Lana's POV

The music was too sensational for someone with as little sleep as me to be able to get through.. Diving into the champagne however, had a pretty good waking effect.

People smiled and greeted, everyone there to celebrate the two year anniversary since the new king came on the throne.. Well, it was at least what people thought the occasion was.. Our real purpose was way deeper and if you ask me, still pretty fancy since we decided to throw a ball to kidnap the witch.. Dramatic a bit too..

Perhaps it was the 'non-violent' thing to do, instead of simply grabbing her from some street and knocking her out.. I was no savage too, I liked the lady acts and everything, but just sometimes it was necessary to be a bit rough if you want people to take you seriously..

Speaking of people.. Christian.. Christian was yes of course a bit nervous, but how in the world did that result with him suddenly becoming 'anti-violence' messenger? I believe it was the right way to treat the witch, with gently pouring the injection in her drink, but hey, what happened to the neck snapping and heart-ripping Christian that I knew?

The suit looked mouthwatering on him though, and plus, having Christian as your own personal gentleman for the night was not something to complain for either.. It was something about his appearance that night, the way he approached and held his posture.. It was a pretty astonishing difference.

He always did have that intimidating arrogant self esteem blooming wherever he went, but adding a suit on him was just this little extra thing to think about, sort of a distraction in a way too..

There wasn't a woman in the hall that didn't turn her head towards him at least once, and I honestly knew ways to shut those whispers and stares within a second, but I was starting to like the idea of actually being the one one that could have him at the end of the day..

  I didn't miss much from the side, observing the room the best way I could.. We all did, just in case.. The witch arrived and according to me, it was supposed to immediately be show time.. But apparently we had to wait at least a few minutes that actually turned into almost a whole hour, but Christian said to let her adjust first and to let her guards down completely..

  The plan did sound pretty cruel.. But we weren't exactly the villains around.. We were only trying to get the truth out of her, and our ways of handling things didn't really have limits.. Well, maybe it was just me that didn't have limits, but what had to be done had to be done. The quicker, the better..

  I glanced at Christian that was standing on the other side of the room, watching how he nodded his head at the woman talking to him..  A pretty young attractive blonde, taller a few inches from me yet it still seemed like Christian's large built was towering over her.. Perhaps that's why a suit looked so good on him. He had broad shoulders and muscly arms that filled the tux, and the white shirt was the best part, mostly 'cause I got to take it off later.

  But at that point, I just hoped the blondie knew how to keep her distance, because I already had very little patience, and it would take a miracle for me not to explode and take out my problems on someone else.. Without a reason possibly too..

  The girl looked familiar though, but from the way she talked, it seemed like she was a pretty hyperactive person, or at least just desperately trying to take all of his attention.. Whatever it was, it didn't seem to effect Christian much.. In fact, he looked at me the same time I realized I was starting to stare, and I would've looked away, but it was no unfamiliar feeling to me when the simple look from him seemed to grip me, causing me to keep my gaze locked with his for several seconds.

  Again, he did nod his head at whatever she was saying, but the way he looking at me while doing it was a different story.. It easily made me melt and I forgot where I was in an instant.

  I looked on the side the very second I felt my concentrations dropping, because we both knew that we didn't need those kind of distractions at least during the ball..

  The sip from my drink turned into two, and I knew I would need more if I wanted to get through all of it with a sane mine after.. I downed the drink, putting the glass on the tray that some of the waiters that passed was carrying, sorting out my thoughts for a second and trying to keep them straight and focused on what I had to do.

  My eyes searched the room, looking for the witch as I was desperate to get it over with once and for all.. But Christian decided to make it harder..

  As I looked towards the spot he was standing at only a second ago, I only saw the girl standing now alone, and then the rest of the very very crowdy room.. No trail of Christian whatsoever..

And just when I was about to go look for him, he showed up from the side, causing at least a semi-turn in my stomach with just a simple look.

"The stares I got from across the room are making me feel like you're up to no good." I looked back towards the crowd, smiling at his statement.

"Oh please.. Like you're one to talk."

"What do you have on your mind, princess?" I looked at him, instantly going serious.. He would definitely like what I had on my mind.. However lusting over the king's brother in the middle of the ball, and confessing it to him wasn't going to be the best idea.. "Come on, don't give me that pouty look, we both know what's going through your head."

My stomach turned. "We do?" Because if 'we both know', I'm thinking your ego would've grown twice the size by now..

Even though it sounded impossible for Christian to love himself more than he already did, it was very much possible. And we were both aware that sharing compliments lead to sharing thoughts, and sharing thoughts led to a bedroom.. And a bedroom lead to things I shouldn't be thinking about right now..

