Page 26 of Beast: Part Two

“I asked you a question.”

She still does not look up at me.

“Mommy, Hulk is talking to you,” Gabe says standing beside his mother.

She turns to him with a beautiful smile. “I hear him, baby. But Hulk has no right to worry about me or what I’m wearing.” She looks up at me and glares. “I am no longer his concern.”

“Look how she treats you. She’s flaunting another man’s clothes in your face. She doesn’t respect you. Cut her throat out,”the demon whispers.“Cut all their throats out. They’re laughing at you.”

“Gabriel, what are you doing?” Summer’s voice brings me out of my haze.

Somehow, I’m no longer standing at the doorway like I was. I’m right beside her now, crowding her space. When did I move? Glancing around the room, all the women seem to be watching me cautiously. When I look to Albany, her eyes are narrowed at me as if she’s expecting me to do something.

I take a step back, placing space between myself and Summer. I need to get out of the kitchen.

The demon in my head laughs. I escape around the corner, placing my back against the wall. I shut my eyes and fight to quiet the voice.

“Okay, I don’t care what any of you say, that man scares the s.h.i.t out of me,” Hawk’s wife says.

“He’s not bad,” Summer quickly comes to my defense. “He’s actually a good guy. He just isn’t himself right now.”

“Yeah,” Albany adds. “He’s not himself.”

Pushing away from the wall, I head for the front door, needing to get far away from this house and Summer.

“Beast?” Priest stops me before I can leave.

I turn to face him. He eyes me wearily.

“You okay?” he asks.

I nod.

“Well, come on. Phoenix is back, we need to talk.”

I follow Priest into his downstairs office. Already inside are Lucien, Hawk, and Zel, sitting on the leather sofa in the corner of the room. Many is sitting on the windowsill with his back against the glass. An older black man I’ve never met is sitting on the edge of Priest’s desk. Maksim is sitting in one of two chairs in front of Priest’s desk. Priest takes his seat in his office chair. I close the door behind me and lean my back against the wall beside it.

“Okay,” Priest starts. “We’re all here. What did you find out?” he directs his question to the older man.

“Looks like this has been in the making for a while. That order was in the works nine months ago.”

“What would’ve triggered them to put out an excommunication order on us nine months ago?” Zel asks leaning up from his seat.

“Hawk,” Lucien answers. “Nine months ago, Hawk went rogue. Pope was on our ass to bring him in.”

“It would explain that feeling I kept getting around Luca. I always felt as if he had something up his sleeve those last few times we met. It would also explain why he threatened to retire me. Luca did this,” Priest says.

Maksim shakes his head. “Your Pope might have sent out the decree, but I’m telling you he didn’t have the power to make that call alone.”

“So, we’re back to Corbyn putting this in action?” I ask.

Maksim leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Possibly, but no one person owns the Church. As much power as Corbyn has, not even he could make that call alone. He would need approval from the family heads.”

“You’re telling me the entire Royal Crown has it out for us?” Lucien asks.

“I doubt it,” the older guy I’m assuming is Phoenix says. “I run in the same circles as these people. Most of them have their heads so far up their own asses they couldn’t care less what’s going on around them.”

“He’s right,” Maksim adds. “To get a bill like an excommunication passed, you need two things. First, you need a handful of the family heads to sign the bill. Once you have your signatures, the bill goes before the committee, which consist of the family heads, to agree on it.

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