Victoria instinctively flinched back when Alex held the package of cookies out to her. She rubbed the back of her neck and gave him a small apologetic smile. “Sure. Thanks.” She reached into the package and took a couple cookies, more than glad for the subject change, even if it was to the topic of cookies. She bit into one of the sugary confectioneries, and glanced to the doorway again. Illyad had fallen rather silent.

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	Jevan sat at his desk filling out paperwork. [i]Such mundane chores,[/i] he thought bitterly. [i]But such is the bane of maintaining a public appearance.[/i] There were so many other things he longed to be doing, but he still had a role to maintain and play with the wretched humans.
	The fire burning in his office fireplace crackled weakly behind him, and a slight chill entered the room. He glanced to it, the once mighty blaze now dwindling into glowing embers with a couple desperate tongues of flames begging feebly for food.
	With a sigh, Jevan put his pen down, stood, and went to place another log on the fire from the small pile stored nearby. He picked up one of the logs, and froze.
	A tingling sensation ran down his spine as if someone watched him, only more electric. More [i]magic.[/i] A snarl twisted his face. Someone was trying to delve into his business. And there was only one person he knew who could do that.
	“Illyad,” he spat. He viciously threw the log onto the fire, making surprised sparks fly into the air and dance up the flue. “I should’ve known.”
	With the fire’s hunger temporarily sated, he sat in front of the fireplace, his legs crossed. He closed his eyes, bent his head, placed his hands together horizontally in front of him, and concentrated, focusing on finding Illyad’s signature and connecting with it.
	“Oh little brother,” he called sardonically. “Come to play with the big boys, have you?"