#i think i'm so funny referencing a vine in the title no one knows about

[defensivelee]

Dear William— I'm not in love with you, I'm with another man now; that's Jesus Christ, whom you never found

This is the succubus AU oneshot. It is done. It took me way too long for it to be only 12k words but holy shit it's done. So enjoy the William whump! Here is the AO3 link for anybody who wants to read over there; once again, I would appreciate feedback there, but never be afraid of reblogging my stuff~

CW: accidental misgendering, religious imagery, Catholic guilt, domestic violence/abuse, lots and lots of stabbing, victim blaming, guilt tripping, mild gore, implied/referenced child abuse, nsfwhump, rape/non-con, very dubious consent.

Everyone knew the name of the best demon hunter of the day, the most devoted of God’s servants save for their bishop, the bishop that had baptized this very hunter. There was nothing remarkable about that; what was remarkable was how the people called for him to slay the demons that cursed them, their homes, their crops, and how he came every time, without fail banishing the demon and sending it back to its master the devil.

They called that boy Louis. He took up the business after his father, whom he had no time to learn from. No, he had to teach himself, when he would go outside at night and imagine that the demons were waiting for him in the trees. Some were not imagined, some came when he was very young to whisper that they saw danger lying dormant within him. They were kind to him, beckoning for him to enter their realm because they had something very nice waiting for him, indeed, come with us, little angel. But he saw right through their lies and turned away. That was when he learned to kill them instead.

Though he was young, he had already killed hundreds of these demons, though some were harder than others. He had a habit that annoyed many of the older men; he dragged his sword on the ground constantly, leaving a trail of holy water and sometimes blood behind him, and the sound scared even the wolves away. But it was a small price to pay for his neighbors, who relied on him and only him to vanquish the demons from their home.

Unbeknownst to the people, Louis fought demons of his own constantly. Pet demons like the ones he met when he was young. But these lived only in his head; he only let them out when he was sure no one was watching, and he took to fucking the bed and no one else until he was satisfied. As soon as he could, however, he confessed his sins and pleaded that he be absolved of them.

“How old are you?”

“Not very.”

He was then told that these demons would quiet down, fall asleep once he was married. He was young; he would find someone soon. “You must have faith,” Mazarin told him, “and remember that you are always being watched.”

But nobody knew, and nobody cared, for when they saw Louis dragging his sword along with him, or walking alongside his mother, or perhaps even peering down the ponds to catch sight of a carp, all they said was, “What a good boy, that Lo.”

So it happened that one very hot day he allowed himself to indulge in more sin, despite all the times he had promised to God that he would stop. It did not matter now; he was alone, so he lay back on his bed and stripped nearly completely so that he would not sweat into his clothes. This time, however, he was not as mobile, for it was only his hand moving over himself, and he buried his face into his pillow, sighing with a very sweet satisfaction he could obtain from nothing else.

When Lo was done, he was overcome with the usual guilt like any good Christian should have been. But he did not dwell on it, instead he dressed himself once more and stepped outside into the trees to cool himself in the gentle breeze. No one ever came this way, and he had chosen to live here for this very purpose— if any demons came to challenge him, no one else would be in harm’s way.

He lay down beside the stream and saw his face staring right back at him. He called himself disgusting, he called himself Satan’s plaything, and then he apologized that he was not stronger. A carp swam under his nose, which pulled his attention away from his sins. He gasped and followed its path down the stream; it was not a remarkable color, but they captured his attention nonetheless, ever since he’d been shown a very brightly-colored one by his mother a long time ago. He’d never found one like that since.

“Lead me to something better!” he called to it.

He followed it until night fell. The fish would turned back a few times, and he almost lost it. Once the moon’s light emerged, the fish doubled back sharply on his path, and Louis turned around with it. As he did so, his foot slipped on the mud beside the stream, and the boy nearly fell into the water.

With a grunt of frustration he stood, wincing with the first few steps. He tried to follow his fish again, but much to his disappointment he had lost it. So he went back home, and the disappointment soon turned to shame.

What Louis found in his room then was somehow not entirely unexpected. He opened the door to see a demon rather obscenely fucking itself on his bed, in a state approaching nudity much like Lo had been earlier. It had its nose buried in the spots where Louis had not cleaned off earlier, and its tail was raised high over its head as it dug its fingers with claws at the ends into its cunt, dripping wet over the blankets.

Louis flushed to witness such a thing, and his first thought was to leave the demon to what it needed before he killed it. His second thought was that he was somehow seeing himself earlier that day, as desperate and evil as this creature. It had to be killed immediately!

So he took the dagger like a demon horn from his belt and began to approach. The stupid thing had not noticed him yet, but as he took a step forward, well, who was the stupid one now? Its eyes opened up, and the demon looked back, shuffling with alarm off the bed and curling its tail close to cover itself.

“You have made a grave mistake,” Louis announced bravely. “You have entered the home of the most skilled demon hunter in this land.”

The demon did not seem phased, only narrowed its eyes with a hiss. “Forgive me, but I was starving. Not that it did anything, dry as it was, but I could have smelled your semen from hell with how much you have produced here.”

Louis blushed again. “Are you a succubus? Is that why you are here, to tempt me?” He dared to ask a bolder question. “Do you know what I have been doing on this bed?”

“Relax,” the succubus told him coolly, “I have no interest in tempting you nor telling anyone about this. It’s been a few weeks since I left hell, and nothing could make me return there. You will now allow me to leave and find a better meal; the few drops I swallowed were pitiful. I have been chaste the whole time I have walked this earth!” It lashed its tail as it tied the odd black cloth back around its hips, and Lo realized with much revulsion that it was the only thing that allowed it modesty. “And you would do well to learn to knock before you enter a room.”

“This is my home!” cried Louis. “And you will not leave this place.”

“Why not?” spat the demon.

“If I were to let you go, who knows what husbands you would seduce, good men that would otherwise scorn your advances if it were not for the temptation Satan has equipped you with!” said Louis. “You are a threat, and you must be returned to your master or die.”

“I do not bow to any devil save for myself,” the arrogant demon replied. “If I tempt any husband then I do it out of a need and desire to survive. Not because I would have liked to consume what I do.”

“I need not listen to the words of a whore,” Louis said. He stepped forward, backing the nervous demon into the wall. He went on, “Perhaps it is you who should knock before you enter, and if no one answers, then take it as an indication that you are not welcome.”

“Whore?” the demon repeated. “You are one to throw around that word.”

And Louis replied, “I can recognize my own kind.” He did not waste any time after that; he raised the dagger high, which the demon saw just in time to save its own skin as it darted to the side, hissing with its tail lashing. But its error was in its length; it waved before Lo’s face, and thus he was able to take hold of it. With a swift slash of his dagger, he cut off the sharp, pointy tip, as he knew from experience that they could make quick work of a man’s eyes if one did not neutralize it first.

The demon let out a furious scream, stumbling back onto the ground and clutching the bloody stump at the end. Louis shuddered and wondered if the shrieks would bring wary visitors. To avoid this he knew that he would have to kill the succubus quickly.

