Chapter 9 - Heat

In the conference room, Bo squirmed slightly in her chair when Alex placed the neural implant on the table.

Knowing that she had it in her was one thing. Seeing the actual object right in front of her was quite another.

It was tiny, but at the same time, it looked big.

Bo had a sudden pulsing pain in the back of her head just by looking at the device.

"So…you have no recollection of…when, where or who might have-" Alex asked her politely.

"No," Bo shook her head firmly.

"We think that it's most likely that this device was installed when you were very young. Do you remember a time in your early childhood where…maybe you underwent a surgery of any kind? Or maybe you lost days of memories?"

"No," Bo answered with great frustration.

She tried to remember, before she said, "well…it's not like I remember every single minute of every day when I was young, so ... maybe I did have days of memory loss?"

"Actually, childhood amnesia is very common," the woman who sat right next to Acacia, who had introduced herself as Finola the psychiatrist, spoke. "Most people would have trouble remembering things that happened before the age of 4 and as we grow older, we could forget even more things."

She paused briefly, clasping her hands to place them on the desk. "Do you remember anything when you were before or around the age of 4? Even if it was something that had nothing to do with the device at all?"

Bo clenched her lips as she scanned the people sitting in the room: Acacia, Alex, Rowan, Tamsin and then Finola. "Do I have to answer that question right here right now, in front of all of you?"

Finola smiled. "If you feel more comfortable answering that question in a more private setting, we can certainly arrange that."

Bo let out a sigh. With a shrug she muttered, "of course I remember stuff…things like attending daycare, the mean old lady who lived next door, punching someone in foster care, getting to try the newly opened ice cream shop in town, etc, etc."

She paused briefly, before she added, "but…I guess I don't remember a whole lot. I certainly don't remember any surgery at all."

Finola nodded. "Would you be willing to go through a few hypnosis sessions? It might help."

"Hypnosis? Does that even work?" Bo frowned.

"It can help, sometimes," Finola answered honestly.

"Then…okay, sure, I guess."

"Great, my assistant will reach out to you soon to schedule your first appointment."

Bo nodded with a small smile. Finola's sincerity and caring tone reminded her of Dr. Smith, and it brought a rush of many feelings to her.

"Now, onto the next subject," Acacia announced as she gave Rowan a nod.

Rowan cleared her throat as she started, "I've performed a full panel genealogy analysis and the result was...inconclusive."

"Genealogy analysis?" Bo frowned hard.

Tamsin cleared her throat and leaned over to whisper, "they analyze your DNA so they would figure out what kind of Fylgja you have, like whether it's gonna be a cockroach or a dung beetle or something."

She let out a grin of amusement when Bo shot her a stare.

Acacia knocked on the table to stop the two of them from further bickering.

"The genealogy analyses are rarely inconclusive," the elder woman said.

"Right," Rowan nodded. She then pursed her lips for a while, trying to figure out the best way to explain to everyone. "The analysis method we use is a comparative method. By comparing the subject's DNA to our archived DNA database, we would find similar genetic traits and then from there we could make a fairly accurate prediction of what the subject's spirit companion would be."

Bo frowned a little, for she disliked being referred to as a "subject." She leaned forward and asked, "why is mine inconclusive then?"

Tamsin rolled her eyes. "Ain't that obvious? It's inconclusive because they've dug through the whole database but couldn't find enough genetic traits to make a prediction," she snorted.

"So…what does it mean for me then?" Bo asked.

"Nothing," Tamsin said. "Inconclusive or not, your Fylgja, well, if you'll ever summon one, is going to be the same. Once it's out, we'll all know what it is."

Then, she mouthed the words "dung beetle" to Bo and got a slap on her arm.

Acacia cleared her throat and stared at the two women til both of them stopped provoking the other. She moved her eyes to Bo and said, "I know that you must have a lot of questions and I wish we had answers to all of them, but unfortunately we don't, not yet. I can, however, promise you that we will not stop until we find all the answers. Welcome to Valhalla."

"Ummm, yeah…thanks?" Bo muttered.

"As you may already know, joining Valhalla means you will have to go through training on site."

