*Hey guys, some of you were wanting longer chapters so this one definitely is. Getting back to the plot and all! Thank you for reading and reviewing! Cheers!*
Bo was awake but relaxing with her eyes closed. Her head was rested on Lauren's chest and she was just listening to heart beat over and over as Lauren was still sleeping.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
It seemed like the heartbeat she was listening to was growing louder. Bo opened her eyes slightly, squinting at the streams of sunlight now pouring into her room. She looked down at the face beneath her and Lauren was still peacefully asleep. Bo smiled.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Turns out the loud noise she was starting to hear was someone knocking on Bo's door ungodly loud. Lauren jolted awake upon hearing the noise. Bo put her hand on Lauren's cheek.
"It's okay, go back to sleep. I'll go." Bo kissed Lauren on the forehead before getting up off her bed. Lauren smiled and turned onto her side, closing her eyes again.
—
Bo gently closed the door to her room and then walked straight to the source of noise booming through her apartment.
Bo opened her front door just as Dyson was continuing to knock. He walked in past Bo, carrying a stack of large books, and placed them down on the kitchen counter with heavy thud.
"Shh!" Bo said pointing a finger up to her room.
Dyson nodded and gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry. I managed to find Trick and he let me take all the books I could carry about anything to do with Valhalla. I figure we can take some specific pages with us that will be the most helpful in navigating our way around down there."
Bo nodded and sat down on a stool in front of the pile of books.
"Trick said he would come by in a few hours. Try to help out if he can. Tamsin and I plan to leave tonight, since time moves slower down there, if you guys leave tomorrow morning, we should find you in Folksvangr by then."
Bo didn't say anything. Her mind was swimming with thought. They would have to do the ritual today and leave tomorrow morning.
"Did Lauren tell you about the ritual we need to use in order to get to Folksvangr together?" Bo asked quietly.
"Not specifics. She just said that she had found a way for two people to use the hel shoe together. Why? Is it dangerous?" Dyson said moving closer to Bo. They were already facing a lot of potential disasters with this plan and he didn't want any more thrown into the mix.
"Not to my knowledge. It's basically a type of binding ritual. Basically it tricks the hel shoe into thinking it's taking one soul rather than two. But it's kind of a permanent thing…" Bo trailed off. This was her way of letting Dyson down now rather than later. She didn't want to hurt him but he had to know what was going to happen.
Dyson looked down toward his feet and nodded. "I understand Bo. It's okay." He looked up at her and gave a genuine smile.
He knew what she had inadvertently told him at the Dahl weeks ago was true. She wasn't in love with him anymore. And it was okay. That piece of their lives was over. He wanted her to be happy.
"Anything I can do to help… just let me know." Dyson placed a comforting hand on Bo's shoulder.
Bo felt a hot tear fall from her eye. She understood what he meant. It wasn't about the ritual. He was saying that it was okay. She didn't have to try to protect him from getting his feelings hurt anymore. He was giving her support.
"Thank you, Dyson." Bo said softly.
—
A few hours had passed and now Lauren, Dyson, Bo and Tamsin were sprawled out in Bo's living room going through the series of books Dyson had brought by. Papers were laying in different piles with several different colored post it notes that Lauren kept labeling them all with.
Bo got up from her spot on the floor and walked towards the door as she heard a knock. She opened it to reveal her grandfather standing there with a smile on his face. She leaned down and gave him a hug as enter through the doorway.
"Thank you for coming." Bo said letting go of Trick. The two of them walked toward the kitchen as the rest of the group continued working.
"Of course." Trick said with a smile. "I hope those books will be of some help to you…"
"Yes. They definitely will. I actually had another thing I was hoping you could help me with-"
"What is it?" Trick asked Bo with sincerity.
"Well I'm going to use the hel shoe we have left to get to Folksvangr, but I need to perform binding ritual first with Lauren so that we can both use—"
"What's the name of the ritual?" Trick asked impatiently. Bo shifted her stance and looked over at Lauren and then back to her grandfather.
"Lauren said it was called Ritus Unire—"
Trick looked down at his feet. His face looked full of worry and concern.
"Bo, you can't. It will bind the two you together forever and Lauren isn't fae…—"
"So?" Bo was starting to feel angry as she expected Trick to support her on this. Instead she's getting the same lecture she'd heard time and time again. Lauren's human. She's not fae. Bo was tired of it.
"So those rituals are meant to be performed between two fae entities…" Trick argued.
Lauren turned her head to look over at Bo as she heard Trick's voice start to get louder. Bo seemed like she was getting frustrated by their conversation but she figured it was none of her business.
