Chapter 4

Ryodan had been intently studying the small blonde before and after the plane lifted off the tarmac. Unwanted lust throbbed in his groin causing him serious discomfort as the bulge in his pants strained against the heavy material of his denim jeans. His erection grew even bigger when he saw her wiggle her butt to get comfortable in the leather seat.

He kept shifting in the seat to ease himself, but it was no use. Both Lor and Angus watched him curiously with smirks on their faces. He glared at them; his dark eyes dared them to say anything out loud. They both held their counsel.

A strong magnetic attraction to the pretty blonde thrummed steadily in his mind, growing stronger as each minute passed. A powerful need to touch her anywhere on her body was building, making him even more uncomfortable. He somehow sensed that merely touching her would release the strain he felt. He resisted the urge to lean over and touch her right arm as his fingers flexed involuntarily. He wished nothing more than to be in a room alone with the girl to explore these feelings.

Ryodan was a a loss. Although the blonde was certainly pretty, she was a far cry from type of woman that usually attracted him. He liked tall, beautiful, preferably dark haired, carefully coiffed woman. He liked woman who oozed sophistication and worldliness. His women always looked like fashion plates dressed in expensive designer clothing, without a hair out of place.

When they spoke, their voices intoned in serene, cultured accents. They could discuss the latest in art, music, politics and fashion. They were educated and extremely intelligent even if they didn't work for a living. Most importantly, they were sexually uninhibited; they knew exactly what to do to satisfy his animal passions and strong lusts, just as he satisfied theirs.

They did anything and everything he asked them to do. Although he paid well for their services by showering them with expensive gifts and money, they were the kind of women to whom he could never form a deep attachment. They were the kind of women he could leave behind without a second thought when he tired of them. Once he was done with them, he never missed them or thought much about them again.

This girl was the antithesis of sophisticated and worldly. She was short with a small frame; still she was blessed with soft, full breasts and lush round hips. Her fair complexion was radiant; it seemed to glow with an inner light. He guessed that was just her youth. She radiated small town charm and had a rather disgusting look of wholesomeness about her. Ryodan didn't like wholesome.

Her voice, when he heard it, was a warm, rich alto. He sensed she liked to laugh a lot and would have bet she was prone to make jokes and laugh at inappropriate times. Her hair lacked any real style; it was cut at the ends, but it tumbled down her back in a riot of golden curls; it was shiny and looked so soft, it seemed vibrant and alive. Her face was almost totally devoid of make up, except for a little eyeshadow, and some lipstick, Her dark brown eye lashes needed no mascara to highlight them. Her eyes fascinated him, they were a peculiar violet color and they flashed when she was excited or angry.

Her clothes were hardly haute couture; it was unlikely she ever owned a designer dress in her life. The sweater, jeans and loafers she wore fit her well, and they were not cheap, but they were the type clothing that one could buy at any major department store in the United States. In truth, she was a nobody; a woman he would normally never look at twice. Still, he was unaccountably drawn to her, and he was determined to find out why.

Ryodan had no use for cowards, and he had a particular disgust for anyone who openly showed fear. He was surprised and faintly disappointed to discover that that the little blonde evidently had a great fear of flying. He had know many people who had the same problem, but her fear seemed deeper than most. She was trying bravely not to show it, but she was afraid nonetheless. He could hear her heart beating faster; he could see the pulse in her neck throb wildly. He could literally smell it on her. Fear gave off an acrid, distasteful scent.

As the plane lifted off the tarmac, he watched in fascination as her small, pretty face went white, and her hands gripped the arms of her seat so tightly, her knuckles went white. He could feel her impulse to scream and wondered if she would give in to it. She didn't; she swallowed hard, instead. He admired that.

He saw her push her sleeve up on her left arm and began to rub the gold bracelet that encircled her forearm As her small fingertips traced the runes etched into the gold band, she began to slowly relax. He could hear her heartbeat slowing; her pulse throbbed slower too. She took several deep breaths, and kept on fingering and rubbing the cuff, relaxing even more as she did.

He laughed softly to himself; she reminded him so much of a small child hugging a security blanket, and in a way, it was very endearing. It made him feel good to see how hard she fought to control her fear without making a scene. He instinctively understood that she was embarrassed about her fear.

The girl stopped rubbing the bracelet and moved her right hand to her side. Her left forearm lay across her lap in plain view. Ryodan got a good look at the strange looking band and sucked in a surprised breath. He immediately recognized the gold cuff for what it was. He jabbed Lor hard in the side to get his attention and pointed.

