Julian did not take his eyes off Lucian.
"Is that why you approached me?"
Lucian held his gaze, steady and controlled. He did not answer immediately, and when he finally spoke, his voice carried the same precision it always did when he chose what to reveal.
"It's part of the reason."
Julian's expression remained unchanged. "Only part."
Lucian did not elaborate.
Julian let that settle without pressing further. He understood that pushing now would not give him anything more useful, so he shifted his attention instead.
"And you," Julian said, turning to Rebecca, "what are you."
Rebecca met his gaze without hesitation. "A witch."
There was no effort to soften the answer, and no attempt to frame it differently.
Julian nodded once. "That explains how you stayed ahead of everything."
"Yes."
"And why you could act before anything fully formed."
"Yes."
Julian accepted that without circling back. "And what I'm dealing with intersects with that."
