The couch creaked behind me. “No, wait.” Stellan caught up with me at the door, blocking my way out. “I want you to stay. I just need to be able to think clearly. Okay?”
I pulled away. No. Not okay. It was the same as always. He was just like everyone else in my life, thinking they knew what was right for me better than I did.
“Move, please,” I said, not looking him in the eyes.
He ran both hands through his hair. “Avery . . .”
We both jumped when the door slammed open from the outside.
“Merde,” Elodie said, breathless, wearing a black evening gown and heavy eye makeup, her bleached hair slicked back from her face in a headband. “There you are. Why weren’t you answering your mobile—”
She finally noticed me.
I couldn’t imagine what I looked like right now. Stellan was hastily buttoning his shirt. Elodie pursed her lips, and under the humiliation of being rejected was the twinge of knowing I’d just done exactly what she’d said I was going to, and I’d promised I wouldn’t.
“Ah,” she said. “Of course. Well, sorry to interrupt, but there’s a small, tiny, actually very important problem.”
CHAPTER 29
When I got to the dining room, Elodie and Colette stood around the table, Elodie in her black dress and Colette in a gossamer white gown that looked like she was wearing the most glamorous bubbles I’d ever seen.
I kept my face down and fell into a chair. My whole body felt prickly, uncomfortable. My head wouldn’t stop spinning.
I’d stopped by the bathroom on the way down and tried to comb some of the tangles out of my hair, but I knew I looked as undone as I felt. My eyes were bright, my cheeks breathlessly pink no matter how much water I splashed on them, my dress wrinkled and crushed.
Stellan looked just as obvious as I did. When he sat up straight, I saw that he’d buttoned his shirt crookedly. Colette caught me looking at him, and I saw her eyes flick over both of us. She leaned over and whispered something in his ear, and he hurriedly fixed his buttons, then stole a glance at me that I didn’t return.
“Where’s Jack?” Colette said.
I rubbed my face. I told them the shortened version, ending with the fact that I’d told him to get out, and it appeared that he had.
“Unfortunately, that’s a small problem compared to what I just learned,” Elodie said. “We were about to head out to the red-carpet event when we found out that there’s been another attack. Something bigger this time. A bomb exploded at the Emir family’s compound. It killed their younger son.”
“What the hell?” I pulled at a handful of my hair. “Why are they still doing this?”
“Terrorism,” Elodie said calmly. “It’s exactly how Lydia explained it. The Circle will hail the Saxons as heroes when the mandate is fulfilled and the Order disappears. They’re escalating the attacks to stack the final outcome.”
“The second we get my mom, we tell somebody,” I said. “We have to stop them.”
“Then we’d better hurry and find this bracelet. At this rate, they’re going to kill half the Circle.” At the sound of Stellan’s voice, a sense memory came on so strong, it nearly knocked me over. Head pleasantly warm, leaning over his lap to grab his drink. Almost falling off my bar stool, my hand pressed to his chest.
“I know.” I couldn’t look at him. I told myself the renewed flush in my cheeks was just embarrassment at getting drunk and losing control, but the spark and sizzle in every bit of my skin that had touched his said something different.
Elodie stood up. “That brings us to tonight,” she said. “The bomb was the last straw. They’re canceling the rest of the film festival for security concerns. The red carpet tonight is already in full swing, but it’ll be the only event.”
“Which means,” I said, “tonight is our only chance to steal the bracelet.”
? ? ?
We were already late, so Stellan and I rushed to put on our formal attire. The plan had changed. Since we were now going to have to sneak inside to get the bracelet, we’d need all the distraction we could get. Suddenly, me being recognized had gone from a potential disaster to a necessity. I’d draw the eyes of all the Circle members on the red carpet, plus any regular guests and security who had watched the news in the past couple days, and hopefully no one would notice Elodie creeping in a back door to trip the electricity and steal the bracelet herself. Stellan would be with me and Colette, making sure nobody actually tried to hurt me.