Page 46 of The Biting Bargain

"Sir." Aidan greets me with his prize-winning smile. "I came for the dishes."

Raising a brow I let him in, wondering why he didn’t send housekeeping, like he usually would. But then again, Aidan isn’t just my PA but also a medical doctor and probably wants to check on our patient.

He gathers the remnants of the small feast of takeout food I had ordered while Polly was showering. Her Instagram has informed me that she’s actually a big fan of Asian cuisine, so in lack of a better idea I ordered whatever. She wolfed down everything: ramen, gimbap and a large variety of different little salads, while I was working on my desk, watching her from the corner of my eye. She ate with such fervency as if she’s been actually starving for weeks. What the hell?

"She looks a little better," Aidan whispers. "I don’t wanna wake her. I’ll check on her tomorrow."

"Smart thinking," I mutter, returning to my desk and opening my laptop again. "Any news?"

Aidan shakes his head. "Unfortunately, the witch Yli-Pekkala is unavailable at the moment. No one knows where she’s gone and I can’t find anyone else who’d be able to reinstate your counter-curse."

I grit my teeth. There goes my chance to resolve this situation in a quick and effective manner. Without the witch — with whose help my dear Maman at the time, after I had the misfortune of walking into a trap and being bitten by a werewolf, contained my curse and put the damned wolf in chains — the situation remains as it currently is. I am dependent on my companion.

Completely absurd.

And dangerous. For Polly more than for me, of course, but still…

"On the bright side, Sir, I’ll probably be able to concoct an antidote from Ms. Bukowski’s blood samples."

I turn, throwing him a sharp look.

"How long?"

"Another month, minimum." Aidan’s face falls. "I’m sorry, sir."

"No need, Aidan. Thank you." I sigh, leaning back into my desk chair, pinching the bridge of my nose. "I know you’ll do everything you can."

"I will, sir. I leave you to it, now."

He wheels the dish cart out and closes the door, and I barely suppress a frustrated growl. Another month. That means another full moon. Of course, we have precautions, because it’s part of my secret life as a werewolf in the closet to go into hiding once the moon is full, until the worst is over and I can pass for a normal vamp again. But with my curse broken and only Polly here to hold it at bay — who knows what’s gonna happen?

I crane my aching neck, vertebrae popping, rise and walk to the bed again. Polly is still sound asleep, curled up like a shrimp. And I don’t know how to feel about this entire situation.

She’s food. She’s my companion. She’s my tool I use to get what I want. And apparently, she’ll also turn out to be a fantastic fuck, if our little slip-up in the car is any indicator of how strong that sexual pull between her and me actually is.

But right now, I also don’t want her to get hurt by what she’s been involuntarily chained onto. Without meaning to, she became part of my curse. And to my own chagrin, I can’t deny the thought that it is in fact my responsibility to get her out of this mess in one piece.

I would be a really shitty master if I let anything happen to her, wouldn’t I? Really shitty indeed.

She stirs in her sleep, curling herself up some more and following a strange impulse, I sink down on the bed and resume the position I woke up in minutes ago. Sitting next to her on the bed. Watching her sleep.

Her silent guardian, guarding her against myself. Hilarious, if you think about it.

ChapterTwenty-Two

Polly

"Hold on,Grandma, I only got half of what you just said…"

I hold my phone a little ways away from my head, pressing the heel of my hand to my forehead and trying to make sense of Grandma yelling through the line. She was already in the middle of the sentence when I picked up — a family trait — and my sleepy brain has some trouble catching on.

"Where the hell are you? We’ve been trying to reach you all damn day!"

"I texted Dad I’m staying with a friend," I groan, curling into a ball on the edge of the bed. Unsure what time of day or night it might be, with all the windows being tinted to block out any ray of sunlight. But it must be some time in the late afternoon or early evening.

I was alone when the frantic buzzing of my cellphone woke me up. But I can tell, Vincent is somewhere close, probably in the ominous room next door. We can’t be far apart, after all.

"Your poor father has other things to deal with than texts from his good-for-nothing daughter! What do you think he’s doing, with the police all over the place and everything!"

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