I just hoped he didn't really know what I was thinking because, God that could be so easily embarrassing..

"You seem ready for the attack." He finally answered after a few seconds of silence and I was able to release that grungy breath that was caused by those thoughts that only tensed me up even more.

  "You got me." The slight smile of relief stretched my lips as I looked back towards the crowd but it faded almost as quickly as it came as I thought of ways to get this over with possibly sooner, without any distractions either.. "I was um- I'm gonna go look for her." I took a step to start going, hoping for no questions in the process. "She had enough time to adjust."

  Him wrapping his hand around my wrist however stopped me. I looked back at him. "Don't have to.." He was looking somewhere in the crowd as he said that, before he slightly pointed with his finger to some direction in front of us. And I saw what he meant.. She was just on the other side of the room, talking to some random people and smiling with a wide smile, having no clue that we were about to ruin her night by making her tell the story about our dysfunctional families.

  "There she goes.. Our new story teller seemed to had gotten her guards down perfectly." True that.. He just had to let me go first if he wanted this plan to at least start somewhere.

  "Yea, now let me do this." I said without looking at him, sounding pretty confident in my statement as I took a step start walking, yet his hand around mine once again pulled be back lightly.

  I looked at him not even realizing how close we were as I turned. "Careful." The way he searched my face for a second, waiting for a promise to that simple word was a look in his eyes I always admired.. Protectiveness and possession that sometimes lost its limits, but was still darn perfect. "Witches can do a mind reading spell within seconds, you won't even notice."

  "I can handle witches.." I looked back towards where she was standing as he slowly let go of my hand. "Just be close when she loses her consciousness, I'm not planning on carrying the bitch too." And with that said, I started walking towards her, while he simply confirmed.

  "Alright,"

~

  "Miss Belvins?" The witch looked towards me, probably having no clue who in the world I was and why I was approaching her. "Hi," I stopped near her and handed her the drink I was holding. "Welcome to the ball."

The polite smile she offered took me by surprise, taking the drink and sipping instantly for it.. Honestly, I regretted for not already pouring the injection in there before I gave it to her.. I didn't know she had such apatite for alcohol..

  "Oh, I'm so sorry, how rude of me.. I just swooped in like that.. It's just that, I'm trying to meet as many people as I can while I'm here.." Blabbing was my best way of distraction, even though sometimes I did it without even realizing that I was starting to rant.. This time it was on purpose though..

And there seemed to be some kind of an understanding in her eyes, instead of looking at me like I was a total weirdo, so that was a good sign. Or she was just really really drunk.

"I'm Lana by the way," I reached my hand and she shook it as I added. "Lana Morpher."

She shook my hand while still sipping from the drink, but the instant I added my last name, she seemed genuinely shocked.. Even almost choking on her drink too..

  She had insane large ember eyes that made me think that she could actually already read my thoughts by just looking at me, but she seemed good at hiding her feelings too, making me think if she even knew my father at all..

  "Morpher?" It was the first time I heard her voice in that whole situation.. It was raspy and pretty strict if you ask me.. "You're Khan's daughter, huh,"

  My fake smiles were starting to hurt honestly, but I still tried my best. I couldn't figure out what was going through her head either, and that made me a bit frustrated because I couldn't read her properly, and I already felt like she could read me like an opened book.

  "Yes," I acted a bit surprised, making my voice sound as polite as possible. I didn't want her to ever assume that I was doing something on purpose, because witches could act quicker than any of us.. "You know my father?"

"Oh we go way back.. I haven't seen him in years, but-" She stopped, scanning me like she was trying to find some kind of familiarity in my features. "I'm sorry, you just,- you do look like your father a lot, but I suppose you look like your mother as well.."

Good. I had the convo going pretty good. "Well, I do resemble both of them. My looks from my mom," We were walking slowly, somewhere.. I wasn't even sure, but it was a way of just changing the spot since it was getting crowdier and crowdier. "My temper from my dad,"

I released a slow breath, noticing from the corner of my eye that she instantly looked at me. I tried masking the smirk that was growing.. She must've known my father well since she reacted to the 'temper' part. It was no lie though, we didn't have a good temper.. And it wasn't something to brag about, but it did make her nervous a bit I suppose..

"How is she?" Her question made both of us stop as I looked at her. "Your mom.. How is she?"

"Oh, she's good. Great." I guess.. "Doing her motherly duties by controlling my every move," I laughed slightly, not wanting to show the hurt that I felt by the simple thought of her, and how she so drastically changed so damn quickly.

"You should listen to her though.." She went serious real fast as she started talking about my mom, and I didn't even know that she knew her.. I mean, my parents got together after the war. I knew that for fact. But then, she said a name hat changed my whole perspective in a split second.

