His eyes widened. “Why not?”
“I’m sorry.” I turned slightly to study one of the small mechanical devices on a bookshelf instead of staring at him. “It doesn’t feel right to go through with this now.”
“Did something happen?”
I hesitated, not sure how to sum up everything that had happened yesterday.
“Kyra, look at me.” Desmarc put a hand under my chin and gently turned me to face him. “We can work through this.” His green eyes pleaded with me. “Don’t throw away everything we’ve worked for. Everything your father has worked for.”
“That’s part of why I can’t do this. I’ve realized that I can’t get married simply for political reasons, and I think you need someone who shares your ideals.”
“I thought you shared my ideals.”
I laced my fingers together. “We do have a lot in common, but we also have things we don’t agree on, like helping the Lower Chimes and me helping the Blue Capes.”
Desmarc stiffened. “Did you go back to the Iron Watch?”
“Yes,” I admitted.
“Let me guess. You saw that detective again, and he persuaded you to help?” Desmarc’s expression darkened.
“No, I actually spoke with someone else,” I said hurriedly as my cheeks heated. “But once I arrived, I learned we’d caught the wrong person.”
“You said you were done working on the cases.”
“That’s because I thought the case was over, and it’s not.” I sighed and looked up at him. “This is really important to me, and I can tell me not doing it is important to you, which just proves my point that we aren’t a good match.”
“I really wish you wouldn’t get involved,” Desmarc said softly.
“I’m sorry.” I turned and walked over to stare out the window. Despite the way it made my stomach clench, it was still easier than facing Desmarc. I let out a long breath, the weight on my shoulders lightening. How long had my engagement been a burden? Confessing to Desmarc was more freeing than our wedding ever could have been. “I never meant to hurt you.”
“And I really didn’t want to hurt you.” He came and put a hand on my shoulder. “But with Meridian Lambkin’s death, I’m in too far to back out now. We can’t afford any mistakes.” A ring, hidden under his glove, dug into my shoulder.
“Desmarc, you’re holding me too tigh— Wait.” I spun around as much as I could despite his grip. “How did you know it was Meridian Lambkin who died? That information hasn’t been released to the public yet.”
Desmarc pulled a small metal cylinder from his pocket. He pressed a button and sprayed red gas at my face. It had a faint metallic odor, sharp and unsettling.
“What are you doing?” I blinked and rubbed my eyes.
Desmarc’s mouth fell into a hard line, and the warmth in his eyes disappeared. “What needs to be done.” His jaw tightened, the hard line removing any final traces of the Desmarc I thought I knew.
I tried to step back, but my limbs were heavy and sluggish. Each second felt like someone was adding weights to my body, dragging me down. I could barely hold myself upright. With each passing second, my limbs lost their strength, and my muscles felt like rusted gears, stiff and unresponsive.
My legs buckled, and I staggered to the side. Instinctively, I tried to catch myself on his arm, but instead it pulled his glove off.
“Desmarc, help.” I blinked at him and sank to my knees while the world blurred around me.
He caught me and lowered me the rest of the way to the ground. The silver ring on his finger chilled my arm. I looked down at it, though the motion made my head swim, and the world spun around me. My breath caught.
He wore a ring shaped like an hourglass made of scythes—the same ring as Hiram’s attacker.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
The weight of the truth crushed down on me like an anvil. Desmarc had attacked Hiram in the Epoch Clock. Not Meridian Eliver. He was the second killer.
A wave of cold washed over me, and my skin prickled as if a thousand needles rushed through my veins, numbing me. Desmarc always wore gloves to hide it, always made sure no one could see his hand. And his limp... He’d been injured fighting Hiram.
“I’m sorry, Kyra.” Desmarc’s voice reached me, but it was distorted, like it was echoing from far away. He sounded...distant, almost mechanical. “But I warned you, I’ll always choose duty over love.”
My breath caught in my chest, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t seem to focus. The blackness at the edges of my vision pressed in tighter, closer. I could feel my senses slipping away the more I fought to hold onto consciousness.
But it was no use.
My eyelids fluttered closed, and blackness swallowed me.