"You expect us to believe that," Ethan said, disbelief edging into something almost like despair. "That you're responsible for months of threats and terror, but somehow innocent of the parts that actually turned violent?"
"I expect you to submit me to the binding ritual and find out for yourself," Richard said, meeting his son's eyes without flinching. "I'll go tonight, right now, and answer every question this council wants to ask. I owe you that much clarity, whatever else you decide to believe about me afterward."
Lily watched the exchange with a strange, hollow feeling settling in her chest, the betrayal of discovering Richard's involvement colliding uncomfortably with the desperate sincerity in his voice as he described losing control of something he'd started. It didn't excuse anyt
