“Holding onto that copy of the Codex won’t actually accomplish anything except putting my blood on your hands. My pact can’t be thwarted by something as simple as you stealing my book.”

He sighs, looking a little less angry now and a little more frustrated.

“Just… make this easier for the both of us, won’t you? I didn’t want to be in bad terms with you after the excursion, and I still don’t want that. I want to like talking to you. It’s clear that you have some excellent ideas that I’d like to explore with you, but that’s not going to happen when you’re like this.”