Chapter 13
Cullen paced back and forth anxiously in his room, running his hands through his hair over and over again.
He'd thought Leviathan answering some of his questions would have calmed him–and it had at first. But the last thing he had said was drilling right into his mind, repeating itself over and over again.
That is not something I care about, Cullen. I'm going to keep at it until you give in to me.
The words made him shudder. Made him sick to his stomach as he pictured what it would mean to give in to Leviathan.
He could only imagine how violent and grotesque a Prince of Hell could be in the bedroom.
He didn't want to find out for himself, didn't want those memories to soil his memories of Walker.
He had been with no one else and he definitely didn't want to jump from sweet, gentle Walker to a violent sociopath that would most likely hurt him badly.
I'm going to keep at it until you give in to me.
So Stockholm Syndrome was his plan. Falling for your captor.
Could Cullen fight something like that if he knew it was happening?
Did he even want to? Leviathan would probably just get more forceful and violent with each rejection.
Maybe it would be better to give in now before something truly horrible happened. He winced at the thought.
No, he couldn't do that to Walker. Even if they were over now, he couldn’t sully his memories that way.
Besides, moving on with a demon who had tormented him so…
it was cruel. And wrong. He wouldn’t stoop to that, even if it meant making things a little easier on himself.
And it wasn’t as if he was in a hurry to sully his body–even a demon body–with the touch of someone so evil.
What would Walker say if he knew Cullen was even considering…
His teeth snapped together and his fist shot out to the wall, slamming into it. Damn Leviathan. Damn him straight to the deepest pit of hell.
When he withdrew his hand, he saw that the stone had caved in, dust falling to the floor. He looked at the wall in surprise, and then down at his hand.
I did that? He thought, shocked. Just how strong was this new body? He hesitated for a brief second before punching the wall again, harder than before. It caved inward again, small chunks of stone crumbling off of it.
It felt good. Felt good to let off steam, felt good to let out some of the extra energy, the anger, that this new body seemed to be holding in constantly. He punched the wall again. And again. And again, letting out shouts of rage as he pictured Leviathan’s face under his fist.
With a growl, he turned to the bed, spinning a kick into one of the bed posts, snapping it off easily.
He snatched the blankets and pillows from it as some strange rage tore free inside him, tearing them apart before tossing them to the side.
He punched a hole straight through the mattress and began ripping out the innards of the bed, throwing them across the room.
He emptied the contents of his wardrobe, dumping them out the window, watching them tumble to the earth below before giving a violent kick to the wardrobe itself, sending it sprawling to the floor with a loud bang.
Cullen turned back to the window and smashed it in with his fists, happy when he felt the broken glass slice at his hands.
He smelled the blood and his stomach growled, and that only made him angrier.
How dare Leviathan turn him into this monster?
How dare he act like it was no big deal?
How dare he take everything from him and act like they were a regular couple having a disagreement?
He looked towards the window again, thinking about the drop below.
It was high enough, he told himself as he took a step towards it.
It would kill him. It had to. He took another step towards it, looking down at the ground below, at the scattered clothes he had thrown.
They were little more than colored dots on the ground far beneath.
He sucked in a slow breath, tears gathering in his eyes. He didn't want to die…but whatever was waiting for him on the other side had to be better than what Leviathan had planned for him.
Right?
Slowly, his body moving on autopilot, he raised his foot to the sill and closed his eyes.
Another foot up and he could feel the hot wind, smell the sharp smoke… His heartbeat was racing, his breaths getting more labored as panic gripped him.
Just do it. He told himself. It'll be better this way.
His stomach twisted as he began to lean forward–
Strong arms grabbed him from behind, yanking him inside and to the floor. He let out a shout of surprise and then burst into tears, keeping his eyes closed.
"No!" He cried. "Let me go!"
"No." Leviathan whispered, his voice rough.
Cullen spun in his arms, slamming his fists into his chest and face, and to his shock Leviathan let him hit him over and over again without letting go of him.
"I hate you!" He screamed. "I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!"
Leviathan remained silent, his arms wrapped around Cullen.
