Beast Gacha System: All Mine-Chapter 234: Between Arms

Arkai didn’t know why, but this embarrassment was somehow far worse than most things he had experienced.

He had faced down political rivals twice his age. He had stood before crowds of thousands and delivered speeches without a tremor. He had been drugged and locked in a room and still maintained his composure.

But this... having his best friend discover this strange, inexplicable, overwhelming attraction he felt for Cecilia Araceli... this was somehow worse than all of it combined.

He gestured sharply for Roarke to follow him outside. There were things he needed to say. Explanations to give. Not everything, certainly not the nightmare with Sienna, not the cemetery, not the frozen pigeons, but enough.

Enough to explain why his face was the color of a ripe tomato and why he had locked that door without thinking.

After they walked out and put a safe distance between themselves and the office, Arkai scanned the corridor. Good. Nikolas and Ruby had finally left. No witnesses.

He turned to Roarke.

His best friend was sucking on his cheeks, literally pulling them inward, his face contorted in the desperate effort of preventing himself from crying-laughing. His eyes were wet. His shoulders shook. Every few seconds, a tiny, strangled sound escaped through his nose.

"Listen." Arkai’s voice was low, urgent.

"I am listening." Roarke’s voice was strained, barely controlled. "Speak before I can’t listen anymorefffftt—" He clamped his own mouth shut with his hand, squeezing his eyes closed. "Ha..."

One more second of that and I’m going to kill him, Arkai thought. Right here. In the corridor. No one would blame me.

"Miss Araceli already has a boyfriend—" Arkai forced the words out, steady as he could manage. "—boyfriends? I don’t know. The point is, it’s not going to happen."

He paused, letting that land.

"I’m not fucking crazy. It wouldn’t even be fair to her." His jaw tightened. "You know my father. It would be dumb to even consider it."

Roarke’s face went through a complex series of contortions. Struggling to process the words while simultaneously fighting the laughter that still threatened to escape.

When he finally spoke, his voice was remarkably steady, given the circumstances.

"Arkai." He put a hand on his friend’s shoulder. "I have never, in all the years I’ve known you, seen you look at anyone the way you just looked at her."

Arkai’s face burned anew.

"I’m not saying you should do anything about it." Roarke’s voice softened, losing its teasing edge. "I’m just saying... it’s okay to feel things, man. Even if nothing comes of it."

"Yeah, it’s okay, I guess, when you’re just seeing it." Arkai’s voice was sharp, almost a snap, and when he looked up, his eyes were bloodshot. "But you’re not feeling it. You heard me lock that door, that was automatic. That didn’t come from my brain!"

Roarke’s eyebrows shot up. "Oh, damn. It’s that bad?" His tone was a perfect blend of genuine concern and barely suppressed amusement. "Are you sick or something? No, no, did you get drugged? Did she put a spell on you? Damn, should I find some antidote?"

He said it casually. Half-worried, half-teasing. The kind of joke best friends made when one of them was clearly losing his mind over a woman.

But it somehow hit the mark.

In the worst sense possible.

Yes. Arkai had been drugged. But not by Cecilia. By Sienna. It had been resolved, Cecilia had resolved it, with her impossible magic and her clinical detachment and her voice in his head, planting images, redirecting his body’s responses.

But the aftereffect? The goddamned aftereffect felt like it would last forever. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Arkai sighed and closed his eyes.

"You know what?" His voice was tired, resigned. "Find those antidotes for me. Let’s try everything."

"What?!" Roarke’s flinch was genuine, his shock absolute. He actually—actually that desperate?!

He knew, had always known, that Arkai’s type was highly intelligent, bold women. Someone who was in control, just as much as he was.

Cecilia Araceli had always been the top student who broke her own records, over and over and over again. Her work was meticulous, prophetic in more than one case. She was exactly the kind of woman Arkai would fall for.

It was the most natural thing in the world to fall this hard for her.

Especially after... after... after she had made him soil his pants twice. And one of those times, she hadn’t even been there.

