"I'm tempted to offer to create a bond between you and I, to increase your protection, but I have a feeling you have plenty of those." And much as he considers her as his niece, he's not certain he'd want to open the darkness within him to her.

"Mmm, the Hunter I've been working with, Locrian, may have confronted Varian when he lost himself. At least they had the sense to remove that medieval plague doctor's mask they insist on wearing and made themself less imposing, but I'm not sure it did much good," he says. "Shall we head for the kitchen?" He'll follow her lead, committing the layout of the place to memory as best he can.