Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own Twilight or Lost Girl and I'm making no money from this fanfic.

I know I'm probably wasting my time saying this, but I never have and never will commission artwork for my stories, so don't bother asking. I'm having lots of fun making my own cover art these days, so I wouldn't be interested in paying someone else to do it for me even if I didn't know this is all a big scam. And no, I don't want my stories turned into comics, or 'concept art', or whatever else you think you're going to lure me in with. Just go away.

To everyone else, please do not fall for these people's spiels or give them your money. I've heard on the forums that some people who've lost money to these scammers have managed to get it back, which is good, but it's better to save yourselves the hassle and just ignore them. If nobody responds to them, maybe they'll eventually go away…hopefully. Okay, PSA over – now I'll shut up and let you get on with the story.

"She's waking up now. She'll open her eyes in exactly seven seconds."

The voice sounded like Alice's, but that made no sense. Bo was fairly certain Alice was nowhere near when she…what? She couldn't quite remember how she came to be hovering on the edge of consciousness, but she had a nagging feeling that something bad had happened, and she needed to do something about it…

With a supreme effort, Bo forced her eyes open, and was greeted with the disconcerting sight of an indecipherable blur. After a couple of blinks, the blur resolved into a sea of concerned faces; Dyson, Kenzi, and Carlisle were bending over her, and just before the doctor shone a light into her eyes, she caught a fleeting glimpse of the other Cullens and Jacob crowding in close behind them.

After concluding his examination, Carlisle allowed her to sit up, which she did in spite of the residual pain that zapped through her muscles with every movement. Once she was upright, she saw that she was back in her room at the Cullens' house, which meant that one member of this touching bedside tableau was glaringly out of place. "What're you doing here?" she asked Jacob. "I would've thought vampire central is the last place you'd want to be."

"Normally you'd be right, but Kenzi flipped out when Dyson found you passed out on the ground. I couldn't leave her like that," he explained, placing a hand on the human girl's shoulder. She reached up to give his hand a grateful squeeze; seeing Bo like that had terrified her in a way nothing had in a long time, and with Dyson too focused on getting Bo to Carlisle to spare more than a few words for her, it had been Jacob who helped her hold it together.

Bo smiled at the gesture of affection and support shared between them, but then Edward moved in and gently took hold of her arms, drawing her attention to him. "Bo," he began in a patient yet strained voice, as if he was struggling to keep his emotions in check for her sake, "I know you may be confused right now, but can you recall what happened to Bella?"

She frowned up at him, her muddled brain kicking into overdrive. That nagging feeling was back, and she was pretty sure the bad thing that had happened had to do with Bella, or else her sister would be here along with everyone else… Then the memory hit her like another blast from that blonde's taser, causing her to go rigid in Edward's grasp. "Oh God, they took her! I have to find her! I have to get her back…"

Her gaze automatically went to Dyson, eyes silently pleading for help, and he came to sit beside her, nudging Edward aside as he took hold of her hands. "Talk to me, Bo. Who took her? Jacob and I picked up a bunch of fae scents in the picnic area where I found you, but nobody I recognized, and no vampires. So it wasn't Victoria, was it?"

"No, not Victoria," Bo confirmed, and Edward relaxed by a small degree. "I guess they were Dark Fae; the bitch who tased me said they were taking her to Seattle…to meet the Morrigan." At that, the tension in the room instantly ratcheted up again, forcing Jasper to redouble his efforts at keeping everyone calm.

"What would the Morrigan want with Bella?" Rosalie wondered incredulously. "Except for that one brush with the human traffickers, she hasn't exactly made waves in the fae world."

"Whatever her reason for doing this, this is good news," Esme said with the air of someone determined to find a bright side. "The leader of the Dark can't harm a fae without cause, and she has no grudge against Bella."

"No, just me," Bo countered grimly, "and if she wanted to disappear somebody, I'm pretty sure she can find a way to do it without leaving her fingerprints behind."

"I'll call Trick," Dyson offered. "He has contacts in both factions; if the Morrigan does intend to hurt Bella, he should be able to bring enough scrutiny down on her that she'll have to back off."

"Thanks. And I'm going to-" Truthfully, Bo didn't know what she was going to do, just that she had to do something, but it turned out to be a moot point. As soon as she tried to stand up, the twinges she had almost succeeded at ignoring intensified into a white-hot bolt of pain that sizzled down her spine, cutting her off in midsentence as she fell back onto the bed and multicolored lights filled her vision.