"I already told you, I can't go unless she goes with me and I need your help to perform the ritual!" Bo was now raising her own voice. She started to feel herself swaying from side to side. Focused on Trick's face. She could feel rage building up inside her.
"You would be posing great risks for both of you by doing this Bo!" Trick was yelling now. As he was looking at Bo's face, he noticed that his granddaughter's eyes started to flicker from brown to blue.
Bo swallowed. Uh oh. She could feel herself starting to lose control again but it was like she couldn't do anything to stop it.
"Don't get in my way." Bo said coldly as she moved closer to Trick. Her eyes were now fully engulfed in blue.
Dyson popped his head over the couch and noticed the exchange going on in the kitchen. As he stood up, so did Lauren and she turned around to look at Bo.
It took about all of one second for her to understand what was happening. She walked quickly over to Bo who couldn't break her eye contact with Trick. She was swaying from side to side. Dyson and Tamsin came behind Trick and started trying to pull him away. As soon as Trick took one step back, Bo picked up one of the kitchen stools with one hand and threw it, hitting into the wall and snapping into several pieces.
Lauren flinched as the chair broke on the floor. She walked closer to Bo and tried to step slightly into her line of vision.
"Bo, can you hear me?" Lauren searched in Bo's eyes which were completely blue. She kicked herself for not warning the others that Bo was more sensitive to being consumed with her power with Kenzi gone.
Lauren very slowly placed her hand on the small pendant still hanging from Bo's necklace. "Bo, listen to me, everything is okay. You're going to get Kenzi back."
"Lauren…" Bo's voice was on the verge of tears as she said her name, but her eyes were still cold and concentrated solely on Trick.
"I can't fight it…" Bo said still looking straight at Trick.
"Yes you can Bo. Just look at me, okay?" Lauren started to slowly wedge herself in between Bo and Trick. Bo still seemed concentrated on killing Trick so Lauren was just going to have to keep trying.
Bo let out a loud growl at Lauren as she stepped farther in front of Trick. The last time Bo changed like this at the cabin wasn't as severe. She was looking more and more feral.
Lauren swallowed. "Bo, this is not you. Just come back…" Lauren tentatively moved her hand forward and placed it over Bo's heart. Dyson took a small step forward, waiting impatiently for a reaction. Bo stayed as she was, she didn't seem to be affected by Lauren's gesture but she wasn't reacting negatively to it.
"Lauren…" Bo's voice was wavering but Lauren noticed that her eyes started flickering back and forth between brown and blue again. Lauren kept her hand still placed on Bo's chest, hoping that the tactile gesture was having the effect she hoped it would, but after a moment Bo fell forward, closing her eyes, right into Lauren's body.
Lauren gathered Bo in her arms, who appeared to be in a now unconscious state. Dyson ran over to Bo's side, with Tamsin following behind him.
"Is she okay?" Dyson asked grabbing Bo's hand. Lauren cradled Bo's head in her lap and placed two of her fingers over Bo's pulse near her jugular. She felt a strong steady beat. Thank god.
"Her pulse is strong. I need one of you to go to my apartment. I still have some left over injections of Bo's and I can mix with them few supplies I brought with me here to help her." Lauren said directed to Tamsin and Dyson.
"I'll go." Dyson said already halfway to the front door. "I'll be back as fast as I can." He said before leaving and closing the door behind him.
"Tamsin can you help me carry her to her bed?" Lauren asked but before she looked up at her, Tamsin had gathered Bo in her arms and began walking toward the stairs.
Lauren stood up and turned to Trick. "How long has that been happening?" Trick asked Lauren exasperated.
"It's because of Kenzi. I've only seen her react that way one other time since… but this was more severe. Trick, I know you mean well but I need to know if you will do the ritual or not because if not, you should probably leave for your own sake." Lauren said with concern. She didn't really need Trick's approval to do the ritual but she did need someone to do it who knew what the hell they were doing.
"Lauren I don't what consequences this ritual will bring. Don't you think it's a cause for concern that a human binding with a fae could have any number of unknown outcomes?" Trick asked.
"Sure it does. But it doesn't matter. This is the best plan we have if we ever hope to get Kenzi back and it's worth whatever those risks are." Lauren said plainly.
Trick looked at the doctor and let out a sigh. "Fine. Are you sure she is stable enough for this ritual?"
Lauren looked back towards Bo's room and then back to her feet. "We just need to get Kenzi back."
—
Bo slowly opened her eyes to see Tamsin leaning over her. She looked down and saw that she was lying in her own bed, under her covers. She started to sit up but was hit with a wave of dizziness, sending her head back onto her pillow.
