Chapter 143

"I want to go back," he heard himself whisper, and he was appalled that he wasn't quite sure if he meant back to the Mother, where some things hurt but in a different way, or to the Guild, where they'd give him what he loathed and needed.

"I *don't* need it," he said through his teeth, clenched tight to keep them from chattering. Wil hated this part the worst--how everything in his head just spilled out his mouth. And fuck, he didn't want Dallin to see him like this, but Dallin wouldn't look away, it wasn't the sort of person Dallin was, and that just made it... rather awful, really.