Chapter 28: Business Partners or Accomplice?

"Strip him?!" Blair wheezed, wiping a stray drop of water from her chin. "I am not doing that!"

"Well, I’m certainly not doing it," Daemus said, taking a step back and holding his phone up with both hands, framing the unconscious professor on the screen. "I’m not gay. I’m the cameraman. You’re the help. Get in there."

Blair stared at the Wolf Prince in horror.

I can’t! her mind shrieked. If I see him naked, that is all I am going to see every time I look him in the face!

"Come on, Bunny, we don’t have all night," Daemus urged, gesturing impatiently with his hand. "Do it quickly before he wakes up."

Blair’s stomach plummeted to her shoes. The terror of that possibility paralyzed her. If Professor Feron woke up right now and caught them trying to undress him for an illicit photoshoot, he wouldn’t even need to order her execution. Her heart would simply give out on its own right then and there.

"This is a terrible idea," Blair whispered, her body trembling as she slowly approached the edge of the bed.

"Time is money, Bunny," Daemus hummed from behind the phone.

Blair squeezed her eyes shut for a brief second. This is for Heather, she chanted in her mind. This is for Heather. I need those favors.

With her hands shaking so badly she could barely grip the fabric, Blair grabbed the waistband of Jack’s trousers. She carefully worked it down his long, muscular legs, pulling the pants completely off and tossing them onto the floor.

That left the professor in nothing but a pair of dark boxer briefs.

Blair accidentally glanced down, and her face instantly exploded in heat. Her cheeks turned a shade of red that rivaled a stop sign. Even completely flaccid and unconscious, his size was staggering.

Click. Click.

The sound of the smartphone camera echoed in the quiet room.

"Okay, good start," Daemus nodded approvingly, looking at his screen like a professional. "Now remove his socks. We need foot pics for a specific clientele. Foot fetish buyers always pay top dollar in favors."

Blair let out a sigh of relief. Feet she could handle. She quickly peeled the black dress socks off Jack’s feet, tossing them aside.

"Perfect," Daemus hummed, snapping a few more pictures. "Alright, now the money shot. Boxers off. The dick pics will sell the best."

Blair froze. She crossed her arms tightly over her chest and backed away from the bed. "No. Absolutely not. I am drawing the line right here."

Daemus lowered the phone.

"Listen to me," Daemus said, his voice dropping into a serious tone. "This is how the Beast World works. You have to learn to play dirty to get what you want, because this world will eat you alive if you try to play fair. There is no one here for you to impress with your morals. Why go out of your way to be a good person to someone who treats you worse than dirt?"

Blair bit her lip.

He was right. Professor Jack Feron despised her. He had insulted her time and time again. He treated her like garbage.

And she desperately needed the favors of the beast nobility to find Heather and get information on the monsters that attacked her.

Taking a deep breath, Blair steeled her nerves. She marched back up to the side of the bed. Her hands hovered over the waistband of his boxers.

"It’s too risky to take them completely off," Blair argued, her voice tight with panic. "If he wakes up while we’re dragging them down his legs, we’re dead."

Blair grabbed the elastic band. She pulled the boxers down just a few inches, exposing his length to the cool air of the dorm room, but leaving the garment tangled safely around his hips.

"Alright," Daemus grinned, raising the phone again.

Click. Click. Click.

"Alright, help me roll him," Daemus ordered, stepping up to the bed.

Together, they carefully rolled the unconscious professor onto his stomach. Daemus snapped a few more angles of Jack’s backside, the camera flash illuminating the dark tattoos that wrapped around his ribs and faded down his lower back.

Every inch of the Crow professor was now permanently burned into Blair’s retinas. She knew she would never, ever be able to scrub the image from her brain. Her face was radiating so much heat she felt like she had a fever.

"Yep, we got some good ones," Daemus nodded in approval, slipping the phone back into his sweatpants.

"Should we... should we dress him again?" Blair asked nervously, looking at Jack’s exposed form.

"There is no need for that," Daemus waved a dismissive hand. "If he asks, just tell him it was necessary to treat his wounds. He’ll buy it."

Blair didn’t care. She wasn’t leaving him like that. She quickly and carefully pulled the boxers back up over Jack’s hips, securing them properly, before pulling the thin duvet over his lower half.

"Okay," Blair breathed out.

Daemus let out a loud yawn, stretching his arms over his head. "Well, I have early hockey training in the morning, so I’m going to head out. You can tell me what happened tomorrow."

He walked over to the doorway, picking up the door he had ripped off its hinges earlier.

"I’ll start gathering clients for the photos too," Daemus promised, easily lifting the door and wedging it back into the ruined frame to provide some semblance of privacy. "Anonymously, of course. And I’ll send maintenance to fix this door."

Blair’s eyes widened. She suddenly felt incredibly small. She wanted to ask him to stay, terrified to be left alone with the sleeping dragon in her bed, but Daemus had already done so much for her tonight.

"Thank you, Daemus," Blair said softly. "Good night."

"Night, Bunny," Daemus smirked, slipping out into the hallway and pulling the broken door shut behind him.

The room fell dead silent.

Blair let out a long exhale, running both hands through her messy hair. She looked at the beastman sleeping in her tiny bed.

"How did my life get to this?" Blair whispered into the quiet room.

Exhausted beyond measure, Blair slowly slid down the wall next to her bed, her knees hitting the floorboards. She pulled her knees to her chest, resting her chin on her arms.

She looked across the room at the messy, empty bed on the other side.

"Heather, where are you?" Blair asked the silence, a hot tear slipping down her cheek. "I hope you’re okay."