08

Later that evening, Lily stood in the lobby waiting for Ward. She felt a sudden anxiety as she waited and tried shaking it free of her hands.

Why was she nervous? This was supposed to be exhilarating and exciting. This is why she had left Cove Neck, for an adventure but suddenly that adventure seemed a bit nonsensical.

A part of her, no matter how small that part may be, still yearned for a union with her father. Beneath the anger of being abandoned lay a dormant child, aching for her father’s affection. She had never truly considered herself a ninny; she didn’t linger onto buried feelings. She had been forced to grow up at an early age, deprived of a childhood and because of the velocity of maturing, she didn’t have time to snivel over senseless things.

Her heart ached with the loss of her mother, the lack of her father’s presence. She had been alone most of her life, why now, after all this time, should she let those feelings affect her?

Closing the door on any negative thoughts, she shifted her attention to the present. She affiliated her nerves with the upcoming events for the night. Ward had asked her to join him in achieving his research and she planned to take full advantage of that and more while in Romania.

She hadn’t realized that she was smiling until Ward stepped into the lobby and suddenly her smile furrowed as a group of men trailed at his heels.

As he approached, she asked, “Are ten men really necessary to retrieve a bit of information on one animal?”

His blue eyes glanced fleetingly over his men and for a moment, Lily thought he was sizing them, questioning his numbers. Did he truly think he needed more?

He turned back to her and tugged on his fleece, a gesture of impatience as he said in a slightly irked manner, “You’re welcome to return to your room, Lilith, if not, keep your questions to a minimum. We have a lot of work ahead of us.”

He swept past her and she merely stared after him in bewilderment. Was her intuition off or did she sense an unnerving air about him?

As they left the lobby and Lily was struck with the cool, Bucharest air, she tilted her face to the subtle draft and smiled.

When she opened her eyes, she was surprised to see a black Kia Sportage sitting along the curve, with an identical make parked at its rear.

Ward was methodical in many ways, one being very organized and prepared. She refrained from shaking her head and piled in behind him into the first jeep.

She noticed he cradled a leather binder in his lap as the door slammed shut. “What is that?” she asked as the driver slid in behind the wheel.

His spine was straight against the seat and his eyes trained forward, “My research.”

She had a deep inkling that he wasn’t about to reveal the contents of the binder, so instead, she asked, “Do you have any ideas what this animal could be?” he was silent and so she continued, “A wolf or maybe a bear?”

His elongated face remained implacable and his silence was beginning to pluck her nerves. She wasn’t a curious child asking senseless questions. She had a right to know what they were getting into.

“If you find my presence irritating, why did you ask me to come along?” she demanded.

She watched him carefully and noticed his chest rise and fall with a sudden breath and than he surprised her. “I’m sorry, Lilith.” He peered at her with his blue eyes, “This is all very new to me as it is for you I’m sure. I have a lot on my mind at the moment.”

She fell silent, unsure of what to say to that.

“Tonight we are simply trailing the perimeter of the Carpathians.”

Her brow arched, suddenly intrigued. “We’re not going further?”

He shook his head. “Tomorrow.” His fingers tightened around the binder in his lap. “Tonight is simply a familiarizing walk.” He turned and peered out the window as Bucharest lights whisked by the window in a haze. “There are rumors circulating of a crazed animal, an animal in need of snaring. I intend to achieve that as well as data that could do wonders for my career.”

She gasped, “You never said anything of capturing it?”

He turned away from the window to look at her, “Do you fear more for this rabid animal or for the lives of those threatened?”

“If it is rabid, than you should put it down, not capture it and make it a lab-rat. The animal is sick and doesn’t know what its doing.”

He laughed, startling her, “You’re wrong, Lilith. The animal is very much aware of who and what it is killing.”

Her stomach churned at that, “You sound as if you know what the animal is?”

He answered her question with a daunting smirk.

As Bucharest faded into their trail, Lily was beginning to feel unsettled and slightly frightened by the pending mountains.

Darkness permeated their windows and their road turned jolting and rugged. When their jeep finally came to a stop, she unknowingly pulled the edges of her jacket together, chilled, not by the crisp mountain air, but by the foreboding thoughts of what possible dangers lay in wait.

Someone appeared at her side with a flashlight and handed it off to her. She took it tentatively and turned around.

The men whom Ward had hired were all there, each adorned in clothes that you would see on an episode of Dual Survival, khakis and such, and that these men were all alarmingly equipped with guns.

Her heart stopped coldly in her chest and she moved quickly to where Ward stood, hovering over a map. “Why are they armed?” she demanded in a shrilly voice.

“It’s nothing to be alarmed about, Lilith. They are tranquilizer guns.”

“Tranquilizers.” She said as if to convince herself as she strained to get a better look at the artillery. She was no expert on weaponry so she could only take Ward’s word for it, but why this notion that all was not as it seemed?

They began their ascent on foot, leaving their jeeps not far from where the mountains took root. She was beginning to feel a little less on edge as they trailed the narrowing paths, exploring the outer edges of the Carpathians, just as Ward had said, they did not venture any further than the edge.

Strangely, it all seemed unworldly, and it was, far from her conventional life in Cove Neck. Deep inside, she felt a yearning for this untamed world, so beautiful in all its towering trees and thick vegetation. She couldn’t imagine it concealing a dangerous animal.

She felt invisible strings tugging her forward, beckoning her into the darkened abyss that lay beyond the edges of the trees. She felt the others around her but were vaguely aware of anything but this unyielding pull, drawing her forth.

Lily.

The sensual voice in her head brought her to an alarmed standstill. Surely she had imagined it? Undoubtedly the effects of her excitement and adrenaline combined?

Come to me.

The voice that beckoned to her carried in the wind. She was suddenly unnerved by the darkness she had thought beautiful a moment ago.

Her hand moved to hollowness at her throat. The tiny markings she had discovered earlier that morning tingled beneath her fingers.

Her eyes strained against the dark as she inadvertently took a step forward, her heart thumping wildly in her ears as she pushed twining branches aside.

Something moved in the dark and she let out a tiny breath, taking a quick step back. She didn’t know whether to be afraid or excited, she felt somewhere in between as she waited anxiously for something, anything to make itself known.

A hand grabbed her shoulder and she yelped.

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