Chapter 6

When Bo walked into Pale Beak, a human waitress greeted her with a sweet smile.

She gave her a flirty wink and the waitress started to giggle.

It was just a normal, harmless flirt that would happen to her many times a day. She didn't give it a second thought until two waitresses nearby started to giggle and smile at her simultaneously.

"The fuck you are making them giggle like morons for?" Tamsin's voice came from behind her as she pulled Bo by the back of her shirt collar.

Bo cleared her throat. "What are you talking about?" She said absentmindedly as she sat down at the bar. "So, what have you found out?"

"Not here," Tamsin replied as she tilted her head at the exit.

"Aren't you going to have a few drinks and make me pay for them or something?" Bo asked teasingly.

"I was gonna but…" Tamsin gestured her to observe all the humans in the bar, who all seemed to have been enthralled by Bo's charm. They all stared at her, smiling and giggling, blushed and turned on. It was both funny and creepy.

"I…I am not doing it!" Bo complained. Then she frowned a little as she watched the crowd. "Am I?"

"Just…keep it in your pants and come with me, will you?"

After they exited the bar and walked into the parking lot, Tamsin placed her hands gently under Bo's jawline and examined her closely for a second or two. Then, she closed her eyes and leaned in.

Thinking that the Angel was about to kiss her, Bo's heart suddenly skipped a beat. She wasn't even sure why she would think that. Why the hell would she kiss me? She thought as she started to panic. The sudden flutter inside her stomach was making her knees weak.

The flutter intensified when Tamsin's forehead touched hers. Suddenly, she was embraced by the Angle's body heat and her fresh scent. Tamsin was practically breathing into her lips. Bo froze there and held her breath.

It was then that she felt a gentle warmth inside her. She felt she was being lit up, even though that idea sounded ridiculous and it wouldn't make any sense.

"Your soul…" Tamsin breathed. Her voice was dangerously close and so was her lips.

"What about it?" Bo barely got those words out.

"It is…a little damaged," Tamsin explained as she let go of Bo.

"What?" Bo frowned a little.

"It's…your soul is like a container that holds your demon inside. It seems that…it has taken a little damage, and I think that is why your charm is going haywire right now. Your soul's control is weaker than usual, and that stupid sex demon inside you is going weee!"

"My soul is…damaged?" Bo asked in fear.

"It's not that serious, kind of expected actually. It was probably because you went into the Dark Temple."

"Should I do anything about it then?"

"No, it should heal itself in a couple of days."

After a short pause, Tamsin gave her a pat on her shoulder and an exaggerated smile. "No worries. We all know that the soul of a moron is brutally strong."

Bo rolled her eyes. "So you were just checking…my soul?"

Tamsin cleared her throat and looked away. "What else could I possibly be doing?"

Somehow, Bo was very amused by her tone. "How do you know if a soul is damaged or not?"

"It's an Angel thing," Tamsin scrunched her nose. "A cracked jar sounds a little different than an undamaged one...whatever, I didn't come here to talk about your soul."

"Right…the Dark Temple?"

"Yes, the Dark Temple-" Tamsin abruptly stopped herself as she glanced at the lamp post beside them.

On top of it there sat a big jackdaw. It watched them intently.

"Why don't we go to a place where…the walls don't have ears, hmm?" She suggested as she hopped into her truck and beckoned to Bo to follow her.

After driving in circles for a while, Tamsin and Bo arrived at an apartment building in an upscale neighborhood.

"Wow, you live here?" Bo awed as she looked out from the balcony. The view of the city skyline was marvelous.

"Yeah right, like I'm gonna bring home a little sex demon whom I barely know," Tamsin snorted.

"Were we being followed or something?"

"Maybe."

"Why were we being followed? Did you piss off someone you shouldn't?"

Tamsin huffed out a sarcastic laugh. "What makes you think it wasn't you who were being followed?"

"Why would anyone follow me?" Bo frowned.

"How the hell would I know?" Tamsin shrugged. "Anyway, this should be a good place for us to talk, with or without being followed."

