They stood in an empty corridor on the way to the garage, which had been newly opened after extensive renovation. One way led to tonight’s mission, the other—back to the apartment Gray shared with Shadow. If it wasn’t a metaphor for his life, he didn’t know what was.
“I know Shadow can’t go, but I’ll just take the car. Stop treating me as if I’m suddenly incapable of working for the club,” Gray barely restrained anger in his voice. “I’m not retiring yet.”
Beast’s eyes narrowed, and he let out a low hum, crossing his arms on his chest. “How about you take it easy? You lost your arm barely a month ago, even if that whole magic arm thing made you heal faster. Everyone understands that those things happen.”
“No. I want to go,” Gray said curtly, burning up as if there were fires under his skin.
“Have you modified the bike yet?” Beast asked after a long pause that felt like a silent battle of wills.
“I told you I’m taking the car,” snapped Gray. He squeezed his hand into a fist and took a deep breath, trying to calm down. Nothing was right tonight, and the dark sky outside was keeping him constantly on edge. He was now waiting for Beast to ask if he looked into modifying his car, but Knight emerged from the side of the corridor that led to the garage. He waved at them, unaware of the tension as thick as refrigerated butter.
“Hey, I wanted to take Shadow to the trees, but he’s a stubborn fucker and said he’ll only go with Gray.”
Gray’s heart sank, bleeding resolve. “Just… tell him I told you to do it for me.”
“Too late. I have plans later,” Knight said, stretching his neck. The sound of his bones crackling made Gray shudder.
“Okay, fine. I’ll take him. But you guys need to wait for me. It won’t take long,” Gray said to Beast who made a low grunt that Gray chose to consider agreement.
Gray ran as soon as he disappeared from their sight, relishing the discomfort of his heart beating fast enough to distract him. Shadow was always so agreeable. Why did he have to throw a fit tonight of all times?
By the time he reached the garage, his head was full of things he should say. But when he entered the tall space filled with vehicles and saw how Shadow’s eyes brightened upon his arrival, his brain turned into tangled threads of spaghetti.
“H-hey. Why didn’t you go with Knight?”
Shadow frowned, shifting his weight. There was something different about him tonight. The fabric of his only button-up was smooth as if it’d been ironed, and the long black hair seemed more carefully combed. Maybe even… straightened? “It’s our thing to do together. I want to go with you.”
And just like that, Gray’s left sleeve filled with the shadow arm that at this point felt just as natural as the one made of flesh.
Gray swallowed hard, meeting Shadow’s gaze. They’d only paid their dues to Baal once so far, but when Gray looked into the smiling face of the man who would inevitably come that bit closer to death tonight, he didn’t have the heart to deny him.
“Okay, fine, let’s take the car,” he said, worried that Shadow might feel weakened after tonight’s sacrifice. “But we have to be quick.”
Knowing Beast, he wouldn’t give Gray more time than strictly necessary. The job of escorting the jewels from the pickup spot back to the clubhouse shouldn’t even be all that much of a challenge. If all went well, it would border on boring and definitely didn’t need to be manned so extensively, but Gray would not be pushed aside. He was a member of the Kings of Hell MC. Even freaking Jake was going, and he’d only gotten patched a few months back.
“How are you feeling?” he asked, deeply uncomfortable with Shadow’s silence.
Stepping on the gas pedal, he sped down the driveway with his high beams on. Strange thoughts invaded his head. Would Baal be forgiving if they crashed and couldn’t reach the trees tonight? Would that have moved the inevitable by another month?
“Nervous.”
Shadow wore his sun-proof jacket despite it being dark, and Gray worried if it would keep him warm enough. It was strange how Gray started noticing things like that. The other day, he’d reprimanded Shadow when he’d forgotten to put on socks. Gray didn’t even know if Shadow had the ability to catch a cold, but he couldn’t stand the idea of him wasting the precious time he had left in this world in bed and feeling like shit for a week.
“It’s gonna be fine. Just a short stay, and we’ll be back in no time. You could watch the Titanic again while I’m away,” Gray said, although deep inside he knew that he would have felt more confident with both arms during the run. Then again, he shouldn’t lean so much on something that wouldn’t be available to him in another month’s time.