Dangerous Creatures (Book 3, Pure Series) by Catherine Mesick Page B

did when he saw me. "Hey."
                  "Could I ask you a question?"
                  "Sure. Anything."
                  "It's about that necklace that William won at the carnival."
                  His face fell. "Oh. What about it?"
                  "Do you remember where you got it from?"
                  "I don't know. Is it important?"
                  "Yes—it's hard to explain, but it's very important."
                  Simon sighed. "Let me think. I got a bunch of stuffed animals from a local store. And I got some ceramic knickknacks from Derek Finley—his mom makes them—I thought those were pretty good, actually. And then Irina donated a box of plastic jewelry—I think her dad's company manufactures a lot of stuff like that."
                  He paused. "And that's where it was. The necklace you're asking about was in the box from Irina."
                  I glanced at Simon sharply. "The necklace came from Irina? You're sure?"
                  "Positive. I remember thinking it was weird that that ugly green thing was in there. None of the stuff was exactly eye-catching, but that necklace was especially awful. I remember, too, that it was the only thing in the box that wasn't plastic."
                  "Thanks, Simon," I said. Somehow I wasn't entirely surprised to learn where the necklace had come from. "I really appreciate the information."
                  I turned and began to walk toward the school.
                  "Wait," Simon called after me. "Where are you going?"
                  "I have to find Irina!" I called back.
                  I went into the school and hurried through the halls. I didn't know where Irina typically hung out in the morning, but I was lucky enough to catch her at her locker.
                  I walked up to Irina and found myself facing her glossy dark ponytail.
                  "Hey, Irina," I said.
                  She glanced over her shoulder at me. Then she turned back to her locker.
                  "Irina, I need to talk to you," I said.
                  She shut her locker door and then turned to face me.
                  "What do you want?"
                  "I need to know about the costume jewelry you gave Simon."
                  "What are you talking about?" she said scornfully.
                  "You gave Simon a box of costume jewelry for the Black Moon Carnival. Where did it come from? Was it from your dad? Or was it from somewhere else?"
                  "Does it matter?"
                  "Yes," I said. "I really need to know. A friend of mine won a necklace playing Simon's game, and it turns out the stone in the necklace is a real emerald. We need to trace where it came from."
                  "Fine," Irina said. "I'll tell you what I know. I got the box from Ms. Finch. She's my dad's executive assistant. She gave me the box and told me to take it to school. That's the whole story. If you want to know more, ask her."
                  I knew who Ms. Finch was—I had met her on a number of occasions, and she was quite a formidable person. I would have to go question her, too, now, and I knew it wouldn't be easy to get any information out of her.
                  "Was there something else?" Irina asked.
                  "What?" I said.
                  "You're still standing here."
                  I was irritated, but I had to press on—I was finally going to get an answer about something that had been troubling me directly from the source. "Yes, there is something else. Is your grandfather Maksim staying at your dad's house?"
                  Anger flashed in Irina's dark eyes. "How is that