Sister, Sister (Book Five, BTVS)

chapter 8 - Shadow

"I'm sorry," I told them sarcastically. "I was too busy getting my ass kicked by this demon chick to get much of a name."

The customer walked up to the counter, handing Giles an item.

"Ah, weeping buddha, shoulders your spiritual burden," Giles told him, wrapping the item. "Makes a lovely paperweight, too."

"Maybe she's not in the books," Tara told us.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I mean, what if she's not a demon or sorceress or spirit or whatever these books cover?" Tara asked. Giles looked up, ringing up the sale. "What if she's something else altogether?"

Giles handed the item to the customer. "Thank you, come again." The customer walked out, leaving. Giles walked out from behind the counter, toward us. "Something new, you mean?"

Tara shook her head. "Something old. So old it pre-dates the written word."

I thought for a moment. "Giles, the Dagon Sphere. You said that was created to repel..."

"That which cannot be named," Giles finished, taking off his glasses thoughtfully.

"So, I'm thinking maybe she..." Willow trailed off.

"Predates language itself?" Giles finished.

Willow nodded.

Xander looked puzzled. "Well, hey, if it means i don't have to read anymore, whoo! And might I add a big hoo!"

"If Tara's right, then we're blind," Giles told us. "There's--there's no way we can determine... her moves, her habits, where she'll turn up next... She could be anywhere." He looked at me. "But if she is as powerful as you say, then I imagine it won't be long before she makes herself known."

Anya was looking through a pile of receipts, stopping after a moment. "Hey. Hey. Hey!" Xander turned to look over. Anya held up a receipt, waving it at Giles. "Hey!"

Giles smiled fakely. "Anya, your 'hey's are startling the customers."

"And--and pretty much the state," I told her.

Anya ignored me, looking at Giles. "You sold someone a Khul's amulet and a Sobekian bloodstone."

"Yes, I believe I did," Giles agreed, taking the receipt, examining it.

"Are you stupid or something?" Anya asked.

"Allow me to answer that question with a firing," Giles told her.

"She's kidding," Xander told him. He looked at Anya. "An, we talked about the employee-employer vocabulary no-nos. That was number five."

Anya took the receipt back from Giles. "You never sell these things together, ever. Bad news. Don't you know about the Sobekites?"

"Oh, I do," Willow told us. "It was an ancient Egyptian cult, heavy into dark magic."

Anya nodded.

"And the Khul's amulet, wasn't that a transmogrification conduit?" Tara asked.

"Damn straight," Anya answered.

"Be that as it may, I still see no reason for concern," Giles told us. "I mean, the--the Sobekian transmogrification spells were lost thousands of years ago. And besides, the young woman to whom I sold them would have to have had enormous power..."

Giles stopped in realization.

I sighed, standing, giving Giles a look. "Young woman? Let me guess. Blonde, girl hair. Tight red dress."