“Demon hunter—!” the demon snarled up at him, struggling to stand again with Lo advancing on it. “You will pay for this! You did it because you are scared of me!”

“Scared of you?” Louis asked, slamming the heel of his boot into the demon’s cheek to bring it down again. “I have no reason to be scared. I have killed many of your kind, and I will kill many more. It is you who should have been scared; that was your mistake.” He took a flask of holy water from his belt, one of the many he carried with him constantly, and he saw the demon’s eyes widen. “Ah, you are learning,” he said approvingly.

“I’ll go, then,” the demon said under Lo’s boot. “Just get off of me.”

“You do not deserve that mercy,” said Lo. He took his boot down, kneeling down beside the demon. At this the demon struck forward, its deadly jaws snapping like those of snakes. To this Louis only reacted with taking one of the demon’s horns and throwing his body, and as a result, the demon’s, to the floor beside them. He heard the demon’s head hit the ground hard, its body jolting with the shock.

“Evidently you would have not left me unharmed if I had let you go,” Louis said. He looked the demon in the eye as he drove the dagger into its thigh. He did not know why, but he had heard its screams when he sliced off its tail and wanted to hear them more. It pleased him, though with the logical side of his head he knew this was when he should have killed it.

Indeed, the demon let out another hoarse scream, and Lo opened the flask to pour the water on its wound. The blood where the dagger was buried hissed and turned black, as if it was burning, and the demon turned its head away, beginning to shudder violently. From the tears beginning in its eyes and the claws gripping the ground Louis could see that it was stifling another miserable sound.

“Cursed- cursed demon hunter,” he heard it mutter through its pants. “I will not let this- this be the way I die.”

And Louis told it to fight back, then, if it believed it was so brave. At this the demon turned around sharply to bite at him once more, and Louis this time took hold of its great nose, not very attractive on a succubus if you would have asked him. He squeezed it, stopping the air from flowing through, and the demon fell back, gasping rapidly through its mouth.

“If you want to keep your mouth open,” said noble Louis, “then you will drink what I command you to.” With this he poured the remaining water down the demon’s throat, much to its horror and agony, as it began to scream once more, thrashing wildly in Lo’s grasp. At last Lo did let him go, and the demon shuffled to the side, hitting its head on the bed and then running into the wall as it tried desperately to cough up the water that dripped slightly from his lips. The dagger remained in its thigh, and with its limp Lo thought it resembled a wounded, terrified animal.

I suppose that’s what it is, he thought. He sat back on the bed and waited for the demon to finally die, for the water to have its intended effect. It was too easy for him.

But much to his surprise, the demon did not soon keel over like he expected. Ultimately it managed to cough up all the water, and then it fell to the side, panting and reaching back to pull the knife from its thigh. But Louis could not let it have that, for it was a weapon, and even an injured demon with a weapon could be a danger, so he walked to the demon and brought his heel down on the back of its head. The demon merely flinched, so he did it again, harder this time, and that was what put an end to its fight.

Well, it shouldn’t have survived the water, Louis knew that, and any reflexes demons had to vomit were rendered useless in the face of a liquid touched by a priest. It was the easiest and cleanest way to kill a demon, and perhaps his favorite because he could see how painful it was for them. Sick, sick Louis!

So to see the demon had survived, even now with its chest rising and falling unsteadily, was nothing short of maddening for him. He dragged it along by its horn until the demon rested beside his bed, and then he sat down beside it, tugging the dagger free from its thigh. It came free not without protest, and he wrinkled his nose at the scent.

He tied a cloth around the demon’s tail and thigh to stop its bleeding; see, he could be kind. Here was another chance to kill the demon, and he should have, but there was another curiosity in him as if what he were staring at were another carp.

He lifted it easily in his arms and placed it down on his bed once he was sure it would not bleed onto his blankets, as indeed it had made enough of a mess as it was. He lifted himself over the creature, straddling it and leaning in to examine its face. It wasn’t as beautiful as he expected his first succubus to be, and it was rather offensive to him that the first one Satan had sent after him was this pale and hideous, though he found that the long eyelashes and graceful hands were more agreeable to his tastes.

He came to the conclusion that she was female. It was a comfort he was drawn to; for if it resembled a lady maybe then God could understand why he hesitated to kill this one.

When she next woke, she realized that her arms were tied behind her, and perhaps had been for a while, for the rope had started to burn, and her shoulders ached. But at the very least she was lying on a bed when she thought she should have been dead. She looked up and saw her captor staring down at her.

“Does it still hurt?” Louis asked, referring to her wounds.

“What do you think,” the demon retorted. “Why haven’t you killed me?”

Lo responded, “Maybe I am kinder than you first took me for.”

“Or maybe you just wanted me awake for it,” the demon said. “It’s my misfortune that I met a demon hunter again so soon after the last one.”

Louis huffed, his gaze drifting to the side. “How old are you?”

“Almost two hundred years now,” she replied. “I may not have seen much from my place in hell, but I know how you demon hunters work. You would never tell Him yourself, but God knows how you enjoy your job a little too much.”

“Oh, how could I not,” Louis cooed. “God loves to see you suffer, as well.”

“Not for long,” the demon said. “I came here to get baptized. Not as a Catholic, but as a Protestant.”

Lo stared. “Are you serious?” He couldn’t stop himself from laughing, laughing so hard that he fell back on the bed beside her. “A Protestant demon! Now I have heard everything. Do you think you’ll gain favor among humanity this way?”

“‘Tis true!” the demon cried. “I would give everything to be reborn as one of you. When I came here, I meant you no harm.” Her eyes darkened. “Well, I mean it now, because you have harmed me. But I would have never cared about you otherwise.”

Now that was the true offense to Louis; that Satan was not the one that had sent this demon, that no one had, that this creature was here by accident. He stopped laughing abruptly and sat up, glaring at her. “You did not come here to seduce me?” he asked.

“As a succubus I must follow all instinct,” the demon said. “But I hate it. I hate having to find a partner every timeI need to feed. I hate showing so much of my body constantly!” She let her head fall to the side with a sigh.

“I suppose it must be hard to find anyone willing to sleep with you,” Louis said.

“It is harder to find someone I like, but thank you,” the demon said, rolling her eyes. “What is your name? I want to send my hellhounds after you.”

“I will gladly tame them,” Louis said. “Tell them the man they’re looking for is Louis-Dieudonné Bourbon.”

“That’s quite a mouthful,” the demon said. “You can just call me William.”

“William?” Louis repeated. “That is a man’s name.”

“Yes,” William said with a bow of her head. “I am a man.”

“Oh,” Louis said, flustered. “But you...” Well, what was he going to say to that? The demon already defied most things with his existence. If he wanted to call himself a man, there was nothing Lo could say to convince him otherwise.

“What?” William raised an eyebrow.

“Nothing,” Louis said. He stood and walked to the window, peering out of it to make sure they were truly alone. William seemed to flinch at the moon’s light and turned away.

“When will you kill me?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Louis admitted. He looked at this demon with more curiosity now than outright hatred, though the disgust was still there, and with it, the beginnings of temptation.

“Then you will let me go?” William said.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Lo said, glancing back at him. “I will show you how a servant of the Lord treats his demonic guests. Maybe you can even earn my respect, or, more likely, I will earn yours.”

