“Jackass.” He hissed, pushing away from the wall. “Now I’m going to have to be all uncomfortable during the movie.” He brushed past him, stepping out of the alleyway. Leviathan followed him, radiating smugness, and Cullen glared down the empty street–and felt his eyes pop wide when a group of people rounded the corner.
They were laughing loudly, clearly drunk, and hanging on each other. Cullen felt a little twinge of nervousness as they started towards them. Leviathan’s hand came up, curling gently around the back of his neck, as if he was reminding him again of the threat. He ignored the tightening in his stomach and pasted a smile on his face as the group moved past them on the sidewalk.
He was momentarily startled by the scent rolling off them. Like sunlight and a warm breeze and…life. As if he could sense their vitality. Leviathan’s hand squeezed the back of his neck gently and then a slow thumb ran along his spine. Cullen drew in a slow breath, blinking a few times before he looked up again.
Half the group had paused, the men’s eyes falling on Leviathan beside him while the women paused a little distance away, their eyes wide. Cullen tensed, expecting something dramatic, but one of the men only grinned wildly and called out, “Love the tattoos, dude!” Before he hurried back to his date.
Cullen blinked, watching them walk away, and then turned back to Leviathan in confusion.
He looked momentarily surprised before he grinned, looking pleased. “Good thing humans are so stupid,” he muttered, rolling up the sleeves of his sweater. “They so easily convince themselves they’re seeing something natural.”
Cullen’s eyes fell on the scaled veins that ran up his arms and throat, visible just above his collarbone. Tattoos indeed. Certainly not the markings of a Prince of Hell.
“If you keep looking at me like that,” Leviathan murmured, a slow smile curving his lips up. “I may be inclined to make you get on your knees in this very public alley.
“Shut up.” Cullen scoffed, whipping away from him as his face went red. “Let’s go.”
“Not yet.”
He jerked to a stop, his eyes going wide as Leviathan drew him back to him. Leviathan grinned at the surprise on his face.
“Your eyes, pet.” He murmured, drawing him even closer. “They hardly scream human.”
He sucked in a startled breath, realizing Leviathan had never kept up his side of the bargain to teach him how to get rid of those terrible beady orbs in his head.
“You told me you would–”
“I never specified when.” He blinked; when he opened his eyes again they were human, whites surrounding a little pebble of darkness. Still abnormal, really, but passable. Cullen’s throat gave a hard bob.
“Teach me.”
“It’s simple.” Leviathan murmured, pressing a light kiss against his eye, forcing it closed. “You simply have to want it badly enough.” He kissed the other closed and drew back. “Focus.”
He did, drawing up the image of his own face–the human one. With the features that were just a little rounder, his skin just a tinge darker. And his eyes… He pictured his own eyes…that dark shade of blue that had always earned him compliments and stares… An ache shot through his chest, a fierce desire…and when he opened his eyes again, he saw Leviathan’s lips part in surprise.
“Beautiful.” He breathed, bringing his hand up to touch his cheek. “I missed them.”
Cullen gave a hard swallow and turned away, his face burning.
28
Ittook them no time at all to find the busy street the group of people had come from. He wasn't sure how Leviathan had found such a secluded road so close to an area like this. Stores lit up the whole block, lights on and doors open since the night was so warm. He could see trinkets and pastries in the windows. People crowded the buildings and the street, buying food from all sorts of vendors. A tourist trap. It was exactly the type of place he would have loved to avoid before Leviathan had ripped him away from humanity altogether.
Now he wanted nothing more than to participate in the activities.
"There's a theater further down the street." Leviathan muttered from behind him. "I've been here a few times for…personal reasons."
Cullen didn't ask what "personal reasons" meant, just set off into the crowd, stopping to examine the stands every few minutes. He frowned when he realized he had no money, butthe disappointment quickly vanished as he lost himself in the crowd, listening in on the conversations of completely boring, ordinary people. His eyes burned again as he moved further down the street, Leviathan trailing behind him.
It was a strange sight, that demon prince walking among these mere mortals who had no idea what lurked beside them. The monster…well…the two monsters that were walking casually down the street like any other couple searching for a good time. He shook the thought of them being a couple away and hurried towards the theater he could see down the street.
Leviathan followed him inside with an irritated sigh, as if he was regretting this whole thing. But he said nothing and, to Cullen's surprise, pulled cash out of his pocket and paid for their tickets, looking even more irritated. Cullen gawked at him. He didn't think he had ever seen Leviathan be so civil with another person. And he certainly hadn’t expected him to just have money like any normal citizen. Or use it to buy them popcorn and drinks.
"You have money?" He asked curiously as they took their seats in the back row. The theater was mostly empty, just a few couples scattered throughout the large room. Cullen could barely even remember what movie they were here to see, but he was glad they wouldn’t have a ton of eyes on them. Glad that he could sit in the dark and maybe–just maybe–pretend he wasn’t on a date with a prince of hell. Just a guy. A normal guy. Like Walker…
“Did you think I was going to sneak us in instead?” Leviathan asked with a grin, swiping the popcorn from his hands.
“I hadn’t thought about it.” He admitted, flushing. “But where’d you get it? The cash?”