"You need to work your healing mojo before you do anything else," Kenzi told her. "Doc says you got hit with some serious voltage, and you've got electrical burns on your neck and those super hot, shrink wrap-tight abs."

"That wasn't quite how I phrased it," Carlisle said dryly, "but Kenzi is correct in that you require healing. All right, everyone, clear the room, please. Let's give Bo and Dyson their privacy."

XXX

After several hours in the van, Bella's captors finally parked, opened the rear doors again, and roughly pushed and pulled her out of the vehicle. Blinking in the dim light as she took in her new surroundings, she didn't know whether to be relieved or disappointed that they had apparently brought her to a perfectly ordinary parking garage.

"I'll take it from here," the blonde who seemed to be in charge of the team announced. Grabbing Bella's arm, she marched her off to an elevator at the far end of the garage.

Her grip, though not painfully tight, certainly wasn't gentle either, not to mention the indignity of being dragged around like a small child who couldn't be trusted not to wander off, but Bella gritted her teeth and held her tongue. She wasn't going to give this woman the satisfaction of whining about her treatment, and after seeing how the blonde had seemed to enjoy tasing Bo, she was sure complaining would only make it worse.

When the elevator doors opened again, she was surprised to find herself in a wood-paneled corridor with fancy glass doors at the end, the type that looked like they belonged in the offices of some high-powered law firm or investment company. Everything she saw as they continued through those doors, past a receptionist's desk, and into what looked like a CEO's corner office only reinforced that impression, except that the woman behind the desk, with her slinky black dress and smoky eyeshadow, definitely did not look like an attorney or stockbroker.

"Here she is," the blonde said as they entered. "One mini rogue succubus, served piping hot with a side of fries."

"Good work, Tamsin. Give us a minute, will you?"

Though phrased as a request, it was clearly an order. As Tamsin released Bella and stepped back, the woman circled around the large mahogany desk, looking Bella up and down as she approached with a penetrating stare that made the younger girl wish she too could retreat to the other side of the room, but she forced herself to remain still, meeting those sharp eyes as unflinchingly as she could manage.

"Bella Swan," the woman stated as she came to a stop in front of her. "I wish I could say I've heard a lot about you, but I only found out you exist yesterday." She held out a hand tipped with bloodred nails. "Evony Marquise, better known to my underlings and enemies as the Morrigan."

The Morrigan! So this is her – the most powerful Dark fae of all. Shaking her hand was just about the last thing Bella wanted to do, but she didn't dare refuse. Fighting the foreboding feeling of sticking her fingers into a steel-jawed trap, she took the proffered hand. "What do you want with me?"

"I want all the fun facts there are to know and tell about you," Evony said brightly, as if they were getting to know one another over pizza at a pajama party, rather than in a strange place that Bella had been forcibly dragged to after getting abducted right off the streets of her hometown. "Same bizarre origin story as Big Sis?"

"I was raised by humans, yes," Bella replied stiffly. "And no, I had no idea I was fae until my powers manifested."

"Hmm. I guess you don't know anything about your birth parents either?"

"Only what Bo's told me about our mother."

"Ah yes, Aife. Quite the destructive little headcase, your mother. You know, she almost started a war between the Dark and Light Fae a while back." Evony said this in an almost challenging tone while watching Bella closely, gauging her reaction.

Seeing that a response was required, Bella said, "Well, obviously I'm glad she didn't succeed," even though she felt that should go without saying.

Evony looked skeptical but didn't press the issue, abruptly switching tacks instead. "So I hear Bo's been in Forks since she hightailed it out of Toronto, getting in some sisterly bonding time or whatever. What do you think of her?"

"She's amazing," Bella said at once. "I'm really lucky to have a sister like her."

"She's definitely got more moxie in her little finger than most of my council have in their whole bodies," Evony agreed, earning a startled look from Bella. After all that she'd heard about Bo's dealings with the fae authorities, she hadn't expected the Morrigan to have anything remotely complimentary to say about her. "If only she wasn't such a troublemaker," the other woman continued with what sounded like genuine regret. "What about you, Bella? Exactly how much do you take after your sister?"

The stare that made Bella feel like she was under a microscope was back in full force, and the implicit threat in Evony's question sent a jolt of alarm down her spine. "I don't want any trouble."

