CHAPTER 10

The sound of booted heels on rapid approach was enough warning to wake Lauren. She raised her head from her desk, blinked grit from her eyes and tried to focus on the bundle of energy bouncing into her office. Hopefully, she hadn't fallen asleep for very long - particularly since she hadn't planned to sleep at all.

"Hey, Doc!" Kenzi said. "New phone's ready for bio deets."

Mackenzie "Kenzi" Malikov was one of Dyson's street informants. Her hacking skills had landed her on Dyson's radar, but over the last year she had wormed her way into the world of the Fae. Though technically claimed by the Ash, she came and went as she pleased for the most part - as long as she provided information to Dyson when required and performed the occasional technological task.

As usual, Kenzi was dressed for a late night at a club - all black and silver and heavy eyeliner. Her very essence seemed to clash with the sedate walls of Lauren's laboratory here in the Light Fae compound.

"Jesus, Lauren, you look like shit."

Lauren sighed. "Thanks, Kenzi." She reached out to accept the smartphone Kenzi offered her, then squinted at the blurry screen until it came into focus. She noted with a wince that it was after 7am. She'd been asleep for all of ten minutes...all the rest she'd managed since she'd woken up yesterday afternoon at Bo's industrial crash pad.

No wonder she felt as bad as Kenzi said she appeared. She'd been up all night dealing with...the situation...and was still recovering from Bo's attack. And it would probably be a couple more hours before she could finally go to bed.

"What are you doing here so early?" Lauren didn't recognize her own voice, her fatigue making her sound deeper than usual.

"The club where I was drinking tonight just closed an hour ago." Kenzi snapped her gum loudly enough to make Lauren cringe. "Dyson said you needed this ASAP so I came right over."

Kenzi walked her through the prompts on the small screen until she grew frustrated with Lauren's slow progress and snatched the phone back to configure it herself. "What's this I hear about you getting snatched off the streets like a cartel mule?"

Dyson must have shared a few details with Kenzi, and her casual tone belied her obvious concern. Lauren was touched – which meant she really needed to get some sleep. Kenzi wasn't one for sentiment, so Lauren was probably misreading her interest. Either that, or Dyson had entrusted Kenzi with enough information to make her truly curious.

In any case, Lauren couldn't suppress the urge to answer. "My usual luck. I go out for one drink and dance with one woman and she turns out to be an unaligned, untrained succubus who nearly kills me before kidnapping me and keeping me captive for days."

Kenzi shot her a look she didn't recognize. Lauren realized that she had never before spoken like this to Kenzi, but it was too late to take it back. She felt the emotion she'd been trying to keep tamped down for the last few hours once again try to escape.

Lauren had faced death before, and with as much time as she spent around the Fae, she'd likely face it again. Still, she didn't usually let her emotions get the best of her, even when her life was on the line.

This time had been different, perhaps because she hadn't thought that going to a club with friends would turn into a near-death situation. Yet it had, and when she thought about how close she'd come -

She felt the burn of tears in her eyes. Calm down. You're just tired. This wasn't the time to fall apart. She could do that later, when she was alone - crawl into her bed, have a good cry and then sleep.

"How'd you escape?"

Kenzi's concern seemed genuine, and Lauren laughed without humor, wiping tears from her cheek. "I told her what she was, since she didn't seem to know. She freaked out and forgot to lock me up before she ran screaming." It wasn't much of an exaggeration.

Kenzi let out a low whistle.

"But," Lauren sighed. "I've never seen anything like her, Kenzi. I think even you'd be impressed."

"Oh, I saw that giant dose of sin walking when they moved her after the council session. I can see why you fell into her clutches, and you've got nothing to be ashamed of. She'd turn anyone." Kenzi rolled her eyes. "Ok, not me, but anyone else with less love for the peen."

Lauren laughed through her tears.

