Lustia felt the heat of his fury, the raw, unyielding hunger for vengeance that burned in his soul. A flicker of something not quite a laugh but a ghost of a smile touched the corner of her mouth, a brief moment of levity that pierced through the exhaustion etched into her features.
"I have never once told you to be reasonable, Rex," she said, her voice gaining a subtle, sharp edge of pride. "Reason is for those who are content with the world as it is given to them."
"I told you the truth about how impossible the task would be."
"I told you how much of yourself you would have to break, how much blood you would have to spill, and how much of the divine order you would have to shatter to reach him."
"But telling you the cost is a different conversation than telling you not to pay it."
Rex exhaled, a long, slow release of tension that felt like a predator settling into a crouch. The tension didn't leave him; it simply channeled itself into a singular, lethal direction.
