I do not own any of these characters. Please read and review.
ACQUISITION
"How could I let her talk me into this?" Bo asked for the tenth time as she picked a twig out of her hair.
"Maybe because you have a soft spot for annoying, thieving, pouty humans," Dyson remarked as the three of them made their way through the brush.
"Or it could be Kenzi's gone and gotten in over her head again and needs big sister Bo to bail her out," Hale said as he held a branch aside so she could pass, but letting it hit Dyson in the chest. "My question is how did we get roped into all this?"
"You're the police, it's your job to help find missing people," Bo said, avoiding a large fallen branch.
"This kid hasn't been missing for 48 hours. For all we know she could be at friends house or something," Dyson said sniffing the air around them again. Something odd caught his attention. Stepping sideways off the trail Bo and Hale had made through the plants he followed what he could only describe as a strange mix of scents.
"What is it? You smell him?" Hale asked turning around.
"Is he close?" Bo asked, wanting an end to this trek into the back and beyond.
Dyson followed the strange mix of at least four different fae. "It doesn't make sense. This is an unclaimed forest yet there are four fae, and there scents are all over this area."
Bo was confused. They were looking for a fae, sure, but just one. This was a forest well outside either the light or dark's territory, and unclaimed by either. "Why would there be so many fae way out here in the middle of nowhere?"
"An excellent question," Kenzi said stepping from behind a tree right in front of them. The three of them started as they took in her sudden appearance.
"I thought I said for you to wait in the car," Dyson said slightly annoyed.
"You don't really expect me to sit in a car, by myself, miles from civilization?"
"I guess not. Have you seen anything, because we've got nothing," Hale asked.
"No I haven't seen anyone but you guys. I guess he got bored and went home." Kenzi said looking around.
"Hey, you do remember you're the one that signed us up for this case and we're looking for a she right?" Bo asked starting to get a little peeved.
Dyson's eyes suddenly turned amber when a gust of wind came through the clearing. The scents he'd caught before washed over him like a waterfall and they were coming from Kenzi.
Something changed in the human's eyes and there was a mischievous grin on her face now. Bo went to reach for the girl but Kenzi shrank away then turned back, violently whipping her hair around. All three were caught by surprise as tiny quills stuck in their skin. Bo gasped as her vision immediately began to swim and she swayed on her feet. Hale blindly groped for something to hold onto and the two collapsed, Bo on top of Hale. Dyson tried to reach for Kenzi and managed to snag part of her sleeve, but she stepped back, watching as he face planted into the dirt.
"This was even easier than I thought," she said as she stroked Dyson's cheek. Now she just had to figure a way to get them back to the lab.
"Yo Bo!, Dyson, Hale, where the hell are you guys? I have been tromping around the woods forever, my designer boots are toast," came a familiar voice.
The figure of a petite girl with shoulder length hair could be seen walking through the woods toward the unconscious trio. "How could she have found me? I lead her far enough off course. She shouldn't have been able to…," the woman thought as she knelt over Dyson. Panicking she took hold of his collar and began dragging him into the forest.
She went a half-dozen steps when another Kenzi came through the bushes, nearly tripping over the pile of limbs that was Bo and Hale. She could not believe her eyes as she watched her face contort and change into Dyson's scruffy one then disappear into the dark with what she supposed was the real Dyson under one arm. She regained her balance and started after the shifter but stopped when she remembered she was a human chasing a fae and her two friends were lying at her feet quite possibly dead.
She was thankful when she found Bo and Hale each had a strong pulse. "Well at least you're not dead, so we've got that going for us." They wouldn't wake though and Kenzi didn't want to wait for that thing to come back and drag them away. Wrestling with her bag she finally found her phone and called Trick. "Trick, it's Kenzi. Major trouble. I found Bo and Hale, they're not dead but…"
"Did you check..." Trick asked.
"Yes of course I checked and they both have a pulse, and yes I tried to wake them but I can't. That's not all," she paused as she thought about her twin's face turning into Dyson's. "Whoever, or whatever did this took Dyson
"I am going to call Lauren, she can take them back to her lab and treat them there. We'll get Dyson back," Trick said.
