Serena's businesslike attitude persisted as she led Dyson through the halls of the compound, which was fine with him. Only when they reached the door leading into the council chamber did she turn to look at him again and offer a quiet, "Good luck."

He showed his gratitude with a brief nod before proceeding into the chamber alone. The last time he had been in this room, every seat at the long table had been filled; now there were several empty chairs, most notably the one at the head of the table that should have been occupied by the Ash. No news had reached Dyson in his cell, but his heart sank at this visual confirmation that the Light Fae were still without a leader.

He didn't have long to ponder the disasters that could ensue if this power vacuum was left unfilled too long, however, as the next highest-ranking council member addressed him almost immediately. "Dyson, welcome. Our sincerest apologies that you were forced to wait so long to speak with us. We regret that these difficult circumstances did not allow us to show the consideration your years of valuable service to the Ash deserve."

It was a not-so-subtle attempt at reminding him where his loyalties ought to lie, coupled with what he suspected was a blatant falsehood – he was fairly certain they could have made time for him sooner, since the investigation into Aife's attack on their headquarters and who else might have had a hand in it should be their top priority – but he forced himself not to react. Bowing his head in response, he said politely, "I'm at the council's disposal."

"Good." It was another member who spoke this time, her brusque tone indicating that she was just as impatient with this whole thing as he was, except that unlike Dyson, she was at liberty to show it. "Let's get this over with. Now, we understand that it's been a while since the events in question transpired, so in order to expedite the process, we've brought in a luduan to help you recall any details you may have forgotten. This way, we can be sure we're getting the whole truth in one session so we won't have to trouble you again."

The sharp edge in the elder's smile only made Dyson bristle more – again, they were pretending to be helpful and considerate, yet bringing in a fae who could compel people to speak the truth clearly implied that they didn't trust him – but of course there was nothing he could do as the luduan sauntered into the room and took a seat a little apart from the council, facing him.

Satisfied with his lack of protest, the one who had temporarily assumed the Ash's role as spokesperson said, "Let's begin with the day Aife first made her presence in the city known. How did the unaligned succubus react when she learned her mother was attempting to start a war between our clans?"

"Unless she already knew," another jumped in. "Would you say she seemed surprised to hear of the perpetrator's identity? After all, with your years of experience in law enforcement, surely you can tell when a suspect is feigning ignorance, yes?"

On and on it went for more than five hours, the council relentlessly grilling him over whether Bo had ever given the smallest sign of having been in league with Aife even though he consistently stated that she hadn't even known who her mother was until Aife's schemes were already in motion. They kept coming back to the day Aife launched her attacks in particular, insisting on repeated, minutely detailed accounts of everything Bo had said and done during that time, whether she had shown even a split second's sympathy for her mother's vendetta after hearing the truth about what Aife had suffered at the Dark king's hand (if she truly hadn't known of it before).

At last, after Dyson had told the same story for the umpteenth time without deviating from his initial statements in the slightest and the luduan declared that he was being truthful, he dared to hope they might be finished with him, but those hopes were dashed when one of the council members held up a finger to stay the spokesperson from dismissing him.

"I just have one more question. You've admitted to having grown very…close to the unaligned succubus during her stay in our city, correct?"

"You could say that."

At that, the luduan leaned forward, eyes lighting up with interest as she tapped her long nails on the table. "Now you're holding something back. What is your true relationship with Bo Dennis?"

With a twist of her hand, the words were wrung from Dyson against his will. "Bo is my mate, my imprint. I love her."

The council members straightened in their seats, and the looks of naked eagerness on some of their faces sent an uneasy shiver up his spine. "The bond between a shifter and their imprint runs deep, doesn't it? Deep enough that you would lie for her?"

When he didn't answer, the man who had asked the question nodded at the luduan, who once again forced him to speak. "Of course I would lie for Bo! I'd do anything to protect her!"

"There, you see?" The woman who had spoken to Dyson at the beginning of his interrogation, the one whose smile seemed full of daggers, turned to the ranking member with a look of triumph, but before she could say anything more, the luduan interrupted with a question of her own.

"Wait. The wolf told the truth when he said he would lie for his mate, but so far he hasn't. Have you?" Another twist of her hand, though this time Dyson was perfectly willing to answer her.

"No."

