“I never meant anything to happen to her. You must believe me, Alexander.” Gerard reached across the table, trying to connect with him, but Alex’s eyes were unfocused. “I would have never hurt her.”
“But you did mean to hurt Constance,” I said, grabbing at his attention. “You murdered her.” Hot bile sloshed in my gut, threatening to come up as I remembered the gardening shears. “But I don’t understand why. I saw those babies. She gave you exactly what you wanted. She—”
“She was going to tell you. Tell everyone. Everything. The babies…they grew to full term, they made it through the births, yes, but they…they weren’t developing as they should. They were weak, fussy. Constance begged me to fix them, to save them. She loved them, she truly did, but there was nothing to be done. When they died, she said it was a sign. My experiments, my creations, were doomed to fail. She threatened to warn you, Verity. She didn’t want you to go through what she had. But I…I couldn’t let that happen.”
Gerard shrugged as if he’d been completely helpless in the situation. As if he’d only followed the most reasonable course of action. He blinked innocently, his eyes cold and without remorse.
Alex murmured something, too low to catch at first.
I reached out to him, squeezing his shoulder. “What did you say?”
Slowly, painfully, he glanced up, meeting Gerard’s gaze. “I said he’s mad.”
“I’m not,” Gerard insisted. “I know exactly what I’ve done. I understand how it looks to you, how you must think it is, but…you don’t see what I do… You don’t understand that some sacrifices must be made for the greater good.”
“Good,” Alex repeated. “What good could possibly come out of any of this?”
“If you…if you all could just understand…” Gerard buried his face in his hands. “My father was…an intensely religious man. All my childhood, I was brought up worshipping the gods. Not just Arina—all of them. I could tell you every one of them, however old, however forgotten. I knew every Harbinger, every half-god spawn. We celebrated their festivals; we honored their ways. When he became duke, I watched Papa dismantle my grandfather’s beloved ballroom and turn it into a shrine. For…them,” he said, casting his hand into the air in a gesture that reminded me uncomfortably of Kosamaras.
Viktor shifted in his chair. “Oh poor Father, how terrible your youth must have been.” His face hardened. “We know nothing of what that must be like.”
“Dauphine told me about your sister,” I said, cutting off his theatrics. “How she was born without hands. How your father killed her because of the imperfection.”
Gerard nodded. “That was the day I stopped praying to the gods. I saw them for what they were—beings of preternatural powers, certainly, but at heart, no different than you or I. They weren’t blessed with divinity… They were just the next step in our own evolution.” He rubbed at his chin. “The problems in our world showed me that their powers were not without limit. I knew I could improve upon that, distill that essence that makes them different from us. And then I would perfect it, create my own god. One who would fix the messes they made for us. When I met Dauphine Armella, I was certain she would be the woman to help me achieve all my goals.”
“Why?” Julien asked, head tilted.
Alex let out a soft, ragged breath. I reached out to entwine my fingers with his, happy when he didn’t pull away.
“The Armella tree is riddled with half gods and secret assignations. Her genetic makeup couldn’t have been more perfect.”
“And you loved her too, of course,” Viktor said, all but sneering.
“We did grow…terribly fond of one another,” Gerard said, twisting his lips and looking almost guilty. “And I was right. She gave birth to the three of you. When we saw how mixed the results were, I wanted to try again but Dauphine refused. The treatments had taken a toll on her body… It was just too much for her to do again.”
“So you brought in a bit of help,” Viktor guessed snidely.
Gerard nodded. “I tried again so many times. But it never…I never could quite replicate the experiment. The women always died before the babies could be born. They weren’t strong enough.” He shook his head as his face colored in disappointment.
I opened my mouth, about to tell him of Dauphine’s meddling. I wanted to shout her deception from the rooftop but stopped short. She’d committed terrible acts but had done so to thwart a madman. Spilling her secrets now wouldn’t bring the women back; it wouldn’t undo Gerard’s crimes. Some secrets ought to be taken to the grave.
“That’s why it was so important to find the right partner for Alexander,” Gerard continued. “It’s paramount his genes continue on, paired with someone equally special. Someone who has the strength to carry the new gods, to birth them, to raise them to their destinies. When your sister told Dauphine the story of the cursed Thaumas sisters, I knew you were the right girl for Alexander.”
I felt the weight of everyone’s eyes fall upon me.
The room felt so dry, the fire scorching and bright. It was almost impossible to think straight. “We’re not going to have anything to do with this perversity,” I spat at Gerard. “Alex, come on. We’re leaving.”
His eyes were watery and so heartbreaking. “I…I don’t know what to do. This is all…so much. Too much. I…”
“We’ll go away. Get away,” I promised him, cupping his cheeks, trying to make him look at me. “We can sort through it all later. But first we have to get out of here. Get away from him. From Chauntilalie.”
“And them?” he asked, glancing toward his brothers.
“And us?” Viktor echoed, peering at me with a smirk.
“Do whatever it is you want. Drag him to the authorities, turn him in. Take the house for yourself. It’s all yours. Alex, we’re done here.”
“No,” he protested, tugging me back. “I’m not running away.”
“Please. We need to go. I need to go. I just need…I need some water.” I was gasping now, panting like a dog on an insufferable summer day. Rivulets of sweat dripped down my neck, soaking my bodice. My head felt too heavy to hold up.
Gerard removed his cravat and unfastened the top buttons of his shirt. His face was flushed and blotchy. “It is too hot in here.” He glanced at Viktor, his eyes unfocused and listless. “You. You’re doing this.”
“Doing what?” he asked innocently.
Visible waves of heat radiated off his body.
“You see,” Gerard said, fanning himself as he panted. “You see now. I should have…should have never have…” His hand fell heavily on the table, reaching for the rose-gold letter opener in the tray before him.
“Julien, do it, now!” Viktor ordered, his voice cutting through the swirling, sweltering confusion.
A light dawned in the oldest Laurent brother’s eyes. He leaned over Gerard, peering down like a stone gargoyle, Viktor’s rage etched across his face.