"I want to believe you, I really do, but there is that tiny little issue of you not having chosen a side either."

"I thought I had until my eighteenth birthday to decide," Bella hedged, her unease mounting. "That's not till September."

"Technically, yes, but you were eligible to choose the minute you started sucking chi and rocking that gorgeous succubus glow. Given your sister's history, you can see why your foot-dragging is making certain people a little twitchy, can't you?"

Bella suspected that Evony herself was one of those people, but accusing the leader of the Dark Fae of twitchiness seemed extremely unwise, so she just said, "It's a big decision. I don't want to rush into anything I might regret later." Evony pursed her scarlet lips but said nothing, apparently considering her next line of attack before speaking again. After a long moment passed with no further questions, Bella ventured to say, "So, if I haven't broken any laws…"

"What, I should just let you skip off to your little backwater outpost and trust that you and Bo will stay there and quit mucking things up?" Evony finished, her face twisting in displeasure. "Nice try, but there are some things I need to sort out first. In the meantime…"

Her eyes left Bella and sought out Tamsin, who was lounging against the opposite wall, keeping an eye on the proceedings while removing herself from them as much as she could without actually leaving the room. "Take her down to holding."

XXX

By the time Bo, Dyson, Edward, Jacob, and Kenzi arrived at the Light Fae's Seattle headquarters, Trick was already there, waiting.

"Thanks for getting here so fast," Bo said as she bent down to hug him. "It's great to see you again; I know you said it would be best if I stayed incommunicado until the dust settled from the whole mess with Aife, but I've missed you. How've you been? How's everybody back home?"

"A lot's happened while you were gone; there isn't time to tell you everything right now, but suffice to say I've had my hands full helping to clean things up." He greeted Dyson and Kenzi warmly and let them introduce him to Edward and Jacob, then quickly ushered the group into one of the many hallways branching off from the main lobby. "I've arranged a meeting with the new Ash-"

"Whoa, timeout there, Trickster," Kenzi interrupted. "New Ash?"

"I guess the old one isn't on life support anymore," Bo said soberly.

"According to Dr. Lewis' latest report, he's still in a persistent vegetative state, but he obviously can't perform the Ash's duties in that condition. Even if he had recovered, the clan leaders would have called for his replacement; when I tried to warn him about Aife, he downplayed the threat, refusing to take action until it was too late."

"Well, let's hope Ash 2.0 is less of a D-bag," Kenzi commented.

"His name is Lachlan," Trick informed the group. "He's more of a hardline traditionalist than his predecessor, which is why I've asked Hale to get in touch with his family and see if he can persuade them to intercede-"

"What family is that?" Bo asked, frowning. "I don't think he's ever mentioned them."

"Hale's family, the Santiagos, are one of the oldest of our noble lines," Dyson told her. "He doesn't like to flaunt his connections, though."

"So our boy's been a low-key blue blood this whole time? Funny, I always thought I could smell moneybags a mile away, but I never got that vibe off of him," Kenzi mused.

"The Santiagos are quite influential, so hopefully they can bring some pressure to bear on our new Ash," Trick continued, "although it would obviously be better if we could secure his assistance in convincing the Morrigan to release Bella right here and now."

"Even if he won't help, maybe don't call him a D-bag," Jacob suggested with a sidelong glance at Kenzi. "I don't know what he'd do to a human who mouthed off to him, but I'd rather not find out."

"Insulting the leader of the Light Fae certainly won't help Bella's case either," Edward murmured. He'd been in a constant state of barely contained agitation ever since he received word of Bella's abduction, like a coiled spring just waiting to be released. Only the fact that there was no reason to believe she was in imminent danger (according to Bo, the woman who'd taken her had said the Morrigan just wanted to talk with her) had enabled him to hold it together this long.

"I only call 'em like I see 'em," Kenzi said indignantly. Then, seeing that nobody seemed to appreciate her defiantly plucky attitude and Edward appeared to be about two seconds away from a total breakdown, she sighed and reluctantly conceded, "But maybe I can suspend my 'zero tolerance for bullshit' policy just this once, until this little palaver's over."

"Thank you, Kenzi. Your sacrifice is much appreciated," Trick said wryly.

XXX

The meeting seemed to start off well enough, as Lachlan shook Bo's hand and expressed his regret that they weren't meeting under better circumstances.

"Yeah, this isn't how I prefer to make new friends either," she cautiously agreed, wondering if she dared to be optimistic that the new guy might be someone she could work with.

