"You might not have understood," he said in that same patient purr, soft and melodic like the start of a symphony. He willed the muscles in his face to calm, for his lips to even out and his brow to relax. "Before I arrived in this place, R, I wouldn't have needed the rest because I would've never been hurt. In my world, I never felt pain. I never felt tired."

How beautiful, that had been. How perfect. Few things were better than the look of fear and dread in his would-be killer's eyes when his body simply. wouldn't. fall.

"I know what it's like to be half-human." His eyes flashed, a manic contrast to his otherwise calm face. "Like you."