"Take it easy, Bo." Tamsin said with a serious tone. She was sitting on the edge of Bo's bed, trying to pull the blankets further on top of Bo's body.
"Tamsin, what happened?" Bo asked in a groggy voice. She closed her eyes and tried to think back to her last memory. All she could think of was talking to Trick…
"You just went a little supersuccubus on your granddaddy, but he's okay. No one got hurt—"
Bo tried opening her eyes again but when she did everything was spinning so she stuck with keeping them closed for the time being.
"Are you sure I didn't hurt anyone, you're telling me the truth?" Bo asked stopping and starting after each word she spoke.
Tamsin smiled. She thought about her perception of Bo when she had first started working with Dyson as her partner. She assumed Bo, along with any other succubus' she had ever met, had little regard for taking life. Especially when she was convinced that Bo had been leaving a trail of dark fae bodies all over town but now, after getting to know her… she couldn't have been more wrong.
"No you didn't. I swear." Tamsin said trying to reassure Bo.
Bo let out a groan. "Where Lauren?" Bo asked, her face grimacing in pain.
"She's downstairs, she's getting together something that should make you feel better." Tamsin said, awkwardly patting Bo on the shoulder.
"You and Dyson need to leave soon…" Bo said muttering out loud. Tamsin hesitantly picked up Bo's hand and held it in her own.
"We have a few hours, besides we need to fix up your sorry ass before we leave or else our plan will be hopeless." Tamsin said with a smile. Bo gave a weak laugh at Tamsin's insult but still kept her eyes closed. Tamsin let go of Bo's hand and stood up from the bed.
"I'm gonna go see where your doc is at on the medicine front. I'll be right back." Tamsin said but Bo gave no response, she just continued to groan in pain. Tamsin quietly stepped out of Bo's room.
—
"Where's Trick?" Tamsin asked as she walked into the kitchen where Lauren was muddling some sort of herbs into a wooden bowl.
"He went to get some supplies for the ritual. Do you think you can crush the rest of these while I go check her vitals?" Lauren asked handing over the wooden bowl to Tamsin.
"Sure. What the hell is this stuff anyway?" Tamsin asked, smelling the contents of the bowl.
Lauren grabbed her medical kit from the living room. "It's some herbs that will help when added to her injection." Lauren said as she headed toward the stairs.
—
Lauren turned the knob to Bo's room and stepped inside. Bo was laying on her bed, eyes closed, breathing softly in and out. Lauren was fairly certain she was lucid since her eyes were not rapidly moving, so she walked over to the bed.
She sat down on the edge, facing Bo and placed her hand on Bo's forehead. She didn't feel warm which was good but she did feel a bit clammy.
"Lauren?" Bo asked in a small voice. She opened her eyes for a moment and gave a weak smile.
"How did you know it was me?" Lauren asked putting her palm against Bo's cheek.
"You're the only person I know who would be checking to see if I have a fever." Bo said with a small smile.
Lauren pushed a loose strand of hair behind Bo's ear. She hoped Dyson was already on his way back by now.
"How are you feeling honey?" Lauren asked sweetly.
Bo groaned and shook her head. "Dizzy. Like I'm on a carousel…"
Lauren took one of Bo's hand into both of her own and brought it to her chest. She wished she could do more for her right now.
"Lauren, what's wrong with me?" Bo asked squeezing her hand gently into Lauren's.
"As far as I can tell… I think your dark succubus state manifested itself same as it has before, it's just more severe because it's being dictated by grief... because it's Kenzi. I have one of your old injections on it's way now along with a few other medicinal herbs which should help you get back to normal." Lauren said with a smile.
"I'm just…" Bo paused. She didn't want to say the wrong thing. It was probably better for her to put her foot in her mouth.
"What?" Lauren asked leaning down closer to Bo. "You can tell me." Lauren brushed her hand gently over Bo's forehead.
"I'm scared. When we do the ritual, I don't want to hurt you—"
"Bo, you're not gonna hurt me. You never have when you've gone dark like that before. And if you can't trust yourself then trust me. I'm a doctor." Lauren said with a smirk on her face. She heard a small chuckle escape from Bo as Lauren leaned farther down and placed two fingers on Bo's right temple. She traced slow circles with her fingers with the hope of alleviating some of the dizziness.
Bo let out a moan of relief as Lauren continued to rub her temple. Some of the tension she was feeling from the headache and dizziness was dissipating under Lauren's touch.