"I've spoken with my counterpart, and she's assured me that your sister is safe."

"Great. Any progress on getting her to let Bella go?"

"I've asked, but…" Lachlan spread his hands in a gesture of resignation. "If the Dark had taken one of my people into custody without just cause, I would be within my rights to demand their immediate release, but since your sister is not aligned with the Light, my ability to intercede on her behalf is limited. Of course, if Bella were to choose a side, perhaps I could do more – unless she chose the Dark, in which case the Morrigan would have to afford her the same rights and protections as any other Dark citizen. As it is, since Bella doesn't answer to either of us, neither of us have any obligations to her."

"So what, not choosing makes her some kind of unperson you guys can just disappear whenever you feel like it, like those movies about people who get renditioned into some special ops black site?" Kenzi burst out, unable to stop herself. "That's messed up."

Jacob stiffened and tried to subtly edge in front of her, ready to protect her even though he doubted he would be able to fight off whatever forces the Ash had at his beck and call, but Lachlan merely raised his eyebrows at Bo, the way someone might look at the owner of an unruly dog who made no effort to curb their pet's misbehavior.

Seeing Bo bristle at his disapproving expression, Trick stepped in before the situation could escalate. "Bella may not be a full citizen yet, but uninitiated youngsters are afforded certain protections under the law."

"True, they're typically considered to be under the protection of their family's clan until they're old enough to choose their own allegiance; unfortunately, the only known member of Bella Swan's immediate family is Bo Dennis, who has no clan under whose authority to claim custody of her sister."

Bo shot a surreptitious glance at Trick, wondering if he had hidden his relation to her and Bella to avoid being linked to Aife, and through her to his past as the Blood King, or if Lachlan was just using the narrowest definition that limited 'immediate family' to parents and siblings. Then the new Ash's gaze returned to her, and his next words knocked any thoughts of his semantic choices right out of her head.

"…Unless you'd like to change that?"

"Huh?" As she stared into his dark eyes, Bo felt the bottom drop out of her stomach. "Are you saying that if I want to get Bella out of whatever hole the Morrigan's stuck her in…I have to pick a side?"

"It would certainly improve your position," Lachlan replied diplomatically, but the look in his eyes belied his benignly courteous words.

This guy's straight-up blackmailing me, even if he's too polite to come right out and say it. Bo turned away, her fingers coming up to press her temples in an attempt to ease the pressure building inside her skull. On the surface it seemed like a no-brainer, because her unaligned status shouldn't, couldn't possibly mean more to her than Bella. She loved her sister, so surely she should be willing to do anything, sacrifice anything, to help her, right? And she was, in theory, but this… To give up everything she'd fought so hard for, everything she stood for, just like that…

She cast a desperate look around the room at her friends, hoping one of them might be able to show her a way out, but got nothing; Kenzi was naturally outraged on her behalf, which was appreciated but didn't really help her, while Edward and Jacob just looked at her like they didn't understand why Lachlan's ultimatum was such a big deal – of course Edward would've done whatever it took to save Bella in a heartbeat if he had one, so the fact that she wasn't falling all over herself to do the same must be utterly incomprehensible to him, and Jacob, who had grown up under the fae's two-party system and hadn't hesitated for a single second before choosing the Light, probably didn't understand why her freedom was so important to her either.

Trick appeared more sympathetic but still didn't speak up, his apologetic expression telling her that while Lachlan's demands might be harsh, even unfair, they were perfectly in line with the law. Trick obviously couldn't help her. As for Dyson…

When her panicked gaze fell on him, he moved in and took hold of her hands, gently pulling them down to her sides before wrapping an arm around her shoulders, letting her draw strength from his supportive presence at her side. "Would it be possible to speak with Bella before Bo makes her decision?"

Lachlan looked displeased that she hadn't caved immediately but accepted the setback gracefully, merely offering a slight shrug. "It may take a while, but I think I can arrange that. I'll go make a call."

As he left the room, Bo's breath rushed out in an audible sigh. Dyson might only have bought her a short respite, but at least now she had a little breathing room, a little time to think things over…and possibly to resign herself to the end of her days as the one and only unaligned succubus.

