Calling the other members of Delilah his friends -- that was a bizarre, discomfiting notion. But considering Radu had been staying in one single room since he'd arrived, so it wasn't as though he would know of Jezebel's distaste for many of his coworkers.

"Don't worry about that," he said. "You mean far more to me than every single person in Delilah put together. And I imagine you could take them all on yourself, as well."

Smiling a tiny bit, he said, "Perhaps I could introduce you to the Cardmaster as...I suppose a helper for my work with Meridiana? Then we would have more time together, and I would be able to help conceal that you are a Methuselah from the rest of Delilah."