“And then you stake him and we go home?”
“That’s the only thing we can do. I want out of this place.” Gideon stopped and looked up. “I want mylife back. Not this one.”
“You’re not the only one. I don’t think I’ve ever been homesick like I am now.” He tilted his head back, allowing Gideon to get the dried flakes of come from his chin and neck, as well as the scarlet stains from the cuts on his lips. “You wouldn’t be tempted to…stay in this life, given the chance?”
“I might have been. In the beginning.” Gideon ran his thumb over Jesse’s bottom lip, following the same path as the cloth. “But I don’t belong here anymore. Even if Mary didn’t already have a me in her life, we’re not the same people.”
Jesse followed Gideon’s thumb with his mouth and caught the tip gently between his teeth. “It was a purely hypothetical question. I wouldn’t let you have the chance to stay anyway.”