Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 113332 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 567(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113332 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 567(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
“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.
Back then, he’d also been unsure, and confused. Everything had seemed strange, and during their visit at this playground Laurent had even asked if the wooden structures were meant for tiny people. Whatever the future had in store for them, Laurent would learn to deal with it.
It was a shame that there might not be any more children at the clubhouse any time soon. Nao and Elliot were very much against procreating, and even Fox had gone through some dreadful surgical procedure called vasectomy to avoid having any more children. A part of Laurent wanted to condemn Fox and suggest chastity instead of altering God’s creation, but who was he kidding? He couldn’t have stayed away from Beast, so how was he to expect Fox would no longer bed his wife? It was only human to crave such things.