“It really is different.”
Rev slammed his palm against the table, making Shadow flinch away. “Jesus Christ! Don’t touch him, you creep.”
Gray blinked, and he growled back at Rev without even taking his time to examine the change on his head. “Stop shouting at him! Don’t we have other problems to deal with?”
Knight scowled. “Gray, chill, okay? What’s gotten into you? Sit down.”
Gray sucked in some air, but then reached back and pulled the elastic band off his hair.
His fingers trembled slightly when he examined some of the strands. He stared at them in silence punctuated by rapid inhales and exhales. When he finally looked back at Shadow, his lips were a tight, pale line.
“Seriously, Gray, you wouldn’t have been the first man to dye,” Joker said and pointed to the bright hair on his own head, but Fox shushed him with a gesture.
“Can we go back to what’s actually important?”
Knight nodded. “What’s important is—don’t turn your phone off, Gray. We’re always on call, so what the actual fuck?”
Rev crossed his arms on his chest. “None of this would have happened if you let Gray come with you. Sure, he would have taken the creature with him, but—”
Shadow sensed a spike of heat in his head even before Gray stepped forward, letting his hair fall to his shoulders in disarray. “He is not a ‘creature’! Have you already forgotten that he saved my life?” he shouted, grabbing Shadow’s arm with his free hand.
Beast frowned but said nothing, watching them like a predator searching for weaknesses in his prey.
Shadow smiled when Gray rubbed his arm in a way no one would notice. “I’m trying to be as helpful as I can to my friends.”
Joker snorted. “Oh, my fucking God. You two are fucking.”
Gray’s fingers twitched, and he froze, as if his mind couldn’t keep up with what was happening around him, so Shadow was there to help.
“We haven’t connected bodies yet. What made you say that?”
Vars gave a heavy sigh, watching them with an unreadable expression.
“Yet?” Joker asked with a wide smile. He looked around for partners in mockery, but all the other men were serious.
Gray stirred back to life, and his beautiful, slim fingers slid down to entwine with Shadow’s. “Yes, Joker. Yet. Happy? Can we go back to the reason why we’re all here?” he asked in a low voice. Despite his wide posture, and head held high, Shadow couldn’t miss the way Gray’s hand clutched at his, damp and twitchy.
Joker gave a loud shriek and put both hands against his cheeks. “Oh. Fuck. I knew it! Will you repeat that to my girl? She. Just. Lost. A bet.”
Rev took an inhale so deep his nostrils flared. “You cannot be serious? This is exactly what Baal wants! That’s why he put him in this kind of body! Can you start thinking with your brain, not with your dick?”
Shadow cleared his throat. So far, he’d always taken these insults, but now it felt like Gray was as much under attack as him. Enough was enough. “Gray can think with the organ of his choosing!”
Shadow expected silence, maybe some defensive words, but instead witnessed half the bikers laughing out loud. Vars hid his face in his hands, and Jake, who sat right next to him, tapped his fingers on the table. “I think this really isn’t any of our business. Gray didn’t have anyone for a while. Why do you need to spoil it for him?”
Rev’s eyes were so wide Shadow feared they might pop out of their place in his face. “You fucker… you knew about this!”
Fox shook his head. “Rev has a point. We don’t know what Shadow’s real agenda is. We can’t afford to just assume he’s harmless.”
“How about you look at me when you talk about me,” Gray said, letting go of Shadow and stepping toward Fox so abruptly Vars rose, his eyes narrowed, as if he were trying to figure out whether he should physically intervene.
Fox growled, adjusting the cast on his leg. “Fine. I’ll say it to you then. You’re getting involved with someone that isn’t human, and who will be gone next month. Sorry, Shadow. I hate to be the one to bring it up, but this thing you two have will not end well for anyone.”
Shadow’s shoulders slumped under the weight of Fox’s accusation. Was his decision to connect with Gray really so selfish? Had he made a mistake by drawing Gray in without telling him what exactly their blood connection meant?
Had he hurt the one person he cared about most?
Gray stayed silent, staring back at Fox like a statue of an angry god about to strike the heretic with thunder.
Knight raised both hands. “Guys. I think Jake’s right. We stand for personal freedom, and if fucking Shadow makes Gray happy, then I’m gonna support that. Gray’s a brother, and I wouldn’t care if he fucked goats.”