No zip code, but it wasn’t needed. Not for hand delivery.
Each of the envelopes had “A. S.” in the center of the front in beautifully executed handwriting, like the initials had been drawn. No trembling when they’d been written.
“Are these love letters?” Qhuinn murmured. “This is a human name.”
“Definitely human.”
“But my brother had no contact with humans. This makes no sense.”
Blay took off his leather jacket, and palmed his cell phone. “How do you spell the last name again? I’m going to check social media.”
“L-A-V-A-L.” Qhuinn tilted the page so his mate could see. “Maybe it’s a fake name, but if he really wanted these to get to her and she was one of our kind? He would have provided her real name.”
“Unless he’s trying to hide her identity.” Blay frowned as he typed things into Facebook. Then Insta. Twitter. “I can’t find anything. Let me see about Google.” A moment later, he shrugged and flashed the front of his phone. “I’m not coming up with a thing.”
“So maybe she is one of us and that’s a false name to protect her. I mean, most humans just have to have a presence on the Internet. It’s like breathing to them.”
“We know who we could ask.” Blay held up his phone. “If you want to.”
Qhuinn nodded. “I need to find this female. Or woman, if that’s the case.”
Blay drafted a text and sent it to V. Then put his phone down. “You know, I have to be honest. If she was human—”
“Right? If he had had any relationship outside of the species? He would have kept that shit on the DL like you read about. Holy fuck. Our parents would have thrown a fit.”
There was a bing! and Blay checked his phone. “V says to come to the Pit. He’s happy to help.”
“Let’s do it.” Qhuinn put the letters back into the larger envelope and then frowned. “Actually, can you take a picture of this? I don’t want to take this stuff out of our room.”
As he held the piece of paper up, Blay snapped an image on his phone, and then Qhuinn put everything in the second drawer of their bedside table. As the two of them headed for the door, he pulled Blay in and kissed his mate.
“I’m glad you came out to the house. I was so happy to see you.”
Blay’s brows worried up. “I was concerned you’d think we were stalking you.”
“Not at all. I wanted to go in there alone, but it was a relief to see you out on the lawn. You make me feel safe.”
The flush that hit Blay’s face was pretty much the best thing Qhuinn had seen all night, and he squeezed his mate’s hand—then kept ahold of it, especially as they walked down the grand staircase. As much as he loved everyone in the household, he hoped they didn’t run into anybody else. There was too much on his mind, too much sapping his energy.
But meeting with V was different.
Figure out how to cope.
As he and Blay went out through the vestibule, the cold was a slap, and he liked it. It seemed easier for him to breathe.
Glancing over at Blay, he frowned. “Do you want my coat?”
He was in the process of taking his jacket off when Blay put his hand on his arm. “No. I’m good.”
Qhuinn put an arm around the male and pulled him close. “I’ll keep you warm.”
“You always do.”
Together, they descended the stone steps and went around the fountain—and he noted that a replacement tarp had been secured across the sculpture and its basin. On that note, he glanced back at the mansion over his shoulder. The glass that had been broken on the second floor had already been replaced.
Healing. In the bricks-and-mortar sense.
As they came up to the Pit, they didn’t have to knock. Vishous opened things and seemed prepared to go to work: He not only had his muscle-shirt-and-leathers uniform on, he was sporting a lit hand-rolled in one hand and a rocks glass of what had to be Goose in the other.