Author's note:
Thanks again to all of you reading this and sharing it as well as all the follows and faves. I'm especially thankful to all of you leaving reviews, a HUGE thank you to those of you who are really assessing the story and leaving tips and details etc. it's nice to have people who have my back :-D
The story is getting a little more complicated to write, so I'll most likely only be updating once or maximum twice a week. Hope that works for everyone.
Please keep reviewing, it really does help... And the usual obvious disclaimer, I don't own these characters or lost girl.
Chapter 8 - Coming Together
A short while later Lauren and Tamsin were walking arm in arm into the Dal, although this time were not immediately met with a confrontational succubus/ex of... Theirs. Lauren was dressed in her usual attire of pressed jeans and a loose fitting blouse accompanied by her signature boots and jacket. Tamsin was looking every bit the protection detail with her white button down, tight black jeans and her over the shoulder gun holster visible under her tight fitting leather blazer.
Well, she would have looked like an intimidating body guard had she not tripped on her way past a tall table with multiple fae gathered around it. She also would have looked a little more deadly if she hadn't been caught completely flustered when the first person to help her up was a hydra that she had been familiar with in her last lifecycle. Dyson had arrived in time to to quip something along the lines of 'booty call, more like booty fall!' before Tamsin gave him her best 'shut the hell up' look while motioning with her widened eyes towards Lauren.
It was too late though, Lauren had already connected the dots, or some of them... She couldn't for the life of her understand how that dynamic would work and furthermore how Tamsin was happy to be intimate with the 'nine headed' man when mention of his unique situation to Bo was all it took for an encounter with him to be off the table.
The doctor still remembered the conversation well. Years earlier it had been another exercise in Lauren taking a guest role in her own life as she helped her girlfriend find a different lover for the night, highlighting and capitalising on Lauren's inability to fully sustain the succubus with her human chi levels and failing serums. The hydra had caught Bo's eye from the get go as he noticeably had an extremely fit male physique. Lauren then casually mentioned he had nine heads to which Bo had pointed out that she only saw one. 'Not those kind of heads' was all it took to dissuade the succubus, a fae powered and propelled by all things sex, to bow out. Bo ended up taking a blonde woman home while Lauren listened to them from downstairs. How could she have had such low self-esteem to accept that? Well, she knew the answer to that. She had spent 5 years being shown how worthless she was in a world of beings who saw her as nothing more than an intelligent pet.
By the time Lauren was done with her stroll down memory dead end, both Tamsin and Dyson were trying to get her attention.
"Yo, Doc? Are you really passing up drinks on Dyson's dime?" Tamsin asked waving her hand in front of Lauren's face causing her to snap out of her depressing internal dialogue, thankful for the interruption from where those thoughts could be leading.
"Well, I guess my money is no good here..." Dyson began teasing before Lauren piped up.
"Whoa, whoa, I'm here and yes, Dyson, you can buy our drinks tonight!" She said pushing him and leading Tamsin towards the bar "anything but buckthorne, wouldn't want Captain Trips-a-lot over here to have any MORE trouble walking!" She said with a sly wink before she strutted away towards a table where Bo, Hale and Kenzi were sitting laughing at some story Kenzi was giving a dramatic telling of.
"Mind if we join you?" Lauren asked politely looking directly at Bo.
The smile that overtook Bo's face could have lit up the room. She stumbled nervously over her words to reply "Of course, please! Um, have a seat, I'd... I mean, WE would love you... to join us that is. Ahem, we would love you to join us, please" she managed to stutter out a little too enthusiastically as she slid over to the very end of the booth making space for Lauren to sit right next her. Kenzi kicked Bo under the table which didn't go unnoticed by anyone making the whole exchange more awkward by the second.
Tamsin had followed behind Lauren and made it to the table just as Bo was making space. She wasn't positive why, but the thought of Lauren even sitting next to Bo, shoulder to shoulder rubbed her the wrong way causing her to chime in "don't mind if I do, thanks Bo-bo!" before pushing past Lauren and sliding her way into the booth "c'mon Doc, you gonna stand there forever?" Tamsin asked boisterously indicating to the seat that was now left vacant beside her instead of Bo. She beamed with her best shit eating grin while Bo scowled at the crotch-block that had just occurred, absolutely sure that it was less than innocent on the valkyrie's part.
