Prophecy of Power
Chapter 50
Kenzi lets out what can only be described as a squeal of delight as she glances around the Dal and spots Shani, sitting at a table with Dyson and Hale. "Hey, you and Hot Pants will be fine without me, right? Cool! I'll be with the other peeps in our merry little band of renegades, laters," The goth says, not even waiting for an answer before, scurrying off towards a now waving Shani and smiles from both Dyson and Hale.
Lauren watches Kenzi slap both the shifter and siren on the back, before giving Shani a friendly hug. "Hmm, Shani and Kenzi must be quite friendly to be on a hugging basis, Kenzi isn't exactly famous for her gestures of affection."
Bo laughs at the doctors observation, "Yeah, they were left with each others company for almost the entire time we were up at her cottage. I spent most of my time with my mum and reading those books that you gave me. They became firm friends, but it's not surprising, Shani has a way of making you feel at ease and relaxed. Sometimes mum and I would be in fits just listening to the two of them and the insane crazy shit they came out with." The brunette turns her attention away from Kenzi and onto the blonde beside her, "I'll go talk to Trick and see if he has a second to chat. Be right back." Bo gives Lauren a quick kiss before making her way towards the bar. Lauren's eyes follow the succubus, admiring the view of Bo walking with a seductive sway to her hips in her tight black leather pants. Bo's ever present confidence and sex appeal exuded from her, as she made her way towards Tricks, dozens of fae watching along with the blonde. Lauren watches as a young man gets up, not content with just watching and approaches the succubus from the side. She hears the whistles and cat calls of encouragement from his friends at the table. Bo stops surprised by the interruption and freezes as he leans in to whisper something in her ear and then squeezes her ass suggestively. The doctor reacts instinctively an overwhelming sense of possessiveness flooding her senses as she gives a small flick of her wrist, that sends the offending fae off of his feet, airborne and sailing across the room and into a support column with a load resounding thump.
The entire place goes silent, all eyes locking onto the succubus, except for the small bartender and Bo, who are both looking at Lauren. "Downstairs now!" The old fae says, authority ringing in his tone, daring her to refuse. Bo follows closely behind her grandfather which unknowingly helps to concrete the belief of the crowd that Bo was the one that had rebuffed the man's unwelcome advances, not the unassuming human doctor who was shocked by what she had done.
"Lauren?" Bo says gently, concern for the blonde etched on her face. Lauren takes a step towards the slumped unconscious fae but is halted by Trick's strong grip on her arm. She looks down at the old fae, his usual kindly face marred with annoyance. "I'm a doctor, I should make sure he's alright." The bartenders face softens, his fear that the blonde was heading over to finish the job diminishing as he sees that she only wanted to ensure that the man was uninjured. Trick sees the fae slumped on the floor begin move and groan, his friends that are kneeling beside him, help the man to his feet and take him back to their table. His friends laughing and patting him on the back congratulating his bravery for hitting on a succubus and Bo's consequent physical refusal at his obscene proposition. Lauren visibly relaxes grateful that she hadn't hurt the man now sitting there basking in his friends admiration. Though she found herself getting angry as she watched disgusted at the behaviour of the group of men and the way they joked and leered at Bo as if she were a piece of meat. The brunette sensing her lovers renewed anger at the fae, takes her by the hand and leads the doctor silently down the stairs and into her grandfather's study.
After telling the waitress to get everyone on the man's table a free round, he follows his granddaughter and her protective lover into the quiet safety of his home.
Trick fixes a disappointed look at the blonde doctor who is standing uncertainly beside a very proud and aroused succubus. "That was so fucking hot, Lauren, no one has ever defended my honour like that. Just because I feed off pleasure and sex doesn't mean I want every jack hole in town making lewd and offensive propositions to me. The unwarranted groping I can deal with, I'm used to it, but what he said...ewww...not even if he was the last living thing on earth, I'd rather starve to death." The brunette shivers and shakes her head as if trying to rid herself of the memory. Lauren didn't know what to do or say, she knew she had crossed a line, The Dal was a safe haven, violence of any sort wasn't to be tolerated and the look on Trick's face made her feel terrible that she hadn't kept herself in check. But then here is Bo positively flushed with happiness and desire, because of her actions. Bo flashes Lauren a huge smile, "I am so going to show you how much I appreciate it tonight," the succubus purrs, her voice full of promise. Lauren despite herself can't help but return her girlfriends smile and her skin heats up with the succubus' promise of showing her just how proud of her she was.
Trick lets out an exasperated sigh, "Bo, what Lauren did was stupid and dangerous, The Dal Riata is a sanctuary, violence of any kind is not tolerated. We are lucky he didn't demand satisfaction, by asking for a duel to the death. Lauren, What were you thinking? You probably know fae law better than half the fae in here tonight."