She then went into the kitchen and opened the wine cooler. Taking out two glasses and a bottle, she waved them at Bo and said, "also I've got better booze here."

Bo chuckled as she took a glass from the Angel. Then, she watched her pour the pale green liquid into her glass. She took a sip. It tasted almost like a fine Riesling only with a slight tongue chilling after taste.

Bo smacked her lips slightly as she took a closer look at the bottle. It did have a mint green label with a drawing of a cluster of small, white berries, but it didn't have a name or a manufacturer. This is pretty good. She thought. Wonder where I can get some.

"So, the Dark Temple," Tamsin sat down on the couch as she savored her drink. "What have you found out?"

"Not much. My father doesn't know anything that we don't already know."

"Or, he does but he doesn't want to tell you."

"Why would he hide that from me?" Bo frowned hard.

Tamsin just gave her a lazy shrug. "What else?"

"Bilith…my friend told me that-"

"You befriended that gluttonous cat?"

"You know him?"

Tamsin chuckled. "Oh yeah, I know him. He and I go waaaaaay back."

"Really?"

"Yeah, but let's save that story for another time. What did he tell you?"

"He said that only those with a soul could see and enter the Dark Temple."

Tamsin nodded. "I've heard similar theories as well, and it makes sense. All the sightings so far have been among humans."

"No other half Demons or anything?"

Tamsin turned to her with a weird look. "How many half Demons do you think there are?"

"I don't know, a lot? I mean, Demons have sex with humans all the time, right?"

Tamsin pulled one corner of her lips into an amused smirk. "You think a half Demon is just the baby of a Demon and a human?"

"It's not?" Bo was beyond confused.

"No. Only half Demons can have half Demon children, and it doesn't matter whether they procreate with a Demon or a human."

"Wait…really?"

"Mhm. Also a little fun fact, the half Demon bloodline runs exclusively in your family."

"My family are all half Demons?"

"No, just your mother's side. And not all of them are half Demons, either. It seems that…there can only be one half Demon in every generation. In your mother's generation, it was her."

"Oh…wow…I didn't know that. I didn't know that my mom was a half Demon either."

"No one has ever told you that?"

"No, I mean, I never asked," Bo frowned a little. "I was only 4 when she died. I don't really remember her much. Every time I talk to my father about her, he would give me this sad look and tell me that it would hurt so much to talk about her. The only thing I know about her is…well, what everyone else knows about her, like she died during the war, like she sent me away right before she had died, like she was the beloved, fierce Queen of Hell."

"Mhm. And after she had died, your father inherited the throne," Tamsin nodded along.

"Right…okay, enough about me. So the other sightings have been among humans only…"

"Yep, I found a guy who knew a guy who knew a gal who was documenting all the Dark Temple sightings, and I managed to get a copy of what she has."

She handed Bo a printout, which turned out to be an excel spreadsheet with location, time and description of the sightings.

"I am sure there have been more sightings than she has documented, but…do you see the pattern here?"

Bo studied the spreadsheet, and quickly came to a conclusion. "The time of the sightings," she said. "Many of them happened around 300 years ago. Then…nothing for 200 something years. Then, about 30 years ago, people started to see the Dark Temple again."

"The war between Heaven and Hell was 300 years ago," Tamsin explained. "Then…30 years ago…."

She raised her eyebrows at Bo, waiting for Bo to finish her sentence.

"30 years ago, some hikers found me in the deep woods. Then I was sent to a foster home."

"See? 300 years ago during the war, you disappeared. 30 years ago, you reappeared."

"I didn't disappear. I was like 4 at that time, I think. My mom was gravely injured then and in order to protect me she cast a powerful spell to send me away."

"Right, but then no one could find you for like 270 years."

"I know. I was in a…weird place. I remember the fog. It was everywhere. There was nothing there but the fog, and I was just…trapped in there."

"You were trapped there for 270 years?"

"It certainly didn't feel like 270 years to me. It was more like…hours, or days," Bo answered, with her eyebrows furrowed a little. "I mean, I was 4 years old, and I don't remember a lot. Maybe I've just lost the sense of time or something. Anyway, the next thing I remembered was...the fog was gone and there was this pouring rain. I was soaking wet all of a sudden, and I was in the woods. Then, some hikers found me and took me to the hospital."

