Present
Dyson rushed forward to help Bo with Lauren, who was barely conscious.
"What happened?" He asked still in shock from the scene. This is not what he expected to find.
"She's hurt, but I healed her, but…" She held Lauren close, "I don't think it fully healed her."
"Kenzi's waiting with the car, we should go now." Dyson took a moment to look outside the door to make sure no one was coming.
"We can't. Not until we get rid of that brand, it's also a tracking device."
Dyson frowned, "How?"
"Cut it out." Bo's voice trembled when she said it but was there really another way. She didn't think so. "Do you have a knife or something on you?"
He nodded. She shut her eyes, trying to relax her body. "Ok. Take off the guard's shirt and belt, we'll use it to stop the bleeding."
Dyson kneeled down in front of the unconscious guard and started removing his shirt. Bo turned her attention to Lauren, "Lauren," Bo pushed out through a sob. "Babe, open your eyes."
Lauren pushed open her eyes, focusing on Bo.
"Good. That's good." Bo wiped the hair off Lauren's face so she could see her clearly. "You know that we have to get rid of your brand, right?" Tears were streaming down Bo's face, but she tried her best to sound confident, to be strong for Lauren.
Lauren nodded, weakly.
"Ok." Bo lightly kissed Lauren's forehead. "But you can't scream, ok. Bite down on my shoulder, but don't scream." Bo positioned Lauren, so her mouth was on her shoulder. "I'll do everything I can, Ok? I'll do whatever I can to take the pain away."
Lauren didn't answer, she only gripped Bo tighter.
Dyson stood with the knife hovering over Lauren's shoulder. He hesitated and looked at Bo. Bo tightened her arms around Lauren, closed her eyes and nodded.
When Dyson brought the knife down, Bo concentrated everything she had on sending out the pulses to Lauren. To calm her. To help. It wasn't enough, Bo heard a muffled scream escape, Lauren, then her body went limp in Bo's arms.
XXXXXX
Without giving herself to chance to rethink or pause, Bo kicked in the door of the Light Fae lab. A few feet away, Nick, sat looking through a microscope, not even acknowledging her entrance.
She tapped the bat on the ground, hard. "Hey, asshole. I need to talk to you."
Walking into the lab, she rested the bat over her shoulder. Her eyes locked on him.
"Sorry," He kept his head down, "I'm very busy. I don't have time for nonsense."
That was when Bo leaned forward, pulling the bat down and pushing it into his chest hard. "I said: I need to talk to you."
His eyes bulged wide, but instead of moving, he just stared at her.
The room was silent. They were both still, waiting to see what the other would do first.
Adrenaline raced through Bo, she was waiting for him to flinch slightly or even breathe wrong.
"I'm-" He started.
And at that she swung the bat that his microscope, letting it smash onto the ground.
Rage hit like a physical blow. She clenched and unclenched her free hand to try and calm herself down.
"What-" He started again.
This time, she flipped the table over, throwing into the wall.
"You like to hit women?" She asked, pushing the bat into his throat, "You put your slimy hands on Lauren?"
Bo was very conscious of her strength at the moment; she knew she could kill him easily, that it would take such little effort.
His lips curled into a mocking smirk, and that's all it took. She grabbed his throat with her bare hands and shoved him into the wall.
His eyes did glimmer with a hint of surprise and fear. "Whatever she said is a lie, I didn't touch her." He forced out through Bo's firm grip.
Bo pulled him forward then slammed him back into the wall. "Don't you fucking lie to me." She tightened her grip until his eyes got wide. "If you touch Lauren again, I will kill you." She pushed him further back and siphoned chi from him.
His face turned white, and she released him and he fell to the floor.
Bo's instincts were calling to her to end him right there, to finish it. But she paused. The truth was, no matter what this vile man had done, she couldn't take a life.
She gave him a repulsed look then started to walk off.
Suddenly, Nick was on his feet, he pulled her hair hard from behind and brought his other hand up to scratch her face. She felt the warm blood pooling on her face.
She elbowed him hard in the face, and he fell back at the contact.
She kicked him several times while he was on the ground, feeling his ribs crack under her force.
He didn't make a sound. There was an unnatural silence about his reaction.
She leaned down punching his body.