"Why couldn't you just kill me?" He screamed. "Why won't you let me end it?! Just let me go!"
"No." Leviathan whispered again, his hands tightening on him. His onyx eyes tightened with some emotion he couldn’t begin to place right now.
Cullen let out a low sob and collapsed into his arms. Leviathan held him tighter as he pressed his face into his shoulder, his hands coming up to yank at Leviathan’s hair as he sobbed.
He had never cried like this before, had never broken down like this.
It was terrifying. He felt as if his chest was being torn open and carved out again.
Leviathan remained silent as he held him, letting Cullen’s tears stain his fancy clothes, holding him up as he choked on his own tears. Minutes passed. Hours, maybe. And once he’d started to calm, he froze at the feeling of Leviathan’s hand running gently through his hair.
"I won't hurt you, Cullen." The words were a breathless promise. "You don't have to be afraid of me."
"Shut up." He breathed, not moving from his arms. Fuck. He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed this feeling of being held. Not that he could remember a time Walker had held him this tightly. "I know your plan. It won't work on me." Talking calmed that ache in his heart further.
"My plan?"
"You expect me to sympathize with my captor. You expect me to fall in love with you or something–"
"I don't want you to get Stockholm Syndrome, you idiot.
" Leviathan snapped. "I want you to like your new life.
Actually like it. Which you would, if you would just give it a chance.
" When Cullen remained silent, Leviathan let out a quiet growl.
"Tell me what is really so bad about this place, Cullen.
You have delicious food. A prince who wants to please you, who offers to create things in this world just for you, and servants who wait on you hand and foot. What is so horrible about that?"
"I don't want servants." He whispered, furious that he was here.
That he was letting this bastard hold him like this.
"I don't want things to be created for me.
I don't want a demon prince to do anything for me.
I want my friends. I want my life back. This place is nothing without all of them.
" He pulled back from Leviathan, tumbling clumsily out of his lap.
He pulled his knees up to his chest and hugged them, keeping his eyes low.
Leviathan sighed deeply, running a hand over his face. "You're a real pain in my ass, you know that?"
"Good." He snapped.
Leviathan glared at him. And for the first time, Cullen wasn't scared by it. He simply glared back, unashamed of the tears streaming down his cheeks.
Leviathan jerked to his feet, towering over him. Cullen did not move. Did not care what he wanted to do to him. "Take a bath, Cullen. Relax for a bit, while I figure out something fun for us to do."
"I don't want to spend any time with you–"
"I don't care. Letting you sit up here and sulk in this room has been a mistake. You need to spend more time with me. Get to know me, realize that I'm far more caring and trustworthy than those pathetic human friends of yours could ever be."
Cullen shook his head. "Can you stop lying about it? All you care about is bending me over. You don't care about me. You're not able to." No demons were. Their hearts may beat and blood may flow in their veins, but they were uncaring, emotionless brutes.
Leviathan flashed sharp fangs at him, looking furious, but merely gestured to the bathroom as he turned to leave the room.
"I don't care if you destroy this room, pet, but the next time you try something stupid like that again, I will chain you to the bed for your safety and then you really will be bored and miserable. "
"Don't even have the freedom to kill myself." He spat. "Some life."
Leviathan slammed the door closed so hard a crack appeared in the wood.
When he came out of the shower, he saw that the room had been perfectly restored, as if he had never destroyed it all in the first place.
And Leviathan was sitting on his bed, twirling something black in his hand.
When Cullen moved closer to see what it was, it vanished and Leviathan looked up with a small smile.
"I've decided you need a party."
"A party?" Cullen echoed, making a face. So much for Leviathan thinking he knew him better than Walker. "No thanks, not my thing."
“Oh, I know.” He said quietly, leveling a glare at him. “But you pissed me off and need to be punished for your stupidity, so we’re doing something I like today instead.”
“Did I miss the part where we did something I like?” He scoffed, moving across the room to the fixed wardrobe. Just as he’d suspected, all his clothes had been placed back inside of it, even neater than before.