The sun of morning slightly reached the London streets, and long shadows were cast in between the high stone buildings. The flat Nalia was going to live in was not as large as it normally was; it was tighter, almost as if the walls seemed to be choking. She slept very little now since what had happened in the library, the tempest of last night had left more than puddles, it had left questions and awe and an impossible forize her.Her younger sister, Mara, was sleeping yet huddled under a thin blanket. Nalia longed to run and find out whether she was alright, but she knew she could not. Their father still had the secrets of the men who had come after h, ever present, ever present, ever present.Nalia plaited her hair behind her back and looked at the clock. Nine-fifteen. She had half an hour t, where she was having a morning lecture. Her feet dripped on the wet sidewalks. With every step, she experienced that it might be her final safe moment or the time it all began to go wrong.Upon her arrival atUniversity College London, the university was full of students. Umbrellas and coats shook and moved , and the conversation of early classes was drawing a thin, fine sheet of normality over the conflict that throbbed in her chest.Lita was waving around the courtyard. I see you like you fought a storm last night, she said, her voorm going on in Nalia.Nalia forced a smile. "I'm fine. Really."Lita tilted her head. "Uh-huh. Sure. And I'm Queen of England."Nalia was laughing against her own will. It was minimal, silent, yet it was a sound that helped to lShe moved to her lecture room with her notes. She was stroking the papers as a lifeline, and her fino was standing in front, holding a clipboard and staring at the students. She never felt at ease in his presence. There was something cold about him, something that produced the same effect of causing even sure students to doubt.Morning, said he without smiling. "Attendance is mandatory. Notes will be checked. Failure to followNalia sank into her seat, with her heart still racing. She attempted to concentrate on the figures, the markng all night. But the events of the night before wanging upon her like a wet garment.And then, she felt it.A gaze. Past, present, definitely threatening.Adrian Lucien entered the hall. The chatter dimmed. Students straightened. The dean, who had followed him up to this point,He had not looked at anyother person. Only her.Nalia's pulse spiked. She rubbed her notes to her breast. Her vow was not to think about anything buand her sister. She had vowed to herself not to allow him to dominate her thoughts, actions,or feelings.But he already had.Nalia ran at top speed to the library after the lecture, and found in the little back room where they first talked privately, the only refuge which she could think of. Her footsteps rang on the smooth floors of stone. The roomwidely open. She paused."Adrian?" Her voice trembled.He stepped from the shadows. No smile. No pretence. Celibatelymeasuring eyes that checked all."Good," he said. "You came.""I... Why are you a part of my life?I need to know, sounding as courageous as I could, she thought. "Why doyou know about my father. Why... everything."He closed the door behind her. The dead sound of the lock terrified her stomach as it sounded in the silent room.Your father, he said, was good at numbers. But genius with the wrong persons. Individuals whocannot forgive mistakes. I came to warn you, Nalia. Not as a stranger. Not as a donor. But since hisThe fingers of Nalia gripped the strap of her bag. "What do you mean?"Adrian approached,yet spoke in a very low voice. There will be men who will claim you. To ask questions. To gather deb which ought to have ceased with him. You need protection."She laughed with a bitter sort of choked laugh, which was indistinct. "Protection? From who? You? ThI know how to make you alive;he said and gazed through her. I have learned to hurt anybody who tries to threaten you. That is a pThe words made her shiver. Not fear, not all but remonstrations, and otherwise. Something that she had attempted to deny.He touched out and swept a strand of hair out of her forehead. His hand had been that much too long.She wanted to resist. She wished she could scream Yet she did not do any of that.Rather, she stared him directly in the face. And there was something unspoken in that.They were not a student or donor. Not entirely.Something dangerous had now commenced.Later that evening was the first attack.Nalia was carrying her bag on her shoulder as she walked home in the London fog, wrapping around the lamplight, when a black van slowed t speak. They acted as they did with accuracy.Nalia froze. Fear rooted her to the spot.A voice, dead and deadly, passed through the night."Move."Adrian came out of the shadows, his coat flaring, as he stood between her and the men. One lunged fo he knew what struck him. The second lunged. Adriathered, and hit.Nalia stood staring, heart racing, with her pulse in the throat. She only had an experience of violes life. And Adrian was in danger in a nutshell.Then, when the men had vanished, vanished in the mist as speedily as they had appeared, the eyes of Are you all right, he said in a calm and tense voice. "And you will remain that way. Trust me?"She nodded, unable to speak.He put his hand on her, and his hand in hers. Firm, protective, commanding. Heat radiated from his body. Her head was shouting back to her to withdr"Come with me," he said. "Now."They dunked around London in her side streets, moist fog swirling around their ankles. Nalia was han, half scared and half in an intoxicating hurry which she could not place. They arrived at a safehousone of many that he used in case of an emergency.Adrian at last managed to relax a little within. He turned to her. You should know it will not leave you unprepared for this life, he said, and his voice dropped rather. And neither will I."Nalia's stomach twisted. "I don't understand."You will, he said, as he moved towards her."Soon enough."He touched her again, with no seeming care. His lips brushed hers. Not forceful, not aggressive. JusAnd this time, Nalia did not struggle.She experienced that feeling that the world went completely askew out of her grasp, the first time. She had crossed the line,and because of this.And there was no turning back.