"Still, I heard she ended six people in, like, a few hours. You sure about this?" Kenzi hopped up on Lauren's desk, oblivious to the items she was throwing in disarray. "What is it about this chick, Doc? You don't even know her and you said she almost killed you. Why do you care what happens to her?"

And that was the penultimate question, for Lauren as well. For all Bo had done, Lauren couldn't bear to see any harm come to her. That was why she had called the council in the first place - if any of them had found out about Bo any other way, they'd have killed her on the spot. Lauren had surmised that if all of the council knew about Bo and had to collectively decide what happened to her next, then no one Fae could take it upon themselves to act against that decision.

With little time and barely any energy to come up with a better plan, Lauren had played the best hand she could deal for Bo, though she knew Bo disagreed.

Lauren wasn't about to tell Kenzi how Bo had affected her, how hard it had been to keep quiet while the argument raged on, while Bo nearly seethed with anger at Lauren herself. Yet Lauren hadn't been able to look away.

Even untrained and backed into a corner, Bo was the most captivating woman Lauren had ever seen.

She realized she'd taken too long answering Kenzi's question, but luckily, Kenzi was too impatient to dig deeper.

"Guess she got under your skin. Better watch your back, Doc."

Kenzi didn't bother waiting for a response. She tapped a few more times against the screen of the smartphone and then handed it to Lauren. "Text me if you need help," she said in closing as she pushed herself off the desk. "I'm outta here. This place is fuckin' creepy."

Lauren didn't have the energy to do anything but manage a wan smile. "Thanks, Kenzi."

Kenzi flashed a peace sign with one hand on her way out the door.

Alone again, Lauren tried to collect enough energy to get out of her chair. Her body ached with the need for rest, but she knew she had to make one more stop before she dragged herself to her bed. She was trying to delay because she knew it was going to be the most difficult conversation she'd had so far this night, and that was saying something.

Back in the council chambers, Lauren had sensed something that no doubt others in the room had noticed as well. Hell, she knew Trick and Evony had seen it - the pure, unfettered power that Bo wasn't even aware she radiated. A succubus was probably cognizant of her own effect on people, but it was possible that Bo thought it had to do with sexual energy.

Lauren knew it was more than that. Much more. With enough training, Bo could be one of the most formidable Fae in the entire colony.

Still, she was an unknown quantity, and there were those who would see her put down before she could outshine them.

With the Dark demanding her execution, the Light vying for more information, and Bo screaming at them all about interfering in her life, Lauren had finally lobbed her solution into the fray, knowing it would satisfy most - if not all - parties.

She wondered how much Bo hated her for it.

XX-XX-XX

The room was clean and luxurious, but it was still just another cell.

Twenty feet wide and half again as long, it gave Bo plenty of space to storm back and forth. A large area rug covered the aged wood beam floor. Probably worth ten times the value of everything in and including my car, Bo thought.

She hoped nothing had happened to her car.

There were windows this time, but they were too small and too high up for her to try to escape through them. One corner held a king-sized bed, matching nightstands and chests of drawers. Another corner had a sitting area with chairs and couches. A third corner had a table for four, though Bo couldn't imagine having that many visitors. One door led to a closet, the second to an equally luxurious bathroom.

The last door, and the only way out, was thick, iron, and locked - and thinking about it made her itch.

Every other available stretch of wall was covered in shelves and bookcases, all filled with books. Some seemed much older than Bo herself, but she hadn't looked too closely. She couldn't relax enough to read right now - she was a prisoner, and she needed to figure out how she was going to get out of here.

Somehow, she had to escape, or she was well and truly fucked.

Bo reached one end of the room again, and turned to continue her pacing. She replayed the whole night over in her mind's eye, trying to determine what she could have done differently, but in the end it didn't matter. No matter how much she thought about doing something other than what she'd done, it changed nothing. She was still imprisoned here.

Dyson and Vex had arrived in the library soon after Bo. Each man told tales of finding the dead bodies Bo had left in her wake, and the temperature in the room had grown colder.

