"For now – what is your relationship with the King?"

For a couple of seconds I stay silent and play with my fingers. I know I have to tell him the truth so that I can regain his trust, but such question cannot be answered correctly. One way or another, the chance of him believing me is minimal.

"Well… it's a lil'bit hard to tell."

"Try."

I lift my head and look him right in the eyes. He looks calmly at me; his only movement is the slow swaying of the glass full of blood in his right hand. For a few seconds I follow the invisible circles it makes in the air and think about all the ways this can go totally wrong for me.

"It was fifty years ago in Moscow. My maker and His Majesty had some kind of a meeting there and I was asked to wait outside while it took place. I had no doubt that everything would go according to the plan and it really did. Up to the point when I felt that strange pain in me, like I had swallowed some kind of acid and it was now burning me from inside. I entered the room immediately and saw Luke looking down at the fallen Ian. I managed to see some kind of a strange looking stake sticking out of his back." my voice betrays me as the painful memories wash over me and the anger starts boiling deep in me, but I manage to push them all aside. "… that bastard had stabbed my maker. So I did what I thought should be done in such situation having the fact that every second was precious and my maker's life was on the line... "

"And what is that?"

"Speed at him and snap his neck. Of course the element of surprise had a part there." I say calmly as I take a sip of my tea and the warmness relaxes me immediately.

Godric chokes with a sip of blood and wipes his mouth with a napkin while looking at me like I have grown a second head or something.

"I beg your pardon? You snapped Luke's neck? He's at least three times your age!"

The ancient vampire's amazement and lack of trust don't actually bother me, as I'm quite used to it. After all I'd have never believed it myself if someone had told me he had almost killed somebody as old as that sonofabitch! But it really did happen. Again I feel the pull of the memories and myself zooming out so I try to shake it off and focus my gaze at Godric.

"You do know that…" I begin but he finishes.

"You are different? I do know, as Ian himself informed me. "

That little bit of information catches my attention. 'Since when did Ian become such a chatter-box?' I raise my eyebrow at the male but quickly regain my poker face. I'm sure my father had a really good reason to tell him what I'm.

"So here's your story." With that I stand up, leaving my tea cup, and head towards the door but a sudden pressure on my elbow stops me.

"Is there something bothering you?" I turn my head a little bit so that I can see his face.

"Actually I want to know something more. What happened when Luke gained his consciousness?"

"I'm not aware. Ian and I were far away by the time he came back."

Godric just smirks as he lets my hand go and gestures towards the door. I blink a few times. 'Was that it?'

"You believe me?"

"Why should I not?" he replies as he walks down his desk, grabbing his glass on the way. "I assume you are not the type to lie to my face, despite the lack of information in the beginning."

I keep silent. There's no point in adding fuel to the fire. So I just nod and leave. I dash up the stairs and in my room. Sable's presence doesn't bother me as I walk to the closet. I start looking through the piles of clothes. A special white dress is supposed to be worn by the rookies while being taken in by their new Sheriff but I can't seem to find it!

"Are you really going to dress as a virgin?" the mocking laugh of the brunette makes me want to roll my eyes. 'So immature!'

Half an hour later I'm looking in the mirror, fixing my hair while Sable ties the laces of my dress. I had found the white garment, after a 15-minute search, at the very back of the dresser folded in a white sweater. I had ironed it and went to fix my make-up; I have put on some mascara and colourless lipstick. My long hair is braided into a wheatear and a white lily is entangled behind my left ear. The dress reaches my ankles, tailor-made around my upper body and flared all the way down my ankles. A pair of white sandals with straps, firmly tied, is covering my feet. The only jewelry I wear is a golden medallion.

I take another unneeded breath and turn towards my friend. She is dressed in her usual clothes – a pair of dark jeans, a T-shirt and a leather jacket. Compared to her I look like the purest thing, which is ironic, as I used to be a lot meaner and eviler than her.

"Chill. It's going to be fine." With some kind of reassuring smile she gets up from my bed and walks to the door, opening it for me.