"I'm sorry, Trick. If I am completely honest, I wasn't thinking at all. I just reacted, purely on instinct. My brain screamed "SHE'S MINE", and the next second he was airborne. I'm sorry," she says again, keeping her eyes locked squarely on the old man's face.
"Trick! Lauren shouldn't have to apologise, she was just protecting me. And anyway if she hadn't done what she did, I would have kneed him in his fae family jewels, ensuring that would never be able to procreate ever. Besides everyone in there thought it was me that sent him flying, no one in there had any idea. Only those close to us know that Lauren isn't just The Lights human doctor, so relax it's fine. No harm no foul."
"Bo! That isn't the point." Trick throws his arms up in the air. "I give up! I wish you wouldn't just see thing as black or white and right and wrong, there are so many shades in between and it's high time you start seeing that."
"Jesus, Trick! What is going on with you, lately? You have been on my case for weeks. What have I done to piss you off?" Bo cries out, she missed the old Trick, who sat her down and pointed things out calmly and patiently, not this one, who just yelled and made her feel like a child that had just broken something valuable. Lauren reaches out placing her hand on Bo's arm, seeking too calm the situation, that was escalating because of her reckless actions upstairs.
"Lets all just take a breath and calm down a bit. Bo, come on, sit down." Lauren tugs gently on the succubus' arm and leads her towards the couch. Bo slumps down onto the couch and pulls the blonde with her, ensuring that they were sitting close together, her hand resting on Lauren's thigh. Trick closes his eyes and takes several calming breaths and then heads over and plonks himself down in his favourite antique armchair.
"What have I done to upset you so much? Half the time you can barely keep eye contact with me? Please just tell me what I've done so I can try to fix it," Bo says softly, her eyes wide and pleading. "We're family, I don't like it when you're angry with me."
The old faes shoulders slump a little in defeat, his eyes sad, as he looks into the dark chocolate eyes of his beautiful, enchanting and loving granddaughter. "It's not anything you've done. I'm just worried, Bo, everything is happening so damn fast. I fear for you, that you aren't ready or strong enough to deal with what's to come." His words sound sad and weary, as if he had been harbouring this worry for so very long.
"I'm not a child, Trick."
"But you are, Bo! You need to stop thinking of yourself as human. You're fae and by fae standards, you... are... a... child. There is so much that you need to learn about yourself and this world, and I fear that even if you trained and studied every minute of every day, you still wont be prepared for the fight you have coming. I thought that we would have time, time to prepare for the coming events."
Lauren felt Bo stiffen at her grandfathers words, "You've been keeping stuff from me again, haven't you? God damn it! The Fae and their fucking secrets and half truths. I've had just about enough of this shit." Lauren rests her hands on top of the one resting on her thigh, and leans her body closer to the agitated succubus as she watches the internal conflict going on in the usually unreadable fae across from them.
"Show it to us," Lauren says gently, her eyes soft and encouraging. Lauren feels a sort of warm tingling sensation as she looks unblinking at the old bartender.
Bo flinches and Tricks eyes widen at the push of power he feel glance over him.
Bo blurts out, "What the hell was that?"
"That was Lauren. If I was a less powerful fae, I would have had no choice but to comply with her request. When did this power manifest, Lauren?"
"I don't understand. What did I do?" The blonde frowned in cofusion.
"So it hasn't happened before? Did you feel something just now, anything unusual?"
Lauren shifts a little uncomfortably under both Tricks and Bo's intense scrutiny. "I um, felt a little warm and tingly around my temples and behind my eyes."
"And that means what?" Bo asks incredulously, not understanding what the hell is going on.
"I think Lauren has acquired the power to influence people with her mind, effectively giving them a sort of PUSH to do as she asks. Have you been in contact with anything strange at work? Something that could have triggered this development of you higher cognitive functions?"
It is Bo who answers, "Oh, it's the reason we came to talk to you actually, it's the crown. It has to be!"
"What crown?"
"Your crown," Lauren says, watching Trick intently. The Blood King flinches, Lauren had never seen such a strong reaction from the powerful fae before. It certainly didn't help the feeling of dread that had been present ever since her and Bo's encounter with the powerful object earlier that day.
"It spoke to me," Bo adds. She was also shocked by his reaction.
"Where? That's impossible! I don't understand, I thought it was destroyed centuries ago."
"No, it's in the archive and trophy room at the compound. And it recognised Bo as your kin and called to her, I felt the power, it surrounded me as well, but I didn't hear it speak. Trick are you alright? You look unwell, can I get you something," Trick looked almost frail in this moment and it frightened her and through the bond she felt Bo's feeling of concern and fear for her grandfather.
Tricks stands up and crosses the room to his desk and pours a large serving of the aged amber scotch that was perched there. "I just need a minute," he says, as he swallows the liquid in one large gulp, and refills the goblet again...
