· x ·

Lachlan slammed his fist down on his desk, bouncing several items.

"You woke me up for this?"

Bo's mouth twisted into a puzzled grimace. She wondered briefly if the Ash had actually heard what she had told him. She glanced sideways at Dyson, who looked as startled as she felt. The shifter lifted a shoulder questioningly.

"I thought you would want to know that the garuda is capable of manipulating the dead," Bo stammered. The intensity of the pain in her stomach was making her nearly inarticulate. She considered leaning on Dyson for support, but she would be damned if she would allow Lachlan to see her weakness.

"I pay that one to think," Lachlan growled, pointing at Lauren, who stood next to Hale in the back of the room with her head bowed slightly. "You, on the other hand, are meant merely as a figurehead."

Bo's cheeks flushed, her blood pressure rising. "A figurehead?"

"Bo, my brothers and I have been fighting Aiden Aguila since before you were a horny twitch in your daddy's pants. It was time for a change in tactics. I needed a banner to rally support around, so to speak."

Exhaustion caused the succubus' brain to stutter, getting stuck on the least important piece of information. "Wait—it has a name?"

"Of course it has a name. Do we just run around calling you 'the succubus'?" Lachlan shook his head as he rose, walking around the desk to lean on it, crossing his arms. "Look, direct assault doesn't work. You now know why. Aguila has unheard of powers. He can manipulate both the living and the dead."

Dyson growled, "You didn't see fit to warn us?"

"I needed to make sure I made the right choice." Lachlan shrugged.

"You son of a bitch!" Dyson grumbled and took a menacing step forward. Bo threw an arm across his chest, keeping him from advancing.

She leaned closer to him and whispered, "Leave it, Dyson."

"You could have been killed, Bo," the shifter hissed.

"But I wasn't and Lachlan received whatever confirmation he thought he needed. He's manipulating me for some reason. He wants me to think I'm inconsequential. I don't understand the game he's playing, but I'm willing to play along. For now."

"This is ridiculous, Bo."

"I agree. Just remember, I've never been one to play by the rules."

Dyson made a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat, but he deferred to Bo for the time being.

However, he resolved to find Trick first thing in the morning and ask him what the hell Lachlan was playing at. Perhaps the Blood King could shed some light on the situation. Nothing was making any sense to Dyson's tired mind.

"You're dismissed," Lachlan said, turning his back on them. "Oh and Bo," he looked disapprovingly over his shoulder, "you better get your groove on with someone soon because you're bleeding all over my floor."

Both she and Dyson looked at the blood that was now dripping on the floor beneath Bo's feet. She had bled through the fresh bandages already. The shifter gave her a sympathetic look but she merely pressed her lips together, shook her head and marched away.

· x ·

Bo fell back on the bed and covered her eyes with her forearm. Her other hand instinctively went to her stomach, pressing into the vicious pain there. She knew she was being a damned fool. She should grab the nearest available fae and screw them blind, but she kept remembering the look on Lauren's face when Bo had fed from the strange fae that morning.

The expression had been of betrayal and pain, and now the doctor was asking Bo to hurt her again. It made the succubus wonder if the doctor wasn't a little bit of a masochist. The fact that Lauren wanted Bo to sleep with Dyson caused Bo's heart to ache. She didn't think the doctor understood what she was asking. Bo simply couldn't allow her feelings to get confused again.

She had spent most of her early adulthood longing for a way to connect with another human being that didn't end with a cold corpse after a night of passionate heat. She had found that with Lauren. The doctor knew the risks and she willingly took them anyway, trusting Bo implicitly.

And when Bo thought about her association with Dyson, she recognized the dynamic had been so different. There had never been any fear between them. With the shifter, Bo didn't have to worry about letting go; she could abandon everything and give herself over to the passion.

She screwed up her face in thought. She understood what was motivating the doctor: the near-fatal wound Bo suffered had brought the reality of their situation to the forefront. Bo lived a dangerous life and Lauren was destined to live in fear for her lover. Worse still, no human was ideal for Bo on a fundamental level and Lauren had learned that the hard way today.

Bo could appreciate the difficult emotions Lauren must be experiencing. The doctor had to be feeling somewhat inferior, wondering how their relationship could possibly last when Bo would be unable to love her with complete abandon.

The succubus groaned. She had no idea how to fix this. One way or another, someone suffered: either Bo physically, or Lauren emotionally. Lauren had tried to make it easy for Bo by absolving her of any guilt associated with using Dyson to heal. It just couldn't be Dyson because she had fought for too long to suppress her affection for him.

So, what she wanted right now was for this fuck of a day to be over. A little sleep might be just the thing to help solve life's riddles. If not, at least there would be sunlight.

"Hey," the bed shifted as Lauren sat on the edge next to Bo, "if you're going to fall asleep, at least take off your boots."

"I'm not sleeping," Bo said, moving her arm to gaze at Lauren's beautiful face. A longing ache tightened her chest. Bo suppressed it quickly, knowing that if she engaged Lauren in any way, she might not be able to control herself. She would feed until she healed completely and that would not end well.

Oblivious, Lauren smiled as she stood up and began to remove Bo's boots. The blonde was wearing a pair of gray jogging pants and a black tank top, an outfit that might have been considered standard loungewear for Lauren if the doctor actually took the time to relax.