Lor recognized it too; he alerted Angus who craned his eyes to see the girl's arm. Angus nodded. They all knew that the gold bracelet was actually a Fae cuff cast to ward off evil. The gold in the cuff was not from this planet. It was Fae gold from Faery. They were certain that the gold cuff had been made by a member of the Fae race to protect the wearer from harm. The runes on the cuff more than likely contained the words to a Fae magic spell. Fae magic was almost as powerful as Draghar magic.

Ryodan leaned his body toward the blonde as far as it would go. Her cuff seemed to sense other magic around it and began to resonate silently; he was doubtful that she was even aware of it. His Draghar eyes and ears picked up the sight and sound of the cuff immediately as it vibrated in a frequency much higher than human eyes or ears could see or hear. He felt his own silver cuff began to quiver just as silently in response, as did the cuffs worn by Lor and Angus. He kept staring at her and the cuff wondering what she was doing with it.

The blonde looked up and caught Ryodan staring at her. He didn't want her to suspect his interest in the cuff, so he made a pass at her. He wanted to divert her attention, but he never expected the intense reaction he got. The blonde got angry and responded sarcastically to him. She rejected him in no uncertain terms. He wasn't used to that, and it made him angry. It made him even angrier when she dismissed him so casually by turning her back on him and falling asleep facing the window.

As the blonde slept, the three Draghar men looked at each other in astonishment. There was no doubt in their minds that the golden cuff worn by the young blonde contained a very powerful Fae magic spell. That more than drew their attention. Anything Fae always drew the attention of Draghar; they had been enemies for millennia. The fact that three Draghar warriors were on the same plane with a human who wore a Fae protection cuff could not be dismissed as mere coincidence, even a human as young and small as the little blonde. Both the girl and the cuff bore further examination.

They began to talk softly in their own ancient language so there would be no chance that anyone in first class would understand them. They kept their voices low and controlled, but excitement gripped all three of them. Most humans could not handle any true Fae object without incurring serious harm, but the girl casually touched the gold cuff as if she was used to it. It had been centuries since the three Draghar males had seen a human casually handle a Fae object like that, and they were intrigued.

Lor who was sitting next to Ryodan said he thought he had seen the name "Danal" on the cuff. It sounded like the name of a Fae male, but none of them were familiar with it. Lor suggested they ask Barrons if he recognized the name. Jericho Barrons was the name currently used by their leader Zigor. He knew many more fae than the others did..

Even though they thought it was unlikely, the three understood implicitly that they needed to to determine if the blonde posed a danger to them. Even if she was harmless, they needed to determine exactly how this young American female got her hands on such a valuable Fae object. The Fae cuff was priceless and valuable beyond measure. The Draghar collected any fae objects they could get their hands on, even those that were not Seelie or Unseelie hallows.

All Fae objects contained magic. Because of their hatred for the Fae, the Draghar considered it their right to keep these objects out of the hands of those who would use them against them. Just as they searched for both dark and light hallows to help them find the lost Sinsar Dubh, the most powerful book of magic that ever existed, they bought and/or stole many other regular fae objects. They needed the Sinsar Dubh to help them turn back time and bring back their loved ones. They collected other non-vital Fae objects to keep them out of the wrong hands. If they determined it was necessary to steal the cuff off the girl's arm, they would do so ruthlessly and without remorse.

All three knew that the runes on the cuff would spell out the exact words of the magic protection spell contained by the cuff. By reading the words, they would know who cast the spell, and they would understand exactly who and what they were dealing with. Ryodan decided he would slip the cuff off her arm while she slept. They would read the runes and decide whether or not to give it back to her, but before they did that, they wanted to discover as much about her as they could.

As the other passengers slept in the darkened first class cabin, Ryodan made his move. He stood up and unobtrusively pulled the girl's handbag out of the storage bin above her seat. Sitting back down, he rifled through her purse. Her wallet held both a amount American dollars and about three hundred British pounds, a driver's license with her picture on it, a credit card, a bank ATM card and a library card, all of which identified her as Eleanora Hammond, 8617 Smith Lane, Old Bridge, New Jersey 08857.

Ailiniora, "Shining Light", such a fitting name. Ryodan thought as he looked at the blonde's glowing face in the semi-darkness.

He found an employee identification card with her photograph on it from Raritan Bay Hospital. The ID card was attached to a metal chain and identified her as a registered nurse. In a small zippered compartment, the purse contained a envelope of about fifty photographs that were still sealed; she apparently had just picked them up before getting on her flight.

A second compartment held a lipstick, a small hair brush, a key ring with both car and house keys, a pen, a small digital camera, a cellphone; a small weekly planner, some gum, a package of tissues, and a plastic case for carrying tampons. A third compartment was where she held her wallet, and a case for sunglasses. There was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary in the handbag.

