Lauren walked down the stairs after wrapping a robe tightly around her body. When she heard voices in the living room, she recognized them as Dyson and Hale. Dyson looked like he sniffed the air and looked directly at her before she had a chance to retreat back up the stairs to put on some clothes. His stare caused the others to look his way. Four sets of eyes were on her, and she was extremely naked underneath the robe. She had just wanted a glass of water and perhaps a protein bar to replenish her energy. Bo had given her quite the workout; too much, she noticed, when she felt herself shaking. Now, she was shaking from being stared at by four people when wearing nothing but Bo's red kimono.
"Hey, Lauren. Good to see you didn't get dead or kidnapped." Hale had always been pleasant to her; she actually liked the siren because he never openly disrespected her. "Kenzi here called freaking out because Bo ran out to save you."
"I'm…fine." Lauren pulled the robe closer to her with one arm and patted her hair, suddenly aware why Dyson was staring at her. Her body wasn't just flushed from the staring contest; she had just had a majorly passionate sexual encounter with Bo. He could smell and see it all over her, she could tell. She cleared her throat. "I'll just go back upstairs and get dressed."
"Don't be silly, doctor. Come and sit." Dyson narrowed his eyes when he said that. His voice was low and challenging. Lauren was just frozen in place. She knew this day would come eventually; she just hoped she had more time to prepare.
Lauren watched as Bo slapped his back roughly as she made her way to the stairs. The look of admonishment she had for Dyson transformed into a huge smile, her eyes glowing blue.
"Hey, go get dressed. We need to talk." Bo leaned forward and kissed her. Even though Lauren was still aware of Dyson's eyes boring holes at them, the doctor allowed the kiss. She wasn't willing to admit yet that it was to spite him.
"Everything okay?" Lauren looked at Bo, seeing the concern and stiffness in her shoulders returning.
"I'm not sure, but I could use your help." Bo kissed her cheek again before turning her around to go back upstairs. She was thankful for the boost, though she did squeak when the succubus playfully smacked her bum on her way up the stairs.
After getting dressed and checking herself in the mirror, she came downstairs to see everyone had moved. Dyson and Hale were gone, Bo was out of view but she could feel her presence, and Kenzi was moaning, feet dangling over the edge of the couch. She walked into the kitchen, now noticing Bo standing by the sink, so she smiled at her and stood by the counter island. Bo smiled back, eyebrow arched, coffee cup billowing steam into her face. She was obviously chuckling at Kenzi's orgasmic moans of approval while eating a cupcake.
"Oh…oh…oh, god, these are so good." Kenzi's moans were getting louder.
"I can make more." Lauren looked down to see there was only one cupcake left.
"More?" Kenzi sat up swiftly, eyes wide, still chewing while she talked. "Uh…yeah, more. Good." She laid back down on the couch, feet still dangling off the side.
"Sorry. Hale might have stolen a few." Bo chuckled, pulling the mug from her face to show her sexy smile. Lauren looked at the lonely cupcake on the plate, knowing there were a good couple dozen when she had gone upstairs with Bo earlier. "Okay, so he stole a lot. I think Kenzi is a bad influence on him."
"Hey! If I weren't proud that it were true, I would resent that." Kenzi didn't move from her spot, only moving her arm up in the air to point in their direction.
"So, what was with the rush and…" Lauren wanted to say "fuck," but she blushed instead. "Well, earlier, I mean. Not that I'm complaining; just wondering what triggered the...neediness."
"Bo Bo here is a hunted woman, evil stepmom style." Kenzi sat up on the couch and looked over at them. Lauren turned curious and concerned eyes back to Bo.
"What do you mean?" She moved closer to her girlfriend, noticing that Bo was hiding behind the coffee mug again. This time, she was not hiding a sexy smile.
"What do you know about a fae named Lilith?" Bo looked at her over the mug, the steam no longer as visible as before.
"I had a fae teenager come in once, claiming that Lilith was after her. I did some research back then, but it turned out the patient was just victim of a fury whose boyfriend she stole, so I did not get very far with the research." Lauren remembered some of the stories she found, but what she read were mostly myths and religious texts. "Does this have something to do with your father, Samael?"
