Chapter Twenty-Two #2
I wasn't sure if I'd been in a fever dream for an hour or a day, but when I awoke, Leander was staring down at me. His demeanour had darkened, and his usually loose, effortless stance had become controlled and terrifyingly still.
And there on his neck, on his forearms, rippling across his hands were the black veins that I had seen on my own skin. It was the curse from Corruption. I stared at my hands, and they were clear from any sign of it.
Why did Leander have the curse, and not me?
He also didn’t succumb to the curse like I had. He seemed to be overpowering it. I could see some discomfort on his face, but then it faded after a few moments, along with those black veins.
He stood there, shoulders rising and falling with steady breaths.
I found the strength to whisper, “Leander, what’s going on—”
A blue light spiralled around Leander, before he slumped back into a chair, his usual elegance stripped away. His breath was uneven and his shoulders tense, as though whatever he had just done had drained something vital from him.
“It’s gone,” he said, his voice deeper than usual, almost monstrous. His gaze met mine, and my breath caught.
His cobalt-blue eyes were swirling like something sentient slithered beneath the surface.
Like snakes coiling around his pupils.
“You must be more careful,” he murmured, his tone still edged with something unnatural. Something not human.
The truth slammed into me like a crashing wave.
I had thought Leander was just another soul in Temptation. A charming rogue. A fine fighter. The leader of the Thorns. Someone who helped train others, who guided me through The Crossing, who taunted me with his lazy smirks.
I had been so, so wrong.
Leander wasn’t just another soul.
“You’re a demon,” I whispered. “You’re the Demon of Temptation.”
His eyes were closed, and his head rolled back, resting in the chair. He didn’t even react.
“You lied to me.”
“I just withheld the truth.”
He was the Demon of Temptation. The reason I was here in Hell, competing in The Cycle. “Am I just a pawn to you?”
Leander’s lazy gaze met mine. “The Cycle is not by my design. It’s what Hell wills. And we must all play the game.”
“Why me?”
He sighed, exhaustion like I’d never seen before clear on his face. “We’re not allowed in another’s domain. That’s why we have Champions. You collect what we cannot. That’s all you need to know.”
“You could have any soul in the entire world. I need to know why I’m here.”
“I didn’t bring you here,” he said. “You showed a connection with my sin. That is why Hell chose you for me.”
I stared at him, searching for something – remorse, truth, anything human. “Then why am I in Hell? Whose fault is it?”
He didn’t answer. His gaze flicked away, and for a second, I thought I saw something like regret before the mask fell back in place.
“You know what I am now,” he murmured. “No more guessing.”
I crossed my arms. “You rule Temptation, how wonderful for you.”
“I want to offer you a bargain.”
My pulse skittered. “Let’s hear it.”
His eyes burned into me. “Give me your brother.”
I froze. “What?”
“Swear his fealty to me.”
I barked a bitter laugh. “Surely only he could do that.”
“Not necessarily,” Leander said. “You could cement the bond by way of blood. Give me his soul, once he arrives in Hell. Which will happen one day, you know.”
A chill ran down my spine. “He’s not destined for Hell.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“Didn’t you think you weren’t meant for this place? What makes you so certain about his fate?”
I clenched my fists. “I’m not sacrificing my brother.”
“Swear his soul to me, and in return you can have what you desire most.”
“What I want is to return to my brother. Not sacrifice his soul. I’m not making that bargain with you.”
“Pity. We could have both got what we wanted.”
Leander rose from the chair with unhurried grace and crossed to the bed. “I need to rest,” he said. “My magic will return in time.”
His tone carried finality – no more games, no more answers. But when he cocked his head towards me, his eyes blazing, I felt the shift between us. The unspoken invitation.
He tugged off his shirt, and for a heartbeat, I held my breath. Something ached in my chest. My fists clenched at my sides, nails biting into my palms.
“Do you want to rest, too, little Champion?”
Was that an invite to join him?
I turned on my heel before I could second-guess myself and stormed from his chambers without a word.
He lies, he flirts, and he thinks I’m stupid enough to climb into his bed.
What a dick.
Anger pulsed through me as I tore through the corridors, my footsteps a quiet promise against the tiles.
Leander had manipulated me. But I wouldn’t let him do it again.
On the ground floor, Kob was waiting for me.
This time, his form was a strange, oversized squirrel perched on a table.
His wide, doe-like eyes assessed me. He took in my tangled, dishevelled hair, the unsteady way I carried myself.
His eyes lingered on my face, and I wondered if he could sense the betrayal pricking at my core. His bushy tail flicked once.
In a voice just as dry, he said, “So, you know?”
I halted to glare at him. “That Leander is a demon? I’m aware.”
His gaze flicked over me, taking in my clenched fists and uneven breaths.
“Everyone lied to me,” I said, voice raw. “Was this some kind of joke? Are they laughing behind my back? Am I a Champion for everyone’s entertainment?”
“Sometimes deception is necessary.”
I could still hear Leander’s voice, that inhuman serpentine hiss. He was a demon. He had been a demon all along, and I had been the moron who hadn’t seen it. I wasn’t even sure who I was angrier at – him for deceiving me or at myself for not seeing the truth sooner.
He’s been manipulating me all along.
“The Demon of Temptation enjoys your desire. That’s his sin.”
“So I should have expected this? Is that what you’re saying?”
“Course not,” he wheezed. “I get you’re angry, kid. Just don’t do anything stupid.”
“Oh, don’t worry, Kob. That ship sailed the moment I stepped into this cursed place.”
“Come and have tea,” he said. “We can talk it over.”
“No,” I said. “There’s only one thing left I can do.
” And I turned my back on him. I kept moving, out of the palace, into the city of Temptation.
I had to get out of here. One way or another.
I had no choice. Perhaps I could make a bargain with the Furies.
Maybe I could find the gates to Hell and get back home.
The whispers stirred at the edge of my mind, soft and uneasy. They were panicking, warning me, pleading. But I ignored them.
Because all I could think about was Leander.
He was a demon. And I was easily fooled.
How stupid am I?
Had Leander killed me? He had said it was Hell that had chosen me, but how could I believe a word he said? He’d lied to me for weeks.
Tears burned behind my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. Everyone knew. The Thorns. The city. Elise. Even Kob. Everyone except me.
The palace fell away behind me, the city blurring into nothing but flickering lanterns and empty streets.
My feet carried me forward as my mind spun.
I had no sense of how long I’d been walking until the bridge ended, and the archway loomed above me, and beyond it, nothing but endless rock and ruin.
That barren red landscape that was vast and empty and free of damned souls that I couldn’t face.
Didn’t want to face, not ever again. I just wanted to go home and be reunited with Tobias.
Those familiar whispers curled into my mind.
“There’s nothing out there for you.”
I swallowed. “There’s nothing for me back there either,” I countered. My voice cracked at the last word, but I didn’t stop.
I kept running.
“There is no going back. You are where you belong.”
No.
I didn’t want to believe it. I refused to believe it.
There had to be a way home.
So, I ran.
Ran into The Crossing, into the unknown, into the far reaches of Hell, and let it swallow me whole.