Tamsin braced herself as they entered the empty lab. It was now or never, there was no more putting off her duty. She could practically feel his growing impatience, backing her further into a corner. Again she pictured Acacia's severed hand lying in the box and thought of what Freyja had told her, long ago, before she left Valhalla to come to earth. Never give your heart away, Tamsin, or you will suffer for it. You're there to guide, nothing more. "It's time to go, Succubus," Tamsin announced.
"And where might that be?" Bo asked uneasily, sizing the Valkyrie up. This was it. The moment she'd been anticipating since answering that mysterious call from the druid. They began circling each other.
"Wherever he wants you," Tamsin replied. "I don't know the details, I'm just here to bring you in."
"I won't go easy. How exactly do you plan to subdue me?"
"With this," Tamsin gestured, drawing forth the maple-colored rune jar. "One hair from someone you trust, two from someone you love and three from your own head, woven together by the kiss of someone who will never betray you." She smashed the rune jar at Bo's feet; it released a few sparks but nothing happened. "Well that was anticlimactic. I've never known a druid mix to be a dud before."
"Maybe he fudged the recipe?" Bo ventured, confused but grateful.
"Or maybe you don't love and trust the way you claim you do," snarled the detective, reevaluating her plan of action. She had used up most of her energy taking out the guards; she'd been counting on that serum.
"Something doesn't add up here," the succubus muttered, ignoring her accusation.
"And what's that, hotpants? Don't tell me you didn't expect this." Tamsin smirked. She put on an icy front. Still, behind it Bo sensed something else –she was torn.
"You don't want to do this," Bo realized, her eyes poring into the Valkyrie's.
Tamsin flinched and looked away. "You still suck at reading people. You should have learned from the dawning: trust your instincts. You knew I meant you harm from the moment we met."
"Maybe I did, but we both know that changed. What about your instincts, Tamsin? Like your instinct to shield me from that human's bullet?" She paused. "You had plenty of opportunities to take me in before now. You didn't have to help me bust in here to save my friends, but you weakened yourself to do it. You care for me, don't you? Maybe you didn't want to, but you feel something for me."
Defensive anger washed over the Valkyrie as she took in Bo's suggestion. "I feel irritated," she scoffed. "Newsflash: your little succu-charm only works when you make direct bodily contact."
"No, this isn't a succubus thing. I've never used my charm on you. I certainly didn't have to use it the day you kissed me in Brazenwood. And don't pretend there was nothing going on there because I felt it too."
Tamsin scowled, remembering that amazing kiss. She still dreamt about it. She knew Bo was right, and hated herself for it. This was all a consequence of her own feelings, but that didn't change what had to be done. Don't let her get under your skin, she told herself. "You don't know what you're talking about," the blonde spat, lunging forward. She knocked Bo against the wall and quickly assumed her shadowed visage, intent on sowing doubt in the brunette's mind. Despite her best efforts, Tamsin couldn't focus. The desperate attempt was futile; it was Bo who had caused her to doubt her own motivation.
"Fine, we'll play it this way then," Bo sighed. She avoided Tamsin's gaze and took a powerful pull of her chi. It really did taste incredible. This time, she could taste her enemy's anguish. It was all too easy to gain the upper hand.
It hurt when the succubus fed off her, yet a part of Tamsin didn't want her to stop. The pain was accompanied by a warm sensation of bliss, inviting surrender. What if I just let her take it all? Then this will be over. The shadows faded from the Valkyrie's face but Bo stopped before taking too much. Tamsin 's grip on Bo's shoulders loosened and Bo shoved her back into a table. "Come on Tamsin, let's take a time-out here."
The blonde tried to regain composure. You're a millennium old Valkyrie, she said to herself. Are you really going to let this baby fae best you? Battle is what you were built for. You have never failed before. Just weaken her another way. "Seems I wasted my doubt on those guards, but there's more than one way to skin a succubus," Tamsin reassured Bo, trying to quell her other emotions with anger. She pulled out her circular blade, the one she had used to take down the rakshasa. Bo followed suit, whipping out her dagger.
Tamsin's heart sank at the sight of Bo's weapon, remembering the moment she had thrown it into Whitman's chest, before the kiss that had sealed this fate. Brandishing her serrated throwing disk, she stepped toward the succubus, unsure of whether she could bring herself to use it. Bo saw the knife coming, and without thinking reflexively thrust her own into Tamsin's side, tearing through the kitsunes' freshly planted stitches. The Valkyrie groaned and fell to her knees; Bo sank with her to the ground, her shaking hand still clinging the dagger's hilt. Tamsin felt a wave of relief looking down at the wound. Blood once again seeped through her shirt; her blade tumbled to the ground with a clatter. She looked at Bo with pleading eyes and a wincing smile. "You win, Bo. You were right; finish it. It's my fault you were marked, and I'm so sorry." Tamsin felt stronger in surrender than she had trying to fight her feelings.
Bo cradled the Valkyrie in her arms and shook her head. "No, it doesn't have to be this way. There must be a solution, we can fix this," she gasped. "Just tell me how to help you."
"You can't help me. Nobody can," Tamsin cringed, the pain palpable in her voice.
Her words echoed like a trigger as Bo's mind flashed to a previously blocked memory of the two of them nestled on her bed in the shack she shared with Kenzi. She was facing Tamsin; Dyson lay asleep on the floor beside them. She was looking at a piece of paper on which a poem was written. Stunned, Bo muttered the words aloud as she remembered them.
Like an angel I descend from above,
but dark is my purpose as Odin's squire.
Forbidden from sharing a moment of love,
I am cursed to dispatch the ones I desire.
They looked at each other in flustered shock as Tamsin registered the memory herself, a tear sliding down her cheek. Of course, she thought. Sometimes when I like people, I have to make them go away.
"You see," Tamsin finally offered, her breath growing more uneven. "I doomed us both. I didn't mean to; I came here convict you as a murderer for the Morrigan so I assumed I was safe from the Valkyrie's curse. By the time I realized I loved you it was too late, the card was already cast. Your only hope is to kill me." She squeezed the succubus's hand, "it will be a mercy; I'm already dead." She closed her eyes.
Bo felt a sharp pang in her gut, thinking back to all the moments when she had felt the intense chemistry they shared. The kiss in Brazenwood and the feeling of Tamsin's warm hands stroking her face. Their conversation in Lauren's apartment afterward, and the way she had blushed and tapped Bo's elbow awkwardly on her way out the door. The Valkyrie's mysterious bathtub confession, and the urge she'd felt to kiss Tamsin before her abrupt departure. The electricity they both felt as Bo injected her with the druid's pick-me-up and fed off her at the same time. They had always shared a tension, but as time had gone by it had become increasingly, undeniably sexual.
She exhaled sharply, tears streaming down her face. "No. Tamsin, you are more alive than anyone I've ever met. I care for you too and I won't let you go." She leaned down and gently kissed the Valkyrie, pulling her closer. Tamsin sighed softly as Bo slowly breathed chi into her; her lips tingled and she felt the pain in her stomach begin to subside. The succubus ran her fingers through Tamsin's hair and stroked her face. Feeling her life force return, she wrapped her arms around Bo, who moaned in response. This was what Bo and Tamsin had been building to for all these months. Lost in their embrace, neither noticed that someone else had entered the room.