XXX

Three hours later, Bo and her companions were shuttled over to the Dark Fae's Seattle territory in a car that looked like it belonged in some politician's motorcade, an impression that was only reinforced by their driver, a large, taciturn man wearing a suit and earpiece. Lachlan and his security detail followed in a separate car, for which Bo was grateful; at least she didn't have to listen to him or endure more of his cannily appraising looks.

When they arrived, they were greeted by the Morrigan and her own security team, which included Tamsin, much to Bo's dismay. The blonde seemed to be on her best behavior in front of her boss, however, merely telling them to follow her. She led them through a seemingly endless labyrinth of hallways and down three staircases, their surroundings growing barer and more utilitarian with every level they descended, until at last they reached a floor with unpainted cinderblock walls and stark illumination provided by an LED strip light running right down the middle of the ceiling.

"Well, this has a cozy 'modern-day dungeon' feel," Kenzi attempted to quip, but her voice was oddly muted, and no one responded.

At the end of the hall was a large room with five heavy steel doors spaced evenly around its perimeter, each with a small window set in the top half, at just the right height for a person to peer in or out.

"I know some of you could probably rip these doors down with one hand tied behind your backs," Tamsin said with a glance at Edward, Dyson, and Jacob, "but don't bother. Even with the door open, she won't be able to leave her cell."

The blonde bounty hunter pressed a button in a panel mounted next to the hallway's entrance, and one of the thick doors slid back into the wall, revealing Bella sitting forlornly on a narrow concrete shelf that protruded from one wall of the almost claustrophobically tiny room like a cot in a prison, her head in her hands. She looked up when the door opened and jumped to her feet just as Edward raced across the main room toward her. Even though he moved much faster, they arrived at the doorway at the same time due to the significantly smaller space she had to cross; for a second it looked like they might collide, but when they reached the threshold the air in the open doorway rippled just as it had in the park, when one of Tamsin's team cast a silencing spell to prevent their fight with the succubus sisters from attracting the attention of passersby, and an invisible barrier stopped Bella's and Edward's progress with a solid inch between them.

"Bella! Are you all right? Have they hurt you?!"

"No, I'm fine." Her voice came through clearly; obviously this enchantment was designed to block physical movement rather than sound waves. "Just bored; I must've paced this room in every direction at least fifty times, and now my butt's sore from sitting on that slab." She forced a grin, trying valiantly to make light of her situation, but it disappeared almost instantly. "I want out of here, Edward. It's cold, and I'm hungry, and I have no idea how long I've been here although it feels like eternity – has it been long enough for Charlie to start freaking out yet?"

"Don't worry about Charlie; Alice has already taken care of your cover story. I surprised you with a dinner reservation here in Seattle to celebrate the end of junior year, and depending on the hour when we get back, you might spend the night at my house – in Bo's room, of course."

"So I might be stuck here overnight," Bella surmised quietly, wrapping her arms around herself. "And then what? They can't keep me in this box forever…can they?"

"No, they can't," Trick stated in an authoritative tone, and Edward moved aside slightly so she could see him. "It may take some time, but I'm doing everything I can. I will get you out of here."

"Thanks, um…" Bella looked at the group clustered behind him with raised eyebrows, silently asking who the newcomer was and why he would go to such lengths to help her.

"Bella, this is Trick," Bo piped up, moving closer to him. "Our grandfather."

"Oh. It's nice to meet you," Bella said politely, "although I wish it wasn't happening like this. I've been trying to talk Charlie, my dad – my human dad, I mean – into letting me go to Toronto for the summer, but after what happened last time I took a trip, he's been a little reluctant. Anyway, thanks for coming. Whether you're able to get me out of here or not, it means a lot that you're trying."

The gratitude in her voice tugged at Bo, and she blurted out, "I can get you out right now. They're only able to lock you up for no reason like this because not choosing a side yet means you don't have the same rights as a full-fledged fae citizen, but since you're still a minor and I'm your sister, I can be your legal guardian in the fae world."

"What's the catch?" Bella asked warily. If springing her from this cell was as easy as signing a few papers, surely Bo would have done it already.

"Nothing for you to worry about," Bo began, but Kenzi cut across her.

"The catch is that only fae who're in a clan can be guardians for kiddie fae, so Bo has to fall in line and quit sticking it to the man before they'll hand you over to her."

"You mean they're holding me hostage so they can force her to finally choose a side?"