"And what do I do if whatever did this comes back?" Kenzi said straining her eyes to see into the darkness.
"Hale probably has his gun on him. Just hold tight I'm going to call Lauren," Trick said then hung up.
Kenzi gently rolled Bo off Hale and look the gun at the small of his back. She then rolled him over to make sure there were no other injuries. There was no bleeding or wounds on either so Kenzi was confused as to what had happened, and why they had only taken Dyson.
It seemed to take hours for Lauren to arrive at the site, and when she did the barrel of Hale's Berretta and a very skeptical Kenzi greeted her. "How do I know that you're the real Lauren?"
"You once called me a speculum," Lauren replied with her hands in the air and a look that was both serious and exasperated.
"Ok, you're you," Kenzi smirked as she let her gun arm drop to her side. "What have we got here doc, because I've been here almost two hours and they haven't made a peep?"
With her gloves on Lauren turned Bo's head from side to side checking for a blow to her head. "No head wound, that's a good sign."
She continued her examination in silence until Kenzi grew impatient, "How are they still out doc? What, some kind of faery dust, bad ju ju spell?" Kenzi leaned over to see what Lauren had in her hand. She could only just make out something shimmering in the light between Lauren's thumb and forefinger.
"I found these all over Bo and Hale. I think this came from some sort of fae," she turned to hand the delicate quill to Kenzi. In the darkness Kenzi couldn't see it and it dropped sticking her thigh. Instantly she started to falter. "Kenzi? Are you ok, what's wrong?"
"I know…what…happened… to…Bo…" she whispered falling to her side just as unconscious as the others.
"Great. Now I have to call a team to get everyone out of here," Lauren said flipping open her phone.
Dyson wasn't sure how long he'd been out but it felt like days. He had had nightmares of epic proportions while he 'slept'. Many involved Bo being tortured and killed. He watched as Kenzi stabbed the succubus over and over again. Hale screamed in agony as his eyes and ears began to bleed. Dyson writhed in pain when Kenzi slashed at him with the same bloody knife she'd used on Bo.
When he slammed back to consciousness it was just for a second. He caught a glimpse of a room with light blue tiling, and long curtains that matched. Strapped to his bed he could only move his head a little to see some racks holding equipment on casters and monitors. A moment later he saw his own face looking back at him with that same smirk Kenzi had been wearing. A pinch at his elbow made him spasm and his vision blackened again to a single dot of light, then that too was gone and the nightmares began anew.
That Dyson had been abducted and Hale was injured were the only reasons the Ash had ordered a chopper be used to air lift everyone, back to the lab, with the exception of Lauren who drove her truck. What she saw when the door opened was complete chaos.
Lauren first stumbled upon an overturned instrument tray, then a bed that had been flipped over. She could hear someone struggling, and as she rounded a partially torn curtain she saw Bo. She was holding one of her staff off the ground by her neck. "Where is Kenzi, I know you're experimenting on her! Where is she?" When the woman didn't answer Bo pulled her close, "Fine I can make you tell me." She began feeding off the woman's chi, sucking the life out of her. The woman began to smile but went limp in Bo's grip.
"Bo stop!" Lauren shouted. Bo dropped the woman and rounded on Lauren her eyes slowly losing their blue flame quality. She took two steps before collapsing into the doctor's arms. Laying the succubus on the floor she went to check on Shiva, who was thankfully still breathing.
"Lauren, where am I?" Bo asked in a shaky voice. The room was still spinning as she tried to stand so she just sat leaning against the wall. "Where did you come from? Are we in your lab? How did I get here?"
"One question at a time. Take it easy, you're probably still dizzy from the toxin." Lauren put one arm under Shiva's back and the other under her knees and lifted with her legs settling her on the only other bed that hadn't been disturbed. "Kenzi called Trick who called me. Yes we're in the lab. You were air lifted back here," Lauren leaned in closer. Using her pen light she checked for pupil dilation which was a little sluggish, "What do you remember?"
Bo closed her eyes and tried to focus. "I remember arguing with Hale and Dyson about helping me find a missing kid for a case that Kenzi and I…" she stopped as she remembered.
"What, what's wrong?" Lauren asked.
