What Not to Do (Kallisti)

[Aiden Finnegan]

Aiden rolled his eyes at the mention of Jaxen. In another lifetime they might have been the best of friends. The pair had plenty enough in common. Hell, between Nox, Jaxen, and himself, they might have put on the grandest show ever to be seen in the Ascendancy’s expansive kingdom. They still might if Aiden could bring himself to trust Jaxen with that kind of intense collaboration. At present, the man was playing games and Aiden didn’t have enough free time to play along further than red carpet antics.

“Ah, so then he swings whichever way the wind blows then?” Aiden asked with a chuckle, although the question had been purely rhetorical.

Oriena was acting the perfect pussy cat as Sage’s hands worked magic on them both. Dimitri had remained quiet, instead focusing on his drink in an effort to cover up his eavesdropping. Aiden shrugged and let the man listen. He was more than welcome to chime in if he had wanted to. Perhaps he had finally caught a buzz.

“Oh, Sage knows everything – almost everything,” Aiden whispered to Oriena in a mock conspiratorial tone, “You must not know him very well if you don’t know that. I, on the other hand, only know so much about you. Not afraid the Snakes are gonna put you on their hit list?”

For all Aiden knew, she might have already been on that list. Nox certainly was. Perhaps that common thread was what had drawn them together in the first place. She clearly didn’t give a shit if she was wielding the Power so openly. Then again, one had to really be paying attention to have noticed her little chair trick.