King massaged his temples and suddenly looked up. It was as if a bulb had suddenly lit up in his head, shedding a new light on everything. “Did you fuck him?”
Laurent stilled, and his face went hot. He quickly pulled at the collar of his T-shirt but it wouldn’t hide the love bites on his neck. “Excuse me?”
“You did, didn’t you?” whispered King, suddenly dashing at Laurent and pushing him down on the mattress with surprising force. Putrid spirit-infused breath blew into Laurent’s face, choking him. “I knew it. This has never happened since his accident. I was never so... drained. You need to break things up, right now.”
Laurent swallowed. “I… I need to keep him here until his birthday. That is my job to do, and he is so determined that I have to grasp at any means necessary.” What he had to grasp really was King’s trust in him, because he was beginning to understand that there was something he was missing about King’s pact. All Laurent knew was that in exchange for keeping the Kings of Hell here, King could somehow obtain Beast’s life force, and that this effect was amplified when Beast suffered. Would King’s pact end when Beast turned thirty three? “Once I am free of my obligation, I will leave him immediately. If I find another way to distract him, I will do that as well, but he is very set on convincing everyone to move.”
King hissed through his teeth and raised his hand, as if intending to strike Laurent, but in the end he spun around and started pacing with his head in his hands. “Fuck. Fuck, fuck. He is working behind my back, isn’t he? Are the others supporting him?”
“The others are… not entirely against the idea.” Laurent quickly stood up from the mattress, eager to once again be out of reach. He hated what King was doing to Beast with all his heart, but he would not give voice to those thoughts when it was much more advantageous to have the man believe Laurent was on his side. This way, once Laurent fulfilled the terms of his own pact, in just a few months’ time, he could expose the man for what he was, or at least encourage Beast to leave this place behind. “But last night convinced me that if I stay in Beast’s good graces, I will be able to influence him on the issue very easily.”
King swallowed, watching him from under the bushy gray eyebrows. Laurent had heard of men turning gray overnight if sorrow struck, but it was the first time he’d actually seen the truth behind those anecdotes. Well, there was Gray as well, but this again was something others told him of. Seeing the dashing, golden god that King used to be only hours prior turned into a man who looked his age gave Laurent shudders.
“So what, you fuck my son to distract him? Is that what you want to say? Is he thinking of leaving the club before August 29th?”
If King needed Beast here for his birthday, he wouldn’t actually hurt him until then… would he? But then again, Laurent couldn’t encourage Beast to leave yet. He needed to think about himself and the life he was offered in exchange of fulfilling a contract that only lasted for a few months. He refused to go back to a life of servitude and poverty, and even worse, to a blood-soaked bedroom with Fane’s cooling body. In 2017, he would work hard until he saved up for his eye surgery, and he would earn his own money.
Since he was twelve years old, he’d always had to depend on himself only. He was lucky that Mr. Barnave wasn’t a cruel master, because some servants he’d known had been far less fortunate, but the man still worked him all day, every day. No matter how sweet Beast’s kisses were, Laurent had to rely on himself when considering his future. Beast would be the addition to make his heart flutter and his body writhe in pleasure, but everything needed to be done on Laurent’s terms, and he would not compromise on that matter.
“Yes, he is. But if you leave it in my hands, I will make sure nothing changes for the next four months.” It was even less than that now, and once August was over, Laurent would be free to pursue an independent life in 2017, with Beast at his side on whatever terms they decided on. “He likes me a lot.”
King spat on the floor, and Laurent tried not to squirm at the sight. King didn’t look much like a king anymore in sweaty clothes and so sleep-deprived. He stumbled at the wall and dropped to his haunches. “Of course he does. He got laid for the first time in ten fucking years. Maybe this energy high of his will pass once he gets used to fucking again. No, that’s right. It should be fine. We need to keep him here at all cost.”