Kenzi snickered and whispered into Hale's ear "point one goes to the bodyguard, that's nil for the jealous ex if you're keeping score!" Hale snickered but his face fell in a moment as both he and his fiance realised that Bo and Tamsin heard her. She received another scowl from Bo and a raised brow from Tamsin. Thankfully, Lauren didn't have the benefit of fae hearing and was too busy excitedly watching Dyson arrive with a large tray brimming full of their drinks and snacks to notice that all this drama surrounded her. All she wanted was the pork crackle, beer and peanuts to hurry up and get into her belly. She in fact muttered as much which went ignored in favour of the battle for her that was brewing in stares and posture between the two women sat beside her.
Kenzi sat bolt upright while her eyes darted between the two fae women obviously vying for the attention of the oblivious blonde while Hale merely shook his head. Dyson was still doing well in ignoring his mate bond, but it took effort and concentration at times like this where he had to ignore the blatantly obvious.
...
The rest of the night went basically the same way. Bo and Tamsin fighting for imaginary points in a conquest for Lauren, Hale and Kenzi making badly disguised jokes at their expense and Lauren and Dyson mostly oblivious to the whole thing while they made up more and more ridiculous ways to compete with each other in their self named 'brains vs brawn' saga. After many drinks and a few hours the competition had culminated into a blindfolded darts competition with made up rules. Lauren and Dyson were to be team captains and would be responsible for directing their players on how to throw their darts while blindfolded. Naturally Dyson had chosen Hale as his first team mate, welcoming him with their signature arm bump. Lauren didn't get a chance to make her pick before Tamsin jumped in.
"I'm with the Doc! I go where she goes, remember?" She stated loudly with a smirk in Bo's direction.
Kenzi was going to try to get onto the ladies team before Bo pushed her roughly into Hale's arms "Can't split up the happy couple!" She smirked back at Tamsin "Oh! That just leaves me to go on... Lauren's team... Darn!" She faked disappointment with her own smart ass grin plastered all over her face.
"Well, looks like we've go our teams, Hale, hand over your tie!" Lauren demanded holding her hand out towards the siren. She also snuck a sideways glance at her two team mates who were locked in a heated stare off. She couldn't for the life of her decipher their strange behaviour. Then again, in matters of emotion against logic, the doctor rarely could make the dots connect.
"Aw, C'mon Doc! This is silk, I don't want everyones eye juice all over it" Hale whined causing Kenzi to fake vomit at the mention of eye juice.
"If anyone had leaking eye juice, I would have them in my lab, not on my team ready to kick your whinging ass!" Lauren quipped back while Hale complied and took his tie off.
"Oh, it's on! I'm going first and you're going down Lewis!" Hale shot back tying the tie over his own eyes. "D-man, do your thing."
Dyson grinned "as you wish." Smirking at the women on the other team Dyson handed Hale a dart. "Did you want a bullseye my man?" He husked with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"You know the drill, three taps then move!" Hale instructed causing the rest of the group to look on confused.
Dyson walked up to the board and tapped three times right on the bullseye at which Hale cocked his head to listen intently. To everyone's surprise, instead of throwing the dart, Hale began to whistle softly causing a visible sound stream to form from his lips right to the bullseye. Very gently he placed his dart into the stream and the rest of the group watched on in awe as the dart gently glided along the sound tunnel and right into the bullseye spot onto the board before have ceased his whistle pulling the tie off from over his eyes. Seeing that the dart had hit the target perfectly, he and Dyson chest bumped and cheered while Kenzi did a dance taunting the other team.
"Oh yeah! Uh-huh! Who's got the magic, we've got the magic, you don't got the magic!" The small goth taunted the other team with both Hale and Dyson joining in for the last part of dance as if the three of them had been practicing in private. Wait, had they? It would make sense after the Tango incident a while back. Boy was this a strange group of people.
"That's so not fair! We didn't say powers were allowed!" Lauren complained before Tamsin placed a hand on her shoulder and stepped forward.
"Don't worry Lew, I got to school these fools. Hand over the blindfold choir boy!" The valkyrie puffed out her chest and walked towards the aiming line while Bo rolled her eyes exaggeratedly. Once she was blindfolded facing the board she spoke out again "hand me three darts, we're going for a triple bullseye on this on!" She held out her hand into which Lauren placed the colourful projectiles.
"Hey! One shot per go! None of this three tries!" Dyson interjected to which Tamsin smirked in response.
"This is for one shot, watch and learn dog-breath!" Tamsin shot back. "Give me a fair bit of room, wouldn't want anyone to lose an eye" she instructed at which the confused group took steps backwards not wanting to ignore a warning like that.