“Then they wonder why I hate Catholics,” William muttered under his breath.

It was no matter to Louis; for the first night of the demon’s stay, he untied William’s hands and instead tied the rope to the leather collar on his neck, right by the bed. He told the demon that he would have to stay put here, because if it stood at any moment then Louis would wake and just pull him back down. Then he threw a blanket over him and told him to sleep very well.

“On the ground?” William asked.

“Well, surely not on the bed!” gasped Louis. “I know what your game is; I will not play it.”

“The game of comfort, if that is what you mean,” replied William, but he did not say anything more. He turned resolutely to the side, chittering much like a bird as he examined the wound on his thigh. Lo could almost find it endearing if the face he was staring at was prettier.

The first night went well enough, though Louis kept waking up every hour or so, half-expecting to find William lying over him, with his claws either at Louis’ throat or in between his legs. But the demon slept soundly, excepting its rumbling, growling snores and the occasional shift of an injured leg.

In the morning, though, it was the demon that woke him up, batting at his face. “Dieudonné,” he said, nudging Louis’ head to the side. “Wake up, I told you yesterday that I’m starving and that has not changed.”

Louis opened his eyes and rubbed them, turning his head to glare at William. “And you think I will feed you?” he asked. “Do you not eat human food?”

“No, I need your semen,” William said bluntly, and Louis laughed without much humor, shifting his body away from him.

“Perhaps we should try human food first,” he said. “Every morning I go to eat with my mother. I cannot bring a demon with me, of course, so you will have to stay here, and I will bring something back for you.”

“You are leaving me alone?” asked William, his eyes widening. Lo recognized hope there, a plan forming.

“No,” Louis said hastily. “On second thought, I will bring you with me.”

So he dressed the demon up in his own clothes, which wasn’t so hard now that he realized that they were almost the same size; Louis was only taller because of the heels on his boots. The small black horns made the hat on William’s head hang rather awkwardly, but Louis hoped the feather was enough to hide it. What was more noticeable was the tail, so he tied it in a very pretty bow and hid it beneath the overcoat, nevermind William’s yelps and kicks as he did so.

He limped all the way there, but no one did see that, even when he stumbled right into Lo’s path and made very unattractive faces with every step. “I wish you had not tied my tail,” he said, but Louis said it was necessary to hide it, and only slipped his hand under the overcoat to tug playfully at it. William met this with a hiss.

His mother was very suspicious of this new visitor, considering that Louis had never brought her anyone else before other than his brother. Lo introduced the demon as William, a new friend of his who was going to help him with the demon hunting.

“William, say hello,” Louis instructed.

William merely lifted his head at her, then ducked behind Louis, growling under his breath.

“Does he not speak?” Anne asked. “What are you wearing, sir? I swear I have seen it on Lo before.”

“I swear you haven’t,” Louis said tensely. “Nevermind. William, just sit down. He does not speak, but he works better than any other man I’ve met.”

This seemed to do nothing to quell his mother’s suspicion, but what was she going to do? Turn them away? No; she served them their food, resting her hand on Lo’s head the way she always had when he was a child. There was another layer of protection there, Louis noticed, of wariness towards this strange visitor.

William ended up not eating very much, though as they were leaving he looked very hungry, his head turning this way and that like a starving wolf. He did not even bother to thank Anne, only darted outside as soon as he could.

“You keep an eye on that man,” Anne spat as she watched William pace back and forth. “There is something about his eyes, Lo. He’s like the demons you hunt.”

“He is not,” Louis said with a nervous laugh.

With a hand on his shoulder she told him to be safe, to which he replied that he was always safe, and anyway, what could she do if he decided not to be safe one day? What then? He didn’t know what prompted the question, but perhaps it was William’s presence that had him on edge. How it made him sick that his mother had to feed the obscene creature!

Unfortunately, it turned out that this very obscene creature had to join him on other errands, as well. “Lo, cast this demon from my home!” was the command shouted to him everyday, and today was no exception, though this boy believed it was his choice whether to help or not. He always said yes, though, and this, he told William, was what made him adored.

“I am considered merciful.”

Not very merciful, William argued, because what fool would call the horrible things Louis had done to him last night merciful? Was letting a succubus starve merciful? Was cutting off one of its only defenses merciful? Louis said yes, absolutely, why was he asking, and dirty William did not answer.

That day William watched Louis kill and exorcise twelve demons. Lo told everyone who asked that this was just his assistant, nobody important, and he told William to watch very carefully. Watch very closely, because one day, this could be you. Everyone thought Louis to be a wonderful mentor; not William. He watched through narrow eyes and he knew what was meant by this could be you.

When they returned home, Louis tied the rope back onto the demon’s neck, tying the other end onto a wooden post outside, right by the stream. William fought much at this, with a bite nearly deterring Louis.

“I do not want to sit here outside,” William said. “My leg hurts, and so does my tail.”

“Suffering is good for you!” Louis beamed. “Consider it a new way of asking for God’s forgiveness.”

“You did this to me,” William hissed. “It cannot be you who will convert me.”

Louis ignored him and sat by the stream, watching the fish go by again. He had already ruled out the possibility of William ever becoming a Christian after witnessing the awkward creature stumble around today like a sick deer. He wanted to mock the demon for it, but he was more annoyed that the temptations of last night had not disappeared.

He told himself that it was fine, this would be a challenge for anybody; after all, when would there ever be a chance like this, when someone walked into his home and asked  —no, William demanded— for intercourse? For the touch of a noble human like Lo? He would have considered himself very lucky if he didn’t see right through the demon.

“I’m still hungry,” William said behind him.

“I am not feeding you,” Louis snapped.

“Then why do you keep me?” William leaned forward, and Louis turned to see his teeth gleaming in the fading light. “What is the point? I’ll leave this place soon enough, but I’ll kill you before I go. I want to rip the smile off of a demon hunter’s face.” With a fierce roar he jerked his head violently to the side, and Louis gasped as the rope tore in half, an end hanging off of William’s collar.

“Oh, look at that,” Louis said. He began to reach for the dagger in his belt, but William leaped forward and threw him back against the water. Louis gasped as his head was forced under, and the black claws dug into his neck to hold him down. 

Was this the way the demon hunter would go? Drowning at the claws of a worthless succubus? No, Lo knew that could not be the case, so he kicked out as hard as he could with his heels. His eyes stung, and he was forced to shut them, though he knew that only left him vulnerable to whatever William had planned.

“Insolent human,” William spat as he pulled Louis’ head out briefly, his claws ripping into his hair. “You will see what comes of capturing me.”

Louis met this with a glare and slammed his heel as hard as he could into William’s thigh, right where his injury was. William cried out, his grip on Louis loosening, and Louis pulled himself away, lifting himself back onto the grass. He took deep breath after breath, trying to cough the water up in him.

“Just rubbing salt in the wound, aren’t you?” he heard William say. “Except this time it’s your stupid boot.” Louis narrowed his eyes, hearing the whipping of William’s tail in the wind behind him.

“Look at me,” the demon said.

