Maria went into the bathroom to clean up, taking off her shirt first. Although things were mirrored, this was another bathroom designed for fucking. She didn't know if she liked it or not-glad to still have a chance to try it out but didn't need the reminder of what that prick had done. Perhaps if she had seen the videos herself, she'd feel differently about it. I hope I never see them.

Mark followed her in to check over her shoulder in the bright lights. A total of 16 points had broken through the skin. He sighed with relief. "So I was only half gone-that explains why I caught your shoulder."

The thought that he had any control when he bit her irked Maria's nerves. "Get out and let me clean up in peace."

The crow put both hands at chest height up in surrender, then backed out. "I'll be at the table."

She took a quick shower and put on a set of pajamas, scrunch-drying her hair with a towel as she walked. "Alright, I get that there's a ton of stuff I don't know that you're going to have to fill me in on, but try to avoid that while fucking me, alright?"

The crow nodded. "I'm sorry."

"For what?

"The only part of that which went wrong. I shouldn't bite people like that."

"Does it do anything crazy like those werewolf romances?"

"Hrm?" He thought about it..."Oh, I've skimmed a couple of those. What do they do?"

"Usually some sort of soulmates."

"Ha!" Mark immediately went derisive on that comment. "Whoever did that certainly makes demon's work all the easier. The idea of someone who you are tied with against your will and gives you the right to break up marriages to attain it? Oh, yeah, I'll believe that."

Maria sat down and searched his closed-off face for any hint of what he was thinking. "You wouldn't be with me if you believed in soul mates, would you?"

For a brief moment, agony crossed his features before he schooled himself into stoicism. "If I believed in it, you would be Lugh's, not mine. I need you, and I'd be destroying that."

"How can you say that so coldly?" Maria leaned against her palm, elbow on the table. "Why do you need me?"

Mark completely ignored the question to go back to protesting his innocence-annoying, really, and without Lugh's trust she'd be done with him, right where he started. "My first time being accused was in the 80s. Some woman I didn't know claimed not only force but also fathering her child. I had slept with a few of her roommates, so she was aware of me from talk. Back then a paternity test was blood type-if our blood matched, I would have been stuck with this woman by human laws, possibly even gone to trial. Cops were more likely to quietly drop the case if we married before the test results came back, so I guess she was trying to find a father for her kid and pressure me into giving in. As women started coming forward more about genuine abuse, I decided to take myself out of the culture war. I've been celibate longer than you've been alive, so any new accusation of physically being with someone besides you is a lie-which is why I'm close to losing my mind."

Maria thought about it for a moment. In a roundabout way, he did eventually answer. Mark's physical state as a Fey-and-Incubus was in shreds, and he only felt secure with someone sent to him from Lugh-someone he believed was very precious to his master. They were both willing sleep together because of their trust in another man's opinion, one she couldn't wholly remember. That's what made this trust so dangerous for her, but she couldn't ignore the very real need for Mark's service. Am I dangerous to him? "What about mentally?"

"Cravings and memory loss are tied together. I can't hide being in someone's head altogether without causing them to go insane, looking for the lover in their memories. As I am half Fey and this is on Earth, it's not that severe, so I don't hide much of what I do. So, yes, some accusers I'd done something with-with their permission. I need to feed. I can't escape that."

"So, you want to be with me and quit feeding on strangers?"

"Not want-will, for a time. If we are to heed Lugh, I will be yours until you meet him again. Then?" He paused to shrug. "Life gets complicated."

"So you're just going to show up here when you want?"

"No, no...I was hoping to explain things and set ground rules, like if you see the red ring on death, don't touch me...but you saw that one first-hand at about the worst time I could imagine."

"And mine?" Maria wasn't blind to how authoritative Mark was, so would he allow her to have rules for their time together? Honestly, this would be the deal-breaker for her, even if she went mad. She'd follow her grandmother's options and place herself in the care of the Thrones, even if it meant crossing both Mark and Lugh. Everything was already far more questionable than she wanted to deal with-but this was to keep her life on the path she chose.

"What are they?" No hesitation on the crow's part-he was at least willing to hear her.

Maria found the last bit of tension finally leaving after that. Perhaps she wouldn't be so trapped by her situation if he readily listened to her. "Really don't have much that I'm worried about. I'd rather keep you around, honestly. I've been meaning to buy myself a boyfriend pillow as it was."

"Ah, give me a moment." Mark lost focus on the room, almost fizzling between this space and the next before settling back into himself. "Everything of yours is here, the key has been handed over to the new owner. All my things are downstairs, and keep your door locked. I'm going downs for some meditation, alright?"

Mark disappeared from her apartment, leaving Maria to wander around and check that everything was where she left it-albeit in mirror layout.

She wondered why it felt like rejection when he left her alone. It had been courteously done.

Something nagged her about what he had said, still. No, not the accusations. It was still pretty clear that no one would want to say no to the Fey, as they would forget reason, just like she forgot Nico so quickly. The part that still bothered her was that she was his mission, not her own person.

She eventually put her worry aside to study at the table until she fell asleep on her books.

~~~

The next morning she woke in her bed with a crow sleeping on her footboard, head resting over his wing. She patted its head until it woke up before she went to the restroom. By the time she came out Mark was stretching. At least he had a pair of sweats on.

"Why did you sleep there?"

The crow shrugged. "I don't remember ever sleeping with someone before."

Maria started pulling out a couple of premade omelets and set them up in the microwave. "Did you try?"

"No. I moved you and then found a comfortable way to sleep without a bed."

"What you thought you'd scare me?" She took the time to lean against the counter, facing away from the gadgets. "I'm not afraid of you."

The crow knew it for the invitation it was, and willingly pinned her with his palms on either side the flat surface. "I can go back to scaring you any time you want, sweet morsel."

She remembered how sweet he tasted as well, but there was no way her flesh should be so good. "Why do you call me that?"

"Did you forget that you taste like honey to me?"

"You tasted like a honey whiskey liqueur last night."

"Are you sure I did?" He kissed her lips gently and traced the parting with his tongue until she could taste him. Then he pulled off.

"Cotton candy?"

He leaned in and went for another light but deep kiss, then backed down. It reminded her of orange juice masking alcohol.

"Screwdriver?"

"Close. Sloe Screw. Remember," the crow cautioned, "I'm a creature of memories. I recreate flavors I remember, and I taste memories."

He backed off as the microwave beeped. Maria pulled out the heated food and quickly dumped it on a cooler plate for her fingertips' sake before she offered it to him. "Omelet?"

The crow shook his head half smirking. "The Fey do best eating food of the Otherworld...and an Incubus? We can only eat food made by someone who genuinely loves us, as is part of the demonic curse. It can't kill me since I'm part Fey, but it's a damned painful reminder that I'm not loved."

Maria jerked back a hair. So many things tumbled into place with that comment. The foremost was that he had a violent reaction at least once before. The second one was that he didn't want to find out how she felt about him through food. The last was that he was sure she loved Lugh with little to spare for him, and here he was finding a mind that he obsessed over, without anything to leave him secure other than she trusted the Fey who sent her to him. "What a miserable way to live."

The crow shook his head. "I was made for this. I don't know of any other way--besides, I can usually cook for myself."

That was another admission that worried Maria.