Even if she had not touched him, he still would have felt her presence. It was impossible not to feel her, especially when she was this close to him. Her aura glowed in front of him and all around him, and it sparked vibrantly as her hairs bristled and moved his own. Aindreas winced, but managed to scour the emotion from her face within the next minute, not wanting to hurt her feelings. It was not her fault that she did not know that physical contact wounded him, that it was painful to touch another. Even when he had embraced his daughter… his late daughter… it was not without pain. But he suffered through it because he wanted to regain his family, to mend the wounds that he had caused between them all. They were too separate, they were strangers despite the fact that they were connected by blood. And so he stood still for Mai, somehow enjoying her closeness despite the pain. And when she withdrew from his side, putting distance between them, he tilted his nape so that he was not looking at her - she could not read the emotion in his eyes, not while she was speaking. She was willing to stay or to leave, all depending on what it was that Aindreas asked of her. She was leaving it up to him, putting the ball in his court. But furthermore, she was asking for him to calm down, to push down the anger that he had only just now allowed to permeate his soul… but it was too strong for him to dismiss now, too strong to negate. So he remained silent and shook his head, not saying anything until at last she changed the subject to report on her travel to Crith-Thalmhainn.

“How has it changed? What is the layout like, then, to be so different? And of the wolves there, what are they like? In this time before the storm of blood, we need to seek out alliances with the same thoughts on the vampires that we do - we need a strong army if we have hopes of accomplishing our goal.” He fell silent for a second before speaking again. He knew he needed to address what she had said earlier - he could not leave her guess as to what he wanted. “And I… I don’t want you to leave, Mai. At least here, within these boundaries, I know you will be safe. Just the thought of you out there, far from me… the thought of vampires able to get to you. What I am trying to say is that I want you to stay here. But if you will only stay if I can push down my anger, I cannot promise that. The fury inside me is not a normal rage. It is magical, a stimulant that is causing my blood to boil, my skin to heat, pumping adrenaline through my veins. All I can do is say that it will never turn upon you…”