Cassandra waited for the water to boil, one eye on the kettle, the other on the two men in her living room. They were talking about Samael’s work in Sydney, Patrick asking polite questions, Samael answering them equally politely.
It was very, very strange seeing Patrick and Samael in the same space. Revealing, too. She’d always been powerfully aware of Patrick’s charisma—the man wielded it like a weapon, it was hard to ignore it—but it was a little surprising to realize that Samael more than held his own on that score. He had the edge on Patrick, actually, because not only was he good-looking with a lovely body and an engaging, compelling way about him, he was also sincere.
When he asked a question, he waited for the answer because he genuinely wanted to know. With Patrick, there was oft