"Jessica went through a lot during the war," Something dropped in my stomach.. Jessica.. She said Jessica.. She thought I was Amelia.. She probably never heard what the baby was named, after Jessica left the war pregnant. "I believe she knows best on protecting you.. Which surprises me honestly that you're attending a Le Boursier ball.." Her voice faded with the music and the wonder in it was clear..

I on the other hand completely lost mine.. I cleared my throat a few times, but like a sudden stone pressuring over my chest, I couldn't quite breathe properly after what I just heard her say.. But I had to keep my mask on.

I tried smiling, but I wasn't sure if it really worked. "Um, yea she-,"

I ran a hand through my hair, looking towards the spot Christian was standing on.. He must've heard what she said cause he was looking back at me with the most serious frown there was.. I couldn't quite understand the look in his eyes, but I knew for fact that he was probably regretting letting me do this, because he already was way too over protective, and he could read the shock off my face when our eyes met..

"She couldn't make it." I looked back at Lycia, nodding my head as a way of approving my own words. "Yea, I actually helped Christian organize the ball.. He is an old friend of mine.."

And the clear surprise on her face said it all.. "I had no idea," I changed the subject as quickly as possible, not wanting to deal with more questions.

"And you know Christian.. How exactly?" She took a sip from her drink, looking on the side and then back at me..

Every supernatural being was immortal. She was a witch. A very powerful one. Which made her immortal too.. Stuck in her twenties for God knows how many centuries.. Which made me think that perhaps she knew Christian like I did.. She was good looking, charming and a witch. A stupid one though, thinking I was Amelia.. But she was still a witch. And Christian obviously had a thing for witches.. Perhaps that's why he wanted me to gently pour the serum in her drink. Witchy ex lovers always ended up as his friends, if I'm not wrong..

Calliope didn't bother me. But the fact that he was trying to protect Lycia so badly did. Why he cared was an unanswered question to me.. And I was starting to get frustrated with her shy-ish smiles when I brought him up.

"Oh we're friends.. For a long time."

"Mhm, I'm sure you are," We slowly walked again as the conversations from the crowd muted my sarcastic statement. She didn't hear me but I was already reaching for the injection that was in my leg band.

However, she stopped and froze to her spot, looking somewhere in the direction towards the door. "Christ," I frowned at her dramatic gasp of shock, following her gaze towards the other side of the room.. Three woman walking in together, looking around the crowd graciously was all I saw..

I looked back at Lycia and she was still staring in surprise.. "No, no, it's not possible," She mumbled to herself mostly, turning around and pressing her hand over her forehead. I was going to ask what upset her so suddenly, but I didn't care at all to even fake a question.

It seemed like for a second there, she forgot about me, but when she glanced at me she instantly remembered that we were talking only a few seconds ago before she freaked out.

"I'm sorry," She faked a smile, still glancing in the direction the three women were standing at. "I'm sorry, I just realized I've been here for a while.. I just noticed the time, I should get going,"

I nodded my head in fake understanding, already slightly pushing away the split on my dress unnoticeably, and thankfully the crowdy place didn't really let her notice my moves. I took out the injection by the time I smiled at her.

"It was really a pleasure meeting you," She reached her hand towards me, but I could tell she was in a hurry. Whoever those three women were had her crap her pants like Cinderella at midnight. "Say hi to you mom for me, will you,"

And as she said those words, I was already shaking her hand, so it wasn't hard get her closer.. "Yea I definitely will." Sure, if she was saying hi to the right person.. But I had to play Amelia for only a few seconds more..

And then the slight pull from me was enough for her to nearly stumble towards me, making me instantly press the needle against her back, right at her spine.. The liquid went in instantly, and it was any second now for her to fall unconscious, so having Christian show up was finally something useful that night, without having to hear this stupid witch blab about my 'mother' Jessica.

He looked at me in some sort of a disappointment that I didn't listen to him,m and actually stabbed her with the needle, but he still took her from me and disappeared in a second.. I knew the plan, therefore I knew where we were supposed to meet, so I followed along acting like nothing happened.. Thankfully, everyone in the crowd was preoccupied with themselves and their gracious behaviors, so no one noticed my 'violent' act, as Christian would say..

Next stop was.. Basement. And I was ready for some pretty good answers since the question were going to be thrown from me, and I loved being the one to question people, especially shady witches that faked their politeness..

~

"I thought we discussed violence, Lana," Was the first thing Christian said to me when we met in the hallway.. Right. Violence. I was the violent one here..

I looked at him carrying Lycia bridal style, and I honestly didn't exactly enjoy the picture, so I started walking towards the basement, having him walk beside me..