The force of fury and anger coursed through her with every punch. There was no pain in her hands, no thoughts in her mind.
Sensing that he had no fight left in him, she stopped and walked away.
Nick's eyes half closed watched as Bo left the lab.
He weakly sat up and stared at strains of Bo's hair in his hand and her blood under his fingernails.
Fool. He thought. Such an easily controlled sheep, she'd given him exactly what he needed.
He laughed, maniacally at his success, feeling such a sense of accomplishment.
XXXX
Bo carried the bat into the bathroom, shedding her bloodied clothes off. She stared at herself in the mirror, examining the scratch on her cheek. It wasn't bad- it didn't even hurt.
Bo jumped, slightly, at the sound of her phone. She decided to ignore it and take a shower first.
She stepped into the shower, savoring the warmth of the water. So much energy still filled her, almost giving her an afterglow, maybe from the chi she took, or maybe from the adrenaline of the fight.
She closed her eyes tightly, focusing her mind of calming her body.
When her shower was done, she threw on sweats and walked into her bedroom, to find Lauren still sleeping in her bed.
She crept, as quietly as possible, into the bed and got under the warm blankets. She eased close to Lauren. She pressed her face into Lauren's hair and inhaled. That scent calmed her, more than anything else ever could.
She held Lauren close and let the exhaustion take her, she fell asleep dreaming of Lauren.
XXXX
Nick stepped, nervously and cautiously into Evony's office. He knew nothing about her other than she was very powerful, and she might just kill him instantly.
But this was his plan, and he needed see it through. He'd taken a beating for this, after all.
He stopped briefly, taking in the room. The woman behind the desk glared at him, "Can I help you?" She asked, her tone annoyed and impatient.
"I need to see the Morrigan." He said, keeping his voice confident and steady.
She laughed. "Sure. Go right in." She responded, sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
"She'll want to see me, I assure you."
The woman was silent and ignoring him.
"I have information she needs." He was starting to get angry that this woman was ignoring him like he was nothing.
She studied her fingernails, still ignoring him.
"It's about the Fae War." He was offering more information to her than he wanted, but it was imperative that she let him see the Morrigan.
She yawned lazily at him.
"It has to do with Trick's granddaughter, Bo." He wanted nothing more to pound his fist on the desk, to force her to pay attention to him. But he kept his emotions under control, at least for now.
With that, she lifted her head and reached for the phone, calling the Morrigan immediately.
XXXX
Bo and Lauren woke up at the same time. "Bo? What happened?" Lauren lightly caressed her fingertips across the cut on Bo's face.
"I'm fine." Bo reached out and brought Lauren's fingers to her lips, kissing them.
"What about Nick?" Her brow creased turning into a frown.
"He'll live. I just gave him a warning." Her voice was raspy, she was parched and needed some water.
"I still don't understand what happened," Her last words drifted away in sadness. "Why would he do that?"
Bo closed her eyes tightly, she couldn't tell Lauren about what she suspected, even now. She needed evidence. She needed to know for sure that Nick was behind everything.
"I don't know," was all she said, guilt crushing her.
XXXX
The Morrigan glared at Nick drumming her fingertips on the desk. She would wait until the weak little man had his say, then maybe she'd melt him into nothingness.
"Thank you, for seeing me." Nick glanced around the room self-consciously. His heart was racing. The Morrigan was someone who scared him. She could and would do anything.
She narrowed her gaze, intensely. She wanted to intimidate him. Silence was always the best way to make prey squirm.
He cleared his throat, "As you can see I've been attacked." He gestured to his blackened face. "Bo, Trick's granddaughter, attacked me after I found evidence of her connection to some of the murders."
Evony perked up but remained silent.
He pulled out his tablet and laid it on the desk. "I found her DNA on two of the victims." He scrolled through the evidence. "She tried to kill me when I asked her about it." He looked down, trying to appear as innocent and scared as possible. "She only ran away when a lab tech came in. Otherwise, I'd be dead."
Evony, finally, spoke, "Why bring this to me?" Her voice dripping with suspicion, she was no fool. "Why not go to Trick or the other Light Fae leaders?"
He kept his head down. "Do you think Trick would believe anything about his granddaughter? That he would do anything about it?" He raised his head to meet Evony's eyes. "He would kill me, to cover it up."