"Kenzi, she did this to me, to Hale and Dyson. Where is she, I am going to kill her!" Bo tried again to get to her feet but felt the ground shift under he feet.
"Whoa, whoa, just take it easy. You may be dizzy for a while," Lauren explained putting her hand on Bo's shoulder. "I can say with complete confidence that Kenzi did not do this, so please calm down."
"How can you be so sure? I saw her with my own eyes. She whipped her hair around and stuck us with those needles. It was her, I saw her face!" Bo was getting visibly upset.
Lauren sat down next to her, "I know that you think you saw Kenzi but whatever did this is fae and Kenzi is most definitely not fae." Bo calmed at the doctor's words but still seamed confused.
"If whatever did this was fae then it must have been a shifter because I know what I saw, it definitely looked like Kenzi. Dyson and Hale saw her too, where are they?" She looked around not seeing anyone else.
Lauren swallowed the lump in her throat. "Hale is recovering in another room, he and Kenzi will be fine but…"
"What happened to Kenzi, the real Kenzi? She wasn't even with us she was in the car" Bo said.
"She found you and Hale but said that someone who looked like her turned into Dyson and dragged him away before she could follow it. Then while I was examining you she was accidentally stuck by one of the quills."
"Try you dropped it on purpose." Kenzi said leaning on the edge of the door frame. "Nice try doc. I know you're trying to have Bo all to yourself but it's not that easy." Kenzi joked as she helped Bo stand and make her way over to a chair. "Hale's still sleeping but I heard your dulcet tones and thought I'd come and join the party." Kenzi looked at the woman in the bed across the room, "You evil vacuum sucked that lady because you thought they were experimenting on me? You love me, you really love me," she quipped as she gave Bo a hug." Turning to Lauren she asked, "Is she going to be ok?"
The doctor gave a lopsided grin and nodded, "She'll feel a little drained when she comes to, but she'll recover."
"In the mean time how do we find wolf-man?" Kenzi could feel Bo tense up. "We gotta go back to the clearing with like a blood hound or something right?"
"We could use a tracker," Lauren said as she leaned over and examined Bo. "Do you both feel you're up to going back out there though?."
Bo gave Lauren a serious look, "We have to find him, but we have no idea what this thing is or what it wants with Dyson. Wake us when the tracker gets here, Kenzi and I are going to catch some real Z's." Both she and Kenzi righted the bed that had been upended and laid down together.
Bo laid a protective hand over Kenzi's middle, "You don't have to come with us it's going to be dangerous."
Kenzi sleepily replied that it was her fault for taking this case, and that someone had to be there to save Bo's ass when her evil doppelganger struck again.
His second return to reality was much less violent as Dyson opened his eyes slowly, taking in the same light blue tiles and curtains as last time. He felt less woozy than before and could focus on things like the sounds coming from the heart rate, and breathing monitors next to his bed. He felt like something cool had been swiped across his forehead recently. He tried moving his hand to see what it was but found he was still strapped down tight.
"I couldn't have you running away. You know how hard it is, hunting prey only to have it escape," said a voice from behind him. The figure came around in front of him but he didn't recognize it. It was a man with close-cropped brown hair, light blue eyes, and a thin mouth that smiled that strange grin. "You have something I want."
"And what might that be?" Dyson said as he tugged again at the restraints.
"Don't struggle," the thing said as its skin began to bubble slightly and rearranged itself into a perfect replica of Bo's flawless features. "You'll only hurt yourself."
"Who are you? Are you light or dark?"
"My name is Tyrael," the man said as his face transformed back, "I am dark fae. What I want is your wolf and all the perks that come with it," the grin widened into a full smirk.
Kenzi woke with Bo's arm still tucked around her. She was loathe to disrupt her bestie's beauty sleep, but nature was a callin' so she pushed Bo a little and smiled to herself when the succubus just rolled over and kept right on sleeping. As she neared the bathroom Kenzi ran into Lauren who looked annoyed. "What's wrong Doc, something got your panties in a bunch?"