The seated people - though not Lauren, Bo had noticed - ranted at her about how close she had come to breaking some rule. Bo had told them that she knew nothing of their rules, but when they'd said that the rule was not to reveal their existence, she'd almost laughed.

What the hell had she been doing for the last decade if not hiding her existence?

She'd said as much, and then the inquisition had continued, with the whole cast of freaks asking her questions about her life. Some she could have answered, but others were questions Bo had herself. Who were her real parents? Why had they abandoned her?

Bo had demanded her release but the dark-haired femme fatale had laughed at her and told Bo that she should be grateful they were letting her live.

Then she'd watched them bicker over the details of her life - her life - as if they had the right do it.

Finally, the hammer had dropped, and Bo was still reeling about who'd done the dropping.

The result was a three-month sentence in captivity, and the worst part of it had been that it was all Lauren's idea.

The woman Bo had nearly killed and spent days trying to save was now the reason why she was in this room. Lauren was nothing like Bo had thought. She wasn't some innocent woman caught in the clutches of Bo's dark appetites.

No, she was part of some secret society of freaks who thought they could decide what Bo could or couldn't do with her life.

There were plenty of targets for Bo's anger, but Lauren was an easy one, and right then, Bo decided she hated her.

She heard the clank of the door lock. Seconds later, the woman who occupied her thoughts walked in with one of the huge guards that had brought Bo to this room.

Bo started breathing so hard, she couldn't form words. One the one hand, here was the woman who had ensured that Bo would continue to be held against her will. On the other, she was still the beautiful and exceptional woman who'd enticed Bo to throw all her own rules out the window.

The dichotomy made Bo grind her teeth.

Lauren looked at her, and then whispered something to the guard that made him frown, but with a nod, he left the room.

The door lock clanked again.

Lauren took a step forward, and then stopped, as if she didn't have the energy to take another step. She took a deep breath and spoke first into the weighted silence.

"I'm sorry."

And with that, Bo knew exactly what to say to her. "Fuck you. You're not sorry at all."

Lauren wiped a hand over her face, as if trying to wipe away fatigue. It made Bo angry, because Lauren's exhaustion was her fault.

All of this was Bo's fault. If only she'd fed sooner. If only she'd stuck to her own long-held rules at the club. If only she hadn't fed from Lauren. If only she hadn't kidnapped her. It was endless, and yet these were just recent additions to the long, long list of reasons to be angry at herself.

It was easier to take it out on someone else.

"I don't care about how sorry you are. You need to let me go."

"We've been over this." Lauren's voice faded, and she cleared her throat. "I can't do that."

"You can't keep me here for three fucking months! You have no right-"

"That's true, I don't, but I have to. There's so much you don't understand-"

"I don't give a fuck about that," Bo said.

Lauren blinked, but it was too slow, and it took her a moment to focus back on Bo, but Bo didn't want to acknowledge how completely worn out Lauren was. She needed to find some leverage.

"Why are you keeping me here? What do you want from me?"

Lauren hung her head, and then looked at Bo. "I don't want anything from you, Bo. Not really - though your cooperation would be nice." Lauren winced when Bo's jaw dropped. "I really am trying to help. I swear I'm doing what I can for all involved."

"Oh, bullshit." Bo didn't believe a word of it. "You're getting something out of this, you just won't tell me what. Are all Fae this backhanded and chickenshit?"

It was meant to be a dig, but she watched Lauren's eyebrows rise and fall. "Actually, yes, but that's not the point, and not what I'm trying to do here."

That made Bo wonder for a moment, and she spoke before she could stop herself. "What kind of Fae are you?"

Lauren laughed, but it sounded hollow to Bo.

"You think this is funny? This is my life!"

Lauren sighed, and it made her shoulders fall. She ran a pale hand through her hair and collapsed on the arm of the chair behind her.

"No, Bo, I do not think it's funny, but you'll have to excuse me. I'm not exactly at my best."

