“Liliana is terrifying.” It was a confession, even if he did present it playfully and calmly. There was truth in it as well from his perspective. Anything that could render self-control meaningless was horrifying to him. He was only human. It was a phrase that meant something different to a man surrounded by wizards and Sidhe every day. Control was at the heart of the only advantages he really had. So long as one discounted his knack for making such connections. Andrew couldn’t have found her alone, and he often let that fact blind him to the share of the credit he still deserved.
It took him a moment to decipher who “Red” was, but once he did he nodded hesitantly. “Yeah, I guess… More or less. I haven’t heard from Miss Patterson. And I don’t really remember what context I brought Em up in, honestly. I remember mentioning her and you asking about her, but… Yeah. Unless she takes me up on my offer to help get her settled with Aegis, Elay’s not really my problem. Which might sound cold, but I’ve got a lot of problems that are mine to sort out, so… I’d like to help her, but I guess I hadn’t really given her much more thought. I’m not sure there’s really anything I can do. We’re a stubborn lot, for the most part.”
He still identified with Hunters. We. But he acknowledged, as well, that he wasn’t a part of that social order any longer. He never would be again. He seemed at peace with it, but Melisande had a great deal to do with inspiring that particular acceptance. Her innate ability to soothe had a part, but mostly it was more mundane (and at the same time, arguably more magical) than that. He had something better to be a part of. He had something “groundbreaking”.