“I’ll handle this.” Knowing it’s the campus postman with the mail—right on cue—I stride over to greet him.
There’s only one parcel, a royal blue box wrapped in a red ribbon. It feels like a lead weight plunges to the bottom of my gut when I read the note:
Calder, Thinking of you.
I shove it into his arms. “It’s for you.”
“For me?” His pouty lips curve down.
“Maybe from a recent date?” I can’t stop bitterness from creeping into my tone. “Or maybe you have a secret admirer?”
He unwraps it to find a cupcake inside. “I have no idea who this is from. Between classes, the office, and getting the apartment ready, I haven’t met many people.”
“Maybe someone from your former college?” I make the suggestion, but I really don’t want to hear Calder go over all the salacious details about the many girls he’s probably charmed into caring enough to send a gift.
Cautiously, he sniffs the caramel-colored icing. “Peanuts.”
I clutch my chest. “What?”
“There’re peanuts in this.” He carefully puts the box down. “I can smell them.”
“Let me see.” I pick it up to sniff it myself. There’s no mistaking the smell. “You’re right.”
“Are you sure you didn’t send this?” Calder squints at me. “Your first attempt at killing me didn’t work, so you wanted to try again?”
“This isn’t funny, Calder.” I close the lid on the offending cupcake. “You could’ve been seriously hurt.”
He taps his shirt pocket. “I’ve always got my pen with me.”
“Maybe it was an accident?” My investigative instincts kick in. “How many people know you’re allergic?”
“Trust me, there’s no one who would want to send me a cupcake.” Calder chuckles wryly. “But at least whoever it was made sure there was so much of it that I could smell it. If they wanted to hurt me, they’d have to be pretty stupid.”
A crazy thought comes to me as Kyro’s threat echoes through my brain. “You’re going to pay. You and your pack.”
“Kady?” Calder’s forehead wrinkles in concern. “What is it?”
I forcefully hurl the cupcake into the trash can.
“Riven’s telescope was one thing, but this?” I’m shaking with anger. “This is too far. It has to be them.”
“Hey, slow down.” Calder’s strong hands close around my shoulders. “What are you talking about? And what does Riven’s telescope have to do with this?”
I quickly give him a run-down of what happened this morning on Main Street and what Kyro said.
“It could just be a coincidence.” Calder doesn’t sound confident.
Mind racing, I chew my inner cheek then dive onto my knees to retrieve the cupcake box from the trash. I dig out the note, turning it over to see a logo for Springflour Bakery on it.
“Gotcha!” I stand, brushing myself down before hopping onto my computer and madly searching.
Calder cranes to look at my screen. “What’re you doing?”
“There!” I point at the computer victoriously when the search results come up. “Springflour Bakery is in Forestville.” I pull up the details. “I’ll call them to ask who sent it.”
I grab my cell phone, punch in their number, then hit call, putting it on speaker.
After a few rings, a friendly woman’s voice fills the room, full of warmth. “Good morning! Springflour Bakery. Dora speaking. How can I help you?”
