The suddenness of the doors closing behind him made Jonathan twitch, his nerves already frayed by too many days of poor rest and nights of scouring the city. His eyes flicked open again, pale to the point of being closer to white than blue, and he swallowed hard at the appearance of the box and the blade.

"I do not believe I should," he said quietly. "I cannot promise I won't make for you the moment that you break skin."

He hated how similar this was to his first waking, too gone to hunger to even realise what he was doing until Mary lay on the ground before him. The fear that this would end the same twisted his stomach.