Chapter 5: Stay the Night
"Are you okay?"
Dyson's hand on her shoulder startled Lauren from her absent stare. Her first impulse was to shove him away, but then she thought better of it.
"Oh that's just great. Some bitch chi-raped my best friend, and you want to know if she's okay?" Indignant, Kenzi stamped her boot against the aged hardwood floor. Lauren met her gaze evenly, accepting the rage she suspected had been quietly building for a while now. If eyeliner could kill…
"You just stood there!"
Lauren had no argument with which to defend herself, and her fellow human didn't intend to wait for one anyway, cursing as she moved between the kitchen island and the tattered, overstuffed couch towards the stairs. Lauren was tempted to leave now that she knew Bo was safe, but Dyson blocked her retreat, planting himself between her and the door.
"I couldn't help her, Dyson," her voice sounded strained to her own ears, full of fear and shame.
"There was nothing you could do." He wouldn't be so damned calm about it if he were the one who had to watch someone hurt Bo, and then use her pain to force a feed.
The sound of raised voices filtered down from the second floor, not so loud that Lauren could make out what was said, but Dyson's expression was enough indication. Physically Bo was fine, she mentally reassured herself, and if anyone could handle Bo in a fit of anger and self-hatred, it was Kenzi. The petite girl could take whatever Bo gave and sling it right back at her, make her feel normal.
Lauren understood the maneuver that had taken place in the Ash's courtyard. The Valkyrie had proved Bo's unique gifts an ineffective defense, and demonstrated that the strength of an ancient could even use them against her. In that moment, she had stripped Bo of her choice, reversing the power dynamic of a situation in which the succubus was naturally the aggressor and normally in direct, complete control.
Knowing Bo, whose constant battle was for control – of her abilities, her allegiances, her identity - it seemed beyond power games to Lauren, perhaps because she struggled toward similar ends. No, it was violation, plain and simple.
"You would have fought the Valkyrie, regardless."
"You're right, I would have." With a heavy sigh, Dyson propped his elbows on the counter. "And neither of us would have made it out of the compound alive, much less gotten Bo back home, safe in her bed." Lauren wondered how much that cost his pride to admit. "She'll be fine. And Kenzi, she just-"
Somewhere upstairs a door slammed on its hinges. So much for the in her bed part.
"Yeah, I get it." And she did. Lauren understood feeling helpless.
They left it at that, settling into a chilly, familiar distance, tension edged with jealousy and chronic resentment between them. Lauren made coffee while Dyson filled her in on Kenzi's run-in with Aoife. Any other day, she would have been shocked speechless to learn that Bo's mother was somehow still alive, much less reaching out to her daughter after what had happened between them. Instead, she felt drained, the last dregs of adrenaline long gone, her tired mind more focused on the groaning sound the house's outdated plumbing made as water was piped to the shower upstairs.
"It makes you wonder what else we don't know about their lives," she said softly, grateful for the warmth seeping through the ceramic barrier of her coffee mug and into her hands.
"I was kind of relieved." Dyson looked about as invested in the conversation as Lauren, more focused on the movements of their friends on the second floor. She envied his superior hearing.
"This means that a homicide case I've been trying to keep out of your office all week can finally move forward. I knew it wasn't Bo."
Lauren thought of the fae behind the Dál, and wasn't so sure. A succubus victim complicated matters. "I still think you should be discreet in your investigation, for Bo's sake. If the Council caught wind that Aoife still lives, Bo could be in a lot more trouble than she is already."
Dyson raised an eyebrow. "And the Hunt might be postponed for the Council's protection, giving us more time to prepare. Or did that even cross your mind?"
Lauren tensed and fixed the wolf with a burning stare. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"That I'm not convinced Bo's interests are your primary concern."
She wished that she had the energy to be angry just then. "I didn't put Bo up to risking her life, making a spectacle of herself. If I could stop it, I would," she said in the calmest, most sincere tone she could conjure.
Dyson considered her silently for a long moment. Whatever internal test he was subjecting her to, she must have passed, because he finally nodded and refilled his cup.
Swallowing every last fragment of pride she had, she asked one last question. "Will you be there with her?"
"I'm always with her."
Lauren finished her coffee and exited the shack. There was really nothing more to be said.
Dyson finished off the carafe and refilled it, listening intently. Bo was describing the taste of the Valkyrie, syrupy, biting, and harder than everclear. She sounded drunk and angry. Good, he thought, strong emotion would help her survive. The water noises of the shower drowned out the rest as she calmed down enough to lower her voice.
He pulled out his cell phone and punched the speed dial for Trick. Voicemail.
"Call me. Actually, scratch that, I'll be at the Dál in half an hour. I have new info. The Black Thorn is using the Hunt to kill Bo," he paused while true panic lit through for the first time since regaining his love, savoring his ability to feel, scared out of his mind, "and then bring her back."
Two days later, Light fae security detail came for Bo, and Lauren started packing.
Humans weren't allowed at the Gala, even though Kenzi made a colorful, if not very convincing case for inclusion. The festivities took place the evening before the Hunt, a bacchic display disguised by white ties and intrigue, much finery and backstabbing.
Hale inserted himself into the drama again, much to his parent's delight. The siren's lineage practically guaranteed his candidacy. The three of them – Bo, Dyson, and Hale – together in the forest might actually stand a chance at defending against the other two contenders until Bo reached the bell, made her statement, and secured her freedom for a bit longer. Until the next challenge.
