Matteo's laughter pitched higher, wild and unmoored, echoing in the narrow corridor like glass skittering across tile. His ether lashed the walls in uneven bursts, burning hairline fractures into plaster and air alike, a storm without a center.
Victor only watched.
The corner of his mouth twitched upward, in amusement, the kind that came from watching a clock run out on time you'd already stolen. "You're finished," he said quietly.
He wanted to test more, to see where Matteo's madness would go, but his bond started to prickle his nape in the same place he bit Elias. A hum, faint but clear, thrumming along the bond that linked him to Elias. It wasn't panic or fear. Just Elias moving somewhere beyond the crowd, alive and well and, if Victor knew him, probably irritated about something. Probably at him for leaving him alone in a sea infested with sharks in tailored suits. He had to finish this and return to his fussy mate.