Louis couldn’t answer. He looked up, saw William’s claws raised high.

There was another way to die. Louis rolled to the side, kicking William’s legs out from under him. William let out a frustrated hiss as he fell, and Louis leaped up on top of him, shoving his head down by his horns.

“You are insane, little demon,” Louis said, “if you think you could have killed me.”

“I still can!” William swiped his claws in the air, and Louis leaned back, taking William’s flailing wrists and pinning them down roughly over his head.

“You will shut up and you will obey me,” Louis said firmly.  “You are absolutely not going anywhere. The more you fight, the longer I will keep you here, and the longer you will starve.”

“What does it matter?” William sneered. “What I have realized now is that I would rather starve than let you be the one to feed me. Repulsive little brat, you only care for your pleasure and not of anyone else’s.”

“I could absolutely care!” protested Louis. “But maybe you make it impossible for me to care about you.”

“What is impossible is for you to care about anyone at all,” William said. “The problem is in you, not in me.”

“I can love,” Louis said. He leaned in and slapped William across the face, the demon snarling at the impact. “Do you want me to show you love?”

“No!” William struggled fiercely under him, and Louis sat back, taking William’s tail in his hands and coiling it around his fingers. The bloodied cloth hung off in a manner that caused it to have an appearance much like the sharp tip Louis had cut off.

“Keep up this behavior and I never will.” Louis stood and placed the heel of his boot right on William’s head as he sat up. “Very well, we’ll go inside.”

So they went inside, and there went another night that poor Lo could not sleep. William seemed to lie down and be just fine, though he moved constantly, and Louis could not take his eyes off of him. Every movement made him reach for the dagger under his pillow.

In the morning Lo was furious because of this, so he tied William’s tail tighter than he had yesterday. William didn’t protest much this time, only snapped his jaws in the air and shook himself with displeasure. Despite the fact that he had slept all night, he looked more exhausted than yesterday.

“Keep your head up,” Louis told him as they stepped outside. “If your hat fell off, your horns would show, and they would tell me to kill you. And I would.”

“I hate you,” was all William replied with. But he kept his head up.

He ate less than he had yesterday, only picking at the meat, and with what insolence! When he decided he was done, he pushed the bowl to the side and sat up, limping outside once more. Louis followed and brought him back in, and as Lo spoke to his mother, the demon fell asleep with his head resting on the table. Just as he let his head fall, the hat nearly swept off of his head. Louis hastily caught it and adjusted it around William’s horns.

“What was he doing last night?” Lo’s mother raised an eyebrow.

“Someone sent for us around midnight,” said Louis. “There were a few persistent demons there, but nothing I couldn’t have handled on my own.”

“If he does not want to eat what I offer him, then I will no longer feed him,” Anne said. “Do not bring him here, Lo.”

“I cannot leave him alone—!” Louis said, only for William to look up and blink his bleary eyes at him.

“You should have let me go if you and your mother were going to talk about me in my presence,” said William. “I can be alone, Dieudonné. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Out, then, take him,” Anne said with a huff.

Louis’ face flushed, and he stood, taking William by the wrist. “Forgive me,” he said curtly, and with that the two made their way outside.

“You do not show such disrespect to my mother,” Louis said. “You do not disrespect my mother.”

“Well, she should not have disrespected me,” William said. “And neither should you. I told you I am hungry and I will not eat the meals of humans.”

“So you will feed on us instead?” Louis asked.

“Why would I?” William sneered. “You would never allow it, anyway.”

No, indeed, Louis could never allow it. And he showed William why— he slew the demons that they crossed that day as well, and William watched with perhaps more disgust than he had yesterday. But he did not object, not even under his breath, only glared at the demons as they caught his gaze. Was this his attempt at showing he was better than them? Well, Lo did not believe that, either.

He told William so later that night, that nothing he did would make him better, but he encouraged trying it out anyway.

“Why would I try being better,” William asked, “if you don’t believe I can be?”

“Surely my belief matters little to you,” Louis said. He was tying the rope back around William’s collar. He tugged William forward, causing him to stumble and nearly fall on Louis.

“No,” William said. “Not at all.”

For the third night in a row Lo could not sleep, but this time William couldn’t either, restlessly pacing around by the bed. His tail kept batting at Louis’ face, so he sat up and untied the cloth, replacing it with a newer, darker one. It looked more like a bow now, even closer to the appearance it had before.

“What’s this?” William waved his tail in his own face.

“Does it not look pretty?” Louis asked. “More like you.”

“I am not a doll you can dress up as you please,” William said.

“Then take it off,” Lo said.

William did not. He rested his head on the wall and Louis lay back down as well, and finally he was able to sleep. In the morning he truthfully did not expect to wake up at all, but he did.

“Can I stay here today?” William asked as Louis dressed. His voice was quieter today, and Lo could not pick up any emotion from it.

“To stay here and escape,” Louis said. He pulled up his gloves and flexed his fingers curiously. “No, you may not.”

“Please, I have none of the energy required to make a step out of this house,” William said. “I would not want to leave if I had the choice.”

“You don’t have a choice,” said Louis. “Get up, William.”

But William did not stand, only curled his tail in closer. “You cannot expect me to walk with this wound. I swear it gets worse everyday. And you have not fed me! There is no way I can leave in this state.”

“I will not fall for your act of weakness,” spat Lo.

“It isn’t an act,” William protested. “I cannot go out with you today, Louis!” He stood as he said this, his legs shaking slightly.

“You did it yesterday and the day before,” Louis said.

“Through gritted teeth!” yelled William. “And your mother does not want me there!”

Louis’ eyes widened slightly. “How dare you raise your voice at me, demon?” He stepped forward, but William met his glare fearlessly, panting like a wounded dog.

“I will never kneel before you,” William said. “I will never respect you. You’ll have to rip the dignity out of me.”

“Maybe I will,” said Louis. He took the dagger from his belt and twirled it carelessly around in the air. “On your knees, William.”

“Never,” William growled.

Louis met this with a backhanded slap first, taking advantage of the demon’s brief shock to force his head down onto the bed by the horns. William hissed loudly, but could not do much to struggle as Louis held his knee over his back, one heel on his tail. He lifted the dagger and traced the blade all along William’s back, laughing as it heaved with heavy breaths.

“I thought every demon was taught to respect their hunters,” Louis said. “Especially in the state you are in.”

“No demon was ever taught that,” William said, glaring back at him. “You think you deserve respect for taking me into your home and nearly killing me?”

“Yes, every bit of it,” said Louis. He dug the knife into the pale skin below the black harness he wore, and William shuddered, biting into the blankets to stifle a whimper.”What? You will heal.”

William didn’t answer, didn’t say another word as Louis dug out a cross in him. He circled it and hummed with satisfaction, pulling William back by his horns.

“You look good like this,” whispered Lo. “Scared of me now?”

“No,” William said, wincing as Louis huffed against his cheek. “Get- get away from me.”

“You can stay,” Louis said. “But follow my rules.”

William turned his head sharply to snap his jaws at Louis’ face, and Louis shoved him to the side, slamming his head against the wall. “You still try to bite me?!”

