Nothing hurt and each sensation was pleasure.
Never in his life had he felt so good. He was on the verge of believing he could fly, and despite all the misery still in his heart, he choked out a laugh he couldn’t contain.
The devilish monster watched him from the few steps above and it didn’t seem like it was about to avenge King’s death. Instead, it cocked its head slightly, pupil-less eyes pinning Beast.
It let out a low hum.
Beast looked up, slowly turning his body to face the creature. Even with the pleasure overcoming all his senses, he couldn’t shake off the memory that this was the being that had taken Laurent away from him.
“You didn’t protect him.”
“I never promised that to him. I only promised that you would be here at the age of thirty three, and that I would allow for the exchange of energy,” it spoke in a voice that had Beast’s hairs bristling. As if it didn’t care it was telling Beast it had been ready to kill him just seconds ago.
Beast took a deep breath, trying to clear his head out of hatred, grief, and pleasure all at once. Hound's body bumped into the side of his knee and stayed there, as if grounding Beast for a feat that might be beyond his capabilities. “He’s not going to keep up his end of the bargain now.”
“He is not.” The black lips spread into an unnaturally wide smile so quickly bits of them fell off, revealing skin like lava and smoke coming out from behind charcoal teeth. “But I have you. And you have been pestering me long enough. Feel the energy inside your body now? I can ignite it further and restore you to your former glory, just as you wish. What I need from you is a promise that you will do for me what your father did. Keep the sinners satisfying their lust in this house. Keep conflict coming here, keep ego alive and intoxicating. Keep this place busy. Keep it alive and soaked in carnal pleasure for me.”
Beast took a deep breath, his mind flooded with images from his past, with images of the future he’d dreamed of as a young man who had a face that made everyone tingle with lust. If he got the chance to once again become the man he once was, his life would be completely different. No one would send him away when he chose to patronise a business, girls would take secret pictures of him at the beach, he would make people uneasy with his attractive looks, and everyone capable of wanting a man would want a piece of him.
Laurent would never leave him.
His mind stalled, and with a hot flush spreading through his chest, he looked down at the pin attached to his leather cut.
His heart clenched in pain, and he took a few deep breaths to calm down. “No. That’s not what I want. I want Laurent. Give him back to me,” he said firmly, looking at the demon with new determination.
The monster’s smile faltered, and it hissed, spitting red hot sparks at Beast. “He broke our agreement!”
“Take it or leave it. I don’t give a flying fuck about your agreement with him. You either let me live with him, or this place will be abandoned for as long as it stays in the hands of my family. And I would have kids just to keep this place empty.”
The demon huffed, and clouds of smoke erupted from more than one place under the skin of its face. “Are you trying to threaten me, mortal?”
The ground seemed to get hotter under Beast’s feet, and Hound gave a warning bark.
Beast licked his lips. “Yes. And no tricks either. No other pacts aimed at harming me or Laurent.” He must have been getting somewhere, because the thing seemed visibly agitated.
“But you will only get him and nothing more!” It roared, and Beast was wary of not taking a step back into the abyss like his father had.
“Only this,” said Beast steadily, watching the creature without fear. He felt immortal. “Me and Laurent living out our lives together in good health, and in exchange I will make this place even more sinful than it was in my father’s time.”
The demon stepped back and hit the wall with it long claws. The plaster seemed to ripple, and the old, chipped surface turned into a mirror as wide and tall as the staircase.
“Go get him then.”
Chapter 28 - Laurent
From behind the wooden bars of the cage mounted on the back of a horse-drawn wagon, life with Beast seemed like an elaborate dream. Curled up in the small space behind the sacks filled with dried corn, he watched the sun set above the dense forest. One of his captors drove the wagon while another rode next to them on a thin white horse.