Chapter Ten
"Cato, you should be resting, this really isn't necessary," Peeta insisted.
The club had cleared out a couple of hours previous and Cato had been awake again for at least half an hour. The rest had done him good but he was still fatigued. The three of them hadn't moved from the VIP platform because there was nowhere to go. Not until they could figure out a solution to the purity problem anyway.
Cato didn't listen to Peeta and continued to examine the angel's healed wing. The demon was still tired and had to prop himself up on the sofa with his elbow just to continue his examination. Peeta sat on the floor, in the same spot in which he had sworn never to leave until Cato was better, and decided just to let the demon do what he wanted. "I have to make sure I did it properly," he replied gruffly. His finger squeezed and rubbed various parts of Peeta's left wing to make sure, without any hindrance or doubt, that he had done his job right.
"It looks healed to me," Johanna said.
"Looks can be deceiving," Cato responded. "I was battling my darkness when I did this. Who knows what I could have arranged wrong?"
"I'm fine, Cato, really," said Peeta. "You did your job really well. Look." He flapped his previously broken wing, causing the feathers to brush Cato's hands and face. The demon was taken aback by how silky they felt against his skin and leaned back against the sofa in shock. "I'm more worried about the burns."
When Peeta had grabbed Cato and dragged him out of Seneca's office, the skin on his forearms had burned badly. Johanna moved off her seat and sat on the floor beside Peeta, taking his arms into her hands and studying them. "Damn, that looks bad," she said.
"It doesn't hurt," said Peeta. "I'm just worried it will hold me back."
Johanna nodded and held her hand over Peeta's arm, using her own healing ability to seal up the wounds as best she could. Because she was lazy by nature, she couldn't complete the job properly, but she did what she was able to and the burns sealed up pretty well. Cato's head rolled around on his cushion drowsily and he declared, "I will sort that out once my energy is fully back."
"You don't have to, really," Peeta insisted. "You've helped me more that I deserve. Helping isn't in your nature so what you have done is way more than I could have asked for." Peeta looked to the floor shamefully. "I'm surprised you haven't ditched me yet because I'm so much of a bother."
"Yeah," Johanna said sarcastically, "we were actually discussing that when you were with Seneca. Maybe it's about time we bucked you out and sorted this shit out ourselves." She nudged Peeta playfully. "You're part of the team. You don't just abandon team mates randomly. Besides, it's not your fault you're cursed by Snow."
Peeta picked at his fingernails sheepishly. He didn't like hearing the words 'cursed' and 'Snow' in the same sentence. There were things he still had to come to terms with. Things he still had to admit to himself about his creator. At the back of his mind, he knew everything that was being said about him was true but he just couldn't admit it to himself. Not yet. It was too painful. Everything he had believed in all his life was falling to pieces around him.
"Even if you were a nuisance," Johanna said, her eyebrows scrunched up in deep thought, "I still think you're involved somehow."
"Involved?" Peeta asked. "What do you mean?"
"This whole walls between heaven and hell falling thing is a bit strange. If Snow is behind it, how did he plan to do it? And how has he been able to plan this without his Vision finding out? I think you're a link, somehow, I just don't know in what way," Johanna explained.
Peeta was confused. How would he be involved? How could he be a link in Snow's plans? He knew nothing of the walls failing or that it was Snow's idea to make it happen! Johanna clearly knew this and what she meant was something much deeper. That maybe Peeta was involved on a subconscious level. A level he was yet to discover himself . . .
A hand touched Peeta's shoulder and he yelped in surprise, having been so lost in his thoughts that he had forgotten that Cato was still awake. "I have a plan," the tired demon announced.
"What sort of plan?" Peeta asked nervously, turning to face Cato's sofa. Temperance nervously dug his claws into the angel's shoulder, clearly unnerved as well. Seneca claimed that the only way to cure Peeta of his scent was to take his virginity. Whatever plan Cato had couldn't be at all good.
"I can seep into the pleasure centres of your brain and maybe try to snap whatever it is making Snow's fucks be unaccounted for," Cato suggested. "I won't pretend you won't feel anything but it might be the only shot we've got."
"Are you strong enough?" Johanna asked with concern.
Cato nodded. As if to prove himself, he heaved his tired body up into a sitting position. Peeta and Johanna both jumped to their feet with worry. Johanna held Cato's arm as he stood up and Peeta stood on standby, ready to catch him if he feel. Even if it did mean burning his skin. "I'm okay," Cato pressed, waving Johanna off.
Cato turned to Peeta and gripped his shoulder with as much strength as he could muster. "Do you trust me?" he asked.
Peeta nodded. "I do."
