Chapter 14
Tamsin crossed her arms over her chest, a cocky smile curved her pale lips and glinted in her eyes. Dyson and Hale arranged themselves on either side of her, and they waited patiently for the pair of Redcaps walking toward them to get within speaking distance.
They were laughing crudely and bumping their fists to each other's shoulders. As they grew closer, Tamsin could see that their shirts and pants were stained with old, dried blood, none of which appeared to be theirs. So then, Bo had brought back those she'd drained the day before. Her eyes narrowed as they approached.
"Hello, boys. Think Daddy will let Bo come out and play?" sarcasm dripped from her every word. She let her smile spread slightly when they stopped just outside of arm's reach.
A smirk curled at the edge of one Redcap's mouth, his pale eyes glinted cruelly, and he looked Tamsin up and down slowly, evaluating the challenge she might pose. The spread of his arrogant grin told Tamsin he'd found her wanting. Her chin dipped, she struggled unsuccessfully to contain her own self-confident smile.
He sucked on a tooth and nodded at them.
"Well, I donno, luv. Why don't we go on in and ask him?" he flicked a hand at his friend imperiously, clearly the man in charge between the two of them, "we'll be relieving you of any weapons you might have on ya." His partner grinned and reached over to Dyson.
The Shifter snarled suddenly, his movements were a blur as he grasped the Redcap's invasive hand and twisted it sharply around. It gave a loud, sickening crack that drew a yelp of pain from the hapless Brit's twisted mouth, and Dyson yanked him down to crash into the ground.
Sudden fury and hatred sparked in the first Redcap's pale eyes, and he threw his fist at Tamsin's jaw with a force that might have cracked brick. The Valkyrie's right hand flashed upward to deflect the blow, her fingers curled around his wrist while the other grasped at his opposite shoulder, and with a subtle, powerful force, drove her knee into his unprotected belly.
Hot, fetid breath washed over Tamsin's face as the air was shoved right out of him. The Redcap doubled over on her knee, and Tamsin pushed him down into the ground, smirking still and almost insulted that they had both underestimated not only herself, but her partner, so badly.
Hale chuckled quietly just behind her and to her left. He edged around behind her, and bent to grab the spluttering Redcap firmly by the nape of his neck and around one arm. With an effortless yank, he pulled the Redcap up to his feet and jerked his arm behind his back. He leaned in then, his mouth close to the Redcap's ear and a cocky smile firmly in place.
"Ya'll are so misguided!" he laughed, pulling his captive around to see Dyson pull his buddy, whimpering in pain and clutching his broken wrist to his chest, up to his feet. Neither seemed able to look each other in the eye, and shame, pain and fury colored their ruddy, blood-stained cheeks a bright shade of red. "What made you think you could possibly be a match for a Valkyrie, a Wolf, and a Siren?"
The mockery in Hale's voice, and the indignance it brought to both Redcap's faces, brought a self-satisfied smirk to Tamsin's lips. It was hardly a skirmish – just remotely within the realm of 'action' at all. But it had set Tamsin's heart pumping, and the knowledge that more of the same awaited her in the house upon the hill set an edge to the excitement that flooded her system. This time, there would be no retreat. Only victory.
"Take us to your leader!" Tamsin waved emphatically with her hands, and Hale and Dyson both released their captives at once, giving them each a little shove in the right direction. "Well, actually, to your leader's daddy," she amended, her sea-green eyes sparkling with anticipation.
"Bo… please…" Lauren's voice was muffled through tears and choked with exhaustion, "try, just try to remember." Her fingers wrapped around the bars of her cell, the only part of her that was visible at the angle from which Maia, Kenzi and Vex entered. Bo stood just out of reach, her arms crossed defensively over her chest and dismay etched clearly across her features. Even in profile, the stunning blue of her eyes burnt with an intensity and fervor that spoke volumes about the conflict that raged within the super-Succubus.
Isabeau shifted uneasily, her gaze dancing over the weak, filthy figure of the woman she'd called her lover. Even in this shape, bloody and covered in filth and trembling with hunger and exhaustion, Isabeau could feel a powerful pull of attraction to the doctor that begged for her on the other side of the prison's bars. Her brows knit together, her tongue darted out to drag across her top lip, dampening the skin in a gesture that said more about her intense arousal than the condition of her mouth.
