"Thanks," Kadaj said, still quiet, before he walked through the doorway and into a place that could have been the heart of Macalania temple for the way it felt.

He waited for Even to close the door before he spoke again, fighting the urge to fidget as he did. "I know we're not exactly allies," he said, understating the extent of their animosity before Hojo had showed up, "but you've been helpful where Hojo's concerned." Not just helpful, really, he'd gone so far as to stand up for Kadaj's right to be something other than an experiment.

"There's something else I need help with," he said, looking at Even, noticing that his vividly green eyes were nearly as unusual as Kadaj's own, faintly glowing, mutated ones, "and I think you might be the best person to help me." There was a question in the tone, and in Kadaj's expression.

He hadn't been told to go away yet, that at least was a good sign.