In the Arms of the Beast

by K. A. Merikan

  Two days back, Shadow had approached him with a tip on the energy flow within the building. Beast had always believed the sigil carving in the cellar to be the focus of all paranormal activity, but Shadow claimed that it wasn’t where all the energy generated by the activities going on above accumulated. It drained through the sigil, even farther underground, but where to? That was the question they needed answered. This had to be the ‘crack in the ground’ that Theodore had spoken of.

  They’d removed the rest of the wood that covered the original floor, and when it became clear the sigil was carved out in a separate block in the middle, Beast had Shadow and Azog the gargoyle lift it. The thing was massive, and the trapper who’d started it all couldn’t have done it on his own, but once the boulder was out of its spot, the secret it had hidden for several centuries was out.

  There was a deep shaft under their home. Not a natural crack in the rocks but a near-perfect circle the size of a dinner plate with walls so smooth they could have been created with advanced drills. Perfectly vertical, the hole ran so deep even the ray of the high-beam flashlight couldn’t reach the bottom of that endless pit, which in Shadow’s words ‘made the energy disappear’.

  Which meant that this goddamn hidden drain that had been here all along was the physical passage to the Other Side.

  The discovery caused frantic discussions, but it was Rev who’d had the spark of ‘genius’ of plugging the narrow well with concrete. Beast couldn’t explain anymore why, but the idea had made sense at the time of the vote. Following hours of near-constant pouring of building materials down the shaft and listening to the churning of the mixer, it no longer did. There was no end in sight for this. In fact, they couldn’t even hear any sound coming from the depths of the abyss, as if the well stretching deep under their feet consumed matter like a black hole.

  Nobody had spoken up yet, but they were running out of concrete, and the plan they’d all agreed to try now seemed so inexplicably stupid it seemed nobody wanted to be the one to point it out.

  The hurried footsteps coming from the corridor sounded nothing like Jake’s, but it was only when Beast heard Laurent calling for him that he nodded at Gray, sending him out to deal with the disturbance.

  The chat he’d had with Laurent at the café had Beast thinking about the future of their relationship all day, but it had also strengthened his resolve to keep Laurent away from their blind attempts at stopping, or at least slowing down the progress of Baal’s plan.

  Concrete, really? What the hell had they been thinking? How could a bit of concrete stop a demon capable of ripping the border between dimensions? Baal collected energy from a building partially built with concrete! Beast had been embarrassed to mention this to Magpie before they’d even started the process, and at this point he hoped none of his brothers would ever speak about this lapse in judgment to anyone.

  “No, you don’t understand! I need to talk to him!” Laurent pleaded in the corridor, and the frantic shrill note in his voice was so unlike him, Beast made a step toward the door, alarmed and ready to intervene.

  Gray’s voice was like cool water in comparison to Laurent’s fire. “We’re dealing with something important in there. Wait outside, and he’ll see you when he can.”

  The sob that followed had Beast going rigid. A shudder ran down his spine, but he met Rev’s gaze, already walking toward the exit, lured by the worry clutching at his heart. “Take over for me.”

  The first thing he saw when he walked into the corridor, his back hunched so he’d avoid hitting his head on the ceiling, were the damp streaks running down Laurent’s cheeks. He didn’t even know what had happened, but his body was already prepared to fight anyone who’d made Laurent so upset. “What’s going on?”

  Laurent gasped for breath. “It’s Marcel. I’m a failure of a father. I do not deserve to be one.” Gray stepped back, rolling his eyes at the melodrama of the scene, but there was nothing artificial about the way Laurent clutched at Beast’s T-shirt, burying his damp face in the warmth of Beast’s chest.

  Cold claws bit into Beast’s shoulders, and for the briefest moment his gaze went blurry. “What… did he…?”

  Crack? Did he crack? Was the baby dead?