"Then you'll believe me when I say that I won't cause unnecessary pain?" asked Cato.
Again, Peeta nodded.
"Memories may resurface while I'm searching," said Cato. His green eyes were fierce and the glowing emerald burned into Peeta like fire. "Memories of previous sexual experiences. Things that Snow may have done to you . . . and I can't guarantee that they'll all be happy."
Peeta inhaled sharply and nodded. "I understand," he replied.
Cato nodded. "Lie down on the sofa and close your eyes. I'll work as fast as I can. Johanna will have to hold your wrists down. Just in case."
"Will you be able to break Snow's spell? If you find what he's done?" Peeta asked.
"If I find it-which I'm sure I will-the upper hand that hell has over heaven should give my powers enough strength to overwhelm Snow's," Cato explained.
Peeta lay down on the sofa, heart fluttering rapidly in his chest, and closed his eyes as Cato instructed. He felt the demon come closer to him and he inhaled nervously.
"I'll be as gentle as I can," Cato said softly. Without another word he pressed his finger against Peeta's temple, plunging him into sleep and instantly taking control of his dreams. Peeta immediately frowned in displeasure, already feeling the effects of having a sex demon inside his head. Johanna held his wrists down, as instructed, having to tighten her grip a moment later as the angel began to squirm.
Inside Peeta's head, a flurry of things was happening. Flashes of images he didn't want to see exploded behind his eyelids. Acts of fornication and lust, all of them having been committed by himself. All the things he had done in the past with Snow. It felt like Cato was digging into his memories like a dog, unearthing everything Peeta had suppressed and pushed away. Everything he had denied ever happened.
"Snow, I learned of something new today."
Snow's hand froze over his goblet of wine. "Oh? And what was that?"
Peeta was extremely proud of himself for learning something without having to ask Snow about it. Still in his early years, he was still vulnerable and uneducated. He was slowly adapting, however, and every day he evolved more and more. Except Snow didn't like it when Peeta was taught something by someone else. There was a certain way Snow wanted his Vision to learn things and only he could do it. Except Peeta did not know this and actively sought out new learning experiences wherever he went.
"Armisael told me of the sins of the world," Peeta explained. He jumped onto the bed in front of Snow and beamed brightly. "She told me of greed and gluttony and sloth and lust and . . ." Peeta paused and frowned. "Snow, why do you lust? It's a sin!"
Snow clenched his hand into a fist and resisted the urge to get angry. "We are exceptions, my love," he said carefully.
"No one is an exception, Armisael told me," Peeta contradicted, shaking his head in denial.
"Armisael doesn't know of the exceptions. I am God and I can do as I wish."
Peeta was stubborn, having latched onto the first explanation of the seven deadliest that he had gotten, like he did with most of his education. "No," he said.
Snow's eyes flashed dangerously. "Are you questioning me, Haziel?"
Young and naïve, Peeta scowled and said, "Yes I am."
Snow growled angrily and threw his goblet away. He grabbed his Vision by the shoulders and threw him down, slapping him harshly across the face. "You don't question me, do you understand?" he roared.
"No, I don't understand!" Peeta yelled back. "Because you're wrong!"
Snow wormed his hand between Peeta's back and the bed, his fingers crawling up the boy's wings until he found what he was looking for. Peeta screamed as Snow rubbed the bumps on his wings, massaging them between his fingers until the angel beneath him was suitably worked up. "Look at that, Haziel, you've gotten horny. Looks like you've sinned too," God jeered at Peeta.
"Stop it, that's not fair!" Peeta roared back. He hit his head off the end of the mattress angrily, his chest rising and falling rapidly to the sensation of Snow touching his wing bumps.
"You're a sinner too!" Snow jibed.
"No, I'm not!"
"You are!"
"I'm not!"
Peeta's eyes flew open and he screamed in shock. Johanna loomed over him, still holding onto his wrists. "It's okay, Peeta," she assured. Her voice begun to fade again as Cato's rummaging in Peeta's head pulled him back under into unconsciousness. He didn't want to go again, to face what else was to be unearthed, but he had no choice as his eyes snapped shut and he went limp once more.
"Why was Hermesiel speaking to you?"
Peeta shrugged, turning the taps on to draw Snow his bath. "He was just asking if I would drop by the cathedral and listen to the new song he's working on for the choirs," he explained. "He said that he wanted my opinion because I would know what pleases you most." The thought made him smile. Everyone wanted to please the Lord Snow.
"Are you sure that's all he wanted?" Snow appeared beside Peeta, night gown tied tight around his waist.
"It's all he asked for," Peeta replied, straightening up as the bath filled up. "What else could he possibly want?"
