifted unhappily. They trailed her up the flights of stairs, and to the outer door of Angel's suite. She stood, arms crossed stubbornly, her eyes ordering them to knock, when both men hung back she extended a hand and rapped sharply.

Nothing happened. She knocked again. Nothing. Then she rattled the knob, and a low, menacing growl sounded. Doyle grabbed her wrist and tugged her back from the door, despite her protests and spirited resistance.

"Angel! You open this door right now, or I am going to break it down! I know you have Xander in there, and I am not about to let you hurt one of my friends. Are you listening to me?" Cordelia shouted, then waited about ten seconds before she wrenched herself free and kicked the door with one hard-toed pump. The solid oak door shook in it's frame. "Angel, you better be listening to me."

This time it was Wesley and Doyle who snatched her back, muscling her away from potential harm, maiming and death. The growling had risen from a low rumble to a shriek promising imminent violence.

"Angel! If you harm one hair on those boys' head you are answering to me!" Cordy yelled as they tried to force her back down the stairs. The door flew open behind them, and they whirled as a group.

Angel was there, naked, streaked with blood, snarling. Not the calm, controlled vampire they were used to by any stretch. Wesley let out a shout of alarm as Cordelia elbowed him in the gut, and managed to wriggle partially free. Doyle held on to her other arm with grim determination, digging in his heels using his weight as an anchor.

"They better all be alive in there, and that better be your blood." The young woman told the vampire, shaking a finger at him, not at all intimidated nor seemingly aware of his lack of clothing. Doyle thought she had at last taken full leave of her senses. Wesley manged to regain his hold on her waving arm, pulling urgently.

Angel took a step into the hall. Doyle and Wesley both felt the blood freeze in their veins, their balls migrating upwards. Then there was a cry from the room behind the vampire. Mournful, needy, and they watched as he stopped in his tracks, and raised his head to sniff the air. He whirled and re-entered the room, slamming the door. They all heard the deadbolt lock engage, the rattle of the chains slipping home.

"Hold on." Cordelia was suddenly still in their arms. "I seem to recall...did you say he was going to have sex with one of them? Angel? With a man? With Xander? My ex-boyfriend?" Her voice rose an octave.

"Angel!" She lunged for the door, again.

Doyle had so hoped she had forgotten that little tidbit.

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