“Now, I don’t mind telling you that I am put out by this turn of events,” the Mayor said, climbing out of his town car and dusting off his slacks. He’d put his tie back on since Anya and the others had last seen him. “And there will be H-E-double-hockey-sticks to pay if we don’t get this taken care of ASAP.”

“He spells a lot when he’s mad,” Willow murmured to the group.

On a jagged cliff overlooking the foamy breakers of the inky black ocean, Anya could see the edge of the sunshade miles out from shore. The distant sky was rainbow-sherbet pink and orange as the sun sank into the water. It was hard to look away from. Anya hadn’t seen a sunset since she’d left Arashmaharr.

She sensed Angelus moving to stand beside her and admire the faraway sky. However long it had been since Anya had seen the sun, it had certainly been longer for the vampire. At least in her capacity as a vengeance demon, she’d happened upon some daylight in the last three hundred years. Angelus was drinking in the sight like he’d been dying of thirst. It made him look oddly human. Clinging to the fleeting present was the ultimate mortal vice.

“Weird to think we used to see this every day, huh?” Anya said.

“I knew the shade had to have an end,” he said, too enthralled to look away. “But I never thought it would be so. . .” At a loss for words, Angelus simply shook his head and wiped a hand over his forehead, as though checking to make sure he wasn’t in danger of bursting into flames.

“Her Holiness pays dearly for the view,” the Mayor said, his obliging tone edged in impatience. “But the sun sets here every day, Mister Angelus. So, if you wouldn’t mind.”

Turning away from the ocean, Anya examined the humongous house of worship. Gaudier than the Church of the Eternal Night and propped up on white stone columns, the circular temple had no walls. It lured guests in from the parking lot with gauzy curtains, invitingly swollen with the sea breeze.

Anya didn’t trust it. She folded her arms over her chest and hung back as the rest of the group moved forward.

“Are there any nondenominational places to fly this flag?” she asked aloud. “Or does the City Council see some connection between organized religion and Hell on Earth?”