Drusilla suddenly stiffened, her head bending back on her delicate neck, eyes closed. "There are other tasks I must attend to. For the moment, you may have the female back," Laibach said. "Do not disappoint me, vampire. I have waited far too long for this plan not to bear fruit."

Spike took a drag from his latest cigarette and blew a plume of smoke into the air. "Don't you worry about me, mate. I'm all about pleasing the great Old Ones. What I live for, really," he said with a malicious sneer.

Drusilla's eyes fluttered and then closed and she swooned. Spike swore loudly and caught her as she began to fall. Then, slowly, as if rising from a deep sleep, she opened her eyes and performed a feline stretch in his arms.

"I went away for a little bit, didn't I?" she asked, as though the idea were pleasantly naughty.

"Just a bit," Spike agreed, caressing her face where the gash Laibach had made was already healing.

"It was the strangest place and so beautiful, " Dru said airily. "All the screaming and the floating things, like sea monsters in the air. Like a dream, and the world was built with queer geometry. "

"Well you're back now, poodle. And Spike is gonna keep you safe. Not to fret about it; not at all."