The luduan shrugged and turned to face the council. "Well, it looks like the succubus is innocent after all. I've gotten all the truth out of this one he has to tell." She stood up and, when no one made a move to stop her, walked out.

Dyson waited a moment, taking note of which council members appeared most disappointed by her verdict, before asking, "Is there anything else I can do for the council today?"

The spokesperson glanced up with a mildly surprised expression, as if they'd forgotten Dyson was there, and waved him off with a dismissive gesture. "No, you're free to go."

"Thank you." He left the room quickly, before they could change their minds. On his way out, he found Serena standing guard outside the door. "I guess you heard everything." So now you know I was right about Bo. He didn't say that part out loud so as not to rub it in too much, but it was clearly implied by his I-told-you-so tone of voice.

Serena frowned at him. "I hope you're not suggesting that I use my position to eavesdrop on council meetings…but yes, I heard." Her frown deepened as she shook her head. "Don't get complacent, Dyson. The succubus may have dodged another bullet, but if even half of what I've heard about her is true, she's not the kind of person who can stay out of trouble for long. Sooner or later her luck is going to run out."

###

After leaving the Light Fae compound, Dyson headed straight to the Dal, where Trick greeted him with obvious relief, as well as regret. "I'm sorry I couldn't pull any strings to get you out of there sooner. I tried, but the council knows I've grown close to Bo, so they kept me at a distance on this matter."

"It's fine; I know you would've helped if you could. All that matters is that they weren't able to dig up a pretext for going after Bo."

"That is good news," Trick agreed with a smile.

"Now that I'm out," Dyson continued, "I need to know where she went."

At that, Trick's smile took on a knowing edge. He wasn't surprised in the least; from what he'd heard (though clearly he shouldn't have taken every word as gospel) a shifter would follow their imprint to the ends of the earth. "Good luck," he said earnestly, after telling Dyson where he could find her. "I hope things work out for the two of you, truly."

Dyson thanked him for the good wishes, though in truth, he wasn't sure if he should still hold out hope for that or not; maybe he had hurt Bo too badly, or maybe his chance had slipped away while he was locked up in that cell. For all he knew, Bo might have found someone new in this town she'd gone to, Forks. Still, he was determined to be by her side in whatever way she would allow, whether as her mate, an occasional lover, or just a friend…just in case Serena was right, and more trouble did eventually find her. If that happened, he silently vowed that she wouldn't have to face it alone.

###

Back in Forks, the Swans and their guests had gathered around the table to enjoy the results of Bella's hard work – most of it, anyway. Everyone raved about her pork tenderloin and scalloped potatoes while razzing her good-naturedly when she admitted to having bought the French bread at a bakery rather than making it herself, though they all agreed it was a good choice, but her inclusion of chilled cucumber soup and asparagus in the menu was received somewhat less enthusiastically, mainly by Kenzi and Jacob.

"You're a really good cook," Kenzi commented, swallowing quickly so as to avoid talking with her mouth full. "I could've used you during my, uh, brief venture into the culinary arts…" Remembering that Charlie was still a cop, even if he didn't look like one at the moment, she caught herself just in time to edit out the part where this venture had been one of her many cons, in which she'd pretended to be a gourmet chef in order to sneak into high society events and rob the attendees blind. "But seriously, what's with all the fancy veggies? Is making a good old-fashioned burger and fries beneath you or something?"

Though he didn't say anything, the expression on Jacob's face as he poked at his asparagus seemed to suggest that he also would have preferred a burger and fries.

"Sure, I can do burgers," Bella responded, seemingly taking Kenzi's jibe as a challenge. "Come back sometime, and I'll make you one that'll knock your socks off."

"Really?" Kenzi's dark eyebrows, which stood in stark contrast to her blonde wig, rose. "I should warn you, my socks aren't easily knocked. Sure you're up for it?"

Bella stared hard at her, for once wishing she had Edward's talent for reading minds; the look Kenzi was giving her seemed to suggest that the other girl was questioning her ability to measure up in more than just her culinary skills, but she had no idea what else she might be getting judged on. Whatever it was, she hoped her sister's best friend wasn't trying to set up some sort of rivalry between them.

