Hermes laughed and shook his head. "Has it ever occurred to you that there are people out there who like pain? That there are those who ache for the lash and the paddle? Gods, do you even know that your angel has a blade fetish he hasn't brought himself to ask you to indulge him in because he knows it'll make you sick to your stomach to even pick something up with the intent to hurt him much less actually do it?"
He withdrew his hand and leaned back. "Beyond that, what would I do with freedom? I've been a slave my whole life. This is all I know. You'd have me thrust into the real world to fend for myself? To be completely vulnerable to being some other vampire or were's dinner without anyone with some fearsome reputation to protect me? I've only just learned how to read, what makes you think I can cook? Or have any marketable skill beyond my body? Your angels would send me to a more terrifying and desperate doom than Carrick would ever dream. I'm happy where I am. Just because you can't accept that as truth doesn't make it any less so."