“Don’t presume to know how my heart works.” He snapped. “I was an angel once. I know what love feels like!” He slammed a hand down on his shoulder, making him gasp and flinch. “Why do you think you’re still alive?!”
It took him too long to respond, panic taking over briefly before the rage came back.
“You hit me. That is not fucking love.”
The hand on his shoulder tightened. “You’re lucky that’s all I–”
“If you think I will stay with you hitting me and screaming at me and forcing me to fucking kneel, you’ve got another thing coming!” He cried, his grip tightening on his wrist. “I may be a glutton for fucking punishment, but I will not let myself be treated that way!”
They matched eachother’s glare for what felt like an eternity. And then, slowly, Leviathan let go of him, and Cullen felt that magic grip on his legs vanish. He gasped and slowly climbed to his feet, his whole body trembling as he slid back a step.
“I want to stay with you.” He whispered shakily, his face flushing again as he stared up at him. “More than I have ever wanted anything. I love you. But…I will not let you treat me like that. Youcannot. If you want me to stay.”
Leviathan’s head tilted curiously and seconds later he was raising his hand, his large palm coming up to cup the cheek he had slapped. Cullen swallowed hard, his eyes widening at the shivers the touch sent through him.
“Very well.” Leviathan said softly, stroking his thumb along his cheek. “I will not strike you again.” He paused. “Or force you to kneel.” A sudden clank from behind him made Cullen jump. But his eyes did not leave Leviathan’s. “But you will prove your loyalty to me before the night is up.”
A soft grunt had him spinning around, his eyes popping wide at the sight of the kneeling figure chained to the center of the floor.
He was bloody and shirtless, wearing nothing but the same blue pajama pants he’d been wearing when they’d left the academy. The blood at his temple had dried, though his brown hair was still coated in it, his skin still speckled and streaked. The scent hit Cullen but for the first time since he’d become a demon, it didn’t bring that darkness flooding into him. He didn’t move or breathe as he took in the tears on Walker’s face or the cloth tied around his mouth to muffle his panicked crying.
“What…what is he…”
Something slid across the floor, smacking into his feet. He steppedback with a yelp of shock, but froze when he saw the long blade–this one made of white and red bone– that had come to a stop in front of him.
“Levi…”
“I will not have him come between us again.” Leviathan said quietly from behind him. “You choose now. If you want to stay here with me, be my equal, be my partner, kill him. If not…” Shadows flicked across the floor, rising up behind him and making him flinch again. “I may love you, Cullen. But I do not play around with loyalty. You will be my partner, or you will be my slave. If I have to tie you to the bed, I will. And you will not leave it again.” A long, sharp claw swiped against his throat, drawing a strand of hair off it. Cullen swallowed hard, his legs trembling as he met Walker’s gaze. “Make this easy on us both, pet. Get it over with and we can go back to what we were before. We can bebetterthan we were before.”
“Better?” He echoed weakly, his stomach tying itself into a knot. He couldn’t imagine whatbetterwould look like but…he couldn’t deny that he wanted it.
Leviathan’s lips came down on his shoulder, making him jump. “Just one little stab. One little slash. Make up for how you hurt me.” Magic pulsed and the knife flew to Cullen’s hand, making him gasp. Across the room, Walker began to scream around his gag, struggling back against the chain that bound his wrists to the floor. Clearly, he had no doubts Cullen would do this.
It made him feel angry all over again. Didn’t he know him better than that? Did he think him a murderer?
Show him one.Leviathan whispered into his mind, his lips coming down on him again.You are mine. You are meant to be like me.He kissed him again and this time his lips lingeredagainst his throat, making Cullen’s eyes flutter shut.
“‘It is better to reign in Hell,’” Leviathan whispered into his ear, “‘than serve in Heaven.’” Cullen gasped, recognizing the words from John Milton’s poemParadise Lost, one of the countless bits of literature they’d studied at the academy. Leviathan smiled against his skin. “Lucifer knew him. They were friends, I believe. Lucifer got drunk one night and said those very words to him. They had already been our mantra for many, many years.” He nipped at his throat; Cullen flinched as those sharp teeth pricked his skin. “I will teach you the meaning of them now. Kill him.” He nudged him forward. Cullen hesitated, clutching the hilt of the knife in a sweaty hand.
“C…can’t I prove it some other way?” He asked weakly, more tears welling in his eyes.
“No. This is what I want from you.”
He hesitated again, drawing in a slow breath, and then slid forward a step, his eyes falling to the floor. Cowardly, he supposed, but he couldn’t bring himself to look at Walker while he considered this.
But what was there to consider, really?
He wanted to stay, to be Leviathan’s equal. So he would do it. He didn’t have much of a choice.
Walker grew more desperate the closer he stepped, the chain clanking loudly and his cries growing more shrill with each passing second.
It’s torture to let this drag out, isn’t it?He wondered silently as he came to a stop in front of him. Torture to let him fear and cry and wait…
He didn’t deserve it, though. Not even if he’d betrayed him. Lied to him. It made Cullen furious but…
Was he really selfish enough to do such a thing?
This was it, wasn’t it? The last shred of his humanity. Killing an innocent person for his own gain…
