Hi guys!

Big thanks as always to those hitting the Review/Follow/Favourite buttons. Welcome to KK, glad to have you with us FrenChi, I'm very flattered, thank you for doing that. It's a great feeling when you get a few people like yourself, Nerd' and Dragon that really believe in your storytelling like that. Joannrbb, loving your insights too, rest assured that there will be happy times in the future but it'll be a bumpy road along the way.

Enjoy but be prepared because things are getting dark…

Chapter Six

Lauren lay half dozing in exhausted satisfaction; skin, slick with sweat rapidly cooling beneath the duvet, her breathing having finally returned to normal. It had been obvious when they had left the Dàl earlier that evening that Bo was running on fumes and caffeine. Little wonder after the few days prior but still, when the Succubus had come to her tentatively seeking the energy boost she very much needed, the blonde had been unable to completely disguise a touch of reticence. The flash of hurt that flickered across Bo's features at her slight recoil had stung but the terror of the attack still lingered raw in Lauren's mind. The fading bruises where it had grabbed her wrists, the last time Bo had put her hands on her in that way, albeit not under her own control still burned, if only just in memory.

But instead of giving up and have the two of them go to bed tired and sulking, Bo took Lauren gently in her arms and romanced her wife, soothing frayed nerves and somehow finding solace in each other. There had been no candles, no stimulating scents nor soft sounds, no tricks that would look contrived. With light steps, she danced them upstairs to a tune that only they could hear and eventually tumbled into bed.

Forgoing her own preference for mad, feverish sex, Bo took things slow, allowing Lauren's needs and desires to dictate their pace. She was sweet and kind and above all, loving; determinedly keeping her own hunger on the back burner until the very last possible moment. Now the Succubus lay beside her, a single arm wrapped loosely about the doctor's waist and looked to be in deep slumber; a silly, satiated grin still plastered across her face even in sleep.

Letting her thoughts drift, the blonde allowed herself to admit that this was perhaps exactly what they had both needed. Bo, to feed and hopefully repair the slight rift that had developed within their intimacy while Lauren relished in the reminder of just how much her partner loved her, needed her and cherished her. She had never once in all their time together, objected to Bo's need to feed from their lovemaking. In fact, she found herself grateful that she was even able to given times past when her inability to sustain her lover had made her feel totally inadequate. Still, now and then it certainly never hurt to be reminded that Bo did not simply see her as a vending machine. Albeit a very sexy vending machine.

Really, she was lucky. How many wives had the luxury of still feeling desirable to their partners after years of marriage and motherhood? Despite Bo's inherent nature and possibly occasionally wandering eye, she remained safe in the knowledge that they were still only for each other. She smiled softly, letting herself drift off contentedly to that most pleasant of thoughts.

It wasn't too long, however, before Lauren felt a familiar stirring, both within and from the space beside her. Really, wasn't that woman ever satisfied? She grumbled silently. Only this time Bo's caress felt far less tender. The way the Succubus yanked and grasped at her nipple where long fingers had been resting at her breast was more cloying and nothing like Bo's expertly skilled touch. She grimaced in her only half-wakefulness and did her best to turn over, lightly batting Bo's arm away;

"Bo, honey, I'm tired" she mumbled into her pillow.

But Bo persisted, pulling roughly at Lauren's body and urging her over to face her. It was only when the blonde opened her eyes just a crack that she caught sight of that eerie glow, the sickening white glint bleeding out from Bo's normally warm, chocolate irises that made her look like some god-awful spectre. The icy frost in that strangely gleeful stare shot a frozen shiver through the doctor's bones. There would be no reaching Bo through the fog's grip this time.

"Come on now darling, must keep little wifey happy now, mustn't we?"

There was that horrid hissing, sadistic speech again and it made Lauren's stomach churn in disgust as it clamoured its way on top of her in a somewhat uncoordinated effort to pin her to the bed. The movements were disjointed and very un-Bo like. Frantically, the blonde gathered all the strength her tired state could muster and shoved hard, flipping the other woman off and over the other side of the bed, dumping her unceremoniously on her ass. The creature just howled sickeningly in delight while Lauren screeched for Saoirse and Dagny who had already raced to find her, having heard the almighty clatter. She whipped round, her own eyes wild in alarm;

"Dagny, go find the children and stay with them!" Saoirse and Dagny exchanged glances uncertainly. "Go!" She insisted, "I have Saoirse here, I'll be fine." Dagny nodded hesitantly, tapping the Griffin on the arm before diving off down the hall to check on Charlotte and Ethan while the two Lewis women turned to face 'Bo'. Lauren swallowed hard. The thought of hurting her wife was killing her but she had gone into 'Mom Mode' and dammit, she would protect her children. She knew that had their positions been reversed, Bo would do exactly the same.