Stuffing all the items except the folder of photographs back into the bag, Ryodan gave the bag to Lor and Angus to search again. He sat back and began to scan the photographs to see if there was any sort of evidence in them. The first forty pictures showed rdinary candid snapshots of the girl and her friends going about their daily lives. The blonde was pictured with many other people, including an old woman with the same color violet eyes. Ryodan guessed they were relatives.

There were shots of her at work with co-workers, in a bar with friends, at a wedding catching a bridal bouquet and dressed up for a costume party making faces at some kids. She seemed to have a devilish sense of humor as there were a quite few photos of her making weird faces or sticking out her tongue at someone. She really seemed unconscious of the way she looked and didn't seem to care whether or not the camera caught her in a careful pose or making a silly clown face. She looked so ridiculous in some of the pictures, Ryodan laughed out loud as he showed the silly pictures to the others.

There were a number of shots of her kissing, hugging and mugging with a tall, lean, male with dark brown hair and amber eyes. The guy was smiling, but he didn't seem happy. He sure wasn't having as good a time as the little blonde. He seemed to be merely tolerating her little jokes. Ryodan knew instantly that the man was the sort of human male that many women would think quite handsome, but to Ryodan, he looked conceited; and egotistical.

In one of the photographs, the two were embracing while the little blonde held out her hand, showing off an engagement ring to another woman. An unreasonable stab of jealousy at the sight of the engagement ring caused him to look over at the girl; she was still sleeping with her back to him.

You're a fool it you marry that jerk, little girl, he thought

As if mentally called by him, Leni turned over on the seat and faced him. She was still sleeping soundly. Her small left hand lay atop the blanket in plain sight. Ryodan hadn't noticed an engagement ring on her hand before, so he looked for one now. There was no ring. He almost smiled in relief, but again he wondered where that feeling came from.

It was the last ten pictures in the folder that made Ryodan sit up and take notice. They were pictures of the little blonde and a much taller, absolutely beautiful blonde with lighter hair and violet eyes. The eyes were same shade as the little blonde; again he wondered if they were related. The two girls were on a beach wearing bikinis. One tall, one short, but both perfectly proportioned; they both made his mouth water.

Both girls looked so stunning in the tiny scraps of cloth that covered their breasts and private parts, that It was hard for him to determine which girl was more attractive. That was not what attracted his attention though: Ryodan knew the taller blonde girl. She was Bridget McDonald and had just become engaged to one of the Draghar; she was Tegan's new girlfriend. Tegan swore to them that Bridget was the reincarnation of his dead wife, Briana, who had died along with Zayida and the other Draghar wives and families so long ago.

"Well, well. Isn't this interesting. That's Bridget McDonald, Tegan's woman. I wonder how this girl knows Bridget?" Ryodan asked as he showed the pictures to his two colleagues. Ryodan kept a couple of solo shots of Leni and put the other pictures back in the envelope and put them in her purse. He placed her purse back in the storage bin.

The three of them waited quietly for Ryodan to get a chance to get at the fae cuff. When two passengers awoke and started to talk, Lor performed a ritual incantation to cause both passengers to fall back asleep. The same incantation kept the flight attendants from looking their way.

Ryodan knelt down in the aisle beside the little blonde seat. With one hand, he tried to pull the girl's left arm toward him. He rested his other hand lightly on her upper thighs; he just couldn't resist the temptation; he rubbed her lega lightly back and forth a couple of times. He felt a deep sense of pleasure and a feeling of calmness as he touched the girl; his tense body began to relax. He would have continued to rub her leg, but he made himself concentrate on getting the cuff off her arm.

SMACK! "Get your hands off of me, you freakin' pervert!" a sleepy voice yelled.

The slap and Leni's loud scream reverberated through the first class cabin. Several sleeping passengers were woken out of a deep slumber by both sounds. The passengers and the two flight attendants up in front near the galley looked back to see what was causing the commotion. Ryodan found himself the center of unwanted attention.

Quicker than he though possible, the blonde moved her seat back to a sitting position, jumped up, stamped down hard on his foot and pushed at him. He lost his balance and almost fell over. She glared down at him; her beautiful violet eyes narrowed as they flashed with outrage and anger.

Ryodan stood up rubbed his face and stared back; he growled at her low in his throat. Thinking to intimidate her, he pulled himself up to his full height. He towered over Leni by almost eighteen inches, and he was more than twice her size in weight, but she wasn't having any of it. The tiny termagant stood toe to toe with him and glared up at him, looking for all the world as if she were going to start breathing fire. For a minute, the sight of her made Ryodan want to laugh out loud.

