I came too, the smell of blood all around me, making me gag. When I coughed I felt the pain in my abdomen. I shot up, hitting my head on the side of a car window. I scanned my surroundings and saw I was in the back seat of the black sedan Tamsin had borrowed to take us to seamus. I clutched at my stomach. It hit me what had happened, I pushed open the back door of the car, we were still in the parking garage of the building. I looked around, and panicked when I saw Bo's yellow Camaro parked at a strange angle by the elevator. I was still hazy, I walked towards it. I felt a fae by me, but the pain I had experienced was clouding everything. I took a step when I heard Tamsin.
"she's not here, Lauren." she coughed and turned to look at her. She was slumped against the side of the black sedan. Her blood was the smell that woke me up. Tamsins face was a mess, her left eye was swollen shut, she had a split bottom lip, knots forming on her forehead and she was holding her arm which was obviously broken. I moved to her and bent down to look at her injuries, when I tried to wipe some of the blood away she pushed my hands away. "don't. Leave me."
"who did this too you?" I tried again to wipe away the blood so I could get a better look at her. Tamsin grabbed my hand with her good one, "i said leave it, leave me." she took a breath and coughed, cringing as she tasted blood, "Bo did this, and I deserve it. I didnt know about the pregnancy, lauren. I would have not brought you here if I had known."
I froze, "bo, did this? Where is she?" I wanted to cry, I had made a huge mistake in letting seamus take what he wanted. It was ignorant of me to think that a powerful fae would have no idea I was pregnant. I began to shake as it hit me that I had sacrificed our baby. I had to find bo, I had to do something.
Tamsin stared at me and then glanced at my stomach, "are you okay?" I could tell she was holding back sobs. I gripped harder on Tamsin, "Where is bo?"
Tamsin groaned, "they took her to the light fae compound. She showed up as I was carrying you to the car. Bryn ran into her at the dal, told her about seamus...Bo went insane, the succubus in full force." Tamsin looked up at me, "she lost it on me, rightfully so and she was too strong to stop."
I was shaking harder, "why did they take her to the compound? Who took her?" I was on the verge of shaking Tamsin, she wasn't answering me fast enough.
"she killed him, Lauren. She killed seamus." she started sobbing. I stared at her in shock, then covered my face in my hands, letting my own sobs fall out. I had done this. I leaned against the side of the car, pulling my knees up against my chest. Tamsin looked at me, and tried to reach for me but her battered body was in to much pain.
I felt another fae enter the parking garage, but I couldn't make out who it was through the tears and sobs. I saw a few other figures move around Tamsin and I. One reached down and scooped Tamsin up like she was nothing and carry her away. Another figure came to me, but I heard a voice tell the figure to stop.
Finnegan bent down and picked me up in his arms, he whispered as he held me against his chest, "what have you done?" I could feel sadness and anger in his voice. I didn't say anything and I sobbed harder as he carried me to the waiting car.
Finnegan had used his powers on me and I slept until I felt him pick me up and carry me into the compound. He took me to a part of the compound that I had never been before and too a massive bedroom. He laid me down onto a bed, he pulled up a chair and sat at the edge of the bed, looking at me. He looked as if he had been crying.
I leaned to look at him, whispering, "where is bo?"
he took a deep breath, "bo is in the hospital, recovering. After she killed seamus, his security swarmed her and it became a vicious fight. Your wife of course won, but not without significant damage." Finnegan stared at me hard, "you invoked her rage. Its going to be hard to recover from that."
I closed my eyes, hot tears down my face, "how did she find out?"
"the Valkyries twin found her at the dal. Bryn had found a solution to the issue of your mother, she went to Bo and let it slip that the Valkyrie had taken you to seamus. It appears she thought your wife was aware of your intentions with the norn." he stopped, "It appears she arrived too late and when Tamsin told her what had been sacrificed, the unborn child, she lost herself in the darkness that has always been dormant."
"i did't know."
Finnegan snapped at me, "you didn't know that a norn, one as evil as seamus would take the one thing you and your wife held dear?" he recovered his composure, "you should have come to me, like your mother suggested. Such a selfish thing to do, your mother would have never asked you to make a choice like this to save her."
I looked at him hard, "where is my mom?"
"here Lauren." my mothers voice carried into he room, she stepped into the room and stood next to finnegan. I could tell she had been crying as well. It made me sob more, "Lauren, why did you do this?"
I couldn't talk through the sobs, I curled up in a ball, holding my stomach. The lack of the sensation that had been there for days, breaking my heart. I choked out in between sobs, "can I see Bo?"
