Mine. Every mark was mine.
But they were temporary.
My eyes dropped to the bite mark healing on the inside of his arm. It’d scabbed over, and the bruises had faded. In a few weeks, it’d be nothing but a scar. When I’d bitten him, I thought I was doing it to make us even. But we’d never be even.
I could live a thousand years to worship Lorenzo, and still never repay him for what he’d given me: my freedom. The bastard had danced into my life bringing chaos and murder, and somehow, that was exactly what I’d needed to wake up. To start taking control of my own life. To live. He’d given that to me.
And all I’d ever given him was a single little scar.
"Stop looking at me like that," Lorenzo said without turning around. "Or we're never getting out of this bed."
“I was thinking about after,” I said quietly.
He glanced over his shoulder at me. “After the labyrinth?”
I nodded.
“What about it?”
“What happens to this?” I asked, gesturing between us. “To us. Do we just... go back to our lives? Pretend this never happened?"
He turned to face me fully. The morning light caught the gold in his eyes, turning them almost amber. "Is that what you want?"
"No," I said firmly.
"Then what do you want?"
Everything.The word sat on my tongue, but I couldn't force it out. How did I explain that I wanted every morning like this one? That Iwanted to learn all his scars and stories? That I wanted years to figure out who we could be when we weren't bleeding or running or fighting for our lives?
"You," I finally said. "I want you. After this. I want mornings like this and nights like last night and every messy moment in between." My chest was too tight, like my ribs couldn't contain everything trying to claw its way out. "I want to build something with you that isn't founded on violence and desperation."
Lorenzo stared at me like I'd spoken a language he didn't understand.
"I've spent my entire life being told what I should want," I continued. The words were spilling out now, and I couldn't stop them. "What I should be. How I should serve. But you're the first thing I've ever chosen just for myself. Not because God demanded it or my father ordered it or the Church required it. Just because I want you."
"Rafael…" He sighed. "You don't know what you're asking for."
"Don't I?" I pushed myself up, ignoring the way my missing eye threw off my balance. I reached for him and cupped his face between my palms. "I know exactly what I'm asking for. I'm asking for your particular brand of dysfunction. Your darkness. The parts of you that everyone else would run from. I'm asking for all of it. Because the alternative is unacceptable." I kissed him softly and slowly, trying to pour every unspoken promise into the contact. "Because I've already lost everyone I ever loved. My mother. Gabriel. Even my father, in his own twisted way. I'm not losing you too."
Lorenzo's hands came up to grip my wrists. "Rafael, I—" He stopped. Started again. "I've never felt this before. Never wanted to stay with someone after. Never thought about futures or mornings or any of it. But with you..." His voice cracked. "With you, I want it all."
My throat went tight. "So we agree? After Constantine's dead, we figure this out? We try?"
"We try." His lips curved into something fragile and genuine. Not his usual cocky smirk. Something softer. Real. "But you're going to have to be patient with me."
"Me too." I kissed him again. "We'll learn together."
He pulled me closer, arms wrapping around me tight enough to bruise.
"I love you," Lorenzo whispered against my mouth. "I didn't think I was capable of it anymore. But I love you."
"I love you too." The confession felt like falling and flying at the same time. "God help me, I love you."
We stayed like that, wrapped around each other, until Hades’ voice drifted up the stairs calling that breakfast was ready and the plane would be leaving in two hours.
We pulled apart slowly, reluctantly. Lorenzo's thumb traced my cheekbone one last time before he let go and stood. I watched him move around the room, gathering clothes, and tried to memorize the way morning light painted gold across his skin.
This could be the last time.