Lor and Angus moved behind Ryodan looking like two black thunder clouds. It was clear to Leni that the three men were together in this. "If you think you can intimidate me, you big bullies, you got another think coming," she spat at them.

Ryodan lowered his head toward her. "Is that so, Eleanora Hammond?" he drawled insolently and ran his finger along her jaw. The fact that he knew her name sent an unwelcome chill up her back, but the fact that he tried to intimidate her even further by touching her, made Leni's anger burn hot like the sun. She wanted to explode. She swatted his hand away, and moved backwards. That was a mistake as she almost ended up falling over her seat.

Leni managed to keep her balance and didn't give another inch. She looked looked up at the storage bin and then back at him. The storage bin door was slightly open. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that he had rifled through her things. For a few seconds, she didn't know what made her angrier: the fact that he touched her, the fact that he tried to tried to get the gold cuff off her arm, or the fact that he had been in her purse.

"My, what a busy little beaver you've been." she sarcastically ground out. "Too bad you wasted your time. I don't have anything worth stealing." Leni was consumed with rage at this behavior, and the behavior of the two men standing behind him.

"What's going on here?" two voices demanded. The two flight attendants, one male and one female, who serviced the first class section, came running up the aisle.

"This asshole just tried to molest me. I think think he was trying to steal my bracelet too." Leni said loudly.

"It's just a misunderstanding. I dropped my car keys on her seat as I walked back from the loo. I was just trying to get them back. I didn't mean to wake her, but I did. See." The man held up a set of keys for everyone to see.

"You had your hands on me, you pervert. You were rubbing my leg all over and pulling on my arm, so what the hell what the hell were you doing?"

"You must have been dreaming, Miss. I wasn't trying to steal anything, and I certainly wasn't trying to molest you. You were both awake. Did either of you see me trying to molest her or try to steal her bracelet?" He turned and asked the two other huge, dark men. They both shook their heads.

Leni knew what she what she knew; and she remembered the man's response just a minute ago. She started to insist, but the female flight attendant cut her off. The name tag on her uniform read "Kay."

"Well, it looks like it was all a big mistake. Everything is all right, You can all go back to sleep now.," Kay said. She looked at Leni and gave a disgusted look.

"I apologize Mr. Ryodan. It's clear the girl was just dreaming. Please don't let her ruin your flight." she said in a cultured British voice. "Americans. They are all crazy, aren't they?" she leaned into Ryodan and whispered softly sharing a laugh at Leni's expense with him. She didn't know if Leni could hear, but she really didn't care if she did.

Leni grabbed her purse, laptop and parka out of the storage bin. She sat back down in her seat and checked her purse and wallet to see if everything was missing. Everything seemed to be in place.

Ryodan and the other two men sat down as well. Kay hung around for a few more minutes talking to Ryodan. Leni could see the pretty redhead had a case of major hots for the big man. After practically sitting in his lap, Kay got the picture and left.

Leni turned to Ryodan and said. "Nice try, asshole. They may believe you, but you don't have me fooled for a minute. I know you tried to steal my bracelet. If you wanted to see it, why didn't you just ask, like a normal person." she added spitefully.

"Can you prove I tried to steal it? By the way, may I please see your bracelet, Miss Hammond?" Ryodan asked in a mocking tone.

Leni pulled her sleeve back down. "Hell no. If I could prove it, your ass would be sitting in jail the moment we landed. As for seeing my bracelet, I wouldn't show anything to a pervert like you. Especially one who feels free to paw me and rifle through my things." If looks could kill, Leni would have killed Ryodan by now. That amused the big man to no end.

Ryodan gave a sarcastic snort, "You think a lot of yourself, little girl You don't have anything that would interest me." The emphasis on the word "anything" was intended to leave no doubt that she wasn't up to his standards.

"Glad to hear that, pervert, cause you're so not my type, either."

"And just what type am I, little girl?"

"An arrogant, conceited thief who thinks he's God's gift to women. A real creep who thinks it's okay to molest strange women when he thinks they are asleep. What's the matter, big boy? Can't you get a date the normal way by asking a woman when she's awake? It's no wonder you have problems. By the way, you really should lose the gross pick up lines; they're a real turn off!"

With that, Leni got up, picked up her things and stalked down the aisle to an empty seat near the galley where she spent the rest of the flight to London. As she walked away, the three Draghar men looked at each other and howled with laughter. Before she sat down in her new seat, Leni turned around and gave them all the finger.

"Go fuck yourselves, you creeps. When you're done, do it again, sideways," she yelled at them. That made them laugh even harder.

On the flight from London to Dublin, she avoided the three big men by sitting as far away from them as possible.