Bo, who had already heard Kenzi voice doubts about Bella's adequacy in other areas besides the kitchen, laid a hand on her arm in a silent request for her to dial it down a touch while saying, "Bella, didn't you mention something about dessert earlier?"

With an effort, Bella dragged her gaze away from Kenzi's startlingly piercing silvery eyes and made herself focus on Bo instead. "Yes, I did. I hope no one objects to chocolate chiffon pie."

Kenzi conceded that anything chocolate was fine with her, and just like that the tension was broken – though Jacob, whose eyes had darted back and forth between the two girls like he was watching a tennis match while they faced off across the table, still found himself wishing he hadn't taken a seat on the side perpendicular to theirs, which essentially put him right between them.

###

Later, after all the food was gone and everyone had drifted back to the living room for some post-dinner chatter, Bo eventually slipped away from Charlie and Billy when their topic of conversation segued from her to the latest sporting event and joined Bella in the kitchen. "Need a hand with those dishes?"

"No thanks, I'm almost done; just need to rinse the rest of these plates and put them in the dishwasher." Bella carried on with her work in silence for a moment before saying, "Kenzi isn't my biggest fan, is she?"

"Well, I wouldn't say she dislikes you. Your pie won major points with her." When Bella just looked skeptically at her, Bo abandoned the effort at glossing over her best friend's sometimes less than subtle attitude with a sigh. "I guess there is a certain tension here – I mean, Kenzi's been the only woman in my life for a while except for Lauren, but that was different because it's always been strictly platonic between me and Kenzi, so there was no reason for her to be jealous of whoever I dated. And you're like me; looking back, I think Kenzi felt a little threatened the first time I met another succubus, until she turned out to be A) crazy and B) our mother posing as Saskia. Now here you are…my sister. I didn't realize it at first because it sounds so ridiculous, but maybe Kenzi's worried about being replaced."

"It is ridiculous," Bella agreed as she added detergent to the dishwasher, closed it and pressed the button to start it, then turned to face Bo. "I want to get to know you and I hope we can, you know, be sisters, but I know you and Kenzi have history that I'm not a part of. Besides, I don't think I could take her place if I tried; I mean, look at me. I'm nothing like her."

Bo frowned at her self-deprecating tone. "No, you're not, but that doesn't mean either of you is better or worse than the other. It just means you both mean something different to me."

"Thanks." Bella gave her a small smile, but it quickly disappeared. "I just hope she doesn't try to start some weird pseudo-sibling rivalry with me. There are some girls at school that I think got jealous because, well…" She ducked her head self-consciously. "When I first moved here, a lot of guys were…interested…which honestly freaked me out, because in Phoenix I was basically invisible to the opposite sex- Why are you laughing?"

"Sorry. It's just that the same thing happened to me when I was your age; I was a mess, and not even a hot one, until I was around sixteen or seventeen, then suddenly I had guys hanging around my locker every day. I think that's when our succubus mojo started kicking in."

Bella tried to picture the stunning, self-assured woman in front of her as an awkward teen, but somehow the image wouldn't coalesce in her mind, so she gave up almost immediately. "You mean I've been unconsciously leaking succubus pheromones all over a bunch of poor, unsuspecting humans? I thought it was just the 'shiny new toy' effect… Anyway, it was easy enough to avoid or ignore the girls who got upset over it, but I can't avoid or ignore Kenzi."

"Well, I'm glad you don't want to. I love her, but she can be kind of a lot sometimes, especially if you're more on the introverted side." When Bella gave a rueful half-smile that was almost closer to a grimace and nodded in acknowledgment that yes, she was an introvert and occasionally did find Kenzi's exuberance overwhelming, Bo shrugged and said, "I wish I could tell you the secret to Kenzi whispering, but the best advice I have is to just give her time to warm up to you. When she does, I promise she'll be the greatest friend you could ask for."

Deciding not to debate that, Bella moved on to another topic. "There's something else I wanted to ask you about. When we were talking to Jacob tonight, did it ever look to you like he was, well…glowing?"

"I wondered if you would notice that," Bo replied with a knowing look. "Tell me, when did you see this glow around him?"

"Mostly when he was talking to me, although I think there were a few flickers when he looked at you and Kenzi too."

