The atmosphere in the house turned thick and tense, and I tiptoed around Jax like I feared he would see something incriminating everywhere he went. I prayed to any god that might exist that Dorian hid blood bags, blood whores and torture victims in the depths of his basement.

Jax's step through the house was confident and determined, and he walked straight to the staircase at the end of the hallway.

"I assume she's upstairs?" He asked, but he was already climbing.

"Uh, yes. I'll escort you."

We didn't make it upstairs, because Lucia showed up on the top, dressed in a long pink pregnancy dress with tiny white floral pattern, a raised eyebrow, and a smirk lifting up the corner of her lips.

I put my hands on my hips, "You should be in bed."

"No." She shook her head. "I should spend time with people, doctor's orders."

Dorian and I exchanged a glance. People, not vampires.

"And you should help me get down." Lucia continued. "Hi, Jax, good to see you."

My almost lover climbed up immediately, "I'll help you, come on."

"And I'll tell Cherry to put the kettle on." Dorian turned on his heel and walked away.

Jax put his hand around Lucia's back and walked with her down the stairs patiently, making sure she leaned on him as much as possible. It warmed my heart to an impossible degree, and when they reached the first floor, Lucia was blushing like mad, and I was half in love with the vampire hunter.

The fact he wanted to make sure she was okay did something to me. The sincerity and kindness of this gesture was something rarely seen in our midst. I also didn't know what terrified me more – the vampire hunter being in a vampire home, Dorian and Jax's strange disdain for one another, or an amused glint in Lucia's eyes.

Slowly, we reached the living room, and I was surprised to see all the furniture back in its place and Cherry sitting on the sofa, dressed in a short black cocktail dress.

"Hello, hello." The blonde chirped. "I'm Cherry, Dorian's girlfriend."

"Nice to meet you." Jax murmured, his confused eyes meeting mine.

"Dorian doesn't believe in monogamy." I clarified, and turned to Cherry. "Does he?"

"Only insecure men believe in monogamy, Odette." Cherry crossed her legs.

Lucia managed to sit on the sofa next to Cherry, grunting, "Well, he's engaged to Odette's sister, so he must think there's some value in monogamy."

"What?" Jax's head snapped in my direction.

"Engagements are just men's way of convincing women they want something serious, when they're not really ready to settle." Cherry brushed it off. "You either get married or break up, everyone knows that."

I raised my eyebrow, "You're a side piece either way, Cher."

The blonde scoffed.

"I am so confused." Jax murmured.

Dorian entered the room with a bottle of liquor and a cup of tea in his hands, "I figured we might need whiskey."

"Good call." I stole the bottle.

"Tea is for you." He put the cup in front of Lucia.

"Great." Her lips turned into a stiff line. "Just what I need to take the edge off, camomile."

"You can get drunk once you have that baby." I said. "Until then, camomile."

"Well, if I can't entertain myself with a glass of whiskey, you're going to have to entertain me instead." Lucia grinned. "How about we play something?"

I did not like her grin, nor the amusement in her eyes. She was planning something, probably something that would land me in even more trouble.

"How about no?" I sat in the armchair, and poured myself a glass. "We can drink and be quiet, I like that."

"Me too!" Dorian dragged one of the lacquered wooden chairs to the coffee table. "Give me the bottle."

"Get your own."

Dorian stole the bottle from me.

"What the hell is going on here?" Jax was still standing in the middle of the room. "Don't all of you hate each other?"

"Absolutely." I murmured.

Dorian lifted his glass, "Cheers."

"I don't hate anyone." Cherry jumped in. "We're all God's creatures."

I eyed Dorian, "Or Devil's spawn."

"I'm not ashamed of who I am." He clinked his glass against mine, causing my face to distort in disgust.

"Let's play Truth or dare!" Lucia clapped. "Jax, sit down, your height is distracting."

Cherry leaned forward, caught my gaze, and mouthed, "Gorgeous. Good job."

I ignored her and arched my eyebrow towards Lucia, "We're not playing Truth or dare, we're not teenagers."

"I am." Lucia shrugged. "How about Never have I ever? Come on, that's fun."

"Yay!" Cherry clapped. "I always win when we play that!"

"Why?" I smiled sweetly. "Because there's nothing you haven't done?"

Cherry scoffed.

"Lucia, are you okay?" Jax asked. "Are you sure this is the best place for you? What if there's an emergency and you're not in a hospital?"

"Fortunately, Dorian brought the hospital to me." Lucia smiled smugly; her eyes glued to me. "I have, like, three doctors on my disposal. And a personal chef."

I pinched the bridge of my nose, "I guess he's just worried about you."

"That's awfully nice." Jax said, staring at Dorian.

"What can I say?" The vampire held the glass up. "I'm a philanthropist, first and foremost."

"A philanderer is more like it." I mumbled.

Jax's gaze jumped between me and Dorian, "Is he doing this for you?"

My heart skipped a beat, and I had to prevent myself from glancing at Dorian.

"Of course not." Cherry cut in, sounding genuinely annoyed for once. "He hates Odette."

"That's true." Dorian agreed. "Are we playing Never have I ever or what?"

"Yes, thank you!" Lucia exclaimed.