Finnegan let out a heavy breath and looked to my mother, she nodded, "let her, finnegan." he stood up and held out his hand to me, I took it and he had to hold me up as I was shaking uncontrollably. My mother stood on the other side of me, holding me close. I looked at Finnegan, "is there any way to get my child back?" I had remembered Kenzi saying something about helping Dyson retrieve his sacrifice from the norn.
Finnegan clenched his jaw, I could see his eyes turn glassy, he whispered, "yes, but that ended when your wife killed seamus. None of the sacrifices he collected can be easily returned now."
I had to lean harder on Finnegan and my mother as they took me down to where Bo was treated. I couldn't look at her for long, she looked worse than Tamsin did. Seamus security team was powerful ogres and had beaten her pretty bad. I was able to go into he room and I collapsed on the edge of Bo's bed when she was unresponsive to my touch. Finnegan stood behind me, a hand on my back, "she will recover, we have her in a coma to help her healing process and ease the rage inside of her." I reached for her face, brushing some of the hair away from her face, careful not to touch any of the bruises. I kissed her forehead, "i am so sorry, bo. I love you."
I wanted to stay with her, but the fae doctors forced me to leave. Finnegan left me with my mother as he went to attend to Tamsin, who was on the other side of the ward recovering from her injuries. My mother was silent as we walked down the hall. I heard Kenzi voices behind me, "let me go you jerks." I turned and saw her push past two fae security guards. She ran at me, her face streaked with mascara and tears. She stopped in front of me, I could see the anger in her eyes, "what the hell were you thinking doc. You broke her heart, shattered it into a million fucking pieces. I have never seen her that angry and so determined to die, that's why she went all blood sport with seamus and the ogres. You took away the one thing that made her completely whole, a chance to be the mother she never had. You fucking selfish woman, you should have talked to her before you went with blondie and gave away the most amazing thing to happen to my best friend outside of meeting you." Kenzi clenched her fists, "fuck you, lauren, fuck you for this." she broke down and ran back to where she had pushed through the security guards.
I looked at my mother, she was silent and sad, I grabbed her hand, "how do I fix this? There has to be something in some old book somewhere."
my mother looked at me, "we need to talk first, but there may be a way out of this." she held back tears, "i would have never asked you to do this to save me, Lauren. A child is far more important than an old woman like me."
I held my head down, I couldn't say anything. I had made the biggest mistake in my life, following through on a fear I was going to lose one person in my life, now I had lost more. I was losing my family because of my ignorance. My mother pulled me close and walked me back down to the bedroom.
I stood in the bathroom, stripping off the uniform that had Tamsins blood on it. I threw it in a ball on the floor. I had been crying all day, and when I looked in the mirror it made me cry harder. I sat on the bathroom floor huddled in a ball. It didn't help that seamus had left a red mark on my abdomen that was sore to the touch. I held my hand against it and sobbed out an apology to the baby I would never meet.
My mother found me in the bathroom and helped me up, dressing me and taking me back to the bed to sit down. I could feel her anger at me but I could also feel her need to make sure I was alright. I sat on the edge as she looked at me, "i think that its time we had that talk I should have had with you on your wedding day."
I frowned at my mom, "the only thing I want to talk about is how to fix the biggest mistake of my life. Bo killed seamus, Finnegan told me because of that, I have lost..." I drifted off.
My mother held out her hands, "come, Finnegan is waiting." I looked at her confused and she reached down and pulled me up. She said nothing as she helped me, again, across the compound to Finnegan's private room.
Finnegan was sitting behind his large desk, set in the small library in the corner of his massive room. He looked worn down, he had taken off his suit jacket and his tie was loosened. It was the first time in my life that I had ever seen him less than perfect. He smiled weakly as he saw my mother and I come into the room. He motioned for us to take a seat on the couch in the seating area off to the side of his large mahogany desk.
My mother set me down on the couch and to my surprise she took a seat next to Finnegan as they sat on the couch opposite from me. I looked at them confused, then I asked, "how's bo." I couldn't help but ask, it had only been an hour or so since I last saw her in the hospital bed.
"recovering. As is your Valkyrie friend, and your little human friend. It may take some time for the little human to get over her anger." Finnegan looked at my mother.
I looked down at the intricate Persian rug under my feet. My mother broke the building silence, "Lauren, I again, wished you had waited before doing this. I know that you have a dislike of sorts for the light fae, Finnegan. But there are things that you don't know, I had asked you to come to Finnegan because we were able to come to a agreement on how to discourage odin and his desire to have me by his side."
