"Angels and demons?" Kadaj echoed, raising one silver eyebrow and looking away for a moment. Fancy that. She had to be lying. His smile widened slightly, his irritation fading into scornful amusement. "Well, whatever they were, angels and demons won't cover it. That man, Dream-- his sibling is an enemy of mine, and if you can't even effect him, I doubt you'll be able to do anything to it. As for the Corinthian, you should already know I don't get along with him. If all you do is make him worse, then you're not much use to me at all."

His gaze drew sharply back to her, his expression caught somewhere between annoyed and bemused. "'Appreciative?' Why should I be appreciative about something like that? There are precious few people whose opinions matter to me, and you, quite frankly, aren't one of them. Whether or not the rest of you people like me has never been important." He let out a sigh, turning his back on her and taking a few steps away. "This has been a waste of time. Do you know that? I should start looking again, instead of lingering here talking to you. Mother can't be kept waiting much longer."