"Are you serious?" I looked around, and when my eyes landed on Jax, added. "I think he's helping Luce because he knows it hurts my ego."

"Wow, you're really making me seem like the Devil." Dorian chuckled. "Can't we just agree I'm doing something because I'm not as terrible as everyone makes me out to be?"

"No." Jax and I said at the same time.

"Never. Have. I. Ever." Lucia emphasized each word. "I'll start."

"This is so childish." I mumbled.

"Actually, sure." Jax leaned against the backrest. "Let's play."

"Oh, come on." I complained, my heartbeat picking up the pace. "Are you serious?"

Dorian chuckled, "What's wrong, Ette? You have something to hide?"

"Ette?" Jax echoed.

My gaze cut through Dorian, "I hate that nickname."

"That's why I use it." He smiled.

"Never have I ever slept with someone sitting in this room." Lucia began.

Silence ensued, and as if conditioned, all of us, except Luce, obediently took a sip. Over the rim of my glass, I watched Lucia's amused stare. So far so good. Dorian and Cherry slept with each other, and Jax and I slept together. Nothing surprising.

My eyes escaped to my right, connecting with Dorian's. No amusement there.

"Lame." I murmured, eyes jumping back to Luce.

"That's just a warmup." She grinned. "Come on, Cher."

"Never have I ever had a threesome!"

Dorian clinked his glass against hers and they both took a sip. I feigned gagging, while Lucia looked a little envious. I glanced at Jax, who simply smiled at me, but it failed to reach his eyes.

"Khm." Dorian cleared his throat, and smiled at his glass. "Never have I ever lied about who I was."

That sentence was vague enough to allow for some meandering, I thought as I brought the glass to my lips. Dorian took a sip too, and so did Jax. Tension doubled in the room, and I wondered if all the lies created a bitter taste on their tongues too.

Cherry leaned towards Luce, "Uh-oh. It's getting interesting."

"Never have I ever used lame teenage games to extort truth from people." I murmured, already tired of this shit.

Luce took her cup of tea and sipped, keeping a small smile on her lips. Cherry followed, drinking her whiskey. And soon after that, both Dorian and Jax drank too. Realising what I said, I sighed and took a sip myself.

"I guess we were all fifteen once." Jax chuckled.

"And we all make mistakes when we're fifteen." Dorian said, and the sentence made me look at him, my breath catching in my throat.

But I plastered a sweet smile on my lips, "We sure do."

"My turn." Jax said, attracting my attention.

He didn't look too happy to be playing this game, and as I watched him chew the inside of his cheek, I realised he wanted to find out the truth, but also didn't. He didn't want to get the truth out of me like this. Fuck, I didn't deserve him, did I?

"Come on, just say something." Lucia rushed him, glancing at me. "It's fun."

"Are you that bored?" I arched my eyebrow, figuring out what exactly she was doing.

Lucia leaned forward as much as her belly allowed her, "I have watched every single teen drama that there is before I realised that we make our own entertainment."

"I'll deal with you later."

Lucia simply chuckled before I turned back to Jax.

He looked straight into my eyes, "Never have I ever slept with more than one person sitting in this room."

Disappointment slammed into me like a tidal wave, followed by another, smaller wave of resentment, directed solely at myself. Of course he didn't trust me. Why would he? Every other word that came out of my mouth was a lie.

Silence ruled the room. My glass remained firmly in my hand, as did Dorian's.

"Wow." Cherry murmured, her eyes widening, as if she just realised what was going on.

I looked at Jax, trying to keep my expression neutral, and watched his soften. His shoulders slumped, and regret began to shine in his eyes.

No matter how much I wanted to, I didn't turn to my right, I didn't look at Dorian.

"Fine." Lucia's voice was snappy. "Never have I ever kissed more than one person sitting in this room."

My heart skipped one beat, and then settled into a frantic rhythm. The glass began to feel heavy in my hands, and I bit the inside of my cheek.

"Oh, for fuck's sake." Dorian's voice made my head snap in his direction, only to watch him take a large gulp of whiskey. "There. Satisfied?"

My shoulders slumped, and the whiskey glass almost slipped from my fingers. I caught his gaze, and for a moment, it felt as though I've been transported back to that day. To the biggest mistake of my life. I focused on the anger I felt towards him, because turning around and facing Jax proved to be way more difficult.

"Well, unless Dorian and Jax made out..." Lucia dragged, her voice amused.

"Yes, fine!" I realised my hands were shaking when I lifted the glass. "We kissed."

I swallowed the rest of whiskey in my glass.

"You kissed?" Jax's voice sounded different; lower, rougher.

I forced myself to look at him, trying to ignore the heartbeat pumping in my mouth and my ears. Suddenly, I felt small and weak, just how I'd felt that day.

"Once." I said through my teeth. "When I was fifteen. And we all make mistakes when we're fifteen."

Jax cleared his throat and stood up, "Excuse me."

"Oh, come on." I followed, almost stumbling over my feet. "I was fifteen!"

Cherry's voice reached me, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Jax was already walking out of the house.

"Jax, come on." I put the glass back on the coffee table and allowed my gaze to cut through Dorian. "You just had to. You had to."

He shrugged, not even bothering to look at me, "I had to."

Without another word, I left the room and followed Jax out.