Authors Notes: Somebody wanted a cliffhanger. No idea why, but here you go :) Thank you to all who review, it's so much fun seeing my inbox ping at me when I post. Pretty sure it is gonna ping loudly tonight lol. Thanks to Radar for the pointers and the idea ;)
Chapter 10 – Swete Sone
Swete sone, reu on me
And breste out of thy bondes
For me thinket that I see
Thoru Bothen thin bondes
*/*/*/
"I thought they got that room soundproofed?" Thoma looked up as another fleck of plaster landed on her.
Kenzi finished laying out various bowls of food on the table. "Oh they did. This is impressive. Even for them. They've been non stop for the last few days."
"Since that Greek took Bo to Olympus?"
Kenzi nodded at Thoma.
"Bo went to Olympus?" Evony looked up from her fashion magazine?
Arun slumped down in the seat next to her and grabbed a handful of chips. "Yeah. Bitch." She went on to explain to Evony what happened.
"What the fuck is wrong with them? I warned their Queen to stop poking at you." Evony tapped on the phone keys and sent out a quick text. "I just let the elder's secretary know. I'm keeping them up to date so when this all blows up, they land on the right side. I want those damn people out of the colonies." She looked at the ceiling as a particularly vocal moan made it's way through the sound proofing.
"Oh yes, YES. Tamsin. Harder. Do it harder!"
"Is she planning to join us tonight?" Sigjold asked casually. There was a loud slapping sound.
"YES! Fucking do it like you mean it."
Kenzi grabbed the poker set from the bookcase. "Probably. Bo has to open the bar shortly."
"Fuck! What am I, glass? Oh holy fuck! Don't stop. Don't fucking stop."
"Might as well get this set up ready then." Thoma started handing out chips. There was a crash from upstairs and the light flickered for a few seconds.
"I'm coming. I'm coming. I'm coming!"
"Excellent, I'll deal then shall I?" Mirja looked around as the various players nodded.
Ten minutes later, Bo came flying down the stairs. "Hey guys, have fun with poker, I'm running late." She leaned over and kissed Hailey on the head making her look up from the giraffe she was chewing on.
As soon as the door slammed, footsteps could be heard ambling down the stairs. "We ready to go?" Tamsin said before yawning widely.
"Yeap just waiting on you coming." Arun said causing the others to snigger.
Evony rolled her eyes at the upcoming juvenile argument. "Before that starts, lets get on. I promised Lauren a new purse." She flicked through her chips professionally.
"Is that for Lauren to carry your lady balls in?" Kenzi quipped, putting Hailey on the table.
"Someone's gonna lose the college fund for that remark." Evony sang back.
"No using the baby as an opening bid, you know the rules." Tamsin laughed as she picked the baby up. She looked at the all black outfit with a single cartoon diamond on the front. "What's she supposed to be?"
"Cat burglar. Vex sent it over." Kenzi sorted her cards out and put her chips in.
"Eh, least it's not rubber. Where's the Doc tonight?" Tamsin asked when she was ready to go.
Evony sighed. "She's been working on a private project recently. It's not going well. She wanted to spend some time alone."
Sigjold leaned over to Arun and slapped her. "Pay attention. Who are you texting anyway?"
Arun put the phone down and looked at her cards. "Britney. Ungh, fold." She slammed the cards down.
Mirja threw in a handful of chips. "Dyson know you're messing around with his wife?"
Kenzi burst out laughing. "That poor man. I don't think he wants to go out with you guys anymore. Val thought it was hilarious."
"Full house. My lady balls are going to have a fabulous new home after tonight." Evony smirked and pulled in a pile of cash amidst a lot of groaning.
*/*/*/
"Scotch and soda. Hold the scotch." He winked at Bo as she put the scotch back on the shelf.
"One soda & soda coming up." She smiled back. "We need to make a fun name for these you know? We get enough people that don't drink any more."
He picked up the glass and downed it in one go. "Ah, not quite the same but what can you do? To be fair, I still drink, but my boyfriends out of town and I hate to drink alone. Hit me again." He told her seriously making her laugh. "Unless you can take two minutes out for a drink with me, in which case, two scotch and soda's, hold the sodas."