  The sense of dull sadness wandered up Beast’s torso and clamped around his throat so unexpectedly, he couldn’t breathe. He’d had so many doubts about having a child, but the sole possibility that this human being, this baby made from their blood could be gone forever? Unthinkable. A black hole opened under his feet as if Baal had created another well into the Other Side.

  He was falling into that darkness and grasped Laurent’s arms to get an answer.

  Laurent’s damp eyes met his, but when he shook his head, relief was so great Beast’s entire body relaxed with warmth caressing his muscles. Laurent hadn’t said what was wrong yet, but Marcel wasn’t gone. That was all that mattered.

  “I left him at work, Beast. You told me not to take him off the premises, but I thought I had it all figured out and left him there on my first day!”

  Beast’s mouth curled into a smile, and he pulled Laurent closer, relieved by the powerful sense of belonging when their bodies touched. There was nothing he wanted more than to soothe his husband’s worries. He would wipe away tears until there were none left. “That’s okay. He’s in a shell. Nothing can happen to him inside a locker. You’ll see him first thing tomorrow.”

  “No, it’s not fine! I forgot about him. I’m so irresponsible. I talked about him to Elliot on the way home, I was taking care of Xavier, and not once did I think about where my own son is.” Laurent sobbed, hugging Beast as if they’d never argued.

  Beast looked to the cramped room where most of his friends were gathered, watching the endless stream of concrete drizzle underground. His continued presence there would change nothing, but there was a place where he was needed. He pulled Laurent toward the uneven steps leading to the first floor. “You’re too hard on yourself. He is still an egg, so he doesn’t interact with you. Quite different from a regular baby.”

  “Beast, you don’t understand. The egg is so large already. He could hatch at any moment. We don’t know when. He will be an infant and can’t survive on his own. He could die in that locker just because I was eager to go home faster.”

  Beast was so focused on Laurent’s words that he forgot about the low ceiling and hit his head so hard he ended up biting his tongue.

  Laurent rubbed his eyes once they stood outside, next to the gargoyle statue on which King had died what felt like a lifetime ago. He was glad Knight killed his ghost, because he could just imagine King impaled on the gargoyle’s horn, yet still cackling his head off at their distress.

  “I called Mr. Linde, but he’s not picking up. I don’t know what to do.”

  Beast rubbed his head where it would surely soon grow a swollen lump, but his attention was back on Laurent. “How many times have you tried?”

  Laurent swallowed a sob, rubbing wetness off his reddened features. “I don’t know... five? For all I know he could be on a date or watching a movie! And Marcel might choke to death if he hatches all alone, without anyone to assist him out of the shell. Beast, what should we do?”

  Laurent’s fingers trembled where they touched Beast’s flesh. He was so upset, so terrified that there was no other choice for Beast but to deal with the problem. That was what he did best.

  “We will get him. Calm down.”

  *

  Beast was covered from head to toe in generic overalls that used to belong to a Kings of Hell member who passed away a few years back. He had gloves, old shoes that could be disposed of, and a ski mask to cover his tattooed face.

  “There’s cameras in the café and in the office. Please, make sure you’re not recognized,” Laurent begged from the passenger seat, stiff as a crash test dummy.

  Beast squeezed the steering wheel when he saw the distant lights of Brecon. “If anything goes wrong, let’s meet at the playground. You know which one.”
>
  It was the place he and Laurent considered the location of their first date, even though at the time Beast had been the only one to notice the sensual mood in the air when he introduced Laurent to Chinese takeout.

  “Do you remember the code to my locker?” Laurent asked for the fourth time.

  “I do. Zero, four, one, seven, for the month and year of your arrival,” Beast said to calm him, though he’d likely break the flimsy padlock with a mallet.

  Beast needed to be calm about this. It had been a while since his last solo break-and-entry, but in small towns like Brecon nobody worried about replacing flimsy doors, like in the old days.

