“But then you got impatient. You bided your time, put on the good soldier act, all the while waiting to be clued in to the details of our plan. And when that didn’t work, you got more impatient and had your boyfriend sneak in to my office to steal the plans that we have spent years putting into motion and escape like rats in the night. Do you deny it?”
The crowd hushed, waiting for my answer. I didn’t address Desmond—instead, I turned to the crowd. “You don’t actually believe this, right?” I said incredulously. “Most of you saw the aftermath of the twins—the princesses—we killed defending ourselves. How could I do that if I was a Matrian spy? Why would I?”
The crowd murmured, and I took that as a good sign; I hesitated, and then decided to go for it. “She’s right—Viggo was in her office, snooping around—but not to report her location to her enemies. He was there because… we suspect Desmond is giving the boys a drug to make them more complicit to her ideas! She’s trying to use them, the same way Matrus used them!”
The crowd hushed and then someone shouted, “Where’s your proof?”
I looked at Viggo, who shook his head grimly. “Desmond caught Viggo before he could find it. But that doesn’t mean it’s not true. Ask for her handheld! Check it out for yourself.”
Desmond gave me a bored look and glanced at the crowd. “Go ahead. I have nothing to hide—you all knew about the Benuxupane. I’ve been giving it to them in small doses to see if they showed improvement, and they have. Why do you think they’ve been getting better faster?”
I felt stunned by her declaration. “You promised you wouldn’t start administering it until you had determined whether or not Viggo’s plan would work!” I shouted.
“I had determined that his program was helping, but not fast enough. Certainly not fast enough for the family members who want nothing more than to have their children returned to them, healthy and whole.”
I paused, realizing I was on a slippery slope. “Okay, but what about this grand idea? Have any of you stopped to think about it? What it means? She doesn’t want to target the nobility or the people in power—she wants to manufacture a war between two countries. One that will kill innocents. Now, I don’t know about you, but I still have family living out there. People I care about, getting killed in the name of a war that they don’t even understand! I can’t live with that. Can you honestly tell me you can?”
The crowd fell silent, and I could see the thoughtful expressions on many of their faces. For a second, I felt certain that my words had swayed them, until someone in the back shouted, “Traitor!” The entire room crumbled into shouts and jeers.
Desmond sauntered over to me and I held steady, keeping my hands at my sides. She twisted her wrist, letting the microphone drop from her mouth and point toward the ground, before giving me a pitying smile.
“You know, Violet,” she said, her voice soft and low, “I never imagined that it would come to this. But now that it has, I hope you can appreciate the irony as much as I do.”
“You’re a snake, Desmond. No wonder your son wanted to be free of you.”
Her smile flickered and faded into a scowl, and she turned back to the crowd. As she did, I took a step back and pulled out my gun, pointing it at her head. Someone in the crowd screamed in warning, and Desmond whipped around, coming face to face with my gun.
My finger tensed on the trigger, and my heart hammered in my chest as I prepared to carry the weight of what I was about to do. Spill more blood. Claim another life.
A roar at the back of the crowd reverberated off the walls with such intensity that the clamor of the crowd was drowned out, causing voices to fall silent in unison. A pale white and dark blur leapt over the crowd, landing to a skidding stop in front of me.
As the dust settled, I found myself staring at one of the boys, who had put himself directly in front of my gun, standing between me and Desmond, his face contorted with anger and determination. People shifted as more boys began to pour through the door that I had passed through minutes ago. Several more came to stand between Desmond and me. The rest pressed in, forming a circle around us.
My hands shook as I took in the development. I heard a familiar cry of pain, and turned back in time to see my brother and Ms. Dale hauled unceremoniously into the circle around us. One of the boys tossed a squirming black bag in between them, and I heard a yip from Samuel.
Grimacing, I turned back to Desmond, who grinned at me, daring me to pull the trigger with the boys in the way.
Reluctantly, I lowered the gun and the second I did, the boys rushed at me, grabbing me and forcing me to the ground.