Smoothly, so as to keep every appearance of outer cool while inside, she was positively seething, Elena snatched the book from Sam's grip, just as he was snapping the infuriating thing shut again.

"What do you think you are doing?" she asked him, her eyebrow raised and hands on hips that were still clad in the leather pants she had not yet had time to change out of.

"I wished to have a look at this book you went to a lot of trouble in getting," Sam answered her. "Great read. At least, it would be. If the darn thing could actually be read. Told you you shouldn't have gone to such great trouble over it."

With every show of laziness and as though he owned the place, Sam lifted the long legs that he had carelessly draped across Elena's chair and stood up in front of her.

"Nice place, this," he murmured, striding around it. "Cosy. A bit on the empty side but, hey. Everyone has their own tastes."

Elena just watched the Ravnos as he wondered her house with perfect ease, uncaring of what she might actually think of this. If he wasn't in someway useful to her..! She was startled to find that he was in her kitchen and going through her cupboards before she thought to get into motion and go in after him.

"Hey. Get out of there," she said, shoving one of the cupboard doors shut sharply, and almost succeeding in slamming one of more of his fingers inside. Raising his hands up innocently, he looked at her.

"I didn't mean no harm. Really. Just thought you had a nice place. Don't suppose you've got a spare bed for the night. A shared one will do."

Elena blinked. Was he coming onto her? She'd heard that he was a player, but this was ridiculous! Good thing he did not realise she was Tremere, she thought. She could just imagine his revulsion as soon as he came to figure out that little tid bit of information. Meanwhile, keeping her mind firmly shut to him, and clutching her locked book up to her chest, she continued to stare at him as though he were the lowest speck of dirt underneath the dirtiest, most unworthy shoe she didn't own.

"Okay. I'll take that as a no then," Sam finally concluded with a careless shrug. "You know, I was just thinking, because it's already so close to dawn and all. . ."

"Might have thought of that before breaking into people's houses," Elena snapped without thinking. She grimaced as she saw the sparkle in his eye that stated he relished in the getting a rise out of her.

"Didn't break into 'people's' houses, honey," he responded with a tip of an imaginary hat and a raised eyebrow. "Yours was special."

The book was, more like, Elena retorted inwardly, but this time had the self-control to keep her thoughts to herself. Instead, she waited impatiently for him to leave her house, before moving to sit on the same chair he had earlier claimed and try to figure out how the heck he had gotten this damned clasp open before she'd gotten here. Was he right? Was the text truly unreadable? That would be just her luck, that would.

Instead of focusing on a solution to the book at hand, she found her thoughts annoyingly drift to a certain infamous Ravnos vampire who had recently invaded her house and privacy. Damn him!

*

Sam took the day, now that he was powerful enough with the Gangrel ability Protean, to train up his strength and Cainenite powers so he could be a proper Antediluvian. By night fall he was ready to face the world as Ravnos Antediluvian, the most powerful ever. He's predecessor could much alter reality but Sam had changed the way he used his power so he could change more, but he knew not to make himself to powerful all he would be I trouble from the other older Antediluvians and Caine himself.

Sam decided that he took the wrong approach with Elena so he went back to her house and knocked this time. Elena opened the door very carefully but Sam just burst in and went straight for the book.

"You want to know what's in that book. Alright I'm offering my help. To show I'm on the level, if you want to find out anything about this book, forget the masquerade. They know nothing. The ones that might be able to help you are the ones that don't exist in the social life of society."

Elena just stood there absorbing what Sam had said. He gave her little time to react before going beginning again.

"These Vampires live everywhere and nowhere. they keep away for neonates, can't say that I blame them, and they remain hidden but leave very small clues to where they can be found. They also have the largest group of followers than any vampire could dream. They are so old that there name is nothing more than a whisper and most sleep through the centuries but still manipulate the world."

Elena simply stood waiting for more, knowing by now that she was going to get it anyway.

"Now if you serious about this book, you are going to need my help. But you must be prepared to leave all that you have." Sam looked around to make sure that they were not being overheard. "If you get on board, you will be in charge, I'll follow your lead but you must always be part of this 100% of the way. Do you understand? Do you excepted"

Elena looked suspiciously at the Ravnos handing her a deal in which she would attain everything she was after. What was the catch? It wasn't as though she didn't trust him, it was just. . . alright, she didn't trust Sam as far as she could throw him. But what was his motive in this?

"Say I said yes," she began with obvious reserve. "Not that I am, but say that I did, for the sake of argument. What do you get out of this?"

"Why, the mere pleasure of your company," Sam proclaimed, holding out his hands, all of innocence.

Elena didn't buy it for a second and her expression told him so.

"There could be something in it for me," he admitted, more to his normal tone of speaking. Elena raised an eyebrow, indicating for him to go on. Sam tilted his head ironically at her.

"You hardly expect me to tell you all of my secrets when you are willing to tell me none of your own, do you?" he asked, then held a hand out in front of her. "No wait, I can see by your expression that that's exactly what you expect. Well, I don't know what vampires you're used to consorting with, but me, I don't often give our my life history to any vampire who comes my way. Especially when it's them who needs my help," he ended significantly.

Elena's jaw tightened, but she had to admit, even grudgingly, that he had a point.

"Fine. So where do we go from here?" Elena asked from between clenched teeth.

In answer to that, Sam took a hold of Elena at the crook of her elbow, and escorted her to his car which was parked just outside of her squatter residence. She raised her eyebrows at the side of it. It was a nice car.

"Now get in," he said. "From this point, if we get in too deep or things get too heavy, we'll back off, split up from each other, then meet at the nearest Alter a half hour after dusk. On the chance that you aren't able to make it, send message. No message will mean that the other is dead and all bets are off. Got it?"

Sam looked at her from the driver's seat of the car to show her that he meant business. Cross her arms across her chest, Elena looked resolutely straight in front of the car.

"Clear as crystal," she answered neutrally, then heard as he turned the key in the ignition and the car started without a jolt.

*