"Yeah, I caught that too. Succubi can sense when a person's attracted to someone, so what you saw was Jacob's sexual aura – basically, the more turned on someone is, the brighter their aura, and teenage boys will usually feel at least some interest in any moderately attractive person who fits their orientation. At that age, you really can't blame them. I'm not surprised that he checked me and Kenzi out, but the way he lit up like a Christmas tree around you… I think you have an admirer."

Judging by her playful tone, Bo seemed to think this was a good thing, or at least not bad, but Bella let out a little groan of dismay and buried her face in her hands. "Oh no, this is all my fault. Back when I was still trying to figure out what Edward was, I went to a beach at La Push with some friends from school, and one of the Quileute guys that met us there made a comment about the Cullens, like he knew something about them we didn't. I wanted to know more, so I got Jacob alone and got him to tell me what he thought were just the tribe's legends about vampires…by flirting with him," she confessed in an embarrassed whisper.

"You put the whammy on him before you had actual powers to work with?" Bo asked, sounding impressed. "Nice."

"No, not nice! It was nothing like what you did with that waitress, where your hands glowed and everything, but I still manipulated him because I wanted to find out more about Edward. He's the one I was interested in, the only one I've ever been interested in, but I really do like Jacob as a friend, so the last thing I wanted was to make him develop a crush on me! Of course, I didn't know about my latent supernatural seduction skills at the time. Bo, you have to help me get a handle on this. I can't be going around making people fall in love with me all willy-nilly!"

"Well, it's not like we can choose not to be our gorgeous selves or control who decides they're into us any more than a regular person can," Bo said reasonably, though not unsympathetically, "but I'm happy to teach you everything I know about what we can do. You have school tomorrow, though, don't you?"

"Ugh, yes. With everything that's been going on, I've missed so much that even with Edward helping me, I'll be lucky if I don't end up having to go to summer school."

"Then while you're there, you can work on learning to read auras – what better place to hone your ability to sense sexual energy than a hotbed of teenage hormones?"

###

At the same time that Bo and Bella were discussing Jacob's aura, he and his father were discussing them while driving home to La Push – or rather, Jacob was talking about how weird it was that Bella had a sister, although Bo and her friend seemed perfectly nice, while Billy listened with a steadily deepening frown before finally cutting him off.

"Tread carefully around Bo Dennis, Jacob."

"What?" He shot a startled glance over at his father, half-expecting to see a glint of humor in the older man's eyes that would tell him he was just kidding, but his expression was dead serious. "Why?"

"Do you remember how, when I taught you the history of our people, I also said there are other things out there besides wolf-shifters like us and the cold ones we defend our territory against?"

"Yeah, but so what? You told me the whole reason our tribe settled in such an isolated place is so we can live in peace with humans, because there are no other fae here except the Cullens, if they even count."

"There were no other fae here," Billy corrected him, "until now."

This statement earned him another startled look, this time accompanied by an involuntary jerk of Jacob's hand that caused the car they had borrowed from Harry Clearwater for their drive up to Forks to swerve a little before Jacob quickly straightened it. "Wha-? Are you talking about Bella's sister?"

Billy nodded grimly. "I was one of the few people who knew Bella was adopted, and I always thought there was something very strange about the story Charlie told me. When Renée left and took Bella with her, and then a few years later she stopped coming here altogether, I tried to put it out of my mind – until she came back. Seeing her and her sister tonight only confirmed what I've always suspected. I didn't recognize their scent, but they definitely aren't human."

Jacob frowned as he recalled the sweet, alluring aroma that had seemed not just to hang around Bella, but to emanate from her despite her insistence that she wasn't wearing perfume; since he hadn't shifted yet, his nose wasn't as sensitive as his father's, nor did he have a mature wolf's instincts for interpreting what he smelled, but he was pretty sure the scent wafting off of Bo had been even stronger. "They? So Bella's…"

"Her true nature has manifested, but whatever powers she may have are still new and undeveloped. She probably doesn't have full control of them yet, so you should be careful of her too."

Jacob was silent for several minutes as he digested this; the news that a new, unknown type of fae had come to Forks was hard enough to take in on its own, never mind the fact that his friend and potential crush was one of them.

