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She crossed one arm over her chest and rested the elbow of the other on her palm. While she appeared to give the jewels arrayed in front of her some thought, she tapped her finger on her lips.
He’d believed she would randomly pick a piece. She proved him wrong with the time she took.
After several moments, she tapped the case over a pendant set with a particularly large, bright red ruby. The pear shape echoed the impression of single blood drop fresh from the vein. “I think she’d like this.”
Valeria, his half-sister, absolutely would love both the piece itself and would love torturing her husband with who sent the costly jewel, like she did every year. The arranged marriage had long-ago turned rancid. As good as any reason to eschew the archaic practice. “Good choice. And you?”
While she chose, he needn’t have bothered sharpening his observation of Caro. She threw out a finger toward a ruby and diamond bangle bracelet, gaudy in the width and number of stones crusting the gold. He huffed a laugh. “Nice try. You hate it.”
She slid him an assessing glance from the corner of her eye, then back to the case. Finally, she swept her arm over the crystal shielding the sparkling contents and said brusquely, “You’re right, of course. None of this appeals to me.”
Her honesty pleased him. “Now that I believe. What does?”
“I don’t wear jewelry.”
Except for the simple gold studs in her ears, she didn’t. No ring circled her fingers, nor bracelet her wrist.
“If you did?”
Her lips thinned. “Moonstones. My mother had a piece from her mother before—”
“Before…”
She whirled toward him, her gaze glittering harder than the fyre crystals in the case behind her. Through stiff lips she said, “Simple Edwardian moonstone jewelry in ten karat gold doesn’t earn much at the pawn shop, but we needed to eat. Well, my sister and I did. Mom needed her fix more.”
For a moment she glared at him, then she spun and stalked to the back wall of the shop where the store kept the costliest product.
The admission of her past life hit him like a sucker punch to the solar plexus. He studied her spine’s rigidity and imagined the recriminations cycling in her head for revealing any bit of personal information. He’d have to dig further into her past. She didn’t become a vampire for no reason, most certainly not money. She was a protector. Who did she protect? He’d have his team do a deep dive into her life. Wait. She’d trusted him this far. When she decided, perhaps he’d discover her motivation.
He summoned the dwarf attendant who’d been hovering a discreet distance away. The minor fae swiftly crossed to the ruby case, and West pointed to the piece Caro had selected.
“To the usual address, my lord?”
Though West claimed no title for his own, the fae would use the honorific regardless. Demons did so love their pomp, and stroking egos was little price to pay for repeat customers. “Yes. No card.”
He completed the transaction, then joined Caro at the cases against the wall where those costliest of gems were guarded behind a thick shield of spelled, clear crystal. Best to let her revelation lie. “You selected the perfect pendant for my sister. Thank you for your help.”
“You have a sister?” She delivered her question with apparently little interest. The tension in her shoulders said differently.
She’d given him a slice of her life, maybe he should give her a slice of his in return. Before he could weigh the potential damage his trust could bring, he said, “My sister has a very difficult life. She fell in love with one of the human blood slaves my parents kept when we were young, eons before the new laws set by King Kriann. When my father found out, he executed the man and sold her in marriage to a true monster with even less soul than my sire.”
Caro’s eyes widened, and she pursed her lips.
“She lives apart from her husband with my security and financial help to maintain her position in clan society. Each year on her birthday, the piece of jewelry which I send, and she subsequently flaunts at court, drives her husband mad. Occasionally, I have to remind him how it’s in his best interest to ensure she lives.”
“If you need help in that quarter, let me know.”
Her vicious tone brought joy to West’s heart. “I will,” he said with a grim chuckle. “Now, are you ready for me to take you home?”
“Not yet. I still need your assistance.”
CHAPTER9
“Afish?”
Caro almost laughed at Ryn’s incredulous expression while he stared at the tiny cups stacked on a big-box pet store’s end cap.
“Yes, a fish. Two, to be exact.” She’d set up the divided aquarium and had the system running for the last month. The wait to buy the bettas had become almost excruciating for her, knowing some most likely expired before she could get the water parameters to acceptable levels. She examined the tiny, sad animals who laid listlessly in the containers the size of a single-serve yogurt cup. The closer look determined one floated upside down, and she fought back the fury by reminding herself she could only save two—doubtless another one would’ve expired in this one’s stead.