“I will never obey you willingly,” William said, blinking rapidly as if he was fighting to stay awake. “I only stay here because I have...no choice...” He took a deep breath, shutting his eyes and letting his head fall back.

“Very good,” Louis said. He backed away and left the demon as he was.

As much as he tried, though, he could not forget William, and was terrified of finding him gone when he came back. He pretended that very demon he exorcised that day was William, mostly to convince himself that he wanted the demon gone. But Lo knew he did not. He could not. At least he felt the slightest bit of guilt over that; good boy!

Much to his relief William was there when he came back. He was sleeping, and the wounds on his back had healed, like Louis expected. Maybe he could leave this demon here alone after all. His mother would be pleased not to hear of him again.

It seemed that William hadn’t been lying— the next day, and the day after that, he seemed lethargic, only mumbling a protest whenever Louis tugged slightly at the rope on his collar or approached him. It became almost like having a pet around; one very unpleasant cat. He mostly slept now and refused to answer any of Louis’ questions.

If anything, Louis thought this annoyed him more. But he could not find it himself to complain— he liked the empty look in William’s eyes, how gleefully stupid it made him look. That was all he was, wasn’t he? An idiotic demon, desperate to feed off of the sins of humanity.

But what was worse, Louis found, was his growing willingness to be the supplier of that sin.

So when he next went to confess himself, he said this:

“There is...someone...who makes me feel things I am ashamed to say.”

“Say them.” Mazarin sounded bored. “Lo.”

Did he recognize Louis’ voice? Of course he had; stupid Lo. He swallowed.

“I- I just want to take that demon to bed...”

“Demon?” Mazarin asked.

“Demon—!” Louis coughed. “No, of course not. Not in the literal sense. As a demon hunter, you know-”

“Your mother told me of the man you brought around her a few times,” Mazarin said. “And she said that he is obviously a demon, with those eyes of his. Is that the demon you speak of? A male demon, Lo, no less.”

“N-No, she is paranoid—” Louis rushed to defend himself, but Mazarin interrupted him.

“If you do not kill that demon soon, it will become a danger to you,” he said. “And a danger to your connection with God.”

“I know-”

“You do not know. I am telling you now, as a friend— kill that monster.”

“Is that what I must do for penance?” asked Louis.

“No, you must do it for yourself,” Mazarin said.

So that was what Louis intended later that night, to kill the sleeping demon that had somehow ejected the water touched by Mazarin. As he approached it with his dagger held high he found himself apprehensive, staring down at the sleeping face. It was just like the first night.

He shook William awake. William only blinked up at him, weakly trying to bat Louis off as the latter pushed him on his feet and dragged him outside.

“So this is it? Will you kill me?” William whispered into his ear.

“No.” Louis set him down in front of the stream, and William lay back on the grass. In the moonlight, his horns glimmered before Lo’s eyes, and his gaze raked all over the pale body made paler by the night.

He looked back to the stream. The carp still swam there.

He turned to William and untied the cloth from the wound on his thigh. He hissed in sympathy at what he saw there, the skin around it swollen and still warm, though it may have just been the cloth that had been there for days.

“What?” William narrowed his eyes.

Louis brought William closer and began to pull his clothes away, until that demonic body lay completely exposed before him. This whole time William did not make a sound, merely watched suspiciously and attempted to cover himself with his tail.

“Here,” Louis said, removing his nightgown. He slipped into the water first and dragged William in beside him, holding him up to his chest. It wasn’t very deep, the water only made it up to their stomach, but it was exactly what Louis needed.

“Get your hands off of me,” William muttered. His tail slapped against Louis’ legs.

“You need me to hold you up,” Louis said. “You cannot stand on your own. Calm down; if my theory is correct, your wounds will heal up by tomorrow morning.”

“What- why?” William looked back at him. “I don’t believe it. Not in this awful starvation, they will not.”

“No?” Louis lifted the demon’s head and pressed his lips to William’s neck. “So I suppose you must be fed.”

“And you intend to feed me?” William asked.

“Hm? Is it not what you wanted?” Louis said. “It is what I want. You see, I can be merciful.”

“Merciful? After everything you’ve done?” William laughed, but too high and too forced. “That word is not- not yours to say.” Louis felt him shudder against his kisses, felt the tail slowly stop lashing and instead shake at the tip.

“I would be thrilled to be allowed this honor,” he went on. “You want to at least have a fighting chance?” He shoved William out of the water, pinning him down against the grass by his wrists. “Then you will accept this, what you have long been waiting for.” He flashed him a rueful smile, then bent down to push his legs to the side and bury his lips into the demon’s cunt.

William gasped sharply, but Louis did not stop there— he let his tongue in as far as it would go, sucking and kissing as if it were worship itself. He stroked at the base of William’s tail as he did so, and heard William still gasping, pushing his body up in approval.

“This is- this is not enough,” he let out, his eyes shut. “You must—”

“What? Take you myself?” Louis asked. “Trust me, I shall. I’ve wanted to do this since I saw you fucking yourself on my bed the day I met you.”

“You son of a bitch,” William mumbled, but not for long as Louis bowed his head again. He laughed as he tasted the wetness with his tongue, and not just from the stream.

“I knew you would be easy to take,” Louis purred, lifting his head and tugging at the rope on William’s collar. “Maybe this is why I have kept you alive.”

“You have kept me waiting for too long!” William cried. “Do this now or kill me!”

“Of course,” Louis said. He leaned forward and thrust himself inside of William, pleased to hear the subsequent whimper from the demon. As for himself, it was just as wonderful as he imagined his first time would be, and especially with a succubus— this creature was made for him.

He did not wait for William to become comfortable with the feeling; no, he’d been waiting for this for too long, as well. So he fucked the demon as quickly as he pleased, and William met every thrust with a loud cry, echoing throughout the trees. He dug his claws into Louis’ shoulders, his tail whipping against the demon hunter’s thighs.

“Oh, Louis,” breathed William in between his moans, like a prayer, “oh, demon hunter, take me—! Yes, there, like that, good boy—” He groaned into Louis’ ear, shifting under him to meet the rapid movement.

“Like every dream I’ve ever had,” Louis whispered, stroking William’s face as he bent forward to kiss him. William jolted as if it shocked him, but he returned the kiss briefly before turning to the side, trying to catch his breath.

“No- no more kissing,” he said. “I hate you.”

“Oh, how can you say that?” Louis clenched his teeth, disguising his pleasure as a messy smile. “After everything I’ve done for you?” He pulled out for a moment, pushing William to his side and lifting one of his legs to his shoulder to continue in that position. William dug his claws into the grass, opening his mouth in a soundless scream as Louis drove his cock deeper.

“Ah- Louis!” William turned his head slowly to the side, but Louis jerked it back with the rope so that he was staring right into the demon’s eyes.

“Look up here,” he ordered.

“No- no, I cannot, I—” William shut his eyes, and Louis began to pull out. At this William’s eyes flew open. “W-Wait, Lo—!”

Louis laughed. “Oh, if I had known you were this easy to control, I’d have fucked you a long time ago. From the moment I saw you.” He slapped a hand against William’s thigh, the one with the wound on it, and William let out a shaky gasp as Lo shoved himself back in.