She could feed. Isabeau considered the tempting idea carefully, exploring the benefits of breaking through the prison cell and crushing her body to Lauren's, of feeling the fragile human writhe in ecstasy beneath her, of tasting the sweet, wild honey flavor of the blond doctor's Chi as she pulled it, warm and living and healing from Lauren's delicious mouth into her own. She could drain Lauren dry, quiet the insistent pleading that picked at Isabeau's hard, super-Succubus veneer, and simultaneously satisfy the ever present ache she felt for Lauren's hands on her body, her delicious climax on her skin.
Killing the pathetic creature would break the beating heart of the woman that still lived, still struggled inside her, however. Isabeau chewed on her bottom lip, aware of how tenuous her grip on her own self-control had become, how much harder she had to struggle with every moment she continued to spend just outside of Lauren's reach. If Lauren's touch found her, if her alter-ego's pet human should turn up safely, Isabeau wasn't entirely sure she would be able to maintain control at all anymore. And yet, she couldn't stay away.
She should have taken Inari to her bed. Her fingernails dug little half-moons into her skin at the thought of the little red-headed Fox-Shifter who trailed after her like a lost puppy. She'd taken sips and tastes from the Kitsune, reveled in the ecstatic moans of the petite, delicate creature that begged her for more, thrilled in the erotic cries of pleasure, the drawn out distortions of her name while she'd fed from her.
But the Bo inside of her had made it impossible to do anything more than feed. Suppressed arousal coiled and throbbed, hot and slick between her thighs. She glared at the human that clung to the bars of her cage, her eyes pulsing a blue so vibrant, so thunderous and electric, it almost crackled and threatened to scorch her eyelids.
"Bo…" Lauren sighed, hopelessness closed in on her and sapped the strength from her voice. She leaned her forehead against the bars, too consumed by the bleakness that enshrouded her to hear the barely audible creak of the door and the whispered footsteps that stole past its threshold.
Isabeau cocked her head, her sensitive hearing picking up the quiet noise, and turned, lips parted in surprise, to see Kenzi's wide, pale eyes settle on her own.
"No!" Inari's voice shattered the stunned silence, and the Kitsune that had been lurking about the halls, sulking that Isabeau had refused to bed her, blurred past the heavy wooden door and crashed into Maia's already bruised and aching body.
"Vex!" Maia managed to cry as she twisted against the wildly flailing red-head. She wrapped her arms tightly around the tiny Fae, crushing her forcefully against her own body to keep her from barreling into Kenzi. The pair toppled and fell, thrashing and floundering against each other.
Vex tore the syringe he'd carried carefully in the pocket of his pants and tossed it to Kenzi, whose face was a grim mask of determination. A lifetime passed in mere moments in the swirling cerulean eyes of the Succubus that stared in shock at the scene that unfolded before her. With a wild, guttural cry, Isabeau finally shook off the surprise that immobilized her, electric eyes sparkling a triumphant blue as the super-Succubus wrested control from the gentler heart that wrestled to break free.
Kenzi caught the thrown syringe, twisting out of the way of the struggling women and falling into a dodge like a half-back running with the ball. Her shoulders dropped, her gray-blue eyes focused with a powerful, frightening intensity on the Succubus that screamed in confused fury, and barreled toward her.
Isabeau fell into a solid, defensive stance, her feet spreading on either side of her and her fingers hooking into sharp, merciless claws aimed to maim Kenzi's face and neck. A snarl curled her lip, teeth glinting in the flickering torchlight.
Vex tripped over the wildly gyrating bodies of the Kitsune and human that kicked and bit mercilessly on the rough, unforgiving stone floor, pressed himself against the wall and slid down the hall towards Lauren's cell. He pulled the last of his bobby pins from the pocket of his jacket and slid them with trembling fingers into the padlock that sealed the door.
"Hurry, Vex!" Lauren's shaky voice breathed beside his ear, and he ground his teeth against it while he focused on sliding the bolt of the lock.
