Gray's Shadow (Kings of Hell MC 4)

It was so alien and yet so wonderfully familiar he wanted to cry.

No one said a word until Rev shot up so fast his chair dropped to the floor. He rushed to Gray’s side and touched the black skin that reminded Gray of matte varnish. “Is this safe? What if this fucking parasite infects you?”

Gray scowled, not at all happy with this development, but the rational side of him was fighting a losing battle with the sheer joy of once again having two fists to work with. He raised his hand, and then opened and closed it for everyone to see. “And there’s this. He only showed this to me on the way home, but it feels… I don’t know why, but it feels just like mine. Like I never lost it in the first place.”

Elliot, who sat behind Knight, rose to see Gray better, his face slack with awe. “Oh, my God! You didn’t say you could do this!” he said, glancing at Shadow.

So Knight wasn’t the only one visiting the cell in secret? Considering those two came as a set, Gray should have assumed that much.

“It’s fine, Dad,” Gray said.

Vars sighed. “To be fair, he doesn’t seem malicious. We should just talk to Magpie and see what he says. He should know about this.”

Beast growled, squeezing Laurent’s hand in his huge paw. “Let’s open the box and get it over with, because Rev clearly wants a cig, and he can’t be smoking around the precious ruby.”

Gray looked at Shadow and pointed at the box. He didn’t even need to speak. Shadow leaned over the table, grabbed the box with his other shadow arm, and ripped the lid off with a screech of metal. Gray’s feet melted into the floor, and only willpower stopped him from dropping the pretense that he’d known all along about Shadow’s strength.

It was clear now that he’d only remained restrained by the flimsy bolt lock underground because Gray had told him so. The sheer strength that allowed Shadow to rip metal as if it were paper might have as well been turned against Gray. There was nothing that would have stopped Shadow from taking whatever he wanted, from escaping his prison and forcing himself on Gray at night, yet he remained meek, even if unruly in his demands at times. Even back when he’d assaulted Gray, he could have crushed his bones or retaliated once Gray cut him, but he hadn’t.

He’d chosen not to.

With eyes trained on the ripped steel, Gray took a deep breath and muttered a thank you, as if nothing about this fazed him, and reached inside the broken safe. There was a small box inside, wrapped in an isolating layer of bubble wrap. “There it is. The ruby,” he said and walked over to Beast, offering him the small container. Despite the feigned nonchalance, his entire body was agitated with the stress of such a profound moment.

Beast handled it with care that seemed impossible for hands as big as his. To absolute silence, he removed the plastic wrapping and handed it to Laurent.

But once Beast opened the box, all pride seeped out of Gray’s body.

There was a stone inside, but it sure as fuck wasn’t precious. Gray and round, it might have been picked up at the nearby beach.

The stunned silence was pierced by the noise of popping plastic, and Laurent blushed furiously, tossing the bubble wrap to the floor.

Beast ignored him and settled his blue gaze on Gray. “What is this?”

Gray swallowed, crushed by the weight of so many eyes flaying him alive. This couldn’t be happening. So much effort… for what? To be cheated by a controlled leak of information?

“I did exactly as Magpie said,” he uttered in a voice way more hushed than he’d have liked.

Beast leaned back and pointedly tossed the stone to the floor, making Gray wince. “Are you sure there wasn’t another safe on that train?”

Gray squeezed his hands into fists, barely keeping himself from shaking with anger. “Should I have checked all the cars in that train then? Is that what you’re saying? There’s only so much one can do! It was Magpie’s job to tell us where the ruby was!”

Rev shook his head and lit the cigarette he'd been holding. "No, you’re right. You did all you could."

Vars grunted, and everyone stared at him, since he’d been working with Magpie for so long before joining the club. “He’s not human, but he can make mistakes. What he did was pass on the intel he had. He can’t exactly know if it’s 100% true or be aware of last-minute changes.”

Joker didn’t laugh for once. “They probably set up the fake as bait, while transporting the ruby elsewhere. It probably wasn’t even on that train.”

Beast punched the table so hard it rattled. “Where does that leave us? Back at square one with all our lives at stake in a matter of months. We’re not getting any closer to securing the ruby, while Baal methodically fulfills the stages of his plan. And this creature is helping him do it,” he said through clenched teeth and pointed to Shadow, “But he’s also using Knight, and even me, because I can’t stop filling that fucker’s jaws with energy through organizing parties if I don’t want to break the pact I made to save Laurent. It’s fucking exhausting.