"Right, yes, of course."

"In order to do that, you'll need to live on Valhalla campus. "

"Yes. I was told that food and housing will be provided at no cost?"

"That is correct," Acacia nodded. "After this meeting, you can get yourself set up in your apartment today. You can get all household essentials at the welcome center in front of the apartment complex."

"Sure…where will I be staying?"

"Valhalla is housing you with Tamsin."

Bo and Tamsin gaped at each other, before they both turned to Acacia and exclaimed, "what?!"

Acacia furrowed her eyebrows at them. "Is there a problem?"

"Yes there's a problem," both of them said simultaneously.

Then, they turned to look at each other, before they, again, spoke at the same time, "why do I have to live with her?!"

"Because I said so," Acacia said simply.

Bo was about to say something, but before she did, Tamsins slammed her hand on Bo's mouth and squeezed to shut her up.

"It's my apartment," Tamsin argued. "Don't I at least have a say on who can or can not live there with me?!"

"First of all, it's not your apartment, Tamsin. That apartment unit, along with all housing on campus, is owned and managed by Valhalla. And second, do you really think it's more appropriate for me to put her into a room with an underage kid instead of you?"

"Or…I can live alone. I'm totally fine with that," Bo suggested. "In fact, I think I'm gonna do better if I live by myself."

"No," Acacia shot her down with a single word. "The living arrangement has already been made."

Bo and Tamsin sighed at the same time. They glanced at each other, and gave each other an eyeroll, before they sighed again.

"You are all dismissed," Acacia waved her hand lazily at them. "Tamsin, a word."

After everyone else had left the room, Tamsin grunted, "I know why you put her in my apartment. You want me to babysit her."

"If that's your choice of word, fine. Yes, I need you to keep an eye on her."

After a brief pause, she added, "she has a lot of secrets."

Tamsin huffed. "She doesn't know anything."

"She doesn't remember anything," Acacia corrected her. "However, sometimes, lost memories can still bleed through. She could remember something important soon."

"Fine, what do you want me to do then? Waterboard her? Cuz that might actually be fun."

"I want you to get close to her. Gain her trust. Make her feel comfortable, so comfortable that she's willing to confide any secret that she might have to you."

"Oh dear God..." Tamsin huffed out a sigh of great frustration.

"Go back to your apartment and help her move, Tamsin," Acacia ordered.

"Fine, fine, fine..." Tamsin grunted before she left the conference room. "I so did not sign up for this..."

"Why do I have to share an apartment with you?" Bo grunted as she carried the package that she had gotten from the welcome center - a set of beddings, a stack of towels, some personal hygiene supplies, etc, all with Valhalla symbol printed on.

"Trust me sweetheart, I don't like this any more than you do," Tamsin bit out as she held the door open for Bo.

Bo took a deep breath as she scanned the entire unit. "I assume I'll just take the empty room?"

"Or, you are more than welcome to sleep on the kitchen floor and see if I care."

Bo put everything on the couch first, before she opened the fridge and got herself a bottle of water. As she sipped it, she let the reality sink in: daunting deaths and mysteries, living in a dorm like she was still in college, having a million questions but not a single answer….

"Well, welcome to Valhalla, roomie," Tamsin gave her a dramatic bow and a fake smile. "Eat my food without my permission, you'll lose a hand. Drink my liquor, you'll lose two. Steal Knut's peanuts, you'll probably lose an eye."

"Nut? Your raven's name is Nut, like in peanut?"

"It's Knut, K-N-U-T, " Tamsin drawled.

The raven hissed at Bo loudly as he stood on top of a bag of peanuts on the kitchen counter. He stabbed Bo with his stares.

Bo rolled her eyes, took her things, went into her room and slammed the door shut.

Two weeks swiftly flew by. Bo, who initially had thought she'd have a hard time getting along with Tamsin, quickly found out that she didn't have much "get along" time with Tamsin at all.

She barely saw Tamsin since the Valkyrie was always out on missions, while she herself had been consumed by Valhalla's new recruit training program.

