As they climbed in the car followed by the driver who closed Siena's door, James, noticing how she drew away from him and suddenly looked strangely shy and distant again in the closed quarters of the backseat where it was just the two of them, couldn't resist saying, "Well, take us home, Jake."

He grinned into the rearview mirror where he caught Jake's bemused, conspiratorial smile, then chuckled when he looked at his blonde 'partner', catching her scrunching her white, freckle-covered nose at the idea of the two of them sharing a home.

As Jake drove them through the much less crowded roads than those of the city's centre, flanked by people moving along the pavements on their early evening stroll through quaint boutiques and cafés, he tried to push all the fascinating things they had just learned about the Society away for later, and focus on trying to understand Siena's behaviour. They needed to know each other well, if they were to accept this incredible quest, together, as a team...

He just came to a conclusion that she must have had a bad experience with men and resolved to prove to her that they were not all the same and whatever had happened to her before, she could trust him, when the car pulled to a curb in front of another Victorian house, this one a little smaller and not quite as imposing as the Society's Headquarters.

Jake opened Siena's door and carried her luggage towards a low wrought iron gate opening to a short, tiled path which led to the house's white front door embellished with several colourful stained-glass panes, while James slung his backpack over his shoulder and followed them.

He reached the three steps connecting the path to the door which Siena had already mounted, her eyes almost at level with his when she turned to him now, while Jake fumbled with a set of keys and unlocked the door for them.

Why did she affect him so? He could feel his pulse quicken as her eyes, the warmest and most intriguing pair of golden-brown irises he had ever seen, met his, and the corner of her mouth lifted in a hint of a smile. He had been in several relationships, some longer and happier than others, but had never fallen for a woman's charm this fast...

He shook his head to clear it the moment she looked away, breaking the spell she had held him under, and entered the house's gloomy interior, the air within already darkened by the approaching evening. It was getting late; they both had a very long day. Only the first of many, apparently.

Jake didn't enter. He simply informed them that the downstairs flat was entirely at their disposal, supplied with food sufficient for at least a couple weeks, and anything else they might need, before he dropped the keys into Siena's palm and handed an envelope, containing useful information and instructions, to James.

He was off then, reminding them that his number was among those they would find in their new phones and they should not hesitate to call whenever they needed his services, before he closed the front door behind him, leaving them in the great hall filled with a wan, colourful light streaming in through the stained glass panes set in two doors facing one another across the large room.

James and Siena exchanged an uncertain look before they turned slowly around, noticing a sweeping white staircase leading toward the upper floors, wondering what was upstairs.

"Let us see the flat," Siena proposed, tearing her eyes off the staircase and finding another-- simple five steps leading towards the stained glass door at the far end of the hall.

"Wow," Siena muttered as they entered the garden flat. She removed her shoes and dropped her bags by the door, then rushed towards yet another door, glass, floor-to-ceiling sliding door substituting the entire back wall of the flat.

James followed her example and left his shoes and luggage next to Siena's before he walked after her, meeting her by the door she had already slid open, letting in the elabourate scent of the lush garden spreading beyond, and the wide blue-green river flowing languidly at its far end.

"It's breathtaking," he agreed with Siena's mute admiration of the sunset, the orange ball of incandescent light dipping into, then disappearing behind a thick row of trees growing on the river's opposite bank, leaving only a handful of long rays to reach and caress them where they stood on the threshold.

"Shall we have a look around?" James proposed, noticing how Siena shivered as dusk quickly descended upon the world outside, leaving them in semi-darkness once even the last sun rays vanished.

Siena nodded silently and walked towards the closest switch, flooding the room in a soft, warm, ambient light in an instant.

The sitting room they found themselves in was spacious and open plan, with a seating area closer to the sliding doors and a kitchen corner on the opposite end, by the stained glass door functioning as the front door of the garden flat.

They moved around the flat, finding another door, set in the wall to the right, not far from the kitchenette, hiding an impressive bathroom complete with a huge bath and a large shower corner. They looked at each other, realising that the bathroom, just like the sitting room and the kitchenette, was for them to share.

