the world is more interesting with you in it

She had become wasted, her once proudly strong form now wasted to a tattered pelt wrapped around what was barely a skeletal bundle. He wept openly now as she approached, with loud, racking sobs that he could not, would not, hide. Saliva pattered from her tongue to wet the earth with its poisonous organisms, and all at once Lecter thought wildly that he would enrage her, take the brunt of her bite to his throat, and be done with it all the same.

And yet, he could not bring himself to do such a thing — this was becoming quickly a common occurrence. The wolves of the Spine, as fierce and independent as they might be, were in need of guidance, and he had no intention of allowing that which Jinx had wrought to be so soon torn asunder.

Sos, Lecter repeated slowly, rooted to the loam upon which he stood. Why have You forsaken her, Mighty One? what evil has she done against You, that she should deserve such a fate? A ragged inhale of breath trailed his words; he longed with every fibre of his being to move forward, to embrace Jinx, but he was restrained by wholly damnable logic. Take me in her stead, Sos, he cried, his sylph's visage blurred almost unrecognizable by the saltwater that poured down his bloodied cheeks.