thank the gandy dancers for a path well worn

Her displeasure only seemed to worsen at his greeting, and he took silent and subtle offence to her fleeting scorn. Between her frosty gaze and curt response, he could tell his presence was not wanted here. At a different time he would have taken the hint and left her. But the scent of Larus kept him there. This woman had information he needed, and Malachi would bear her coolness if it meant finding a link to the Sveijarn's missing son.

Caiaphas' introduction came lacking, and the silence that followed pricked Malachi with a budding unease. He still felt naive to the wiles of others, and though his gut cautioned him now, he stubbornly remained, perhaps against better judgment. "Are you a loner, then, or do you belong to a pack?" The youth allowed his most pressing query to rest for the moment, until he learned more of what this woman was about. Easing onto his haunches in a smooth descent, Malachi rested his steady gaze on the shadowed woman, her angular form half lost in the darkness of the night.