But in the chaos of congratulations, Vars couldn’t possibly focus on Jake alone. Even Laurent slipped his elegant hand into Vars’s and shook it with a serious expression. “I wish you all the best as a member.”
Vars grinned, and only then it hit him that all this meant he’d been finally accepted as a part of this family. He’d barely had any contact with Laurent so far, so the handshake felt special. “Thank you. It’s an honor to work with your husband. I really mean it.”
Beast surprised Vars with a pat on the back. “I think it’s about time to have a chat about what you guys found out before we all get too drunk for it later. Nao, make sure nothing explodes at that party until we join you.”
She grinned and saluted Beast before gathering the few hangarounds present and rushing for the door in a somewhat wonky gait. The drinks must have been enjoyed long before their arrival.
With only the patches, Elliot, and Laurent remaining, Beast led the way upstairs, to the room that was only accessible to members. Last time Vars had only been allowed to participate in a fraction of the meeting, to share some of his secrets. Tonight, both he and Jake stepped through the threshold as equals of the other Kings of Hell, and no matter how much he might have told himself earlier that it didn’t matter much, pride still heated up his chest at the sight of the two extra chairs around the table.
“Just don’t get too excited, Jakey-boy,” Joker laughed and managed to surprise Jake with a pinch to his cheek. “The hangarounds will be gagging for your dick now, but you need to sit through this meeting first.”
Vars put his arm around Jake’s shoulders without thinking. Now that they were both on even foot with the other bikers, there was no need to deal with those kinds of comments.
“The hangarounds can keep their dick-sucking lips on you. Jake belongs to me now. Isn’t that right?” Vars tapped the bottom of Jake’s chin, uncaring about the silence his words created around them. All that mattered was that Jake’s blue eyes were on him, and the boy gave a slow nod, suddenly looking innocent like a virgin.
“Y-yeah, that’s kinda a thing now,” Jake said, and when he bit his delicious lips Vars couldn’t stop himself any longer. He leaned over to Jake and kissed him to the accompaniment of Joker’s whistle.
Time might as well have stopped, but the real prize awaited Vars when he withdrew—two hazy pots of blue that watched him as if they had never seen anything more magnificent than him.
There was no longer any shyness or hesitation.
“Point taken,” Beast said, making Vars sit back and look at him, even though he left his arm resting across Jake’s shoulders. “Now, we have several dozen people waiting for us. Tell us what you found out.”
As the three of them related Magpie’s story, the atmosphere became grim, even though the truth about Jake’s newfound immortality raised a few eyebrows. The final part, about what the Pigeon Heart ruby was needed for, had blood draining from a few faces. All members knew by this point that the demonic magic was no joke, so there was no room for disbelief or underestimating the problem.
Gray tapped his fingers on the table and looked up with his face set. “I can go on my own. I don’t need that psycho, Damon. If anything, he’d actually be a nuisance.”
“That’s not an option. You need backup, plain and simple,” Rev said quickly and lit himself a cigarette.
Gray frowned at him. “It’s fine. I can do it.”
“Maybe you can, but you won’t. I’m not losing another son because of your bullshit pride. Help me out here, Beast, will you?” Rev hissed, his face an earthy yellow shade, with spots of red as he swept his gaze over everyone gathered.
Called out, Beast cleared his throat, still thinking. Vars suspected he didn’t want to wedge himself between father and son, or express doubt over Gray’s proficiency at the jobs he did for the club, but in the end, he spoke.
“I think Rev’s right. The danger’s too great. There’s no point in taking more risks than strictly necessary.”
Fox cocked his head from side to side in the same way he would when he couldn’t explain something in the accounting documents Vars had taken over from him. “Jake can turn into a gargoyle now, right? Maybe he could be Gray’s backup.”
“No,” Vars said before his brain even managed to catch up with his lips, but Jake seemed to consider the proposition.
“I mean…” Jake slid a bit lower in his hard-earned chair by the table. “Isn’t this like an end of the world situation? I’m not saying ‘yes’, but maybe it needs to be considered.”