“Like what?” He chuckled. Cullen gave no response. “One little word from you and this could all–”
“Fine!” He spat, shooting a furious gaze up to him. “I’ll do it, okay? I’ll…play nice.” He shifted uneasily at the words, though he supposed he’d already been playing the part here and there. It might not be so bad. “But…I want a blood vow.”
Leviathan’s smile vanished. “What?”
He raised his chin. “A blood vow. To make sure you can’t go back on your word.” It was something that all people could do, if they knew the right phrase to call on the magic, if they knew how to tug on the correct strings of their souls. Even demons, should they be persuaded to make the vow, could not go against it for fear of death. Or so the stories went.
After a few long heartbeats, Leviathan gave him a small nod. “As you wish.”
Cullen blinked in surprise and lowered his crossed arms to his sides as Leviathan approached again. After another sly smile, Leviathan raised his wrist to his mouth and bit down. Blood ran in a slow line down his arm as he drew it away again. Cullen tried very hard not to think about the last time he’d seen his wrist gashed open like that.
“Well?” Leviathan asked softly. “Give me your hand.”
He hesitated, swallowing hard, and then offered him his hand. Leviathan brought it to his mouth, bending it back a bit so he could reach his wrist. His eyes remained on Cullen’s as he brushed one of his fangs against the delicate skin–and then sank down. Cullen winced and gasped, and Leviathan gripped him tighter, biting down a little harder. Blood ran down his arm in a thin line and, as he watched, Leviathan’s human eyes flickered to that terrifying pure black again.
“Levi–”
The terrified word broke off with a gasp as Leviathan drew his teeth out of him again. Cullen watched in horror as Leviathan’s tongue darted out, following the line of blood down his wrist.
“S-stop that!” He gasped, his face going red. “You freak! That’s so gross!” Even as he said the words, he could feel that terrible dizziness washing over him again at the scent of the blood, leaving him feeling weak and–
Leviathan let go of him, shooting a hand forward with a quick jerk to cup the back of his neck. Cullen gasped as he yanked him forward, his forehead knocking gently against his. A muscle feathered in Leviathan’s jaw before he slowly shut his eyes and said something in a guttural, incomprehensible demon language.
Cullen jolted as sharp magic pierced into his chest, his hand coming up to push Leviathan away in panic. Leviathan only gripped his neck tighter, holding him still as magic threaded between their chest in three intense waves of pain, like a knife stabbing into him and back out again–
The pain vanished as if a switch had been flipped, leaving only a phantom sting in its wake. He pressed a hand to his chest in shock and then turned a horrified glare up to Leviathan. “What the hell was that?!” It hadn’t been a blood vow. At least, not the kind he’d been told about. It was supposed to be a simple lock of the hands, a few low words–Testor eam in animam meam et sanguinem meum–I swear it on my soul and my blood–and then a gentle curl of heavenly light around the wrists… Not whatever the hell that had been.
“An older version of your blood vow.” He murmured, licking the blood from his own wrist. Cullen darted his eyes away, telling himself he definitely did not find something psychotic like that hot in any capacity. “A stronger version.”
He exhaled harshly. “And what did you say? In that other language? Did you just screw me over with some creepy demon magic?”
He sneered. “I’m not sure why you think I would do such a thing, when I’ve been nothing but kind to you, but no, it’s nothing outlandish. Simply our bargain in an older tongue. You do as I say tonight, you don’t cause trouble, and I’ll teach you how to change your eyes.” He blinked and when he opened his again, they were that dangerous inky black once more. “Tonight,” he murmured, bringing a hand up to touch his face. “You are one of us. Tomorrow…we can play human.” He chuckled and pressed a thumb down on his lip. Cullen was about to bite him, but he drew away, his hand dropping to his side. “Let’s go.”
14
Cullen stared around the throne room in horror, taking in the various hideous demons scattered throughout it. They were ugly and slimy and bug eyed. Some looked as if they had been dipped in acid, skin hanging in loose ribbons and pockets of bone showing through here and there. Some looked as if they weremadeof acid, their bodies made of oozing green liquid that bubbled and sizzled when they walked past him. And some looked disturbingly human, dressed nicely, with dark, secretive smiles on their faces. All different shapes and sizes and heights. All of them monstrous in one way or another.
The throne room itself was decorated with bone candelabras and an intricate chandelier made of bone. Dark drinks in tall glasses were passed around by the servants that he had grown used to seeing in the past week. The quiet demons with the white skin that always seemed to be covered with a thin layer of frost, as if they were freezing and dying and would never find warmth in their miserablelives.
There was no food; Cullen tried to not think about the reasons for that, about what all these creatures ate. He suspected he was the only one here who wouldn't eat raw…meat. He winced at the thought, panic gripping him at the thought of what all these monsters did in their free time. How many of them raped, killed and tortured? How many had killed children? How many laughed at the thought of human suffering?
His hands came up at the thought, his fingers flexing as they called up his shadows. These people…these creatures…they were evil. Pure evil incarnate. If he could take down just a couple before they killed him–
Leviathan’s hand came down hard on his shoulder, startling him so badly he dropped his hands to his sides. "You are too smart to do something stupid like break a blood vow.” He hissed furiously.
Cullen shook him off with a scoff. “What's the difference? I can die by betraying the gods or I can be torn apart by a room full of demons. One seems much worse than the other.”
“Have you ever seen a blood vow betrayed?” Leviathan scoffed quietly.
Cullen said nothing, glaring at the wall while he refused to answer.
“Your blood would boil.” Leviathan’s voice grew softer, more threatening somehow. “Your skin would peel as if somebody had taken a cheese grater to it. And your soul would cave in on itself and rot inside you before disappearing. You would cease to exist entirely. In this world and the next.”
His throat gave a hard bob, but he only turned a small smirk up to the other man. “It's that easy to off myself, huh?One little outburst and then poof.” He snapped his fingers. “Gone just like that.”
Leviathan’s face pinched unhappily. “Cullen…”
Really, now that he thought about it, making that vow had been fucking genius. The betrayal could be made in a split second and then it could all be over with…