Kenzi twisted her shoulders at the last minute, throwing herself into a scraping slide to avoid Isabeau's tearing claws and aiming the needle straight at her best friend's backside. Isabeau's attack, only half-hearted, missed its mark completely. Fire streaked across Kenzi's shoulder and burned hot and grainy across her upper arm as she connected with the rough stone floor, and she slid around Isabeau's splayed legs, face twisted in agony and concentration, to barely manage to jab her only weapon home. Isabeau roared in pain and anger, and with renewed fervor, spun around to tear Kenzi from her skidding halt on the ground and slam her against the bars of Lauren's cage.
The bolt snapped into place, and Vex tugged sharply at the lock to open the door that imprisoned the impatient, twitching woman inside. Lauren darted out instantly, fearful of the damage Bo could cause to the fragile human she assaulted, and threw herself at the Succubus whose control was already slipping.
Inari's fingers twisted in Maia's thick curls, her gnashing teeth grazed and nipped at the skin of the arm that reached to tangle itself in her own, dark red tresses. Maia bucked and battered the Kitsune across the back with her casted arm, trying to shake free of the Fox-Fae's tight, painful grip. Inari yanked down sharply, eliciting a yelp and a snap as Maia's neck cracked against the sudden motion. Maia was quickly losing this battle, her glasses had fallen and scattered across the floor, and her already bruised eye swelled again against the rough impact of stone against battered flesh. The stitches across her eyebrow broke and unraveled, and blood dripped hot and thick down her face and into the floor. Her hand had lost its purchase from around Inari's squirming torso, and clutched weakly at her shirt, tearing the fabric while she struggled to pull the thrashing Kitsune close and limit her ability to fight back.
"Bo!" Lauren's cry echoed around the cold stone walls. It was enough to freeze Inari's frantic thrashing and steal her attention away completely. Maia immediately seized the opportunity to curl her legs into herself and tear Inari's head back by the hair at a sharp, frightening angle. The tight fingers in her own hair loosened in surprise, and she thrust her feet with a ferocity that was astonishing in her scrawny frame into the Kitsune's unprepared belly.
Inari flew back, half-rolling, to slam against the opposite wall with a heavy grunt. Her head cracked against the stone and she lay there, half-conscious and enveloped in a haze of pain and anxiety.
Isabeau tightened her fingers over Kenzi's jaw, her body pinning Kenzi's to the bars and the only thing that kept the human upright. Kenzi's vision swam, her head throbbed with the painful force with which it had been slammed against the bars.
"Bo!" Lauren repeated, reaching out with a tremulous, unsteady hand for the woman she loved. Isabeau's body tensed, her breath hitched, and then Lauren's fingers closed over her shoulder.
Bo pulled back, releasing Kenzi from her grasp and stumbling away, head shaking against the anger, the regret, the resentment and fear and desire that engulfed her, that tore at her with their greedy fingers and choked her senses. Kenzi crumpled to the ground, joined there immediately by a bloodied and battered Maia, crouched beside her and watching Bo with a mixture of worry and hesitation.
Bo was oblivious to this. The Succubus spun on her heels to face Lauren, who gazed at her with newly awakened hope and a fear that lingered still in the depths of her bright, tawny eyes.
"Bo…" she said again, her words whispered and mangled with the sob that clawed at her dry throat. Lauren stepped daringly close to the Succubus, her fingers drifting over her shoulders, sighing over the contours of her neck, and eventually spreading, caressing Bo's cheeks, damp now with the conflicted tears that spilled down them. "Baby, I'm here," Lauren's breath caught in her throat, the fear that had torn at her fell away like a heavy cloak at the sight of Bo's intense blue eyes pulsing brown, softening with every word. "Come back to me, Bo," she whispered, the little distance between them closed slowly. Bo's arms fell around Lauren, stiff, but gentle. Doubt warred in Bo's face, the intense cobalt melting, fading into a dark, familiar brown. "Please," fearlessly, Lauren leaned in. Her fingers wound in the soft, mussed curls of her lover's hair, her dry breath ghosted against Bo's hot neck.
Tenderly, Lauren allowed one hand to fall from Bo's hair and slide down her back. "It's me, Bo," she whispered, her voice rough with the hurt and anxiety that constricted her throat, "honey, do you remember? Do you remember the first time we touched," Lauren's breath hitched, she left a feathery kiss against Bo's neck, nestled her lips beneath Bo's jawline. Her fingers lingered at the small of Bo's back, remembering the very place they'd stopped the first time Lauren had examined her at the Ash's compound years ago, "I fell in love with you the moment we met," Lauren's voice trembled, but she could feel Bo responding. The Succubus drew Lauren closer, her eyes fluttered closed, both divided personalities reveled in the sensation of Lauren's murmured words whispered in her ear, in the delicious feeling of Lauren's fingers in her hair, of her fingers trailing lightly, delicately along her back.