"That alcoholic bitch didn't put her drink down." I said without bothering to look at him, and then heard the answer I was expecting honestly.. Some kind of a defense towards her because I called her a bitch. An alcoholic one too. Wow I was such a monster for putting down the actual enemy here..

"She's going to help us, Lana.. You can put your guard down too, you know,"

"That's not going to happen, and we both know that." I answered immediately, knowing that he was probably aware how long it took me to trust him, let alone all these other people.. "I just don't get why you care so much.. It's not like she'll lose her memory if she bumps her head a bit."

That earned a few seconds of silence from him.. Probably cause he was in shock from my words.. But what did he expect? For me to pet her and put her to sleep with a poisoned tea? Was I supposed to do that with every girl he banged before, just because he was trying to play the gentleman ex?

"We want her alive and unharmed if we want to get information out of her." Mhm, sure we do.. But she was a hostage, not an actual guest.. At least I thought she was.. "Do you really think she's going to discuss her history as the mad king's witch helper, with a girl that shoved a giant needle in her spine?"

"Oh she better." I thought that would make him angry or at least a bit frustrated, but all I heard was a sudden chuckle escaping him as the music muted the more we got closer to the basement. "Quit laughing, you'll drop the precious witch."

He caught up with me, once again continuing the subject instead of staying quiet. I was a bit frustrated with him too, you know.. How could be so obviously that he cared about this stupid witch that actually thought I was Amelia? Jessica was a woman I never met, not related to me at all, possibly my father's ex wife or whatever that I've never even heard of, and the witch said I resembled her.. Jesus, how drunk was she? And Christian was taking her side on top of everything.. Great.

"Princess, she's going to help us, you don't have to worry so much." I ignored his statement, too preoccupied with repeating the conversation I had with Lycia.

"Did you hear?" I asked before even realizing that he probably had no clue what I was talking about.. "What she said.. About Jessica.."

I glanced at him, and once again found that concerned serious expression on his face.. Something told me that he heard that crystal clearly.

"We still don't know," And just like any other time, he tried calming me, even with having an unconscious witch in his arms. "Don't jump to conclusions so quickly.. She'll answer everything soon."

  I hope. And that's all it was left.. To hope. She could be our key to answers, or she could become just another problem. By the end of the night, we were either going to make a friend or an enemy.. Not that I liked having a friend as arrogant as she seemed, but then again, maybe I judged too much, too quick..

But right there in front of us, very quickly after Christian's hopeful words, showed up the three women that Lycia was staring at during the ball. All dark haired, all intimidatingly serious, suddenly appearing in a way.. I was firstly surprised by their sudden appearance, jumping back the very second they showed up, and the first thought that came to my mind was how the hell did they know the hallway.. And why were they standing in our way?

Right when I was about to say something, familiar words were heard, sounding like a whole choir, almost even harmonizing whatever spell they said.. What in the world was going on and who were these witches?

Like being suddenly frozen to my spot, hypnotized, I could slowly feel this pain growing over my whole head, making me want to reach towards them to make them stop, but at the same time thinking what was going on with Christian that was only a step behind me.

"Lana," I heard his voice but the sudden pitching in my ears blocked it. He then repeated and said something else.. He must've put Lycia down as for I saw him rush with his vampire speed towards the witches, but just like there was some invisible wall in front of them he was stopped.

His hands came up and over his forehead in pain, perhaps as they did something even worse than what they were doing to me. I wanted to do something, say something, but this dull pain was only growing harsher, only growing stronger.. I heard a few groans of pain that escaped Christian as he fell on his knees, and just when I thought I would be able to look back at whoever it was that these three witches were, I fell too..

But whatever they were doing to us, it was growing worse.. The pain was harsher than a burning knife against my skin, spreading throughout my entire body.. Yet the only thing that went through my head was Christian.. What were they doing to him? Was it the same as me?

Perhaps there wasn't anything any of us could do, but I kept trying to look at him, and when I did, the last thing I remember was our eyes meeting for only a second before he fell completely unconscious on the ground, and then darkness took over my sight as well.. I couldn't- I couldn't find any focus in my mind, as for it went so suddenly blank.. I remember falling to the ground, desperate to see what was happening go Christian, yet my helplessness in that moment was the only thing that dominated..

Little did either of us know, that was only the beginning of the worst night of my life, and even then, the first thing that came to my mind was the regret I suddenly felt for ever involving Christian into my own problems, because he out of all people deserved such fate the least.. And perhaps that's what made me realize my true feelings for him. I just wish such tragedy wasn't the reason to make me admit it..

***

Was this just the beginning of the end?

Explanation of the beginning of the previous chapter will come in the next one.. Let's hope Christian and Lana are alright 😔

Stay safe and blessed babes ❤️ Kisses,