The restrooms were in the back, and while Laurent hoped nobody would notice their departure, the whistle coming from the billiard table triggered a flush burn his cheeks. To add insult to injury, Beast pushed his hand down the pocket on Laurent’s buttock and squeezed his flesh. And the worst thing was that, while Laurent was embarrassed by the display, he also loved how illicit it felt. In his own time, being seen like this with another man would have been a death sentence. Today? Perhaps a misdemeanor.
“Do you, really? Maybe I should make you work for it?” Beast asked, opening a white door, which hid a single toilet and sink.
Laurent laughed, entering first. “What would you make me do? Scrub this filthy floor? Because anything you’re insinuating will hardly be a chore.” He slipped his fingers into the waistline of Beast’s jeans and pulled him in.
Beast snorted and turned the key as they entered, locking them in the tiny cubicle. It smelled excessively of a cotton-scented diffuser, and the spider webs on the ceiling were so numerous it might have made some people squeamish, but Laurent had seen conditions far worse than this in his lifetime.
“Show it to me.”
Beast grinned and spun Laurent around, pressing him against the door. “What do you want to see?” he asked but directed Laurent’s hand under his cut, to a secret pocket in the leather.
Laurent reached in with his fingers trembling. “I will gladly see the other ruby later,” he whispered despite there being no need to. He sensed the shape under his fingers and pulled the gem out of Beast’s pocket. “Was the fight for it brutal? I’ve seen Jake recuperating with an outrageous amount of food.”
Beast smirked, playing with a strand of Laurent’s hair as if the break-in were nothing. “He always needs his carbs after he transforms into the gargoyle.”
But Laurent barely listened anymore. The glow of the ruby has been etched on the back of his eyelids the moment he removed it from a clean paper handkerchief. Even when he shut his eyes, the shape of the Pigeon Heart, its color—this vivid red with just a drop of purple—created a hue that defied straightforward description and filled his heart with relief.
Beast had done it. He’d obtained the precious jewel that could stop Baal from destroying their beautiful world. The cycle which had been set in motion hundreds of years ago, long before Laurent was born, could now be halted so that Baal never hurt anyone or lead them to temptation again.
“It’s magnificent.”
Beast smirked. “Almost as pretty as mine,” he said, showing Laurent his engagement signet.
Laurent stood on his toes and pulled on Beast’s T-shirt to get a kiss. “Almost.” He looked down at the ruby, mesmerized not only by its color but by its value as well. “What if Magpie takes it for himself?”
Beast blinked, clearly not expecting this question. “Why would he do that?”
Laurent grasped Beast’s hand and met his gaze. “I believe we should rethink handing over the Pigeon Heart. What if we are being too hasty? I implore you to take into account that Magpie himself had said he didn’t know the details of the upcoming ritual. He doesn’t know what the next stages are, only that they all lead to Baal pouring his world into ours.”
Beast’s hand squeezed Laurent’s, but he shook his head. “That’s what you worry about? Maybe he doesn’t know for sure how it’ll all work, but he is a creature from that world. He knows the mechanics of that ruby magic. How could any of us compete with that?”
“Would it hurt to wait and see if there are other ways of approaching the issue?” Frustration became denser in Laurent’s veins when Beast took the ruby from him and put it back into his secret pocket, as if he wanted to wordlessly uphold his original opinion. “You said yourself he is a selfish creature. There’s no guarantee he’s not working with Baal to trick us.”
Beast’s throat worked as he weighed Laurent’s words. “He is capable of good deeds when it’s not a bother to him. He’s saved Vars, because he likes him. And he likes all the stuff he can have in this world. If Baal takes over, his expensive possessions and glamorous lifestyle will be history. He would be back to being a cog, one in a swarm of similar creatures, and he won’t let that happen if he can help it. Besides, he is our best bet. Who would you ask for advice? I don’t think there are any specialists in interdimensional relations with demons.”
Laurent groaned. “There are many answers we can still seek. I could go to the library—”
Beast put his big warm hand over Laurent’s mouth and kissed his forehead, drowning Laurent in the musky scent of his body. “You could continue doing that forever. There’s plenty of books out there, and many of them don’t offer anything but lies disguised as truth. At some point, we need to make a decision and follow what we know at the moment. The trees have already blossomed, Laurent. Waiting is too risky.”