Lucius's words made Jacob's expression change, but he still forced a faint smile. "When do we leave?"
"The sooner, the better." Lucius folded his hands over his knees, his posture elegant, though it did little to conceal his arrogance. "But apart from Corban and me, our master is only willing to see you."
The muscles in Jacob's face twitched slightly. After drawing a deep breath, he gave a firm nod.
By the time he left Malfoy Manor, his expression had darkened completely.
Jacob had known from the start that choosing to use Voldemort to turn things around for the pure-blood families was like bargaining with a tiger for its hide. He had also anticipated Voldemort's attitude.
Voldemort had activated several Death Eaters' Dark Marks yet refused to contact them. That alone showed just how suspicious and cautious he was.
If he would not even trust his own Death Eaters, how could he possibly trust an outsider?
That was why Jacob had long since prepared himself mentally-prepared himself to become a Death Eater.
Even so, now that he actually faced it, he still felt reluctant, his spirits weighed down to the breaking point.
But as he had said time and again at the Pure-blood Alliance's meetings, he had no choice. Unless he bound himself to Voldemort, Weasley's faction would erode his position sooner or later. Jacob was not surprised that the ghosts had found Voldemort. He had already known the outcome when he proposed the plan.
The fact that Voldemort had activated the Dark Marks on Lucius and Snape meant that he wanted to make a comeback. Certain concerns had simply kept him from acting.
Rather than an effort to track Voldemort down, the ghost plan was more a way for the Pure-blood Alliance to make its position clear to him.