He shook from the emotional overload, but Gray held him, gently petting Shadow’s back as waves of red pulsated through his veins. His whole body throbbed as if it wasn’t able to hold such energy, but nothing hurt, and pure bliss made Shadow smile.
He could finally pinpoint what having the ruby felt like.
Its might was like his love for Gray. Pure, endless, constantly alive, and overwhelming all at once.
“Are you okay? You had a seizure,” Gray whispered despite the constant banging and shouting in the background. He leaned over Shadow, and when his hair tickled Shadow’s cheek, he realized he must have fallen over.
Shadow looked up at him, still slightly out of it, but the ruby was a part of him now, secure inside his heart. “I’m… p-perfect.”
The door slammed open with a massive crack and Beast followed, falling into the room with the impact he’d created. He glared around with the expression of a Viking on the prowl for loot.
“Where is it?” he rasped.
Gray chewed on his lip. He gave Shadow’s arm a gentle squeeze and left the bed, facing Beast while the walls and ceiling still trembled around Shadow. Physical strength rushed in Shadow’s limbs, and the sudden change still had him confused. There were more people pouring in now—Knight, Vars and Jake, Joker...
“It’s no longer here,” Gray said.
“You motherfucker! Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” Beast charged at Gray, and when Gray dodged his fist, Beast grabbed Gray’s arm and managed to hold him in place just long enough to land a punch.
The assault on Gray was the wakeup call Shadow needed, and he scrambled to his feet with fury pulsing in his veins. The moment he made his move, all the men became alert, grabbing their weapons, as if they were about to battle it out with a dragon, when it was Shadow who needed to protect someone he loved from pain, not the other way around.
The scent of blood—Gray’s blood—was rich in adrenaline, but that didn’t mean the punch hurt him any less. Shadow wouldn’t allow this. He would take Gray with him and carry him off, far away from here if necessary.
But before he could batter Beast with all four of his hands, Gray locked their eyes. “Shadow, no!” he said with red-stained lips.
Shadow had to stop mid-step, and it made him stumble forward with his mouth open and his brain empty. “But—”
“No!”
Beast snarled. “That’s right. Call your dog off or we’re gonna put him down. I’m so sick of this shit!”
Gay let out a low growl and pushed back at Beast. “You just don’t fucking care what happens to him. Fuck you!”
Beast blinked, as if he hadn’t expected the force behind the shove, but his face flushed as if the blood inside him has come to a boil, and he once again smashed his giant fists against Gray, backing him into the wall.
“You had no right! It was not your decision to make,” he shouted, delivering blow after blow until Shadow wanted to close his eyes to avoid witnessing the brutality of it.
Shadow crouched and covered his head, whimpering as he suffered the unbearable pain of seeing Gray hurt. “Please, stop! It’s my fault!”
Rev pushed his way into the room, breathing as rapidly as if he was about to spit out his lungs. “See? I told you this demon tricked Gray. He just admitted it!”
Joker shook his head, his lips twisted in a mean grimace. “Gray knew exactly what he was doing and had no regard for the choices we’ve made. If this is what he wanted, he should have brought this up for a vote!”
“That’s right. He’s a member. He should know better,” Vars said sternly, but he still turned his face away, with one eyelid twitching.
The dull sound of knuckles hitting flesh filled Shadow’s ears, and even though Gray barely voiced his pain, guilt and misery clawed at Shadow from the inside. And he could do nothing, not if Gray asked him to stay away.
He would have even given the ruby back if he could, but that was no longer possible. The Pigeon Heart was a part of him now the same way his limbs and organs were. “Beast, please…” he whined, kneeling on the floor. “I shouldn’t have taken it, I know that!”
“Our whole future is at stake because of this!” Joker spread his arms and bared his teeth.
When Beast finally backed off, muttering something, Jake stepped closer, his face ghostly pale.
“Why’d you do it, Gray? There’s still so long to go, you know we would have put our lives on the line to help you.”
Gray caught a deep breath and leaned back against the wall, staring at everyone from behind the curtain of wet hair that was now a complete mess. His muscles were tight, as if he were preparing for another attack, but when no one came at him for several seconds, he wiped blood off his chin with his forearm.