Mine, Bitten

Chapter Four

Lily

            She didn't know which direction to take their conversation so she settled into the plush airline seat and focused on a spot that was anywhere but opposite of her.

           She tried not to stare at her father and realized then that maybe she shouldn't use that word so lightly, but what should she call the man? Ward? Mr. McDermott?

           Strange. She thought. It sounded foreign to her and yet, overtly appropriate. She wasn't ready to come to terms with their newfound relationship and coming to terms meant calling him something that he knew absolutely nothing about being.

           She worried her bottom lip as she peered around the plane and was somewhat surprised to see a number of men boarding the plane.

          She cleared her throat and her father-Ward, peered up from the paper he had been reading and followed the direction of her gaze. "They're here to assist in my research." He said flatly, dismissing it as easily as that as he reverted back to his article.

           Lily frowned, "All of them?"

          He nodded, "There will be more when we land."

         She thought it odd but decided it was best to not ask questions for he appeared in no mood to answer them and so for the remainder of the trip, she busied herself with books, stale peanuts, and an occasional glass of wine to steady her nerves.

         Eventually, she drifted asleep.

           She stood in a dark room, vaguely aware of something watching her with an unyielding stare. She breathed in a steady breath as an uneasy feeling crept up her spine. Her fingers stretched in the dark, searching blindly for a way out.

          "Lily..."

         She jerked around, frightened by the voice that had been in her ear. She could feel it moving around her, circling her in the dark. She grew breathless as a breeze hissed by her and she nearly leapt from her skin.

        "Whose there?" she demanded, thoroughly frightened.

        "Demise." The booming voice resonated in the darkness, drawling out any last remnants of her courage.

       She turned and ran, undaunted of what may lay in her path. Her heart beat at an uncanny rate and for some odd notion, she believed him capable of hearing it. She felt him coming closer.

      A large, masculine hand, with all the strength in his fingers, seized her. "Lily!"

       She jumped awake in her seat and nearly released the scream jammed in her throat. Ward peered at her questionably as he released his seatbelt. "We've arrived."

       She nodded shakily as she unfastened herself and stood on wobbly legs. "Stale peanuts and stilled wine don't mesh well." She said in an attempt to deter the awkward stare. She offered a small smile and pushed past him.

       As she stepped from the plane, she was baffled to notice the men who had boarded with them, gone, disappearing like vapor.

Shrugging it off for nothing, she went to retrieve her bags.

She met up with Ward outside and was surprised when he waved down a taxi. "No luxury car?" she asked with a trace of sarcasm.

He turned and cocked a silvered brow at her, "I thought you'd be pleased?"