Beast, Part Two (The Church #5)

Boils Over

chapter Twenty

Priest

I t’s been three days since my private talk with Dominique.

“You need to make a choice, Nathaniel. A hard one.” His words swam in my head. He was right, I was going to have to make a choice. The first of many choices is the reason I called this meeting.

The children were outside with Ms. Reese, along with all five dogs. I look around my dining room, which we've turned into our very own headquarters. Twin and Malia are sitting at the head of the table. His two laptops are in front of him, but he’s focused on her. Ari and Many are standing against the wall. She’s whispering something in his ear that makes him laugh. Hawk and Brooklyn share a side of the rectangular table. His hand rests on her rounded belly.

In the chair beside Brooklyn is Summer. Her gaze keeps flicking to Beast who is standing beside Alicia at the other end of the table. She’s showing him something on her tablet. As if Alicia could sense my gaze, she looks up at me. Our eyes lock and I’m reminded of the conversation she and I had earlier this morning. She gives me a subtle reassuring smile before going back to her conversation with Beast.

Maksim is sitting in the chair in front of Summer. Zel is beside him and Fem is on the other side of Zel. The only other person in the room is Kyra, who is leaning against the back wall.

I clear my throat to get everyone’s attention. All eyes turn to me.

“I brought you all here because, going forward we will need everyone on the same accord. Until this moment, we’ve been trying to figure out the best approach to handle the excommunication order. It seems the only way to clear our name is to go after Corbyn.”

“Finally,” Lucien grumbles.

“It’s about time,” Hawk says, leaning forward on the table.

Part of me feels guilty about their stance on this. I’ve made my boys believe they are invincible. I’ve taught them to fear no one, but they haven’t fully grasped what we are up against.

“You may want to save your excitement,” Maksim says. “This won’t be easy.”

“There you go again,” Beast states glaring at his brother. “Every time we mention Corbyn, you try to steer us in another direction. Are you sure you’re clear on where your loyalties lie?”

I can feel this going left, I quickly interfere. “Maksim is right. Everything I’ve learned about Corbyn tells me we are up against a monolith. One that has the time, means, and resources to fight back.”

The next part of this conversation is not going to go over well, but they need to hear it.

“Because of that,” I continue. “We’re going to need all our focus on Corbyn. No distractions. I’ve been talking to Kyra and D.O.E has agreed to hide the women and children for as long as it takes. There is a home out in Georgia that is as safe as this one.”

“Absolutely not,” Hawk says.

Shaking my head, I try to get him to see reason. “The moment we make our first strike against Corbyn, he will counter. It’s exactly what happened to Beast and Summer. Corbyn will not play fair, and he will try to hit us where it hurts the most. That puts the girls at risk.”

“Which is why we need them close to us,” Lucien argues. “I’m not being that far away from Malia and Emory.”

“He’s right,” Hawk states. “Brook is nearly seven months pregnant, I’m not leaving her alone.”

“She won’t be alone,” Kyra chimes in. “The D.O.E will have them highly protected. They will be more guarded than the president. I promise.”

Hawk is already shaking his head.

“I don’t understand the problem,” Zel says. “We’re finally going after Corbyn and finishing this. What’s a few days or weeks without your wife?”

“Easy for you to say, you don’t have one.” Lucien scoffs.

“I’m glad,” Zel counters. “Maybe if you weren’t so busy up Malia’s ass 24/7 we could’ve found Corbyn already.”

“What the fuck did you just say to me?” Lucien stands, pushing his chair back.

“Babe, calm down,” Malia grabs his arm and tugs him back in his seat. “If it means keeping you guys safe, I don’t mind leaving.”

“You’re not going anywhere,” he says as if it’s final.

This is getting out of hand. “Everyone is sacrificing something for this,” I say.

“Except for you,” Ari says. “Is Aurora being sent away?”

“They will need my help here. But Ms. Reese is taking Charlie, which means Nathaniel and I are sacrificing.”

Many scoffs pushing away from the wall. “So, you would have us send our women away, but you would keep yours here.”

I run my hand down my face. “Can we please stop looking at this with our cocks. Fem is staying because Fem is a highly trained killer. And although Ari is too, she’s pregnant, and I wouldn’t risk her or her baby on this.”

“I don’t care what the rest of you do, but Brook isn’t going anywhere.”

“Neither is Malia.”

Zel tosses his hands in the air. “For fucks sakes. I hope I never find pussy that has me acting so irrational and selfish.”

“Fuck you, Zel,” Hawk shouts. The room goes up in commotion. Maksim is trying to keep Zel in his seat as Many, Hawk, and Lucien go in on him.

