Thanks again for your reviews :) It's about to change direction so I hope you still like it. Only a few more days til the new season, yay!

Chapter Four

By the time she returned home she'd composed herself, and had managed to not actually cry. She wasn't going to be able to go on with this if she didn't pull herself together. She'd walked rather than called a taxi, preferring to use the time to clear her mind. There was a sick feeling in her stomach. She had hoped for a conversation that would wrap everything up neatly and yet all she'd done was make more of a mess. While she'd been away she'd sworn to herself that she wouldn't mess around with Bo's feelings or lead her on, and yet she couldn't spend any time around her without almost coming apart.

She lingered outside for a moment, making sure she would be okay before she went inside. The last thing she felt like doing was recounting too much of her conversation to Nadia; it was something that she just wanted to keep private. She would say only what she had to.

Lauren heard footsteps and was shocked when she turned to see Lochlyn coming towards her. She forced herself to stand a little taller, feeling instantly nervous and on edge. He would only come to see her for a very specific and probably very worrying reason; otherwise he would have sent one of his underlings. She looked him up and down – there was something different about the way he was approaching her. Later she would realize that he didn't look quite as smarmy as she'd always thought of him as.

"Lauren, I trust that you enjoyed your leave?"

"Yes, I did thank you. Do you need me to come to the compound? Can I just let Nadia know where I'm going please?"

"I wanted to speak with you. Invite me inside," he ordered her, motioning towards the door.

Anxiously she unlocked the door, afraid to call out to Nadia in case she angered The Ash. Nadia came into the room at the moment they stepped inside and stopped walking when she saw Lochlyn. She warily eyed Lochlyn and Lauren looked at her with a warning in her expression. She had explained the rules of etiquette to Nadia and had told her a thousand times to always be deferential; luckily Nadia appeared to have caught herself and had altered her expression until it were blank.

"Sit down, I'd like to speak with both of you," Lochlyn said, his tone somehow soothing and commanding at the same time. "There is something I would like to explain to you. I can't tell you all of the details, I can only tell you what's relevant to your own situation. Suffice to say that you've each served a purpose to me recently. Lauren, because of your relationship with Bo, I utilized you to conduct a test. Again I can't tell you the purpose of the test, but I sent Bo on a mission to lift the curse on you, Nadia."

His gaze shifted from Lauren to Nadia. Lauren's heart was pounding – she was trying to keep her expression impassive, needing to hear the end of the story. Lochlyn was re-counting it as though he were talking about a mere game of chess, and she supposed to him that's all it was. They were only humans after all. He had no reason to be gentle or to try to spare anyone's feelings.

He was looking at her again. "I've found you very useful in the short time you've been under my power, and I know from his diaries that the previous Ash did also. I'd be more than happy for us to continue our current relationship, albeit with you having a little more freedom. I can still own you both and offer you protection. And I can be much more lenient than I've had to be recently," he grinned and winked at her, as though his recent treatment of her could ever been thought of as amusing.

"However, as for your other use - your relationship with Bo – frankly I don't need you anymore. I was only play-acting when I asked for your re-committed, and when you accepted. You've honored your agreement with the previous Ash, so in accordance with protocol I can release you now if you wish."

There was a silence at the end of his long explanation. Nadia and Lauren looked at one another, and then back at Lochlyn. Lauren saw how hopeful and happy Nadia looked – she hadn't known the fae long enough to grasp that there was always a catch. It could never be as simple as just releasing them, not with everything that she knew about the fae world and its workings. She had tried to find out over the years what would happen should she ever earn her freedom but had never found answers forthcoming, and her research had yielded nothing. Though she'd gleaned a little about memory wiping for humans, she had to admit now that she'd tried to not think about it too much.

Lauren was still trying to grasp the substance of his story. She knew better than to ask too many questions, so she tried to think of what kind of question would gain the most detailed answer.

"So it was Bo that was responsible for lifting the curse? And she agreed to not tell me?" Lauren asked, her emotions getting the better of her.

Lochlyn had a slight smirk on his face as he looked first at one woman and then the other. "Yes." As Lauren expected, he was hardly going to give the whole game away to her. She found herself quickly going over the last few weeks in her mind. Though there were much bigger issues to worry about she felt like an idiot. Bo had known the whole time while she spoke of swearing her loyalty to Lochlyn. She must have thought her such a fool.

