As soon as those words left her mouth, it was like everything around me faded away, and I was left with the sound of my heart pounding in my ears. I had a feeling that Eretria had something to with what's been happening to me, but I wasn't sure, until now. Celine's answer confirmed it for me.

"Why do you ask?" Celine's voice cut through my trance, concerned.

I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding and blinked a few times.

Was Eretria causing me to have these dreams?

Do I tell Celine?

The King's words echoed in my head.

I'm going to ask the both of you to not discuss this with anyone.

I quickly composed myself. I didn't want to say something I wasn't supposed to say. "Erm... I was just curious. I think I read something about dreams being associated with astral projection," I lied, horribly.

Thankfully, Celine didn't see through my lie. "Oh, how interesting. You'll have to tell me about it sometime when we get together again. I hear Julian coming."

Right on cue, Julian stepped through the door, and I was relieved. His eyes immediately found mine, and one eyebrow shot up as he noticed Celine right next to me.

"Well, I see no dead bodies or blood, so I assume everything went okay in here."

We both laughed and Celine said, "Funny, Julian. We were actually just getting to know each other. Did you know Claire hasn't kissed a boy at nineteen?! I didn't realize how conservative humans are."

I sucked in a breath of air, and I knew my pale complexion was turning pink with embarrassment. The moment Julian's lips quirked up, I knew I was in trouble.

"Oh, really? Is that so?"

Oh my god. Make it stop.

Julian's smile widened and a mischievious glint twinkled in his eyes. He was reading my mind again and looked like he was going to make me want to crawl in a corner and die.

"What else have you learned, Celine? Don't leave out any details," Julian prodded, with a boyish look on his face.

Before Celine could open her mouth, I interjected, "Celine has an appointment with Olivia for a clothes fitting. Isn't that right?" I gave her a glare, and she looked up at the clock on the wall.

"Oh! I'm going to be late! Thanks for the reminder, Claire. I actually had fun today. We should do it again!" She quickly hugged me and left the room.

"Not fair," Julian complained like a toddler while crossing his arms and giving me a hurt expression.

"Oh, shush. You could probably read my mind and find all kinds of things in there."

"True, but it's fun to see your face resemble a tomato." He teased with a sly grin.

Julian stalked towards me and with every step, I felt as if my heart was going to explode. Before I knew it, he was right in front of me, and he was so close that my face was only centimeters from his. I shut my eyes and held my breathe, trying to not think of our close proximity or Julian would have a field day with my thoughts.

"What are you thinking about?"

His words were surprising, and I looked up to find his intense gaze on me.

"What do you mean? You're the one who could read minds," I mumbled and looked down.

"You weren't thinking anything for a moment. It's the first time I had no idea what's going on inside your head," he answered, lifting my chin up to look back at him.

His brown eyes seemed to search mine for the answer, and I sighed.

"I guess you'll never know." I shrugged and returned to the couch. I hid my smile with my hair.

Julian's lips pressed together, and he followed me. "You've been hanging around me too much, princess. I think I'm tainting you."

I chuckled and turned on the T.V. Julian continued to give me a coy expression with his eyebrows raised.

"I'm not going to flatter you, Julian." I crossed my arms. "If anyone rubs off on anyone, it's me on you."

Julian sniggered at that, "In your dreams, princess."

For the rest of the day, Julian and I watched movies. He opted for horror, while I wanted something funny. Of course, he got his way, and I was stuck hiding behind a pillow. As we got halfway into one of the movies, my door flew open, causing a scream to escape me. Suddenly, Tristan was in front of me with worry etched on his face. Julian broke out into a laughing fit.

"Claire! What's wrong? Did Julian hurt you?"

Julian laughed even harder as Tristan spoke.

"Julian!" I scolded him and then answered Tristan, "I'm fine. You just scared me." I let out a nervous giggle.

Tristan looked confused, but when his attention turned towards the T.V. and around the dark room, he put the pieces together. "Julian, can't you see the poor girl is scared of these movies?"

"Oh, she's fine. I've been right here the whole time. Right, princess?" Julian lazily rolled his head on the couch to look in my direction.

"I'm fine. I can handle a scary movie," I insisted.

"Alright..." Tristan said hesitantly and turned to Julian. "Julian, my father wants to speak to us about security around the castle. He's expecting us in five, so we need to go."

"Wait, isn't someone supposed to stay with her at all times? What about that attack?"

"That's what father wants to talk to us about. There hasn't been anymore threats, so he says it should be fine to relax a little on security around Claire," Tristan explained, impatiently.

Julian's jaw visibly tensed.

"Listen, I know what you are feeling. I'm not sure of it either. I want to keep her safe too."

You do?

Julian glanced at me, and I quickly averted his gaze.

"Alright, but let's get Olivia in here. I think the scary movies got her freaked out," Julian gave in.

They are talking about me like I'm not even here.

Julian held back a smile, and Tristan nodded as they both looked at me.

"Well, since I don't have a say so anyways, why not? Maybe Olivia enjoys comedies." I glared at Julian.

Tristan called Olivia on his phone, and she was in my room within a minute. Both boys hesitantly left me with her as they made their way to the meeting. Luckily, Olivia did enjoy comedies, so I put one on. The movie made us both laugh a lot. Like being with Celine, it was nice to have a friend. Olivia wouldn't admit it though. She takes her job as hand maiden seriously.

"I would totally leave him."

"I think it's kind of sweet," I replied.

"Sweet?!" Olivia's eyes widened. "He lied to her!"

I giggled. "Yeah, but he did it to protect her. He cares."

"No! He did it because he knew she would be angry. He went about it all wrong," she declared, passionately.

I couldn't help but find Olivia's take on the subject funny.

"What are you laughing at?" Olivia narrowed her eyes at me.

"You're just funny."

"A lying man is not funny, Claire."

I bursted into a fit of giggles again, and Olivia's face didn't look amused.

To escape her glare, I walked across the room to grab another water. Before returning to the couch, the full moon caught my eye. It's brightness radiated across the sky onto the trees in the distance. As I admired the scenery, a loud knock sounded at the bedroom door, causing me to jump.

"I'll get it," Olivia said as she made her way to the door and opened it. "Hello?"

"Who is it?" I asked and turned towards her.

"Um...there's no one there," Olivia responded, confused as she looked around the hallway. "I don't like this."

"That's stran..."

My scream ripped through the air as I was suddenly yanked to the window. The glass shattered on my back and onto the floor. Before I could be pulled out, my hands gripped either side of it, using all my strength to fight against the force pulling me.

"Olivia!"

She was suddenly in front on me, using her vampire strength to pull me back into the room.

"Hang on, Claire!" Olivia shouted as she kept trying to pull me from the force.

I looked behind me at the distant ground. If I fell, I would surely die. Tears welled up in my eyes at the thought of that horror. It was definitely not how I wanted to go.

"I will not let you die! You hear me?!" Olivia shouted, as if she knew what I was thinking.

Something caught my attention on the ground below me. A figure in dark clothing stood far below the window with one hand reaching up at me.

"There's someone outside the window. I think the person is using some type of telekinesis."

Olivia quickly shoved her hand behind me, and a flash of light lit up the room and night sky. The pull that was trying to drag me out of the window was gone, and I fell onto the bedroom floor. I scrambled to my feet to look down at the figure. He or she was on the floor, engulfed in the flames that spread across the grass.

I was pulled away from the scene. Warm arms engulfed my body, holding me tightly. "Are you okay, Claire?" Olivia asked, worried.

"I think so."