Fem is trying to explain why my idea is for the best. Even Kyra is trying to assure them all.

“Summer can go.”

Even through all the shouting, I hear his voice. The room goes silent. I drop my gaze to Summer who is staring at the wall over Maksim’s head. Her face is stoic, but her eyes tell a different story.

“She and Gabe can go. When do they leave?”

No one speaks. Although this is what I want, I have a feeling this is not going to end well.

“The house in Georgia is ready. We can have them all moved in within two days,” Alicia explains.

“Beast,” Maksim starts.

“No, Maksim. He’s right.” Summer cuts him off. She stands to her feet, running her hands down the front of her yoga pants. “Send me. I’ll leave. After listening to all of you guys fight to keep the women you love by your side it has become blatantly obvious, I have no business here.”

“Don’t say that, Summer.” Brooklyn places a hand on her arm. “You belong here.”

“She’s right, we don’t want you to leave either,” Lucien adds. “I think we should all stay together.”

“That’s not your call,” Beast argues. “What you do with Malia is your business. But Summer is—”

“Nothing to you,” she says cutting him off. “Because if I was, you wouldn’t feel the need to toss me away like trash every chance you got.”

“I’m trying to protect you.”

“Fuck you, Beast,” she snarls.

Beast goes completely rigid. His hands are tightly fisted at his side, his breathing is labored and his nostril flare with each breath he takes.

“Let’s all take a breath,” I try to calm the room down. There is too much tension right now and with Beast being unstable we didn’t need to set him off in this tight space.

“I think we should send the women out and try this conversation again,” Fem says getting to her feet. She must also hear the bomb that is Beast, ticking.

“When can I leave?” Summer turns to me and asks crossing her arms over her chest.

Before I can reply, Beast speaks. “You’re not going anywhere.”

Summer scoffs. “Oh, now you want me to stay. No thank you. I’m going to leave so you and Ms. Computer whizz can continue to rub your relationship in my face.”

Beast brows bunch. I understand Summer’s concern. My son has an issue with reading cues, so he hasn’t picked up that a lot of the things he’s been doing with Alicia seem like flirting.

Alicia looks to me for help. Before I could say anything, Summer starts talking.

“Don’t act shocked,” Summer goes on to rant. “I just want you to know that two can play that game.” The moment the words are out of her mouth, I push away from the wall.

I look at Lucien and tilt my head to the door, letting him know to get Malia and the others out of here. Lucien whispers to Malia and she stands up. Ari joins her after whispering to Brooklyn. All three women quickly walk out of the room.

“What did you say?” Beast asks the simple question, but it isn’t his voice.

“That’s enough, Summer,” I say, trying to reel this shitshow back in.

“I said,” she continues as if she didn’t hear me. “I’m not waiting for you anymore. I will make it my soul purpose to find a man that will love me. All of me. One who won’t throw me away every time his emotions get the best of him. One that won’t abandon me like a little boy with an old toy.”

“Try it,” Beast snarls. “And I will kill him.”

I make my way over to Beast, moving Alicia out of the way.

“Calm down, son.” I place a hand on his arm, but he quickly snatches it away.

“No worries,” Summer goes on to say as tears pour down her face. “I’ll find another man and another one. And every night when I’m fucking his brains out, I’ll look him in the eyes and remind him that I belong to him.”

The next few things happen so quickly it almost looks simultaneous. Maksim leaps over the table to stand in front of Summer. Beast lifts the wooden table and tosses it into the wall on the opposite side of the room. The laptops and papers that were once sitting on top are all on the floor.

“Oh shit,” Zel shouts.

I grab Beast, but he tosses me aside as if I weigh nothing. He charges at Maksim, grabbing him by the neck, he smashes him against the wall before charging for Summer. She backs up, but he continues to rush her.

Lucien pulls out his gun.

“No,” I shout. Although I understand his actions. They have never seen their brother like this before. Beast has been swallowed up by the red haze many times, but never to the point he has attacked those he loved.

Summer’s back hits the wall. Beast grabs her neck and lifts her off the floor.

“Tell me why I shouldn’t snap your fucking neck?” he asks her in a voice that isn’t his.

It’s proof he has lost control of the demon in his head. I remain calm even though my heart is racing.

“Son,” I say, keeping my voice level. “Fight through the haze.”

He ignores me, placing his face in Summer’s neck.

“I should’ve split your skull months ago,” Beast hisses at her. “Tell me why I shouldn’t do it now.”

“Gabriel, please,” Summer pleads. I notice she’s able to speak which means he’s not choking her.

“Gabriel’s not here,” he mocks.

“We need to step in,” Maksim says. He’s clutching his shoulder as if something’s wrong with it.

