James couldn’t keep the grin off his face even if he wanted to. Mostly because Lane had just called him out on his bullshit. Again. And though his grin was knife sharp, his eyes softened when he shook his head at her, his hand absently reaching out to touch her knee. “Nothing asinine, I promise. More like bittersweet, so that we all come out in the end as winners. And since you insist on doing this with me…” He shrugged, coming to stand up.<br/><br/><br/>His clothes were mussed. Yesterday’s clothes. And he didn’t look like he was going to change them either. His hair was disheveled mess on his head. And the dark growth on his face was growing in, even if it had only been a few days since he had last shaved. He had turned away, as if he might leave the room, but sighed in head at her insistence and sunk back down on the mattress. “You want a history lesson, then? Here goes…” His arms spread out in a gesture as if to encompass himself, then dropped back down to clap on his thighs.<br/><br/><br/>“Once upon a time, there was a man… we’ll call him Mr. Bones.” His brow rose to signify that the man was himself in this story. “Mr. Bones had gone on a voyage who wanted to explore the world, create maps of the seas, and find new islands and land masses that were yet to be discovered. Mr. Bones set out on this journey because Europe didn’t have anything left to offer him. His wife had been killed as a heretic of the church, and so did he, actually, but one of the fair folk had given her blessing an even longer time ago -- so long ago that Mr. Bones didn’t think he would ever see her again, until he did…” James trailed off, smile turning wry, studying Lane’s face to gauge how she was taking his little tale. Then he continued.<br/><br/><br/>“When Mr. Bones arrived at the new land that was discovered by himself and the crew - what is now called the islands of British Columbia. What he didn’t realize was that his old acquaintance - lover, if you will - had tracked him even that great distance. Just when Mr. Bones started to settle into a routine, she found him again, and boy she was fucking pissed.” He actually laughed at that. “That’s the damn thing about fairies. They don’t care how much time has passed, they’re vindictive and jealous. See, Adelaide didn’t care that years had passed; for her, it was probably a day in her realm, but she was not about to share me with another woman. So she made sure that she would not have to share me with another woman. When I didn’t go flying into her arms again when she found me on the island, however…” Oh, well, fuck. He had lost his story rhythm, hadn’t he? “She decided to lure me into a cave located on the island. Then she closed me inside, so that I would die there forgotten. Only I didn’t die. I still had a little bit of her essence left. I withered, became nothing more than a hollow eyed skeleton… until the cave was discovered some hundred or so years later.”<br/><br/><br/>He sucked a breath between his teeth before continuing, “Anastasia, the demon in question, was the one I bargained with to bring me back to my current youthful state in exchange for a favor. That’s where I thought I had her tricked, assuming I would never procreate. And I was… desperate. She left me with that mark on my leg as a reminder, and the only thing other than my own workings that keeps me alive today.”<br/><br/><br/>Lane really did look like Adella, though he hadn’t met the witch until after he had settled in America. Where he had chosen to stay, living through the eras as they passed by. Closing his eyes, he rolled his head back on his neck. “So I have used the last of my favor with the fair folk. And I intend on making a deal with Fiora tonight. A trade. Me for Mia, Mia to you. In exchange for my demon mark. If I don’t claim parentage to Mia, then Anastasia cannot claim her.”<br/><br/><br/>And there was his grand plan, which was just stupid enough to work, perhaps. What he left out was the outcome of his fate. He would either be killed or sent to fairy land to be used however they saw fit. The book that they wanted was still a question. He hadn’t quite figured out that one yet.