"Probably. I don't know." Bo had told her about Samael, though she wasn't sure why Lachlan had given her the information. Lauren suspected he had given up any real power or leverage over Bo when he gave her that information and allowed Lauren to move in with her. The doctor did not trust his motives, though she knew better than to question. She knew her girlfriend was still warring over her decision to be the champion. The succubus was doing what she called a trial run now, taking on tasks and feeling the Ash out. Still, Lauren didn't trust this new arrangement; she had learned never to trust anybody in the fae world. She was glad Bo managed to break down her defenses. Lauren knew she trusted Bo implicitly. "All I know is that Lilith has marked me because I am unaligned, and she feeds on hybrids. You were here alone; I panicked."
"Hey, no need to panic." Lauren moved next to her and placed her hand on Bo's upper arm. "I'm here; I'm safe."
"Sorry for being overprotective sometimes." Bo's eyes looked sad. Lauren just closed the distance and kissed her sweetly. The succubus was overprotective, but the doctor found that it felt good to be that loved.
"Oh, double vomit." Kenzi's voice caused Lauren to pull away, though she noticed that Bo was smiling a bit again. Lauren wasn't sure if it was from the kiss, Kenzi's commentary, or a combination of the two.
"I'm scared." Bo looked like she wanted to cry, but it was obvious she was fighting it and hiding behind her sad smile. The fact that she admitted she was scared would not have happened in different company, Lauren knew.
"We'll figure this out. We always do." Lauren furrowed her brow, not sure if she believed it but knowing she had to so that she could keep herself from crying. Kenzi was still in the room, and the doctor would not show any vulnerability around her. "You're strong; stronger than you think. You just have to start believing that."
"I have an ancient demon fae after me; I can't make any promises." Bo took a deep breath and stopped clutching the mug in her hands, placing it in the sink. "Can we just go back to bed?"
"And on that 'oh please' factor of ten, I'm out." Kenzi made a grand gesture with her hands before pointing to her room and disappearing.
Lauren looked at Bo and could really sense the woman's fear. She just entwined their hands and pulled her girlfriend back upstairs, flipping lights as they passed. Lauren pulled them to the bed without protest or any sexual indication. Instead, they just stared at each other for what felt like hours, fully clothed and clutched together on top of the covers, before she felt Bo relax completely and fall asleep. Smiling tiredly, she finally closed her own eyes, knowing the succubus was safe and in her arms.
Bo was walking around the shopping district, going into various stores and trying to decide what to buy for Dyson's birthday. It was times like these when she realized she didn't really know the wolf shifter that well. Lauren had suggested a muzzle, which actually made Bo chuckle at the surprised confidence in her girlfriend's snarkiness. Kenzi really was a bad influence. Lauren's snarkiness rarely surfaced, but she was good at it when it happened. Then again, the blonde was good at most things she did.
The succubus had been on high alert the past few days, and she recognized that her senses were observing more than she usually did. She had never even paid attention to the abundance of missing cat posters that littered the lamp posts. People were apparently really bad at keeping cats around here.
Bo walked into yet another storefront, though she immediately walked back out when she realized the clothes were bright and preppy. She could buy Dyson a pink polo shirt. That would be funny, if nothing else. She decided against it and walked back outside. Just as she had done when walking out of every store she entered, Bo carefully perused her surroundings to scout for potential danger. There was not really any more than the usual idiot spilling hot coffee down his sleeve after looking at his watch, cursing at the coffee even though it was his own fault for not paying more attention. Bo chuckled and decided to take a break for a cup of coffee herself, possibly feed some energy from a nearby hipster, and call to check how Kenzi was doing with Lauren at the clubhouse.
