Mine, Bitten

Chapter Twenty-Three

Lily

            "Immortality?" Lily regarded Ward with unease.

            His sharp blue eyes had taken on that peculiar beaming light, one that best portrayed his ardent passion for his work. She felt a slight pang of hurt, for never would he look at her in such a way.

            "A scientist will spend a lifetime racking his brain, seeking ways to unravel the mystery that others fail to do. Can you imagine the prospects?"

            "And you?" she demanded, "What are you?"

            He peered at her as realization dawned, "My journal."

            "Is it true?"

            He turned to fully face her, "Depends on the question."

            "Were you born in the year 1833?"

            He was silent a moment and she knew he weighed as to reveal so much. "It is a long story, one best told at another time."

            She felt her temper flaring, "I deserve some answers."

            He struck her with a sharp, meaningful glare. "You are in no condition to demand anything of me."

            This startled her, "What am I your prisoner?" she almost laughed aloud but that notion suddenly felt foolish given the circumstances; she didn't feel as though she could stroll freely to the door and leave.

            His lean fingers tapped a rhythm on the smooth surface of the mahogany desk. "Depends on whether you agree to go along with what I have planned."

            Her heart began to palpitate uneasily in her chest. Whether this man sired her or not, the truth of it was she knew absolutely nothing about him and he appeared perfectly capable of unpredictable tactics.

            She tilted her chin, though within she was thoroughly afraid, she was determined to show him otherwise. "How is it that you yourself are preternatural and you haven't discovered the source of immortality?"

            His expression grew taut, "I am not entirely of the supernatural-my condition is borrowed."

            Lily frowned, "I don't understand-borrowed?"

            He continued to drum his fingers as he carefully chose his words, "I have trailed a vampire for over a century and during that time have managed to gain a significant supply of his blood." He paused and said mostly to himself, "Ensnaring a creature construed of pure strength and speed is a difficult task, yet not impossible." he met her stare from across the desk, "I store vials of the blood in my lab and over a long period of time, when I feel its effects wan, I carefully inject myself, therefore gaining me more years beyond the lifespan of a human."

            Lily shook her head at the disquieting notion of injecting oneself with the blood of the unworldly, "Why on earth would you do that?"

            He laughed, startling her. "Why wouldn't one considerate it-the effects, the unnatural abilities-incredible strength, amazing speed, heightened senses, all of which are at arms length, here in my lab."

            "They are much stronger than you'll ever be."

            His eyes hardened as if it had been an insult, "No matter-once I have a mass supply, which I will, I'll be unstoppable."

            "You're mad." She cried, "Immortality is so much more than you believe it to be."

            She felt his anger flow from across the room, "Do you realize all I have risked? I have gone against protocol, I'm teetering on the edge of losing my position because I have gone above and beyond for this, and I will stop at nothing until I have discovered it. Can you imagine the possibilities? I can cure illnesses incapable of curing with just one drop of their blood. This is my meal ticket, Lilith, my chance at becoming the most influential scientist alive, and you're going to help me get there."
            He arose and came around the desk to where she stood.

            "I won't help you-"

            He seized her arm and produced a grin that generated a chill up her spine.

            "You fail to realize that you don't have a choice."

Varian

            Varian trailed Lily's scent and now stood viewing the building looming against the black sky with calculating anger.

            His senses immediately drew in her scent, straining to catch her voice, her thoughts, anything that would somewhat ease the unsettling thought of harm coming to her.

            Strange, he hadn't imagined feeling such a way for a human, let alone the scientist daughter, but he did, and strongly.

            His body grew taut as every possible threat surfaced to mind. If she believed the scientist capable of fatherly affections, she would soon learn a grave lesson. Ward McDermott was a cold and selfish man who sought prestige and would do anything, including obstructing his own daughter to gain it.

            The world of the unnatural was far bigger than the scientist could even begin to imagine. There were things other than vampires that went bump in the night. If word were to get out, it would open a door that could prove fatal not only to humans, but his kind alike.

            She didn't know it yet, but Lily would prove to be the most valuable, and endangered of it all.

            She had yet to understand their undeniable attraction; the unbreakable bond that drew them together-she would soon discover that she was born specifically for him, that the blood which flowed warmly through her was derived precisely from him.

            Varian tensed, sensing another presence making its way toward him through the dark, when he caught the familiar scent, he relaxed and met the cobalt stare as plaid surfaced beneath the moonlight.

            "What are you doing here, Talon?" he asked as the vampire strolled to his side.

            Talon flashed a fanged-grin. "I followed you-something has Margie in a mood, I suspect this 'something' happens to be blond and human." He leaned against a lamp post, the particular shade of light catching the awful texture of plaid that covered the length from his hips to calves.

            Varian cringed, "Your eccentric tastes over the centuries haven't improved."

            Talon smirked, "I would choose anything to a cravat and breeches."

            Varian felt a grin tugging at his mouth as he vividly recalled that time, a time where appearance and manner were everything, where women dressed in lavished gowns and bore fans to mask their powdered faces-he almost laughed at the image of him and Talon strolling among the London ton equipped in the finest attire.

            During that era, Marguerite had flourished.

            "Your human-" Talon nudged his head in the direction of the building, "-she in there?"

            He nodded.

            "What would you have me do?"

            "Nothing-I'll not have you interfere."

            "You can't just stroll in their and retrieve your damsel-in-distress without complications."

            Talon studied Varian a little more closely. "She's different, V. It won't be long before others sense it."
            Talon was right.

            Once word of Lily spread, there would be others outside his clan that would seek to take what was his and he'd be damned to allow it.

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