It was time for everyone to stand shocked again as Tamsin first shook her back out and then revealed her expansive wings to the group. Lauren stood mouth agape in awe of what she was seeing. She had never been privileged to see the wings of a valkyrie before, mostly because valkyrie's usually don't show them as a matter of deep pride. It went to show just how free Tamsin had become. Lauren couldn't help but stare and take in every detail of the beautiful white feathered wings with black tips that seemed to invisibly attach to her new friend without damaging any of her clothing. She found herself wondering what it would be like to touch them, or to be lifted in Tamsin's strong arms and carried away to a faraway cloud. She cleared her throat to dissipate the image which she found surprisingly arousing.
"Oh come on! Show off! Besides, you can't fly to the damn target, what good are they going to be?!" Dyson taunted to which Tamsin gave him a one finger salute before returning her concentration. They all watched in silence as Tamsin brought the end of her huge wings around herself and made them grip the three darts into the them. The next second, Tamsin was extending both of her wings holding the darts out in front of her all the way to the board. She tilted her head in concentration and the ends of her wings felt out the board and identified the centre before pushing the darts right into the red spot.
"Hot damn" was all Lauren could husk out which was followed by whoops and hollers from all round as Tamsin made her wings disappear again before whipping off her blindfold and shimmying back to her team.
"Maybe I should side with Hotpants on the whole superpower deal! Team human should get extra points for not having to cheat!" Kenzi quipped loudly which was only met by snickers from the Fae and enthusiastic agreement from Lauren despite them being on opposing teams.
From this point the game was truly on. They each took turns with their methods of winning growing crazier by the second. Lauren used her brilliant mind to calculate her throws before taking her own turn, actually impressing the group most by her ability to do it without any special powers.
Dyson used force and luck to throw massive handfuls of darts at once and Kenzi not only threw hers blindfolded but she also did it while facing away from the board, apparently a trick she learned when she used to con chumps back in the day.
Bo's turn was probably the most hilariously creative as the made up rules stated that she had to stay a certain distance from the board at the shot line. They didn't say she couldn't grab the arm of a passing bar patron and use her pulse thrall to order him to deposit her handful of darts at the highest point scoring spaces on the board. It did backfire on her slightly as the poor guy stuck to her like a lost puppy for another hour before it wore off him and we went back to his extremely perturbed date for the evening.
By closing time in the early hours of the morning, only the group and Trick were left with the six competitors trying to convince the Blood King on the merits of their performance and why he should crown either one the winner. He began to see what Evony had meant about the group once the bar had died down and he had time to spend with them, or at least, time to spend watching them. He agreed that she really should put Vex in the mix shortly to see whether this was really a group that could save the world.
"I am the Ash of the Light, I am hounded day and night to make judgements, can't a man simply polish his glasses in peace?!" Trick shot at the group after half an hour of being mediator to drunken debate on the merits of each team.
"C'mon! You wouldn't rule against your own blood would you?!" Bo retorted to which Dyson chimed in.
"I have been by your side for centuries, I believe that earns me a vote" he claimed in a gravely serious voice that cracked into a giggle towards the end.
"I will disown the both of you if you don't turn around right now and help me stack the chairs" he shot back, although the threat couldn't be taken too seriously as it was accompanied by a kind hearted chuckle.
The group moaned at their misfortune of being the last ones left as well as friends of the owner making it a request they couldn't refuse. It didn't stop them from being as loud and obnoxious as possible while they clumsily went about helping Trick with the pack up for the night.
Once all was tidy, mostly, Trick called them all back to the bar top where he had 7 shots of fae knows what lined up.
"I would like to propose a toast. It's not often that we are not in the fight of our lives, and you never know when that will change" Trick's statement was met with confused glances all around before he pressed on holding up his shot to which the rest followed suit "to friends that are the family that we choose and to family that are our chosen ones." His eye gleamed towards Bo who smiled kindly in return "to bonds formed in battle and strengthened in peace and to the light of love in a darkened world. Cheers!"
"Cheers" and "here, here!" was heard all round. The looks between Kenzi and Hale were expected at the mention of love. However, the longing gazes of both Bo and Tamsin towards Lauren didn't go unnoticed by anyone but her and was of particular interest to Trick. Dyson and Lauren had given each other respectful nods across from each other which also pleased Trick to see such a fruitful friendship formed from a place of such competition and animosity.
