Victoria spared Illyad only a quick glance as he left. She looked up at Alex at the sound of her name, her pale-blue eyes slightly glossy. She took a deep, tremulous breath as he spoke. At his comment about Illyad, she gave a breathy, hysteric laugh.
	“He... he [i]does[/i] seem rather like the no-nonsense type,” she offered. She took another breath and sat up straight, her gaze on the ceiling as she rubbed the back of her neck.
	She jumped when Alex’s phone went off from the kitchen, alerting all within earshot that he had received a text message. Her aunt, she guessed. Victoria had completely forgotten the woman was going to get back to her.
	Slowly, as if testing whether or not her legs would work, she stood and went to retrieve the cellphone from the drawer chest she had left it on.
	She leaned heavily against the chest as she checked the message. Her prediction proved correct. Aunt Cass had messaged with a service store’s address and all other necessary information for her to pick up a new phone. She texted back a quick “Thanks,” then gently replaced it on the chest.
	She remained there, her weight mostly supported by the furniture item, just visible to the side of the doorway.
	Alex's statement [i]“Not in the centuries I’ve been alive,”[/i] had rekindled a question that was rather unimportant, but still, she asked.
	“How old [i]are[/i] you, anyway?”