Problems you could stab were so much more straightforward than accepting the lies you told yourself to keep living your life, of all the pain shoved into dark corners of the mind to ignore until they made themselves impossible to ignore, every contract coming due at the same time.

Most simply had to have a nervous breakdown about it. Spite made things more complicated when it came to dealing with it. Gave another option.

'That demon is too dangerous, it puts everyone at risk when it's around.'

Illario's voice, haunting through the room. The mixture of blood and sea water was pooling around their feet.

"Being wrong means people die," Caterina said, eyes cold and hard. "Can that risk be taken after we have already lost so much, because of his failure?"