No one had been lying about the feeling of a succubus; Louis thought he might never want to pull out. So he didn’t, not when William was begging him to finish inside, not when Louis knew nothing could have stopped him anyway.

“Remember who gave you this strength!” And Lo came right into the filthy demon.

William shuddered, letting his head fall back. Louis waited a moment before pulling out, letting his cock slide out in between William’s thighs for good measure. What a mess Lo had made here!

“What do you say, demon?” he asked.

William looked up and forced a thank you out through his fangs. Louis tilted his head to the side with a smile and yanked the rope sharply towards him so that the demon was forced to sit up.

“Look me in the eyes and say it,” he said.

“Thank you,” said William.

“There. It is the least I deserve— after you forced this temptation out of me!” Louis pushed him away and took hold of his tail instead, tugging it back at the base. “You monster! You are ripping me away from God!”

“I never forced you to do anything!” William snarled back. He yelped and attempted to pull his tail free. “You have captured me and you have kept me here! Let me go— we can forget about each other and-” He cut himself off with a vicious scream as Louis felt a satisfying snap at the base of William’s tail.

“Did I hurt the little demon’s tail?” Lo cooed. He held up the tip now; it was fully healed, as he had suspected it would be, the triangle shape satisfyingly sharp again. He untied the bow and leaned forward to tie it around one of William’s horns. “Poor baby.”

William made no sound save for a few pained gasps, and Louis examined his body to see if everything else had healed properly. It had, so he stood and pulled his nightgown back on. He glared down at William before taking him by the collar and dragging him back inside, shoving him against the bed.

“Look at you,” Louis spat. “As pathetic as you were the day I met you.”

“I should have never come in here,” William huffed out. “If this is God’s punishment—”

“Then God is very wise,” said Lo. He climbed into the bed beside William and wrapped his arms around him, in particular gripping hard on the collar. William coughed, his body shuddering as he did so, but at least he didn’t move. He stayed there, in Louis’ arms, and that was where he finally fell asleep.

Noble Lo thought he was so kind, lying there with an unholy creature beside him. Perhaps he was right.

In the morning, the bones in William’s tail had healed like the rest of him had. Louis stroked the demon’s head on occasion as he got ready to leave, as usual— what was unusual was how exhausted William still appeared, despite having been fed last night.

“I can trust you to stay here?” Louis asked, kneeling beside him.

“Yes, sir.” William bowed his head, and Louis couldn’t help but bark out a laugh.

“There we go,” he said, stroking William’s cheek with the back of his hand. “This is the gratitude I expected and wanted. Know that no one else would ever want to lay hands on you. I do it at the cost of my soul. And you have none, demon, so you know nothing of what that is like.”

William nodded, and Louis turned towards the bed, picking up his nightgown and throwing it at William. “Here, put this on,” he said. “Allows you a little bit more modesty. Now, you wait here for me, alright?”

Again, William nodded and obeyed, and that was when Lo began to wonder— was the vixen faking all this? Did he want to look weak so he could escape later? Well, that would not stand, Lo could not lose his demon! He took his dagger, pinned William’s head down against the pillows, and drove the blade into his other thigh this time.

The demon screamed once more, though it was muffled by the pillow his face was buried in. He dug his claws into the sheets, and Louis gently took them and pinned them behind him to tie them together. 

“Do not get on the bed until you’ve healed again, I would hate to come back to blood on the sheets,” he said.

William let himself fall back to the ground, panting in between his whimpers like a sick dog. He shut his eyes and Louis left him as he was.

The first question his mother asked him when she saw him again was how he had slept. She patted his head once and the second question she asked was if he had gotten rid of the demon, like Mazarin had ordered him to.

“Yes, I did,” he lied. “I made sure it hurt.”

“Then you are safe after all,” she sighed. “That was very kind of you, Lo.”

So very, very kind. Kind enough to kill the other demons as he saw fit, but when it came to William, he knew he was enjoying himself too much.

He was going to do it! Tonight, he promised himself— no, he was lying, because when he returned, he found William fucking himself with his tail on the bed, his leg thankfully healed once more, but his hands still tied behind his back. So that would explain the tail.

“Oh, Dieudonné,” he was saying. “Oh, God, take me...”

That was his name! Louis stepped back, less appalled at the scene and more horrified because he realized he liked what he was seeing.

“William,” he said. “You have missed me?”

William didn’t even look up. Louis frowned and took the riding crop from his belt— he had no horses to use it on as of now, but it scared some of the less powerful demons. He sat up on the bed beside William, who looked back just in time, his eyes widening as the whip came down on his thigh.

He let out a fierce hiss, like he was more annoyed than anything, and Louis took his tail, curling it around his fingers like he would a strand of hair. “Disgusting, filthy succubus!” he scolded William. “Now I have to wash this, too.”

“I can wash it myself, in the stream,” William said. He let himself fall back on the bed, curling in his legs to cover himself. “If you would untie me.”

“You are clever,” Louis said. “But no more than I am. No, you are staying here. I have a better solution.” He flicked his knife out, and William cried out, kicking his legs out at Louis, knowing very well what was coming next.

Louis sliced off the tip like he had the first time. He muffled the subsequent scream with a kiss, pinning William’s legs down and running his fingers over the demon’s cunt. He felt William jolt under him, gasping into the kiss, slowly falling still beneath Louis.

“Is this not what you wanted?” Lo whispered. He began to slide the nightgown off of him, but William only shook his head, letting his head fall to the side.

“Leave it on...it smells like you.”

“Oh, even you do not know what you want anymore,,” Louis said, shaking his head as if he were disappointed. In reality, he was too happy to fuck the demon in this very moment like it had been wishing.

It was easier this time, with William’s hands tied behind his back. William was also far more receptive this time, hardly moving at all, instead letting Louis fuck him however he liked. He was whining, panting like an honest bitch, as pleased as Lo was, but on occasion he would screw his eyes shut and bare his teeth as if there was something else within him that he was refusing to let free.

“You want it in you?” Louis sneered.

“Oh, yes, yes, please, Louis—!” William nodded rapidly, and Louis pinned his head down to the pillow by grabbing onto his horns. William grunted, but he had no time to complain as Louis came in him.

“We’ll see if you starve now,” Louis said. He lifted William’s head to press kisses, and then bites, against his neck. Much to his disappointment, the demon made no sound, only sighed, his now fully healed tail shaking slightly.

“Good boy.” Louis ran his fingers through William’s hair and pulled hard. Now that brought a whimper out of him.

Lo could get used to this, he thought, and William certainly would have to.

Lucky that he seemed to catch on to the game quickly, then; for whatever Louis asked of him, William obeyed and gave it to him. There was no fighting the day after that, only begging for more of Louis’ touch, for more of the strength that Louis promised. Every kiss was returned, though without much hunger there. And best of all, the demon stayed put throughout the day, waiting for his master to come back, and then offering himself up when Louis did return.

And Lo gave him what he wanted. He fed his William, his sweet, obedient William, who knew to shut up when he pulled out his dagger and just pay attention. But he realized he didn’t have to use it as much anymore; the threat was sweeter than the blood it shed.

