The stunned silence only lasted a few gasps before Knight roared with laughter, quickly followed by others.
Rev wasn’t amused though, and shot to his feet, aiming his lit cigarette at the creature. “The fuck did you say to my son, you fucking freak?”
Gray stood, his brain completely blank. “Shut. Up.”
Shadow sucked in air, staring back at him as if the command were a bullet shot into his heart. He got so distracted he missed Rev storming at him, and the hard punch thrust him at Beast and then rolling under the table.
“I just said how I feel!” Shadow screeched, as if being allowed to speak once meant the floodgates would be opened forever. He grabbed Rev’s foot when Rev tried to kick him, and pulled, sending Gray’s father to the floor with a dull thud.
Beast twisted Shadow’s arm back and wrestled him down, but once they were both on the floor, the two shadowy hands grabbed at Beast’s head and shoulder, extending from Shadow’s flanks like tentacles. Hearing about them and actually seeing them make an appearance were two different things, and the entire room was stunned into silence, with Gray’s body melting into his chair at the memory of their strong grip last night. Knight was the one to break the impasse by jumping across the table.
He slid over the middle as if it were covered in a gallon of lube, and fell to the floor, eliciting a shriek from Shadow. Voices created an echo in Gray’s head but he made himself rise and walk all the way to the three struggling men. He pulled out his gun. The clicking of the safety made Shadow still, as if to him it were the loudest noise in the room.
Beast huffed and sat up on Shadow’s back, his lips uncovering teeth in a snarl. “You sure you want him staying with you?”
‘I need to fill every hole in your body’ still rang in Gray’s head. Unbelievable creature. Sickening. Frightening.
“I’ll gladly take care of him for you.” Rev scrambled to his feet and threw the cigarette at Shadow, making the monster yelp when the burning end hit his neck.
“I just said the truth!” Shadow cried.
“I told you what’s going to happen if you misbehave. Get up. Now,” Gray told him and stepped back so that Shadow’s pathetic form had space to rise. He briefly glanced at everyone else, making sure they noticed he wasn’t intimidated. “I can handle this.”
“Only you can’t,” Joker said, but no one else uttered a word.
“Really? How about I prove you wrong outside?” Gray asked in a steady voice, even though the sense of imminent doom was already coursing through his veins. It was a bluff. Joker had always been a measly fighter in comparison to Gray, but maybe now he could win? Who the hell knew?
Joker’s gaze was somewhat faint when he looked up, but he shook his head. “Fine. You’re right,” he said without much conviction. Gray would never know whether Joker didn’t want to lose to a cripple or if he felt too sorry for Gray to beat him down even further.
Shadow approached Gray and spread all his arms, the black ones slowly crawling back into his sides. “I did as I was told!” he whined, staring at Gray as if he hoped for pity.
Gray nodded toward the door. “Shut up.”
Shadow turned to Knight, like a child wanting the other parent to agree with him. “It’s not my fault I feel this way!”
Knight raised his hands. “Sorry, you’re on your own with this one.”
Gray wanted to punch Shadow, but he was already holding the gun in the one hand he had, so he nudged the back of Shadow’s knee with his foot instead. “I said shut up.”
Shadow glared at him, but moved toward the door.
“You sure you don’t need assistance?” Jake asked, and this time it was him Gray wished he could slap.
Gray had been the one to train Jake for his role as a patch. He didn’t need help from a former charge.
“I’m just fine on my own,” he said and pushed Shadow outside, kicking the door shut after him. He did not want to hear any of the gossip that was surely starting behind his back.
“You said I could speak,” Shadow insisted, as if he hadn’t been told three times already to shut his face.
Gray shoved him forward, his heart rushing so fast it was making his brain cook in its own juices. “How dare you? Keep thoughts like that to yourself if you must have them! Don’t ever mention your dick or anyone’s holes. This is fucking disgusting!”
Shadow growled and took a step too close, a sign of disobedience Gray needed to nip in the bud. He raised his hand and shot, sending a bullet on a trajectory close enough to Shadow’s shoulder to make his point.