Elswyth couldn’t focus. The room seemed to spin. “Prince Oliver had nothing to do with it, did he?” Persephone’s voice echoed in her mind:Don’t hurt him.
“He was just another fool in love. Always with his head in the clouds and his lips on a bottle. Venus Forscythe told the queen, of course, and then Viscaria sent Oliver away, to India. Then the queen wrote your sister a letter, telling her to visit Lady Sheers, and signed his name. That’s how I knew where to find Persephone that night. She ensured your sister ventured somewhere far from prying eyes. I doubt she ever cared about the procedure, since she knew Persephone would be dead before it ever mattered. She only wanted to add another small humiliation before the final blow.”
“And the police… the nobility… they all went along with whatever Viscaria said. She made sure that the investigation closed early. That no one would speak of her again. That the documentation of their marriage never saw the light of day.”
“I’m glad you see now, Elswyth. It’s been so hard, watching you struggle these past few months. I respect your tenacity. Your curiosity. It’s the reason I married you.”
Gall smiled anxiously. He stepped over to the table and set the infant down, wrapping him in the blanket. He lingered there for a moment. “But you understand now that I can’t let you go. Not knowing all of this. But Elswyth, I do not have to be your adversary. My offer stands: Workwithme. I can protect you from the queen. I will share all the secrets that I have learned, and together, we will uncover many more. With your mind, and my amberheart, and the queen’s resources… Immortality is only the beginning.”
Gall moved to her. He put a hand to her cheek, and she flinched at his touch. “I could heal your scar, you know. Methods have been revealed to me that can rewrite flesh, restore missing limbs—andyes, even heal old scars. I could do that, Elswyth. Make it like it never existed.”
Elswyth’s heart lurched. She hated that, for just a moment, the idea excited her.
“Come and live with me. Be my wife, like we planned. Nothing has to change.”
She leaned her face into his hand, resting it there. It felt good not to fight him. “Oleander?” she asked.
“Yes, my dear?” he said, smiling.
Elswyth reached inside him and grabbed his vitæ. Then, with all the strength she had, shepulled. “I hope yourot.”
The vitæ poured out of Gall and into her. His eyes widened and his body began to shake. The skin of his hand withered, rotting in front of her. His plump face began to sag, skin sinking, eyes bulging, and then…
And then the vitæ stopped coming. In fact, it started flowing backward, out of Elswyth and into Gall.
She gasped. Her stomach lurched, and she felt her limbs weaken, her skin loosening around the bones. Gall sprung back to life before her eyes. His cheeks grew plump again, his eyes brightening. Elswyth shook as the light left her. Her vision started to fade and blood filled her mouth.
And then it stopped. Gall dropped his hand from her face, chuckling.
“Oh, Elswyth. Did you think you were the only floromancer to master the dim mak? You are not as special as you believe.”
Elswyth gasped for air. Her stomach churned and bile rose in her throat, mixing with the blood in her mouth.
“How?” she said weakly.
Gall wagged his finger and smiled. “Tut-tut. I’ve worked hard formy secrets. I don’t give them away lightly. But if you behave… if you join me… I will tell you all my secrets and more.”
Elswyth spat the blood in her mouth into Dr. Gall’s face.
He paused, frowning, and then took his kerchief and wiped his face clean. Then he sighed, walked a few paces away, and stopped to look over his shoulder. “Perhaps… perhaps all you need is a little time. Yes. A few weeks of confinement and medication. The standard treatment for hysteria. Then you’ll reconsider. Silas, please fetch the sedative and subdue Lady Gall.”
A moment passed. Silas did not respond. The table that he had been leaning against was empty and Silas was nowhere to be seen.
“Silas?” Dr. Gall asked, just before a thunderous clap sounded in the room. Gall’s head jerked backward, and blood sprayed across Elswyth’s face. The gunshot echoed through the chamber, sounding over and over again. Then Gall collapsed, a gaping wound in his forehead, and his limp body hit the ground.
And standing directly behind him, holding a smoking pistol, was Silas Blackthorn.
Silas ran to her, unbuckling her restraints. “We need to go,” he said. He released Elswyth’s right hand, and she smacked him across the face.
“I hate you,” she said.
“I deserve that,” Silas said.
Elswyth screamed and smacked him again, clawing at his eyes. Silas grabbed her wrist, holding her firm. A red mark bloomed on his cheek, and his eyes bore down on her.
“I am trying to help you. You can kill me once I get you out of here,” he said.
Elswyth stopped fighting him. Her breath came in broken gasps. Then he dropped her wrist and started unbuckling the other straps.