"What would be the conditions of our release?" Lauren asked.

"You would be too much of a risk to our kind as you are. You would have to submit to a Mnemosyne and her Handmaidens," he stated simply.

Lauren had some vague knowledge of the fae he had spoke about; a sub-type that fed from human memory. She urgently tried to go back through what she'd read in her mind but it was a very rare type, she'd never had the opportunity to examine or meet one. She couldn't even remember if they were dark or light, although she did recall the legends about them being responsible for cases of amnesia and dementia. Her heart was sinking.

"Please go on," Lauren said, her voice shaky and thin.

"She would erase all memory for you both of the fae. Your knowledge that we even exist would disappear. Her Handmaidens are chosen for their mystical abilities with memory. They would perform rituals that would replace your memories with those that explain your presence in this town and place. You'd have to speak with them so that they could get a sense of you and use your minds to create the fabric of those memories."

Lauren felt like she were holding her breath. "Is it dangerous in any way? Are there any side effects?"

"It's a process that's as sophisticated as anything we do. This wouldn't be the first time someone has wanted to return to the human world. You've witnessed our skill with your own eyes, there's no need for you to question it," Lochlyn said, gesturing towards Nadia. "The process would be described to you in more detail should you accept the offer, but not by me."

"Right," Lauren said. She was at a loss at what to say; and could sense that Nadia was in a similar state of shock next to her.

"I could point out that The Light employ the Mnemosyne whilst the Dark would just kill humans they fear could compromise them. Or they'd suck their memory and leave them an empty shell," Lochlyn said.

"Yes, we're very grateful for the offer," Lauren said mechanically.

"Sleep on it, and come and visit me in the morning. You will meet with them tomorrow afternoon if you decide that's the path you'll take. Need I remind you, if you try to leave without abiding by our conditions we could track you down very easily."

"Thank you," Nadia said as Lochlyn stood up to leave.

Nadia closed the door behind him and turned around to lean against it. Lauren put her hands in her hair, exhaling sharply. It was so much to take in. Nadia was smiling and Lauren pushed down her irritation, trying to not show it. Nadia didn't understand as much about what they'd be giving up; she hadn't spent five years working with them and alongside them.

Not to mention her. Bo was all she had been able to think about from the moment Lochlyn had made the proposal. She wanted to have a real conversation about this and make the decision together; however it looked like Nadia had already made up her mind.

"Wow . . . Lauren, this could be the solution to everything. We can wipe the slate clean, and it can be like this whole nightmare never happened," Nadia came over to where she sat on the couch, clasping her hands. Lauren couldn't look at her hopeful face.

It was so lonely, being with Nadia again and yet having had so many experiences that she could never understand. Lauren knew that she was so different now – but she wasn't sure that all those changes were bad. She had been able to do so much good helping Bo with her cases, not to mention all of her work with the fae. She'd learned so much and seen things that so few people were ever privileged enough to encounter.

"Nadia, can we just think about this for a moment? You have to understand, nothing is for free. There is always a price where the fae world works, things always need to be balanced. We don't know how we would be affected by this. I have a lot of questions about this, and I can't just wait to hear them answered once we've already started. I want to do some research before I even think about committing to this," Lauren urged her.

"Okay, of course. But if we find out that it's all safe and that it's as good as it sounded, we'll go through with it, won't we?"

"I don't know Nadia, like I said, you need to let me look into this."

Lauren saw a shadow pass over her face. "Is this about Bo? You wouldn't remember her, would you? What happened when you saw her tonight?"

"Nothing," Lauren said quickly, then telling herself to be careful not to get too defensive and give herself away. "No, I wouldn't remember her. Please try to understand where I'm coming from too, Nadia. This has been my life for the last few years."

"I know that," Nadia said, looking wounded. "I know what you did for me."

Lauren rubbed at Nadia's hands, trying to force a calm she could never feel. "Hey, let's just calm down. There's no point arguing about it until we know what we're dealing with. I'll go to The Dal and try to get some information, then we'll talk again okay?"

Nadia nodded her agreement, and pulled Lauren in for a hug. Lauren looked over her shoulder, a chill empty fear starting to gnaw at her.