I only look at the wall, not moving even an inch. 'I ain't gonna make it!'

"I can't… he remembers me, I'm sure of it!" I panic and start untying my dress.

Sable grabs my hands before I manage to untie anything and gives me her usual bitchy look, telling me to not be so melodramatic and to collect my balls. I try to give her my I-won't-do-your-shit look, but I miserably fail as she literally pushes me out of the room and down the stairs. My dress is dragging along the corridor; the only noise is the chatting of my heels as the whole nest is still quiet due to the early hours. Sable follows close behind, whistling some new song she heard on the radio. I stop when we reach the top of the stairs and just hark about any kind of noise. This time I manage to hear the muffled voices of the two men talking downstairs. 'Oh, golly! That bastard is already here!' I slowly start going down the glass stairs while supporting myself on the rail. When I reach the final steps I feel like I'm about to faint so I grip the rail even tighter if that's even possible. It is not that I'm scared or something but I still don't know what to do when the King recognize me and accuses me of treason or attempt to kill him, which he might do.

"You're not a scary-cat, are ya'?"

"No. I feel uneasy. What if he~" she cuts me off before I can say something.

"No 'if's! You know I hate when you start wringing your fingers like a freaking … girl! Ah!"

"You do know I'm a girl?" I reply sarcastically as I walk to the mahogany door in the end of the corridor which leads to the dungeons. "Wish me luck."

"?" she freezes on the spot and looks at me shocked. For a few seconds she just stands there, gaping at me without even blinking, like a fish.

With a sigh she shakes her head, massages her temples and murmurs something under her nose.

"Good luck, Sook."

I smile faintly at her and open the door. The stairs here are made of stone and it's a lot colder and humid. Without turning around, as I may run back to my room, I take step after step until I reach the bottom. The fluorescent lights irritates my eyes but I try not to take it into consideration as I walk down to a second wooden door. By the look of it I can say it's really old, as it is covered in dark spots thanks the humid and a few holes left by termites. I don't knock as I push it open and step in.

The room is spacious but only the middle of it is illuminated by eight large pillars, on top of which burn strong flames, reaching the stone-made ceiling. The marble columns are arranged in a perfect circle, in the middle of which Godric and Luke stand, facing me. I take slow even steps towards them not making an eye-contact. When I finally reach the border of the circle I see how different both men actually look. Godric wears a white T-shirt showing his biceps and tattoos; on his left one there is a traditional symbol of water while on the right one there are some strange letters whose meaning stays a secret to me. His shirt also reveals a part of his other necklace-tattoo, old symbols for protection in the Anglo-Saxon culture. When you take a good look at him you notice how good he looks. Not perfect or irresistible, but really good and charming. His messy auburn locks, blue-grayish orbs, ivory skin on which the dark ink stands out so perfectly… 'Hello? Snap out of it!'

Compared to him, Luke looks like one of the models on Men's Health's cover. He is huge in the shoulders, tall as a tree, dressed in an expensive suit, probably made of Egyptian cotton and has that dashing, yet annoying, smirk that all the ladies faint over. I despise him. His eyes are the darkest shade of green, almost black; his skin is like the purest porcelain with only a single scar over his left eyebrow, the only visual sign that he was once mortal. His long black locks are tied in a low tail at the back his neck and, of course, he has that ridiculous cowboy hat on. Who wears such a hat in the 21st century anyway?

"Hm. What do we have here? A devil dressed as an angel?" the velvet voice of that beau makes me wanna hit him.

"As I informed you, Your Majesty, Miss Starcrom came to my nest to pledges faithfulness in me and the state of Texas."

As that cunning fox drinks from his crystal glass full of ruby red blood I try not to think how much I hate him or how sexy Godric looks in those dark jeans but rather than I think of my brother. If I'm not to be taken in I'll be obliged to return to my former nest which will definitely lead to a lot of problems to all the creatures I care for. This is definitely not an option! So I must keep it cool and not smash that bastard's face in the wall.

