“Cullen–”
“How long did you wait?”
He flinched. “What?”
A muscle twinged in Cullen’s jaw. “Before you started fucking him. How long did you wait?”
Walker hesitated, his face flushing. “I…it doesn’t matter, Cull. It was always you–”
“Was it before?”
He flinched. “No. No, I wouldn’t–”
“Did you ever love me?”
Horror flickered on his face. “What? Of course I did! I do! Cullen–”
“Leviathan said you didn’t.” He breathed, curling his hands so tightly he felt his now sharp nails digging into his palms. He was losing it. He should go before something happened. But…
“You can’t possibly believe him!” Walker cried, stepping forward. “Cullen, you were the love of my life–”
“Yeah, well, he’s the love of mine.” He snapped back, more shadows pooling around his feet. He stumbled back a step, shaking his head. “This was a mistake. I only wanted to tell you that I wasokay, but I realize now you don’t really care. I was never anything but a convenience for you.” He started to turn for the door. “I’m going to visit Dom–”
“Cullen!” His hand shot out, wrapping around his wrist. Cullen spun back in surprise and less than a heartbeat later Walker was kissing him, his hands tight on his face and his mouth hard and clumsy against his. Cullen gasped in surprise–and shivered as the darkness began to descend. He pushed against Walker’s chest, shoving him away, but the other man sprang forward again, kissing him hard. The darkness cloaked him, seemed to whisper to him that this was what he wanted, what he was used to. He knew how it would feel–
“Stop!” He gasped, curling his hands into tight fists to keep his body from responding the way the darkness wanted it too. “Stop!” He twisted his head to the side, and Walker’s lips moved to his ear, his arms wrapping tightly around him.
“Cullen,” he breathed, kissing his throat. “Stay with me. Stay with…I’ll break up with Ryan. He never meant anything to me anyway. It was always you–” His hand dipped down, moving to brush his erection. Cullen flinched, shaking his head in terror as the darkness wrapped him, starting to take control of his mind and his body just as it had always done with Leviathan in the beginning.
“No!” He cried, shoving him again. Walker stumbled back this time, shock spreading across his face–and the building burst apart, sending them flying away from each other.
54
They both screamed as they were thrown, pained grunts popping from both of them when they landed among the shattered wood and glass. From somewhere far away he heard a cry of pain–and then a scream for help. He ignored it, pushing himself up on trembling arms, his eyes searching through the gloom of dust and debris until they landed on a hulking figure. A monster in a swirl of shadows that made him gasp, his eyes popping wide in terror as the creature strode towards them, stopping just at the edge of the shattered building.
Cullen pushed himself up further, wincing as glass and splinters pricked at his skin. The scent of blood grew in the air, bringing the darkness down on him again. But he fought it back, forcing his aching ribs to move in a harsh breath as he looked up at the hulking figure.
It was Leviathan–but not. His body was nearly twice the size as usual, his dark hair longer, brushing the bottom of his throat. His chest was bare, revealing veins of scales thatgleamed and shimmered like moving snakes in the moonlight that wound their way up over his throat and face. And a thick ornate belt was strapped around his waist, holding some sort of flowy black fabric around his legs. Thick boots shifted in the debris, looking very much as if they could crush a skull with little effort.
But none of these were the most noticeable or terrifying changes.
Because just under his thick, deadly looking arms were two identical limbs just like them. Identical thick arms with long fingered hands and sharp black claws…
A soft, terrified whimper left Cullen, his body beginning to tremble at the death aura that rolled off of Leviathan as their eyes met. The fury there had him flinching away, had the humans nearby crying out in terror.
His eyes had gone snake-like, the pupils slit vertically and tinged red with rage. And his teeth…
Basilisk. His mind supplied for him, the word pulsing through him in terror. Not a snake. A basilisk. A monster in human form…or as close to human as it could possibly get.
And all that terrible immortal rage burning in those slit black-and-red eyes…it was focused on him with a deadly intensity.
Cullen tried to find his voice, to say his name, but the terror was curled too tightly around his throat, cutting off his breath. And his heartbeat had gone so quiet he worried it might have stopped completely.
That sharp jaw full of vicious sharp teeth gave a twitch, and seconds later shadows shot away from his body, winding over the shattered wood and glass. Dozens of them raced towards him–and then several veered off, heading straight for Walker, where he was sitting just a few feetaway. A thin line of blood ran down his temple, its fearful tang filling the air and making Cullen feel a bit sick.
He tried to find his voice, to say Leviathan’s name, but all that came out was a strangled gasp as Leviathan’s dark gaze shifted from his face to Walker’s, his eyes narrowing. Seconds later, Walker shrieked. Cullen gasped, whipping his head to the side in shock, his heart clenching when he saw that Walker was being dragged roughly over the debris, glass slicing along his arms and back while he screamed and screamed–
Cullen’s shadows shot out on their own, slicing against Leviathan’s shadows to snap their connection.
