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With her free hand, she reaches up, fluffing her hair. “He’s gorgeous.”
Yes, yes. Vampires are gorgeous. We all know that.
Before she can continue to gush some more, I jerk my chin at her other hand. You know. The one holding an envelope with my name scrawled on it.
“You said that was for me,” I tell her.
Hailey glances down at her hand as if she’d totally forgotten she was carrying it. She blinks, then winces. “Sorry, Gem. Something about a sexy vamp makes me lose my head.”
A sexy vamp. Blood loss from her, ahem, “date” with another vampire earlier tonight. Six of one, half a dozen of the other, if you ask me.
Whoops. There goes the eye-rolling again. It’s an epidemic.
Reaching below the bar, I grab one of Charlie’s trusty charmed patches. There’s magic in these vamp-designed bandages. Not only do they heal up a blood donor quick as anything, but they erase any bites as well as providing the nutrients a donor needs to replace their plasma. By tomorrow night, Hailey will be ready if Dominic decides to have a little nibble.
“Here,” I say, holding it out to her. “Trade you.”
“Thanks, babe.”
While Hailey busies herself with activating the patch and slapping it over the marks in her throat, I try my best to make it not so obvious that I’m sniffing the envelope she handed me. I don’t recognize the heavy hand that’s printed the five letters of my name in the middle of the envelope, so I’m hoping I can get a hint about who it’s from by scenting it.
Hmm. I get Hailey, obviously. Jimmy, too. And… a third scent that I don’t recognize. Probably the chick who passed it along to Jimmy. It’s certainly human, though.
I run my thumb over a nickel-sized bulge sticking out near the bottom. Whatever is jutting against the paper is hard. Sharp. It’s a weird shape with no give to it.
I assumed the envelope was some kind of letter. It made sense, but now I’m second-guessing that assumption. The back of the envelope is licked, too, as if whoever stuck something inside of it didn’t want it to fall out.
Welp. I won’t know what’s in there unless I open it so, ripping the envelope along the nearest corner, that’s what I do. I stick my pointer finger inside, widening the hole, then shake the envelope so that whatever is inside drops out into my cupped palm.
I suck in a sharp breath when I recognize what it is.
A ruby.
No.
Well, yes. There’s no denying it. It’s cut, faceted, and probably worth a ton considering it’s the size of a large pebble, and, yeah, maybe it could be… I don’t know, like a garnet or a carnelian… but I know better. The shiny, red rock is a fucking ruby.
And it’s not some kind of thoughtful gift.
It’s awarning.
Oblivious to how I’m only a few seconds away from chucking the thing as far away from me as I can get it, Hailey looks over at the rock in my hand, goggling at it. “Whoa… that’s a beauty. From your wolf?”
“Uh. No. I don’t think so.”
There are so many reasons it can’t be from Ryker. He already gave me a necklace and after my less than enthusiastic reception, I can’t imagine he’d try to one-up Aleks with this red ruby. Besides, it smellshuman. Of Jimmy, Hailey, and someone else. Someone I don’t know.
Definitely not a wolf.
But, more than that, Ryker wouldn’t have to play postman to give me a gift. Now that we’re firmly in the middle of our mating dance, his wolf would never trust anyone but Ryker to bring it to me. Like the necklace I’m still wearing. He’d need to see my reaction and watch me use it, just like he insisted on me putting the chain on right after he gave it to me early this morning.
That’s not the only reason, either…
Hailey’s lips pursed. “Your vamp?” she suggests. “Maybe Aleks sent it for you.”
No. Not Aleks.
I shake my head.
