Groaning, Kenzi rolled away from the light streaming through the window and pulled the bed covers over her head. "Toooooo briiiight. Somebody turn off the sun."

Exactly how much did she have to drink last night? The girl tried to tally the glasses and bottles and shots up in her head but couldn't come up with any coherent number. Lots, she decided. Probably too many. At least she could take comfort in the knowledge that she hadn't paid for any of it. Kenzi opened and closed her mouth, tasting nothing good on her tongue.

"Coffee time," she announced, throwing the blankets back and making a Herculean effort to sit up. She teetered in the upright position for one second . . . then two . . . before falling backwards again. Okay, coffee in a minute.

Kenzi went over the checklist: Head- aching, stomach- rolling, eyes-dry, probably red rimmed, mouth- yuck. But what was this other feeling? Some other discomfort was lurking in the background. What was-

Vex.

His face, the way it had looked last night, staring down at her with hunger in his eyes. She shivered, in her sweat-damp pajamas.

God, what had she done? The way she talked to him. What was that?

Was she flirting with him?

Kenzi made a retching sound over the edge of the bed.

Definitely, too much to drink.

Stumbling down the stairs, the girl made her haphazard way toward the kitchen. Occasionally, a wall would jump out in front of her.

"There's my little party girl!" Bo greeted her in a chipper voice, with a grin that seemed just as loud.

"Coooooffeeeee," Kenzi groaned and when Bo shoved a full mug into her hands the girl giggled manically. Taking a greedy gulp, she felt the beautiful burn all the way to her stomach. "Ahhh," She blinked, making eye contact with her friend for the first time, "Hey, Succubabe,".

Bo laughed, leaning against the table, "Good morning, Kenzi. Are you fully functional now?"

"Yeah," Kenzi winced, taking another bracing drink, "Let me get to the bottom of the cup first, maybe?"

"You have ten minutes. The Morrigan wants to see us."

The girl groaned, "If we have to deal with that psycho be-yotch, I'm gonna need a whole pot."

Forty five minutes later found Kenzi showered, dressed, and looking typically fierce as she and Bo made their way down the crowded streets of the business district. In their leather and heeled boots, they were a strange contrast to the suited bankers and stock brokers, hurrying back and forth, clutching their briefcases. Like wolves among sheep, Kenzi thought. She studied the face of a middle aged man as he approached her. Expensive suit, distracted by his blue tooth, it would be so easy to pick his pocket and strip the Breguet right off his wrist . . . . but that's not what she did anymore.

Not much anyway.

The girl glanced over at Bo. Homegirl was obviously lost in thought, frowning so that a little wrinkle formed between her eyebrows. Probably, trying to work out what the Morrigan was after this time. Kenzi decided to let Bo think, trailing her friend silently, as they stepped into the shadow of the Morrigan's high rise office building.

Kenzi shoved her hands deep into the pockets of her leather jacket. The wind was cold today. I should have worn something warmer, she thought, and immediately rejected the idea. When you faced the Dark Fae, it was better to look tough than be comfortable. They can smell fear, Kenzi reminded herself wryly.

They stepped into the lobby and got a nod from the security guard behind the desk, "Ms. Marquis is expecting you."

"Thanks," Bo gave him a tight smile and headed toward the elevators.

The succubus was tense, on edge. Time to get her out of her head. Effecting nonchalance, Kenzi leaned against the elevator railing, "So, how many times have you done it in an elevator?" She asked.

Bo glanced at her sideways, opening her mouth to reply when a hand inserted itself between the closing doors.

"Hold the lift, would ya?" a familiar voice asked.

An icy cold wave washed over Kenzi, starting at the top of her head and sweeping downward to engulf her toes. What was he doing here?

No, no, no. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. Kenzi had a plan. She would avoid him like a collection agency for a couple of weeks until his little goldfish memory forgot all about their encounter at the Dal. Then they could go back to their happy-go-lucky tolerance of each other.

But here he was. She hadn't even shaken him for a day.

Doesn't matter, Kenzi promised herself. It was nothing. Just a stupid, drunken. . . . nothing. And if he said something about the nothing she would just pretend that she was too drunk to remember.

Denial. The perfect plan.

She fixed a look of total indifference onto her face.

Vex shoved the doors back and stepped through, arms held open as though he was waiting for a hug and a wide smile plastered across his face, "Well, if it isn't my favorite succubus! Come to join the winning team, have you?". He inserted himself between the two women, leaning against the elevator wall to smirk down at Bo. He put his back to Kenzi like she didn't even exist.

The girl felt her mouth drop open. Who the hell did he think he was?!

She reached out to grab him by the shoulder or maybe poke him in the kidney or do something but her hand fell halfway between them.