"What about the bedrooms?" Siena asked, hoping that at least those would be separate. There was no way she was going to share a bedroom with a stranger, no matter how friendly and... attractive he was, she would rather sleep on the sofa.

Luckily, the bedrooms they found were spacious, cosy, and separate, furnished just as tastefully as the rest of the flat. They faced each other across the wide sitting room not far from the glass doors leading to the garden, both the rooms offering the same magnificent view of the river Thames.

The bedrooms being identical in each and every detail, including the large double beds, swathed in dark blue sheets and coverlets matching the curtains framing the windows, they had no trouble deciding who would take which.

Siena carried her bags into the bedroom on the left while James rummaged through the kitchen in search of food. While she vanished beyond her bedroom door to unpack, leaving it ajar, feeling that it would be impolite to close herself in, James cooked, surprising her when he appeared almost an hour later, knocking politely on the unclosed door, to invite her for dinner.

No man had ever cooked for her until now, Siena realised, looking up at his face, thanking him, as she followed him towards the tiny dining table impeccably set for two. There was no end to surprises with him, it seemed, the man had just spent an hour cooking both a meat and a vegetarian dish, so she could choose.

"It was delicious, thank you, James," she praised his cooking skill as she took a sip from the glass of wine he had poured out for her, her eyes leaving the fancy bottle for the tall wooden case standing close to the dining table, full of her sisters and other bottles filled with all sorts of wines and other spirits.

"You are welcome. I like cooking, and I'm used to it too, as I live on my own," he said, hoping that revealing this detail about himself would tempt her to tell him something about her life.

She only smiled a wide, tight-lipped Mona Lisa smile he didn't quite know how to explain, making his breath falter at seeing how it suited her. This wasn't good... He needed to get a grip on himself. She wasn't someone who could become his girlfriend no matter how much he liked her, she was his colleague of sorts... And even if they got close despite that... They lived worlds apart.

"You mentioned you live in Florence? But your English is spotless, I would have believed you were a Londoner," James ventured. He couldn't help himself; he needed to know her better.

Siena, who had let her eyes travel around the sitting room over the rim of her glass, from the large, modern TV set to the disappointingly small book case standing next to it, now looked at James again. Why was he determined to make not looking at him so hard for her? She found him too charming for a colleague, but there was no way she would allow herself to think of him as anything beyond, not ever. The task they had been proposed sounded crazy and dangerous enough as it was; it would be downright impossible for her to do with someone she cared about on a deeper level. What if something happened to him?

"I wonder why there are so few books," Siena muttered, willing to shift the subject away from anything personal, then feeling bad about it she added on a sigh, "Yes, I live in Florence. My parents are Italian. My grandmother was half English. She married an Italian and spent most of her adult life in Italy, but she moved back here later in her life. I studied here in London and lived with her then. What about you?" she asked, knowing she shouldn't have. It shouldn't matter. But it did. He intrigued her.

He smiled, the simple gesture making his features brighten and his blue eyes shine, forcing her to mirror his easy smile while she wondered how he could make her heart beat faster each time he smiled at her.

"It's been almost a year that I live on the shore of Loch Ness. I repaired an old cottage that used to belong to my great grandparents, found a job in Inverness, and moved out there from Edinburgh. I love it there, it's a wonderful place."

She believed him; she could almost see the placid waters of the age-old, mysterious loch reflected in his bright blue orbs... Sighing, she tore her eyes from him, letting them drop onto her empty plate. He really shouldn't affect her this much...

Noticing her sudden uneasiness, just like before in the car, James proposed, "Shall we read the instructions Jake gave us before we go to sleep?"

Siena nodded thankfully and listened to his voice as he read for her. It was a good reading voice; she could imagine it reading her a novel... She shook her head in desperation and focused on the lines he was pronouncing.

They were to call whenever, whichever member of the Society, with whatever question that might cross their minds. That was useful, Siena thought, nodding when he looked at her.

They could call Jake anytime, but they could also reach the Headquarters by walking north along the river; it wouldn't take them more than twenty minutes.

