“Look who’s feeling better!” Marc called as I hesitantly entered one of the tea rooms.

“Uh, hi,” I said. Then, “What is that doing in here?”

I didn’t mean Sinclair (though, after last night, I wasn’t especially thrilled to see him, either). I was pointing to the Book of the Dead which, incomprehensibly, was on the table next to the bowl of sugar cubes.

“I, too, decided to do some light reading,” Sinclair replied. He looked like he was playing statues; he was sitting stiff as a board. “Of course, I stopped after a couple of pages.”

“Look, you were right, okay? I shouldn’t have read it. Big, dumb, l ame mistake.”

“Really dumb,” Marc added helpfully.

“Really dumb,” I agreed, still looking at Sinclair. “And you shouldn’t have had sex with me.”

“You had sex with me,” he pointed out, having the nerve to sound annoyed. “And you left early.”

“Well, yeah, because I was totally evil! And you didn’t even notice!” Hmm, my groveling wasn’t going quite the way I planned. Still, I couldn’t help being upset. “How could you not notice?”

He stood. It was easy to forget what a big guy he was when he was sitting down all prim and proper at tea. But when he flashed to his feet—too quick for most people to track—he towered over everyone else. Marc actually flinched, not that I could blame him. I felt a little like flinching myself.

“I take it to mean,” he said quietly, “that the only reason you chose intimacy with me—repeatedly—is because you were out of your head?”

“Well…” Boy, did that sound bad. And he looked—not crushed, but like he was getting ready to be crushed. “Uh…it’s not like I don’t think you’re a great-looking guy, Eric. I don’t think finding each other attractive has ever been the problem.” I’d been so focused on what I’d done to Marc and Tina and Jess, I hadn’t really thought about how Eric might feel about it. I mean…he was a guy. He got laid. A couple of times! I thought he’d be generally okay with it and would scold me about the Book but…I didn’t think I’d hurt his feelings. Hell, I didn’t think I could hurt him at all.

He was the king of the vampires, for goodness’ sake.

“Anyway…” I was still trying to figure out how to finish the sentence without hanging myself or hurting Eric worse than I already had.

“Oh, hey, look at this,” Marc said too heartily. “A shotgun! This isn’t mine. I’ll just put it back in your closet, Betsy. Well, maybe my closet.” Then he hurried out.

“Put the safety on when you unload it,” I called after him.

“Never mind,” Eric said quietly, and I whipped back around. He had sat down again when I wasn’t looking. The moment, whatever it was, had passed. “You have answered my question, whether you meant to or not.”

“Eric…”

“Elizabeth, it has not escaped my notice that you are awake.”

“Right. Can’t get anything past you.” I sat down across from him. “I was outside getting some sun when Marc came to get me. I’ve got some tall apologizing to do, I know. Where’s Tina?”

“Still resting.” He was giving me the weirdest look. “Until the sun sets, of course. You say you were outside? I heard the glass break but I could hardly believe—”

“Yeah. It was great! I wish you could come out with me; the sun felt so good.”

“The sun would incinerate me in a nanosecond.”

“Right. Sorry about that. I haven’t been out during the day in six whole months, so I was glad to get out of here, believe me.”

“Tina,” he said, still looking at me like I was a strange new species of bug, “has not seen the sun in well over a hundred years.”

“Well, I’ll tell her all about it. After I, you know, make things right. Although I’m not sure how much I’ve got to make right with her; she did kick my ass pretty good. You should have seen it,” I joked, trying to lighten the mood a little.

“I missed it, as I was waiting for you to return to bed,” he said coldly, and I almost cringed.

“You—” I tried to fix it. Couldn’t think of a way. I finished the sentence, hating how I sounded like a sad little kid instead of a grown woman. “You really didn’t notice?”

“I was…distracted. I can assure you, it will never happen again.”

His face was so still, so cold. I had to get out of there. Now. This very second. “Where’s Jessica?”

“Hiding from you, of course.” He grabbed the Book and stood. “I should put this back. Since you appear to be back to yourself, there is no need for further research. Good day.”

And that was that.