Entangled

Chapter One The night I fell in love with my enemy was a very mysterious night. It was the kind of night that made every shadow look like it was hiding a secret. But the strangest part wasn't that I fell in love with him. It was who he was. Adrian Finn. The son of the man my family hated. The same family my father had warned me never to trust. The same family who had once tried to destroy mine. I should have known something was wrong when I saw him standing outside my bedroom window. He wasn't supposed to know where I lived. He wasn't supposed to know my name. And he definitely wasn't supposed to be looking at me like he was afraid. I slowly stepped closer to the window, my heart beating harder with every step. Adrian raised one finger to his lips. "Don't turn on the lights." A chill crawled down my spine. "Why?" His eyes shifted toward the hallway behind me. Then he looked back at me. "Because someone is watching you right now." My breath caught. I glanced toward my bedroom door. Nothing. Just darkness. When I turned back, Adrian had pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket. He pressed it against the glass. My eyes widened. My name was written across it. ELENA. Underneath were three words. YOU'RE NEXT. I stared at him. "What does this mean?" His expression hardened. "It means your family isn't the real target." I swallowed. "Then who is?" For a moment, he didn't answer. He looked almost afraid to say it. Finally, his eyes met mine. "You." Before I could ask another question, every light in my house went out. Darkness swallowed the room. I froze. Then I heard it. A door downstairs slowly creaked open. Adrian moved immediately. He reached through the window and pulled me toward him before I could even react. I stumbled forward, and he caught me in his arms. For one second, everything else disappeared. The fear. The darkness. The warning. All I could see were his eyes. There was something different about the way he looked at me now. Something I couldn't understand. I tried to pull away. "What are you doing?" He lowered his voice. "I'm not who you think I am." My heart skipped. "What does that mean?" Before he could answer, footsteps echoed from downstairs. Someone was coming. Adrian quickly moved me toward the corner of the room, keeping us hidden against the wall. I could hear my own heartbeat. The footsteps grew louder. Then a voice called out. "Elena." My blood ran cold. I recognized that voice. Marcus. I instinctively wanted to answer, but Adrian immediately placed a finger against his lips and shook his head. Don't. I stayed completely still. The footsteps stopped outside my door. "Elena?" Silence. My hands trembled. After a few seconds, Marcus spoke again. "She's not here." The footsteps slowly faded away. I waited until I could no longer hear them. Only then did Adrian finally move away from me. He looked at me for a moment. "I'll explain everything later." "When?" "Soon." "Adrian—" But before I could finish, he climbed back through the window and disappeared into the darkness. I rushed toward the window. "Wait!" He was already gone. I stood there, staring into the night, wondering if what had just happened was real. Eventually, I climbed back into my room and closed the window. My legs felt weak. I sat on my bed, staring at the piece of paper still lying on the floor. YOU'RE NEXT, ELENA. My thoughts raced. Why had Adrian come? Why had he warned me? Why had he risked being caught just to save me? Most importantly... Why would a man whose father had tried to destroy my family suddenly become my protector? I looked toward the window where he had disappeared. "Why would you save me all of a sudden?" I whispered. But deep down, I already knew something had changed. And I had a terrible feeling that tonight wasn't the beginning of my nightmare. It was only the beginning of the truth.