Page 84 of Twice Bitten

Without giving him a chance to argue, I ended the call, wincing at the pull of tape against my skin as I tossed my phone away.

The bandage adhesive on my arm had started to curl from the steam. I grimaced, wondering how I could get new bandages without alerting Leo.

Strangely enough, the wounds didn’t itch or hurt. I lifted the edge and peered under to see how everything was healing. Tiegan thought I might be in bandages for a week or two, but if my last go round with shifters and vampires was anything to go by, I hoped to be out much earlier.

I’d never been vain, but claw marks were an unfortunate conversation starter. If I’d escaped scars the last time, maybe this time would be the same. I peeked inside to check. All I could see was smooth skin. Frowning, I tilted my arm up toward the light and peeled the bandage down a little farther.

Still smooth skin. There was no way my wounds could have healed yet. Even the last time, it took a couple of days to feel normal. This time, Beckett’s claws had come close to hitting bone. I peeled off the edge of the other bandage only to find the same.

“Holy shit,” I murmured under my breath. I peeled the rest of the first bandage off and stared at my arm in horror. Once the second bandage was off, I turned my arm to and fro in the low light.

Nothing but smooth, unmarred skin, not even a small scar to show for the attack.

“What the hell?”

Just to be sure, I lifted the other arm and peered at that one too. It was the same. I’d never healed that fast in my life. If a human endured the kind of wound I had, they’d be in bandages for a month.

If I was dying, I wouldn’t heal like this, would I?

None of this made any sense.

I grabbed the fancy glass bottle of shampoo and poured it over my head. When this was over, I planned on calling room service and ordering one of everything.

Alric was footing the bill, and I put fifty percent of the blame for all this on his shoulders.

Maybe I’d get the lobster too.

Leo was waiting for me in the lobby early the next morning. He rose when he spotted me and took the small duffle from my hand.

“Everything worked?”

I nodded. Alric’s strategist hadn’t stuck around last night. She’d knocked, shoved a bag at me, and told me to call Leo if I needed anything else. All I’d gotten was a glimpse of a beautiful redhead with light brown eyes and a blank face before she’d spun on her heel and walked away.

I thought for sure I’d find a man’s T-shirt and a pair of sweats in the bag, but the strategist had blown me away with her choices. She’d damn near duplicated my current wardrobe, downto the brand name of the underwear I liked, but she’d also thrown in some very expensive lounge clothing, including a pair of cashmere joggers, a silk tank top, and a cardigan made with a silk and cashmere blend. All the colors suited me far better than my own wardrobe choices, and when I slipped on the lounge clothing, I found myself a little bit jealous at how the one percent lived.

I wasn’t broke. Far from it. But almost every extra penny I made went straight into either investments or my high-yield savings account. I gave myself a little spending money each paycheck, but for the most part, I was a bit of a miser.

While I did try to make good clothing choices for the environment, my small budget precluded me from purchasing certain materials—materials I would now be hoarding like the holy grail, a fact I would never admit to Alric or his strategist.

Not that plying me with silk and cashmere eased the pain of someone defiling my personal space and destroying my belongings, but the feel of the fancy clothing against my skin made it hurt a little less.

Leo pressed a to-go cup of coffee into my hand. “The cleanup crew is waiting for you to arrive.” His lips thinned. “They said you refused to give Alric a key when he called.”

“Sure did. He doesn’t need easy access to my house.”

“He’s a billionaire,” Leo said. “You have nothing in there he wants.”

I clicked my tongue. “Rude. I have an entire collection of David Bowie wigs, including the one fromLabyrinth. People would kill for those.”

The vampire let out an aggrieved sigh and stalked for the hotel exit.

I grinned at his retreating back and hurried after him.

The hotel Alric had chosen was in the greener part of the city, bordering the state park. Tall pines and oaks dotted the landscape, along with densely wooded brush and bushes. Istepped outside and inhaled the fresh air, drawing the scent of pine deep into my lungs.

A heavy moon hung in the sky, a precursor to tonight’s full moon. I felt no pull toward it, no urge to sit on my haunches and howl up at the sky. My fingers touched the wolf pendant resting in the hollow of my throat. The small pulse of the spell beat against my fingertips, a steady rhythmic hum that comforted me.

Leo was waiting for me, holding the passenger door open. I climbed inside and tossed my bag in the back.