Bo winced at that. She knew that much was her fault.

"I'm laughing because I'm not Fae." She looked at Bo with bloodshot eyes. "I'm human."

Bo frowned. She didn't understand all the dynamics, but if all Fae were as powerful as the ones she'd tangled with tonight, Lauren had some spine.

Lauren tilted her head, as if considering something, and then sighed. "I've...worked with the Fae for the last five years. It's a tenuous relationship at best, so I try to abide by their rules. And you've come dangerously close to breaking the only one that matters."

"Oh my god, fuck their rules!" Bo couldn't help but pace the floor again. "I don't know shit about them, and I don't want to know. I will steer clear, believe me, if you will just let me out!"

Lauren gazed around the room slowly, as if seeing it for the first time. "It's not that simple, Bo. Whether you like it or not, you're Fae, and there are things that you need to know." She looked back at Bo. "You said you had questions. Don't you still want the answers?"

Bo choked down the sudden urge to cry. The answers she'd found already were more than enough to give her nightmares. She felt the desperation growing. Lauren wasn't giving an inch - and Bo didn't know how to convince her.

She'd spent days trying to keep this woman alive, only to end up in the worst predicament possible.

"I saved your life." Bo winced and hoped that Lauren didn't see it. She didn't really mean to imply she was owed a debt of some kind. It had all been Bo's fault, but she was furious...and terrified.

Lauren snapped and jumped to her feet, though she swayed a bit. "I just returned the favor!"

Bo changed tactics, but she knew she was losing. "You had no right to tell them anything about me, Lauren!"

Lauren sighed again. "And you have no idea how very much worse it could have been."

Bo laughed without humor. "How stupid do you think I am? You think I don't know they're gonna kill me if this little training run of yours doesn't work to their satisfaction?" She spoke low, and felt dangerous. "I'm not an idiot."

Lauren's eyebrows peaked, then fell as she glanced away. "Yes, that's a possibility, but it's not likely, Bo. You have no reason to trust me, but I'm asking anyway. I believe that you can learn the things you'll need to survive in the Fae world. I can help you -"

"All you care about is having a living, breathing lab rat," Bo said. "I heard them call you Doctor, and talk about your experiments and expertise." She seethed. "You just want to fucking poke and prod me. Is that it?"

Lauren frowned, and had the nerve to look insulted. "That's not true, Bo. I want you to thrive-"

"Then let me out!" Bo knew she sounded desperate in her anger, and when she took a step forward, Lauren backed towards the door.

Her movement stopped Bo in her tracks. "I'm not going to hurt you, Lauren."

Despite her obvious fatigue, Lauren adjusted her stance and stood her ground. "That may be the case, but I didn't walk through that gauntlet of a council meeting to save your ass only to have you throw your one chance away by attacking me again."

"I wasn't going to -" Bo stopped, and shook her head. She may not have planned to do anything, but Lauren had every right to think she might. After all, she'd done it before.

Yet it wasn't fear that Bo saw in Lauren's eyes - only cool calculation, and though Bo didn't want to acknowledge it, regret. Bo might hate the woman, but she was impressed.

Lauren had been through hell, and wasn't giving an inch.

"Look, Bo." Her voice cracked, and when she spoke again, it was hoarse and faint. "You'll have everything you need here."

Bo must have given some indication of disbelief that she wasn't aware of.

"Yes, everything," Lauren said. "I swear. You'll be able to feed, but you have to learn more about who you are before..." She stopped, as if second-guessing her own words.

She wasn't even going to promise Bo's possible release.

"Please, Bo. Trust me."

Desolate with loss, Bo couldn't even string the words together to tell Lauren where she could shove that request.

Lauren gave up, banged on the door with a closed fist until it opened, and then left Bo alone.

Bo didn't even make it to the bed. She sank to the floor, blinded by tears and sobbing with rage.