  “Stay calm, but it’s a business, so it probably has an alarm in place. If I set it off, we won’t have much time. I’ll try not to get arrested,” he said as they passed the white concrete arch that marked the entryway into town. He thought this whole venture was crazy. Reckless. Unnecessary. But what if Laurent’s worries were legitimate, and Marcel really did hatch inside the locker on the one night he was alone?

  And if something happened to their child because he refused to inconvenience himself by taking a small risk, could he have ever forgiven himself?

  As dubious as Beast still was about fatherhood, Marcel was his. And he was Laurent’s. And regardless of his worries and anger, there was no way he wouldn’t learn to love something Laurent offered him.

  “Please don’t talk about arrest even in jest. I couldn’t live with myself knowing I was the cause for your incarceration.” Laurent said, looking even paler than usual in the eerie light of street lamps.

  Beast shook his head. They were approaching the quiet residential street where he intended to park. It should offer an easy enough access to the back of the coffee shop, and if he were fast enough, the job should be an in-and-out kind of thing.

  Beast squeezed Laurent’s thigh. “Don’t worry. It’s not that serious, and I’m sure I could come to some kind of arrangement with the deputy if he did catch me red-handed. You only focus on Marcel and yourself. Is that clear?”

  Laurent nodded, even though his body language betrayed reluctance. Beast often worried that Laurent wouldn’t listen to reason and do his own thing regardless of Beast’s judgment, but with Marcel at stake, he might act less recklessly.

  It was late evening in the middle of the week, so the streets of Brecon were deserted, as if all the inhabitants had been spirited away, leaving behind their homes, businesses, and cars. Even the street lamps were off away from the main street. The perfect setting for what he intended. Beast slowed the car in the narrow street that ran parallel to the main artery of the town, where most shops were located. Bushes growing in tidy gardens and narrow alleys between homes provided necessary shade for moving unseen, but Beast only stopped once he recognized a rooster-shaped weathervane on one of the buildings.

  “We’re here. Don’t switch off the engine.” He didn’t leave the car immediately, itching to reassure Laurent once more, even though the whole operation shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes. “It’ll be fine. I promise.”

  Laurent took a deep breath. “I just feel so bad about the whole thing.”

  Beast relaxed into the seat, kneading the ski mask in his hands. “I’m sure it won’t be the last mistake we do as parents.”

  Laurent watched Beast with glossy eyes, but it was time to get going. Beast opened the door, but then Laurent pulled on his arm, and when Beast turned to look at him, he got the sweetest little kiss.

  The knots that had been present in his shoulders for way too long unwound, and he stroked the smooth skin of Laurent’s cheek before pulling away with a smile. “Now I’ve got immunity,” he said, putting on the mask and stepping into the quiet street.

  He wasn’t sure Laurent, with his lack of pop culture knowledge, would understand the reference to various quizzes and reality shows, but maybe it didn’t matter, because the handsome mouth still curved into a smile.

  The night was moonless, and while Beast would have normally hated to walk in the dark with no street lamps to guide him, tonight it would serve to his advantage. There was light in very few windows in sight, but as he slid into the garden of someone living back-to-back with the café, the faint glow of a television screen illuminated his way.

  Beast ducked as he passed under the window, before stepping through the low fence separating Sweet Break from its neighbors. The backyard was small and used for keeping trash and excess outdoor tables, but Beast didn’t hesitate, even when the light above the back door came on. He broke into a run and collided with the entrance so ferociously the lock gave with a creak, leaving him with an aching shoulder but successful. A red light flashed above him right away, but he continued inside as soon as he regained his footing. Laurent’s instructions were clear enough, but with his field of vision limited, with the thick clothes making him sweat, he still felt like armed police could burst in at any moment.

  Listening to the thud of his own heart, he entered the staff room and went for Laurent’s locker first. Like he’d been told, it was the last in line, and the lock budged after just two hits with the mallet. For a terrifying second, Beast stared at the backpack tucked inside, listening for cries or the sound of the shell cracking, but Marcel remained still, and despite the temptation to look at the egg and make sure it was indeed fine, Beast pulled it out and proceeded demolishing two other lockers.