"Are you sure you know who you are inviting in your nest, Sheriff? She can stab you in the back someday… literally." He smirks at me as his eyes turn black for a fraction of the second. 'Is he implying something? Am I supposed to feel guilty? ' I snort.

"I am sure she can be trusted." the brunette calmly replies, taking a quick glimpse in my direction, before he turns his attention back to His Majesty.

"Then let's get over with it." With that he throws the glass away but no shattering is heard.

I near the center on the circle and stop just a few steps away from a stone pedestal with a golden cup on it.

"Kneel." says Luke as he points at the semi-circle drawn around the pedestal.

I kneel as I look straight ahead and keep my emotionless mask on. Luke smirks as I'm on his crouch's level. 'Pervert asshole!'

"This will definitely be amusing!" He whispers as his eyes gleam with mischievousness.

"Now she's yours to take care of. I won't mind if you let her die, though." Says Luke to Godric as he leaves the stone made room without even spearing me a glance. I try not to flinch after his addition as I feel the sudden rush of adrenalin in my veins. When that ass of a King finally leaves the room and then the house I stand up and exhale. I didn't really notice when I had held up my breath but I feel relieved that he's gone and I'm free to breathe.

"I hate him in my guts!" I hiss angrily mostly to myself as I dust off my knees.

Godric only raises his eyebrow at me and basically disappears only to reappear in front of me. I flinch and take a step back.

"What?"

"He's your King now and you shall not talk badly about him in my presence or in anybody's, am I clear?" his cold and piercing voice sends shivers down my spine and I feel a lump forming in my throat.

"Yes…Sheriff." I almost choke on the words.

I hold his gaze despite the fact that it's not allowed to make an eye contact without having permission. Like I give a fuck!

"Am I free to go?"

"You are."

With that I'm off without even turning around. I don't stop when I hear Sable's voice calling me from the kitchen as I'm not in the mood of talking to her.

Half an hour later I'm back in my jeans, my hair tied in a ponytail and doing my nails after a long bath with extra salts in it. The whole thing with the giving of the vow and Godric's bitchiness didn't really cope with me and had destroyed my mood. The knock on the door makes me lift my head only to return to my previous occupation as Sable enters slowly, peeping in the room as if I'd shoot her or something. Well… I shot her once but it was because I was so mad and frustrated and she was such a bitch for not leaving me alone I just pulled the trigger more out of inertia rather than willingly. Yet she was mad at me for over a year…. until she needed a favour that is.

"What are you doing?"

"Hunting elephants. What does it look like to you?"

"Hey! No need to be a bitch!"

I sigh as I close the nail polish and put it on the nightstand. I start waving my hands as I nod towards the bed where the brunette sits and looks at me. Her face and posture are radiating discomfort and worry.

"So?"

"You know that Godric is the Sheriff now, right?"

"I'm not sure I understand you." And I really don't. I get the fact that he's the boss now but so what?

"I saw the way you look at him. The way you tense when he looks at you. And let's not mention how you sniff the air when he passes by!"

I blink like a complete idiot. 'The fuck?!' I'm left speechless after the French girl's words. Do I really do all those stuff?

"You're kidding! That's not true!" when I get nervous my voice becomes so piercingly squeaky that once a glass full of water shattered! Now it may be just as squeaky.

"Do you…?"

"Do I what? Love him? Hell no!"

"I hope so!" she stops for a second, giving the impression of thinking. "You know you don't fool me, right? I know there's something between you two!"

"We barely know each other! And let's not mention he acts like he owns everything! "

The silence fills the room once again and I look away from Sable. It's quite embarrassing when others are able to read you better than you can. I have been trained my whole life to hide my emotions and feelings in order to stay alive so most of the time I don't notice them myself. And when Sable notices them eventually, as she always does, she points them out in my face, making me feel like a complete idiot! I frown and stand up, nearing the French window. With a slight push I open it and go out to have some fresh air and clear my thoughts. What a drag!