He was beginning to be as sure as The Morrigan was of this group and decided to seek counsel sooner rather than later. Only something stirring in the fates could cause such unlikely and strong bonds to be formed and to become so significant in such a short amount of time. He looked to Lauren sympathetically while she stood laughing and joking with no awareness of what was coming and what could be her life ending role in it. He wondered if the group would survive losing her or if this familial bond was doomed from well before the beginning.
...
Kenzi and Hale were the first to part with goodnights all around followed by Bo who wanted to leave the night on a high note, making sure to leave unmentioned that she needed to take care of her feeding. Dyson was glad to be left with Tamsin, Trick and Lauren and he took the opportunity to let them know that he was also going to be providing some extra protection to Lauren.
"Before you ladies leave, might I have a word?" Dyson asked respectfully causing both of the blondes to stiffen as they understood from his tone that this may be a more serious conversation. They moved closer to the tall shifter and the smaller blood king to form a tight circle appropriate for an important discussion.
"What is it Dyson? Have you found something out about the attack?" Tamsin asked in a clipped and professional tone. At this Lauren stiffened even further at the fresh memory and began to concentrate a little harder through her slight alcohol induced haze.
"We're still working on that. We followed the lead that Ed had but the place was deserted. We did find a few burner phones and papers pretty common for places like it though, so our techs are working on that. But that's not what I needed to tell you" he stated looking at Trick for encouragement.
Trick took the given opportunity to step in. "Lauren. While you are no longer a ward of the Light, you must know that you are very valuable to the fae as a whole" Lauren visibly bristled minutely at the mention of her enslavement with the Light, more out of habit than anger. Trick noticed this reception and pushed on to clarify "what I mean to say is that the work you do is important to all of fae kind and you're the best at it. Furthermore, I consider you as a friend, one that I have come to love like my own over the years"
Lauren smiled kindly as well as modestly at the loving words from one of the oldest fae she knew. "That's very kind Trick, you mean a lot to me as well... I'm still not understanding what is happening here though"
"Well my dear, even though you are not technically under the Light's protection, I have requested for Dyson to provide you with some extra security when he is able, I hope this is alright with the both of you" Trick said looking between both Lauren and Tamsin.
The valkyrie who had been silent up until this point spoke up "hold on, I am perfectly capable of protecting Lauren. I will lay down my life if I have to!" She declared bravely causing Lauren to look on in shock at the high value Tamsin had assigned to her in one sentence.
"Tamsin, I would not want you... or anyone" she slipped in quickly "to make such a sacrifice for me, ever" Lauren scolded gently placing her hand on Tamsin's hand before releasing it quickly when she felt some kind of electricity pass between them. Or maybe it was fire. Lauren wasn't sure, she just knew she felt... Something... At the contact.
"Your loyalty and talent are not in question Tamsin. I would be a fool to question your power. I simply want to ease the weight of the responsibility as well as the difficulty of the task" Trick stepped in diffusing the situation well.
"Trick thought that since we're already friends and spend enough time together as is, I was a good choice. Don't worry, I won't be moving in like this vagabond" the shifter playfully joked towards Tamsin who responded with a sarcastic grimace "Think you can manage seeing my face a bit more?" Dyson joked, albeit quietly and with averted eyes.
Lauren smiled in good nature at her friend "of course not, but if you start shedding on my furniture, you're out on your ass!" she joked back with a little more fervor behind her words.
"Okay, that's all fair enough. But I have to ask, do you think there are going to be more attempts on Lauren's life?" Tamsin ever the mind for battle spoke up directing the blatantly obvious question right at Trick.
Trick shuffled uncomfortably, wondering how much to reveal before deciding on a tactic "well, it stands to reason that if the attack before was made by hired soldiers, whomever hired them would still want to eliminate their target and may continue to send attackers after you, Lauren, until they are either successful or they are caught."
Silence engulfed the four standing as they took in the gravity of the situation. Tamsin, noticing that Lauren had paled spoke up "well then it's a good thing she'll have Dyson and I there for her. Not to mention she can take care of herself pretty well" the valkyrie encouraged, bumping the doctor slightly with her shoulder as a friendly gesture to try and break her out of her daze "no one is going to hurt her on our watch, isn't that right, flea-butt?"
Dyson grinned at Tamsin's attempt to lighten the situation "absolutely right. She has the greatest protectors on the planet!" He puffed out his chest and pounded it once with his fist. "Whelp! With that out of the way, may I walk you lovely ladies home?"