Alone and trapped, she had no leverage, no cards to play, and no one to come to her aid.

There was nowhere left for her to run.

XX-XX-XX

Three weeks later, as she walked through the outer courtyard of the compound, Lauren finally felt fully recovered from Bo's attack. She wanted to feel the sun on her face, even if it was only for the few minutes before her next appointment.

It had taken what felt like forever, but she was back to her physical baseline, and even the cold, late winter chill couldn't keep her inside today.

A shadow moved across the courtyard and manifested into a huge but gentle ogre. Eric was one of the Light Fae assistants in Lauren's lab, and he changed trajectories when he saw her. Judging by his sad expression, he didn't have good news.

"Hi, Lauren." He slowed to match her pace without making a sound. "I just came from Bo's chambers." When he shrugged, it seemed like a mountain was moving. "There's been no change."

"Thanks, Eric." Lauren hadn't expected one.

He sighed. "I thought she'd perk up a few days ago when you brought her things from her, um, house."

Eric was being kind - Bo's former residence probably needed to be demolished. Lauren would have laughed if the situation weren't so dire. Still, she couldn't bring herself to joke about it. "It was worth a shot, but at this point..."

She knew that he understood, but didn't really want to talk about it with him. At this point, she was tired of talking about it at all, but for some reason, she couldn't let this go, no matter what others might think about the situation.

Her staff advised her to throw in the towel. Dyson had tried to convince her to turn Bo over to the council's judgment once and for all. Two Dark Fae elders had offered to take Bo off her hands, which was absolutely out of the question. And the Morrigan had been strangely silent, which worried Lauren - a lot - because it probably meant that Evony was up to something.

The Ash expected miracles and regular reports but didn't offer much in the way of guidance, which surprised Lauren. She'd kept her ear to the ground for five years, heard a lot of rumors, and done her due diligence to find out what was fact or fiction. She had a theory, but if she was wrong...she wasn't sure what the consequences might be. Still, it was her last option.

She needed to appeal to the Ash about Bo.

Eric nodded in parting as they came to the long hallway that led to Trick's receiving rooms. Lauren continued alone, wondering how to go about convincing Trick to do something he probably didn't want to do.

She knocked on the door, heard Trick's gentle call to enter, and stepped inside.

Though immense and equal to Trick's standing in the Fae community, the dark wood chambers were warm without being stuffy. Trick stepped out from behind his desk on a raised platform, and met her halfway across the room. He offered a hand and a smile in greeting.

"Thank you for seeing me," Lauren said, clasping his hand in return. Her words were as much for the two guards stationed on either side of the door as they were for Trick, though they'd probably been told to expect her.

"Of course, Lauren," Trick said. "I'm happy to make time for you whenever possible. You know that." He waved an arm towards two wing-backed chairs in front of the fireplace.

She nodded with a small smile as she sat down. "I do, and I appreciate it."

"You're looking much better."

"I'm feeling much better, thank you." Lauren said, and thought about her first day back in the compound after her ordeal.

After her first time visiting Bo's new quarters, she'd gone straight to her apartment. While she'd hoped that things would go better with Bo, she wasn't completely surprised that they hadn't gone well. She'd been too tired to fight anymore, and decided there was nothing to be done until she got some rest. Once home, she'd made a few phone calls about Bo's care, and then crawled into bed.

As predicted, the tears had come when she finally allowed herself to feel how close she'd been to her own death. She cried until she gave in to the fatigue, and slept.

She woke up starving sixteen hours later, and did nothing but eat, check on Bo's status, and sleep for the first week.

"Good, good," he said, though he seemed distracted. "So, tell me. How's your charge faring?"

Every conversation with Trick since Bo's arrival had been exactly like this. He'd lead with small talk, then immediately inquire about Bo's condition. Each time, he'd play it off as if he was only asking out of politeness.

At first, Lauren had wondered whether he was after Bo's potential power, like the Dark Fae, but she didn't think so. Her gut was telling her that his interest was about something else.

