Anael was silent while they walked, feeling as if ants were walking over his skin. They seemed, unsurprisingly, to be focusing on the spot between his collar bones.

"I want to hurt," he told Robin, once they had stopped. "My wings. That's how you can get me to hurt. One of them is hurt already, but that's okay." Only once he had said so did he bring them out, the left one sporting an obvious, ugly bite mark. "I deserve to be punished, Robin," he added, with tears in his voice.