The Door in the Hedge

by Lynn K. Hollander

Chapter 6 - As Long as We're Here, Does Anybody Have a Good Book?

"Oh, hell," Ivo said.

"It may be OK," Filis said. "Look again."

Cordelia and Tara were on the couch, unconscious, Willow was crying in a chair near them, and Ann Grove was standing in the center of the room. She wore another pants suit, this one dark gray over a black crew neck shirt. Her hair was braided and wound around her head. Her stony gaze settled on Ivo and Filis, and grew harder yet. She beckoned Ivo and Filis forward and made a small circle in the air with one hand; then she began to speak.

Angel couldn't hear a word. From his face, neither could Wesley. Angel looked at Ann again and decided not to interrupt her. For one thing, there seemed to be a crystal wall around Ann and the two Greens. He touched it. Cold and smooth. He rapped it with a finger. Nothing. It went up over his head and down to the floor.

That was both interesting and strange. If Ann was not a witch, according to Claire, who should know; and not a woman, as Filis implied, what was she? Clearly, she had power and the skill to use it--although perhaps moving cars bothered her--in a simpler, more direct manner than either Claire or Tara and Willow. Equally clearly, her status was not something even her friends knew with any certainty.

"Who are these two?" Wesley asked.

"The one on the couch is Tara, Willow's girlfriend. The one talking to Ivo and Filis is Ann Grove, Tara's godmother, and a shapeshifter at least. Maybe not human, but very powerful. Don't get her mad at you."

"Right. What happened here, I wonder?"

They both looked over at Willow. Angel fetched a towel and Kleenex from the bathroom, while Wesley got her a glass of water.

"Now, Willow, can you tell us what happened here?"

"Cordelia screamed, clutched her head and fainted, Ann appeared--just in time to catch Tara as she fainted--then we got Cordelia and Tara on the couch. Ann--she's in a really bad mood, I've never seen her like this--said they were really all right and after that, she talked to you and you were all here. Look! Tara's awake."

"Ann," Tara said. Ann turned away from the Greens, made a chopping motion with one hand, and crossed the room to her. "It closed. It closed and we're here."

"Not quite," Ann said calmly. "The gate was isolated, not closed, and it isn't one of yours--it's one of theirs." Ann waved at Ivo and Filis.

"Right after that, you got smacked with a quarantine spell--demon magic and very strong. It hit you hard and you fainted. Don't worry. If we live through the next several hours, we'll be fine and you'll have had first hand experience of the inescapable fact that actions have consequences. Coming here, unprepared and without telling me, however well intentioned you might have been, may get both you and your lover killed. Ponder that a while, and try to think of a way to help." She brushed a hand over Tara's forehead and moved over to Cordelia.

"Ann!" Willow said.

"And is any of that false, Witch?"

"Not really."

"You can help think, you know," Ann said, more gently.

Willow took her place and held Tara's hand.

"We might not live?" Angel said.

"Right. The Alves," Ivo and Filis again, "say their monitors on the other side of their gate panicked, and threw heavy protection around the gate on Mt. Griffith. That panicked the demons, who blocked the gate, which pretty much guarantees the destruction of the fabric of reality. The demons then quarantined Los Angeles. If the Alves or you or anyone else helping them tries to get out, we will be caught, which will prove very unpleasant." Ann took Cordelia's hands in hers and focused on her. Cordelia's color improved and her eyes opened, briefly.

"Can you bring in help?" Angel asked. "Ivo and Filis said they had mages who could deal with the demons."

"They're trapped on the other side," Ivo said.

"And in any case, no, I could not. I barely got in myself," Ann said. "I can't get Tara out, so I stay. However, since her life is at risk here, I can help.

"We know about the circle of destruction," Wesley started.

"It's not a circle, Watcher, it's a sphere, but since the expanding volume of destruction will come up against the deep earth magics that really hold the planet together, it's actually more like a hemisphere, or maybe a little bit more. Sort of a softly collapsed basketball." Ann's hands sketched a flat-bottomed ball in the air, then held Cordelia's hand again. She continued:

"That will be bad enough: the faults will shake, we'll have ocean beaches up against the Cascades and all the volcanoes will be revitalized. It may not be the end of the world again, but it could be at least the end of California as we know it."

"Rodeo Drive," Cordelia murmured, opening her eyes.

"Yes, that will go, I'm afraid," Ann said gently. "But tell us what you saw, Cordy, and we may get to shop there yet."

At least Ann could remember Cordelia had a name. Angel hoped that was a sign she was getting her temper under control.

"A book," Cordelia said. "We were all there, and Willow had a book."

"The title..." Wesley started, only to be frowned down by Ann, who asked:

"A big book? A little book?"

