He laughed, the sound slightly unhinged. "I don't think that's how it works."
"Definitely how it works." I finally managed to lift off him and immediately whimpered at the loss. "Okay. Moving is a bad idea. Everything hurts."
"Let me—" He sat up, looking at my bleeding arm, and his expression shifted into something focused and careful. "I need to clean that."
"It's fine."
"It's not fine. You're bleeding because of me." He was already moving, hunting for supplies. "Don't argue with me."
I watched him pad naked across the room, this virgin priest who'd just discovered he gets off on biting people. The world had gotten very weird.
When he came back with the first-aid kit, his hands were surprisingly steady as he cleaned the wound. The antiseptic burned like hell, and I hissed.
"Sorry," he murmured, wrapping my arm in gauze. His touch was so gentle now, completely at odds with how he'd just bitten me hard enough to scar.
"Worth it."
He looked up at me. "Why? Why did you want it to match?"
"You've carried my mark for years." I touched his scarred forearm with my uninjured hand. "Seemed fair I carry yours too."
He leaned forward and kissed me, soft and careful, tasting like copper and us.
When he pulled back, he finished bandaging my arm, then treated the other bite marks on my neck and shoulder. The bastard made me drink water and tucked me into bed like I was something fragile.
"You don't have to do all this," I said.
"Yes, I do." He climbed in beside me. "No one's ever taken care of you after, have they?"
My throat went tight. "No."
"Well, I am." His arms came around me. "Get used to it."
We lay there quietly for a while before I brought us back to reality.
"We need to talk about getting Luka’s seal"
Rafael's arms tightened. "I know."
"He's my best friend. Has been since I was fourteen." I stared at the ceiling. "But he's also the North American Director."
"Will he help us?"
"I don't know." The honesty hurt. "The Luka I knew would help without question. But I'm asking him to commit treason. To risk Vincent. To risk everything he's built."
"He won't turn us in though."
"No. Never." I was certain of that. "But asking for his seal is asking for everything. And the Judges are already watching him."
"Another trap then."
"Probably." I couldn't help the bitter laugh. "But we need three seals. Jasper gave us Hephaestus's. We still need Hades'. And we need Luka's."
"And if he refuses?"
"Then we're fucked."
Rafael was quiet for a long moment. Then: "We’ll figure it out. We’ve come too far already to give up now."