"Hmm. Maybe." She brought her fingers together and leaned closer to him. "What would a young Fae like Bo get out of starting this war? Killing those woman?"
"She's always been against the Light and Dark system." He saw her body language shift, and he knew he had her. Sheep. He thought. "Starting a war is the best way to dissolve the system. To bring it down."
Evony, abruptly, stood up and held out her hand for Nick. "Welcome to the Dark, Dr. Lewis."
He shook her hand and smiled. "One more thing." He pulled out Henry's flash drive. "My sister was working on something I think you should see."
"You'd turn in your own sister?"
He shrugged, "I'm loyal to the Fae."
She took it and stared at it, "What is it?"
"It appears to be connected to the sick Fae, in some way."
She put her hands on her hips, "And your sister had it? Where'd you really get it?"
"Like I said it's my sisters." He glanced down at the floor, "But, in the end, does it really matter?"
She slanted her head and squinted at him, "I suppose not."
XXXX
It was late as Bo drove passed Lauren's house but she kept driving. There was no way she was taking Lauren back to that house-ever. She drove instead for the Dal. The basement of the Dal had an empty apartment, and Lauren could stay there, for now.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Lauren was unsure if this was a good plan, she was afraid of getting caught.
"I'm not taking you home." She briefly glanced at Lauren, "You'll be safe at Trick's old apartment. You can't go back to that house."
"What about my stuff? I don't have anything to wear." Lauren asked, although she did think wondering about clothes, at that time, was silly, but she needed something to say.
"I'll take care of it. Give me a list of what you need."
Lauren started to play nervously with her bottom lip, "Thank you, Bo."
Bo glanced over at her, "I'd do anything for you."
Lauren smiled sadly, "But I still want to thank you."
They arrived at the Dal after it was closed, and Bo led Lauren down to the empty apartment.
Bo turned on the lights, "It's not so bad here," She smiled at Lauren, who was looking around the room.
"Yeah, it's nice."
"I'll pick you up early before the opener gets here." Bo sat some groceries down on a table.
"You're not staying?" Lauren gave Bo a pained expression that made her eyes fill with tears.
"I can stay for awhile."
Lauren sat down on a chair and put her hands on her lap, and her head fell. "I don't understand what's happening."
Bo joined her on the chair and put her arms around her, "We'll figure something out. All this ugliness will pass, I promise."
Lauren blinked slowly, "You think so?"
"I know it will." Bo squeezed her shoulders.
XXXX
Bo got back to the Dal in the early hours of the morning. She had some of Lauren's things, clothes, her laptop and various things. She'd snuck into the house in the middle of the night. Thankfully, Nick was not there. She wasn't sure he'd leave alive if they met again.
"I got your stuff." She smiled bright, trying to be positive about the situation. "I thought I could buy you breakfast, then…"
"Then I do what all day?" Lauren, on the other hand, was not pretending there was much good in this situation.
"You could go to the library, or…"
Lauren scoffed, "Yes, let me sit in the library, wasting my time learning things I can never use." Lauren felt ashamed taking this out on Bo, but she was so upset she couldn't stop herself.
"I can take you somewhere else." Bo was trying, her best, to be as accommodating as possible, to make it easier on Lauren.
Lauren didn't answer for a long time, but then she did, "No take me to the library, maybe I can watch a movie or sleep or something."
Those words stop Bo cold, she felt speechless and powerless. She hated seeing Lauren like this. This was not like Lauren. Lauren, who loved to learn things and loved the library. The Lauren she knew would gladly spend hours with books without complaining.
They gathered up Lauren's things and headed for the car. Bo wasn't sure when the opener planned on showing up and she wanted to make sure Lauren was gone before that.
Bo parked in front of the library, and Lauren didn't get out at first. "I'm sorry." Lauren whispered softly.
"You don't have to be sorry with me."
Lauren brought her hand up to Bo's cheek and slid it to the back of her neck, bringing her into a kiss.
Lauren kissed Bo like she was trying to consume her with her lips and tongue, and Bo let her.
XXXX
Bo cleaned the tables at the Dal, and she was aching to punch and hit something or someone. But the mindless routine of work did help take her mind off things, a little.
