Alaric is standing in the doorway. He is holding the rifle. He is still wearing the black shirt, but now he is watching me with an expression I have never seen before. It isn't anger. It isn't lust. It is absolute, hollow devastation.
"You weren't supposed to find this," he says softly.
I back away. I back up until I hit the broken cello case. "You killed her," I accuse, my voice shaking. "You killed Clara."
Alaric lowers the rifle, leaning it against the doorframe. He steps into the room. "I didn't kill her, Elodie."
"It's in the book! She said you took her to the shaft! She said she was pregnant!"
"She was," Alaric admits. He stops a few feet away from me. "She was pregnant with Vance's child."
I freeze. "What?"
"Vance," Alaric repeats. The name is a curse. "He found her. Just like he found you. He seduced her while I was at a conference. He used her to get to me. To get the blueprints. To get the codes." Alaric looks at the broken cello. "She didn't smash thecello because she wanted to leave. She smashed it because she hated herself. She realized what she had done. She realized she had betrayed me for a man who only wanted to steal my empire."
"She fell down the shaft," I whisper.
"She jumped," Alaric corrects. His voice breaks. "We were on the roof of the facility. I was trying to talk her down. I told her we could fix it. I told her I didn't care about the baby, I just wantedher." He looks at me, his eyes shining with unshed tears. "But she couldn't live with the betrayal. She stepped off the edge before I could reach her."
He holds out his hand. "That’s why I locked you down, Elodie. That’s why I killed Vance. Because he did itagain. He targeted you. He tried to turn you against me."
I look at his hand. I look at the journal on the floor.He says chaos cannot breed.
"You're lying," I whisper. "Sterling said..."
"Sterling loved her," Alaric says. "Sterling blames me. She thinks I drove her to it. Maybe I did. Maybe my love is too heavy." He steps closer. "But I didn't push her. And I won't push you."
He reaches for me. "Please," he begs. "Don't break the duet. Not now."
I look at him. He looks so sincere. So broken. But the journal...He said chaos cannot breed.
I have a choice. Believe the monster who saved me. Or believe the ghost who died here.
I grip the riding crop in my pocket. "Stay back," I say.
Alaric freezes. He looks at the crop handle sticking out of my pocket. "Elodie..."
"You said there were no walls here," I say, my voice gaining strength. "But this room... this is a tomb. You kept it. You kept the broken pieces."
"A reminder," he says. "Of what happens when I lose control."
"Well, guess what?" I grab the neck of the broken cello. It is a jagged piece of wood, sharp as a shiv. I hold it up like a knife. "I'm not Clara. I don't jump."
Alaric looks at the wood in my hand. Then at my eyes. A slow smile spreads across his face. It’s not the sad smile from before. It’s the wolf smile.
"No," he purrs. "You don't jump. You fight."
He takes a step forward, ignoring the weapon. "Strike me then," he challenges. Open his arms. "If you think I’m the villain... put that wood through my heart. Do it."
He is calling my bluff. He knows I can't do it. He knows that despite the fear, despite the journal, despite the dead girl... I belong to him.
My hand trembles. I hold the jagged wood. His heart is right there. Under the black shirt.Thump. Thump.
I could end it. I could end the madness. But if I kill him... who will protect me from the world? Who will understand the silence?
I let out a sob. I drop the wood. It clatters to the floor next to the journal.
Alaric closes the distance instantly. He grabs me. He crushes me against him. "I knew it," he whispers into my hair. "I knew you were mine."
