"Know?" The master's fury darkened the space around him. He loomed over her, overshadowing her. "And yet you let her go? Do you know that she was the last key? The hundredth. Her blood, her life, to seal your power another century. You were chosen for this. You were prepared for this. And now, you have lost it for nothing?"
Killian's throat tightened, but he forced the words out, every one like tearing the shackles from his own body. "I threw it away because I could not murder her. I could not betray her. I could not. love her, then murder her." His voice shattered on the last words, but his gaze was still locked to the master.
The master's laughter was hollow, cold, tinged with contempt. "Love? You talk to me of love? Love is a weakness. Always has been. Do you think the gods who preced
