i want your full attention, starling

Spare me! Lecter wished to snarl it at Mordecai, to drive him away with bent shoulders, but he merely clenched shut his jaw and gave a vague nod at the other's words. He needed no pity; the Ostrega would do better saving such words for Jinx and her plight, which was sure to be horrid and rattled. Thank you, the shaman muttered, turning back toward the hunter.

Had he been in any sort of mood, the witch might have charmed Mordecai with briberies for continued loyalties — the man deserved his reward — but words were evading Lecter, skimming around the periphery of his tongue only to be blacked out by the sorrow of his mind. This land, perhaps it needed to be cleansed of malicious loa before we settled, Lecter mused, half to himself.