It was that something else that Lauren was desperately counting on to save Bo, but she didn't think she could bring it up in front of the guards.

She glanced at them, and then looked pointedly back at Trick.

He frowned, considered the request without comment, and then dismissed the guards.

Lauren took a deep breath.

"Have you been satisfied with my work here, Trick?" It was a soft opening, and a bit of a diversion, but Lauren had a plan.

He seemed surprised at the question. "Of course! Your work in the Congo saved the Fae, even if some of us are reluctant to admit it, and you've done nothing but good for us for the last five years."

"Have you ever regretted granting my request?"

He shook his head. "No - no, I agreed with you that the Fae needed to move into the 21st century. At some point, the One Rule will be broken and we'll be discovered. Having a human representative on the council will only make the eventual conflict easier to navigate."

She nodded. "I take my commitment very seriously. While I hope that at some point, humans and Fae can co-exist peacefully, until then, my loyalty is to the Light Fae."

Trick smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "I know these things, Lauren, and I trust you with the Fae's best interests. You've proved that more than once. "

Lauren leaned forward, and stared at Trick, holding his gaze. "I want to make sure you understand that I hold the Fae's existence in the utmost confidence. Unless the Fae are discovered while I live, I will never expose anything I've learned about the Fae in general, or any one Fae in particular."

"Consider me reassured." Now he seemed almost angry. Though he was a dwarf's diminutive size, he was still the Ash and not used to being crossed. "What's this about, Lauren?"

In fact, that power helped prove Lauren's actual point.

"Bo's refusing treatment, and I won't continue unless she gives her consent."

Trick leaned back. "That's unrealistic, but if it truly matters to you, I have faith that you'll make her see reason. You've certainly achieved the impossible before." He nodded as if the matter was resolved. "You'll find a solution before the deadline established with the council."

Lauren matched his posture. "We won't have to worry about the timeline. She'll be dead in a matter of days."

Trick couldn't pretend to look away, his furrowed brow showing his surprise and fear. "What do you mean?"

"She hasn't fed since she got here. I didn't think she'd be able to hold out, but she has sent away everyone we've presented - male, female, Fae - even human, though that was a dangerous gamble. She barely eats the food I send in, and she's dehydrated. " Lauren sighed. "I don't think she's sleeping well, but I do know she's barely holding on. I've seen her look bad, but nothing like this."

Lauren leaned forward, her elbows on her knees as she clasped her hands together. "She'll either collapse or snap and attack one of the guards. If she does, they'll put her down. She can't hold back much longer."

Yesterday had been the last straw.

When Lauren had entered Bo's room and closed the door behind her, she was briefly afraid that Bo had escaped. The room appeared empty.

"Go away." A scratchy voice came from the far corner, and Lauren realized that, even though it was late afternoon, Bo was still in bed.

Lauren didn't want to mince words. "Bo, you have to stop refusing treatment."

Bo didn't respond at first, but then, "You." Bo's disdain was clear.

Lauren felt the air in the room change, and knew she wasn't welcome.

Bo had sounded different. Raw. Threatening. "You are not the master of me."

"I am not, but -" Lauren had faltered, unsure how to proceed. Finally, she thought the only thing she could offer was the truth. "You have to feed, Bo. You'll die in here if you don't. I don't think you want that."

She'd heard a dark laugh, and then the bedcovers had finally moved. Bo stood from the bed, and Lauren gasped at the difference.

Dressed in a loose hospital gown, Bo was sunken in on herself. Her dark hair was brittle, the outline of her bones sharp against skin that was even paler than the day they'd spoken in Bo's abandoned house. She looked like a drug addict, and in a way, Lauren supposed she was - denied the chi that sustained her.

"You don't know what I want," Bo had said, stalking toward Lauren. "You've locked me up, sent your goons to either fuck me for your experiments or prod me with needles for your tests. I am no one's lab rat."