Lauren drew in a deep breath, the sweet ache to feel Bo wrapped up again in her arms finally satisfied, though it was she promising safety, offering sanctuary. Bo was trembling in her arms, struggling to regain the humanity in her that she treasured so defiantly. To come back, to realize the harm she'd caused to the ones she loved, in a woman whose heart was as big and gentle as Bo's… Again, Lauren pressed another kiss to Bo's skin, willing with every fiber of her being for Bo to know, to understand, that she was safe, and loved, no matter what.
Bo was breathless. Her heart beat violently in her chest, it jumped and leapt in her throat; every vein in her body seemed to thrum and pulse with thin, red heat. Everything stopped. Just for an instant. For one, short, eternal instant, everything ceased to exist. Her whole world wrapped up into a singularity, and she wasn't two entities trapped in a single body, two conflicting awarenesses struggling against each other.
She was whole again.
Bo's arms snaked around Lauren's trembling body, wrapping her tightly in a terrified, impassioned embrace. She gasped for the breath that had fled her lungs and blinked away the tears that had blurred her vision.
"Oh God…" she buried her face into Lauren's neck, sucking in her sweet scent greedily around the sobs that wracked her, "what have I done?"
Lauren's shoulders shook with feeling, unable to answer with words for the moment. Relief washed through her, and she forced herself to pull in a deep, wavering breath.
"It's okay. We're okay," Lauren pressed hard, desperate kisses against Bo's cheeks and jaw, damp with the tears that fell freely now, even if her words were more lie than truth, "we're all okay, now."
"Kenzi?!" Terror speared through Bo, and she yanked herself out of the safe circle of Lauren's arms, beautiful brown eyes searching desperately for the best friend she'd almost killed…
"Hey, Bo-bo," a small, shaky voice caught Bo's attention, and the Succubus fell to a crouch beside the human that smiled unsteadily up at her, "didja miss me?" Kenzi's eyes focused slowly on Bo's. Bo laughed, softly, unsteadily, and reached to pull Kenzi into a tight embrace. Lauren knelt beside them, wrapped one arm around Bo's waist and the other around Kenzi's shoulders, the usual animosity and competition between them completely forgotten. Only gratitude remained, gratitude for Kenzi's safety, for Bo's return, for the hope that all was not lost.
Maia crept away, clutching her broken arm to her chest tightly, her face a bloody mess of torn skin and broken thread. She pulled herself up beside Vex and leaned against the bars of Lauren's cell, panting still from the exertion of fighting, and swiped her hand across her eyes to wipe away the blood that blinded her. Her lips pressed tightly together in an effort to keep her expression stoic, but she couldn't help but watch Bo, Kenzi and Lauren gather on the prison floor, holding one another and murmuring quiet assurances in each other's ears. She couldn't help thinking of Seth, couldn't help missing her, couldn't help wishing fervently, selfishly, that it was her holding her dearest friend on the cold, bloodied floor of this damnable prison and crying gratefully into her warm, living arms. Her face twisted with that painful wish, her eyes blurred with blood and unshed tears, and she had to force herself to look away to maintain the smallest sense of composure. Her tears, unspilled, quickly dried.
Inari stirred, groaning in pain. Vex eyed her, wary that the Kitsune might attack again. But she only pulled herself up slowly to lean against the wall she'd slammed into, her head in her hands and dark red curls falling across her face and shoulders in a crimson waterfall. The Mesmer strode to her, grabbed her by the scruff of her tight green blouse, and yanked her up to her feet.
Inari flailed against him and emitted a high-pitched wail that commanded everyone's attention.
"Stop!" Bo cried, on her feet in an instant and an expression of mixed pity and disgust clouding her features, "Vex! She's enthralled, there's no point in jerking her around like that."
"Bo," Kenzi's voice was indignant, and she struggled with Lauren's help to gain her feet, "she threw me in a cave, left me there with no food, no water. Why are you defending her?"
