A sharp crack rang through the air, the sound instantly sending Cullen into a desperate sprint away. He heard Leviathan laugh but he only ran faster, rounding the nearest building just as there was a burst of energy behind him. A wave of heat and light as if a bomb had gone off…and then silence. A heavy, thick silence that had Cullen pumping his legs faster.
Missed. They’d missed.
They always fucking missed.
He rounded a corner–and fell into a thick patch of shadows. A cry of shock and terror tore from him–and he landed hard against a brick wall, the impact making a sharp gasp of pain pop from him. He spun around–and jumped a foot when he found Leviathan striding toward him up a thin alleyway shrouded in shadows. Trash littered the ground and it smelled like piss, but Leviathan looked pleased, that wicked, more natural smile spreading across his face as he approached.
“Now that we have a moment.” He murmured, coming in close enough that Cullen could smell his overwhelmingly sweet scent. Like vanilla or caramel but…off. Unidentifiable, but pleasing. Even if Cullen flinched away from the hand that was raising towards his face, that scent…it loosened something in him that he did not want to think about.
“You’re trembling.” Leviathan whispered as he brushed a short strand of dark hair back behind Cullen’s ear. “You need not fear me, pet.”
“Yeah, right.” He hissed, twisting his head to the side to avoid the touch.
He thought of the night Leviathan had escaped Walker’s hold on him. Cullen had woken to a shrill, terrible scream of pain, and then he’d been greeted with the sight of a monster, a black veined humanoid demon covered in scales pulling itself out of Walker’s unmarred abdomen with a smooth, terrifying grace. He’d screamed and their teachers, their guardians at the Academy had come running from their own dormitory. But it had been far too late to try to contain the creature.
The scaled monster had turned a vicious, sharp-toothed smile on them, blinked at Cullen with beady black eyes, andthen had morphed into a man that looked…so very much like Walker. But older. Taller and more handsome, if Cullen was being honest. Stronger and swifter and more dangerous than they could dream–but still Walker had jumped up, had grabbed his shortsword from the bedside table and lashed out at Leviathan.
And Leviathan had snapped his arm with one quick jerk of his hand, his eyes–still black, but much more human, the beady circles nothing but small pupils now–never leaving Cullen’s terrified gaze. Cullen hadn’t been able to move, even as Walker cried out in pain and begged him to grab a weapon…
Leviathan had only smiled, looking excited, and closed his fist in a tight grasp that had the building around them crumpling as if an earthquake had rocked through the ground and destroyed it. The ceiling had come down on him, on Walker, and something heavy had smashed into his head. Cullen had only barely been conscious enough to see Leviathan disappear into a pool of deep, unnatural shadows before everything had gone black.
And when he’d woken, bruised and bandaged in their medical unit, with Dominick–his overbearing sort-of-adoptive father–standing over him, looking anxious, he’d understood what they were meant to face now. He’d been terrified, especially since he couldn’t fight with a concussion, but happy that he and Walker had both made it out alive, even if it would be short lived.
They had waited, had sent out search parties to look for the demon now on the loose. And they'd found nothing. And twice, the Diviners sent out had not come back. Had run or been eaten by the demon, it was impossible to know.
They had been questioned over and over again about what had happened, what had gone wrong. Walker hadnearly been thrown into prison for his weakness–the first in the long line of family members to fail the most important task in history–but they had talked and begged their way out of that one. Mostly because of Dom vouching for him. Cullen would always be grateful to him for so much–but that most of all.
And once they’d healed and still nothing had happened with Leviathan, they had been foolish enough to hope that the demon had simply disappeared from this world. Had gone back to whatever hellish dimension he’d come from and stayed there.
And then he’d showed up in the courtyard of the Academy, inches from where Walker and Cullen had stood with their hands linked together, and he’d smiled in that way that told Cullen somebody was about to die.
He’d grabbed Cullen, snatched him away with a vicious jerk, and murmured that he was back for his prize, for his new toy, and that he was done waiting. Cullen had only gaped at him blankly–it had been Walker that had jerked forward with a dagger, aiming for where the creature’s heart should be. And Leviathan had flung out a hand, sending Walker flying back a dozen feet, his hand clenching on Cullen when he tried to pull away. Cullen had cried out in rage and slammed a dagger into the prick’s ribcage–and Leviathan had let go of him with a soft gasp, his eyes widening in surprise.
Cullen had stumbled backwards, watching expectantly for the runes on the blade to affect him, to hurt him, but Leviathan had only given him a sly smile and yanked the dagger out. He’d brought it to his mouth and licked the black blood from it and Cullen had heard himself gasp–and then Leviathan had disappeared into one of those shadowy dark portals and not returned.
After that, they’d begun setting traps for the bastard. With Cullen as the unwilling bait.
And they kept getting into messes similar to this one now. Cullen had secretly begun to wonder if Leviathan was only toying with them.
Tonight made it pretty fucking obvious he was.
“I have no interest in hurting you, Cullen.” His finger traced the shape of Cullen’s ear and an involuntary shiver ran down his spine in response.
“You broke my boyfriend’s arm.” He spat, trying to control his trembling and failing horribly. Leviathan inched closer and Cullen threw up his hands between them, pressing them to the hard, flat surface of his stomach to keep him back. Leviathan sucked in a breath as if the pressure pleased him.
“But that’s not hurtingyou.” He murmured, pressing closer. Cullen gasped and tensed as his nose ran along the edge of his jaw. Leviathan inhaled slowly and shivered, his muscles twitching under Cullen’s fingers. “I can smell it under your fear, you know. The attraction. The desire.”
“You’re fucking insane!” He snarled, shoving at him. “Get away from me!”
Leviathan made a soft, irritated sound and curled a slow, firm hand around his throat, making Cullen gasp as his head was forced back.
“I won’t hurt you–”
“You dropped a fucking building on me!” He cried, terror seeping into his voice as he clutched at Leviathan’s wrist. “Let go!”
His hand tightened, momentarily cutting off Cullen’s air, and then loosened again. “I couldn’t have you chasing after me, pet. Then I might have had no choice in hurting you.” Heleaned closer and Cullen tensed, his eyes dropping to his mouth as it neared his own.
“Stop.” He whispered, tears stinging his eyes. He wasn't a coward. Hewasn't.But something about this prick always made him a whimpering, trembling mess that couldn't do shit. “Don’t touch me. Let me go!” He squeezed his eyes closed as terror rocked through him. “I don’t want to die…” He whispered, mostly to himself, praying silently in his head that Walker would find them soon. Or Dom. Preferably Dom; he was the only one that even remotely stood a chance against this type of demon.