She stopped out of arms reach, and Lauren watched in shock as Bo's eyes changed quickly between dark brown - almost black - and iridescent blue then back again. Over and over as if parts of her were fighting for dominance.

"You think because you send me trinkets and give me homework like some child..." Bo waved an arm at a pile of new clothes tossed over the back of a chair, next to a pile of Fae history books Lauren had stacked on the table during her last visit. "That I'll just suddenly change my mind and let you run your fucking tests?"

Lauren shook her head. "That's not true, Bo. We -" She spoke the truth. "I just want to make you more comfortable."

"Bullshit!" Bo growled. "You don't care about anything but results, and nothing I want matters. For all I know, you've been spying on me the whole time."

Lauren didn't dare respond to that. In truth, there had been active cameras in this room, but Lauren had insisted that they be disabled. She couldn't give Bo much, but a little privacy was something she could manage.

She wasn't sure what to say, and truth be told, she was shocked at the change in Bo's condition. Bo had lost a surprising amount of weight in such a short time. Lauren was frightened by the change.

"I am no one's toy." Bo sneered at Lauren. "Tell your elders you've failed, and let's get this over with. I'd rather be dead than suffer one more day of this cage you've put me in." Her voice grew in volume until she was bellowing at Lauren. "Out! Kill me or let me out!"

It had taken everything Lauren had in her to stand her ground, clinging to the talisman in her pocket like a lifeline.

"I can't let you do that, Bo-"

With a scream of rage, Bo had leapt at Lauren, knocked her to the floor and begun to feed. Within seconds, she'd coughed up black dust - blocked from Lauren's life force by the cursed amulet Lauren held clasped in her lab coat pocket.

Bo had howled then, and Lauren knew it was despair. Bo crawled away, made herself small on the floor against the wall, and sobbed.

"Why are you doing this to me? Is it because I hurt you? I'm sorry."

Lauren sat up, fighting tears herself. She didn't know what to say, but she couldn't let Bo leave. Not yet. If Bo walked out the door, she'd be dead in minutes at worst and hours at best.

"Bo, please -"

Bo wasn't listening. "Just let me die. Nobody will know. Nobody will care or miss a monster and a murderer, and I don't want to be here anymore." She sobbed so hard she couldn't talk anymore.

Nothing Lauren said had made a difference.

She couldn't let this one provocative, beautiful woman with so much potential die without exhausting every option. Even if that woman hated her for it. And Lauren had already tried everything else she could think of.

Lauren couldn't get through to her.

"You're closer to her than anyone, Lauren." Trick sighed with finality. "If she won't listen to you-"

"I'm not the one she'll listen to, Trick."

He furrowed his brow in confusion.

She stood, walked over and sat down on the low table before Trick's chair. It was forward, and he looked surprised, but she was out of options.

"She's lost all hope, Trick. She doesn't think there's a single thing that this world has to offer her, and that the world we've described is some kind of hell. She can't see any advantages of being Fae, because she has nothing to hold on to, and thinks that I'm only interested in her biology and not her friendship."

It was time to test Lauren's hypothesis.

"She believes that she has no one, that no one in this world truly cares about what happens to her, so she trusts no one, and doesn't believe that she has a real chance of getting out of that room. She doesn't believe us." Lauren wouldn't let Trick look away, and tried to convey how serious this was. "And if she doesn't believe us, she won't feed. She'll die in that room, Trick, either because she's starved herself to death or because she'll give in and go on some rampage that will make the elders put her down, and I know that you and I will be the worse for it."

Lauren leaned closer and lowered her voice, knowing that what she had to say must only be heard by him.

"She needs something to hope for, Trick." She dropped her voice to a whisper. "She needs family."

Trick's eyes widened, and the surprised glare that followed confirmed that her hypothesis was true.

XX-XX-XX

Bo spent most of her time in bed. Sometimes she slept, but most of the time she didn't.