Bo grasped Kenzi's hand, remorse and gratitude adding lines along her tired, almost aged face. She wound an arm around her best friend's waist, supporting her and consoling her at once.
"I'm not, Kenz. I just don't like the idea of –"
"Beating on the broken kid," Maia finished for her. She and Bo exchanged a look of understanding, and the smallest flicker of a smile passed between them. Maia broke their eye contact, leaving the Succubus to her lover and best friend, and carefully picked her way across the dungeon to Vex and Inari.
Vex slackened his grip a little, allowing the Kitsune a little room to breathe around the tightened collar of her shirt, and Inari spluttered, hands around her throat and her eyes dull with grief and disappointment.
"I just wanted her to love me…" Inari choked out, her bottom lip quivering a little. Blood dripped slow and thick down the side of her face, and a bruise swelled over one eye. The melancholy that saturated her sad green eyes made Maia believe it.
"You could have tried saying hello," Maia mumbled.
From where she, Inari and Vex stood, the vague, muffled crash of battle drifted overhead. Maia tilted her face, ears cocked to distinguish the sounds, and a frown creased her forehead, knitting her eyebrows into a thin, bloody line.
Tamsin, Dyson and Hale had made it inside after all, and seemed to be doing a fantastic job of distracting Jack, Dolph and the Redcaps from the struggle that ensued below, that surely would have caught their attention had they not been too busy to hear its loud, angry commotion.
Maia licked her lips, arid, cracked and salty with the blood and dirt that had dried on it, and turned to face the three reunited women. Bo had Lauren in her arms again, their faces were buried in each other's hair. Maia could only imagine what Bo might be feeling, to have hurt the two people she loved most in the world in the way that she had. Nothing could repair the kind of blame she must be inflicting upon herself, could vanquish the knowledge that there was a monster living inside of her, waiting to be let out and wreak havoc once again. Nothing: but time, and experience, and self-control. For now, all Bo had to placate her was the love that Lauren and Kenzi offered, and the strength that love gave her. Maia hated to interrupt them, but judging by Kenzi's anxious expression, wasn't the only one that felt the need to do so.
"We have to go. I have to help Tamsin," her voice echoed across the stone walls, floor and ceiling, a harsh reminder of where they still were, of the battle that still waited ahead. The lovers broke apart, though they couldn't seem to tear their teary eyes from each other, and their fingers were still tangled in one another's hair.
"Lassie and the Little Mermaid are up there as well, probably getting their arses swept across the floor," Vex added. He didn't release Inari from his grasp, his fingers were white across the knuckles from the tight grip he kept on the collar of her shirt. Inari sniffled in agreement, angst coloring her face in a blotched, red mess of tears and blood.
Finally, Bo stepped away from Lauren with a heavy, tired sigh and nodded. With Kenzi's and Lauren's hands held tightly in each of her own, she trudged across the hallway and jerked her head at the door.
"Lead the way," determination hardened her voice and belied the exhaustion that paled her features. Together, with Vex and Maia at the forefront and dragging the sniveling Kitsune along with them, they left the dungeon. The air across the threshold was sweet and cool against their hot skin, a welcome break from the fetid, muggy stink of the chamber they left behind. Maia ached to see the beautiful, calming ballroom again, to lie across the cold, hard surface of the bar and sleep there, to inhale the sweet, honey-citrus perfume it had exuded and bathe in the warm, sunset colors of its walls, its furniture, and its lighting.
Her longing drew lines around the edges of her mouth and pulled the corners of her eyebrows together. She hurried her steps, taking the stairs that led up to it two by two, despite the ache that throbbed in her legs and wrenched at her back and shoulders. The party behind her struggled to keep up.
Author's Note: This chapter was originally twice as long, so I decided to go ahead and cut it in half. As both chapters are well over 3,000 words, I won't be posting the next until this time next week - sorry! :I
Once again, thank you for the reviews! Truly, they make my week, I'm always ecstatic to receive emails notifying me of new followers, favorites and reviews! I'm currently working on part II of what has turned into a bit of a short series. Lindy: I'm Doccubus, through and through. However, being Doccubus doesn't mean I won't be challenging one of my favorite pairings of all time. Lauren and Bo will have their challenges and their trials. Stick around for part II, things are going to get sticky!