As exciting as these days were, he ended up not thinking much of them in the long run. It was second nature to him now— expecting to take whatever he pleased from that unholy creature! Maybe William deserved it, but did ungrateful, ever-starving Louis deserve it? Of course not.

Then God sent something to stir him from this hedonistic dream, or rather someone. After a mass like any other, where Louis no longer bothered to ask for forgiveness, he heard a deep voice call out to him from behind.

“Sir.”

“Hm?” He glanced back, looking straight at a woman- a man— no, he didn’t know what he was looking at. He would have thought they were a woman if they didn’t dress so similarly to him, if it weren’t for the knife on their belt. What was most startling, however, were the bandages tied tightly over their right eye.

“You are the demon hunter of this town?” they asked. “Louis.”

“I- yes.” Louis was unsure of whether or not to take their hand to kiss it. “Did you need a demon exorcised?”

“No, I can do that myself. My father taught me.” They bowed their head. “I’m a demon hunter as well. My name is Mary.”

“Oh.” Louis still didn’t know if he should kiss her hand; ultimately he decided not to. “Hello, Mary. It is not so common to see ladies in this field.”

“Well, I was a man when I started,” she said with a sigh. “But that was never what I came here for. You see, I have been travelling for quite a while now, conversing with every demon hunter that I can find, for I have lost a demon that I must find...for my own purposes.” She pointed at her bandaged eye. “He did this.”

“My God,” Louis breathed out, narrowing his eyes. “He must have been quite vicious. I may have exorcised him already if he came to this town. What did he look like?”

“He was a succubus,” Mary began, and Louis’ heart stopped. “Lovely auburn hair. The sharpest blue tail, so sharp it was when he lashed it that he took out my eye. But he...he had the most beautiful brown eyes I have ever seen.”

“Is that so?” Louis swallowed. “I believe I did exorcise him, after all. You will not find him here.”

“Oh,” Mary said. Her gaze darkened. “I see. I’m sorry if I bothered you, I just- I’m sorry.” She turned resolutely away, and Louis let out a sigh of relief.

William was waiting for him on the bed when he returned, lying on his side as always and watching the birds intently through the window. He liked to do that often, look outside. Louis sometimes wondered if it was all he ever did when he was gone.

“William, dear,” Louis called to him, and William looked up. He then turned his head away, and the sunlight falling over his body, most of it easily revealed under the clothing he had first arrived with, made him all the more tempting to Louis.

“How was your day, sir?” William asked. Though Louis knew he was never very interested, he still liked him to ask.

“Very interesting, actually.” Louis slowly took the rope tied to his collar and then pulled back as hard as he could, forcing William up on his knees. William grunted sharply, looking back at Louis with wide eyes.

“What- what happened?”

“You told me nothing of the first demon hunter you encountered,” Louis snarled. “You took her eye?! And for what, attempting to kill you? That should have come as no surprise to you; you should have known not to cross us.”

“It was an accident!” William protested. “I- I’d been injured after fleeing from my home, and she came to me— I simply meant to turn around and run, but she was in the way of my tail, and when she fell and stained the river with her blood, I thought- I thought there was no point in staying for her to kill me.”

“And you want to call yourself a Christian?” Louis said. “A good Christian, even a Protestant, would have stayed to help her.”

“I realize that now,” William said. “But in the moment, I wanted to live.”

“Well, she has come for you now,” Louis said, pinning his demon back on the bed. “She came here to ask me if I had seen you. She wants vengeance, William.”

“What did you tell her?” William asked.

“That I had already exorcised you,” Lo snapped. “Ungrateful whore. Come here and thank me properly.”

“Thank you, sir,” William mumbled, though he looked as miserable as ever as he pulled Louis’ breeches down. Louis gripped his horn and shoved him inward, so that in a second William had swallowed all of his cock. He felt the demon shudder under him, but he understood what he had to do and obeyed.

“I know you monsters always liked it directly down your throat,” Louis said. “Make sure I finish first before you feed.”

William looked up and nodded. It wasn’t long before Louis had taken his horn again and held his head there so that he could fuck the demon’s throat as he wished. When he thought he was done, he pulled out and came all over William’s face and his open mouth.

“Good boy,” Louis hissed out through gritted teeth. “Very good.”

William swallowed what he could. “Thank you,” he choked out.

“Now that I have chased Mary off for you,” Louis said, pulling William’s head up by the rope, “you know why you have to stay here, don’t you? You could never leave now.” He knew, logically, that there was no way William would want to leave him at this point; after all, what other human could provide him with such a constant energy supply? But he still felt compelled to ask now and then. It worried him irrationally, as he deserved as well.

“No, sir.” William shook his head, wincing as Louis pulled him closer.

“Good. You will be good for me.”

William’s eyes drifted shut and he said, “Yes, I shall.”

“Very good.” Louis saw the way his tail dropped to the ground beside him, and he wondered if he should cut it off again. No, it was too pretty— but perhaps a reminder was in place. So he spent much of the night tying bows onto William’s tail, and told him that for each time William disobeyed his master, Louis would pull off one of the bows. When the number of bows was zero, the punishment was up to Lo.

What he didn’t expect was for the bows to run out so quickly. One would suspect it was because he was too eager to punish his demon plaything, but you couldn’t tell him that.

There were eight bows in total. William ran through seven of them in a few weeks.

One: he did not look Louis in the eyes when he sucked on his dick again.

Two: he did not moan his master’s name as he rode him.

Three: he did not look Louis in the eyes.

Four: he did not look Louis in the eyes.

Five: he hid away when it rained and Louis had wanted to hold him.

Six: he refused to go back inside when Louis took him outside to bathe him.

Seven: he did not look Louis in the eyes at this very instance, as he shifted his hips back and forth over his master’s boot. Louis raised an eyebrow, tugging on the rope to bring William in closer.

“Look up here, or another bow comes off,” he said. He had to laugh as William grinded faster. “Stupid, uncontrollable little demon. You look pathetic, dear.”

William bit his lip, though succeeded little in stifling his whimpers. He glanced up at Louis but then looked down again. Oh, how wet he was, what a mess he was making— Lo would have to make him clean it off his boot when he was done. That sharp tongue had to work for its meals.

And so do those eyes, he noted with displeasure.

“Well, William, this could have easily been avoided if you had just looked at me when I asked,” Louis said once they were done with that, both of them sitting beside the stream. He shook his head disappointedly as he pulled the bow from William’s tail.

“You never cared this much before,” William said indignantly. “I told you I could not do it.”

“Yes, you can,” Louis said. He tied the bow back on William’s other horn instead. The bow he had tied on first was still there. “There we go. Still all pretty and decorated for me.” He leaned in to kiss the horn. “Are you hungry, dear?”

“Not right now...” William hesitated. “And I am not sure I will ever be again.”

“What?” Louis jolted. “Why not?” He pulled William in by the rope.

“Come, Lo, you did not seriously believe I was going to be content with just you forever.” William shook himself. “I must find other humans...”

“But why? Am I not the only one you’ve ever liked?” Louis narrowed his eyes. “And the only one who would not kill you right upon seeing you. You know, William, that I am indispensable for you.”

