Chapter 12
TWELVE
LEVIATHAN
He smiled at me.
As I lay on the couch, petting the furry monstrosity on my chest, I purr along with it. Aiden didn’t realize it, but he sensed me in the shadows. That deeply-ingrained essence of his soul called out to mine on the street just outside his school. He recognized me deep in the darkness when others would have just batted it away as regular paranoia.
No, he saw me. He looked deep into my masked eyes and a part of his soul reached out and laced with mine. We became intertwined in those brief moments where others would have fled or given into their fear.
My little lamb feels fear—I could practically taste it—but it was different to the ones I’ve encountered before. His has always been sweet in nature, coated in dripping honey, begging me to suckle it from the hive even if the bees sting my tongue.
“What are you doing?” I was in a surprisingly pleasant mood, lost in the thoughts in my head until Mammon approached me. He looms over me, cocking his head to the side as he studies the cat. “Are we keeping the cat?”
I shrug, only causing the little critter to nestle into my neck. “When I get bored I can just skin it and give its guts to Gore.”
“Fair enough,” he mutters. He rounds the couch and takes a seat across from me, crossing one long leg over the other as he clasps his hands on his lap. “Are we going to talk about where you were tonight?”
Irritation prickles at my skin and Mr. Flufferton—isn’t that what idiots call these things—notices. I sit up, throwing him off me as I meet Mammon’s stare. “Are you worried, brother?”
“You’re still wearing the collar,” he so helpfully points out. “It’s gonna scar.”
I smirk, sucking on my front teeth with a pop. “Hopefully.”
He shakes his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. Mammon looks like the typical boy next door. Strong and tall, with bright blue eyes and short cropped blond hair. He’s objectively handsome, like a comic book superhero, but he always looks so tired, so worn out, making him appear like he’s in his fifties and not thirty-five. Mammon, unlike the rest of us, never indulges in his carnal wants. It would do him good to let loose every now and then—at Master’s discretion of course—but he refuses. Even when Master lets us get some of our pent up energy out of the way, Mammon always stays behind.
I can tell there’s an unspoken question lingering in the air. I don’t like it when people skirt around the truth with me. I’d rather things be put bluntly but that’s not how Mammon plays with his food. He likes to inspect and dissect, thinking through his words for maximum effect. Because I respect him, I play his little game, knowing he wants more than brotherly bonding right now.
“Do you want to explain what your tantrum was about last night?” he questions finally, sitting back in his seat, appearing at ease, even though the crease in his blond brows tells me otherwise.
I swallow, my Adam’s Apple bumping against the collar. I don’t lie to my brothers. There’s never any point. Why obscure details or make false truths when we know what we are? There’s nothing I could think that Asi would judge me for. Nothing I could do that Bel and Gore wouldn’t try themselves. Mammon is a different story but only because he likes to hide who and what he is. But even then, sprinkles of his depravity come out when you least expect it.
“I was feeling restless,” I say. It’s not a complete lie, but I’m holding back the full truth for some reason.
Aiden Walker has proven to be… intriguing to me. Special? Is that what someone would call it? In the last seventy-two hours, not a single thought I’ve had hasn’t been of him, of ways that I could make him mine, of the wicked things I could do to him. Some of which he’d beg for me to stop, others which he’d beg for me to go on.
“How’s your bounty?”
As per the usual, Mammon guesses what I don’t say. He’s not looking at me in accusation, more of a curiosity, so I don’t grow frustrated. He’s just doing his job—watching out for his pack of hellhounds—and I can’t fault him for that.
“He’s going to be a fun one.” I shift, feeling my cock thicken, something that Mammon narrows in on with laser focus. He knows everything about me, so I see the brief shock in his light blue eyes at my unfortunate erection.
“Interesting,” he murmurs, scratching the corner of his jaw. “When will you do it?”
I shrug. If the others can play with their food first, so can I. I’ve never done anything besides stalk my victims, but a change of pace could be good for me. Not only good but necessary . I need to have my fun with Aiden, need to indulge in this need I have to interact with him and be around him and?—
A little bit of cum leaves my tip when I think about how pretty his ass would look like with my name carved into his pale skin.
“Leviathan?” Mammon snaps his fingers in front of my face. “By the Winter Solstice.”
I nod, knowing that my time with Aiden is dwindling. I have less than three months before the sacrifices need to be complete. I’m only guessing that Bel and Gore have already captured their bounty for this year and are ready to present them soon. Asi and Mammon will take their time, but they’ll still be done with enough to spare.
I know I’m going to crave every second with Aiden before it’s my turn to drag him into hell. I want to have my private fun with him—do all the disgustingly primal things my mind imagines—but I can’t do that without making a move. Stalking him in the shadows has been fun, but I think it’s time for more drastic measures.
I pick at my collar, the only thing holding me back, and wonder what it would be like to unleash myself fully. I’ve only done it once when I was young and inexperienced, led only by my instincts and wants. It’s not fear that’s kept me from going against Master but just the understanding that this is the way things need to be.
Bark, bark.
But it’s in there. It’s rattling in the cage. It’s growing harder to deny what it wants.
I stand abruptly, nearly knocking the center table over as I do. I need to see Aiden. Touch him, lick him, mark him?—
A hand wraps around my wrist and I snarl at Mammon. He raises a brow at me before digging his nails into my skin. “Not tonight. Tonight, we eat as a family. You can have your fun tomorrow.”
I sulk. I just want to see my little lamb, but Mammon isn’t leaving any room for argument. We make sure to dine together once a week, and since I saw our housekeeper limping into the house earlier, I know we’ll be well fed tonight.
Still…
“It can wait, Leviathan,” Mammon insists, nearly drawing blood with his grip. “We eat as a family tonight.”
I nod, yanking my arm from his hold. “Fine.”
I tell myself that this will be a good thing. It’ll just amp up the anticipation of seeing Aiden again. Might even be a fun little game. I’ll let him think everything is okay, that there’s nothing lurking in the darkness ready to bite at his ankles, and he’ll become complacent.
Maybe he’ll even miss my unannounced presence. Look for me in the shadows. Wonder where the other half of his soul is.
Yes, this will work just fine.
Mammon stands and reaches for my collar, but I hiss. Once again, he quirks a brow in nothing but interest. “You don’t want to take it off?”
I shake my head. If I take my collar off, there’s no telling what I’ll do. No telling what I’ll become. It’s a daunting sense of foreboding that keeps it around my neck. Excitement too. A thrill and a rush and a pulse that I’ve never felt before.
Because the fight for my sanity is bittersweet.