"Me?" Ruo asked in mock shock, one hand theatrically on her chest. "I've done nothing to matchmake you with the… devil."
"You disappeared without a word; your apartment was empty and only a clone phone had been left behind, more likely by dissidents and Matteo. I've met him," he pointed his finger at Victor, who was very amused, "because I wanted to talk with Samael about where you are."
"Oh, yeah… the vessel thingy."
Ruo's tone was far too casual for someone whose disappearance had nearly set three continents on fire. She waved her hand as if "the vessel thingy" were a minor scheduling inconvenience, not an international manhunt wrapped in divine politics.
Ego's gaze cut to her like a knife through glass. "The vessel thingy," he repeated, voice soft enough to chill the air, "was an attempted forced ascension orchestrated by a dissident faction that wanted to turn you into their weapon of worship."
