His reaction garnered at least a somewhat reasonable response from her – a frown, the corners of her full lips turning down, her brows drawing together. No, that wasn't right. Was it? Marcus never looked at her quite that way, even when he was exasperated. It wasn't her fault that he couldn't hear the shadows and the way they called.
She could almost taste his sense of judgment, and with the turning of her mind, there was also a change in the whispering she heard in the dark. See? They don't understand. They can't. Come away, Elia. Come back to the dark.
"Tired," Elia answered, glancing back down the way she had been moving. Away from her bedroom and the relative safety of her Dragon. "I'm just tired, Daddy." Without the teasing edge in her voice, the title seemed much more an honest endearment than a flirtation. "I can't sleep when it's whispering."