The word hung in the air between them, heavy and cold. Extermination.
He watched Mara react. Predictable. Her face drained of color, mouth falling slightly open as if the air had been punched from her lungs. Her hand, the one not gripping the edge of the archway, trembled visibly where it hovered near her chest. Fear. A familiar scent in the air around humans. Useful, sometimes. Annoying, often.
"Extermination?" Her voice was thin, stretched taut like a fraying rope. "Fin, are you... are you serious?" She took another shaky step back, putting more distance between them, her eyes wide and reflecting the pale light of the kitchen.
"You can't just— they're not all monsters! There are good people in the Association, Hunters who just do their jobs, people who—"
