[He curls in on himself at the bite in her words. She's right, of course. That's his problem. One of them. One of the biggest that Elias had relied on to ensure Jon's fall. But it had felt like the only way to take any control at the time. At each of those times. And each time he hadn't any control at all. Elias had been pulling his strings from miles away, continents at a time.]

I'm a monster, Ava. He led the way, but I opened the door. You're right. God, you're right. If I'd just listened to Basira. She told me not to go into the coffin. She would have stopped me going to the Boneturner. She-she wanted to kill me a few times, I think. If she had just killed me, none of this would have happened. If-if Daisy had before that. She should have killed me. It would have ruined his plans.

Everyone keeps letting me live or-or trusting me when they shouldn't. I'm the problem, Ava. I've hurt you, too. The people you care about most. You shouldn't... you should never have stopped at just a punch.