"You know not to let anyone find out about this, right?" Arkai’s voice was low, serious. "It would be stupid to put her in danger over stupid hormonal shit on my side."

Roarke’s expression shifted, the teasing finally dropping away. "Man, what the fuck, of course not. But fuck, you want me to get her as far away from you as possible?" His brow furrowed with genuine worry. "Did she truly drug you or something? Is she dangerous?"

"No. Just—" Arkai paused, his thoughts tangling. "Just, yeah. Keep her as far away from me as possible."

He said it almost absentmindedly, his gaze distant.

Then—"But wait. No."

What if she got hurt?

She almost got hurt recently—

Arkai forced his brain to rewire itself.

Cecilia Araceli? Almost got hurt? What kind of delusion was that? She had domain-expanded an entire cemetery just to flex power and control his sister. She had frozen time itself, held Sienna helpless, and dismantled her psyche with nothing but words.

When had she almost gotten hurt recently?

Ah.

No.

She actually had.

She had almost gotten hurt because she got locked in the same room with a drugged man.

Him.

Fucking him.

"Alright. Fuck." Arkai’s voice dropped to a whisper. "Keep her as far away from me as possible."

I’m the fucking danger.

"Fine, fine, cool." Roarke raised both hands in mock surrender, but his eyes were sharp, assessing. "Oh, brother, why am I kinda scared? You’re freaking out, gosh."

He paused, letting the moment settle.

"Still, though."

Roarke’s gaze turned serious, pointed. It was the look of a man who had something important to say and was waiting for permission to say it.

Arkai met his eyes, mirroring the seriousness. "What?"

Roarke shook his head slowly, then shrugged. It somehow conveyed both uncertainty and certainty at once.

"She approached me first, just now." His voice was casual, but his eyes never left Arkai’s face. "Said she needed to catch up on some sleep. Insisted on staying close to the hall, getting quick access in case something happens."

He proceeded to relay the conversation. Cecilia’s request, her explanation, her insistence on being available even though her work was done. The words flowed easily, but beneath them, a current of meaning ran deep.

Now that he knew about Arkai’s predicament, the story took on a different weight.

"You’re saying she didn’t want to return to her dorm because—" Arkai’s voice caught, just slightly. "’You can’t be too careful’?"

Roarke shrugged again. Said nothing.

The silence stretched.

"You think there’s something suspicious now?" Arkai’s voice was low. "Now that you know about me and... her?"

"Yeah, man." Roarke’s honesty was brutal, unfiltered. "It’s either she knew something we don’t, that the conference is some kind of hot spot for trouble." He paused. "Or, fuck, she wants to get even closer to you."

Ah.

Fuck.

Arkai’s hand rose, slapping against the top half of his face. His fingers gripped tight, squeezing as if he could physically contain the chaos in his mind. A long, shuddering sigh escaped through his nose.

Roarke’s points were valid.

It truly was one or the other.

Or worse... both.

"Alright." Roarke’s voice cut through the spiral. "You know what? I’ll take care of it for you."

Arkai’s hand lowered slightly, one eye peeking through his fingers.

"I’ll put an eye on her. Tell you whatever I know." Roarke’s nod was firm. "And I’ll make sure nothing goes wrong."

He tilted his head, a half-smile tugging at his lips. "Cool?"

Arkai stared at him. His best friend. The man who had been through everything with him, who stood by him through chaos and calm alike. The words stuck in his throat.

"Man." His voice was rough. "Thank you."

"Hey." Roarke tapped his arm. "Double my salary this month, alright? It’s still hard work, being Arkai Dawnoro’s right hand man."

"I’ll triple it." The words came without hesitation. Arkai said, quieter, "I’m sorry. There are things... I couldn’t tell you. Not yet."

On that, Roarke squinted at him. In disgust.

"Brother." His voice dripped with offended dignity. "What use am I, being your right hand man, if I don’t have all the necessary info? Come on!"

Arkai narrowed his eyes back, a flicker of his old dry humor surfacing despite everything.

"Should I... quadruple it?"

"That’s NOT the point!"