"Well," he said at last, "at least we don't have to worry about those bloodsuckers claiming her." His fingers clenched on the steering wheel as he thought of how he'd tried to warn Bella away from them, though of course he had to pretend his story about the cold ones was just an old legend, because outright telling her about the supernatural creatures who lived alongside humans would either spell her death or force him to claim her himself, a custom his pack regarded as archaic and vaguely barbaric. Still, he'd hoped the tale might spook her enough to make her rethink hanging out with them. Obviously it hadn't worked, since the next thing he heard was that she was actually dating the coven's youngest male…and now his teeth were clenched too.

"No, she's safe from claiming, which is a relief," Billy agreed. "She's also free to choose a cold one for her mate, if that's what she wants. You mustn't try to interfere."

This warning made Jacob grit his teeth harder, until a new and disturbing thought occurred to him. "What about the other girl that was there with Bo, Kenzi? Is she human?"

"She smelled human," Billy answered after a second's hesitation, "but if she's been living with Bo, Bo's probably already claimed her. There's nothing we can do about it."

That was upsetting in a whole different way, because as much as he hated the idea of Bella being with a bloodsucking parasite, at least being fae meant she had some agency in their relationship. A claimed human, on the other hand, had none. Jacob's stomach twisted as memories of the horror stories he'd heard of the treatment some humans were forced to endure surfaced; no one should have to live like that, especially not someone like Kenzi. He'd only met her a couple of hours ago, but she had really livened up the evening with her witty banter and commiserated with him over the asparagus by making hilarious faces at it when Bo and Bella weren't looking, he appreciated the interest she'd shown in his automotive project, and she deserved better than to be treated like a piece of property.

"Are you sure? I mean, one of the conditions of our treaty with the Cullens is that they can't change or enslave the humans who live here…"

"That's not the same as trying to force someone to give up an existing claim," Billy explained patiently. "Besides, we don't know how powerful or well-connected Bo Dennis might be; it wouldn't be wise to risk a fight under those circumstances. Maybe you can find out more about her from Bella, but like I said, tread carefully. Meanwhile, I'm going to meet with the other elders tomorrow; there's no reason to believe this woman is a threat right now, but it won't hurt to start making plans just in case."

They drove on in silence after that, yet the uneasy feeling in Jacob's gut persisted even as he tried to reassure himself that it was highly unlikely Bo Dennis would disrupt the peaceful existence the Quileute wolf-shifters had enjoyed for the last several centuries. Surely she was just passing through, like the Cullens did from time to time, and she wasn't even a bloodsucker, plus there was only one of her. He started to relax then, scoffing internally at his own irrational misgivings. How much trouble could one lone fae cause?

###

Returning to school the next day was even harder than Bella had feared. The Cullen siblings had brought her their notes from class and helped her complete her homework throughout her long absence, so she wasn't too far behind academically; instead, the biggest challenge she faced was that being there simply felt strange, much the way her house had felt the first time she set foot in it after discovering she wasn't who she had assumed herself to be all her life. Now, as she eyed the clusters of humans she passed in the halls – Edward was right beside her, of course, so they instinctively moved aside – she found herself consumed with an acute awareness that she wasn't like them, and even though she was fairly certain she looked the same as ever, part of her couldn't help wondering if they were shrinking away from her as well as Edward.

Of course, her paranoid suspicion that people were staring at her, whispering behind her back, and even pointing when they thought she wouldn't see wasn't entirely wrong, though it wasn't because they had realized she wasn't human. The Forks gossip mill had been running at full speed while she hid away in Charlie's house or the Cullens', so by now everyone knew the story of her secret adoption, which made her the target of hushed murmurs and pitying sidelong glances, almost as if she'd been diagnosed with a terminal illness – which, Edward informed her, several people actually believed to be the reason she had missed so much school, the other prevailing theory being that she had suffered a mental breakdown after finding out she was adopted.

Jessica Stanley eventually cornered her in the cafeteria and asked in her typical blunt manner, "So, Bella, are you dying or did you just go nuts? Because you don't look sick to me."

Angela, Mike, and the rest of the kids Bella usually hung out with were horrified at Jessica's indelicate way of tackling the situation (even though a few of them were clearly eager to hear the answer), but Bella gladly took the opportunity to assure them that she was neither dying nor insane while repeating the same vague excuses she'd given Charlie regarding her health issues. After that, while some curiosity remained, the somber attitude her classmates had adopted around her, like they were practicing for her funeral, lessened greatly.