As soon as I relax I regret my harsh tone and the lack of understanding towards the brunette. After all having any kind of relationship with a Sheriff, apart from complete obedience, is contraindicating. It's like for a maid to have some sort of feelings towards the king – unacceptable! In my case I may not get my head chopped off but the humiliation of being rejected and later tortured by the glares accompanied with the mocking and ambiguous smirks and laughs of the nest mates never was and never will be a pretty picture.

I look at the night's welkin and start thinking about what Sable said – that I like Godric. It will be a complete lie if I say that I don't feel attracted towards him but love? Well yeah, with eyes like his I can easily let myself fall for him IF he was not the Sheriff and I had not given a vow to stay away from men. Ah, the vow…

From the beginning of time the giving of vows is a sacred thing. You can't quit or change your mind. There's just no escaping. And when you become a vampire it becomes really hard to get rid of a vow you gave decades ago.

There are two types of vows – propria and communis. They have pretty similar rules but are quite different in implementation. When you give a propria vow you give it mostly to yourself. Like giving a promise that you will stop eating sweets after seven o'clock. Unlike those promises you actually break at some point, the propria is not so easy to step over. It needs some blood, a witch, some herbs and a three hour long ritual if you have to break it so to not feel obliged. If you break it unwittingly then there's no backlash as we say. But as whole, compared to the other type, they are easily breakable if you have the will and a clear-minded head.

The communis, on the other hand, is not taken so lightly. To save one's neck, at least, it takes a great deal of time and energy, both spiritual and personal. Humans make something similar when they sign a contract with a company or another person in their world. Both are tied by a piece of paper but in our case the giver has to ask the receiver to release him if he doesn't wish to stay subordinated by the vow he gave. Most of the time the givers give the stupidest of vows – to not kill somebody, to stay a virgin till the end, not to eat human flesh, etc. Less are those who give their word to do or not, something containing more sense and less expediency – to save someone's life no matter what, to bring back someone from the death/ I saw that one once – it ended up pretty badly/ and so on. The most specific and distinguishing feature of this vow, as you may have all figured it all, is that you give the vow to somebody – a receiver, who must not have anything in common with your vow.

Most of the time the giver is a mortal human while the receiver is always something else – a vampire, or a demon most frequently, which makes the release a lot more difficult as all the creatures of the night are… greedy and don't like setting free their little flies that got caught up in the net. Through the years people who had given a meaningless vow in their young years, tried to get rid of it by cutting their life short. They, unfortunately, hadn't read their contact. Almost nobody does. They only drop some blood on the parchment and off they go. No one tries to see the expiring date…. Or the lack of one. Because with a communis even death can't do you apart; if you break the vow you receive a severe punishment after the receiver brings you back. And believe me it is never pretty!

When I was still a baby vampire I gave a propria vow to myself, swearing to not fall in love with a male from our kind, as I had reached the conclusion that my kind is full mostly with savages, the hard way. So I swore to never, ever, let my undead heart feel a single thing towards the opposite sex. Until today…

I stare at the empty space and try to figure out the moment I started to feel something towards the brunet male. 'I felt a tingle when he acted so cool and bossy when I arrived. The way he told others to back off and that I'm the new addition. I was impressed that he actually believed me about the thing with Luke but his attitude in the dungeons was… not on my liking, I guess. God!' A low voice catches my attention and I turn my head towards the source. I look at the garden and with my peripheral vision I manage to take a glimpse at a sudden movement and a silhouette disappearing between the trees. It quickly hides in the conservatory and the only thing I manage to see is the posture of a male holding something to his head. 'A phone?' I guess it may be one of the humans in the nest, due to the lack of discretion and grace in his movements. But what's somebody's human doing out here?

"It may be something important." I tell myself as I start concentrating on the voice in the observatory. At first it's a whisper, barely distinguishable but soon it clears out. It looks like the male and the person on the other line prefer to speak French. 'Good think I have learned it!'