I sighed, "mom, I went over everything I could. But nothing could be done to reverse the orders on a human, Tamsin tried everything less than suicide, I researched everything. But there was nothing, that's why I went to seamus, to have a meeting. Just a meeting." I looked up at her and Finnegan, "i was about to walk away from him when Tamsin received the message you were too die in a few hours." I swallowed hard, "i reacted. I offered seamus my powers and I thought that was what he was taking, until his hand was in my stomach...taking more." I squeezed my eyes shut.
"there is something I have been hiding from you. You know your aunt Maggie and all of the stories I told you about her? Her powers, meeting Finnegan and the fairy-tales of how I came into knowing the fae world?"
I nodded, frowning, "yes of course. But I don't think this is the time to review fairytales."
Finnegan spoke, "this is the perfect time for fairytales, doctor." I looked at him, hard. "why are you here? This is a family matter, I appreciate you caring for bo and all that, but I don't understand why you are here." my anger was flowing out, I was mad at myself, bo, Tamsin and everything in general, and Finnegan's mere presence was making it worse. "you are only out for yourself and what's best for the light fae."
he sighed, "and what's best for my daughter." he looked me dead in the eyes. The words floated around me slowly swimming in my mind. I looked at my mother, she smiled tightly, "your aunt Maggie isn't the fae, I am, Lauren." she looked at Finnegan and grabbed his hand, "Maggie and I did run across Finnegan here in the woods when we were children. He and I grew up together, our powers matured at the same time and I realized that I was the last of the fae in the Lewis family, Maggie was the one who helped me with my gifts and would cover up by acting out, making the family think she was a little eccentric. Finnegan and I fell in love, when we were both about to leave for university, I became pregnant with you."
She smiled sheepishly at me and Finnegan, "he was destined for greater things, being from a royal fae family, we couldn't make it work. His father had bigger plans for him. I had to go into hiding, Finnegan wanted to keep you and I safe." she reached under her shirt and pulled out the necklace that had been a permanent fixture on my mother my entire life. It was a quarter sized deep purple stone, set in a pair of wings that were made from Celtic weave work. "this is a amethyst enchanted by an old friend of Finnegan's father. It has masked me as a human and mixed with a cloaking enchantment placed upon both of us right before your birth, I appeared as a human and no one took a second glance my direction. I married your father and he thought you were his child. But as you grew up it was more and more apparent you were far from his offspring, and I was far from in love with him."
I was staring at my mother when Finnegan spoke, "i took care of your mother as much as I could, we had to continue to live as separate as possible, but when I first laid eyes on you that day you went to work with your mother, I couldn't avoid you, I fell in love with the blonde little girl that has my nose. I have kept watch over you from a distance and watched you grow up into a beautiful amazing woman." he smiled, "my daughter the human doctor. Somehow our recessive human genes filtered down to you, and I had to keep you safe, because you were human. My enemies would jump at the chance to hurt me through my vulnerable daughter. You always carried fae traits, Lauren, it was just a matter of needing something extra to make them prevalent in your body, such as the energy of your wife pulling you from death. You did die that day and were reborn as fae."
my mother suddenly took off the necklace and I watched as the years fade from her, the gentle wrinkles that a sixty year old woman carried disappeared, the grey hair that dappled most of her hair faded into a darker blonde color than what I had. My mother looked exactly like she did as I remembered her when I was little and always told her how pretty she was. She held the necklace in her hand, "i went to Finnegan that day you were sick to talk to him about ending the charade, the moment I revealed myself as fae, odin would have removed his orders on me. He wanted Elizabeth Lewis the human, not Elizabeth Lewis the fae." she smiled and I saw her eyes light up a soft golden color, "We had planned on telling you soon, before you had gotten pregnant. We knew that Bo and you were headed down that path and you would need to know the truth. To protect the child."
Finnegan frowned and stood up, "lauren, all of this time I tried to bring you into my protection, my life so that I could eventually provide for you and tell you about your mother and I. I knew you were distant from your family when you lost Cate. I am glad your wife sought out to invite your mother to the wedding, we were able to reconnect and reignite our own love. It was your mother who pushed me to agree to telling you everything." he sighed, "perhaps if I had bent to her will sooner, I would still have a grandchild on the way." he jammed his hands into his pants pockets.
I was silent and completely overwhelmed at the bomb that had just been dropped in my lap. I also could not stop staring at my mother who had just reversed time in front of me. "how old are you mom?" I couldn't help but ask, I was mesmerized by how young my mother looked.
"i will be eighty five next year. I am twenty years older than Aunt Maggie, she was a bit of a last thought and the youngest of the family. But I stopped the normal aging process at thirty. Just like you have." she smiled as she could see I was staring.