"Does your father, or anyone in Hell, have any theory regarding what exactly this foggy place is?"

"No, my father assumed that I was stuck in between space and time, whatever that means."

Tamsin nodded. "Don't you think it would be too much of a coincidence that the sighting of the Dark Temple peaked when you disappeared and then peaked again when you reappeared."

"You think this Dark Temple has something to do with…me?"

"Well, no, I meant, it might have something to do with how you disappeared and reappeared, be it magic, spells, dark energy, whatever that was."

"Yeah, sure, but…oh, I have an idea. Why don't we go talk to those who have seen it first and see if we can find some clues?"

"Yeah, good luck talking to a bunch of dead humans whose souls have been crushed by the Dark Temple," Tamsin commented as she poured Bo another glass of drink.

"Some of them gotta be alive, right?"

"Let's see," Tamsin took out a second spreadsheet printout. "Dead, dead, dead, dead as a doornail, dead like a doorknob…oh there is one that is alive, the name is Gary Myers."

"There is no one else?!" Bo exclaimed.

"There are two more who are alive, oh sorry, I meant, were. One of them died in a looney bin last year. The other one was executed for 15 counts of first degree murder two weeks ago."

Bo threw her hands into the air in frustration.

"Oh wait there is one more who's still alive."

"Who is it?"

"You." Tamsin pointed at Bo, and Bo gave her an eye roll in return.

"Well there has to be a way to find the Dark Temple," Bo murmured.

"What are you gonna do if you find it?"

"Go in, get the Book of the Dead, come out?"

"By coming out you mean, before or after your soul gets whacked by the dark energy in there?"

"I should be fine, right?" Bo asked hesitantly. "I mean, I have already gone in once and I'm still…me."

"Yeah sure, a tiny crack, completely shattered, what's the difference, right?"

Bo bit her bottom lip. "Well…if getting the Book of the Dead means that I have to go into the Dark Temple again, then…I'll do it."

Tamsin downed her drink as she quietly studied the look on Bo'a face for a while. "Why are you so hell bent on finding the Book of the Dead, hmm? What deal do you exactly have with your father?"

Bo took a deep breath. She wasn't sure if she should tell Tamsin everything, but somehow she was in a sharing mood right now. "I…made a deal with him where I help him with some missions and in return, he will revive a friend of mine."

Tamsin frowned hard. "You are willing to damage your soul just so this friend of yours can live again?"

"I'm just trying to make things right."

Bo sat there in silence for a long time as she drank in silence. Then, she poured herself some more while muttering, "I saw her soul the other day. She was just…not like her at all. She doesn't even know me."

"That happens, more than you think. Souls in Hell usually go through lots of shit and…it's just brutal, okay?"

"They all told me that, and I was…I mean, I was prepared, or at least I thought I was, but she was just…it wasn't that she looked hideous or anything. She just didn't feel the same."

She paused for a while, before she asked,"will she be the same as I remembered when she's…revived?"

Tamsin swallowed hard. There was so much expectation in Bo's eyes. Then, there was pain and guilt. So much that she couldn't bring herself to give her an answer that would destroy her hope, but giving her any false hope seemed even more cruel.

"It's…hard to say," Tamsin eventually said. "It all depends on how much her soul has endured in Hell."

Bo nodded slightly as she downed her drink. That tongue chilling after taste was getting strong. Her head was spinning a little and she started to wonder if she had had a few too many drinks already.

"What if she's too far gone…" she murmured.

Tamsin took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a brief moment. The pain in Bo's voice was contagious. It took roots in her chest and it hurt.

Without much thinking, she leaned in and slid her fingers into Bo's hair. She pulled the brunette in.

"Are you gonna check my soul again?" Bo let out a half drunken giggle.

Tamsin didn't check her soul. Instead, she kissed her.

A little intoxicated, Bo almost immediately kissed her back. Maybe it was the taste of the liquor in those lips, maybe it was the heat of the skin, maybe it was the way Tamsin cupped her face. There was something about this kiss that…drew her in.