They had decided not to go back to the clubhouse given that both women were bone-weary. Lauren had even managed to arrange accommodations for the rest of their group, surmising that it might be safer to keep everyone within the compound until they were able to figure out exactly what they should do about the garuda.

Bo moaned as Lauren's hands massaged her calves until a swirl of guilt washed over her. Lauren was likely far more exhausted than Bo and yet the doctor was still being sweet and accommodating. "Lauren, stop." Bo moved her leg away with some effort. The worse the pain from her wound got the more she tried to hide it from Lauren.

"Everything okay?" Lauren asked, and from the look on the doctor's face, Bo knew that the blonde was aware of how ludicrous the question was. Nothing about the day had been even remotely 'okay'.

"You need to sleep."

"I'll sleep when I'm dead," Lauren mumbled, then clamped a hand over her mouth in an effort to keep exhausted giggles at bay. She couldn't do it. She stared at Bo for a second, laughter dancing in her eyes, and then finally doubled over, clutching her stomach while her whole body shook.

Bo felt a slight smile form on her lips. Lauren had tears streaming from her eyes by the time she collapsed on the bed next to Bo. "I suppose that could be any day now," Lauren whispered, sobering slightly.

Not if I can help it, Bo thought and winced as the doctor shifted so that she could rest her head on Bo's chest.

Neither spoke again, nor was it long before Lauren's breathing evened out and fatigue claimed her. Bo lay awake for a while longer, her fingers twirling a lock of Lauren's hair as she struggled to come to terms with what she knew, with a growing certainty, she would eventually have to do.

· x ·

Cleo Silsbury watched as Bo's human friend gulped another shot. When she had first met Kenzi, the girl had been drinking with Bo in an effort to help the succubus overcome the emotional stress of seeing Lauren with Nadia. And then the slightly intoxicated succubus had made the mistake of trying to use her powers on Cleo.

Kenzi must have noticed her watching, because as the human dragged the back of her hand across her mouth, her eyes narrowed. "What are you looking at?" she demanded, catching the attention of both Dyson and Hale, who were also in the compound's lounge with them.

Cleo bowed her head, to hide her smile, and shook it. "Nothing much," she replied. When dealing with young people, especially cantankerous humans, Cleo usually found it easier to communicate at their level. Sometimes, like now, she did it to entertain herself. Kenzi was an intelligent, caring person, but Cleo had ended up on the wrong side of the human's loyalty to Bo and the young woman wasted no effort in letting her know it.

"Then you must be looking in a mirror," Kenzi retorted.

Hale, who had been watching interestedly, laughed. Dyson merely rolled his eyes at Kenzi.

Cleo offered to pour the girl another drink. "Young lady, eventually you'll realize that I'm not here to hurt anyone."

Kenzi blew a raspberry and downed the shot Cleo handed her. "Bo said to play nice, so I'll play nice. Long as you keep pouring enough drinks to wash visuals of 'splodin' humans out of my noggin, we're good to go, capice?"

"Yeah," Cleo said. She wanted to forget all about what had happened in the alley, too, but getting wasted was not wise. Given how easily the garuda found them, Cleo wanted to keep her mind clear.

"Besides," Kenzi said leaning towards Hale, hiking her thumb in Cleo's direction, "bitch be sporting some crazy powers. I wonder if she touched that garuda douche if she could turn into swirling flames, too?"

Cleo laughed. "Be careful what you wish for, I might be inclined to explode you."

"Nah! You'd have to catch me first. Even if you could get through Bo, your ancient ass wouldn't have a chance at catching me."

The erised looked under the table at Kenzi's multi-buckled, spike-heeled boots. "Those put the odds in my favor." She winked.

"I'd bet on the erised," Dyson said, and laughed as Kenzi punched his arm.

"That's the last time I root for you, dog-breath," Kenzi said and busied herself pouring another shot for herself and Hale.

Cleo watched the laughter fade from Dyson's eyes. His expression became drawn, but he was attempting to hide it. Failing to do so, he pushed his chair back. He mumbled something about being tired and headed away from the table.

Excusing herself as well, Cleo followed the shifter out. She found him leaning against the wall, outside the lounge. "Hey, you okay?"

"Observing again, were you?"

Cleo shrugged unapologetically. "It's a handy skill. I'm alive because I watch what's going on around me. Anyway, when we were in the alley earlier, it looked like Dr. Lewis laid something pretty heavy on you. Is it a burden that can be shared?"

Dyson sighed. He wanted to be angry at the woman for bringing up what he'd sooner forget, but he sensed that she was reaching out to him out of genuine kindness. Obvious nosiness aside, Dyson appreciated her concern, regardless of the fact that he didn't wish to get into the subtleties of his relationship with Bo.

"Not really."

Cleo frowned at that. "I realize I don't know you, Dyson, but I can tell that something is bothering you. I want to help," she said.

"You can't help with this."

The erised studied him momentarily, her eyes darkening in thought. "If something is preventing you from having your head in the game, Dyson, you jeopardize the entire group."

"It's none of your business," he snapped, his patience finally wearing thin.

She put up her gloved hands and nodded acquiescence. "If you change your mind, you know where to find me."

"Thank you," he grumbled, not sure at that moment if he meant it.

"Sleep well," she said, although she doubted any of them would sleep well for some time to come. The shifter inclined his head in acknowledgment and left her standing in the hallway.

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