Lana's POV It was something else. Something different.. Something new. Something I hadn't done before. Ever. Being away from my family, it was heartbreaking from one part, but right.. I knew it was. It was them that were after me, and this was the only way to solve that problem names.. The Vesnetsovs. I still had no idea how my father was convinced into all of this, but whatever had him so hooked and certain, it must've been a strong reason. Now, I was away, making deals with vampires, and witches or whatever, just so I can save my family from whatever was going on. A whole pack. From some kind of a promise my father made to that man. A part of me felt like I was doing the right thing.. Running away.. I was stopping a mistake that could ruin so many lives. That's at least how I felt about my pack. I wanted protection for all of those that I cared about. And with my father giving all that power up, and letting some else have it.. Rule it.. It wasn't right. But at the same time, I thought that maybe I should've talked to him. Maybe I should've tried finding out the reason why he was doing this. Even if I knew that he would've tried convincing me otherwise.. He would know my next move and try stopping me from leaving.. That's what would've happened if I tried talking to him. But there it was. I did it. Not only for myself, but even if it was a mistake, I thought I was doing the right thing. There was no going back now.. That girl.. Amelia. She mentioned something about a chaos coming back. Repeating.. What was it? I was curious, even though I knew it could get me in a lot of trouble, danger, or whatever.. It was part me. I always wanted to know, and I didn't let it go until I did. Now.. Well, now it was different. I wanted to know, but she gave me a fair warning. Christian did too. I should stay out of it. That's what I was told, and I kept repeating it to myself. But now, I was sitting in the car with the same vampire that I made a deal with. A royal. No one else but Christian Le Borusier. He was the one that was helping me out. Till now at least. So.. So, I was supposed to be the one telling him what Amelia asked from me. However, there weren't only two sides of that story. There was mine too. And I wanted to know how all of this was going to play out first. I wanted to know why was everyone trying to keep me 'out of it'. What was it that was so horrifying and dangerous to even talk about? I reached out for the radio, and turned the volume louder. I needed something to block my own thoughts. It was too much for me. Getting away was supposed to be my only priority at that point. Even though Amelia cast a anti-track spell on me or whatever, I didn't trust it. I was taught the old way. However, Christian always did the opposite of what I did. He turned the volume down. "Hey!" He glanced at me. "Do you want me to turn it off?" Once again that cold tone of his had me seriously curious on what it was about him that seemed so damn mysterious to me. However, his car, his rules. I leaned on the seat. "Just keep your eyes on the road. I heal slower, you know." I heard a dry chuckle escaping him, but there was nothing funny about be being worried for that night to get repeated. It was already super weird that the same night I ran away from home, I came across that old creepy house, where I actually saw him again.. Which made it even weirder. And then, we almost had an accident on an empty road because someone decided to burn wood. I exhaled. I was going to get a headache by the end of the morning if I continued thinking. "So, what did you and Amelia talk about?" I felt something sink down my stomach. Instantly looking at him, I watched how in those few seconds he simply kept his eyes concentrated on the dark road, and continued driving. This man was unbelievable. How did he know? I cleared my throat slightly. "How do you know we talked?" "Does it matter?" He said, looking back at me. Exhaling slightly, I broke that intense gaze he seemed to hold over me. Those dark eyes of his made me uncomfortable, and I knew I would spill everything if he continued looking at me like that. "She wanted to get to know me better. I was the enemy in the house. And she has a daughter to worry about." Glancing at him, I saw the smirk on his face. He didn't buy that. He was way too experienced with people like me to actually believe my lies. I had to get him off track. "Really now?" "Hey, I can have privacy." It would've been easier to just give up and tell him, but I wanted to see what was the whole thing with this deal. I was curious to know what he had to do with the necklace, and if I told him now, he would be even more careful around me, without giving me information that I could give to Amelia. He didn't really trust me. "Lana," His stern voice made me glance at him for a second, feeling how my body started tensing up. They were wrong.. Amelia and Christian. They both told me that it was something that I should't take part of, but hey, I was already a part of it. In fact, they were the ones that put me in the middle, and I was lying for both of them. Christian first told me to keep this whole necklace hut a secret from her, and especially her. And then she was the one that told me to spy on him basically, and then give her the info, without letting him know that.. And all of that without me even knowing what was going on. What was the big deal about that chain? It was anything but fair. I licked my lips quickly, looking back in front of me. "I'm serious. It could be something private." From the corner of my eye, I saw him looking at me, and with all honesty, what he said after that was nothing but the truth. "We have passed that private line a long time ago, Lana." He concentrated on the road again. "Besides, whatever it is that's connected to Amelia, it is connected to me as well." "Do you care about her?" I found myself asking almost instantly. It was weird how my self-conscious worked. Sometimes, I just couldn't control the words that slipped. But mom always said that sometimes, the honesty comes out when you're not paying that much attention. I saw the connection him and Amelia had, and it was different.. Something like the one I had with my pack. It was trust that I saw, yet they were doing the complete opposite. "You're changing the subject." I heard him say. Well, and that too. I exhaled slightly, trying to seem as 'not interested' as possible. "You just seem so shook up about her finding out about this.- I mean the whole necklace thing. Which, by the way, I did not tell her about." I added quickly as I glanced at him. It was unbelievable how he found a smile in subjects where I tried being serious. However, I just went on. I was trying to change the subject, yes, but I also wanted to know. "What is it with you keeping secrets? Aren't you supposed to be honest with the ones you care about?" I looked back outside the window.. Some parts were fitting similarly as the situation I was in. "There are no such things like that in my family." But it wasn't the same. My father was just trying to the right thing with that marriage. I think. "Says the girl that running away from her family." His words took my attention once again as I looked at him. His profile was as perfectly sculpted as the rest of his face. I couldn't lie to myself.. The guy was quite the distraction. Dark hair, perfectly tanned skin, eyes that were like sparkly black pearls.. And then there was the rudeness and the fact that he thought he knew everything. It was easy to get o your nerves. "That's different." I said after a few seconds of silence; the silent music in the background the only thing filling in the air around us.. Somewhat breaking that tension that started forming for some reason. He looked at me. "How?" + I was quick to once again break that eye contact, that slow way of him getting under my skin. "It just is, okay?" I turned the volume on the radio again before I heard myself mumble. "You know nothing about me. And why I left." He didn't. And there was no need for him to find out either. We made a deal for a while, but once we were done with our complicated situations, we were going on separate ways. + However, he didn't give up just like that. Instead of turning the volume down, he just turned the whole radio off. He glanced back at me, and I could feel his eyes scanning my face from the side. "Then tell me, Lana." + "I,-" I found myself mumbling. He couldn't be serious. I did change the subject, but only re-directed the whole situation towards me. "I can't." + Before I could say anything else, I watched how he turned the car towards a little clearing on the side of the road, and stopped. "Why?" I glanced at him just to once again create that somewhat connected between the two of us as our gazes met. It was weird, but it felt as if he could read everything that was going on inside me with the way he looked at me. And I.. I on the other hand couldn't figure him out yet. + I leaned on the seat, looking back in front of myself. "Because I don't trust you." + "You're in in my car. For the second time." He didn't give up. He knew that it was our families that were sworn enemies, but I grew up away from Venedocia, a place where my ancestors once lived.. My whole family was already banished from that place. And I've been taught to never trust one. A vampire. And so I'm not. +