I Became the Villain Alpha's Omega (BL)-Chapter 14: The Line Between Us

Sleeping with a man who could snap your neck like a dry twig is, as it turns out, remarkably bad for her sleep.

Cherion sat on the edge of the mattress, staring at the silk duvet as if it might sprout teeth. He’d agreed to this. He had actually, with his own functional mouth, agreed to the arrangement. Why? He still wasn’t entirely sure. Maybe it was the sheer exhaustion of the blood-splattered night, or perhaps it was the way Zarius’s eyes seemed to pin him to the wall, leaving him with the distinct impression that a "no" would only result in a more creative, likely more claustrophobic, form of detention.

He’d initially suggested the couch. But Zarius had shut that down with a flatrefusal that left zero room for negotiation.

And the more he refused, the more ridiculous Zarius got. Cherion had learned that much already.

So, here he was. Cherion grabbed one of the massive, overstuffed pillows and slammed it down squarely in the center of the bed.

"Let’s get one thing straight," Cherion muttered, keeping his gaze firmly on the pillow-border. "Do not cross this line. This is the border. That’s your territory over there. This is mine. I believe we’d both prefer it if neither of us tried to launch an unprovoked invasion tonight."

He nodded to himself, satisfied, and lay down facing the right side, turning his back to the Alpha. His shoulders were tense, his spine straight, like sleep might try to ambush him if he relaxed too much.

He squeezed his eyes shut. Just sleep. It’s just a bed. He’s just a roommate with a body count. No big deal.

But the sleepiness that had been weighing down his eyelids in the study had vanished, replaced by a buzzing, high-frequency alertness. He could feel the heat radiating from the space behind him.

He listened. Was Zarius even breathing? Was he asleep already?

A month, Cherion thought, his eyes snapping open to stare at the dark wood of the bedpost. I really told him a month.

He was a dead man. Or, at the very least, a man destined for a very public failure. He was just a guy who’d read a smutty novel because his name was in it. Desperate times, as they say, call for desperate, and frankly delusional measures.

He shifted his gaze upward, looking toward the ceiling. Hey, you, he whispered in the quiet theater of his mind. Incompetent God. If you’re lurking up there, or in the cloud, or wherever you hang out between screwing up people’s lives, you better be listening. This whole mess is your subordinate’s fault, which, in my book, makes it your liability. Corporate responsibility, right? Reanimating me in a trashy book isn’t ’making it right.’ It’s just changing the scenery of my misery. You have to help me keep living. Give me a hint, a spark. Anything.

He waited for a celestial sign. A whisper. A glowing neon sign appeared in his vision. Nothing happened. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Maybe fifteen minutes passed. Or twenty. Long enough for his limbs to ache from staying too still, long enough for his thoughts to start looping back on themselves. He shifted slightly. Then again.

Time to change position.

He slowly peeked over his shoulder.

Zarius was lying on his back. His eyes were wide open, reflecting the red like two ruby stones. He didn’t look tired. He looked like he was contemplating the best way to lay siege to a fortress.

Cherion gave up on the "ignore him until he disappears" strategy and rolled onto his back, then his other side to face the Alpha. "It’s hard to sleep when there’s a total stranger in your bed, isn’t it?" Cherion said, his voice sounding thin in the vastness of the room.

Zarius didn’t turn his head, but his gaze shifted to Cherion. "Why aren’t you asleep? Are you busy calculating the distance to the door? Or perhaps you’re just wondering how you ended up in a narrative you weren’t supposed to be a part of?"

Cherion flinched slightly, Zarius had a way of hitting the nail on the head that was frankly unsettling. "I’m just thinking about your... condition," he lied, though it was only a partial lie. "I wanted to know how many people actually know about the whole ’Daytime Coughing, Nighttime Coffins’ routine? It’s a pretty drastic swing."

"Four," Zarius replied, his voice devoid of emotion. "Myself. Elios. Flio. And now, unfortunately, you."

Cherion tilted his head, a small, tired smirk touching his lips. "No. Five."

Zarius finally turned his head to look at him, a brow slightly arched. "Who else?"

"God," Cherion said. He added, specifically for his own benefit, that incompetent, fat-fingered God.

Zarius let out a sigh that might have been a laugh if the man were capable of such a thing. "I suppose."

"What about physicians?" Cherion asked, leaning his head on his hand. "Surely the Great Duke of the North could hire the best out of best in the empire?"

Zarius’s jaw tightened. "Of course I did that, but no one can cure me, so I stop. Besides, I cannot risk it. Every physician is a potential leak."

Cherion nodded. It made sense. In the novel, Zarius was the classic villain-hero hybrid because he was isolated. He had power, but no safety. "Fair enough," Cherion murmured. "But do you have a lead? Any idea who sent this curse your way?"

Zarius seemed to actually think about it, his eyes tracking the shadows on the wall. "If I were to list everyone who wants me dead or incapacitated, we’d still be talking when the sun comes up. I might need to make a literal list. It’s quite a long one."

"Is the list of your enemies really that extensive?" Cherion asked, his voice softening as the adrenaline finally started to ebb. As expected from the villain, he thought.

He felt a sudden, strange pang of empathy. It was a weird feeling, considering he was the one being held hostage in a bedroom, but the sight of Zarius looking so utterly alone in his own house was... a lot.

Cherion let out a massive, bone-deep yawn that practically unhinged his jaw. He adjusted his pillow, tucking it under his head as his eyelids finally began to feel like they were made of lead. "Well," he mumbled, his voice trailing off into a sleepy slur. "Don’t worry too much about the list tonight. I’ll make sure... I’ll make sure you’re free from this. A deal’s a deal."