"I don't know what you're doing but please don't stop…" Bo said with a smile. She gave Lauren's hand that was still holding hers another squeeze.
"Well massaging the temple which contains the superficial temporary artery helps alleviate both dizziness and pain associated with headaches." Lauren felt better spouting off knowledge with confidence than trying to reassure Bo about the ritual. She didn't have any answers about it either but taking care of this succubus was something she at least knew how to do.
Lauren's train of though broke as Tamsin poked her into the door to Bo's room. "Dyson's back." Tamsin said waiting for instructions in the doorway.
"Good. Bo, I'll be right back okay? Just try to relax." Lauren stood up and let go of Bo's hand, placing it gently back down on the bed. She bent down a gave Bo a kiss on the cheek and then exited the room.
—
Lauren walked quickly back to the kitchen where Dyson and Tamsin were standing. Dyson looked up as soon as he heard her footsteps approaching. "How is she?" He asked, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans.
Lauren walked over to the counter and picked up the silver syringe filled with a blueish liquid Dyson had left there. She held it up to the lamp next to her, examining it.
"She should be fine once I give her this. She's just a bit wiped out." Lauren grabbed her black bag and retrieved an alcohol swab packet which she placed down on the counter, and a small glass test tube. She removed the black topper from the tube and began injecting the liquid from the syringe into it.
"Tamsin can you hand me those herbs I gave to you." Tamsin handed the wooden bowl to the doctor as the last drop of liquid from the syringe emptied into the tube. Lauren took a pinch of the herbs and placed it in with the liquid in the test tube. She put the rubber top back on it and began swirling it around, watching as the herbs dissolved into the blue liquid.
Lauren picked up the syringe again and stuck it through a tiny hole in the rubber top of the tube, removing the liquid and receiving it into the syringe. She pulled it out and placed the tube down on the counter, putting the alcohol swab in her pocket.
"Okay, I should be good. I'm going to go give this to her now. It should kick in pretty quickly and hopefully she get back to normal. I'll be back." Lauren said holding the syringe delicately in her hands. She started to walk back to Bo's room but she stopped and turned around. She had almost forgotten.
"You guys need to get going. I organized all the papers we found from those texts into a folder in the living room to take with you. Well, Tamsin rather, since you won't have posable thumbs. We should be leaving around 7am tomorrow." Lauren said with confidence. Tamsin walked over to the living room near the couch.
"Lauren, I—"
"She's gonna be fine Dyson. I promise. I won't let anything happen to her." Lauren said putting her free hand on the wolf's arm.
"I know. Take care yourself too Doc." Dyson said with a smile.
Tamsin walked back to the kitchen after grabbing the folder Lauren left for her. "Can we get this shit show on the road or what?" Tamsin said crossing her arms. Dyson smiled and the two started walking to the front door.
"Are we there yet?" Dyson said walking out into the the hallway.
Lauren turned and proceeded back to her Bo's room, syringe in hand.
—
Lauren walked back to Bo's bed, and placed the syringe on her nightstand. She was going to have to get Bo to sit up in order to give her the injection so it would get into her bloodstream quicker.
Lauren leaned down and put her hand on Bo's cheek to get her attention. "Bo, I've got your injection, do you think you could sit up for me?" Lauren asked.
Bo squinted her eyes open and began to try to lift her torso up but again she felt dizzy and fell back onto her pillow. Lauren moved and sat down on the bed next to Bo. She placed her arm around Bo's back and gently pushed up so she could slide her body behind hers. Bo let out a groan again but Lauren pressed on, wrapping her arms around Bo's abdomen, pulling her up into a sitting position.
"Lean on me, Bo." Bo leaned back, letting her body rest completely on Lauren's chest.
Lauren held Bo's arm out straight in front of her and pressed her middle and index finger on the flesh of Bo's upper arm, searching for a strong vein. Once she found one, she grabbed the alcohol swab from her pocket, tore open the packet, and began rubbing the swab on Bo's arm.
"Okay, Bo, ready?" Lauren asked grabbing the syringe from the nightstand beside the bed. Bo didn't say anything but she felt her nod up and down again her chest. Lauren pressed the needle into Bo's arm and pressed down on the plunger slowly. Once all the liquid was released, she removed the needle and placed it back down on the nightstand. She gently ran her hand along the spot of the injection down Bo's arm to get the substance to move into her bloodstream faster.
After a few moments, Lauren felt Bo lean forward slightly, although still resting on her chest, and place her hand over Lauren's. "Thank you." Bo whispered. Then turning slowly in Lauren's arms, Bo leaned over and kissed her lightly on the lips.
