I scowled. “Lizzy is—”
“Neither your sister nor your fiancée, in which case she has no bearing in any of this.”
“I invited her here. She’s been with me for the last few days trying to figure out what happened to my parents. Whatever you have to say, you can say in front of her,” I insisted.
Uncle sat there, staring between the two of us, but then shrugged and leaned back. “As you say. But you’re aware, Darcy, that your parents occasionally turned off the cameras when they had meetings over topics they wanted to keep more… off the books.”
“There is also a coroner’s report that stated my parents died approximately thirty minutes before the supposed car crash,” I said.
He raised an eyebrow. “I don’t understand. You’ve already told me this, Darcy. What? You think because I saw your parents that I killed them?”
If I weren’t almost certain he’d done it, he might have fooled me. “Clara Ashcombe from the council was killed a few nights ago. On the night that you were supposed to be flying to New York from our cabin in Wyoming.”
“Yes, I’d heard about that. What a tragedy.” He shook his head sadly.
“Clara Ashcombe met her end in the identical manner as Darcy’s parents. With thornlace poisoning,” Lizzy said.
Now, Uncle looked shocked, the blood draining from his face. “What makes you say that?”
“A three-hour difference also exists between what’s written in the family flight record and your arrival time in New York. Can you explain where you were?” I asked.
“Who told you that?”
He wasn’t answering my questions. It was time to ask the one he couldn’t dodge. “So you know nothing about my parents’ murder or the death of Clara Ashcombe?” I asked.
Uncle frowned at me. “Why are you asking this, son? Do you truly believe I helped to murder my own brother and his wife? And this random other lady?”
“I just need to be sure,” I said.
He nodded, as if expecting this all along. He leaned forward and sat for a long moment in silence. It was at that instant when I saw the grief and culpability I’d anticipated flood his countenance.
“I knew you’d find out the truth, eventually. I did indeed kill Clara Aschombe. I also killed Anne and Thomas Valemont.” He looked at me with utter sadness. “I’m the one who killed your parents.”
Chapter 12
“Imurderedyourparentsand framed it as an accident,” Uncle said. Even though he seemed sad about it, there was a chilliness in how easily he admitted it. “I hoped you and Georgiana wouldn’t figure it out. Yet I understood eventually you would, and now here we are.”
I sat there, surprised that he simply came out and said it. A mixture of feelings coursed through me. “And Clara Ashcombe?” I asked, fighting to keep my voice steady.
Uncle sighed. “Yes, that was a difficult decision to make. You see, Clara Ashcombe had been helping your parents in their… experimentations, but she wasn’t there when your parents died, at least not at first. However, she stumbled upon me shortly after I killed them. She made a deal with me that she wouldn’t say anything about what I’d done as long as I found the cure to Moonrot before she got so sick she couldn’t perform her duties on the council. I assume she’d neared death to the point that she decided the agreement was void. Mrs. Trent told me about thetext she sent out to the council in search of your number, Darcy, and I realized what she was up to.”
“So you killed her, too,” Lizzy said.
“I did it for Darcy. The council—well, they aren’t fully behind him. If what I did to Darcy’s parents came out, I’d lose my place as regent, and if Darcy didn’t have enough of the council to back him, then he might not be king.” He looked at me almost pleadingly. “In a few weeks when he turns twenty-eight and ascends the throne, this would all be over, but until then, I had to make sure you’d become king. Clara would have ruined everything.”
My stomach churned at the manner he justified his actions on my behalf. “You knew I wouldn’t keep it a secret if I found out.”
“You’re too noble,” he agreed. “So I took it upon myself to protect you. I went to a nearby airport and drove into town. It didn’t take me long to find she was staying at the Hearthside House Inn. I glamoured myself to appear as one of the workers and went to her room where I poisoned her.”
Just like that, he’d poisoned her. But Clara Ashcombe’s murder had only been to cover up the original murders he’d committed. My parents.
“Why?” I said, my voice carefully devoid of emotion. “Why did you do it? Why did you kill my parents?”
My uncle’s face filled with sad compassion. “Your parents weren’t as progressive as you or Georgiana,” Uncle sighed. “They held on to the old beliefs. That werewolves, vampires, and even witches constituted the wickedness of society, and that if they mingled with fae, it would decrease our power.”
“I know that.” I glanced at Lizzy, who sat very still. While I was never as extreme as my parents, their attitude had affected my views of a potential relationship with Lizzy. It had taken time to root out the lasting effects of their prejudice. Lizzy had made me recognize the extent of my need to change.
She scowled. “That’s no reason to kill them.”
