He wondered what she thought about him now that she noticed him shake. Of course she noticed him shake, he was completely positive about that. [i]Look at her, going on the verbal offensive, she might hide her emotions, but she cannot hide her ego…[/i] if his mind had a face, it would be grinning right now. Every single being in this world, be it a human or a creature or an animal, had that little thing called ego. And no matter how good the person was at hiding their inner thoughts, ego was always the thing that burst out in the open. He knew well it was the case with him as well. But admitting that was a huge step towards noticing it in other people’s behavior.

“It is quite charming that you don’t consider yourself human, but you wish to become one.” He looked to the side, out of the window and into the darkness. He listened to her explanation and although he knew a normal person would not take kindly to the sight of someone eating another person’s heart – Lilith may not believe it, but he had seen worse. Gore didn’t faze him anymore. The number, however, did take him off-guard, but not in a bad way. Of course, he couldn’t have known she already… devoured that many hearts, but the more problematic thing was that she had 703 to go. Aleks didn’t need to emphasize that, she knew that fact better than him. 

But the rest of her speech was what made him stand up and shake his head. „No, thank you,” he turned to face the window, „I don’t need wealth, power, intelligence... and I most certainly don’t need a long, healthy life.” Aleks spoke calmly, putting his hand on the cold glass that was the only thing that separated him from the darkness outside. „I wish for only one thing,”

„At the end of the day, we are partners – [i]equals[/i]. Your wish is not my command and my wish is not your command.”

He made eye contact with her again; answers to her needed heart count hiding behind his cold, blue eyes. She should know by now that he isn’t a person that will commit himself to slavery to anyone. Well, that was ironic, considering he was a slave to money. But his plan involved a lot of burnt money – and freedom. He wasn’t to give that dream away by making another slave deal.

„You are moving quite slow towards that goal - I can help speeding that up. But, that is my only wish… and my final offer. Take it or leave it.”