Bo shook her head, it was nice not to be hit on by a single guy, he looked nice enough. She smiled and poured them both a scotch.
He handed her a twenty. "Keep the change, it's been a long week, I need this." He scanned around the bar that was filling up slowly. People were more interested in who was coming in the door than what he was doing at the bar. When Bo turned around to put the money in the cash registry, he flipped open the top of his ring and dropped the powdered contents into Bo's drink. By the time she turned back around, the powder had fizzled away to nothing.
Bo picked up her glass and toasted him before finishing her drink. She moved around behind the bar filling orders and swapping smiles with the regulars, she never noticed him leave.
Bo pulled another beer when she noticed she was getting overheated. She took the money and had to clear her vision when she handed his change back. She checked the two girls working had things under control before walking out back to get some air. No sooner had the door opened and Bo knew something was very wrong. The world was swimming around making her nauseous. She held herself up against the door jamb and was about to call out to the Nymphs for help when she was held up and away from the door, letting it close behind her.
"You? What are you doing here?" She slurred.
"Securing my future. You're gonna do your duty by Olympus and I am gonna watch as Amthyia becomes the most powerful Amazon in the tribe, while I stand at her side."
"Fuck. Will you guys knock it off, I don't have a duty. Ungh, I don't feel good." She found herself easily manipulated into walking toward a nearby car.
"Don't worry, you'll feel good soon enough, shame you tainted yourself with that Valkyrie, but you'll soon know what a real lover feels like."
Bo started laughing, she had no control over her body but for now her brain was cooperating. "Bitch please, you think I walk with a limp cause I'm clumsy? At least Tamsin never had to knock someone out to get laid."
Dalses grabbed something from her pocket. "Talking of knocked out, I'm not paid nearly enough to listen to you on the way back and seeing as you wont remember any of this." She moved a damp, oily looking rag over Bo's mouth, cutting off her protestations until Bo went limp in her arms. "Finally." She huffed and dragged Bo over her shoulder to the car.
*/*/*/
"You lie." Kenzi looked sideways at Evony.
"Put up or shut up Momz." Evony teased her. "And no I wont take the baby as an IOU."
Tamsin started laughing. "I can't wait till she is older and I tell her that she was nearly raised by the Morrigan cause you had a good hand in poker."
"Don't make me pull out the baby stories TamTam, you wont like where it leads." Kenzi pointed her cards at the blonde.
"I might! C'mon Kenz, you look pretty low on chips, I'll make it worth your while." Thoma pushed her chips on the table.
The Valkyries immediately started a war of words interrupting the game. Kenzi saw her phone buzzing on the nearby coffee table and went off to answer it. "Mags? What's up buttercup?" She asked the wood nymph that took over her role at the bar. "What? I can't hear you, that damn music gets louder I swear, say again?" She pressed one finger against her other ear so she could hear better, between the noise at the bar and the Valkyries arguing she could barely make it out. She pressed the speakerphone button. "One sec. QUIET!" She cut over the noise as the music stopped from the phone.
"They took Bo!" The breathless voice sounded unnaturally loud in the quiet.
Kenzi looked at the phone and shakily put it down on the poker table. "Who took Bo?" A cold voice asked her.
"Tamsin? Is that you? Oh thank God, that horrible woman that Kenzi beat up! Bo wasn't feeling good, she went out back to get some air, I went out to see if she was OK and I saw that woman drag her away. She was still awake but then she put something over her face and carried her to a car. I'm sorry, I did what you asked, if Bo was in trouble I hide and call you. I wanted to stop her." The Nymph said sadly.
Tamsin was as still as a statue, Mirja leaned over the phone. "You did great, don't worry, we'll bring Bo home." She pushed the button to end the call.
As one the Valkyries stood up and grabbed the various leather jackets and crash helmets laying out. Tamsin looked over at Evony. "Don't worry, I'll stay here with Kenzi and Hailey."
Tamsin nodded and the five of them rushed out the door.
"Tamsin?" Evony waited until Tamsin stopped and looked back even as the other bikes were heard starting. "If at all possible, don't kill her, I'll use this to get rid of all of them permanently."
Tamsin attached the crash helmet and walked outside to join her sisters.
"You think she heard you?" Kenzi asked quietly.