Lauren flipped her phone shut and just looked at her for a second, "Yeah, more of a someone though. Our tracker is out of town. Which is a polite way of saying they don't know where he is." Lauren brushed her hair behind an ear and continued, "This particular tracker is rather wily, likes his vices. The Ash tries to keep him on a short leash but he gets away from his handlers from time to time."
Kenzi shrugged, "Can't we get another tracker, someone who isn't as hell bent on doing his own thing?"
"He's the best tracker the light has. We have very little to go on, it may not be a simple matter of just picking up his scent. This guy can practically read an area and tell you what happened with an astonishing amount of detail. But we'd have to find him first. I think I have an idea where he might have gone but I have to check something first." Lauren flipped open her phone again and began to dial, "Go wake Bo, if I'm right we need to move fast."
Bo was anxious to find this tracker, Lauren had said his name was Charlie, so they could use him to try and find Dyson. She'd also mentioned this guy was a bit of a lunatic, and liked to run away from his babysitters and get himself into all sorts of trouble. This time it was in the form or a high-stakes backroom poker game. "Really in the basement of the public library, how secretive," she laughed as they walked through the glass doors and made a right taking the elevators downstairs.
They reached what looked like a custodian's closet when a large man with a square jaw blocked their path, "Can I help you?"
Kenzi pushed her way to the front and looked the man in the eye, "We're friends of Charlie, he said we could find him here." The big man stared at her for a moment, then moved aside opening the door for them. "Thanks."
As they moved inside they saw it was a narrow hallway leading to an bigger room with a large ten person poker table, a small bar and a coat rack in the corner, "Very cozy," Bo said eyeing the people already sitting down. She turned to Lauren and said, "Which one is Charlie?"
There were nine people seated at the table six men and three women. Everyone turned to look when the group entered the room. A bald man with a tribal tattooed on his neck wolf whistled when he caught site of Bo. A fat middle-aged man with a Hawaiian shirt was refilling his drink at the bar and missed putting the ice in his glass by a mile as he stared. Two other guys in dark suits looked unimpressed and returned to playing with their chips. A man with dirty-blond hair lowered his sunglasses when he saw Kenzi and not so discretely licked his lips smiling as if eyeing a meal on wheels.
"I'm going with 'hungry eyes' over there, he seems like a douche," Kenzi said physically and mentally skeeved.
The three women looked out of place with their flattering cocktail dresses and shiny jewelry. With similar features Bo would swear they were sisters. Another guy wearing a V-neck t-shirt that read "Ask not what you can do for your country" reclined in his chair tapping his chips and looking around at the other players.
Lauren tapped Bo's shoulder and indicated the guy in the v-neck. "That's Charlie?" Bo asked in a whisper, Lauren nodded. "He doesn't look all that crazy, how do we get him to come with us?"
"You could always seduce him, quick and dirty," Kenzi suggested.
Bo thought about it, they were short on time and needed to find Dyson before something happened to him. Without a word Bo stepped behind Charlie and gently put a hand on his shoulder letting her chi flow into him. She whispered in his ear then kissed his neck and he began to get up.
Half way out of his seat the guy who'd whistled at Bo yelled, "Hey buddy, where do you think you're going. You 're down a grand and you owe me twenty already. Get back here and finish the hand or pay up!"
Slurring his words slightly Charlie attempted to respond but the guy was around the table and up in Bo's face in a matter of seconds. Bo shoved Charlie toward Lauren and grabbed the guy by the throat, "I think I know what action you're looking for," She kissed the man hard on the mouth and her eyes blazed blue.
The guy's arms dropped from her hand at his neck then he stopped fighting all together. Bo let him go and he fell like a ton of bricks. "Any one else want some?" She saw the glowing irises of the three women cool as they took in the body at her feet. "That's what I thought," she said as she turned and left.
When Bo rejoined them Lauren was arguing that Charlie should be thankful it was her that found him and not the Ash's goons. "I know what it's like to be cooped up, but the more you resist the more guards they throw at you. If you help us with this I am sure the Ash will be grateful. We can ask that he relax the security he's placed you under."
Charlie nodded his assent but had his own demands, "I'll help but I'll need something first."
