“In favor,” he said, his voice low and not sounding necessarily pleased.
Avelyn could have jumped and happy-danced around the room, but she settled for squeezing Max’s hand, who squeezed back.
Councilor Willamar was the last one to give his vote. He leaned over the table and fixed Arthur Harington with his deep, black eyes.
“I too am going to vote in favor, this time. Starting today, Harington Pharmaceuticals is free to continue its research and experiments with the goal of finding antidotes to the remaining types of shifter venom. However, its activities will be closely monitored by the Council of the Six Factions, and each experiment will need to be approved before it happens. The Council will be informed about the progress regularly. Those who want to receive the cure will have to apply for it first, and explain the reason why they want to become hybrids. For now, only those who were turned against their will and the shifter-brides who are bought from boarding schools will be eligible.”
“Fair enough,” murmured Harington. He had won a great battle, and he wasn’t about to argue that all humans should be offered the choice to become hybrids. In truth, he wasn’t sure it would be a good idea either.
If anyone had asked Delyse how she felt, she wouldn’t have found the right words. She was happy, relieved, ecstatic. But, more than anything, she felt like she had managed to keep her promise to Eric. If things hadn’t worked out so well, she would have forever felt guilty for having forced Eric to wake up from his hibernation and start a new life with her only to know death would separate them at some point. It would take time to find the cure for the dragon venom, but she was sure her father, her brother, and their scientists would move faster than they h
ad with the cure for the wolf venom, now that they had the Council’s support.
Details needed to be taken care of, so everyone who wasn’t part of the Council was invited to leave the conference room. The councilors and their advisers had to decide on a good system through which to regulate and control the distribution of the antidotes to the right people. Amelia was stuck with Blake, so she waved when Delyse and Avelyn left the room. The two friends talked a bit more in the hallway, but then Eric showed up and asked Delyse if she was hungry. She understood the message: it was time to leave. She and Avelyn made promises to stay in touch and, maybe, visit each other, then hugged for long minutes and parted with heavy hearts.
CHAPTER EIGHT
When Dragons Share…
In Norway, life went back to its normal course. Delyse spent most of her time alone, with Astrid, or with Avelyn on the phone. The time zone difference made it difficult to keep in touch with Amelia, and Amelia was way busier than Avelyn, given that she was the Alpha of her own clan. Eric and Viggo were making plans to wake up the other dragons. They had to wait until the next solar eclipse, though, but it was fine because they had a lot of things to take care of. Eric’s return had been a pleasant surprise for the entire dragon faction, which meant that Delyse’s husband was usually stuck with old friends, clients, or business partners. Meetings, parties, cocktails. Three weeks after the council meeting, and Delyse was already growing tired of new dresses, high heels, and the smile she was always supposed to plaster on her face. Being a shifter-bride was hard work. She had learned that at Alma Venus, but she had dismissed it then. How could parties and courtesy visits be a chore? Now she knew exactly how.
Three weeks. Three weeks had passed, and Delyse had managed to stay away from Viggo. Even when all three of them had to go somewhere, she could will herself to avoid his gaze and position herself in such a way that Eric was always standing or sitting between them. At some point, her husband asked her if she and Viggo were all right. Delyse had smiled and answered: “Yes, why wouldn’t we be?” Eric had cocked an eyebrow, then shrugged. Delyse had thought it was better for Eric to believe she hated Viggo than suspect the truth. And what exactly was the truth? Well… the truth was she couldn’t get the Annarr out of her pretty little head. Moreover, she had started having dreams about him. Indecent dreams, to say the least. She wasn’t worried until she had one that involved both Viggo and Eric. What was wrong with her? She spent the next week pretending Viggo didn’t even exist. When she was with Eric, it was easy to forget the Annarr. Her husband was a passionate lover, and every time they had sex, he made sure to blow her mind and leave her breathless. There was never much cuddling afterwards, which made Delyse sad and a bit dissatisfied, and when Eric was particularly hard, fast, enthusiastic, and out of the bedroom in 30 seconds, Delyse would curl into a ball and wonder: “Would Viggo stick around to hug me?”
She managed to be a loyal, faithful wife for one month straight before destiny decided to have its way with her and Viggo. They met in Eric’s office. She was looking for him, wanting to suggest they went out to dinner in town for a change, and he was behind his Fyrstur’s desk, studying some files and getting ready to make some phone calls. He had been so absorbed by his work that he completely missed her scent when she walked down the corridor and approached the office. By the time he snapped out of it, it was too late. She was already pushing the door open.
“Oh!” she gasped. “I… I didn’t expect you to be here.” She stood in the doorway, unsure if she should leave or enter the office and close the door behind her. “Where’s Eric?”
For a moment, Viggo allowed himself to be entranced by her blue eyes, soft blonde hair, and the way her perky breasts looked under the thin, flowy fabric of her dress. She wasn’t wearing a bra.
“Went out for a walk,” he managed. “Fresh air… He’s been working too hard.”
Delyse nodded.
Viggo closed the file he was reading and stood up.
“Come in. You can wait for him here while I go find him.”
Just as she closed the door, she saw Viggo coming towards her with the intention of going past her and leaving the room. She swallowed heavily and stopped him.
“No, it’s fine,” she said. “Since we’re here, I wanted to tell you something.”
Viggo stopped a few steps away from her. The fresh, fruity scent of her white skin was already giving him an erection. He wanted nothing more than to spend a couple of minutes with her, in this room, but he knew it was a bad idea. A very bad idea. The relentlessness with which they had been avoiding each other had only made things more difficult, the attraction more unbearable. He wanted her. So, so badly. And she wanted him too. He could smell the wetness between her thighs as she shifted from one foot to the other.
“Okay…”
Delyse looked at his handsome face and crossed her arms over her chest when she realized her nipples were getting hard.
“I wanted to tell you… that I’m sorry.”
Confusion danced in Viggo’s golden eyes, and Delyse felt her knees go weak. “My God, he’s too hot, and sweet, and gorgeous for his own good!” she thought.
“What for?”
“For treating you the way I did in this past few weeks. Like you didn’t exist… I’m sorry. This is not the person I want to be. You’ve helped me so much, brought me here… If it weren’t for you, if you hadn’t started this whole thing, the Council would have never reconsidered my father’s research, and my father would have probably never had the courage to try again.”
Viggo sighed and hung his head, incapable of looking into her eyes.
“I want us to be friends,” she continued. “It’s hard, you know… I thought that if I avoid you, if I never talk to you, it would get easier. It would pass… It’s not working.”