  One didn’t contain anything of value, so he dragged out someone’s sweater, but the people using the other two weren’t so lucky, because Beast didn’t hesitate to steal someone’s purse if it was a matter of taking the beacon of suspicion off Laurent.

  He jumped over the fence between the two properties on his way back, chased by the hum of a rapidly approaching car. At this time of night in Brecon, it could only be the police, and he would not be caught with Marcel. The crime he’d committed couldn’t be in any way associated with Laurent.

  The short yelp of a siren nearby confirmed what Beast had been dreading, so he opened the passenger door and was glad to see Laurent had the same idea as him. He was already sitting in the driver’s seat, urging Beast to get in, but Beast put the backpack in and fastened it with the seatbelt.

  “The cops are here, I’ll stay behind, make some noise to distract them so you can go. Drive carefully and don’t draw attention to yourself.”

  Laurent’s eyes went wide. “No, Beast, please, just come quick. I don’t even have a driver’s licence.”

  “Fuck the driver’s licence. You can do it.” Beast itched to sit next to Laurent and drive off, however risky it might be, but the loud voice coming from all too close made him step back. They were still in the main street, but a single vehicle driving so close from the crime scene would surely end up under suspicion

  “Come out with your hands up. Don’t do anything stupid, son!”

  Beast met Laurent’s gaze, shook his head, and ran off, trying not to think too much about the fear hiding in that brown gaze. He bowed his head when passing a dark lamp, and when he briefly glanced over his shoulder, he saw his car driving away from the scene at a snail’s pace and sensed relief rolling through his body.

  “Good boy,” he said and grabbed a metal trash can close to the fence. He dragged it above his head and threw it at the nearby barbeque, creating enough noise to wake up the dead.

  Lights came on in several windows, but he was already off, chased by the sound of someone traversing uneven terrain in the far-off distance. It was close. Too close, but thinking on his feet had always been one of his strengths. He picked up a broken piece of the concrete slate that made up the sidewalk and tossed it at a nearby car.

  The alarm went off, howling across the neighborhood loud enough to cover the rustling of the bush fence he sank into. He’d barely managed to get off the street when two cops ran right past him, their shouts pushing yet more adrenaline into Beast’s system.

  He bit his lips, holding in a joyous laugh. He hadn’t expected to feel like a kid on this dramatic outing,
yet here he was, evading the cops as if he were nineteen again and pulling Knight into doing no-good.

  Chapter 19 - Laurent

  Laurent followed Beast’s instructions to a T. He’d been very slow, extraordinarily careful in his driving, but despite the worry scratching at the back of his brain, he retained a cool head and parked close to the playground where he was supposed to meet Beast. In a bid to do something and be of use to Beast, he purchased his favorite Chinese dishes. The restaurant was already closing, but since Laurent was a regular customer and a partner of Beast’s, they prepared the food for him nevertheless.

  When he returned to the park, Beast was still nowhere to be found, so Laurent checked his phone in hope for an update from his husband but was too afraid to call or text in case Beast was hiding somewhere and the sound of a phone could give away his location. He needed to wait and hated it with all his heart.

  It was dark without the moon in the sky, but the stars remained bright, and Laurent watched them from his hideout in the wooden castle, petting the egg in the open backpack in his lap. It seemed to have grown even in the hours since Laurent had last seen it, and his stress-ridden mind filled the silence with worried thoughts.

  What if Magpie had messed up the ritual and instead of a child, they’d welcome to the world a fully grown man? Was that even possible? Would he then have the mental capability of a child? Or would have Magpie accidentally imprinted fake memories in Marcel? Anything was possible at this point if Magpie hadn’t even known how many drops of blood they’d needed to sacrifice.

  Perhaps Beast was right about their decision being reckless, but it no longer mattered. Laurent would love Marcel however he came out. He kissed the top of the ruby-dusted egg and thought back to all the things he’d learnt since he arrived in this new time.