Servitude [BoyxBoy]

Chapter 21

[Soleil]

"Where is Silvian-dearest" Grimm croaked mockingly from the bed he was resting in, sheets up to his chin, with goose-down pillows at either side of his head to prop it upwards. I was surprised that he could even speak, let alone find the energy in him to be sarcastic.

"In bed." Was all I replied, dragging a stool over from the corner of the room and placing it closer to the bed. As I sat, he chuckled, and my brows knitted. "What is it?"

"Nothing," Grimm tried to sing but broke into a fit of coughs. His body rose and fell with each one, finally settling down and leaving the man's face contorted in pain. The soldier struggled to catch his breath, wheezing slightly through blistered lips. "I just remembered-- sitting by your bedside when you were ill." My lips peeled back into a sneer, and I almost laughed at his sentiments.

"Yes, because you needed me to get back to work again." My voice dripped with acid, and I watched Grimm flinch as best as he could. The corner of his eye twitched in apparent hurt or guilt, but I pursed my lips at the act. He could pretend all he wanted that he wasn't a monster, I wouldn't allow myself to believe him again. Ignoring my words, he continued.

"Listen, Soleil," Grimm's voice became serious, and I sat up slightly, looking over at his face curiously. His expression was serious at first, but when he noticed me shift, Grimm's mouth stretched into a large, ugly grin. The burnt skin on his face crackled at the movement. "I think you have a type."

"Be quiet." I rolled my eyes at him and relaxed once again, crossing my arms in front of me, subconsciously building a barrier between myself and the man who ruined my life.

"No, really." Grimm's laugh came again, sounding like a mixture of wheezing, choking and grunting. I cringed at the sound and moved my stool backwards, letting it scrape across the wooden floor. "You like them dangerous."

"Silvian's not dangerous." I snapped back at him, and if Grimm could move his neck, I feel he would have given me a droll stare.

"Oh?" Grimm asked, amused. "Then Silvian 'Bringer of Death' Malum was just an endearing childhood nickname?" My jaw ticked as I looked over at the defeated man again, eyeing his broken form and charred skin in disdain. "Admit it, you like knowing that he can hurt you. You like the thrill of it." His voice was doing that disgusting thing again, where he sounded like he was half-mocking, half aroused.

"He wouldn't hurt me." I crossed one leg over the other and eyed the door. I only came in here because Luke begged me to - saying that Grimm was scaring him. Like an idiot, I had agreed to watch over him whilst his neck healed instead of sitting with Silvian whilst the doctor tended to him.

"It's an experimental drug," The doctor had said to me once Silvian stopped seizing and finally fell asleep. "One to suppress his vampiristic urges - but the dosage he took was far too strong. I suppose he got impatient and tested it on himself."

No, Silvian would never hurt me. It had become apparent that he would rather kill himself than lay a harmful hand on me, and that thought alone was dangerous. I bit my lip in worry and stared at the floor, wishing I could be sat next to the vampire as he regained consciousness.

At first, I had thought his research was a good thing, but it was becoming a problem - an obsession. Breakthroughs would send him over the moon, but any drawbacks dropped him into periods of depression and mood swings. And now he was playing roulette with his own life in a bid to get results faster...

Is he even doing this for himself anymore?

I reached up to massage the bridge of my nose and exhaled with frustration, feeling a headache begin to form behind my eyes. Grimm was quiet now, probably asleep or too exhausted to annoy me any longer.