She was more stiff in his arms than she intended to be, but each time he touched her images of their last night together flashed in her mind.  It was going to take time to work all this out again, but his affection for her was clear.  It was only his flaws that seemed to get in the way.<br/><br/>"I wasn't really overly worried about that,"  Lane responded to his bit about being a gentleman.  She had no sexual plans for the near future, in fact, after what had happened last time it was probably going to take a while before she would be ready to go down that road again with him.  He would either have to accept that as part of the damage he had done, or they would end up where they had been hours before.  Separate, with little chance of reconciliation.  Lane didn't want that.  Despite all the turmoil, something did feel special about their connection.  She took the hand he offered and followed him into the bedroom, feeling similar pains over the last time she had been here.<i>I guess the only way to push out bad memories is to make some good ones here.<br/>
</i><br/>"Then maybe I shouldn't meet her.  Maybe we just focus on Anastasia and work on that side of the problem."  Lane tried to think of what her best option was.  Having dinner with Fiora might signal the queen that she wasn't a threat, but it also gave the woman a chance to try and exploit Lane.  Though her parents were mostly of Scandinavian origin, their culture had bled a little bit with the Celts they had raided so many centuries ago.  She knew the stories about the fairies.  How they would trick and scheme and steal to get what they wanted.  When he mentioned what Remy was, it made her heart hurt a little.  Remy had seemed nice, kind even.  Nora spoke fairly highly of the man.<br/><br/>"I definitely know better than to make a deal with a fairy.  That's why I gave Nora the book.  She's got contacts, people that will make sure it stays hidden..."  Lane lifted her eyes to meet his.   "I think pitting the demon and the fairy queen against each other is probably a bad idea...I can help you deal with the demon.  I know it's only been a few days, but this...power you coaxed out of me.  It's intense.  It's both dark and light, like I'm meant to bring balance and guidance to the world.  I was good at spells and dealing with dark things before but now...I'm something else entirely."<br/><br/>It had taken her a few days to get used to the quiet hum of her power.  Lane had spent the days after their breakup crying and researching.  The accounts of what valkyries were widely varied.  In some stories, they were virtuous maidens who sweetly cheered on righteous warriors and took them to Valhalla when they died.  In other stories, they were bloodthirsty and devious, riding giant wolves into battle to collect the souls of the dead for Odin.  In all the stories, though, they were brave and battle ready.<br/><br/>"You need to figure out how to get Mia from them, since I made good on the part of the bargain that secured her release or whatever.  So maybe we sort of need to meet with her...What do you think?"   This was his mission, she just needed to know who to point her power at.