Page 62 of Monster's Baby

“Maybe it’s because we’ve got a stronger connection?”I suggested.“We’ve been sleeping together nightly.”

“It hasn’t been more than a week, and we’ve spent longer than that at Doyle Manor.”

“I don’t know.What do you think it is?”

He grinned and ran his tongue over his teeth.“I think it’s because I claimed you.”

I chuckled.“Claim me any time.”I pushed up to a sitting position.“But not now.We need to go to breakfast and discuss these earrings Grandfather gave me.I can’t believe I forgot about them yesterday.”

“You’ve had a lot on your mind.”Aiden kissed my shoulder.“I’ll get Professor Reynolds.Meet you down there.”

* * *

To my surprise,I arrived at the mess hall before him.I met our friends at our usual table and put the jewels in the middle.

“We need to decide who’s going to set the trap,” I said.

“Mysterious and fun,” Una said, opening the little box.“Oooh and gorgeous!What trap?”

I nodded and smiled at Aiden and Professor Reynolds as they walked up hand-in-hand.“These will help us find the thief.He won’t be able to resist these beauties.They’ve got a barrage of spells on them.Now we just have to make sure that everyone knows that one of us has them.”

Rhiannon shook her head violently.“Not me.”

“I think it should be Una,” Lilia said.“She’s pretty ostentatious, no offense meant, so it wouldn’t be out of character for her to flash these around.”

“They’re my taste, too,” Una said, admiring the earrings.“I’m a little nervous about the thief coming into my room to grab them.”

Rhiannon frowned.“I am, too.”

“Rhi, you can stay with us,” Hazel offered.“With Siobhan’s bed free, you won’t even have to share.”

“What about me?”Una exclaimed, eyes wide.“I’ll be all alone!”

“I will stay with you.”

We all turned to stare at Pierre, who flushed.“I will sleep in Rhiannon’s bed, with her permission.”He nodded at the girl.“You were brave to offer,” he said, shrugging one shoulder when Una kept staring at him.

“Thank you,” she said quietly.She threaded the earrings through her earlobes and then transfigured the box into a mirror to admire them.“I love them.I wish they didn’t have to be stolen.”

I chuckled.“I’ll pass your admiration on to Grandfather.Maybe he can procure some more.They’re not real rubies, you know,” I added as an afterthought.

“I don’t care about gem quality,” Una said.“These catch the light, which is more important to me any day.”

“Really?”Pierre asked.

“What use is quality if it doesn’t sparkle?”she said flippantly.“Excuse me, I need to go show these off.That’s the point, right?”

“Right.”

Una grabbed her apple and polished it on her torso.“Catch you at lunch,” she said in parting.

I watched her, amused, as she bounded over to the table nearby.“Myextremely wealthygrandfather sent me these beautiful earrings for my birthday.They onlyjustarrived,” she chirped loudly, pushing her hair over her shoulders and leaning forward.“Aren’t they gorgeous?”

The girls at the table oohed and aahed, while the boys blatantly stared at her cleavage.

“She is aware, is she not, that the boys here say she is a...What do you call it...A sure thing?”Pierre asked, his eyes narrowed as he stared after her.

“She likes sex,” I said bluntly.“You know what she hasn’t talked about since we got here this year?”

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