I looked at Finnegan, my father, I could see some of the psychical traits of him I carried. We stood the same when our arms were folded and I did indeed have his nose. I leaned forward and held my head in my hands, "how do I end the sacrifice." even though my head was working on sorting out that my parents were both fae and one was a powerful elder, I needed to fix my family.
My mother stood up and sat next to me, holding me across the shoulders, "it would have been easier if seamus was still alive." she brushed my hair back, "the sacrifice would have been reversed after the main reason it was give was reversed, saving me from odin. After that, seamus would have bargained for something he could make a profit on. Knowing you would give anything to have the one thing he took back." she paused, "after a norn dies, his collection of sacrifices are held in limbo. Your child is not gone, just is limbo."
I looked at my mother, "how do I?" I didn't finish, I had no words to put on this situation of knowing my baby was in a limbo.
"you must get Bo's forgiveness and love, her rampage and killing seamus has cast doubt that the sacrifice is to be returned to you. The purest form of love you both held has been tainted now."
I closed my eyes, and felt my mother place a hand on my stomach, "you must also forgive yourself."
I leaned into her, "will this work?"
my mother nodded, "it did for you." she looked at finnegan, "your father had made the same sacrifice when I told him I was pregnant, seamus took you from us in return for the necklace he enchanted."
I looked at finnegan, he looked away from my eyes as my mother continued, "i knew he had gone to the norn to look for the protection he could provide for me, I caught him right after it happened. I felt the incredible pain of you leaving my body. Seamus was a little more forgiving back then and told us how norns reversed sacrifices even after death, that all that was needed was my love and forgiveness for your father making his sacrifice, that and I had to give up the Lewis family jewelry." she kissed the top of my head, "you were worth it and I have you now, seamus reversed the sacrifice instantly and told me that you would be human. But you were ours and that was what mattered to us."
I felt exhausted, "how long do I have before bo wakes up?"
Finnegan sat back down on the couch, "a few more days, she needs her rest to but the succubus back where it was before its rage was invoked." he stared at me, "i apologize Lauren, for everything."
I looked at him, "oddly enough, you have been more of a father to me than my other one." I felt my mom squeeze me tighter, he smiled weakly and stood up, "the box I gave you on your wedding day is the family crest, mine and your mothers intertwined. Your wife and you are royalty, her blood line is pure and powerful, just as much as yours. I had hoped you would open it and it would inspire you to question as you always do."
I had never opened the gift or any of the others we had received, they were still sitting in the closet near the basement. I stood up, my mother standing up with me, I held out my hand to shake my fathers, "its nice to meet you, father."
Finnegan smiled and took my hand but pulled me into a strange, awkward but comforting hug, "its nice to finally meet you, my daughter." he pulled back, "i promise you, your wife will be in the best care I can provide her and we will get your child back."
I smiled as I felt tears rising, I felt my mother come up behind and wrap and arm around my waist, "no more secrets."
my mother and Finnegan walked me back to my room, leaving me to lie in the soft bed staring at the ornate ceiling. I was absorbing everything my parents had revealed to me. As soon as my mother took of the enchanted necklace, I felt her power clearly, it was similar to the strange hints I had felt over the last few days. She told me that she was a telepath and a medium, that I had gotten the rest of my powers from Finnegan, that is why I could feel and detect fae strongly.
I couldn't sleep, I was too focus on Bo, I would constantly play with the ring on my finger, I loved bo so much. I had regretted everything I done to her in the past, and now out of my selfish need to protect all the ones I loved. It was with selfless intentions, but acted out on pure selfishness. It reminded me of the mistake I made in going back to war, I had done it again. I wanted her to wake up so I could begin the process of repairing our family. I knew I would have to ask for her forgiveness, and I hoped that she still loved me. I tossed and turned as I thought about it more and more. I finally rolled out of the bed and walked down to the hospital.
when I arrived at her room, I saw she was missing from the bed. Tubes and wires laid on the bed, it was obvious she had pulled them out. I panicked and looked for a nurse and only found tamsin, limping down the hall. She was healing but was still in a ton of pain from my wife's anger. She looked at me, I could feel all of her pain, sadness and fear, "i tried to stop her, she's changing and trying to escape." she closed her eyes and I saw a flash of Bo's blue eyes burning bright as she grabbed Tamsin by the throat.
Tamsin leaned against the wall, "go, go now and stop her before its too late." she motioned down the hall. I ran as fast I could, focusing on bo's energy so I could pinpoint where she was. I felt her moving through the front of the compound towards the side exit where the cars where kept. I ran faster and caught up with her as she was pulsing the guards to let her through.