She was also thrilled that it was a slow day. There weren't many customers since this disease, plague or whatever it was started. Everyone was frightened, and the Dal was one of the few places the Light and Dark mixed, so most people stayed away, these days.
She heard two Fae women talking and thought she heard the Lewis name, so she casually made her way over to them to listen in.
She caught them in mid-sentence, "he ran or something."
"What?"
"Or maybe kidnaped. The lab, I hear, was destroyed."
Bo's stomach dropped, Nick was gone. Her mind was frantic, she was sure he was alive when she left. But she couldn't be sure.
"Humans. It's better to not keep them around."
And with that their conversation left Nick and focused on all the wrongs humans do.
XXXX
Lauren laid on one of the couches in the study area of the library. How empty and hollow she now felt being there, before this place always filled her with such hope and excitement. But, she guessed, that was another thing the Fae had taken from her.
But she was bored, not something she was used to, she usually could find so many things to interest her. It would be hours until Bo returned, and she couldn't sleep anymore, she'd slept so much, recently.
She grabbed her book bag and rustled through the contents for something to do. She checked the small pocket of the bag and the flash drive was missing. She frowned and pulled everything out of the bag, looking for it. But it was gone.
She thought through when she last had it and she had a clear memory of putting it back, but now it was gone.
She was unsettled by it being missing but she had a photographic memory and could remember everything that was on it.
So, if she was stuck here all day, she might as well do something, she thought.
She stood up and stretched out and headed to the books, for research.
XXXX
Hours later when Bo picked Lauren up, she had a stack of notes and books with her.
"You've been busy." Bo was relieved to see that Lauren didn't just sit at the library doing nothing. That she'd done what Lauren does and kept busy and took advantage of the library.
Lauren shrugged, "Guess I can't resist the library after all."
After Bo bought Lauren dinner, they went to the woods, to wait until the Dal was closed.
Bo rested her back on a tree, and Lauren leaned back on Bo's body.
"Lauren I have to tell you something." Bo started.
"What?" Lauren buried her head into Bo's stomach and hugged her waist.
"It's about your brother."
Lauren went stiff. "Ok."
"We…I mean I," She paused, "That day I went to the lab, Nick, and I got into a fight."
"I figured." Lauren kept her head resting on Bo. "I don't care. He deserved it."
"Yes, he did." Bo lightly ran her fingers through Lauren's hair. "But now he's missing."
"So?" Lauren's tone lacked any emotion.
"I'm just worried about what that means."
"I hope it means he's dead." She lifted her head to look at Bo, "I didn't mean that…I wouldn't want you to kill someone, I just…"
"It's ok. I know what you meant."
XXXX
Bo dropped Lauren off at the Dal and left early, she said she needed to talk with Trick or Aife.
Lauren was restless and couldn't sleep, so she walked around the apartment. Trick had many volumes of books around, and she was curious, so she started looking through them.
It was all Fae related, but she kept reading.
She found a book on Fae plants and recognized a few from the woods. She smiled remembering meeting Bo for the first time. It felt so long ago and so much had happened since then. At first only her father was gone, but now she had no family left.
She sighed and continued working her way through the different books, reading everything.
XXXX
"Where are you keeping the girl?" Aife asked Bo.
Bo laughed, "Ask your Fae minions. Don't they have a tracking device on her."
"So, you are keeping her somewhere?"
"Like I said, track her down, if you need her."
"What happened between those siblings? He's missing; she's missing."
Bo laughed, again. "Lauren's not missing, but she's not going back to that house."
"Tell me what happened," Aife demanded.
"That's between Lauren and her brother. It's not your business, and I have no idea where Nick is."
Aife stopped, "What did you do?" She crossed her arms. "You did something to that boy."
"No. I didn't."
Trick entered the room and stopped their conversation. "I've gotten word, from one of my contacts, that Nick is with the Morrigan."
"What?" Aife stood quickly, shocked and perplexed.
Bo was silent.
"Yes, he's joined the Dark." Trick stared at Bo. "And there's a bounty on your head now."
AN
From here we are going straight through with only flashbacks until we reach the present. And only 4 or 5 more chapters left until the end.
Thanks for the reviews/comments and reading!