His gaze sharpened slightly. "The bond will tear where it was never completed. And she will live her entire life miserable. Every moment of it."
Edmund's jaw clenched. "No," he said at once, his voice firm. "That is not an option."
Killian inclined his head faintly, as though he had expected nothing less. "Of course."
A flicker of something passed his eyes. "Lucifer would never permit it. Nor would Lilith."
Something in Edmund snapped. His hand curled into a fist, the air around him shifting faintly with the force of it.
"So those are my choices?" he said, his voice tightening. "I either watch her die… turn her into something she is not… or die and leave her to suffer?"
Killian said nothing. He did not need to.
Edmund turned away sharply, dragging a hand through his hair once more. A quiet, frustrated breath left him.
"This is madness," he snapped. His chest rose and fell unevenly. "A law that demands blood for life…" his jaw tightened, "and calls it balance."