"She heard me, but I wouldn't bet the baby that she listened. Fucking Amazons."
There was a roar outside as the five Valkyries tore off to get Bo back and possibly start the war officially.
Kenzi cringed when she realized the neighbours were going to have a conniption fit at the noise.
*/*/*/
"Plan?" Thoma asked as they pulled up outside the Amazon's residence.
"Sigjold and Arun are with me. You two wait here in case we need back up. We're not out in 5 minutes, sound the alarm, get the whole fucking squad here, we'll take them all out." Tamsin ran off to the entrance, Sigjold and Arun slightly behind her.
"Longest five minutes ever. You think this is the start?" Thoma asked curiously.
Mirja shrugged. "No idea. Ideally, Tamsin leaves her alive, The Morrigan gets rid of them permanently, we can relax again. If they hurt Bo, pretty sure Tamsin will get rid of most of them tonight." Mirja replied as she cleaned off the insects from the front of her headlamp.
"Oh, something's happening. Look." Thoma pointed at the window on the fifth floor. A light went out and another flickered as though it was broken. Thoma was about to comment again when the window exploded as a large body came flying through.
"Epic!" Mirja yelled laughing.
"Why is that epic?" Thoma asked.
"Lauren gave me a word of the day calendar. My word of the day was defenestration, I never thought I would get that one crossed off."
"Is that why you've been using all these big words? I keep having to look them up to talk to you." Thoma looked up as the other three blondes, wings drawn dropped silently to the ground, Bo wrapped safely in Tamsin's arms.
"Is she dead?" Thoma casually kicked the redhead lying still on the ground, rolling her over.
Mirja leaned over. "Nope, still alive. Evony can do her thing now." She smiled until she noticed something. "Why are her pants open?" She looked at the very groggy Succubus and noticed her blouse was ripped. Mirja pulled out a blade from her jacket and stormed forward. "Did she rape her?" She snarled.
Arun put a hand on Mirja's arm. "No, we had very, very good timing." She sighed.
Mirja put the blade away as the others got Bo settled in front of Tamsin on the bike. Before she got on her own, she walked past the now moving Amthyia and kicked her in the face, knocking her out cold again. She didn't notice her phone drop out of her back pocket and land in the bushes.
The Valkyries drove off, just as Dalses came staggering out of the door, battered and bleeding, she ran over to the unconscious princess.
*/*/*/
"Gross, Toby!" Bo laughed from the couch as the giant puppy checked her out with his giant nose. The baby decided to join in and dug her nails into Bo's legs to try and climb up. "Good lord, I was safer with the Amazons." She laughed as Tamsin pushed Toby down and Kenzi moved Hailey.
Evony came out of the kitchen as Toby ran out to the garden his little buddy hot on his heels. She stepped over the baby wincing as Toby triggered the large security flashlights in the yard. She spared a brief moment to wonder if this would be their life when Lauren found a way to cheat nature. She carried the tea through to the lounge where Bo, still a little fuzzy on what had happened, recounted things to Kenzi while the Valkyries stood silently in the background.
"Here." She handed Bo the mug. "Probably not a good idea for booze right now, despite what they think." She nodded at the smirking blondes. "I have a call into the elders. We meet tomorrow to finalize details, but I am pretty sure they are done. Sorry you had to go through this for it to happen."
Bo took the mug and nodded. "Thanks. Sorry, didn't mean to ruin the big peace thing. Pretty sure they wont stop though."
"And I'm pretty sure you are right. Hopefully when they get their marching orders they will take the hint about you and find a substitute spawner."
They finally settled down when Kenzi looked over. "Where did Hailey go?"
"She's keeping the dog company." Evony pointed to the yard.
Kenzi laughed. "I swear she thinks they are related. I found her curled up next to him in his bed the other day." She held out the phone to show Evony and Bo the photograph. "K, I'm gonna grab HaileyBoo and hose the mud off her. Again." She started walking to the back when the front door came flying of it's hinges. She grabbed the staff off her belt and jumped back to the now armed Valkyries.