The trio said goodbye to Trick and took their leave with Dyson making plans to spend some of the weekend with the two women and even occasionally relieving Tamsin of her post. While Tamsin appreciated the offer, she didn't reveal that there had yet to be a moment when she wanted to be away from the doctor so far, and didn't see one coming in the future.
Trick watched them leaving with a heavy heart and a lot to consider.
As they exited the Dal the atmosphere around them seemed to lighten slightly as though they left the burden of their conversation behind the lark oak door. Soon enough they were back to their jokes as they walked closer and closer to Lauren's loft, although it might more accurately be described as a hub now that so many people were in and out of it all of the time. She wondered when she would start to long for her own space back, but looking between her two walking companions, and remembering how at ease and comfortable she was starting to feel around Tamsin, she began to think that this was a welcomed change to her admittedly lonely existence over the last few years.
Dyson had noticed a strange odour in the air directly outside of the Dal that dissipated the further they walked making it easy for him to justify ignoring it, probably just some drunk passed out fae in the alley. Tamsin had also noticed that the air around them grew much colder just outside the door but didn't stop to consider it, as it warmed back to more normal temperatures the further they walked away from the pub. Even Lauren had felt something, almost like a cloud of sadness as soon as they left the Dal that lifted gradually the closer they got to home.
If the three of them had said out loud what they were each feeling, it would have equated to a very specific kind of underfae affecting them while he watched from the shadows. But, because of their lack of communication or willingness to complain about things that they felt were trivial, he managed to remain unnoticed while he assessed the three, cloaked in the darkness of the way-stations alley way.
...
The darkened warehouse on the outskirts of the city was a wise choice for this pre-dawn meeting. A large enough space to give warning to its inhabitants of any intruders, far enough that it would be free of prying eyes and yet had multiple routes of exit and arrival so the traffic towards the area wouldn't be noticed and an escape from capture could be easily made. It was made for far more numbers than would be present on this night, but any great location has a multitude of uses. Yes, it was this reason that the former head of security for the Light fae was the best at what she did. Fire may be her power, but war was her talent. Her talent that had been rarely used and totally unappreciated in her role with the Light. Her talent that a dark being stirring in the fates was silently encouraging in the deep recesses of her mind. She didn't even know why she had acquired such a sizable and versatile facility for such a small, should be one off meeting, but she was pleased with the location nonetheless. As was the unseen force compelling her towards these very moments like an unseen puppet master whose dolls couldn't identify their controller anymore than a worm understands its position in a garden.
Serena was learning to see the bright side of being stripped of her position and publicly shamed for failing to keep the human doctor safe. The new Ash really was a dick as far as she was concerned.
Now, she was free to work as she saw fit, and she saw fit to make the doctor pay for her many crimes and offenses that Serena believed she committed against the fae. Her and any of the shameful fae that dared align themselves with her. Even if that meant she had to bear the annoyance and shame of working not only with dark fae, but with humans and underfae alike. She was starting to regret those she had called to this meeting and considered calling the whole thing off, but it was too late. Not that it would have mattered, unbeknownst to her, she was merely a pawn to a much greater power exerting its influence over her.
"My dear Serena, how lovely to see you again. Love what you've done with the place!" The voice was grating on the fire fae but she made sure to curb her irritation before turning to greet her first arrival of the early morning.
"Why hello Kobe. I trust you found your way here alright?" While her dislike of this Bunyip ran deep, particularly for his habit of imprisoning fae for his profit, she made sure to at least give the false impression that she had respect for him. After all, he was the one that was going to provide their link to the disgruntled dark fae and all the resources and access it would provide.
Rubbing his hand across his bald head he replied "of course. Your directions were clear" the double meaning understood by Serena. He was not to share their connection with any other fae for the time being, or ever if possible. "When will the others arrive?"
"How sweet, I am missed" came a hissed reply from the other end of the building. Both of the fae turned their heads towards the noise to see a towering hooded figure gliding menacingly as it closed in on them. "If you are hurting allow me to assist" the figure offered as he removed his hood to reveal a thin and grey face with a leathered and worn texture.
Both fae backed away at the disturbing suggestion eliciting a chuckle from the pain eating demon. He allowed his fingers to elongate into long, dark tendrils and extended them towards the pair for a moment to emphasise his powers before retracting them and lowering his arms. "A joke amongst new friends, I assure you, I will not attempt to feed from any of our comrades... Until our goal is reached of course" his voice was deep and sounded as if he may have been a talking snake. For all the two fae knew, he could have been some sort of serpent descendant.