That night, Bo was housed in an isolated holding chamber beneath the Ash's compound, a dungeon with which Lauren was intimately familiar. It was child's play to grab her access keys from her soon-to-be former office after hours, as well as the two remaining vials of Bo's blood, sealed with vampire anticoagulant, before stepping through the sliding glass doors a final time.
The lighting was dim in the long hallway past the first room of cells, creating shadows that followed her over the chipped paint of what were once white walls. The lack of guards, cameras, or other obvious surveillance concerned her, but it was entirely possible that invisible creatures had monitored her movements in the compound every day for the last five years, the thought of which made her skin crawl. Fully expecting to be stopped at any moment, she straightened her shoulders and continued through the next winding passage. Lauren refused to be ashamed of this – her last night with Bo.
Indeed, her last few hours in the world of the fae.
She finally found the correct iron access gate at the end of a tributary hall off the lower corridor and down three flights of stone stairs. This part of the dungeon was older than the upper floors, no electric admission or sliding bar doors, just a sheet of metal on hinges set in natural bedrock. Her digital access key was of no use here. She could hear someone pacing inside, high heels making muffled clicks on the floor.
Lauren pulled another key from her pocket. The copper grooves ground against the aged lock with a rattle. The footsteps stopped. She took a deep breath and pulled open the door.
Bo was still in formal wear, draped in lengths of dark silk and covered in jewels, looking ridiculously out of place in the windowless room, empty but for a bed set along one wall and a latrine opposite. Bare shoulders and the glimpse of a slit in the side seam distracted Lauren, her suddenly unsteady hands fumbling to extract the key from the lock.
"You came," Bo flashed her a brilliant smile, which faltered slightly when the doctor didn't immediately respond. "Don't look so surprised. Who else were you expecting?"
"Sorry, I...my God, Bo, you're gorgeous."
"You like?" she said in a low voice that resonated in the small space, and did a slow turn. The gown rippled to the floor in delicate folds, clinging in all the right places. Lauren felt her throat go dry.
The heavy door slipped shut with a quiet thud. Bo didn't advance on her immediately, just stood there awkwardly in her expensive dress, hesitant and conflicted and sexy.
"How did you snag a key?"
Lauren swallowed hard and looked away. "It's mine. The old Ash knew that I would never leave, that I needed the fae a hell of a lot more than they needed me. But now that Nadia's…well, let's just say that the leverage isn't the same."
She heard Bo clear her throat. Lauren hated that Bo still felt guilty about Nadia, almost as much as she hated herself for still blaming her.
"The party's still going strong upstairs. Kenzi and Hale hacked the camera feeds around your apartment. They're set to loop the same thirty seconds of empty hallway until noon tomorrow, just to be safe.
"It isn't much, obviously" she gestured to their surroundings, "But you could stay-"
"Bo."
Lauren interrupted because she didn't want to hear the invitation amended with 'for tonight,' or 'until they come for me.' She couldn't face the reality of walking out that door just yet, of walking away from Bo and this world forever when she wasn't sure that she truly wanted to leave.
"Yes?"
There wasn't enough time for all that. And they were wasting what little they had.
"Shut up."
It was desperate, fast, and the bed was really only made for one.
Everywhere Bo touched felt like electricity licking across Lauren's nerve endings, and her muscles clenched in anticipation. A thigh slid between her own, and she sighed, luxuriating in the feel of smooth skin as the succubus stretched and settled to lie pressed against her.
She imagined she saw magic glow between Bo's fingers as they traced down her body. She certainly felt it, a storm of micro impulses that made her heart flutter and her hands shake.
"Why did you stay after we killed the Garuda?" The question was whispered into her hair.
"Well, there's the five year resume gap that I can't possibly explain." She tried for sarcasm, but the tone was all wrong.
"No, really."
"Bo," Lauren sighed, "You know why."
She felt Bo tense and go unnaturally still. When she spoke, her voice was dark and low, edgy. "After everything, after Nadia, I don't expect anything from you. I don't expect you to love me."
Lauren framed her face in her hands, drawn to that vicious blue gaze, unguarded and hungry. "I know," she raised herself to kiss Bo's lower lip and felt it quiver, "But I can't help it."
It wasn't enough and she wished that she could just say the words. Instead, she rolled her hips and kissed Bo again, coaxing her gently back to the present, making the most of those last quiet moments.
Her breath hitched, rushed out, and Lauren felt a pull from the center of her being, her very soul expanding to meet Bo's need in raw, agonizing heat. In no way a true feed, it was just a sip, a taste. She grasped her lover's hand and laced their fingers, anchoring herself. Corposant discharge ionized the air molecules in the space between them, creating a radiant, starry blue energy that flowed from her to Bo. It was a brief, intense connection, heady and perfect.
Lauren left a few hours before dawn. As she redressed, she tossed her small copper key onto the bed near the succubus. Even in the dim light, Bo's skin fairly glowed with a healthy flush.
"Keep it. In case you change your mind." She said hopefully, even though she knew better.
"Thank you, for everything."
As she navigated the long twisting halls and vaulted chambers a second time, it crossed her mind that had she left immediately she could have been half-way to the border already. She decided she didn't care.
Hello again. Sorry for the long gap in between chapters. I wasn't very happy with chapter 4. Now that season three is airing, Energy is officially AU, and this chapter is sort of a recap/filler to gauge continued interest after all this time. Also, I'm trying to be more careful about pronouns (thanks, Narcis7). As always, feedback is really awesome. I appreciate every review, pm, and follower. Cheers, -Picc.