“Sir, I am...grateful,” William said, and Lo hated how he spat out the word. “Very, dutifully grateful for your attention. It is all I have ever needed—!” He tore his head back viciously, and the rope snapped in Louis’ hands as the demon bounced back with a hiss.

“Oh, you little monster—!” Louis yelled. He reached for his knife, but in that instant William was swiftly upon him, slamming his head back against the grass. Louis jolted with pain, trying to throw William off, but it seemed the demon had the strength of God flowing through him, nothing like the first time he had fought back. His claws came to pin down Louis’ wrists, and Lo glared up at him defiantly. He was not scared, he was not scared.

“Why would you feed someone that despises you like I do?” William asked. “Why would you do such a thing, Dieudonné? Someone like you cannot forget that doing so would give me power.” He snapped his jaws near Louis’ face, and Lo drew back with a shaky gasp.

“Well, how was I to know you would do this?” he retorted. “Let me go, monster. No good Christian would kill somebody who fed them when no one else would.”

“Precisely. But you made it very clear that I could never be one, or am I wrong?” William curled his lip back in a sneer, lifting his claws to Louis’ throat. “I will spare you, but not because you ordered me to. Only because you fed me and gave me the strength to fight you.”

“I should have let you starve.”

“A very good thing you did not.” William sat back, and Louis shuffled back, his eyes wide. “I will go now. If you follow me, then I will kill you. No hesitation this time.” He ripped the last bow off his tail and turned away. “Goodbye, Lo.”

Louis, foolish boy he was, could not believe what he was seeing. His beloved demon! The one he had fed and kept here for so long, the dearest company he had ever known—! The truest form of rebellion there was!

And now he dared to walk away. No, this was not the way things would end. Not so easily.

“William,” he said, “you know what happens when the last ribbon comes off.”

“What?” William glanced back, eyes narrowed. “I never belonged to you.”

“That’s where you are wrong.” Louis stood and took a step forward, forcing a convincing smile on his face. Really, he wanted to sink his teeth right into William’s traitorous throat.

“Oh, really, now, what will you do?” William said. “You think you can defeat me now with all the strength I have? I told you that you do not have to die.”

“William, look,” said sly, clever Lo, “just because you leave now does not mean I will ever forget you. I want us to part like we always have. Come, one more kiss for poor Lo?”

The demon’s eyes widened, and Louis’ smile became just a little more real. He had him now.

“Why do you want to pretend you loved me?” asked William. “Even before I met you, I was sick of it. The things that have happened to me— none of it was love.” He turned fully to face Louis, crying out, “Do not lie to me anymore!”

“Of course a demon would not know what love is,” Louis said. “Do you think love exists in hell?”

“I had— friends—”

“None like me,” Louis went on, “who fed you and made you beautiful. Even though I shouldn’t have,” he added, “you managed to endear yourself to me, through your devotion. You were simply always there, William, and you came when I needed someone like you.” He stepped closer to his demon and took William’s hands. “If I hurt you, then you disobeyed me, and disobeyed God.”

“You- you do not know what love is,” William said. He shook his head, trying to back away, but Louis pulled him in by his collar.

“And what makes you think you would know more than I would?” he asked. “Please, enlighten me, dear—”

“Do not call me that!” William swiped his claws at Louis’ face.

It was hard enough to push Louis away, enough to make him to fall on his back on the grass, enough for him to realize that he could see less stars on the sky than before. And they were all unfocused, and he did not know if it was the pain in his head or the blood in his eye.

My eye. My eye! He gasped, sitting up and lifting a hand to his eye, where William had run his claws through. He tasted the blood running to his lips, and he turned his head to see if the slick fluid on his fingers was red. It was.

Surely I can still see, he told himself. The pain is not so bad.

Right? He looked up at William in shock.

But the demon was unfazed. He glanced down at his bloodied claws and turned away. “I hope you held no illusions that I ever loved you,” he said simply.

Louis would kill him now. He took the dagger from his belt and stumbled forward on all fours. He thought he was about to faint, but he couldn’t let William leave like this. The tail was so close, dangling before his face—

He pulled back on it as hard as he could, and William hissed, looking back only to cry out in shock as Louis took hold of his foot and dragged him down with him.

“Oh, you have never been denied anything before, have you?” William snarled. He raised his tail over Louis’ head, but the hunter slammed his heel back down on the tip, and William let out a pained shriek.

“You are going nowhere without me.” Louis coughed, trying to clear the blood from his lips. His whole head was stinging, burning now. “Tell me you will stay—!”

“I’ll kill you,” William spat, “if that is what you wanted.” He tried to pull his tail out from under Louis, only for Lo to drive the knife into his side. William screamed again, his body arching off the ground, and Louis grinned, crawling over him. His own blood dripped onto William’s face.

“What do you think of another man in you, William?” he asked. He forced the demon’s legs open, starting to pull the cloth from him. “At the same time, too. Mindless slut!” He pushed the dagger in deeper, and William gasped, tossing his head back.

“L-Louis—!” He kicked his legs out; Lo praised God under his breath for taking the strength from this demon through the knife. “It- it must not be this way—” The demon was weeping now, shaking his head as Louis pressed kisses to his face and neck.

“How could you do this to me, William?” he asked. “You did this to the hunter Mary, too, yes?”

“I- I didn’t mean it,” William told him through his miserable sobs.

Louis leaned back, holding his hand over his eye again with a slight groan, so he didn’t see the flash of silver beside him, right before a blade ran through his neck.

He opened his mouth to scream, but he could manage nothing but broken gasps. The blade was pulled sharply free, spraying blood all over his face, and he fell to the side, staring at William. Now, how had he done that?

No— it was not William. There was a taller shape illuminated by the moon beside him, sheathing the blade and glaring down at him. God help him, it was Mary.

“I forgive him,” she said coldly, “so there is no need to pretend you have any right to issue out divine consequences.”

You have killed me, he tried to say. He couldn’t lift his head any longer.

“Poor dear, he has stabbed you.” Mary knelt beside William, who shuffled back rapidly.

“Get away from me, hunter,” he said. His own breaths were labored, Louis noted with satisfaction.

“You know, my father stabbed me once, in that same spot,” Mary said. “It hurts very, very much. Do you want some help there?”

William. Louis weakly lifted his arm, reaching out for his demon.

“Do not touch him!” Mary kicked him in the side, and Louis grunted, his head rolling back so that it lay partially in the cold water. The stinging seemed to spread throughout the rest of his body then, and he shuddered. William’s body had been so warm beside him.

Do not leave me here—! He opened his mouth to speak, but something flooded into the back of his throat. Was that water, or was it blood? It was too thick to be either.

“Come with me,” he heard Mary say, “I just want to help you get the blade out, and then you can leave.”

“Louis lied to me...”

“Yes, and he lied to me, too. I knew you were here.”

“He said you wanted vengeance.”

“Oh, lies. All lies, as always. Come, leave him to die there, alone...” Louis heard footsteps then, and he looked to William one last time, holding onto Mary to keep himself up. He was leaving, after all.

Very well. He shut his good eye. He could leave, too.

I will see you in hell, William.