"He made me watch." Stephanie muttered quietly. "He destroyed several of his enemies. People who supported an enemy of his. He murdered them at a party. And I had to see, the aftermath." She closed her eyes. "I don't. I don't want to be a part of these bloody games."

But she didn't know how she was going to have much of a choice about it. Especially if she wanted to get anything done with her ambitions. Ambitions to help others, who needed it. She wondered, briefly, irrationally, for the first time in years, if souls were a real thing and if it was worth selling it to help other people. To keep someone she loved by her side.