"You're only half a millennia old, Haziel. You're still very young. Some angels are jealous of your closeness to me. Others . . . well . . . others are weak. They very easily fall under the spell you case," Snow explained.
"What spell?" Peeta scoffed. He walked around Snow and grabbed the bath salts he knew the Lord adored. Scent of roses. "I don't cast any spell."
Snow shook his head. He dipped his hand into the water as it filled the bath and stirred it with his fingertips. "It's a spell you cast unwittingly. I created you, therefore you are aesthetically pleasing to not only me. The angels have begun to notice the angelic assets I blessed you with."
Peeta pulled a face. "You're making it sound like all anyone sees me as is an object to lust after."
"Anyone who lusts after you will be no angel of mine," Snow assured, laying a comforting hand on his vision's shoulder. "I'd damn them to hell faster than they could say 'whoops'. That's why I have to know Hermesiel's true intentions . . ."
"His true intentions were for the choirs," Peeta finished for Snow. He returned to the bath and shook in the rose salts. "I'd know if he had been trying to imply something else. Hermesiel is a respected angel, sir. He would never . . . Angels can't break the seven deadliest anyway. The consequences would be . . . not at all worth it."
"You still live by the exaggerated lies that Armisael fed you when you were young," mused Snow. "Now that the blasphemous heathens have been smited from heaven and the war has begun, there is no longer time to worry about being too wrathful or too lustful. It just happens, my pet." Snow's voice was gentle but there was an undertone of something firmer than that that made Peeta feel nervous.
"Still . . . I'd rather live by your original rules," Peeta explained. "It's not like it would do any harm."
Snow tsked.
"Snow, sir, are you sure you're not just, um, a little bit envious?" asked Peeta.
"Me?! Jealous?!" Snow roared back. "How dare you accuse me of such a thing!" He was so angry in that millisecond that he couldn't control himself and he smacked Peeta across the face, raking his fingernails down his cheek in the process.
Peeta yelled with pain and cupped his face as it began to bleed. Metal hued liquid began to seep profusely from his cheek, slipping from between his fingers down his hand and wrist. He looked at Snow with horror. This was the first time he'd ever struck him. Snow's eyes immediately softened but when he reached out for Peeta, his vision stepped back with fear.
"Haziel," Snow said, his voice warning, "don't make me force this."
Peeta was shaking with terror and mortification. He was still bleeding and his face stung badly. He forced himself to stay still as the Lord stepped closer to him again and wound his arms tight around him in a hug. Snow shushed Peeta as he trembled in his arms.
"There, there," he whispered. "You've learned your lesson."
"I'm sorry," Peeta whispered back. "Is there anything I can do to make up for it?"
Snow wedged a hand between them and undid his bathrobe. He walked around Peeta and shrugged it off before climbing into the bath. Peeta spun on his heel, thinking it was going to be a simple request like wash his back or hair. Snow had something else in mind.
"Take your clothes off and get in with me," he said.
"Why, sir?"
Snow grinned. "How else are you going to make up for it?"
Peeta awoke again with a high pitched scream. His body felt like it was burning. He felt like someone had set him on fire and his skin and hair was singeing away slowly. Johanna was sitting completely on top of him now, her body pinning his hips to the sofa. He jerked his head to the side and saw Cato, kneeling by his side with his head bowed low. His fingers were still pressed against Peeta's temple.
"You have to close your eyes again," Johanna shouted desperately. "He'll get lost if you don't!"
Peeta felt tears swell in his eyes as he wrestled with himself. He didn't want to do this anymore. There was a reason he buried those memories. They were too painful to relive. But if he didn't, Cato was going to get lost. Peeta inhaled sharply and forced his eyes shut, the abrupt action being just enough to cause the tears to slip out and dampen his cheeks.
Snow pulled Peeta down on top of him and kissed him fiercely. Peeta was still unsure, the things he had been told about the seven deadliest fresh in his mind. "Don't worry, Haziel," the Lord murmured into his Vision's ear, "when I'm finished, I'll make sure you don't remember a thing."
Cato pulled his fingers away from Peeta's temple and dragged Johanna down to the ground just as Peeta bolted up from the sofa and screamed as fire flushed through his entire body. He fell off the sofa onto his face, panting out huge puffs to try to get his breath back. The whole ordeal had been traumatising. Having to live through all those memories.
"Did you do it?" Peeta panted.
Cato reached out and touched Peeta's sweaty head fondly. "Yeah. I got it." He grinned. "Welcome to the world of impurity."
A/N: Thank to you everyone who supports me and this story! It means a great deal to me :D
Please R&R :)