As their lips eventually parted, Bo pulled back. A little stunned, she gaped at Tamsin. She stared into those blue eyes, then down to those lips, then further down….

She wanted to continue the kiss. She wanted to taste those lips again. She wanted more, a lot more, but her head started to spin again. "I think I've had too much…." She complained, before she collapsed into the couch and passed out.

"Yeah, you've had a little too much…" Tamsin murmured as she tried to stop her hands from shaking. She grabbed the bottle and poured the rest of the drink into the kitchen sink. Then she tossed the empty bottle into the trash can.

"Shit…" She cursed absentmindedly as she pressed both of her hands on the edge of the sink. She lowered her head and arched her back while taking a deep breath. Her guilt ridden heart was pounding like crazy, for what she had done, for that kiss, for how soft Bo's lips were, for how vulnerable Bo was, for that dull pain in her chest.

She paced anxiously for a while, before she decided to go sit down beside Bo. The brunette was soundly asleep with her eyebrows furrowed a little.

Bewitched, Tamsin gently ran the back of her index finger along Bo's cheek for a brief moment. As she touched her skin, Bo's eyelashes fluttered like she was about to wake up.

Tamsin immediately withdrew her finger and stood up.

But, Bo didn't wake up. She just rolled over. With her movement, the ring she was wearing bounced a little between her cleavage. Somehow, it reminded Tamsin that the ring, which was now hugging Bo's breasts, had been once worn close to her chest.

Just that thought was embarrassing enough that Tamsin's cheeks started to burn.

A few hours later, Bo woke up. She looked around, and then at herself, confused. "What…happened…?"

"You had a few too many and you passed out for a while," Tamsin, who was now standing in the kitchen drinking a glass of water, explained to her.

Bo sat up and blinked a few times. She remembers drinking and talking about the deal with her father. Then, vaguely, she remembered the kiss.

She jumped and touched her own lips. She could still taste her. She could still feel those lips. Yet, for some reason she could hardly fathom, she dared not to make a single comment or even act like she still remembered it.

"You should go," Tamsin suggested. "I have somewhere that I have to be and I can't be late."

"Okay…alright, I'll see you-"

"I'll see you when I see you. Now go."

Tamsin returned to that church by the railroad. As she entered the building, she didn't look back but she knew somewhere nearby the jackdaw was watching.

"Finally, you showed up." The man she had met last time greeted her in the confession chamber. "Has she taken the serum?"

"She doesn't know anything," Tamsin replied in haste. "She has no idea why he suddenly started looking for the Book of the Dead. She's just following his orders."

"He did not tell her anything? That seems…unlikely."

"She doesn't know anything," Tamsin repeated impatiently.

"Angel, we will pay twice as much. Just give us the Book of the Dead."

"I don't have it. It's in the Dark Temple. Why don't you go look there?"

"The Dark Temple?" The other man seemed surprised.

"Yeah, you know, that ghost building that shows up at random places, where only those with a soul can see and enter? I sure can't, and neither can you."

"But, she can."

"What do you expect me to do? Grab her shoulders and shake her til the damn temple shows up?"

She looked away, agitated. After having combed her hair with her fingers multiple times, she said, "look, I don't think this is going to work. That damn Book of the Dead is out of my reach."

"Don't give up so quickly, Tamsin," the man pleaded. "We are in no rush. We will pay for the Book of the Dead, and any info related to it. Anything they find out, anything she finds out, you bring the info to us and we will pay you."

Tamsin sighed. "Fine, but I can't promise anything. Oh and call off your damn spy, will you? I don't like being followed."

"We have not sent any spy," the man replied.

Tamsin paused for a moment, frowning. "If you haven't, who did?"

"We will look into it," the man relied.

A/N: Finally, a Valkubus moment! There will be more but y'all will need to be patient. There will be an explanation regarding the "serum" but it will be a while before the story gets there.

I would like to thank everyone who has followed/favored/left reviews! It's not easy to write for a non-canon ship from a decade-old show, and that you all for supporting me and all my fanfics!