The way home was long and miserable. Beast was so caught up in his own thoughts that he couldn’t summon words of comfort. His head spun with the newfound knowledge that his father wasn’t a member of some kind of cult. He’d made an actual, literal, pact with the devil. This was insane, and yet the body that had been hidden away for the last two hundred years was proof enough. This was real. The demons were real, and so it meant that magic was real too.
If Beast met the devil, he could ask him to grant his wish too. He could have his old self back. He could live like a normal person again. He might have been seeking out all information about strange events around the house for years, but it only now occurred to him that he’d never truly believed any of them to be true accounts. They were just threads that he clutched at for an illusion of hope that had been apparently within his grasp.
When they reached Beast’s apartment, they were both dripping mud and water all over, but Beast itched to see the sigil on the back of Laurent’s body again, to call Knight as fast as possible and analyze in a new light all the evidence he’d gathered in his office. Right now, even Laurent’s earlier fucked-up trust test didn’t matter as much.
Laurent was lost, and afraid of a world that was so new to him. It was a miracle Laurent fared as well as he did. All of a sudden he didn’t seem funny and naive, but really brave and a quick learner with the way he grasped concepts that had to be as foreign to him as magic was for Beast.
Hound’s dirty paws left mud stains all over the living room, but Beast couldn’t find it in him to care. As soon as they entered, he pushed the soaked clothes off Laurent and quickly shed his own. Despite the heat that he now felt in the air contrasting with his freezing wet skin, he and Laurent were still shivering and needed to deal with the cold as fast as possible.
Laurent’s teeth clattered when they walked into the shower stall together. Hot water was surely as much a relief for him as it was for Beast. They stood close, and Beast couldn’t stop thinking of what the boy had been through. Laurent wasn’t even twenty yet, and Fane had been in his thirties when Laurent Mercier had killed him. It was hard to see the boy in front of him as the mysterious man from history, and yet there he was, in the flesh, with the pretty long hair, handsome face, and slender fingers Beast couldn’t imagine committing an act of violence. Was it violence though if it was self-defense?
If Laurent’s words were true, for him, the attack had only occurred over two months ago.
“You should have told me. We should be honest with each other if we’re to be together. Not about the time travel. I’m talking of the abuse. I’d have handled things differently if I’d known,” Beast said in the end as he washed the shampoo out of Laurent’s hair. He was glad to see color coming back even to Laurent’s fingers, but he still touched them, just to make sure they were indeed warm.
Laurent nodded with a deep sigh when Beast ran his fingers over the devil’s brand on his nape. “Fane told me he kept that man, Marcel, in his basement for months. I knew I had to do something. I have never been more terrified in my life. How could such evil exist?”
Beast swallowed hard and slowly leaned in, kissing Laurent’s lips, eager to show him it would be okay from now on. “He’s not here anymore. It’s just you and me, and I will protect you. I promise.”
Laurent’s lips showed a hint of a smile, and it sent such relief through Beast’s body that he finally felt ready to deal with Knight, the research, and looking for answers.
Laurent wasn’t insane and still wanted to be with Beast. This was all that mattered.
Beast kissed Laurent again and switched off the shower, energized and feeling better with each passing second. “Good. You should sleep it off. I need to get Knight, and we’ll see what to do about Marcel.”
Chapter 20 - Laurent
Beast’s scent clinging to the puffy comforter and pillows was the only consolation Laurent had left. Tucked away in the soft cocoon in the middle of the bed, Laurent listened to the steady tap of rain against the window. He flinched when the wind howled, tossing droplets of water against the building, but he was just being overly sensitive after the horror of this night.
He was warm. He was safe. Yet so utterly lonely.
Why was it Knight that Beast was so eager to discuss his findings with? Why was Laurent not allowed into the secret room when not so long ago Beast had claimed they should be honest with each other?