She was grateful to have one less distraction to deal with, because Bo had been absolutely right when she described high school as a hormonal hotbed; for a place that was meant to be an institution of learning, there was an astonishing amount of sexual tension pervading its atmosphere, and it almost drove the young succubus crazy.

When the final bell rang at long last, she seized Edward's hand and practically dragged him toward the nearest exit. He resisted just long enough to toss his car keys to his smirking siblings, then gave in to her insistent tugging and allowed her to lead him into the ever-present trees that crowded as closely around the school as they were allowed. As soon as they were safely out of sight in the forest, Bella rounded on him with blazing blue eyes and pounced like a ravenous tiger, drawing his energy with startling ferocity.

"I can't believe," she gasped out between hungry kisses, "how horny everyone is all the time. Has it always been like that and I've just never noticed before?"

"Teenagers do seem to spend a disproportionate amount of time being preoccupied with sex," Edward replied when she'd had her fill of his chi, at least for the moment, and attached her lips to his neck instead. "Some of their fantasies can be quite distracting at times, if not downright disturbing, but I've learned to tune them out over the years. I'm sure Bo and I can help you learn to control-"

"Later," Bella snapped, her head popping back up as she suddenly decided he was talking too much and not touching her nearly enough. "Right now, I'm okay with being a little out of control."

Then she resumed kissing him – the kind of frenzied, passionate kisses she had always wanted to give him but had never been allowed to when he thought of her as a delicate, breakable human. He didn't stop her now, though. In fact, though he couldn't be sure whether her feeding was actually sapping his physical strength or just his willpower, he wasn't certain anymore that he could stop her if he wanted to.

###

Half an hour later, they finally made it to the Cullens' house with their hair and clothing somewhat disheveled from the speed at which he had carried her there – at least that was what they blamed it on when the others commented on their appearance, though it was clear that no one bought their excuses, especially after Jasper revealed what he'd felt from Bella as she pulled Edward away.

"Besides," he added as Emmett whooped in delight, "there's no way it took you this long to run here from school."

"All right," Edward admitted, "we did stop for an after-school snack-"

"Is that what the kids are calling it these days?" Kenzi snickered while leering at them in a way that made both of them wish they could disappear.

"I was hungry, okay?" Bella blurted out, blushing at all the knowing looks and smug grins. "Do you have any idea what it was like spending eight hours in a building full of people where I could barely keep track of who wanted to make out with whom at any given moment? I swear some of their auras even lit up around the teachers, and I think Mr. Varner has a thing for the librarian!"

"Seriously? Ms. Strickland?" Emmett asked incredulously. "I guess there really is no accounting for taste."

While everyone else (apart from Kenzi, who of course had never laid eyes on Forks High's librarian) laughed, Bo drew Bella aside. "Learning to read the energy in a room is a good first step in becoming a full-fledged succubus; now I want to teach you how to manipulate it so you can influence people like I do. Are you ready for the next level of Succubus 101?"

In truth, Bella wasn't sure if she was; despite her newfound confidence in her relationship with Edward, she still couldn't picture herself effortlessly seducing total strangers as she had seen Bo do, nor did she particularly want to since the idea of anyone other than Edward lusting after her made her very uncomfortable. On the other hand, mastering every aspect of her new nature was the key to finally feeling like she had some power – like she was truly Edward's equal – not to mention a necessary step in ensuring that she didn't accidentally hurt anyone physically or emotionally.

Taking a deep breath, she met Bo's eyes with a determined look. "I'm ready."

To answer Jacob's question, when the lone fae in question is Bo, she can cause quite a bit of trouble. The pack won't know what hit them, haha.

The luduan mentioned in the first part of the chapter is a species we saw in 2x13 and 4x09; in my head, the one featured here was the second one we saw, Dao-Ming, who had a history with Trick along with her sister Wai Lin, but since there was no hint that Dyson had ever met either of them, she was unidentified as he obviously wouldn't know her name.

This will be my last Blood Sisters update of 2023; I hope to squeeze in another chapter of The Lost Kingdom before the end of the year, but we'll see how it goes. In any event, I wish you all a very happy holiday season, thank you for sticking with this story throughout the year even when FFN didn't make it easy, and I'll see you next year!