The sudden sharp pain of claws sinking into his flesh makes it all irrationally easier. It's proof of what to expect and he's used to pain; it's an old friend, not something to be feared. Pain he can endure.

"Never fucking yours!" he snarls, even as the voice turns his bowels to ice. Fear is no more alien than pain, after all, and the only thing he has left in the darkness is defiance.