The Succubus had stalled for a second, glancing between the two of them, clearly weighing up her options.

"Come on you bastard!" screamed Lauren and Saoirse gaped at her mother, as though seeing her for the first time. "You want me, you're gonna have to come over here and get me" she baited. "I am not scared of you anymore. You're just a fucking coward and I will not allow you tohurt my family!" she growled like a feral cat protecting a particularly carefully crafted nest.

The other woman paused in shock at this unprecedented show of fire from the usually placid blonde. Then Bo's eyes abruptly rolled back in her head before her body collapsed to the ground like a doll tossed carelessly into a long-forgotten corner. She shook violently as a thick cloud of blackish smoke billowed forth from her mouth, hovering above the stricken trio menacingly, absurdly appearing as though it were laughing before blasting forcefully out of the bedroom window, but the shards somehow exploded inwards, showering the room with shattered glass in one last threatening gesture, making the entire house rumble beneath their feet. Then all was hushed, a sensation of oppression that none of them had even noticed before suddenly lifted from the darkened house, the only movement coming from pale curtains that fluttered spookily in the clean breeze flowing in from the chill night air.

Slowly, mother and daughter turned to each other.

"Wow Mom, that was incredible!" Saoirse exclaimed but Lauren shook her head sadly.

"That was too easy. Whoever this is obviously decided it wasn't worth the effort tonight but it'll be back. I know it will. It wants something." She sighed, flopping down to the edge of the bed and burying her head in her hands. Saoirse eased down beside her mother and slid an arm across the older woman's shoulders, pulling up a corner of the rumpled duvet with her. It was only then that Lauren realised she hadn't had the chance to cover herself up, appearing naked and vulnerable before her eldest daughter and she blushed a deep crimson; Saoirse tactfully opted not to notice. "I can't do this Saor'" she muttered into her fingers before sliding them gruffly over her face in desperation. "I can't keep exposing my children to this. I don't know what this thing wants and I don't have the space to figure it out while I'm living in fear." She glanced over her shoulder to the woman still lying unconscious on the floor. "I don't know what to do." She whispered, her eyes filling with tears. "I used to believe that nothing could ever make Bo hurt me."

"It's not her Mom, you have to remember that." Saoirse interrupted, squeezing her mother's shoulder and bringing her head close in a sideways cuddle. "She loves you so much and this thing is killing her," she paused, "Sorry, poor choice of words…but this thing is really breaking her. I don't know what she'll do if you send her away."

Lauren nodded, fighting against the hard lump on unspent emotion that seemed to have permanently lodged itself in her throat since this all began. Globus pharyngis, she mused, trying to comfort herself with something rational;

"I know honey but if she's not here then she won't be able to hurt us then feel even worse about it afterward. It's the ultimate catch-22." She winced against the cool air and tightened the blankets around her bare body. "I'm not going to be getting anymore sleep tonight anyway, I need to start reading up on just what exactly a Cogitatio is capable of and what effects de Villier's Hydra blood might be having on his abilities."

"I'll take her to Dyson's" Saoirse replied quietly, making a move to get up.

"Wait," said Lauren, slapping a hand onto Saoirse's knee. "I need you to tell me what you meant when you said that our children had to be protected at all costs. It's not like your bosses to take that much of an interest in two Fae children. You need to tell me everything you know."

Later that same night as Saoirse lay Bo's still lifeless body to the deck of one of the cells beneath the Dàl, making the Succubus as comfortable as possible and shackling the door closed behind her she couldn't help but wonder aloud;

"Maybe that thing really had gotten what it came for."

Shorter update tonight folks but this is just more of a bridging chapter to move the story on to the next chunk.

Happy Holidays to all, I hope you're all having a wonderful time whichever corner of the world you hail from!