Today was no different. After hours of running in the field with energetic teens and their free spirited companions, she was shoved into close combat training sessions followed by Einheri related lectures. By the time she got back to her apartment, she had completely turned into a walking corpse.

She managed to microwave herself some food and then took a quick shower.

Plopping into her bed, she fell asleep before her face even hit the pillow.

In darkness and vaguely, a thread of her consciousness noticed something.

A smell, a fresh scent, something...soft and familiar...

It lingered, teasing her nose, brushing against her skin...

Bo opened her eyes briefly, and gasped when she found Tamsin sitting beside her bed.

"What are you doing here?" Bo frowned. "Don't you even know the concept of knocking?"

"I did knock," Tamsin replied. "You were screaming…."

"I was?" Bo muttered as she pulled her face away from her soft pillow.

"Bad dream?"

"I don't...I don't remember..." Bo shook her head, confused and only half awake.

"Hmmm..." Tamsin breathed as she leaned over. Her light eyes glimmered. There was something in those eyes that made Bo hold her breath.

Before she knew it, the Valkyrie's lips were grazing her ear.

Tamsin was whispering something to her. Her sultry voice lit a wildfire inside Bo's body. Her hands…they slid down along the curves of her body, fondling all the right places….

"Tamsin..." Bo moaned, melting in the sudden, overwhelming heat.

She surrendered to those sweet lips and that soft tongue, moaning louder and louder.

A long, satisfied sigh escaped her when the tip of Tamsin's tongue reached her throbbing clit.

Digging her fingers into the Valkyrie's hair, she begged, moaned and gasped, arching towards her lips and her tongue, towards that irresistible peak of pleasure….

With a loud, desperate gasp, Bo woke up and jolted away from the bed.

Holy mother of...okay, that was just a dream. Bo told herself as she tried to calm her pounding heart.

Why on earth would I have dreamed of...that?! She asked herself as she was both ashamed and...very much turned on.

That dream, it was so real...the kisses, the touches, the heated-

STOP! Bo warned herself not to go any deeper. It's just a dream!

With her eyes closed, she took a few deep breaths.

It was then that she noticed something: the air in the room seemed to have stood still.

She listened, but couldn't hear the fans or the A/C unit running. The temperature itself wasn't high, but she found it hard to breathe.

Did someone turn off the A/C? She thought as she got out of the bed.

She went into the living room, where Tamsin sat on the couch reading an old hunting magazine. She noticed Bo and gave Bo a lazy glance.

"Did you turn off the air conditioner or something?" Bo asked.

"Nope, but welcome to the monthly blackout lock down drill."

"What is that?"

"It's a drill, where Valhalla's main power is cut off. The backup generator kicks off for a bit, before it's cut off as well. Then, we will be completely without power for a while, except for the true emergency utilities and communications. During that time, all entrances and exits will be locked. No one comes in or goes out."

"So what do we...do?"

"Once the power is turned off, the emergency communication system-" Tamsin threw her arm out and pointed at a speaker above the front door. "-will scream and give orders that tell us either to stay put, or to go to a certain location or whatever."

Bo nodded and sat down. She was too restless to sit still, so she started to pace in the living absentmindedly.

There was a heat that was bothering her. It wasn't from anything around her. It was from inside of her. It made her thirsty and anxious.

She grabbed herself a bottle of cold water and downed it. It didn't quench her thirst, so she took another one and finished it.

Now her stomach was filled with icy cold water, yet her throat was still parched.

As she reached for her third bottle, Tamsin moved her eyes away from the magazine and frowned at her. "It's only been five minutes and you've downed two bottles already. Are you on something?"

Bo didn't answer her, for her throat was too dry and her heart was pounding too fast. She took a sip from the bottle but couldn't swallow - the taste, and the mere thought of swallowing, made her gag. She put the water bottle down and admitted, "I'm just feeling a bit warm for some reason. I guess I'll go grab a shower. I can still take showers, right?"

"Yes you can. Only cold showers, though."

That might just be what I need right now. Bo thought as she rushed to the shower.

Fifteen minutes in and Bo realized in great frustration that while the cold shower did make her shiver, it could not tame the heat.