“Not yet,” I tell him. “Beast, you are in control. Fight through your haze.”

His hand tightens around Summer’s throat. Turning her face red.

“He’s right, Beast,” Alicia says, stepping up beside me. “You can fight this.”

Beast peers over his shoulder at Alicia. “You think I don’t know who you are? I’ve known since the first time you spoke to me. Be quiet before I kill you next.”

Alica looks at me and we both are a little confused by that admittance. When Fem first mentioned the idea of Beast talking to a psychiatrist, I shut her down. I knew he would never willingly speak to anyone. However, Fem told me about a highly trained member of D.O.E that would be able to talk to him without him knowing. Alicia has been working on Beast since she got here.

“You’re not going to kill anyone,” Alicia goes on to say. “Because you don’t have control here.”

A sinister laugh comes from Beast. “Is that what you’re banking on? I run him.”

“No, you don’t,” I argue. “You are a hallucination, a made-up part of him. The same way his mother and I were. Beast is in control. You are a weapon his mind has created to deal with his emotions.”

“You don’t know shit about me,” he grits out through his teeth as he turns his attention back to Summer.

Sighing, I take a step forward. The conversation Alicia had with me earlier today weighed heavy on my heart. I thought of how and when to tell Beast. I know that it would devastate him. But he needs to know. All of them needed to know.

“You have schizoid personality disorder, Beast,” I say.

Alicia explained to me that Beast had a mild version of schizoid personality disorder along with traces of schizotypal personality disorder as well as signs of sociopathy. He is the perfect storm of disorders to make him the greatest killer in the Church organization. All of his conditions are treatable and manageable with meds when needed and by talking to a psychiatrist on a regular basis.

Beast turns and looks over his shoulder glaring at me. Immediately, I can tell his hold on Summer’s neck loosens by the way the redness in her face slowly recedes.

“The Church misdiagnosed you when you were younger. And you are not possessed by a demon. Your mind is just creating things. But you are in control.”

Lucien looks over at me, his gun lowering to his side. “When did you find this out?”

“Today,” is all I say in response.

“How do we help him?” Zel asks.

Although this meeting did not go as planned and lately, they have been bickering back and forth with each other like cats and dogs, it made me proud to see them rallying behind Beast now. He’s going to need it.

“He just needs to remember who he is and what’s real,” I explain. “And right now, he needs to remember that he is hurting the woman that he loves.”

I make sure I look at Summer pointedly when I say those words. She needed to remind him that he loved her, but she also needed to be reminded too. I don’t fault her for her outburst. She was hurting and in return wanted to hurt him. But they both needed to understand that they love each other. And for this diagnosis, they would need to be each other’s backbone.

“Gabriel,” Summer gets his attention back. “Baby, you’re hurting me. Whatever this thing is in your head, it’s hurting me.”

He releases Summer so quickly she drops to the ground. He steps back, his hands are in tight fists by his side.

“Get out of my head,” he growls to himself.

“You got this, Beast,” Hawk says.

“We’re all here, brother,” Many adds.

Eventually, Beast’s breathing slows, the tension in his shoulders’ wain, and his hands relax. The moment he opens his eyes, he goes straight to Summer. He lifts her off the ground. She wraps her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, burying her face in his neck.

He doesn’t speak to any of us, instead he storms out of the dining room carrying her in his arms.

We all watch as the two lovers slip away.

“I’m not going to lie, I almost pissed my fucking pants,” Zel says breaking the silence.

Hawk snorts and the rest of us chuckle. I go over to Maksim to check on his arm.

“You good?” I ask him.

He rolls his shoulder, suggesting he might be injured. “Between him and my other siblings, I’m really starting to second guess this brother thing.”

I shake my head. He’s only joking. We all know how much he loves Beast.

“He should be fine for now,” Alicia says getting my attention. “Beast is very intelligent. I’m not completely shocked that he subconsciously knew what I was doing. Most of his battle will be reminding himself what’s real and what isn’t. His schizotypal disorder is mild. We want to keep it that way. He needs to start seeing someone on a regular basis before it turns into schizophrenia.”

“Thanks, Alicia,” Fem says coming up beside me. “We appreciate your help.”

She nods. “And can you let Summer know that I was never trying to take her man. I don’t want her to think I’m that type of person.”

“I’ll let her know, but I don’t think any of us will see her for the rest of the day.” Turning to the rest of the room I say, “Speaking of, let’s put a pin in this conversation. We need time and clearer heads before we discuss it again.”

They all seem to agree.

“Now, let’s get this room back in order.” Though they all groan, we help right the dining room. Even though we had a name for Beast’s condition, I know that we still had a long road in front of us.