This is what she wanted, right? Better to go unnoticed. But Kenzi hesitated, the irritation she felt like a hot itch under her collarbone. Her toe tapped against the floor as she stared at Vexs' back.

Caution won out. She backed off to the corner of the elevator.

Fingers drummed against the railing, Kenzi watched the two Fae spar from across the elevator. She was three steps away but she might as well have been watching the exchange from space.

"You're repulsive," Bo was telling the mezmer, her voice dripping with contempt.

"Always so high and mighty," Vex mocked, "Like you've never put your hand in the cookie jar," He leaned over, "but we both know how much you crave it. Everybody has to feed. Why not unleash your-"

Bo's hand shot out and she grabbed him by the throat to press him again the wall.

He laughed, "That's right- get rough!"

The elevator dinged to a stop, the doors opening. Bo let go of Vex's neck, one step away from throttling him to death. She straightened deliberately and threw her hair over her shoulder, "C'mon, Kenz. Let's get this over with." And sashayed out of the elevator with all the poise of a runway model.

Kenzi followed a few steps behind, ignoring Vex as her friend had done, though she felt him sweep through the doors after them.

Marching straight up to the reception desk, Bo declared, "We're here to see the Morrigan".

The pretty girl behind the desk smiled, "Of course. She's ready for you now." Indicating, that Bo should follow, she moved toward the office door. When Kenzi trailed them, the secretary held up one hand, "Pets wait in the reception area".

"I'm not a Chihuahua, lady," Kenzi snapped.

The secretary turned to Bo, "I have been instructed to let you in. No one else."

"Kenzi is my partner. If she's not welcome, I'm not welcome." Bo turned to leave-

"I was told to tell you this is about your family."

Bo hesitated.

Kenzi felt herself deflate. With or without her, Bo would have to go in there.

"It's fine," Kenzi promised, before her friend could even ask the question, "I'll just wait out here and catch up on my Cosmo." She walked back towards the chairs, and scooping up a magazine, she waved it theatrically, "Look '12 Moves Guaranteed to Drive Him Wild In Bed'. Good to know." She plopped down into a chair.

"Thanks, Kenz," Bo gave her a small smile before disappearing through the doors.

Glaring down at the magazine in her hands, Kenzi ground her teeth in frustration. She couldn't watch Bo's back from out here. What if something happened? The Morrigan was a psycho-

A dark shape settled into the chair beside her. A finger reached over to tap the page under Kenzi's hand, "That one's just rubbish," Vex perused the article, eyes moving down. He nodded toward number eight on the list, "That doesn't sound bad, though. Want to try it?". He offered her his charming, chimney sweep smile.

Kenzi rolled her eyes, "Don't you have . . . anywhere else to be?"

Vex settled back in the chair, draping an arm behind Kenzi and settling an ankle on top of one knee. He answered, "Not really. That's the beauty of being rich and powerful. You do what you like." He smiled at her, "And right now, I'm exactly where I want to be. You didn't give me a chance to finish our conversation last night."

Kenzi stared down at the magazine, "That's because it was boring." She answered blandly.

His voice took on an edge, "Was it?"

The girl folded the magazine in her lap and gave him a pitying look, "Do you know how many guys I've ditched with that move? They should call it the Kenzi." She picked the Cosmo back up, as though it was some kind of wall that could keep him at bay.

30 seconds later, a finger hooked the spine of the magazine and dragged it out of her view. Kenzi found herself looking straight into Vex's dark eyes. He had beautiful eyelashes, curling and lovely against the stark paleness of his skin. Resting his hands on the arms of her chair, he leaned in close, studying her. His gaze ran over the bones of her face, tracing the sweeping arc of her brow, down the fine delicate line of her jaw to linger over her soft lips.

Kenzi sat frozen in place under his scrutiny. She could feel her cheeks flush but she seemed helpless to escape. Her limbs were heavy like she had been swimming and she found she couldn't even turn her head to look away. Not imprisoned by his power but stilled all the same, the world had shrunk to this moment between them.

Finally, he gazed into her eyes, thoughtful and patient like he was trying to memorize the color. His held tilted a fraction of an inch. "You're very pretty when you lie." He told her. Then he pushed off the chair and was gone.

Shaking her head, Kenzi tried to clear the disorientation. Her heart was throbbing in her chest. When she tried to reach up to measure it's erratic beat, she found the wrinkled and sweat stained pages of the magazine still clutched in her hands. Untangling her fingers, she smoothed her hair back with shaking fingers. What-

Bo swept out of the Morrigan's office, "Let's go!" she snapped to Kenzi as she strode toward the elevator.

Kenzi hesitated a moment, before getting to her feet, "Leaving," she announced, "right".