Page 31 of The Paranormal Investigation Bureau
No worries. Kaine’s hangover remedy was foolproof. It had been passed down through hundreds of generations of dragons, ever since people first figured out how to make alcohol. Things got substituted and updated over the years, but I could admit it was way better than any potion I could brew up for a hangover. It tasted better, too.
I was going to have to find a way out of my bedroom first. One of my teachers at the bureau was this ancient gryphon. We were all trained to fight with the magic skills engrained in our DNA, but sometimes, that wasn’t possible if the perp was using humans as shields.
Callum was this cranky ass gryphon who was retired military. He was never in the bureau, but he was super effective at teaching us hand-to-hand combat. We sparred with each other, but you only passed his class if you could land a blow when you sparred with him.
I managed to punch him in the shoulder, but he knocked me flat on my ass. I knew better than to fuck with any gryphon, even if they were a ballet dancer. How the fuck was I supposed to get out of my bedroom? Gryphons were fierce killers, and the one passed out in front of my door was either still drunk, or seriously hungover.
I’d used my ballet training to get me through many things, and I was sure I could use it to get out of my bedroom. I backed up and got a running start, then did agrand jeteover Arden and barely missed him when I landed.
I was about to walk off when I felt a hand grab my ankle and I face planted on the floor. Arden had shifted back and was now very naked in the hallway. He dragged me across the floor until I was pressed against his chest, and he threw his leg over my hip.
Arden let out a little growl and nuzzled my neck.
“You smell good,” he sighed before he started snoring again.
Arden was definitely still drunk, and I was stuck there. The floor was uncomfortable, but snuggling with Arden was nice. I didn’t snuggle with anyone anymore, I didn’t allow it… doing that with Derrick didn’t end well, so I wasn’t about to let anyone in like that ever again.
I felt something hard growing against my back. I needed to get myself out of this situation, because Arden was getting turned on in his sleep. I knew it meant nothing, as he didn’t do ballerinas, but I wasn’t here to date. I was less wary of him when he wasn’t shifted into a massive gryphon.
“Arden!” I hissed, trying to move his arm.
It didn’t work. His arms tightened around my waist, and his hand came up to cup my breast. I couldn’t help it. I fell about laughing. I’d been trained to get myself out of so many sticky situations, and now I was stuck on the floor, with a drunk, naked gryphon. I could have zapped him with a bit of magic, but he wasn’t trying to hurt me. He was just spectacularly drunk.
My laughter didn’t wake Arden at all, but Nyx poked her head out of her bedroom.
“Help me!” I wheezed.
Nyx started howling with laughter.
“He’s going to be so mad when he wakes up and realizes he did that. He slept out there because he wanted to protect you from the Unseelie Court. He was super fucked up, and I should've sent him home... but I’m a sucker for those puppy dog eyes when he begs.”
I needed to get off this floor and away from the massive gryphon boner that was poking into my back, but what was Nyx talking about?
“Why exactly do I need protection from the Unseelie Court?” I said, trying to lift his arm again.
“You’re the one that opened the door to ballet conspiracy theories, then got all squirrelly when they were mentioned. Bevan and Arden have now woven this conspiracy theory that you didn’t dance anywhere before you got here because you were their slave.”
Oh, fuck! I really needed to come up with a backstory about why no one could find me online as a part of any other company before I ended up here.
“How does one wake Arden up?”
Nyx padded over to Arden and bent down, so she was right in his ear.
“Red!” she shrieked, putting a little banshee shriek in it.
Arden jumped up, tripped over me, and landed flat on his ass. He looked mortified that I was lying there on the floor where he had been, and he looked furious at Nyx.
“Don’t misuse a safe word, Nyx!”
“You were naked, and keeping Beyla as a snuggle hostage. If there was any time for someone to safe word you from making a further ass of yourself, that was it.”
Arden moaned and mopped his hand down his face. He wasn’t even trying to cover himself up, and I was getting an eye full. It was a pity he had such a firm no ballerina policy… I could sure have some no-strings-attached fun with that.
“Beyla—”
“Forget it happened,” I said, holding up my hand. “Bevan’s moonshine is pretty strong, and we were all drunk last night. I’m not an Unseelie slave, so you don’t have to camp outside my door anymore. Let’s just forget it. I have a world-famous recipe passed down from the dragons that will make Madame Lucinda not even notice we drank so much last night.”
Arden stood and started preening. Now that he knew I wasn’t mad at him, he sure wanted to show off his naked body. I was struggling to keep my eyes above his neck. Male dancers had amazing bodies, sculpted through years of hard work, and Ardenhadto have his dance belts specially made if he was using them to keepthat wellcontained.
