“It sounds like you’re well now,” Laurent said coldly.
“It took days of healing.”
Beast cleared his throat and cut into the conversation. “There are more important things to talk about. I’m afraid things have changed in the past few days.”
Chapter 10 - Beast
“If worst comes to worse, Shadow will have to bite the bullet and sacrifice himself,” Rev said, leaning back in the chair upholstered with cracked leather. His gaze remained on Beast, even though it was clear to everyone gathered that his words were just another way to spite his son.
The rift between the two was growing every day, and Gray refused to sit at his father’s side like he would often have done in the past. He took a deep breath, and the arms that he held crossed on his chest went visibly tense. He was breathing faster now, and the fact that Beast could see it from across the table was testament to Gray’s icy facade cracking. It often did when Shadow’s well-being was at stake.
What Gray had done was disastrous to them all. To the whole world. But if Beast was to be honest with himself, he also understood his friend’s motivation. And since Rev’s disgust with Shadow hadn’t started with Gray’s betrayal, Beast had a hard time supporting their senior member in this.
Gray exhaled through his nose, his gaze trained on the notebook opened in front of him. “It’s not gonna come to this. I have a good lead on a jewel dealer in North Carolina. We’re leaving as soon as this meeting is over. Whatever rubies this guy’s got in his stash, we’ll take, and I’m going to grill him about his clients as well.”
Vars cleared his throat and rested his elbows on the wooden tabletop. “There’s no point in discussing this. Shadow was made of Baal’s energy, so the moment he consumed the Pigeon Heart, the ruby was touched by that same power. It won’t work against him. Sorry to rain on your parade, Rev,” he added in a tone as close to venomous as one could ever hear from Vars.
Knight cleared his throat, looking unusually pale. His wounds were healing well, and two weeks after the unfortunate encounter with the ghost, there was no reason for him to be weakened.
“We do have to talk through all the options, and as much as I hate it, I’ve got to say what you’re all thinking. If there really is no other way, I will sacrifice my hands. There’s no point for us all to die just so that I can jerk off without anyone’s help.”
Groans and murmurs erupted around the table, with Jake voicing the loudest, “no way.”
Beast shuddered at the thought of that being their only option, but truth was Knight’s suggestion was of no use either. “Your sacrifice would have been for nothing. Baal could then go on to find someone else to fill your place, and that would have been so much worse, because we wouldn’t know who’s feeding the trees.”
Fox clicked his tongue. “I’m not saying I’m for this option, but just to be on the same page… isn’t that what happened in the fifties? That nurse, lost his hands, and that stopped the ritual. We could delay things by a couple of decades. Gain time.”
Beast shook his head. “No. We know Baal was looking for a replacement, but because he was targeting the patients of the asylum, there was mass panic that ended up with the hospital closing down. Whoever was running the place for Baal the way I do now died not long after. Take from that what you will, but my conclusion is that the asylum emptied, and with no people to lure into pacts, Baal had to watch the trees wither.”
Knight nodded with a grim expression. “Just like that trapper stopped the ritual by killing his wife and committing suicide. Back then, this place was wilderness and people didn’t randomly pass through.”
Beast’s phone vibrated in his pocket for the fifth time since the meeting had started, but he chose to ignore it, since all the important people could have knocked on the door if they were desperate for contact. He had too much on his plate to answer what was probably a spam call. Or Magpie with his endless baby questions. Beast wasn’t in the mood for either.
“My guess is that our best option for now is to affect the trees without making Knight break his contract. He needs to keep feeding them every new moon, but if we cut them down, or stunt their growth, it would take more time for them to reach their full potential. Magpie agrees with me on this, and he is offering his help in terms of bribes and paying for necessary equipment.”
Joker tapped his toes against the table as he changed position in the chair. “Can’t we just get a couple of chainsaws and deal with it on our own?”