I think The Beast is definitely after Cordelia. Before he came through the surface, he was probably expecting Cordy (The Higher Being) to be all super strong and powerful. Then when he picked her up by the neck, he was shocked by how helpless and physically weak she was. He had an extremely surprised look on his face while he was staring at her. The Beast was probably thinking, "Hmmm...this is gonna be a lot easier than I thought. Maybe I should come up with another plan." That's when he took off. Maybe Cordelia's the only one that can stop him and she doesn't know it yet. The other obvious opponent would be Angel. He was the closest one to defeating The Beast, up until he was staked through the neck. Ouch!!