Her arm twisted, extending forward almost grotesquely. A page ripped from her journal and bound her hand to the desk. She reached for the house’s spells, but her grasp slipped over them.
She grabbed a hairpin. Unsurprisingly. Melissande had always relied on other means. Other toys.
The seam of parchment pulled tight, the spell threading through the fibers. She sliced it free, only for it to reform as well as another page binding her other wrist. A cloud of rose and bergamot burst from the floral cluster on the pin’s head. John waved the poison away. “Boring, High Lady. Too used to boys to battle men. Now, about those veins.”
The tip of the letter opener became the blade as it slid smoothly into John’s hand.
I could have happily planted it between her ribs myself, but I stepped in his path. “John.”
He stopped, cocked his head, and the blade retreated to tip from his sleeve once again. “Fingers readying to grab the house spells? I should have known that was bait, should have anticipated you’d be here.”
“She did change the spells. Looking after a household is just not her forte.”
“I also do better when I am the lead—not the one being led on a chase.”
The last piece. “You sent Frostwood to Marietta.”
John banged his free hand against the back of the guest chair. “There you go! Took you long enough, Gabriel.”
“Youwantedme to know.”
John perched on the arm of the chair. With his view of Melissande blocked, he seemed almost relaxed. “You have incredibly good resources and a knack for choosing the right options. Emotion blinded you for much of this investigation, but even with that handicap I hoped you would figure it out. That you would join me.”
“Join you?” I sent a pulse through the vow marks to Marietta.Be ready to run.But to look away from John would be folly.
“You have as much a right to revenge as I do. We will have to get rid of that sycophant Worley, of course, as well as any ofthe other deviants. I had quite hoped you would do away with Worley a week past.”
“How?”
“How what? How could you have killed Worley? Oh, any number of ways.” He lifted a brow. “I suppose that having Marietta there would have been a bit of a damper, but a clean push from the roof would have put Worley to rights.”
“No, how could you kill them? And in that manner?”
“Very, very easily. And with no small amount of vigor and satisfaction.” His eyes gleamed as they looked over my shoulder. “Who do you think has the control now, High Lady of Steelcrest and Nightshade?”
That she didn’t answer was all the answer needed.
“You could have taken your revenge in a different manner, John. Or moved on.”
“Moved on?” He laughed. “As you did? Burying yourself case after case, helping those in need? Youtookyour revenge too, Gabriel. I helped you with a few of those favors against them, though you had no idea I knew.”
“When did you find out about me?”
John snorted. “They chattered about you ad nauseum. Their journals were full of you. It was hardly a challenge. I had such high hopes. Especially when you started upon your path of destruction. When you shut down the club, I was thrilled. I loved you the most then. Walking a path to rid the world of them.” His eyes grew anguished. “When you stopped at ruining them, socially and monetarily, I could have killed you myself.”
The hate shone in his eyes. As did the adoration. I didn’t know which scared me more. “Why didn’t you?”
“I found myself unwilling. There was still a chance, after all. I had time. Time to plan and scheme. Time to change your mind.”
“Why did you think you would change my mind, John?”
“Been missing your investigator?”
“Yes. You paid him off?” Or worse.
“Cost me a pretty penny too. But it is better for you this way. Better not to have someone disloyal on your payroll. Besides, I needed you to remain unaware, for the thought of completion to build. I knew you wouldn’t go along with the first murder. But given some time for the idea to sink in, for you to think your own brother the killer—with me feeding Lucian just enough information about the case for him to act guilty around you, for all the wrong reasons, of course… Yes, then things might look different.”
Anger choked me. “Different?”
