Ava looked at her.
"My only use for years was to go on missions," Zoe said. "Kill fathers. Mothers. Children." Her voice didn't break, but her eyes shimmered. "If I so much as grew a conscience and let someone go, I'd be tortured for weeks."
Dennis looked like he wanted to rip someone's throat out.
Zoe went on. "And do you know who did the torturing? My own father." She laughed dryly, but no one else did.
Lucas's fists clenched.
"If he gets his claws on you, Ava… we're all doomed. He'll become unstoppable. And you—you won't even be you anymore. You'll just be his puppet. His tool. And your child…" She hesitated. "Your child will be the fiercest supernatural being the world has ever seen. And he'll raise him to be a monster."
"Have you ever known me to run from a challenge?" Lucas asked.
"No?" she whispered, uncertain not of the answer but of what came next.
