"Liar."
Victor's smile only widened, slow and unbothered. "Hmm…" he murmured, the sound velvet-dark. "I could refute that, but where would be the fun in it?" His thumb brushed once against Elias's hip, the ring catching the lamp's glow. "Besides, if I actually wanted to convince you, I'd tell you outright. I don't lie, Elias. I just prefer to let you wonder."
The glint in his crimson eyes turned wicked. "It keeps you looking at me like that."
Elias exhaled through his nose, somewhere between a scoff and a laugh. "You're impossible."