The doctor really did miss the lab, as she kept finding little jobs to do around the house. She had already baked a massive amount of goodies to the point where Bo had to beg her to stop; while she loved that the house had never smelled better, the succubus was tired of needing to go to the store every other day for supplies. At least Lachlan was paying Lauren, who contributed to the bills they did have, such as the almost daily grocery run. Lauren had no trouble pulling out a $50 bill from her wallet; she rarely even blinked. Bo always blinked and had rarely seen or given money freely like that. Lauren came from money, though, so Bo was not that surprised to find her quite charitable with her expenses. What little money the old Ash gave her, she used on supplies and necessities; if she had anything left over, Lauren would send it to the local food bank or shelter. Matter of fact, the doctor had a lot of savings and a trust fund that she never touched. When her girlfriend told her this, Bo become slightly uncomfortable and out of place, but Lauren reassured her that money did not mean anything to her. That was easy to say for someone who came from and had money. Bo was sporting maybe $30 in bills and some loonies total to her name right now. Bo didn't want Lauren to feel like she owed her anything or wanted her money, so she would often refuse the offered cash.
Lauren had taken to doing bigger pet projects around the house with the money Bo refused to take. Bo did have to admit that the house had never looked cleaner, as well. She didn't know it was possible to alphabetize a spice rack and didn't even realize that canned goods expired. She wasn't sure what project the doctor had planned for the day, but Bo had seen big buckets, piles of wood beams, and a lot of power tools. The thought of Lauren using those power tools made Bo a bit happy and warm; she would have to tease her girlfriend later about being a power lesbian.
At least Lauren went back to the lab the day after tomorrow. Bo loved having her there, but she wasn't sure yet that Lauren loved being there.
Walking into the coffee shop, Bo surveyed her surroundings. There were no real threats she could detect, but she did realize she was tired. Last night, she and Lauren had done a jigsaw puzzle like an old married couple. It was 1000 pieces and took up the majority of the kitchen island. When Lauren suggested going to bed, they were halfway through with it and Bo felt in the zone. For something as silly as a puzzle, she had the need to finish it, so they stayed up until the last piece was placed. Kenzi had even stumbled and groaned into the kitchen at one point for a glass of water, mumbling at them to go to bed.
Deciding that she was done shopping, Bo grabbed a bag of coffee grounds they made at the shop. At least it was local and Dyson drank coffee, so it was a better gift than the pink polo shirt; she still held that the shirt would have been hilarious. Taking her own mug and newly purchased gift, Bo perched herself into a corner table with her back against the wall. It reminded her of something that Lauren would do, but this was more for defensive purposes; then again, that was kind of what Lauren was doing, too.
Bo watched as a tall, beautiful blonde make her way to her table. She almost looked like a hyper-sexualized soccer mom. She was obviously fae, Bo could tell, but her aura burned passion that wasn't completely sexual. The woman almost reminded her of a tall, blonde Morrigan. Without asking, the woman sat down across from her. She didn't offer her a hand, only a smile in greeting. The smile was almost sinister and sexual at the same time. It made Bo hungrier than she realized.
"I have to admit: getting you alone was not an easy task. When are you ever not surrounded by people?" The woman leaned forward, almost daring her to move. "I have been dying to meet you, but I'm not big on crowds."
"What can I say? I draw crowds." Bo's guard was on alert now. This woman had a crazy glint in her eye and was looking at her like she was prey. The succubus tried not to show her fear, but her eyes widened a bit. "Lilith."
"Bo." The woman falsely lurched forward, almost like she was trying to frighten a small child and scream 'boo!' at them. "Good. We have names. I kept telling Adam that it was stupid to name stuff; it was funnier watching him call everything 'that thing' and getting frustrated when I acted like I didn't know what he was talking about. The elders were stupid for thinking I was going to submit to that idiot for the rest of existence. He deserved Eve. I can't hate her for taking him off my hands."
"Why are you here?" Bo looked around the coffee shop. To the other patrons, they must have appeared like two random people having a random conversation. Why approach Bo here, of all places? Did this woman not care about the One Rule and was willing to kill her right here with all of these witnesses? Or, did she care and knew that Bo wouldn't start a fight in a public space?
"You, little succubus, escaped my clutches once; it won't happen again. Your mother was clever, sending you to live among humans." Lilith leaned back in her chair, taking a casual yet powerful approach. Bo had a feeling that if she tried to run, she wouldn't make it past the table. "Did you really not think an unaligned succubus would go undetected? And to mate with a human on top of that? Shew, girl, you were begging me to find you. Even the penguins were talking about your crazy shenanigans down in Antarctica."
