Page 186 of Immortal Rose

I stilled, feeling my grip on the moment unraveling as his meaning cut through me like a knife.

“What are you talking about?” I managed to get out. “What sacrifice?”

The Duke of Glenmoor faced me now, those strange eyes inhuman. I took an unconscious step back. “To perfect our society. To rid it of its unwanted, the ugliness and desperate rot. To ensure the lower classes properly serve their betters. The most powerful perfumes call for the sacrifice of a life, do they not?”

The blood drained from my face. Around me, the room smeared with shadows. This was—this was so far beyond what Hugh had imagined the duke’s motivations were, I was struggling to grasp the magnitude of it.

“Perfumes to control the minds of others, perfumes to kill, perfumes to extend a life into immortality . . .” he continued in a singsong voice, circling behind me. “Wars will be won in moments, not decades. The kingdom will be invincible, and my rule complete.”

Nausea rose in me, as swift and brutal as the appalling images his words stirred.

“Oh dear. You’re trembling,” he said, with hollow sympathy. “You might have been part of the making of this new empire, if you’d only had the nerve for it.”

I was trembling. For the first time in my life, I couldn’t muster the words through my terror. My skin was cold and clammy beneath my gown, my heart beating suffocatingly fast.

He meant it. Every word. The utter lack of remorse in his expression as he spoke of murdering countless people . . . My stomach turned violently.

A void in the soul.

“I would never help you,” I choked out. I backed up, stumbling into the wall behind me.

At the door, the duke smiled. Pitying. Heartless.

“Thank you for the gift of this perfume,” he purred. “I shall use it to ensure I rule for many years to come. You can take comfort in knowing that your insignificant life proved valuable in that, at least.”

My hands shook as they knotted in the skirt of my dress. He opened the door and signaled to the four policemen waiting there.

The shadows lengthened around me as the men spread out through the pristine room, snuffing out the candles as they passed them. I edged toward the table with the small crystal tray, the sight of them blurring with my fear. The air thickened with the pepper of excitement and the terrifying sulfur of malice.

“Please,” I began. “Wait—there’s been a misunderstanding—”

A pistol rose in the dark and, before I could scream, fired.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

I slammed into the ground in a mass of silk and rose petals as a second shot tore through the silence. My breathing was harsh in my ears, my jewelry clattering horribly as tremors racked my body. Bile rose in my throat, tasting of terror. I pressed my hand to my mouth. Then, over the pounding in my ears, I heard a soft voice.

“My lady? Are you all right?”

When I forced my eyes up, they met Willie’s worried gaze. His stolen police uniform sagged on his frame as he crouched in front of me, offering a hand. Somehow, I managed to swallow and, with his help, rose back onto my feet.

“I almost didn’t recognize you,” I said, my nerves trilling wildly. The world hadn’t quite settled around me; it felt as though I was still moving through a nightmare.

The kingdom will come to understand my plans. They will be grateful for the elegant world I have created for them.

God, this had to work. It had to.

“Good,” Willie said, giving my arm a comforting pat. “Sorry to have given you a fright, though. You’re certain you’re all right?”

I gave him a shaky nod. “Just determined to finish this.”

“That may have been my most dramatic entrance yet,” came Reddy’s voice from across the room. He ripped off his police hat and threw it onto the body sprawled at his feet. “I must say, you played the part of terrified murder victim exceedingly well.”

“At this point I’ve had more practice at it than I’d like,” I said. I tried not to look down at the bodies of the two policemen. The scent of gunpowder and blood was turning my stomach violently. “Did you get it?”

“Did he get it?” Reddy scoffed.

Willie held up a small silver pin. “Slyest fingers in all of Linden.”