She came out of the shower with clattering teeth, and the heat had become unbearable.

"I don't feel so good..." she said to Tamsin, panting.

"If it's life threatening, please go to the nearest ER. If it's contagious, do not touch any of my stuff and stay at least 6 feet away from me," Tamsin, who was now playing a game on her cell phone, replied without even looking at her.

Bo wasn't listening to her, though. She could barely focus on anything right now. The heat was tearing her apart. Everything inside her, whether it was her heart or her stomach, was clenching.

She paced frantically and panted, and that finally got Tamsin's attention.

The Valkyrie stared at her for a few seconds, before she put down her phone and asked, "do you feel hot?"

"Mhm," Bo nodded.

"Nausea?"

"Yeah..."

"Heart beating really fast?"

"Yeah. What's wrong with me?"

Tamsin approached her without saying anything. She raised one arm briefly, attempting to wrap it over Bo's shoulder, but found it a bit awkward.

"Turn around," she ordered.

"Why?"

"Just do it, will ya?"

Bo turned to face away from Tamsin. She had to bite down on her lip hard when Tamsin slid her finger along the back of her ear to push her hair locks to the side.

She had never thought a simple touch like that could feel this good.

A soft moan escaped her when Tamsin eventually pressed the back of her hand against the back of her neck to feel the temperature of that spot.

Suddenly, the memory of her wet dream hit her. It was then that she finally understood why she had such an intense heat inside her. Not only did she figure out what that heat was, she also knew very well how to make it go away….

Before she knew it, she turned around and held the blonde by her waist. Pressing her body hard against Tamsin's, she leaned in and kissed her.

"Bo," Tamsin pulled away slightly. "Stop."

Bo didn't listen. Instead, she cupped her face and ghosted her lips over Tamsin's. Slowly, she let her hands slide down, along her neck, her shoulder, then the side of her body….

Tamsin cussed and grabbed Bo's shoulders firmly to push her away. She held Bo's face and forced her to look at her. "Bo, stop."

Bo stared back, confused, frustrated and a little hurt.

Tamsin sighed. "You are not sick, Bo. It's just bonding heat."

"Bonding...what?" Bo asked absentmindedly as she allowed her eyes to wander from Tamsin's soft, moist lips to her cleavage...

"Bonding heat," Tamsin bit out. "It means you are horny!"

Bo swallowed hard, feeling quite embarrassed now, but she was too turned on to stop. She attempted to kiss Tamsin again, before she was pushed away and pinned to the couch.

"Damn it! I completely forgot that they don't teach this shit at the new recruits training sessions because it would still be a few years before those damn teenagers would experience their bonding heat," Tamsin explained as she rushed to the fridge in the kitchen.

She took out a small pouch that was about the size of a pencil case. From that she took out an injection pen.

She returned to the couch and held Bo's left arm firmly. Before Bo could protest, she gave Bo an injection on her arm.

"Ouch..." Bo complained as she rubbed her arm - it felt like a bee sting.

It surprised her that, only after a few minutes, that unbearable heat inside her was gone completely.

"What just...happened?" She asked.

Instead of answering her, Tamsin pulled out a thick pamphlet from under the coffee table and tossed it to Bo. "Page 34."

Bo hesitantly flipped to that page and started to read. She was shocked (and somewhat relieved) that, according to the pamphlet, every Einheri would go through bonding heat cycles where a specific pheromone (referred to as bonding pheromone) in their bodies would surge and they would have an irresistible sexual drive. However, just having sex with random people would not "scratch that itch". The bonding heat could only be taken care of by a pheromone blocker shot, or a Valkyrie.

"So every once in a while, I'm gonna be like...like this?!"

"Yep."

"And I have to take those shots if I'm...having this bonding heat?"

"Yep."

"What would happen if I...don't take the shots?"

"Ninety percent of the time, nothing, other than being really, really horny and wanting to fuck every single person you see for a couple of days. Then, the pheromone level drops back to normal and you are good as new."

"What about the other five percent then?"

"The other five percent are deadly," Tamsin warned her. "The bonding pheromone spike becomes too high and it triggers a lot of neural system responses which eventually leads to a zone out."