"Cool," James said, smiling at her from above the white sheet of paper in his hand. "Maybe we could do this tomorrow? I love walking."

"Me too," Siena admitted, beaming at him before she could stop herself. She had already told him too much about herself and she only met him a few hours ago.

"And we should think about our first quest," James said, summing up the rest, then passing the letter to her so she could read it for herself. "We should let them know as soon as we decide so they can get everything ready for us. And there are more books upstairs," he added even as she read that line from the letter.

Siena was curious about the books, but she was also tired. There would be time to explore tomorrow. "You cooked, I'll get the dishes. You can take a shower or unpack in the meantime, if you want," she proposed, already standing up and piling their used plates and glasses to carry them towards the dishwasher.

Understanding that doing something for him in her turn was important for her, James refrained from offering his help. "All right. Thank you, Siena. I'll take a shower so the bathroom is free when you are ready."

She nodded and smiled at him, then turned to the task at hand, resisting the urge to turn around and see him making his way towards the bathroom when she heard him walking across the sitting room again a few minutes later.

Leaving the kitchen clean and orderly, Siena returned to her room to prepare her things for the shower, then, after seeing him enter his bedroom through the gap in the unclosed door, wrapped in a dark blue towel, noticing how he left his door ajar as well, she walked towards the bathroom.

The spacious tiled room was full of his scent, a curious woody fragrance with an undertone of citrus, grapefruit maybe, the smell of outdoors and adventure. Shaking her head, she washed quickly, opting for the shower rather than the bath tonight, leaving the bathroom flooded by her own scent of orange blossom and jasmine.

Finding him on the sofa upon exiting the bathroom, she joined him a little awkwardly. But she would feel more awkward just walking past him into her room, leaving him there alone.

Goodness she looked good, James noticed the moment she appeared in the sitting room, glided towards the small bookcase in his line of vision, taking his eyes with her on her way to choose a book.

It was impossible for him to focus on the television as he could see her sitting in the armchair from the corner of his eye, swathed in a floor length kimono-style dressing gown, and a matching night dress which he could glimpse underneath, printed with japanese looking chrysanthemums in all shades of pink and white on the background of light mint... It made her look so feminine and delicate; she had no idea...

Siena couldn't read. She found the stranger sitting on the sofa so close to her too distracting. But the weight of the book she kept open in her lap on a random page felt calming; it was the only thing she recognised in this bizarre situation. That and, inexplicably, the feeling of the pendant she kept her other hand closed around. It was new and yet it felt as if it had always belonged to her, she loved it for the promise it held, the possibility of guiding them into books, a thing she had dreamed about her entire life.

She looked at James, and their eyes met, making her breath catch. She let her eyes drop then looked into his eyes again, smiling, when she noticed how he also toyed with his ring; they were probably pondering the same thing in that exact moment.

"Shall we go to bed?" They spoke in unison, laughed, then James added, "It's been a long day."

Siena nodded. "We need to rest, and then think of our first quest in the morning. Something simpler than... " She closed the book, realising she didn't even know what fictional world she held on her lap, "...Dracula."

She looked at James again, and he saw the possibilities of fixing that world pass like shadows through her irises; they looked butterscotch or whiskey in the lights of their sitting room.

He smiled. "Definitely something simpler. Saving Lucy Westenra won't be easy, we'll need some practice before we try."

"Lucy and Quincey Morris."

"Of course, he didn't deserve to die either."

"But we need something simpler to start with," Siena concluded, walking towards the bookcase to replace the volume where she had found it, while James switched off the television.

"Good night, Siena," he said as they reached the sliding doors, the night outside turning the pellucid glass into an opaque, black wall.

"Good night, James. See you in the morning."

She looked up at him one more time, her lips offering another smile, then turned and walked away, towards her bedroom, her gown floating around her, caressing her figure as she moved, leaving a trail of jasmine and orange blossom in her wake. She vanished inside her bedroom them, leaving the door ajar, inviting James to mirror her gesture.

If they left their bedroom doors wide open, they would see each other's bed... James mused as he switched off the lights in the sitting room, then in his room after he lay down, plunging the flat into darkness.