"…n'aie pas peur, ma chérie! " /Don't worry, my dear! / "Tout va bien." / Everything's alright. /

I raise one of my eyebrows. 'His dear? Shouldn't his 'dear' be in the house with the others?' I try to listen harder so to hear the response.

"Elle est une obstacle! Débarrasser de la fille ! Immédiatement ! " /She is an obstacle! Get rid of the girl! Immediately! /

There is a brief pause before the man gathers the courage to speak again. This time his voice is quieter and not so confident.

"Mais…mais…. Elle n'est pas l'ennemi! Elle est inexpérimenté….. elle ne peut pas nous arrêtera …" /But… but… She's not an enemy! She's inexperienced….She can't spot us… /

There are some incomprehensible words that I don't manage to hear as a sudden wave of loud music from the living room makes me jump. 'The fuck was that?' I muse as I turn around to see if Sable would come rushing in the room but the silence that follows makes me tense. Even without my friend's sudden and hysteric entry I feel that something bad happened. And now, when I think about it the loud noise I thought was music sounded like….

"Diversion!" I whisper to myself as I suddenly realize that the thing that startled me was not the sudden loud music but the gunshots that it tried to hide!

I dash in the room and look for the brunette but she's nowhere to be seen and the door is left ajar. When I exit my room quietly the tang of refined silver, powder and blood hits my senses hard and makes me want to puke. The reek of burned decomposed flesh wakes an unexpected wave of more tension and discomfort deep in me. As I tiptoe to the stairs and peek downstairs nothing looks wrong except the fact that there's nobody in the corridor. The entrance door looks like it was open with more force than it needs though. I don't dare to sniff the air as the strong and unpleasant smell will make my head spin for sure. Again, as quietly as possible, I reach the bottom of the stairs, where I'm hidden by the wall, and peek in the living room. This time I barely manage to contain my scream. The usually white walls are now covered in dark red blood stains. The furniture is all over the place and I see a few humans lying on the floor, their heads tilted in an unnatural angle. I manage to glance at a male covered in dark clothes as he passes by. He carries a strange gun in his hand. But the belt around his waist catches my whole attention unlike the gun. There, arranged like little soldiers, are at least one hundred silver bullets. Pure silver bullets, to be exact. With the size of a freaking coin! I look away, trying to see either Sable or Godric, begging that the blood on the walls is not theirs. But with my current position it's impossible to see deeper into the room.' I need to pass through the corridor and then hide behind one of the pillars in the living room and do it fast if I wish to stay whole'. For a second I just stop and listen. I can hear, with strange difficulty, like a barrier is blocking the sound, up to six different voices – one female and five male. The female voice sounds too familiar to me but I just can't seem to remember from where so I brush it off for later. 'Now's not the time to think about such things! Focus! I was the fastest in my former nest. I'll make it.' With that I take a go and dash in the room and behind the pillar for less than two seconds. I have stopped my usual breathing and I'm thankful for that fact because I would have been puffing now. Which is not a good option.

I stay frozen for a few seconds and try to hear what they are talking about. It's strange that I can't hear them though. I know they are talking but I can't make out a single word. It's all so mute and blurred. Then, like a truck, it hits me. 'The loud music! It must have been some kind of a low frequency wave that intended to damage our hearing. Shit!' I shake my head slightly and kneel at the base of the pillar. With my hearing out of the game I can't tell where the attackers are or where are they looking at so I must trust my 'sixth sense'. For a few seconds I hesitate until I feel the ball in my stomach suddenly disappear. 'Now!' I peak from behind the pillar and, true to my senses, all intruders are with their backs at me. Actually they are all looking in the same direction. From between their legs I manage to see Sable's new jeans all covered in blood, Godric's khaki trousers ripped here and there and another pair of dark jeans which belong to a quite huge male. As I dare to look up I see the blonde man looking like he's about to kill somebody, his intense blue orbs throwing daggers at the ginger haired female in front of him.