I stopped, "bo."
she turned at the sound of my voice, her eyes were bright blue when she met mine. I could feel the anger radiating off of her. She turned back around and moved through the doors to the cars. I ran after her and caught her before she got into a car. I slammed the drivers door shut as she opened it, I placed a hand on her elbow, "bo, please stop."
she yanked her arm out of my grasp, her eyes still radiating intensely. "no Lauren, leave me alone." she went to yank the door but the strength I gained from her held it closed. She turned to me, he jaw clenched so tightly, the muscle in her jaw bulging.
"bo, I am sorry for this, I didn't know that he would take what he did." I took a breath, "i was about to leave him with nothing when Tamsin got the call for my mother."
Bo cut me off, "i almost killed the Valkyrie, she actually begged me too, but for some reason I didn't. I just made her suffer, she will always feel pain in that arm I broke. Seamus, he didn't beg for his life, only laughed in my face as I took everything from him."
the tone in bo's voice scared me, this wasn't the bo I had fallen in love with and married, the loving, petulant but caring woman. Something changed in her and I could feel it and see it. I reached and grabbed her hand, our rings clinking against each other, "i can fix this, my mother told me..."
she cut me off as she ripped her hand from mine, "you didn't bother to think how I would feel about this, I have dealt with norns in the past and suffered greatly at the things they took from me and the ones I loved." she stepped close to me, "it was our baby, OUR baby, not just yours. You took that from us."
I whispered, "i didn't think you would understand."
"you didn't think I would understand that you would do anything to save your mother? To save a family you loved? I do understand, because I would have done anything I could to help you, but you took that upon yourself and you stole my family." Bo's eyes slowly faded to normal, tears were sliding down her face, "this baby and you were the one thing in my life that made me forget I was, I am a monster. I was excited that I would be a mother and raise a child with the love I never had, with you the love I never thought I would find." she stepped back from me.
I took the chance in the moment she calmed, "bo, come inside with me, I have so much to tell you, and we can fix this. I just need you to listen to me." I went to reach for her hand but she backed away.
"no, Lauren. You need to listen to me. I saved your life a long time ago, you destroyed mine in heartbeat."
I cut her off, "bo, stop. My mom told me that I can reverse the sacrifice, all I have to do is prove my love for you and ask for your forgiveness and we prove our love is as pure as the love we have for our baby, and it will all be reversed."
Bo turned away from me, "i cant ever forgive you for this, Lauren. You used our baby as a bargaining chip with a dark fae. Everything I am against, you went against everything."
I could feel tears in my eyes, "please, just come inside and we can work this out, my mom and my father will tell you everything. They went through the same thing as we are, but their love, like ours, saved them." I held up my ring finger, "i married you for eternity, my shitty selfish mistakes can be fixed because of this. Our love."
she stared at me strangely for a second, I could still feel her immense anger, she opened her mouth to say something when I felt Tamsin come around the corner, "don't blame her completely, bo. Its all my fault for telling her about the norn."
I saw bo eyes burn bright blue again as she saw Tamsin leaning against the gate, she turned back to me, "go be with her, since you trust her opinion more than mine." I could feel her jealousy ramp up.
I grabbed at bo as she went for the car door, "bo, she means nothing to me, you are the only one I have ever loved and will love." I looked her in the eyes, mine now glowing grey as my emotions were at a high. Bo reached down and grabbed my hand and pulled it off, I could feel her immense strength. I pulled back flinching from the pain. She looked down at her left hand, at the rings on her finger. I whispered, "please."
she moved quickly and pulled the rings off her finger, grabbing my hand, she pressed the rings into my palm, "you broke my heart in a million pieces, your actions drew out the monster in me and I don't think I can put it back in its cage. I cannot forgive you for this Lauren, you took my love for granted. You were the last person I thought would ever do that to me."
I felt the rings bite into my palm and I grabbed her hand to give them back to her, "bo, don't do this." I was panicking, I knew she would be angry, but I could feel how angry she was and I saw flashes of her killing seamus and the darkness she felt when Tamsin begged for death. Her eyes flashed brighter and she pushed me hard away from her, and moved quickly, she grabbed my arms, pulsing me more than I had ever felt from her, "leave me alone."
she dropped her grip and I stumbled back, in a haze from her pulse. I dropped to my knees, the intensity of the energy she had dumped into my body overwhelmed me. I heard nothing but the tires spinning on the gravel road. I opened my hand and let the rings fall out onto the gravel beneath me.
More to come! stay with me as we get through this rough patch! Bo is pissed that's for sure...but we all know she loves lauren. so hang on! it does get better.