She addressed her question to the group at large, to anyone knowledgeable enough about fae law to answer, but it was Trick who spoke up. "Essentially, yes. As your grandfather, I can try to claim custody, but I've buried my past so thoroughly that proving our relationship will take some time, especially since I'm sure they'll slow-walk the process as much as possible in order to maintain their leverage over Bo."

Bella's head bowed as she thought over their predicament, teeth gnawing furiously at her lower lip. Then her head snapped up again, and they saw that her face was set in a look of steely determination. "Don't do it, Bo," she said fiercely. "I know how hard you've fought against their rules, so you can't give up now."

"Bella-" Edward protested, his anguish at the thought of her staying in that cell one minute longer than she had to plain on his face, but she cut him off with a firm shake of her head.

"No, Edward. I'm not letting Bo give up everything she believes in for me. Besides, what they're doing to me just shows how flawed their system is, why things need to change – but that'll never happen if everyone who tries to stand up to them, like Bo, just gets steamrolled. I'm not giving up, though; I promise you, I will find a way out of this mess and get back to you."

She reached out, pressing her palm against the magical barrier that kept her trapped despite her cell's open door, and he mirrored the gesture, their hands as close to touching as they could get. They leaned forward, miming touching foreheads through the barrier, drawing as much strength as they could from the approximation of contact; then Bella turned her head to look at the others, who were watching them with solemn sympathy. "Promise me you won't give in, Bo."

Bo had to swallow several times and clench Dyson's hand in a death grip, but at last she managed to choke out, "I promise."

"You know," Kenzi whispered from where she and Jacob stood a short distance apart from the rest, not wanting to intrude on Bella's moment with her mate and family but still close enough to hear what they were saying, "I think I'm feeling something weirdly like respect for her right now."

XXX

Unbeknownst to Bo and Bella, Kenzi and Jacob weren't the only ones listening in on them; several floors above, in Evony's luxurious office, she and Lachlan were bent over an enchanted stone from which voices emanated, transmitting every word from Bella's cell to the two fae leaders.

"Did you hear that?" Evony asked rhetorically, raising her head to fix her counterpart with a look that was just short of a glare. "The little one's shaping up to be just as much of a loose cannon as the big one."

"So it appears," Lachlan agreed, rubbing his chin as he gazed pensively down at the listening stone for another beat before meeting the Morrigan's dark-eyed gaze. "What do you suggest we do about it?"

"Easy – we nip this problem in the bud before it gets out of control. Kill the little bitch now, while she's still young and weak." She continued staring the new Ash right in the eyes, as if daring him to argue. "I made the same suggestion to your predecessor after Bo passed her trials with no training, but he didn't listen – and look where he is now. Bo gave us plenty of grief even before her presence drew Aife out of hiding – I'm still not totally convinced they weren't working together, by the way – so do you really want to risk having two of them running around loose?"

"I see your point, but what exactly are you proposing? We can't put her through the trials until she comes of age, which it seems is still months away. I don't have that long; the head of the Santiago family is already breathing down my neck, demanding to know why I haven't spoken out against the unjustified detainment of a juvenile, and it won't be long before he whips up all of Clan Zamora. The Zamora have some powerful connections among the Dark too, don't they?"

Evony pondered the dilemma in silence for a moment, then smiled. "There may be another way. A Dark fae, a made vamp, has declared a blood feud against our budding rebel; seems dear, sweet Bella incited a coven of Light vamps to kill the complainant's mate, who was also one of mine, for her. I could go after them, but they'd just say they were protecting what they thought was their human pet at the time, and they do have the right to defend their property…or I could grant the complainant permission to settle her grievance the old-fashioned way."

"A duel to the death… A made vampire pitted against an immature succubus. Yes, that would certainly remove Bella Swan from the board," Lachlan mused.

"You won't oppose it, then?"

He thought it over quickly before shaking his head. "No, if one of your people was killed, and not by one of mine, the matter falls under your jurisdiction. Handle it however you wish."

After all, he had more important things to worry about than a pair of rebellious succubi, and with the future of all the fae potentially at risk, he couldn't afford to let them get in the way.

Next chapter: Bella vs. Victoria. It'll be an epic smackdown…but who will walk away?

If anyone's wondering, I decided to keep Hale's part in current events offscreen because I mostly see him as one of the more light-hearted characters, so I had trouble imagining how I would fit him into such a serious chapter. I do miss him, though, so I'm sure we'll get to see him eventually even if it's looking more and more like I won't be shipping him with Kenzi this time around.