Something about going back to that room without him had made Leviathan feel sick.
Sick. A human weakness. It was stupid to chase the cause of that. Stupid to not just slit his throat and be done with it.
But…
The clouds shifted and the moonlight moved to cover them. Leviathan sucked in a soft breath at the sight of the silver on Cullen’s pale skin. White as bone, with that light on him. White as a bone and just as pretty. He paused his stride, watching him breathlessly for a moment. Cullen murmured something in his sleep and Leviathan felt something warm and heavy bloom in his chest. An entirely unfamiliar feeling–one that he was not positive he should let himself feel.
Still, he continued on, carrying Cullen towards his newhome. The doors of the palace fell open, spilling dull golden light across them both as they made their way up the steep steps. And then they closed again, shutting them away inside together.
Home.He pressed the thought into Cullen’s subconscious mind, letting the word weave its way through his dreams.We are home, Cullen.
7
Hewas warm. Warm and…comfortable.
Cullen rolled onto his stomach with a soft moan, rubbing his face on the pillow. The pillow that smelled so familiarly sweet. He pressed his nose into it, gasping softly as he inhaled, and someone chuckled softly from across the room.
He turned his face again, blinking his eyes open slowly. Black sheets. Silk. The faint smell of smoke and the crackle of fire–
He jolted upright with a gasp of horror, memories assaulting him as he took in the dark room he was in. A fire roared in a large grate across the room, the red and yellow flames nestled in a massive black stone fireplace. They flickered light across the dim room, casting wicked looking shadows that moved like strange waves across the floor and the furniture…
And across the man sitting in a red lounge chair just a few yards away, his head propped on his fist while he watched Cullen with a smug smile.
An immeasurable amount of time passed while they stared at each other. Cullen’s heart was loud and fast in his ears, the sound drowning out the crackling of the fire. And his body was trembling so badly he worried he would tumble right out of this giant bed with the billowy black curtains if he moved so much as an inch. Leviathan only watched him with a calm smile, his legs crossed casually at the ankle as if he hadn’t kidnapped him. As if he hadn’t attacked his friends and his family. As if he wasn’t an ancient demon known for mass murder and manipulation, brutal acts for no reason other than that he was bored. And fucking cannibalism as well. As if he wasn’t planning on doing unspeakable things to the man in his bed.
It took Cullen ages to find his voice. It was weak when it finally came. “Where am I?”
“Home.” Leviathan murmured, remaining unmoving.
This crazy son of a bitch. “Don’t dance around the answer. Where are we? This place is…”
“Think of it as a space between worlds.” He responded quietly. “Not quite Hell, not quite the human realm. Just…here. Home.”
His throat began to swell with tears. He drew in a slow breath before speaking. “Please let me go, Leviathan.”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that, pet.”
“Stop calling me that!” He cried, whipping the heavy blanket off and springing to his feet. The floor was hot against his skin, as if the fire’s warmth had seeped into it. “I want to go home!”
Leviathan stood in a shockingly smooth move and Cullen flinched, stumbling back a step on instinct. He moved towards him and Cullen backed up even more, jumping when his ass slammed into the bedside table he hadn’tnoticed before. Leviathan stopped just in front of him. Cullen stared at his throat, breathing shakily, his heart racing even faster when he realized how very much taller Leviathan was than him. How had he never noticed that before?
His hand came up, his fingers brushing against his cheek, and Cullen flinched again, his trembling growing worse.
“You are home.” He whispered, sounding a bit breathless. “You are with me.”
The tears came too hard and too quickly for him to try to stop them; he squeezed his eyes closed and they slipped down his cheeks.
“No…No, I don’t belong here…”
“You do, Cull.” His lips brushed his temple. “I have you–”
Cullen lurched back with a scream of rage and slammed his fist into his jaw. Leviathan’s head shot to the side and he stumbled backwards, though he looked more stunned than hurt. The expression he turned back to Cullen would have sent him spiraling in terror–if rage hadn’t ripped through him so ferociously that he could feel it under his skin like a living entity. A darkness that took control of him and had him springing at Leviathan with sharp claws–claws–and razor-edged fangs. He swiped at his face, leaving deep cuts, and his teeth snapped inches from his throat–and then Leviathan had his wrists in a painfully tight grip, his face inches from Cullen’s and blazing with rage.
“Do you have any idea what I would do to someone–anyone–else who pulled what you just did?” His voice was deathly quiet, dripping with rage.
“What?” He spat, getting even closer to him as more tears ran down his face. “You gonna fucking kill me?! Do it! I don’t want to live here! Withyou! I don’t want to be a fuckingmonster! Just put me out of my misery!”
Leviathan’s hands trembled on his wrists as if he wanted to do just that, squeezing even tighter before he let go of him and stepped back with a harsh exhale.