*/*/*/
Tas entered the Amazon quarters, looking at the broken glass laying around and wondering what happened. She went passed the elevators to the stair case, never wanted to bump into any of the Amazons if she could help it. She had her weekly report for the Queen, probably the only interaction she had directly and the one part of her current assignment she hated. She made it passed the elevators as the door signalled it's opening. Tas jumped the last few feet to avoid being seen, pleased when she heard Amthyia's voice, knowing she had missed her for this visit. She was about to shut the door quietly behind her when she heard it.
"Even my idiot sister fell flat on her face when she tried. Showed the Succubus a load of shit about Tamsin and still they are all curled up together like nothing is wrong. Don't touch the Valkyries, don't touch the baby, don't touch the human, it's no fucking wonder I'm failing." She ranted.
Dalses mumbled something that Tas couldn't hear making the elder Amazon laugh. "No they didn't mention the dog did they? C'mon, grab your bow, let's shake things up a bit."
Tas moved around the corner when she heard the door close behind the two Amazons. "Shit. Shit. Shit, shit, shit. OK. Right. Fuck it." She grabbed her phone and started dialing, bouncing on her feet as the call rang and rang. "C'mon pick up. Pick up dammit!"
"Who are you talking to? And why am I being kept waiting for it?"
A voice behind her made her blood run cold. She turned around and faced the Amazon Queen and her smirking guards.
"Um, sorry, work thing, I was about to come up but I just got a call from Dyson, I have to go back to the station." She lied quickly.
Andromache shook her head. "Idiot. The station can wait, your only job here is to keep me informed of what goes on with the Succubus and her crowd." She stepped toward the elevator, waiting for the car to come back.
Tas automatically walked toward her before stopping. She swallowed harshly. "Actually, it really can't wait, it's about Bo I think, it might be best if I find out and come back and tell you rather than waiting a week." She stood waiting, hoping the Queen would agree.
Andromache nodded at one of her guards who struck out viciously, catching Tasarla unaware. "Perhaps I wasn't clear. Was I not clear?" She asked as Tas wiped the blood from her mouth.
"I'm sorry. Quite clear. My Queen." Tas stepped into the elevator behind them. As the doors closed, Tas did something she had never done before. She jumped out as the doors closed, ignoring the yells behind her. Certain she would pay for this later, she ran to the car and prayed she wasn't too late.
*/*/*/
"What's the fucking point of having a fucking cell phone if you never answer the fucking thing. Come on damn it! Pick the fucking phone up!" Tas yelled as she drove one handed like a lunatic through the streets to Tamsin's house. Thankful for a life time of paying attention to her surroundings, she made the journey in the shortest time possible, all the while hitting redial on her phone, praying that one of the damn Valkyries would pick it up.
When she screeched into the driveway she jumped from the still moving car, not bothering with the doorbell she flung herself into the unlocked door and practically fell at the feet of five angry Valkyries, a curious Morrigan and Kenzi waving a large stick.
"Tas? What the hell, we would have answered if you'd knocked." Kenzi joked.
Tas staggered to her feet. "Where the fuck is your phone?" She yelled at Mirja who tapped her pockets. "Where's the dog? Toby? Where is he?" She looked around frantically.
"What the hell is wrong with you dude? He's outside." Tamsin put Sigjold's spare sword back in it's sheath.
"Amazon's, Amthyia." She hacked out breathlessly. "She's going after the dog."
"Fuck! Toby! Come 'ere boy." Tamsin yelled as she ran to the yard.
Kenzi dropped the stick when she realized. "Hailey!" She screamed as they all ran after Tamsin. They got out the back door as all hell rained down. Kenzi watched in horror as a flight of arrows littered the ground. She watched as several pierced Toby. He howled in a spray of blood as he fell over, crushing his playmate under him as the arrows continued to fall on them both.
Tamsin and Tas threw themselves across the prone figures in a last ditch effort to protect them as the arrows continued to hit their marks. Tas grimaced as she felt one enter her calf. Tamsin screamed as she tried to grab both Toby and Hailey under her and Tas, the arrows slicing into her all the while.
There were screams and cries all around her, Kenzi walked numbly forward to the blood spattered pile of four un-moving objects, it was strange all the things you think about in a crisis, like how she had never heard the Morrigan scream like that, or that the neighbours were going to be pissed for sure this time.
*/*/*/