"A little book. Soft, sort of fuzzy. Blue."

Ann glanced over at Willow, who was frowning. Willow looked up and shook her head. "Did you see where we got the book?" Ann asked Cordelia.

"You got it from Giles," Cordelia said.

"Satisfactory," Ann said. She stood up and smiled down at Cordelia. "Would you like some tea? Or anything?"

"Ginger ale? No, Perrier, with lime."

"Here. Excuse me, I'm going to try something." Ann moved a little way off and started talking to the air: "Oh, good, Rupert. Hi. No. I have a situation. Do you have a little book, apparently limp binding in maybe blue velvet or blue suede? Spells, possibly. Good. Focus on it, please. I have it. Thank you." She thought for a moment, then continued: "You and Buffy and her friends are spending the evening in Seattle with Claire. Olivia, too, that's fine. Yes, Xander. And Anya."

"Miss Kitty," Tara said.

"And the cat," Ann continued. "You'll either be back tomorrow, or you'll know why you have to live in Seattle. And Joyce and Finn. I'll talk to you later."

Ann handed a small blue velvet book to Willow. "Look this over. I can work through their spell, so I'm going to move some of our friends around. I see no reason why Spike should be the only thing I saved from Sunnydale. Claire. Hi. Maybe not tonight. I need you to look after some people tonight. Thank you. No. No. You gave your word--leave Spike alone unless I'm there. Can I just put him in the garden? I don't care--run vines up him. I'll call you when I can. Yes. I'll tell him." She turned to Angel. "Call Claire in the morning, not too early. She has a bunch of sudden guests, or will in just a moment. Can I use your bedroom, Angel? I'll need to concentrate."

"Sure. That door."

"Oh," Willow said. "Amy, who's still a rat."

"Not your parents?"

"They're in Minneapolis."

"And the rat," Ann agreed, going away.

"What is she?" Angel asked Ivo.

"I'm not getting her any madder than she is. If you want to know, ask her. But I'll tell you, we're lucky she's under restraints."

"If she weren't under a compulsion to defend the girl in the first place, she wouldn't be here yelling at us," Filis said. "Although, if she weren't under compulsions, she wouldn't stop with just yelling."

"The thing is, these geas always come to an end: somebody, somewhere, knows how to release her, or there is a simple time limit, or it's linked to the imposer's life or some other condition has to be fulfilled--and it always is. She will not always be so hampered in her actions. And she knows where we live."

"Why was she yelling at you two, exactly?"

"She says we should have closed down our gate as soon as we knew about the demons selecting Mt. Griffith. As though we do anything for a demon's convenience."

Angel didn't say anything, but he agreed with Ann that closing Ivo's and Filis's gate would have eased the problem they all faced now. He also thought that Ann, while verbally harsh, had acted quickly and apparently as well as she was able to save Tara's and Willow's friends in Sunnydale.

Willow paged through the book.

Tara sat up and looked over Willow's shoulder at a few pages. "Nothing about opening?" she asked. "Or not opening?" She looked over at Filis and Ivo. "How do you open a gate, anyway? I've never seen that done."

"Ask your bossy friend," Filis said.

"In theory," Ivo said, "you sort of stretch reality thin enough to poke a hole in it and then you poke a hole in it and re-solidify it. If you thin it too much, or you're too close to another hole, it all shreds."

"How do they stretch reality?" Angel asked.

"How much math do you have?"

"Probably not that much," Angel said, "and it doesn't matter anyway. How do we stop them?"

"Stop their ritual, I guess," Ivo said.

"Oh, oh," Willow said. "'To re-impose sanity on one who is crazed. A spell to strengthen reality in a madman's mind.' It's the only one that seems to come even close."

"We're not dealing with a person," Wesley objected.

"See here, this part is where we recite the madman's true name, and what he thinks his true name is, and what his true name is called, and any other name of his that we know. We substitute the name of the mountain--"

"Use longitude and latitude," Ann said, coming back into the room.

"--here and that should do it."

"And all the names we can find," Ann said. "Willow, one of your allies is a magical being. If this spell works, what happens to him?"

"Who?"

"Angel."

"Not those two?" Willow indicated Ivo and Filis

"Alvar are natural beings, just not human or demonic. Angel has a lot of magic keeping him alive. If you take that away, what happens to him?"

"He turns mortal?"

"And dies?"

"Maybe he should stay here," Willow suggested.

"No," Angel said.

Willow looked up at him. "Well," she started.

"I can run protections for him," Ann said. "Now, does anyone know what time frame the demons are planning?"

"Tonight," Wesley said.

"High Moon," Ivo said. "There, not here, about three hours from now."

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