She'd pulsed one of the giant guards that first day and tried to escape, but they'd only made it as far as the other side of the door. Then, his twin had tazed her escape plan into a stupor, and Bo had spent the rest of the afternoon nursing one hell of a headache.

The next day, two of them showed up - one with a huge tray of food and juice and water, the other with a Taser.

The first set down the tray and then took off his shirt. She'd asked him about it, and he'd said that he was there to service any of her needs.

As delectable as he was, the whole thing had pissed her off. Service. As if she had a choice. This was probably one of Lauren's bright fucking ideas, so hell no. Bo would starve first.

At first she was being difficult, but then it became a habit. She hadn't planned a hunger strike - she'd just been too depressed to eat anything. Then later, when she'd tried, she'd puked it all back up.

After a few days, when the depression had set in as she'd grown more hungry, she wondered what the point of any of this was. Lauren had come in a few times, but seeing her filled Bo with so many feelings she didn't know how to process them - anger, resentment, guilt, and worst of all, want - she'd told the woman to fuck off half a dozen times.

Not that it did her any good. No amount of begging or accusation changed that woman's persistence, so Bo fought back the only way she could.

Until she didn't want to fight anymore. After all, there was no escape.

Which left her only one way out.

And after yesterday's outburst and failed attack on Lauren - again, she thought with dark humor - the end was probably sooner rather than later. Even Lauren had to see that it was all hopeless, and her damned elders wouldn't need to be convinced.

She heard the clang of the door's lock and then the creak of the door. Part of her prayed that it wasn't Lauren, but another part wished it was. She felt awful about yesterday - was it yesterday? Bo hoped she hadn't hurt her. She hated Lauren, but she didn't want her dead.

She heard the door close, and then nothing. She supposed that she might be curious, but not enough to sit up and do anything about it. Besides, she was tired. They'd go away eventually.

"I've been told that you're refusing treatment."

The voice sounded familiar. Bo sat up slowly and blinked toward the door.

A man sat in one of the chairs across the room. Slight in stature, he leaned back casually in the chair, with an arm extended on the armrest, one finger tapping against the wood. She recognized him as one of the council elders - the Ash, they'd called him - and wondered if he was here to kill her.

Did this one small Fae man possess the power to end her life? She thought that perhaps she should be afraid, but all she wanted to do was get this over with, whatever it was. Maybe if she pissed him off, it'd be done sooner. Anything was better than day after day of this...nothingness.

"Treatment? Is that what you call it when you Fae lock people up against their will?"

"You're Fae, too."

She really didn't want to hear that, and his calm, matter of fact tone annoyed Bo. She wanted to wring his neck, but that meant crossing the room, so she resisted the urge.

"Not if I can help it." She knew she sounded petulant, but whoever he was, he really needed to fuck off.

"You're not helping much, apparently. I didn't have you pegged as a coward."

That got her out of bed. She flew halfway across the room, until the effort nauseated her and forced her to stop.

"I'm not a coward."

He crooked an eyebrow, but didn't move otherwise. "By not eating, or feeding, you're choosing a passive death. In this case, I'd say that's a coward's choice. "

"You don't know shit," Bo spat. "You don't know what I've been through. You don't know anything about me."

He sighed and leaned forward in the chair, gazing unfocused at the floor. He was intent on something, and it took him a long time to respond.

"I know who you are, Ysabeau," he said eventually, and Bo froze.

She felt like her heart stopped beating. She couldn't make her feet move and her entire body felt like ice water had been poured through her veins. She felt the tremor of her hands as if some part of her sensed the truth her mind wasn't ready for when she heard that name.

A name she knew was hers even though she'd never heard it before.

She tried to speak, but nothing came out of her mouth.

"I know," he said, and finally, looked at her with sad eyes. "Because I'm your grandfather."

XX-XX-XX

TBC. Just a few more chapters to go! Feedback encouraged here and on Twitter. virginiablk517