I hide again before somebody sees me and try not to smack my forehead in the wall. 'The freaking Queen, moron! THE QUEEN!' only when I managed to see her hair I remembered from where the voice I heard sounds so familiar. Not to mention that from all the possible people in this state it just couldn't be somebody who I could get rid of. No… it must be the Queen Sophie-Anne! I roll my eyes as I look around me and try to find somebody that's still alive. To my dismay I see Stan but he looks out of the game for now. Isabel is a few feet away but there's no way I can help her stand up and the library that crushes her legs won't lift itself magically! I want to yell out in frustration as it looks like I'll be on my own for now. 'I need a plan. Fast!' but yet again I'm left empty-handed. No plan. No escape. Desperately I look around again and to my surprise I see Stan's large left hand, stretched forward, twitching. I duck lower and pull my blonde hair out of the way as I try to gain his attention with the slight waving of my hand. Anything more noticeable will give out a noise that'll give me away. I'm lucky as he notices me. As soon as he does I tell him not to move as I stop the twitching of my hand. He seems to understand and freezes. 'Ok. One's up. Wouldn't have been my first choice but he's better than nothing.'

He raises an eyebrow in my direction, obviously asking what has happened. I only shrug and point towards my ears then shake my head, telling him that we can't use our hearing and that I haven't heard a thing. He only rolls his eyes, irritated, and tries, as seamlessly as possible, to look around. He has a better view than me and when he turns his head towards me he starts blinking. For a few seconds I can't figure out what is he doing but then it clicks. He shows me all the available nest mates. When he reaches six he stops. I nod. 'So we are even? Good.' With only my lips' movement I tell him that at three we will attack and that I'll take the Queen. He looks at me as if I'm insane but seeing that I won't change my mind and that our time is limited, he blinks. He repeats the previous task of turning his head and tells the others. It seems like a whole hour has passed since he again looks my way and nods. I peek from behind the column again and look at the back of the Queen. Without letting her out of sight I raise my other hand and start lifting my finger. As the second one is lifted I turn at Stan and see that the fingers on his free hand have stopped at two as well. I nod slightly and turn back the Queen. When the third finger is lifted I particularly jump at her. I don't know if she's older than me, and I don't want to find out now, so the only thing that can save me is the element of surprise and a drastic measure.

I grab her head and twist it harsh before she could even react. Her body falls to the ground and I look at the others. A few shots are heard so I jump to the ground. When I lift my head a second later I start looking for the shooter and notice his tall figure a few meters away from me. He aims at me but suddenly falls to the ground, lifeless. Stan's huge figure towers over me until he lends me his hand and I stand up. Quickly I scan the room and with some relief I see that all the black-clothed strangers are on the ground. Only then I dare to go near the trio which is tied with a silver chain. Stan's already there but he can't seem to find with what to release them. I take two more steps and without thinking it over I take off my T-shirt, rip it to pieces and wrap them around my hands. In that way I manage to get rid of the chains and, as gently as possible, peel them off. When I make sure all three are ok I take a few steps back, now only with my bustier on covering my breasts, and start tying up the intruders with the chains. I manage to go around them twice but I feel like that's going to do. When I'm sure they're tightly chained and that the silver touches some flesh I back away and look and Sable. She's trembling and looks like it's about to kill somebody as Isabel tries to comfort her. Godric and the tall blonde start helping Stan find the ones who are still alive. I decide that I should help as well and start walking around the room. There's so much blood that I can hardly believe that there's somebody who survived.

An hour later we have helped as many as possible regain their consciousness and strength. I wanted to talk to Godric about the attack but after he and the blonde dragged the still unconscious Queen and her minions in the office half an hour ago, I haven't had the chance to see him, let alone speak.

"Go pack your stuff!" A rude voice tells me.