"So, you're here to kill me?" Bo felt her heart beat so fast that she might have had a heart attack before the woman had a chance to kill her. Maybe this was how she killed her victims. Then, Bo remembered the beheaded girls and the drained hybrid. Lauren had yet to confirm whether the other beheaded girls were hybrids, but she suspected they would not be. If hybrids were rare, and Lilith fed on them, why waste a good meal and just kill the girls?
"Kill you? Oh, honey, in this place? Don't insult me like that. I do have some class." Lilith was well groomed, Bo noticed, though now was not the time to notice. She felt herself breathe, happy to at least know she wouldn't die in the next few minutes. "I'm going to give you the address where I'm staying, and you're going to come to me. That is where I kill you."
"What makes you think I will even show?" Bo arched an eyebrow; from the confident expression and body language, the succubus was afraid of the answer.
"Girlfriend, pet, grandfather, half brother, ex boyfriend, siren, fairy queen." The woman was holding up a new finger with each item listed. "Do I really need to go on?" She put her hands down and leaned forward, elbows propped on the table, fingers entwined as though her hands were a gun. Kissing her extended fingers against pursed lips, Lilith made a hissing sound. Bo could feel the power behind the threat. "I'll take the girlfriend first; no need to build it up. I would rather rip the most important things from your life first. You are always more likely to realize the severity of my threat that way."
"Give me the address." Bo resolved that she would follow the orders, as long as she could keep everyone else safe. At least she would get a chance to either make a really foolish plan or have a really good farewell party.
"I can't tell if you're really that stupid. Weak human emotions; no wonder two humans are your top two priorities." Lilith pulled out a realtor's business card with the woman's face on it. Why was Bo surprised? "Maybe your mother wasn't as smart as I thought."
"I come to you, you leave them alone. Swear it on your blood honor." Bo knew there were no guarantees once she wasn't here to protect her family.
"Blood honor, really? I ought to kill them all just for you insulting me like that." Lilith stood from the table and walked away before Bo could protest or argue. All she could do was watch the woman exit the coffee shop, as she sat frozen in place. It wasn't until a young man approached her table several minutes later that she realized she was staring at nothing; he thought she had been staring at him. She apologized before grabbing her bag and rushing back to her car.
Lauren turned around to see Kenzi sledge hammer the loose boards on the wall that separated Bo's bedroom from the bathroom. The doctor had taken to fixing the electrical and plumbing issues in the house all day, while she tasked the young girl with destruction of some of the dry-rotted and molded walls. They had spent all morning and most of the afternoon bringing the house at least up to basic livability. She was actually surprised she didn't get much argument from Kenzi, since she always thought that part of the clubhouse's appeal to the two of them was that it was falling apart.
Lauren had already rebuilt the front hallway entrance wall beams and put up the drywall. Now, they were working on the upstairs bathroom, which had never been repaired since Bo's fight with that Moragh "forever and a day ago," Kenzi noted. The doctor was honestly surprised that nobody had electrocuted in this room yet with all of the wires and pipes hanging out near an open water source. When she finished attaching the last wire and safely clipping them in place, Lauren went to put the first drywall sheet against the new wall frame before hammering in the nails, taking them from where she had placed a handful between her lips.
There was a lot more work to do to fix up the clubhouse than she would have time for once she started back at the lab in a couple of days. If she was going to live here, though, Lauren at least wanted to live here as safely as possible.
Kenzi's cursing and hammering must have drowned out the sounds of the door opening and closing downstairs, but Bo's voice was heard between the pounding and grunting. Lauren was happy to see her girlfriend, as she walked in the door. She looked cautious, frightened, and amused; the doctor didn't know which emotion to deal with first.
"So, you two have been busy." Bo walked over to her and took the nails from the blonde's mouth. "Martha Stewart and Mr. Fix It. You keep surprising me."
"I have many layers." Lauren smiled at her girlfriend, glad that her lips did not taste the metallic coldness of the nails anymore. "Sorry, I just didn't like the idea of you electrocuting in the bathtub because one of the broken or faulty wires dangling from the nearby wall decided to jump in the tub with you." Lauren took the nails from Bo as she moved down the wall and moved onto the next sheet, pointing for Bo to grab more nails from the container. "Grumps used to let me help when he would fix or renovate around the farm. I can't blame this skill on science; just a patient and teaching grandfather."
