Lane still was not sure she could trust him.  She desperately wanted to, despite the small voice in the back of her head repeating the mantra "he's only in this for his own interests" in her head.  When he reached out to touché her she was stiff at first, still guarded against him.  The heartbreak still remained fresh in her chest and she worried when his physical tenderness was followed by an immediate request for her blood.  Was he just in need of a magical pick-me-up?  Or was this the continued symptom of his deeper addiction?  Lane mulled over her options and her mind almost immediately came up with an alternative to his proposal.<br/><br/>"The book will be hidden.  Nora's been...working for someone lately.  She doesn't talk much about it, but I'm pretty sure she'll find a place for it that isn't easily accessible.  I trust her."  Lane had a lot of friends, good people she could cling to when times got tough, but there were really only two she trusted with her life.  Steve and Nora.  Nora may have been her cousin, but they had always been more like sisters.  The book would be out of reach until Lane needed it again, that much she was confident in.<br/><br/>"As for the rest of it...How about instead, I stay here...I give you the blood you need...We lay down for the night and you tell me more about this queen and what I should expect?"  He wasn't wrong about the resting part.  Ever since she had received the message from Remy, Lane had been a bit on edge.  Getting dumped was hard enough, but being dumped and still simultaneously pulled into her ex-boyfriend's mess was something else altogether.<br/><br/>"I know what the fae are like, that's why most witches say the fuck away from them.  A lot of our ancestors made deals and got royally screwed..."  She pushed out a sigh and shook her head.  "Okay, I know you're like hundreds of years old and I'm a small town witch, but I'm not....I'm not a child, James.  I've seen the darkness out there and I know you want to protect me, but I can handle this.  And if you keep trying to protect me and Mia and whoever else...You're just gong to end up distracted and then this fae queen or the demon you're trying to evade, they're going to get the better of you."<br/><br/>She got the feeling he thought he was playing the game a few steps ahead of those around them, but she saw it very differently.  He was at the end of the marathon, tired, haggard and desperate to keep the people he loved safe.<br/><br/>"We can be partners in this. You know that, right?  Have my back and I will have yours."