"We could just hand you back to the Ash and say have a nice day, or to your friends downstairs. It sounded like you had unfinished business. A friend of mine is in danger and you are the only one who can help. Please tell me what you need is a boot to the face," Bo grabbed his collar and slammed Charlie up against a van.
Kenzi stepped in and tried to loosen her grip, "Babe, you're right he's our only ticket to Dysonville, but he can't help us if he's dead, lets hear him out for a second, ok?"
Bo let him go and stepped back, "Fine what do you want?"
Charlie soothed his neck, and said "I needs some meds, you know allergy meds. Your doctor friend knows which ones I need."
Lauren rolled her eyes, "Fine you'll get them, after we're done with this."
This was the second time they'd come to the clearing and Bo was getting pissed, "This is pointless. We've just gone in a circle and here we are back at the clearing."
Charlie crossed his arms and stopped walking, "Since you know so much I guess you don't need my help."
Bo was about to retort when Hale stepped in, "Why did we go all the way back past the car to the other side of the woods if this is where Dyson was taken from and Kenzi saw the shifter head off in the other direction?"
"Because," Charlie spoke as if to a small child, "the shifter's trail started over there, snaked around a bit which was kinda weird, then made its way over to the clearing."
Kenzi was staring off into space when Bo waved a hand in front of her face, "Yeah, yeah I'm here. I was just thinking."
"I thought I smelled something burning," Hale jibed.
Kenzi glared at him, "When I left the car I saw someone I thought was our missing fae walking down where Charlie lead us. Now that I think about it, it was probably the shifter pretending to be our missing girl. Kenzi continued as she walked to where she discovered Bo and Hale "I wandered around for a little while before I found some shoe prints that lead here."
Bo realized that he was doing what Lauren said he would, read the area and replay events. "Sorry for being a bitch," she apologized. "What can you tell us about this spot and where Dyson might have been taken?"
"This is where she got you two with the needles and then dragged Dyson off into the woods. I can just make out his scent over in this direction lets see if we can't find a trail," Charlie said looking at the fading light.
Dyson couldn't understand what Tyrael was talking about. How could it take his ability and use it for himself. He knew there were beings that could take and bestow power but those beings didn't use the power themselves. "How are you going to take my ability for yourself? It's impossible," Dyson said .
"It's not. I will explain it to you," Tyrael said pulling up a stool. "I was researching shifters of all kinds in the old texts and I found examples of our kind who'd had the ability to change their form at will into any living thing they wanted. I also discovered that throughout the millennia our branch of shifters began to specialize in one or two creatures instead of the multitude our ancestors had. It appears to be the way we evolved to look like humans, to fit in." Tyrael's face hardened, "Over specialize and you breed in weakness. I can only turn into humans. You can only turn into a wolf. Both useful to be sure but why not have the ability to morph into anything? The best of all worlds."
"Thanks for the history lesson, but you can't just take my DNA and hope it works. How do you intend to take my wolf?" Dyson was starting to worry this guy was insane and going to cut him up and wear him as a pelt.
"Every being has its basic trait, something that makes it unique. For the humans it's their brain, nothing else like it, well apart from us. But you, your wolf comes from your heart. It's the heart of an animal, the heart of a hunter. And according to my research so far if you graft the basic trait onto a shifter they can take on that form," Tyrael stepped close to the side of the bed and grinned down at Dyson. "So you see, I'll be needing that ticker."
Charlie stopped and dropped to his knees sniffing the ground and examining the dirt for possible tracks. They'd made their way a good three hundred and fifty yards away from the clearing where Kenzi had found Bo and Hale. At first there were drag marks left by Dyson's legs as the shifter dragged him away. Then it had changed into Dyson and picked him up leaving only one set of boot prints. Now they were at the head of an overgrown path through the woods.
Kenzi looked at an information guide she'd found online and printed at the lab, "This trail must be older than this map? Anyone know where this yellow brick road goes?"
"No idea but if Dyson's at the end of it you can bet that bitch is too," Bo said with more anger than intended. "Sorry Kenzi, its just …she was wearing your face."
Kenzi smiled and hugged Bo, "I know you're mad cuz you got duped but it wasn't me, I swear. Now lets get on with the wolf-man hunt." Charlie sniffed the trailhead and indicated they were headed the right way.
