Stay With Me (sequel to Forever Yours)

17. Jo

"What are we supposed to do with her now?"

"I don't know!  It was your bright idea to go pick her up.  Adam wanted her dead.  Why not just kill her?"

"Adam was killed by Severus Snape.  He loves her and I loved him, Spike!  I say we kill her right now."

"That wouldn't help, Faye."

"It would give me my revenge!"

"Yeah, she would be dead, but Snape already thinks she is.  I say we torture him.  Send him little hints that she's alive."

"No.  One big one.  A letter.  One that Ms. Lucy here is going to deliver herself.  To her best friend and that wretched man that killed my Adam.  Wake her up."

Lucy's body started shaking suddenly and her eyes fluttered open.  Her vision was blurry.  She could only make out lines.  Two dark figures loomed over her and something long.  Maybe a wand.  She couldn't tell for sure but it was pointed at her.  There was a whisper but she couldn't tell what had been said.  Suddenly she was sitting up in a daze.  Her captors had masks on this time.  Her hand was moving, but she couldn't tell what she was doing.  Fear overtook her and everything went black.

~ * ~

When Lucy woke up, she was gasping for air.  Her heart was hammering in her chest and sweat rolled down her face.  She wiped it with the sleeve of her robes which she had fallen asleep in.  She sat up and buried her face in her hands.  That was the first time she'd slept in a long while and it had been plagued with nightmares.  Spike and Faye had really done a number on her.  They had been the ones that had sent the letters.  Of course Severus had already suspected that.  He had told her that Spike was a really good forger.  She rubbed her face down her hands.  Why couldn't she remember their faces?  She had seen Spike's face now, those menacing blue eyes that she never wanted to see again, but why couldn't she remember Faye's?  She knew they were partners from the beginning.  Maybe if she could remember then she would know where to find her and this whole thing for good.  Faye had loved Adam.  That's why she wanted revenge on Severus.  But how would she feel if she knew Jo was actually the one who had killed him?

She glanced over at the couch.  Severus was there, sleeping soundly.  The letters were back in their boxes.  She smiled at him, but there was no way she was going to disturb him.  There was no telling how late it was when he went to bed.  She tiptoed to the bathroom and took a quick shower.  She grabbed one of the green towels on the rack and wrapped it around her.  She got out and hurried back into the living area to get something to put on out of her suitcase.  She grabbed the first thing she could find and hurriedly put it on.  If Severus woke up and saw her naked she knew the both of them would die of embarrassment.  He started to stir just as she zipped up, but he didn't open his eyes.  She breathed a sigh of relief.  She walked over and got the box with her letters in it and dug in the pocket of the robes she had brought from the bathroom and got the sapphire out.  She put it inside the box and closed it.  Then she went over and got Severus's box of letters and walked into the office to put that where she found it as well.  She took the key and locked it back.

When Lucy went back in, Severus was sitting up on the couch.  He was finally awake.

"Good morning," he greeted her mid-yawn.

"Good morning," she said with a smile.  "How did you sleep?"

"Well."

"I did too for the most part."

Severus stretched.  He got up and disappeared into the bathroom for a few minutes.  When he came back, he seemed to be refreshed and ready to go.