CHAPTER EIGHT: Worth The Trouble

He drank deeply of the small female he held in his arms. She tasted like ambrosia; and, he wasn't sure he could pull himself away. But he did, knowing she may be important to his quest for bringing to life a new breed.

She lay still in his arms; eyes closed, her lashes dark against her golden skin. She was petite in size but she had strong limbs. Her musculature was defined without being grossly oversized. He figured her movements would be graceful, sure.

Shaking himself out of his reverie, he knew they needed to vacate the premises. The other members of her team would be back soon. And they wouldn't be happy to find their leader sitting in his lap, drained of blood.

He laid her aside, and stood up; testing his renewed strength. He was a little unsteady, but that was to be expected with the numerous injuries he had sustained. He bent over and picked up the woman that had unwittingly saved his life. Knowing he couldn't move around quickly, carrying her as he would a bride over the threshold; he threw her over his shoulder and made his way through the tunnels he once called home.

He surveyed the damage along the way; noting which fellow lycans had met their demise at the hand of the death dealers. Furious at the futile loss of so many of his kind, he silently promised their lifeless bodies he would make things right.

Figuring his captive and her team would have a lookout at the main entrance, he went through a secondary exit, a tunnel he and Raze had discovered during their long sojourn under the subways.

He hadn't seen Razes' body amongst the dead. He hoped he had survived and had gathered together the remaining shapeshifters. Whomever survived had hopefully moved on to their secondary lair; a place where they could tend to the injured and devise a plan. He knew where they would be, he just needed a little bit of time to gather his strength and to insure the female he had with him would not cause any problems.

He had finally made it out of the tunnels and found himself topside. His strength was fading fast; he needed a place to rest. But where could they go and be safe from the vampires? Aha, he had it! The vampires had kept Michael in a holding cell. It had a good supply of blood, camera's throughout the building and he could chain up his new friend while he recuperated.

Wishing he knew where to find Michael and wondering if Kraven had made it out alive, Lucian made his way to the safety of the vampire owned property, carrying the unconscious woman.

They made it to the building without fail. He hadn't seen a glimpse of lycans, nor vampires; but since it was daytime, he didn't expect to find any vampires about. He carried his burden up the flight of stairs and into the rooms; which had recently held Michael prisoner. He cautiously opened the door to the back room and gently lowered the female into the chair. He clamped the manacles around her wrists. She still appeared to be out. He reached out and tested the pulse in her neck; it was shallow but steady. He had taken more than he had intended, but she would be fine.

He needed to replenish his strength. He foraged through the small refrigerator, finding a ready supply of blood. He tore open the bag and drank it down, not even bothering to heat it up. Feeling slightly better, he grabbed another bag and put it into the microwave oven he found beside the refrigerator. When the timer went off, the woman in the chair stirred. He pulled out the blood and drank it down, slower this time, as he watched the female come to.

She appeared disoriented, her amethyst colored eyes foggy and unfocused. She shook her head as if trying to clear it out. Without warning, her mind went flying down a dark smoky tunnel and opened up into a room where a man was chained to the floor. He was being tortured and beaten. But as soon as he began to lift his head, the image disappeared and slowly, the room she currently occupied came into focus.

Sitting across from her was the lycan she had found down in the tunnels. Her mind seemed to be working in slow mo as she turned her thoughts to the events that had taken place earlier that day. She remembered her and her team going into the subway and finding the tunnels. She also recalled them searching the underground rooms looking for Michael Corvin. Then they came across the only fully intact body to be found in the subterranean lair. She had stayed behind to search the dead lycan for identification...wait a minute....he wasn't dead.

Suddenly the memories came rushing in on her. Not only was the lycan alive, he had bitten her and obviously taken her hostage. She tried standing up, only to find she had been chained to the chair she now occupied, and she was really lightheaded. Blood loss, she told herself. Which was probably a good thing, because if she had been able to reach him, she would have torn the shapeshifter limb from limb. Now, all she could do was glare at the infuriating man while he grinned at her with a slightly lopsided twist of his lips.

"Under the circumstances, I feel it best to introduce myself", the lycan began. "I am Lucian", he said watching her to see if his name registered any kind of reaction. Her face was a clean slate. No emotion, other than anger, crossed her slightly exotic features. She either had no idea who he was, or she was really good at schooling her reactions.

After waiting a few moments, he spoke again. "Normally, this would be the time you would reciprocate and tell me your name", he prodded.

She didn't say a word. She just sat there glaring at him.

"Okay, I can see you're not in a talkative mood. I'll tell you what, let's say I give you a little alone time. I'm sure you're not quite recovered from our little encounter, and you're probably not feeling quite up to snuff. I am sorry that I can't let you out of your restraints, but I need to rest a little, regain my strength you know. I suggest you do the same. I'll leave you with a warmed bag of blood. If you drink it down, you may find you have regained some, if not all, of your strength. Once I awaken, I'll come back in and we can further discuss our situation. Does this sound agreeable to you", he asked politely?

She still didn't respond. She just sat there still as a statue. He walked over to the refrigerator and took out one more bag of blood. He then heated it up and punctured one end so that she could easily tear into it. Then he slowly walked over to her and placed the blood on the table, well within her reach. The chains allowed for a little maneuvering, so he knew she could get to the sustenance should she so choose to.

When she made no move to touch the bag or him, he moved over to the door. He opened it to leave, but before he walked out, he turned and studied her. Nothing showed on her face, not even the anger he had found there when she realized what had happened. She sat there completely devoid of any emotion. Odd, he thought, then he closed the door, ready for a short rest.