"Zone out? Wait...zone out, someone explained that in the class a few days ago. That's when you...when you become so hyper focused to the point that your brain just...shuts down on everything else, right?"

Tamsin nodded. "Yes, when that happens, your mind is basically trapped in the spirit dimension forever. That shit is no joke. You'll be in your la la land inside, while on the outside, you are a hospital down the road has a room full of zoned out Einherjar on life support."

She handed Bo the pen pouch. "You need to have this with you at all times, especially when you are away from Valhalla campus."

Bo nodded along and pondered for a while, before something occurred to her. "Why can't I-I mean, why can't an Einheri just do it with a Valkyrie then?"

Tamsin gave her a big eye roll. "Page 37."

Bo flipped to page 37. "The bond between an Einheri and a Valkyrie is the most sacred," she read. "because once formed, the bond can not be broken. The Einheri/Valkyrie bond can only be formed when both parties experience bonding heat and-"

She gasped and exclaimed, "reach an orgasm?!"

She cleared her throat and kept reading, "during an orgasm, each party would release a unique marking chemical which is then absorbed through skin and mucus membrane. Such marking chemicals will permanently mark the other party's neuron cells in their brain, thus forming the unbreakable bond."

Bo stared at Tamsin, then the pamphlet. "So, if we-I mean, if an Einheri and a Valkyrie...do it, they are just gonna be-like, what does unbreakable even mean?"

"It means, once they bond, they bond forever. Not even death can take that bond away. If one of them dies, the other will become zoned out immediately and they can not be guided out."

"Guided out?" Bo frowned.

"Sometimes, if an Einheri is zoned out, a Valkyrie can guide them out."

"So there is a solution to this zone out thing?"

"Barely. It's like...when someone's zoned out, their mind is...on auto piloting mode. It automatically attacks anyone who enters."

"Who enters…where?"

"Their mind."

Bo blinked a few times, before she asked, "okay, what now?"

Tamsin huffed out a frustrated sigh. "You are trapped inside your own mind, and your mind is like a labyrinth. In order to guide you out, the Valkyrie has to go in and find you first, while fending off attacks from the spirit dimension monsters in that labyrinth. Do you get it now?"

"How can a Valkyrie enter my mind?"

"It's complicated and it's a Valkyrie ability. Anyway, do not get yourself zoned out."

Bo nodded. "I'll make sure to have shots then, and no random hookups with any Valkyries…."

Tamsin snorted. "Like any Valkyrie would want to hook up with you..." she grunted. "Besides, Valhalla has a strict policy against random Einheri/Valkyrie hookups."

"Valhalla dictates my sex life?!"

"Valhalla dictates random Einheri/Valkyrie bonding," Tamsin explained. "Because the bond can not be broken, and also because...the bond would grant both sides a huge boost to their powers, Valhalla just wants to make sure that the two are compatible in every way before forming that bond."

"How do they know if they are compatible or not?"

"It's based on physical and mental capabilities, also the types of Fylgja they have, they have a whole-"

She was cut off by the sudden blackout. The only thing that was lit right now was the small, red LED light on the speaker.

The red light started to flash. Shortly after that, a computerized voice came through the speaker. "Unit 233, please remain inside your unit."

"Great, looks like we are gonna sit this one out," Tamsin put her hands under the back of her head and lay down on the couch.

Both of them went into complete silence. With the lights off and the air standing still, the silence quickly became awkward.

Bo desperately wanted to talk, since the darkness and the silence kept reminding her of that dream, and the fact that Tamsin was only a couple of feet away from her did not help at all.

However, she wondered if any topics regarding bonding, or bonding heat, would be appropriate at this moment, since the vivid touches in her dream still lingered.

Also lingered was her bonding heat, making her want things that she didn't think she should.

Eventually, she came up with an excuse and rushed back to her room, for she had to escape, not from the darkness, not from the awkwardness, but from that vague scent in the air.

It might be Tamsin's perfume, or maybe her shampoo or body lotion. Or, it might just be…her.

A/N: Finally some "Valkubus sex". There will be more in later chapters!