Victor's voice dropped to something far quieter. "He won't be around much longer."
Ashwin didn't comment on that. He just studied Victor's face for a long beat, then glanced back at the bed, at Elias, still asleep, still too vulnerable in a world that had never stopped trying to break him.
"How about Matteo's friend?" he asked quietly.
Victor didn't answer right away. The room stretched quiet around them, save for the sound of Elias's even breathing and the faint hum of residual ether still clinging to the seams of the windowpane.
Then, softly, Victor exhaled through his nose.
"He's still screaming in the city. Samael's doing an excellent job pretending to muffle the fallout… while making sure it spreads even faster."
Ashwin set the tablet back on the table with a quiet click. "Do you actually trust him?"