They had a traveled on the path for over and hour and were going to take a break when they heard the sound of someone dragging something on the ground. As they moved quietly towards the sound they saw a large house practically grow out of the forest. The dark brown façade was overgrown with thick ivy and the windows were boarded up. There was a very small driveway that had crumbled to nothing over the years and a wide stairway leading up to a set of ornate double doors. Above the doors read "Seraphine Ranger Station."
On the side of the house they saw a short man with a medium build close-cropped hair dragging a garbage bin behind him. As he turned the three of them blanched. The man wore a plastic apron and there was blood smeared all down its front. The man dragged another bin around to the front and walked up the stairs into the house.
"Anyone else think we have the right place?" Kenzi whispered.
Bo chimed in, "Lets see, creepy old house, in the middle of the woods, check. Shady looking guy with bloody apron, check. Yeah I we're here."
"I've seen this one, the funny character always gets shot and stuffed first," Kenzi tried to make herself blend into the foliage.
Bo put a hand on the tracker's shoulder and turned him towards her. "Is this the right place? Can you smell Dyson here?" Charlie wouldn't meet her eyes. "What?"
Charlie looked at the ground and nodded as he spoke, "That was his blood on the apron." She knew that when he couldn't met her eyes. "We need to call the Ash, there's no way we can storm the place and rescue him," Charlie paused to stifle a sneeze. Kenzi tensed but the man had already gone inside.
"Fine, you call the Ash to get a backup team here. I am going to call Lauren. If that's his blood then he's hurt and gonna need a doctor," Bo crouched low and made her way from the house. "Lauren," she said in a low voice. "We've found Dyson and the maniac that took him. The guy had a lot of Dyson's blood on him so we need you to get out here ASAP. I know you and he are not on the best of terms but…"
Lauren cut her off, "He's light fae. I have a job to do regardless of my personal feelings towards my patients."
"Good, now get out here. Charlie is calling the Ash to mobilize a team. Maybe you can expedite things," Bo ended the call slipping the phone in her pocket as she rejoined Kenzi and Charlie behind some over grown bushes.
"I can't wait for them," Bo decided. She opened her bag and withdrew two daggers, adding them to her boots. She slipped one into a sheath at her back then zipped up her leather jacket. "You wait for the team if I'm not back in fifteen do not come in after me," she said more to Kenzi then Hale.
Hale just rolled his eyes, "You two are so alike. Dyson would totally do this dumb shit to save your ass. I can't let you go in by yourself so," he turned to Charlie, " Make sure she doesn't get dead," he gestured at Kenzi, "or it's on, you understand?" Charlie just nodded.
They moved in the bushes to the side of the house then around to the front. The couldn't hear any movement so they went up the steps to the front door. As she moved up the steps she felt something catch against her shoe then break. Ignoring the distraction she pushed open one of the doors.
It was stale and dusty inside like no one had been in here for years, yet there were lines in the dust where someone had been dragged across the floor. Bo nodded at the floor and Hale began to follow the trail. It ended abruptly at a door in the side of the staircase they figured must lead to the basement. Hale drew his gun and Bo swung the door open.
They both relaxed when nothing jumped out at them. Bo took out a dagger and moved after Hale as he started down the stairwell. The place seemed to go on forever. There were storage lockers, supply rooms and several other doors. A few yards after the heavy door of the armory they came upon a door marked infirmary with a small glass pane showing a dark room beyond. Hale grabbed Bo's arm and pulled her against the wall, "We have to be careful. If we take even one needle it's lights out."
"How do we prevent being a pin cushion?" Bo asked as she looked around for something to hide behind. Her gaze fell upon an open locker and a rolling chair. "I think I have an idea," she said.
After a few minutes Bo moved back and admired her creation. Hale looked on with concern, "This had better work, if it doesn't we may die," he said.
Bo put on the finishing touches, "Thanks for the vote of confidence," then wheeled her creation in front of the door. Again she swung open the door this time pushing the chair inside. To anyone inside it must have looked like someone entering the pitch-black room from the lit hallway. As the door swung shut both Bo and Hale could hear the needles penetrating the cardboard boxes that were hidden underneath the lab coat as it rolled into the room. Bo had even found a semi-deflated soccer ball for a head.
