Any Way the Wind Blows (Simon Snow, #3)

by Rainbow Rowell

He’s rubbing the corner of my mouth. “You’re bleeding,” he says, looking worried. “Did I cut you?” I shake my head. “I think that’s from you. You’ve got a little . . .” I rub at the blood lingering near his chin. “Oh, fuck!” he says, turning away from me and covering his mouth. “That’s rat blood. I got rat blood in your mouth.” I try to pull him back by the shoulders. “Hey, I don’t mind.” “You don’t mind rat blood?” I shrug. “I’ll brush my teeth.” “Fat lot of good that’ll do against the plague.” He’s still pulling away. “Don’t go,” I say. “Not yet.” Baz’s shoulders soften in my hands. He lets me turn him back. He lets me touch his chin, his cheeks. His hand is still over his mouth—I kiss it. I’m so relieved to still be here, I can feel it rolling off me in waves. I’m surprised it’s not visible. “I need a shower,” Baz says. “I haven’t cleaned up since Oxford.” “I’m kind of enjoying it.” I grin. “I didn’t know you could get rank.” He rolls his eyes, and shoves at me. “You need a shower, too. You smell like—actually I don’t know what you smell like. Something corrosive.” “It’s my wings,” I say. His face falls. And so does his hand. I lick my thumb and scrape the rest of the rat blood from his mouth. “Does it hurt?” he asks. He’s looking at my shoulder. I shake my head. “Oh, uh—no. I mean, I didn’t have it done yet. I chickened out.” It wasn’t quite like that. I didn’t chicken out. It was more like I got overwhelmed. I couldn’t stop thinking about what Baz had said and how I n...