Page 98 of Blood as Sweet as Roses

She gazes at me across the suite, that same expression in her eyes. Like she’s trying to figure something out.

But what is it?

“Paige…” she whispers.

A loud knock echoes through the suite. Crimson hisses, then she raises her hand to the door. It unlocks in a flash of red smoke.

“Enter!” she shouts, irritably.

“I’m…I’m sorry to bother you, my king,” stutters Alin, as he peeks his head into the suite.

“It had better be important,” Crimson snaps.

“I thought you would want to know…” Alin swallows nervously. I’ve noticed that younger vampires seem to have more of those reactions than older ones. I couldn’t evenimagineCrimson fidgeting, but I guess they lose those little mannerisms the older they get. I wonder how long Alin has been a vampire.

“Spit it out,” Crimson demands.

“I saw Kai sneaking that merman into their suite,” Alin says. “The one you told them they weren’t allowed to marry.”

Crimson sighs heavily. “Are yousure?”

“Yes, my king,” Alin quickly confirms, wrinkling his nose. “He’s got that mermaid smell. And they looked guilty too. They brought him inafter everyone else was checked in, I saw them.”

“Thank you, Alin,” Crimson says. “You may leave now.”

“Um…I also wanted to ask…” Alin says sheepishly. “Lexi’s having a party in the club tonight. Some of the younger vampires want to go. Do you need us for anything, or…?”

She waves her hand. “Go ahead. Have a fun time.”

Alin’s face lights up. “Thank you, sir!” he says, before darting quickly out of the room.

Crimson rubs her eyebrow irritably. Maybe that’s her version of fidgeting, a little shimmer of the living human she used to be. I put my glass down on the top of the bar and go over to her.

“Why can’t things just go smoothly?” Crimson mutters, not addressing me in particular.

“Don’t let it bother you, my king,” I answer, softly. “You’ve got other things to focus on this week, and I’m sure the eastern shifters will be too busy to notice anything.”

“Perhaps,” she grumbles. “But I don’t like to be disrespected. Why did they even bring him here? It’s like they’re doing it just to get under my skin.”

“Well,” I reply. “Maybe it doesn’t have anything to do with you at all, sir. Maybe they just wanted to be with him this week.”

“Kai should be thinking about their clan,” Crimson replies, but there’s no anger in her voice. Just a note of exhaustion that’s surprising. I pause, letting her get her thoughts together. “When I was their age, Ineverwould have disobeyed my Creator like that. They’re lucky I’m not him. He would have staked me without a second thought if I had…”

She stops, something heavy behind her eyes. It’s hard to see her this way. Usually she’s much more composed, but it’s clear this situation is bothering her.

I put my hand up to her shoulder. “You’renotyour Creator. And you don’t have to be like him. I don’t know everything that he did, but…”

Suddenly, she steps away, shrugging my arm off of my shoulder. The rejection stings, but I’m more concerned abouther. Not meeting my eye, she shakes her head. There’s a shift in her demeanor. A gate crashing down inside of her.

“I shouldn’t be speaking this way,” she says, firmly, still not meeting my eye. “Kai’s my progeny, and I’ll handle them.”

I know I should be gentle with her, and it’s clear she’s experienced something difficult. But it’s just so frustrating that she’s pushing me away. It’s not the first time this hashappened. Whenever it seems like we’re getting closer, or when I want to help her with something, she closes herself off. Usually I just let it go, but tonight, I can’t stop the irritation from tinging my words.

“Whytry to stop them, my king? It’s clear Kai cares about the mermaid. If they’re in love, then…”

Crimson snorts. “Vampires can’t fall in love.”

There’s a pang in my chest. I wasn’t expecting that. “What do you mean? Why wouldn’t vampires be able to fall in love?”