Page 42 of Beast: Part Two

The voice laughs as it drifts away.

“Beastie, are you well?” Maksim asks.

I open my eyes. Everyone is looking at me as if I’m losing my mind. I feel as if I am. I don’t reply to him. Instead, I go to the kitchen sink and pull the first aid kit from underneath. The room goes back to chatting again. I take out some pain meds and thengo over to the fridge. After grabbing a bottle of water, I take it over and place it and the pills in front of Summer.

“Thanks, babe,” she says with a smile, and then it quickly is replaced with a frown. “I meant, Gabriel.”

I never thought hearing her use my name would hurt as bad as it does right now. When she called me Beast the other day, I thought I would lose my mind. I wanted her to call me Gabriel. But hearing her use the endearment and then take it back, I no longer wanted her to use Gabriel.

I don’t know how long I stand there in front of her trying to calm the rage inside me.

“The bitch toys with you. Cut off her skin and wear it in front of her.”

Pressing my hands to my head, I try to shove the demon out.

The moment I feel a soft touch on my arm, I open my eyes. She’s touching my elbow. She tugs at the arm. I drop both hands back down to my side. Summer threads the fingers on her good arm through my fingers. Her thumb rubs the back of my hand soothingly.

“Brooklyn, I’ll send you the oil I used for my stretch marks. It worked wonders,” Summer goes on to say as if her simple touch isn’t doing something I haven’t been able to do since she was shot. She’s quieted the demon.

Without removing my hand from her grasp, I glance around the room. Maksim is standing closer to me now. Apparently, Priest had also entered the room. He looks at Fem. She glances over at him. They have a quiet conversation with their eyes without speaking one word.

The entire time, I stand beside Summer’s chair as she holds my hand.

I’ve almost completely zoned out, when suddenly Lucien rushes into the kitchen.

“I did it,” he announces, looking frazzled. “I broke into the hard drive. I know who the records’ keeper is.”

It’s been a full seven days since we broke into Pope’s house and found that lock box. Lucien has been frantically trying to crack into that hard drive. It must have been locked down tighter than a military base.

“Fucking, finally,” Priest grumbles. “Who is it?”

“Cardinal Jefferson ‘Gutter’ Watson.”

Priest chuckles, but it isn’t a funny laugh. “Grab Seth,” he tells Lucien. “Beast, you and Maksim come with me.”

“We should grab Zel too,” Lucien adds. “We can use some eyes up high.”

I agreed. We didn’t need any last-minute surprises like the last time we went out. It took Lucien three days to wipe all the cameras completely. The news talked about the incident but had no viable footage of it. The Church did a supreme job of cleaning up the mess the disciples made.

Even two days ago when I went to grab Summer’s clothes was a messy day. I lured those disciples behind the building and next to the trashcans, then let my Bowie do the work. I tossed the bodies in the dumpster and then called a clean-up crew before I left. I searched the web every day to make sure there was no sign of the event anywhere. So far, nothing has come up.

Before long we are cruising the streets in the black Suburban we got after trading in the minivan. I’m sitting in the second row. My hand still tingles from where Summer rubbed it.

“You alright?” Priest’s voice has me looking up from my hands in my lap.

“Yes,” I answer. “I’m capable of doing my job without you holding my hand, Priest.”

He watches me for a long moment before holding his hands up in surrender. “Fine, I won’t hold your hand.”

He turns to face the front of the SUV. The car goes back to silent.

“But if it was Summer,” Seth says from the back seat.

I turn to glare at him. However, he and the rest of the group laughs. In the past, this would have bothered me.

I don’t like people laughing at me, but I get the joke now. Seeing how all my brothers have softened for their women lets me know that even though they are cracking on me, they understand my actions. I’ve watched them all bend over backwards for their significant others. I’ve even seen the calmness and serenity they get being in their girl’s presence. Especially Seth. They aren’t mocking me to be cruel, but out of love.

So, instead of getting angry, I turn around in my seat and go back to staring at my hand. Her touch is no longer present, but the warmth is still there.

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