Laurent nodded with a loud sniff, squeezing Beast’s hands in return. “It’s long gone. Do you understand? I killed William Fane. My name is Laurent Mercier.”
Chapter 19 - Beast
Beast stared at Laurent in silence, his brain desperately trying to process what he’d just heard. The slender hands were so warm, so alive in his, and yet cold apprehension stabbed at Beast’s back like thousands of needles. He took a deep breath, trying to calm down, but it seemed impossible. How was he to deal with this? Could this possibly be a joke? A way for Laurent to diffuse the animosity he created by playing with Beast’s feelings?
But no, Laurent’s eyes were damp with unshed tears, and his knees trembled as if he’d been assaulted not months but minutes ago. Whatever hid in Laurent’s head, it was real for him, and that scared Beast into silence. Has he missed the signs of a problem much deeper than Laurent’s naiveté about the world? Was this actually a mental issue, which he’d ignored because Laurent was so lovely Beast couldn’t resist him?
Had he slept with someone who was somehow mentally unstable and couldn’t truly make their own choices? It chilled him to the bone to even think of that. He wasn’t that kind of man. Maybe not an innocent, but he would never knowingly use anyone’s disadvantage like this. Then again, hadn’t there been so many red flags that he’d chosen to dismiss, without pursuing answers?
“William Fane?” asked Beast, and he couldn’t even recognize his own voice when it sounded so weak, so faint.
And yet the way Laurent looked at him, with so much hope for understanding, made Beast’s heart sink. “Yes. The one Knight spoke of. I thought he was charming, and attractive, but then he invited me to his home and—I had no choice. I didn’t want to die as his prisoner.”
Beast swallowed hard, torn between calling Laurent out on the lie and actually getting some information out of him. His stomach felt queasier with each word falling out of that lovely mouth. Maybe they’d all been in the wrong about not asking questions? It seemed completely probable now that there was a family somewhere, looking for their lost relative, and instead of coming forward about an amnesiac young man turning up with blood all over him, they’d just swept everything under the rug. True, that was what Kings of Hell usually did when trouble arose, but hadn’t Laurent’s arrival been an occurrence worth looking into?
“And how did you meet him? Where is your family?”
“I… They’re in France. But not anymore, of course. They’re long gone. I needed to tell someone. To tell you. If we are to trust each other, you need to know this.” Laurent barely even blinked, and his whole face was a tense mask.
The body was likely still hidden somewhere, because Beast would have heard of a man murdered in the area, had he been found. Whatever happened, it had left its mark on Laurent, making him believe in things that belonged in fiction.
Very gently, Beast squeezed Laurent’s hands and looked into his eyes. “I understand this must be hard for you. Do any other odd things happen? Do you hear voices or see things that shouldn’t be there?” he asked, sick to his stomach that maybe Laurent has been out of his mind all along, and he had overlooked it. What did that say about him?
Laurent took his time answering the question, which made Beast instantly wonder whether he was searching his mind for an answer, or trying to hide something. “Have you never noticed there’s something wrong with the mirrors in this building?”
Beast swallowed hard. The mirrors always appeared dusky in the clubhouse, but everyone knew this. Still, he nodded, wanting to know what was hiding inside Laurent’s skull.
“The devil came through one to me after I killed Fane,” Laurent said slowly.
Beast choked up. “The devil came to you. Through a mirror.”
“You don’t believe me,” Laurent said quietly and his shoulders sagged.
At least Laurent recognized that much. Then again, Laurent was suspiciously good with people for someone with mental problems, so maybe it wasn’t that he had amnesia or didn’t understand what happened. Maybe he was simply a compulsive liar. Maybe he’s been manipulating Beast the same way he manipulated his feelings tonight to test him. “Would you?”
“Do we not trust each other?” The sweetly worded question couldn’t be more insidious after what Laurent had put Beast through in the last half an hour.
“You clearly don’t trust me. Why would I trust you?” hissed Beast but didn’t let go of Laurent’s hands.
“I’m just trying to navigate this whole new world. Do you not understand how hard it is for me? I went to see Fane with a heart as light as clouds, and when we kissed it was as if the sun came out, but when everything started happening too fast and I wanted to back out, he wouldn’t let me. He tried to collar me. He shackled my wrist.” Laurent pulled his hand up, as if to remind Beast of the scar on it. “I couldn’t see well, I was so frightened, and when I thought I was only dealing with an angry, slighted man, I came upon a rotting arm that he kept in a trunk. I’ve never been more terrified in my life.”