“Vampires can get drunk?” Thea thawed momentarily, and I glimpsed the curiosity I’d first fallen for underneath the icy attitude.
“No, not really.” I shook my head and winced. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I peeked over at her. “Maybe a little, but it wears off quickly.”
“Lucky for you.” She wouldn’t look at me. In fact, she seemed to be inventorying the room in an attempt to avoid making eye contact. Was she still mad about earlier? Or had the Salon du Rouge been worse than I imagined?
“Want a drink?” Jacqueline called as she opened a bottle of gin.
“No,” Thea said quietly. “I want to lie down. What room would you like me to stay in?”
I shook my head, trying to process her question, and was rewarded with another piercing throb. “Our room.”
“You mean your room?” she corrected me.
Shit.
“Maybe we should–”
But Thea turned and swept away. I stood there, watching in silent shock, as she made her way up the stairs. Jacqueline moved to my side, sipping her drink without comment.
“So, that’s Thea?” Benedict said. “She’s pretty.”
We all swiveled around to stare at him.
Benedict lifted his hands, shrugging his broad shoulders. “What? I’m trying to be supportive.”
“At least the whisky seems to have checked Julian’s blood-rage. I think an hour ago that observation might have resulted in loss of limb,” Sebastian said. Then, he turned his attention to me. “By the way, brother, I think she’s mad at you.”
“Tell me something new,” I swore under my breath.
“Tonight didn’t go so well,” Jacqueline said.
“Do I want to know?”
“Probably not,” she admitted.
“Are you going to tell me?”
“I’m through being in the middle of this,” she said. “But you should probably go talk to her.”
“I’m in trouble, aren’t I?”
“Were you in trouble before?” she asked.
Fuck, what did that mean? I nodded.
“Yeah, you are. Can I give you some advice?”
I groaned but remained silent.
Jacqueline cocked her head, her blonde braid falling over her shoulder. “If that’s going to be your attitude…”
“Please,” I said penitently.
“Fine,” she agreed and lowered her voice. “Take her on a date. A proper one. You might want to romance her a bit.”
“Is that a good idea?” I muttered.
“That depends,” she said casually before finishing her gin. “Do you want to lose her?”
I didn’t say anything. I didn’t have to. She already knew the answer. I wasn’t sure I had a choice. Even now, it felt like my body was being tugged up the stairs.
“I better…”
“That’s a good idea.” She smiled and turned to my brothers. “Care to see what trouble we can find at this hour?”
“I guess.” Benedict didn’t sound very enthused.
But Sebastian was already on his feet. “The night is young.”
I left the three of them bickering about what arrondissement they wanted to head toward. Taking the steps two at a time, I prayed I would find Thea in the bedroom we’d shared since our arrival, not in one of the guest suites.
Relief washed over me when I found her in our bedroom, but it was short-lived when I saw her arms full of her belongings.
“I just need to grab a few things,” she said, looking past me again. But the crack in her voice told me that she wasn’t just angry. She was hurt.
I covered the distance between us in a split second, stepping into her path to stop her from leaving. “Pet, what’s wrong?”
“I need to think,” she murmured.