"Now lets hope that it can't do that again," Hale said pushing the door open his gun pointed straight ahead. Bo followed and hit the light switch revealing her master piece which now looked like a porcupine and an even bigger problem, two Dyson's cuffed to either side of the operating table.
"Don't shoot!, don't shoot!" They both shouted in unison. Bo and Hale just looked at each other.
Charlie and Kenzi were waiting not so patiently when they heard the vehicles pull up behind them. Several large men dressed in black piled out of the humvee and made their way towards them. Kenzi stepped forward and was bout to explain when the men swept past her and grabbed Charlie by the arms. "Hey, what the hell are you doing, leave him alone! Let him go, he helped us find Dyson."
The men let go of the tracker who dusted himself off. A huge man with a shaved head stepped forward, "We were sent by the Ash to retrieve the tracker then to rescue Dyson," the man waved his hand and two of his men escorted Charlie to the truck. "What is the situation? Lauren told the Ash that the succubus had found Dyson and his abductor, where is she and Detective Hale."
"Bo and Hale are inside trying to get Dyson out themselves because it's taken you guys a lifetime to get here," Kenzi said wanting to kick jackass in the head.
"Hey baldy are you listening, they need your help so get going."
'Baldy' seemed not to be listening as he looked over the perimeter then motioned to his other four men to form up. "Make sure he stays put or it's your asses!" he said to his guys at the humvee.
"Great, how do we know which one is which?" Hale asked alternating aiming at one then the other.
Bo smiled and answered with a question, "What was the advise you gave me right before I was tested?"
The Dyson on the left smiled and answered, "Don't get dead." Even before he'd finished answering the doppelganger tried to rush Hale who shot once hitting it's leg.
Bo rushed over to the Dyson still cuffed to the table and examined the wound on his chest. "I'm fine, already starting to heal," he said when he heard her sharp inhale. "You tripped some sort of alarm. He didn't have time to finish cutting me open to steal my heart." Bo gave him a quizzical look. "I'll tell you the whole story later."
"You'd better, that sounds like a good one," Bo used Hale's handcuff key to free Dyson.
As they exited the house Bo stopped the assault team, "There's a shifter in the basement. He's was shot in the leg by Detective Hale. He's got poisonous quills and can shift into anyone, use extreme caution." The mountain of a man shook her hand off him and continued into the house. Lauren took over and Dyson was transferred to a gurney and into a humvee. Bo put her hand on the doctor's forearm, "Thank you for all you help, I couldn't have done this without you."
"My pleasure," she said sheepishly. "I love field work."
"Wow, you really need to get out more," Kenzi said rolling her eyes. Lauren turned and rejoined the medical team. Kenzi turned to Bo, "Lauren managed to talk the Ash into giving Charlie an ankle bracelet so he can go where he wants but they can find him when they need to. Dyson looked pretty cut up what's with that?"
"Something about our shifter taking his heart. I didn't get the whole story, but I will," Bo said as she and Kenzi turned to see two of the Ash's men carrying a person out of the building. "Hey Kenz, isn't that our missing fae?"
"Yes I believe it is, how do we know it's really her though?" Kenzi said walking towards the huge bald jackass.
"Because this one doesn't have a bullet hole in her thigh," Bo said pointing to the girl's leg. "Is she going to be ok?" Another medic stepped forward to examine the girl. It was deemed that she just needed some fluids and a little oxygen but that she would be ok. "Where is the shifter? Shouldn't you guys have gotten him out of there by now?"
The bald guy squeezed the radio at his shoulder, "Byron come in. Where's our shifter?" When there was no answer he tried again with the same result.
As the four of them made their way to the basement Bo noticed a pair of prints in the dust that lead to the back of the house, "He's gone and you're guys are probably dead." Baldy raced down the stairs and into the infirmary only to find two of his men knocked cold with a brick and a third one with strange wounds on the sides of his neck. Bo and Kenzi shrugged. "We did warn you." They went back outside and began the very long trek back to their ride.