I knew well that it was.
I’d done my research where he was concerned.
Where all notable powerful beings were concerned.
His eyes narrowed a little, receiving my slight the way I’d intended.
Those with egos as staggering as his needed to be contained. Often undercutting them in even small ways could go a long way toward achieving that—and resetting the tone of an interaction, one he’d clearly intended to dominate in this case.
“Is it accurate considering how you operate?”
Hmm.
I spun my daggers in my hands. “What can I do for you, sorcerer?”
His eyes flicked to them. “You won’t be needing those. I have no intention of hurting you.”
“It never crossed my mind.”
His lips quirked, giving it right back to me.
He took a couple of slow and easy steps closer. “You’re important to my best friend’s son. Harming you is clearly off the table.”
“Yet wanting something from me clearly isn’t.”
He made a dramatic hand flourish. “Now, now, you’ve got it all wrong, Basilisk heir. I’m here because you need something from me.” He eyed me intently. “And so does Sylas. Unfortunately, he’s too paralyzed by fear to ask it of me.”
He knew.
He knew at least something about the situation with Winter.
Given who he was connected to—so many in the higher echelons of the supernatural world, in actual governance, Celestial beings also—that was deeply concerning.
However, his comments were acknowledging that. At least to an extent.
For what purpose?
He smiled. “You’re impressively astute. Really fucking protective of Winter too. I’ve got to commend that, Vaxan.” He stopped just a couple of feet from me, then settled in, folding his arms across his chest. “You’re even more than that, though, aren’t you?”
“Am I?”
“You guard perception very carefully. But you also go beyond that when it’s called for.” The corner of his mouth turned up. “You engineer it.”
This was deeply concerning.
He’d been watching me.
To accomplish that imperceptibly… we were talking about long-term observation and him employing what some called hismagical perversions.They weren’t really heresy like that. He was just a genius, innovative spellcaster, and he could create that which seemed impossible. It was clearly a fundamental reason that he and Sylas Morgrave were so close.
He went on, “Like you’ve most recently done with your mother and the Basilisk Dominion as a whole.” He smiled. “That level of calculation is nothing to sneer at. Few can pull it off, especially not at your age.”
“With you believing that to be the truth of the matter, I suppose you’re going to then liken yourself to being such an outlier also. Something, even two decades ago, you were able to achieve, fooling—or guiding the perceptions—of those centuries beyond you?”
He held up his hand. “Let’s take it down. I’m not here to manipulate you. That would be foolish, considering your skillset in that arena, wouldn’t you agree?”
I eyed him steadily. “Yes.”
“Exactly. There needs to be some transparency between us. And it must be right here and right now.” A grave look played on his chiseled features. “Or things will very quickly spiral out of control. Things are fast approaching a tipping point.”
