‘Well, I would prefer not to sacrifice anyone,’ I said, allowing myself a cautious huff by way of experiment. His expression didn’t change – thank the gods. ‘But right now, my alternative is letting down all the people who rely on me to save them, and how am I supposed to justify holding back in that situation? Hell, even Zera expected me to … to …’ To save the world. To do the job I promised her I would. I didn’t manage to finish the sentence; it tasted far, far too much like failure.
