Elias blinked at him, the words taking a heartbeat to land. "On you?" he repeated, incredulous. "Victor, that was a corpse full of stolen ether, not…" He broke off, one palm flattening against the wall as if the grain of the paneling could steady him. "I don't know if you're bored or just like to mess with me."
Victor's smile widened, slow and wolfish, but the glow behind his eyes didn't soften. "Think of it in terms you understand," he murmured, his tone half-lecture, half-tease. "Matteo was being steered, call it controlled, call it possessed, depending on what you believe. I am a god in a human vessel. Essentially the same principle…" He tipped his head, crimson gaze glinting as the corner of his mouth curved higher. "If you ignore the part where I'm conscious of every thread you'd be touching."