I turn around to see Stan towering over me and looking…. Well tired and sad. Sooo not what I expected to see! His foul mood makes me nervous yet I try to be implicated, as he knew all of the dead vampires and some may have been his friends. So without arguing I nod and leave the living room… or what's left of it. Not that I want to stay there even a second longer. It brings back bad memories. As I finally reach my room and push the door open I find that I have a visitor.

"What's wrong, Sheriff?"

He lifts his head and looks at me as if I'm not supposed to be here. This may be true as I had mistaken my room more than once these days.

"Have I mistaken the room again?"

"No."

Silence. He looks at me for a few more seconds and I try not to shiver as his eyes travel down my body. With my clothing, or the lack of one, I feel naked under his stare. The only thing that seems right to do now is to cross my hands over my chest. And I do it. That act of mine seems to amuse him as he smirks and looks away. I decide to return to my first task – packing. Still the silence makes me feel uneasy so I ask the first thing that comes to my mind.

"Where are we going?"

It looks like I bring him back from his thoughts for a second time in less than a minute. Yet again he just looks at me with a blank expression. But this time his eyes catch mine. And we stand there, looking at each other. Sapphire blue orbs clashing with honey ones. And in that very moment I look right in his soul. The thing I see makes me jump back and hit the wall but I can't look away, his eyes mesmerize me, taunt me, look deep in me. And I see his soul just like he sees mine. It's like the whole room fades away, the only thing that stays visible is the two of us, our souls. I have seen mine many times, all sparkly and alive, fully connected and active, colourful like the rainbow. But his is so different. The two millennia he spend walking on Earth has left deep gashes over his soul. It looks like it's covered in dust, its shimmer dull and barely visible. But the thing that worries me the most is the fact that it's pitch black. No colours. No movement. No life. Not to mention that parts of it are missing. I try not to cry at the sudden revelation he has offered me, or for his broken soul as he himself made it look like this but... I feel my heart breaking at the sight of his sadness, sorrow and emptiness. Because here, in this different dimension I don't only see the other person's soul but I also feel all of its burdens. And Godric's soul bears so much it hurts. No words are needed and there's no time for them as the blackness disappears and the two of us are alone in my room again. This time I don't keep a distance but rush to his side, stopping only a breath's away from him.

He doesn't move away, nor tells me to step aside. He says nothing, but his eyes tell me everything. I reach up with my right hand and place it over his non-beating heart. He flinches slightly but stays on his place. Our eyes are still locked together and I'm sure mine are no longer honey-brown but dazzling blue as they still see deep down his soul. But soon they fade away to their usual colour and look at the blue orbs of the ancient vampire. Eyes full of wanting and loneliness, desire and suffering. I can't keep looking in them so I lower my head and rest it on his chest. My hand grabs his T-shirt and pulls his body closer to mine. I notice how good our bodies fit together. His hand suddenly ends up in my messy blonde curls and I feel him sniffing them. At first I feel embarrassed and try to move away but his unexpected relaxation next to me lets me know it is ok.

A few more seconds pass, both of us almost hugging in the middle of the room, and I decide to finally lift my head. He backs away a little so that he can see my eyes, but his get caught somewhere lower – on my lips. I notice that and despite my restrain I lick them. I see him raise an eyebrow at this movement and I turn my head away. Well, at least I try but he quickly grabs my chin and turns my face towards him.

"Don't look away." It was not an order or a plea. A request maybe?

I nod and smile at him, even though our closeness makes my body feel strange and hot. His sudden caressing of my cheek makes me bite my lower lip but this time I don't look away. His eyes leave mine for only a second so to glance at my lips and then he looks at me once again.

"May I?" He whispers.

I don't know what he is asking for but in this very moment I don't think there's a thing I can deny him. So I nod without breaking our eye contact. And then his lips meet mine in an uncertain and shaky kiss. At first I stay like that – frozen like an icicle. But the moment I feel he'll pull back I fist his T-shirt even tighter and pull him towards me, deepening our kiss. And with the closing of my lids I shut down the surrounding. Because this moment is only ours. His and mine. And nobody has the right to cut it short!