Before there was a chance for any more conversation a fearful gasp was heard from behind the pain-eater and the three present turned to face a well built human who was looking at the underfae with fear in his eyes and his mouth agape.
"Calm yourself human, while I could always snack on your fear, human frailty is not a great taste" the underfae said through almost psychotic laughter. He couldn't help but enjoy the distress the scientist before them was displaying.
"Do not fear Dr. Taft. You will not be harmed in this place, I gave you my oath on the phone and it will be kept" Serena spoke up in an effort to diffuse the situation. "Let us take a seat and then we can begin the formal introductions" the light fae motioned to a large square table with a comfortable office chair on each side.
With that, the planning of the end of the lives of Dr. Lauren Lewis and all of her allies began.
Kobe, the dark fae whose plans had been foiled one too many times with the help of the woman and her friends. The latest slight being that because of the doctor's work with the Dark, they were no longer allowed to kill humans for food or sport.
Amorikan the pain-eater who was sick of the doctor helping the succubus in defeating his kin at every turn, and even more put out by the notion of peace she kept trying to aid between fae and underfae. She disguised it by offering medical care but he knew her true nature, she was after the eradication of the underfae, he was almost sure of it.
Dr. Joshua Taft, the ousted human scientist who blames Lauren for the death of his brother and the loss of his life's work alongside him, holding a grudge like only man can.
Serena, the ex-employee of the Light thanks to the doctor, who had been witness to the dangerous science of the blonde's making and the concerning close relationship she held with many powerful fae. The fire fae was the one who had brought them all together understanding that with their combination of contacts and alliances there was nowhere off limits and no resource left unavailable.
They had discussed at length how difficult to eliminate Dr. Lewis had shown herself to be, laying out their attempts so far that had spanned over the years of her enslavement and allegiance with the fae. It turns out that Lauren has been a target since she was recruited in the Congo, however Dr. Joshua Taft was the first to make an honest attempt on her life, the others had just tried to have her removed from the fae. To their unending frustration she had somehow managed to always be a step ahead and always have a back up plan or a rescuer waiting. The argued strategy, resource and even vague knowledge of prophecy pertaining to the human healer.
It was a long meeting of four beings all serving their own agenda towards their own goals, most of them keeping something from the others, whether it was a deeper knowledge of the prophesies suggesting Lauren was more to the world than she seemed, or what they hoped to gain should they be successful.
Serena surely wasn't going to mention she was going to use this as a bid to oust the current Ash and possibly make a bid for the seat herself, or at least for someone of her bloodline. Dr. Taft would not reveal that he planned to use Lauren's stolen research once she died to continue his brothers work, and possibly weasel his way into the good graces of the fae. Amorikan was absolutely not going to make known what all of his underfae comrades with the gift of foresight had seen about the doctor. Unsurprisingly, Kobe was the only one brutally honest about his involvement, the Dark may be, well, dark, but they don't dance around it. He was out for blood and hers would do if it meant more was to come. This alliance was built on an uneasy trust that was more forced than earned.
Finally, they came to the point where it was made known that Dr. Taft still had spies keeping tabs on Lauren despite it becoming more difficult to do lately, and that Amorikan had been watching the group when safe to do so without too much risk of blowing his cover. The group now knew that their target was protected 24/7 by the valkyrie and that the wolf was also bound to protect her as of only a few hours ago.
After hours of back and forth they had the beginning of a strategy that Serena laid out to bring the meeting to a close "We will send a group with the best hired killers we can each find and ensure they are untraceable to us. They will be responsible for eliminating Dr. Lewis and her protectors with her. Whatever you think will kill them, send two. I will coordinate the attack time and date where she will be dealt with via the burn phones I have provided to you all. This will finally put an end to her meddling in our world and mark the end of our allegiance with her blood." Unbeknownst to her those words marked a blood oath joining them supernaturally together with a bond unbreakable until their task was complete. Any other time, these words would have been absolutely benign, but when the meeting is joined by an ancient and unseen evil force, they became binding oaths felt deep in the blood of each present, yet left completely unaddressed. "In the unlikely event of our failure, we will reconvene here. Are we in agreement?"
"Yes." Came the reply from the other three.
...
There you have it folks - let me know your thoughts :-)
There are a lot of places this could go from here, so I'm going to try and make sure I do the story justice, wish me luck with my muse...