“You’re something worse.”
He doesn’t argue.
“You saw the Northfall aftermath. You saw ley-line collapse. You saw what unrestrained convergence does.”
“And you decided the solution was extermination.”
“Yes.”
Kade steps closer.
“So instead of training discipline, you murdered the bloodline.”
“Discipline cannot be guaranteed across generations,” Ashcroft says calmly. “Erasure can.”
The logic is monstrous.
Cold.
Rational.
Terrifying.
“You’re afraid my children will repeat Northfall,” I say.
“I’m certain they will.”
The baby shifts inside me.
Asher’s resonance hums faintly in the distance.
“Not if I teach them.”
He shakes his head.
“You cannot out-teach instinct.”
“I already have.”
Silence.
He studies me carefully.
“You anchored against ley rupture.”
“Yes.”
“You prevente
