13

For a second, the world had turned blissfully black, and peaceful, but the moment she became aware of the chaos around her, she realized alarmingly, she laid smack in the center of it all. But it was all hazy and unclear, the sounds stretched and images blurred.

Her head lolled sideways and she tasted dryness in her mouth. Her body felt lethargic and slow as she attempted to roll onto her stomach. She struggled to hold her head up and her eyes were intensely heavy.

Her hands smoothed over the earth beneath her, pulling at dirt and strays of grass as she tried pulling herself upward.

She could feel tears lodging tightly in her throat and swallowed them down. Through her blurriness, she spotted a familiar and staunch figure.

Something erupted from her throat, and she realized, it had been a soft cry.

Ward moved toward her and she cringed inwardly as she spied the needle in his hand.

"Why?" her voice was strangely brittle and weak.

The man kneeling before her was a different man, a man bent on obsession with an unnatural gleam to his blue eyes.

"Professor!"

Ward leapt to his feet and spun around. The sight that met his eyes drew him back to the night he discovered the creature barreling down on his men.

Fangs bared, eyes glazed in red, eyes that leveled hungrily on the woman at his heel. The creature stood several feet away, but Ward knew, it would only take a preternatural speed, to bring him precariously closer.

A man fell in at his side and handed him a tranquilizer gun. "Radu and Xander went to retrieve the rope. Are you certain this will work?"

Ward grinned, his eyes never straying from the creature. "It has to work."

He could hear the bushes rustling from behind him and knew the others had returned with the rope. This had to work, if not, all his strategic planning would have been for nothing.

He knew without a doubt, the creature would be drawn to Lily and it knew why, even now, its black eyes hazed in red, gazed cravingly at her.

Take her. He coaxed.

The creature, though it appeared very much like a man, pulled its head up, his mouth pulling into a grin, revealing one-tipped fang.

You think you're clever, Scientist? I could have had her all along, in fact, I've already tasted her.

Ward's face flushed a deep and angry red.

Impossible!

Those black eyes glinted like ominous orbs of darkness. Is this what years of hunting me, tracking me has gotten you, a mere rope and a fistful of men?

Ward's fingers curled painfully around the gun.

Your desperation has made you messy.

"Take her!" Ward growled, raising the gun and firing.

The creature moved with such frightening speed, that it swept the circle of men, wiping them clean off their feet.

Lily stirred at the violent ring of voices that resonated around her. When her eyes widened on Ward standing over her, she felt her heart turn over in fear.

She managed to lift her head and when her gaze connected with a pair of beautiful, dark eyes, she felt a breath leave her lungs.

It couldn't be, it just wasn't possible.

Her head swam with more spouts of fuzziness and she clenched her eyes shut, fighting the nausea that followed.

Lily...

"No." she groaned.

"Take her!" she heard Ward shout menacingly.

Her heart sank, and she opened her eyes and caught a flash of movement, so fleeting it seized her father in a cruel and merciless grip.

Her mouth fell open on a scream when she saw the fangs lengthen and the raw hunger illuminating eyes she thought beautiful.

No! She heard herself cry inwardly.

She felt him hesitate.

Let him go. She pleaded softly.

Ward opened his mouth to draw in a breath, but the iron fingers locked around his throat, prevented any air from entering.

Please.

As darkness tugged at her awareness, she waited; her heart hammering as her phantom slowly unfurled his fingers from Ward's throat.

Lily felt a small sigh escape her throat, but the moment she relaxed, her phantom did the unthinkable and sank his fangs deep into her father's throat.

The Scientist's body sank heavily to the ground and Varian stepped aside, observing the pathetic human with eyes that blazed a bloodlust red.

He could hear the man's heart and would have gladly drained him dry, if not for the woman. Why she would want his life sparred, after all he had done to her, was beyond fathoming.

His eyes settled on the woman.

Her body lay sprawled and unmoving but he detected the gentle thump of her heart, the flow of blood that even now, evoked the beast.

He moved to stand over her, realizing the drug had taken effect. He wanted to drain her more so than the man, but for a reason entirely different. This human woman had plagued him, even in his sleep, and a vampire did not dream, especially of a woman with hair the color of sunlight.

He kneeled down and reached out to gently touch her cheek. Her skin was warm, enticing. He felt his fangs lengthen, felt the tips prick his tongue. His stomach twisted with the thirst.

He had yearned for this woman's blood the moment he realized they were connected. For years, he kept hidden, never revealing himself, but as time transpired, she grew lovelier, he could no longer ignore this undeniable root that lulled him to her.

He should kill her, and felt an animalistic growl surface in his throat. She was the scientist's daughter. It was only right that he kill her. Drain her now.

He reached beneath her and lifted her into his arms. She felt weightless and delicate. Her head fell back and her pretty hair splayed his arm.

The scent of her was intoxicating to his senses and he found that he quite enjoyed it.

His stomach twisted and churned, the thirst fighting its way to the surface, reminding him all too well of the dangers of having a woman in his arms.

He sparred not a glance for the humans sprawled along the earth and took flight through the forest.

He had mastered entering her hotel room without difficulty. With his mind, he simply willed the locks to release, allowing him entry.

He crossed the room and placed her on the bed, there he watched her.

He could feel the sedative coursing through her veins. It was harmless and eventually would wear off, but the emotional pain that came with it, would take longer to fade.

His eyes moved over the length of her, settling hotly on the rise and fall of her breasts. A swift and unexpected pain ripped through him like sharpened claws.

The hunger was almost too unbearable to ignore, and he not only thirsted for blood, but her blood.

His senses more keen compared to a mere human, he could hear the ebb and flow of it; listened to her heart, beating through flesh and bone; and through all that, detected a faint scent of fear.

Through his fixation, he felt a violent rush of anger. She was the scientist's daughter. He should kill her. End her now and rid him of this insidious yearning.

He felt the effects of the drug slowly diminishing. She would wake in a few hours time and remember all that occurred.

He should wipe her mind clean, let her forget this night, and think of him only as a dream, as he had done countless times before, but that would be too generous of him.

She would remember, attempt to run, and then, then he would come for her.

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