Nancy Holder

Immortal: Buffy the Vampire Slayer

by Christopher Golden, Nancy Holder & Joss Whedon.

During a routine slaying, Buffy Summers runs into a small group of vampires who seem to be out for more than the usual bite-and-suck. As the vamps scatter, one of them stays behind, willing to sacrifice itself to help the others escape. Though surprised -- vampires aren't exactly known for their generosity -- the Slayer doesn't waste time pondering the demon's motivation and kills it.

Or so she thinks.

But the next night a new vampire confronts the Chosen One and her friends. One who knows Buffy's name and can anticipate her basic attack. One who doesn't have the proper respect for Mr. Pointy. One whose name is Veronique. She cannot die. Strike her down, but like the night she will always come again. And she will bring forth the end of Man....

Every time Buffy kills her, Veronique rises again in a new body. "Great. Instant replay." An invincible demon is the last thing the Slayer needs right now. Joyce Summers is about to undergo a serious operation, calling up all of her daughter's fears about her own mortality. Angel wants to comfort Buffy, but her mother's crisis underscores the difference between them: he will live forever, while she will grow old...or die young.

Torn between her duties as a daughter and as the Chosen One, Buffy will need the support of her friends to help her solve a rash of grave robberies, head off an influx of new vampires, and take Veronique down, once and for all. For Veronique is on a mission -- to bring about the unification of her masters. the Triumverate, into one all-powerful demon who will drink the blood of the last man on earth....

The Book of Fours: Buffy the Vampire Slayer

by Nancy Holder & Joss Whedon.

When an old classmate of Buffy's from L.A. is killed and Willow is severely injured in a car accident, both in the space of one week, the Slayer must yet again face the vulnerabilities of her mortal friends. No one is invincible, least of all the Slayer herself. After all, Buffy's very existence as the Chosen One bears witness to the demise of countless Slayers called before her.

At the same time, from a place of nightmares -- which Buffy and Faith share -- a terrible evil invades Sunnydale, setting off a quartet of disasters: A controlled burn of some old forest growth escalates into a raging fire that threatens to devour the town; astonishingly high tides at the beach take out boats, oceanfront property, and innocent bystanders; a hurricane pummels the beleaguered town but does not quench the fire, and a massive earthquake erupts, disgorging pockets of natural gas from huge sinkholes.

Clearly, these catastrophes are linked to the Slayers' nightmares, which revolve around four strangely swathed, indistinct figures. One is burning, one is dripping wet; one is covered in mud, one shrouded in windswept linen. Each trudges across pristine desert sand dunes carrying a box of grafted skin and bone that Faith thinks she recognizes from a previous battle. Research leads Giles to the Watcher's Diaries, where he learns that the last Slayer to encounter a similar container was India Cohen -- Buffy's immediate predecessor.

Strangely, Buffy has never given much thought to the young girl whose death activated her own era as the Chosen One. But now she must draw on the strength of those who came before her -- or something else will draw on hers. For Buffy is being stalked by a monstrous force that journeys through time, fortifying itself by draining the primal power of a Slayer. Mortal though she may be, if she wishes to stop this demonic presence, Buffy must orient herself on a continuum that predates even humanity itself...