Cullen bit down hard and Leviathan yanked back in surprise, his eyes going wide as blood began to drip down his chin. Cullen gaped up at him in shock and confusion, fighting back against the darkness in his body even as it screamed at him to pull Leviathan back down to him.
“Get…get the fuck off me!” He gasped, outraged. At Leviathan. At himself. At those fucked up shadows that had taken control of his body.
Leviathan gaped down at him as if he’d said the sky was brown. He didn’t move, and Cullen instantly began to tremble in terror.
“Get off me!” He choked out again, tears flooding his eyes as the disbelief and guilt tore through him. How could he possibly have kissed Leviathan like that? And so soon after he and Walker had…
“You don’t mean that.” Leviathan hissed, distracting him from the terrible thoughts. “You were kissing me back.”
“No!” He cried, mortified. The darkness surged again, making him shiver, and then quickly ebbed away once more. “I didn’t want to! My body just…the shadows, I didn’t…” The tears spilled over, a thousand memories of kissing Walker flashing into his mind. “I didn’t want to…”
Slowly, Leviathan moved away from him, standing as he watched Cullen roll quickly off the bed and wipe his mouth. The darkness was retreating into the far corner of his mind again, where it seemed to always be resting and waiting to take control of him again. The strange dimness was half the reason he refused to eat any of the food–any of thebody parts–the servants brought him; it was brought on by the scent and taste of blood. He felt like a damn shark.
"You feel better now, don't you?" Leviathan said smugly.
Cullen dropped his gaze, saying nothing. But the hunger had died down and even the burning in his throat felt better, as if the blood had helped to heal it. He tried very hard to not think about what he’d just swallowed.
Leviathan moved towards him, touching his cheek with the back of his fingers. He winced, realizing his time to 'get over' Walker must be up. He must have pushed his luck too far. "Let's make this easier on both of us," Leviathan said quietly. "Just eat it next time. Don't make me be the bad guy, Cullen." He dropped his hand, moving towards the door. Cullen froze in surprise. "Make sure you finish–"
"Isn't there any other way?" He asked, his voice strained. If Leviathan wasn't getting violent, wasn't forcing him to do anything, maybe he was in a decent enough mood for Cullen to ask a favor. "I can't… I can't do it this way…" He'd realized that the first day they’d brought him a thigh. It was human,hewas human. Or had been. Despite the hunger that had gripped him, he hadn't been able to do it, to eat like all demons ate. But the pain in his stomach was only growing more unbearable by the hour…
Leviathan turned back with a thoughtful expression. "Are you saying if I found a less…gruesome way…you would eat without complaint?"
Cullen hesitated, clutching his aching belly, and then he nodded. "I just…need to be able to pretend it's not…what it is." And pretend that he wasn’t also driven half mad by the sight of severed limbs and the scent of blood.
Leviathan frowned slightly, raising an eyebrow. "I'm sure I can work that out." He said finally. "But in exchange," He continued, smirking. "You start eating with me in the dining hall."
After a long moment, Cullen nodded. "Fine." He was already getting sick of this room anyway. And he couldn’t very well escape in whatever type of way without knowing more about where he was. Freaking out and locking himself in his room had been a mistake in the first place.
A small smile tugged at Leviathan’s lips, but Cullen ignored it, looking towards the window. He had the view memorized by now; a dark sky lit by a red sun that rose and fell each day, casting the sky into complete blackness at night. Small mountains rose in the distance, the land scorched and black, and fires always seemed to be burning in the hills, filling the air with ash. He had seen no living thing outside of the servants that came into his room, cleaned his clothes and bedsheets, and left again. He had barely spoken to anyone and contemplated throwing himself out the window many times, hoping the fall would end him and this hellish existence, but scared it wouldn't. That he would merely end up crippled and completely at Leviathan’s mercy with no way to defend himself.
"Have you left your room?" Leviathan asked quietly.
Cullen shook his head, humoring the question, though he knew Leviathan knew he hadn’t left.
The demon held out his hand. "Let me show you around."
Cullen hesitated.
"You're immortal now, you know. Do you really plan on remaining in this room for the rest of your existence?"
He winced and moved towards the door slowly. When Leviathan tried to take his hand, he yanked it away with a glare. Leviathan glared right back; Cullen couldn't help the shudder that ran down his spine as those black, inhuman eyes raked down his body.Revulsion,he told himself.Not desire.
"You asked me to find a way for you to eat,” Leviathan’s voice was soft and tense. “I agreed to do so. But you have to let me in a little first."
Cullen tensed, his teeth slamming together.It's just holding hands.He told himself. It wasn't like Leviathan was forcing him down to the bed again. Still, his hand trembled violently as he reached for Leviathan’s. The moment they touched, Leviathan intertwined their fingers, pulling Cullen closer. He stilled, but Leviathan only offered a small smile before pulling him from the room.
11
Okay. It really wasn’t so bad.Awkward, to be sure. And uncomfortable. And he couldn’t keep himself from imagining that Leviathan might randomly decide to rip his arm clean off just as he had done to whoever that arm from before had belonged to.
He grimaced at the memory. Fingers. He’d eaten fingers. And liked it.
Fuck.
“Overthinking again, I see.” Leviathan murmured, squeezing his hand. Cullen’s face pinched even tighter with discomfort at the warm pressure.
“Shut up.” He hissed, furious that Leviathan could read him so easily.
