"I should not have called," she repeated again, her voice dull, "I panicked and now you want to put yourself in danger. Again." The 'because of me' was not said out loud, but it spun through her head. The thought was somehow…Scarily comforting. She wished Mannik was here, right now, guiding her. Was she really relying on him that much? If it was so, she had to stop, stop right now…"Please don't."

Why am I so weak, she wondered in a strangely distant manner as if she was looking at herself from the sidelines. Adelmar's hand went to her neck, touching the hidden marks there as she tried to find something to hold on and sort out her thoughts with. There was no time for emotions now. Standing up suddenly, as if to go somewhere, she began analyzing situation at hand.

"If I call police, people he was reporting to might guess he revealed something to me, but if he simply disappears, same thing will happen. Although perhaps I could make it seem like he ran off with some money… I doubt I can make his death look like accident convincingly."

Adel was pacing around her room, uncharestically nervous action. Not even endless classes about keeping your calm in any situation could prepare her for a moment where she had a dead body to deal with and the way she resolved it could bring all her and Zenon's plans to ruin.

"He was drunk, I could tell," young woman said. His breath had stank of alcohol, but his arms still had plenty of strength. As he grabbed her wrists, one hand tearing at her clothing, leering that if she could spend time with Below rats, she could reward him for his services, she had thought she'd never get out of his grip. Yet she struggled and clawed at him, enough to anger the man and move onto strangling her. But she couldn't tell this to Mannik, no. This was her shame to bear, to be thought of as an easy woman and having man nearly force himself on her. At least she had managed to kick and push him away at last as he had started to unbutton his clothes, making him stagger and fall, hitting head on one of the sharp table corners.

"Perhaps I can use that in my cover up story," she voiced this thought alone. Suddenly, she realized she should go button him up and hide signs of struggle as much as possible. Thought of touching him laying there in the corridor, near her doors, in his own blood, made a shudder run down her spine and her stomach churn. Closing her eyes, she stood still for a moment, trying to calm down for real this time.

---

It was nice to see her speechless for a change, although strangely enough, he wished it had been for another reason instead not believing him how beautiful she looked. Pouring her a glass of red wine generously, he brought it over, his fingers brusing hers on purpose as he gave it to her, and took a seat next to Sarah.

Taking sip orf the richly tasting drink, he thought that if she weren't so nervous, he could imagine this was a regular evening for them, getting ready for a ball. This thought hit him like spacecraft and he drew a breath a little sharper. Never before had he imagined or even wanted to imagine something of a domestic life, to have same person - woman - by his side for months of even years. Now that he thought about it, glimpses of similar ideas had appeared few times when he was with her, but never so clearly as right now.

Was he really...? Thankfully, she spoke up, pulling the man out of his dazed thoughts. He smirked then and stood up after setting the class down on coffee table. With snap of Zenon's fingers, soft music began playing and he extended his hand, bowing. "Would you like to practice then, my lady?"