"How much more are you going to do today?" Bo looked over to see that Kenzi had completely destroyed the wall. Lauren watched Bo's expression carefully, worried that this was not okay. The woman didn't seem to mind when Hale had helped carry the beams or drywall sheets into the house yesterday; she didn't even really ask about why these things were in the bedroom and kitchen floor.
"This is it." Lauren placed the last sheet of drywall against the wall, glad that Bo had joined the work flow and was ready with more nails. She finished hammering the nails. "I can mud this tomorrow."
"Can I make a request?" Bo went to drop the excess nails in her hand back into the container.
"Of course." Lauren was worried that the succubus was mad at her for fixing the house.
"Never stop being amazing." Bo smiled, though Lauren noted the succubus seemed drained.
"I thought you were going to feed while you were out." Lauren was glad that they had already swept up the destruction mess in here from earlier and piled it outside. Kenzi had already started cleaning up the mess she had just finished making, taking the splintered boards and debris and pitching them all out the window. Lauren had removed the boards from Bo's bedroom window, even though she knew the succubus would definitely be mad about that particular renovation. The couple moved to help Kenzi toss the debris before the young girl grabbed the broom and started sweeping.
"I was going to, but something came up." Bo looked like she was having an internal debate. Lauren leaned down so Kenzi could sweep the mess into the dustpan. She chuckled lightly when Kenzi took the dustpan from her and went to dump it out the window, too.
"Did you bag the D-man some great birthday duds?" Kenzi came back over to lean the broom and dustpan against the wall, obviously knowing they would need it up here tomorrow. Lauren was surprised at the easy work flow they had developed; the young girl had even diminished the sarcastic repartee and snarky commentary. Then again, Lauren had tasked Kenzi with meting out her frustration by destroying walls with a sledgehammer; that didn't exactly leave much room for insults.
"I almost got him a pink polo, but I decided he would like coffee better." Bo rubbed her face, as though she had a headache. "Do you have an aspirin?"
"Of course." Lauren walked into the bathroom to grab the aspirin and a small cup of water. "You okay?"
"Yeah, just…long day." Bo smiled her thanks as she took the tiny pills before handing the empty cup back to her and going to sit on the bed. "Why are there no sheets on the bed?"
"Laundry." Lauren looked over at Kenzi, who had apparently noticed the same change in Bo. "You sure you're okay?"
"Peachy." Bo was nervously playing with her eyebrow, something she did only when she was nervous or scared. Lauren saw the woman did not want to tell them, but it was obvious from her twitching that she would. "I met Lilith today."
"As in your evil stepmom?" Kenzi went to sit beside Bo on the bed first. Lauren sat on the other side of her girlfriend, placing a calloused hand on Bo's exposed arm. "She didn't try to give you an apple, did she? We all know how that ends."
"I have to meet her at her house so she can kill me, or she's going to start killing everyone I love, starting with you two." Bo's drained appearance suddenly made sense. Lauren didn't like the idea of Bo walking to her own death like she was just making a house call. The doctor had just moved into the house; sure, it felt strange being here. She wasn't entirely convinced it was the best idea yet, but she at least wanted time to find out.
The three of them sat there on the bed, not really looking at each other or saying anything. It was unfamiliar territory for her. How do you turn you to someone you care about and say, "Oh, by the way, I'm going to pretend like I'm okay with this when in fact I'm really not." Lauren had never experienced anything as intense as her relationship with Bo; well, maybe her relationship with science, but the succubus was a much better bedfellow.
Bo looked drained, as though she hadn't fed in weeks. Lauren placed a gentle hand on her girlfriend's back, wishing that she possessed some of the succubus's power so that she could send calming energy to her. This wasn't even something the doctor part of her could fix; well, there were sedatives, but she didn't think the woman would want to let down her guard or lose any time she had left.
Lauren knew she had to do something, but she wasn't sure that Bo would like it.