I walk into the room slowly.
My mother watches me come with that same calm expression, but I know her too well now. There is tension in her shoulders. In her jaw. Not fear exactly. Expectation. Like she has been waiting for this moment and rehearsing what kind of son she will still have when it arrives.
“You,” I say. One word.
She lifts her chin a fraction. “Aleksei.”
Alena lets out a pained breath from the floor. “Well. This is new.”
I ignore her. I keep looking at my mother.
And as I do, the rage changes shape.
I look at my mother and say, “It was you.”
She doesn’t deny it. That tells me enough before she even opens her mouth.
“Aleksei,” she says.
“You poisoned her.”
She lifts her chin a little. “I did what was necessary.” That answer almost sends me through the roof.
I take another step toward her. “You poisoned her.”
“Yes,” she says again, calmer than she has any right to be. “Because you were losing perspective.”
Behind me, I hear Zatanna suck in a breath.
I don’t look away from my mother. “She was pregnant,” I say.
“I know.”
My hands curl into fists.
That is the moment I understand how far gone this is. Not just the poison. Not just the attack. She knew about the baby. She knew and did it anyway.
Alena laughs once from the floor. Weak. Bitter. “Well. At least now we’re all caught up.”
I ignore her. I keep looking at my mother. “Why?”
She actually looks irritated by the question, like the answer should be obvious. “Because my son was about to ruin himself.”
That’s when Zatanna speaks.
“Ruin himself?” she says. Her voice is shaking, but she gets the words out. “You tried to kill me.”
My mother turns to her and says, “I tried to stop this before it became permanent.”
I can feel my pulse in my throat now.
“She called me a whore,” Zatanna says quietly.
She knew exactly what would wound Zatanna and exactly how to use it.
“You framed Alena,” I say.
“She made a convenient target.”
